1 From time to time, experimental features may be added to Exim.
2 While a feature is experimental, there will be a build-time
3 option whose name starts "EXPERIMENTAL_" that must be set in
4 order to include the feature. This file contains information
5 about experimental features, all of which are unstable and
6 liable to incompatible change.
10 --------------------------------------------------------------
12 Per-Recipient Data Reponse is an SMTP extension proposed by Eric Hall
13 in a (now-expired) IETF draft from 2007. It's not hit mainstream
14 use, but has apparently been implemented in the META1 MTA.
16 There is mention at http://mail.aegee.org/intern/sendmail.html
17 of a patch to sendmail "to make it PRDR capable".
19 ref: http://www.eric-a-hall.com/specs/draft-hall-prdr-00.txt
21 If Exim is built with EXPERIMENTAL_PRDR there is a new config
22 boolean "prdr_enable" which controls whether PRDR is advertised
23 as part of an EHLO response, a new "acl_data_smtp_prdr" ACL
24 (called for each recipient, after data arrives but before the
25 data ACL), and a new smtp transport option "hosts_try_prdr".
27 PRDR may be used to support per-user content filtering. Without it
28 one must defer any recipient after the first that has a different
29 content-filter configuration. With PRDR, the RCPT-time check
30 for this can be disabled when the MAIL-time $smtp_command included
31 "PRDR". Any required difference in behaviour of the main DATA-time
32 ACL should however depend on the PRDR-time ACL having run, as Exim
33 will avoid doing so in some situations (eg. single-recipient mails).
38 --------------------------------------------------------------
40 X.509 PKI certificates expire and can be revoked; to handle this, the
41 clients need some way to determine if a particular certificate, from a
42 particular Certificate Authority (CA), is still valid. There are three
45 The simplest way is to serve up a Certificate Revocation List (CRL) with
46 an ordinary web-server, regenerating the CRL before it expires. The
47 downside is that clients have to periodically re-download a potentially
48 huge file from every certificate authority it knows of.
50 The way with most moving parts at query time is Online Certificate
51 Status Protocol (OCSP), where the client verifies the certificate
52 against an OCSP server run by the CA. This lets the CA track all
53 usage of the certs. This requires running software with access to the
54 private key of the CA, to sign the responses to the OCSP queries. OCSP
55 is based on HTTP and can be proxied accordingly.
57 The only widespread OCSP server implementation (known to this writer)
58 comes as part of OpenSSL and aborts on an invalid request, such as
59 connecting to the port and then disconnecting. This requires
60 re-entering the passphrase each time some random client does this.
62 The third way is OCSP Stapling; in this, the server using a certificate
63 issued by the CA periodically requests an OCSP proof of validity from
64 the OCSP server, then serves it up inline as part of the TLS
65 negotiation. This approach adds no extra round trips, does not let the
66 CA track users, scales well with number of certs issued by the CA and is
67 resilient to temporary OCSP server failures, as long as the server
68 starts retrying to fetch an OCSP proof some time before its current
69 proof expires. The downside is that it requires server support.
71 If Exim is built with EXPERIMENTAL_OCSP and it was built with OpenSSL,
72 then it gains a new global option: "tls_ocsp_file".
74 The file specified therein is expected to be in DER format, and contain
75 an OCSP proof. Exim will serve it as part of the TLS handshake. This
76 option will be re-expanded for SNI, if the tls_certificate option
77 contains $tls_sni, as per other TLS options.
79 Exim does not at this time implement any support for fetching a new OCSP
80 proof. The burden is on the administrator to handle this, outside of
81 Exim. The file specified should be replaced atomically, so that the
82 contents are always valid. Exim will expand the "tls_ocsp_file" option
83 on each connection, so a new file will be handled transparently on the
86 Exim will check for a valid next update timestamp in the OCSP proof;
87 if not present, or if the proof has expired, it will be ignored.
89 Also, given EXPERIMENTAL_OCSP and OpenSSL, the smtp transport gains
90 a "hosts_require_ocsp" option; a host-list for which an OCSP Stapling
91 is requested and required for the connection to proceed. The host(s)
92 should also be in "hosts_require_tls", and "tls_verify_certificates"
93 configured for the transport.
95 For the client to be able to verify the stapled OCSP the server must
96 also supply, in its stapled information, any intermediate
97 certificates for the chain leading to the OCSP proof from the signer
98 of the server certificate. There may be zero or one such. These
99 intermediate certificates should be added to the server OCSP stapling
100 file (named by tls_ocsp_file).
102 At this point in time, we're gathering feedback on use, to determine if
103 it's worth adding complexity to the Exim daemon to periodically re-fetch
104 OCSP files and somehow handling multiple files.
106 A helper script "ocsp_fetch.pl" for fetching a proof from a CA
107 OCSP server is supplied. The server URL may be included in the
108 server certificate, if the CA is helpful.
110 One fail mode seen was the OCSP Signer cert expiring before the end
111 of vailidity of the OCSP proof. The checking done by Exim/OpenSSL
112 noted this as invalid overall, but the re-fetch script did not.
117 Brightmail AntiSpam (BMI) suppport
118 --------------------------------------------------------------
120 Brightmail AntiSpam is a commercial package. Please see
121 http://www.brightmail.com for more information on
122 the product. For the sake of clarity, we'll refer to it as
126 0) BMI concept and implementation overview
128 In contrast to how spam-scanning with SpamAssassin is
129 implemented in exiscan-acl, BMI is more suited for per
130 -recipient scanning of messages. However, each messages is
131 scanned only once, but multiple "verdicts" for multiple
132 recipients can be returned from the BMI server. The exiscan
133 implementation passes the message to the BMI server just
134 before accepting it. It then adds the retrieved verdicts to
135 the messages header file in the spool. These verdicts can then
136 be queried in routers, where operation is per-recipient
137 instead of per-message. To use BMI, you need to take the
140 1) Compile Exim with BMI support
141 2) Set up main BMI options (top section of Exim config file)
142 3) Set up ACL control statement (ACL section of the config
144 4) Set up your routers to use BMI verdicts (routers section
146 5) (Optional) Set up per-recipient opt-in information.
148 These four steps are explained in more details below.
150 1) Adding support for BMI at compile time
152 To compile with BMI support, you need to link Exim against
153 the Brighmail client SDK, consisting of a library
154 (libbmiclient_single.so) and a header file (bmi_api.h).
155 You'll also need to explicitly set a flag in the Makefile to
156 include BMI support in the Exim binary. Both can be achieved
157 with these lines in Local/Makefile:
159 EXPERIMENTAL_BRIGHTMAIL=yes
160 CFLAGS=-I/path/to/the/dir/with/the/includefile
161 EXTRALIBS_EXIM=-L/path/to/the/dir/with/the/library -lbmiclient_single
163 If you use other CFLAGS or EXTRALIBS_EXIM settings then
164 merge the content of these lines with them.
166 Note for BMI6.x users: You'll also have to add -lxml2_single
167 to the EXTRALIBS_EXIM line. Users of 5.5x do not need to do
170 You should also include the location of
171 libbmiclient_single.so in your dynamic linker configuration
172 file (usually /etc/ld.so.conf) and run "ldconfig"
173 afterwards, or else the produced Exim binary will not be
174 able to find the library file.
177 2) Setting up BMI support in the Exim main configuration
179 To enable BMI support in the main Exim configuration, you
180 should set the path to the main BMI configuration file with
181 the "bmi_config_file" option, like this:
183 bmi_config_file = /opt/brightmail/etc/brightmail.cfg
185 This must go into section 1 of Exim's configuration file (You
186 can put it right on top). If you omit this option, it
187 defaults to /opt/brightmail/etc/brightmail.cfg.
189 Note for BMI6.x users: This file is in XML format in V6.xx
190 and its name is /opt/brightmail/etc/bmiconfig.xml. So BMI
191 6.x users MUST set the bmi_config_file option.
194 3) Set up ACL control statement
196 To optimize performance, it makes sense only to process
197 messages coming from remote, untrusted sources with the BMI
198 server. To set up a messages for processing by the BMI
199 server, you MUST set the "bmi_run" control statement in any
200 ACL for an incoming message. You will typically do this in
201 an "accept" block in the "acl_check_rcpt" ACL. You should
202 use the "accept" block(s) that accept messages from remote
203 servers for your own domain(s). Here is an example that uses
204 the "accept" blocks from Exim's default configuration file:
207 accept domains = +local_domains
212 accept domains = +relay_to_domains
217 If bmi_run is not set in any ACL during reception of the
218 message, it will NOT be passed to the BMI server.
221 4) Setting up routers to use BMI verdicts
223 When a message has been run through the BMI server, one or
224 more "verdicts" are present. Different recipients can have
225 different verdicts. Each recipient is treated individually
226 during routing, so you can query the verdicts by recipient
227 at that stage. From Exim's view, a verdict can have the
230 o deliver the message normally
231 o deliver the message to an alternate location
232 o do not deliver the message
234 To query the verdict for a recipient, the implementation
235 offers the following tools:
238 - Boolean router preconditions. These can be used in any
239 router. For a simple implementation of BMI, these may be
240 all that you need. The following preconditions are
243 o bmi_deliver_default
245 This precondition is TRUE if the verdict for the
246 recipient is to deliver the message normally. If the
247 message has not been processed by the BMI server, this
248 variable defaults to TRUE.
250 o bmi_deliver_alternate
252 This precondition is TRUE if the verdict for the
253 recipient is to deliver the message to an alternate
254 location. You can get the location string from the
255 $bmi_alt_location expansion variable if you need it. See
256 further below. If the message has not been processed by
257 the BMI server, this variable defaults to FALSE.
261 This precondition is TRUE if the verdict for the
262 recipient is NOT to deliver the message to the
263 recipient. You will typically use this precondition in a
264 top-level blackhole router, like this:
266 # don't deliver messages handled by the BMI server
272 This router should be on top of all others, so messages
273 that should not be delivered do not reach other routers
274 at all. If the message has not been processed by
275 the BMI server, this variable defaults to FALSE.
278 - A list router precondition to query if rules "fired" on
279 the message for the recipient. Its name is "bmi_rule". You
280 use it by passing it a colon-separated list of rule
281 numbers. You can use this condition to route messages that
282 matched specific rules. Here is an example:
284 # special router for BMI rule #5, #8 and #11
288 data = postmaster@mydomain.com
291 - Expansion variables. Several expansion variables are set
292 during routing. You can use them in custom router
293 conditions, for example. The following variables are
296 o $bmi_base64_verdict
298 This variable will contain the BASE64 encoded verdict
299 for the recipient being routed. You can use it to add a
300 header to messages for tracking purposes, for example:
305 headers_add = X-Brightmail-Verdict: $bmi_base64_verdict
306 transport = local_delivery
308 If there is no verdict available for the recipient being
309 routed, this variable contains the empty string.
311 o $bmi_base64_tracker_verdict
313 This variable will contain a BASE64 encoded subset of
314 the verdict information concerning the "rules" that
315 fired on the message. You can add this string to a
316 header, commonly named "X-Brightmail-Tracker". Example:
321 headers_add = X-Brightmail-Tracker: $bmi_base64_tracker_verdict
322 transport = local_delivery
324 If there is no verdict available for the recipient being
325 routed, this variable contains the empty string.
329 If the verdict is to redirect the message to an
330 alternate location, this variable will contain the
331 alternate location string returned by the BMI server. In
332 its default configuration, this is a header-like string
333 that can be added to the message with "headers_add". If
334 there is no verdict available for the recipient being
335 routed, or if the message is to be delivered normally,
336 this variable contains the empty string.
340 This is an additional integer variable that can be used
341 to query if the message should be delivered at all. You
342 should use router preconditions instead if possible.
344 $bmi_deliver is '0': the message should NOT be delivered.
345 $bmi_deliver is '1': the message should be delivered.
348 IMPORTANT NOTE: Verdict inheritance.
349 The message is passed to the BMI server during message
350 reception, using the target addresses from the RCPT TO:
351 commands in the SMTP transaction. If recipients get expanded
352 or re-written (for example by aliasing), the new address(es)
353 inherit the verdict from the original address. This means
354 that verdicts also apply to all "child" addresses generated
355 from top-level addresses that were sent to the BMI server.
358 5) Using per-recipient opt-in information (Optional)
360 The BMI server features multiple scanning "profiles" for
361 individual recipients. These are usually stored in a LDAP
362 server and are queried by the BMI server itself. However,
363 you can also pass opt-in data for each recipient from the
364 MTA to the BMI server. This is particularly useful if you
365 already look up recipient data in Exim anyway (which can
366 also be stored in a SQL database or other source). This
367 implementation enables you to pass opt-in data to the BMI
368 server in the RCPT ACL. This works by setting the
369 'bmi_optin' modifier in a block of that ACL. If should be
370 set to a list of comma-separated strings that identify the
371 features which the BMI server should use for that particular
372 recipient. Ideally, you would use the 'bmi_optin' modifier
373 in the same ACL block where you set the 'bmi_run' control
374 flag. Here is an example that will pull opt-in data for each
375 recipient from a flat file called
376 '/etc/exim/bmi_optin_data'.
380 user1@mydomain.com: <OPTIN STRING1>:<OPTIN STRING2>
381 user2@thatdomain.com: <OPTIN STRING3>
386 accept domains = +relay_to_domains
389 bmi_optin = ${lookup{$local_part@$domain}lsearch{/etc/exim/bmi_optin_data}}
392 Of course, you can also use any other lookup method that
393 Exim supports, including LDAP, Postgres, MySQL, Oracle etc.,
394 as long as the result is a list of colon-separated opt-in
397 For a list of available opt-in strings, please contact your
398 Brightmail representative.
403 Sender Policy Framework (SPF) support
404 --------------------------------------------------------------
406 To learn more about SPF, visit http://www.openspf.org. This
407 document does not explain the SPF fundamentals, you should
408 read and understand the implications of deploying SPF on your
409 system before doing so.
411 SPF support is added via the libspf2 library. Visit
413 http://www.libspf2.org/
415 to obtain a copy, then compile and install it. By default,
416 this will put headers in /usr/local/include and the static
417 library in /usr/local/lib.
419 To compile Exim with SPF support, set these additional flags in
423 CFLAGS=-DSPF -I/usr/local/include
424 EXTRALIBS_EXIM=-L/usr/local/lib -lspf2
426 This assumes that the libspf2 files are installed in
427 their default locations.
429 You can now run SPF checks in incoming SMTP by using the "spf"
430 ACL condition in either the MAIL, RCPT or DATA ACLs. When
431 using it in the RCPT ACL, you can make the checks dependent on
432 the RCPT address (or domain), so you can check SPF records
433 only for certain target domains. This gives you the
434 possibility to opt-out certain customers that do not want
435 their mail to be subject to SPF checking.
437 The spf condition takes a list of strings on its right-hand
438 side. These strings describe the outcome of the SPF check for
439 which the spf condition should succeed. Valid strings are:
441 o pass The SPF check passed, the sending host
442 is positively verified by SPF.
443 o fail The SPF check failed, the sending host
444 is NOT allowed to send mail for the domain
445 in the envelope-from address.
446 o softfail The SPF check failed, but the queried
447 domain can't absolutely confirm that this
449 o none The queried domain does not publish SPF
451 o neutral The SPF check returned a "neutral" state.
452 This means the queried domain has published
453 a SPF record, but wants to allow outside
454 servers to send mail under its domain as well.
455 This should be treated like "none".
456 o permerror This indicates a syntax error in the SPF
457 record of the queried domain. You may deny
458 messages when this occurs. (Changed in 4.83)
459 o temperror This indicates a temporary error during all
460 processing, including Exim's SPF processing.
461 You may defer messages when this occurs.
464 You can prefix each string with an exclamation mark to invert
465 is meaning, for example "!fail" will match all results but
466 "fail". The string list is evaluated left-to-right, in a
467 short-circuit fashion. When a string matches the outcome of
468 the SPF check, the condition succeeds. If none of the listed
469 strings matches the outcome of the SPF check, the condition
472 Here is an example to fail forgery attempts from domains that
476 deny message = $sender_host_address is not allowed to send mail from ${if def:sender_address_domain {$sender_address_domain}{$sender_helo_name}}. \
477 Please see http://www.openspf.org/Why?scope=${if def:sender_address_domain {mfrom}{helo}};identity=${if def:sender_address_domain {$sender_address}{$sender_helo_name}};ip=$sender_host_address
479 --------------------- */
481 You can also give special treatment to specific domains:
484 deny message = AOL sender, but not from AOL-approved relay.
485 sender_domains = aol.com
487 --------------------- */
489 Explanation: AOL publishes SPF records, but is liberal and
490 still allows non-approved relays to send mail from aol.com.
491 This will result in a "neutral" state, while mail from genuine
492 AOL servers will result in "pass". The example above takes
493 this into account and treats "neutral" like "fail", but only
494 for aol.com. Please note that this violates the SPF draft.
496 When the spf condition has run, it sets up several expansion
500 This contains a human-readable string describing the outcome
501 of the SPF check. You can add it to a custom header or use
502 it for logging purposes.
505 This contains a complete Received-SPF: header that can be
506 added to the message. Please note that according to the SPF
507 draft, this header must be added at the top of the header
508 list. Please see section 10 on how you can do this.
510 Note: in case of "Best-guess" (see below), the convention is
511 to put this string in a header called X-SPF-Guess: instead.
514 This contains the outcome of the SPF check in string form,
515 one of pass, fail, softfail, none, neutral, permerror or
519 This contains a string that can be used in a SMTP response
520 to the calling party. Useful for "fail".
522 In addition to SPF, you can also perform checks for so-called
523 "Best-guess". Strictly speaking, "Best-guess" is not standard
524 SPF, but it is supported by the same framework that enables SPF
525 capability. Refer to http://www.openspf.org/FAQ/Best_guess_record
526 for a description of what it means.
528 To access this feature, simply use the spf_guess condition in place
529 of the spf one. For example:
532 deny message = $sender_host_address doesn't look trustworthy to me
534 --------------------- */
536 In case you decide to reject messages based on this check, you
537 should note that although it uses the same framework, "Best-guess"
538 is NOT SPF, and therefore you should not mention SPF at all in your
541 When the spf_guess condition has run, it sets up the same expansion
542 variables as when spf condition is run, described above.
544 Additionally, since Best-guess is not standardized, you may redefine
545 what "Best-guess" means to you by redefining spf_guess variable in
546 global config. For example, the following:
549 spf_guess = v=spf1 a/16 mx/16 ptr ?all
550 --------------------- */
552 would relax host matching rules to a broader network range.
555 SRS (Sender Rewriting Scheme) Support
556 --------------------------------------------------------------
558 Exiscan currently includes SRS support via Miles Wilton's
559 libsrs_alt library. The current version of the supported
562 In order to use SRS, you must get a copy of libsrs_alt from
564 http://srs.mirtol.com/
566 Unpack the tarball, then refer to MTAs/README.EXIM
567 to proceed. You need to set
571 in your Local/Makefile.
575 --------------------------------------------------------------
579 In order to build exim with DCC support add
583 to your Makefile. (Re-)build/install exim. exim -d should show
584 EXPERIMENTAL_DCC under "Support for".
589 In the main section of exim.cf add at least
590 dccifd_address = /usr/local/dcc/var/dccifd
592 dccifd_address = <ip> <port>
594 In the DATA ACL you can use the new condition
597 After that "$dcc_header" contains the X-DCC-Header.
600 fail for overall "R", "G" from dccifd
601 defer for overall "T" from dccifd
602 accept for overall "A", "S" from dccifd
604 dcc = */defer_ok works as for spamd.
606 The "$dcc_result" variable contains the overall result from DCC
607 answer. There will an X-DCC: header added to the mail.
611 to greylist with DCC.
613 If you set, in the main section,
614 dcc_direct_add_header = true
615 then the dcc header will be added "in deep" and if the spool
616 file was already written it gets removed. This forces Exim to
617 write it again if needed. This helps to get the DCC Header
618 through to eg. SpamAssassin.
620 If you want to pass even more headers in the middle of the
621 DATA stage you can set
622 $acl_m_dcc_add_header
623 to tell the DCC routines to add more information; eg, you might set
624 this to some results from ClamAV. Be careful. Header syntax is
625 not checked and is added "as is".
627 In case you've troubles with sites sending the same queue items from several
628 hosts and fail to get through greylisting you can use
629 $acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip
631 Setting $acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip to an IP address overrides the default
632 of $sender_host_address. eg. use the following ACL in DATA stage:
634 warn set acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip = \
635 ${lookup{$sender_helo_name}nwildlsearch{/etc/mail/multipleip_sites}{$value}{}}
636 condition = ${if def:acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip}
637 log_message = dbg: acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip set to \
638 $acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip
640 Then set something like
641 # cat /etc/mail/multipleip_sites
642 mout-xforward.gmx.net 82.165.159.12
643 mout.gmx.net 212.227.15.16
645 Use a reasonable IP. eg. one the sending cluster acutally uses.
648 --------------------------------------------------------------
650 DMARC combines feedback from SPF, DKIM, and header From: in order
651 to attempt to provide better indicators of the authenticity of an
652 email. This document does not explain the fundamentals, you
653 should read and understand how it works by visiting the website at
654 http://www.dmarc.org/.
656 DMARC support is added via the libopendmarc library. Visit:
658 http://sourceforge.net/projects/opendmarc/
660 to obtain a copy, or find it in your favorite rpm package
661 repository. If building from source, this description assumes
662 that headers will be in /usr/local/include, and that the libraries
663 are in /usr/local/lib.
665 1. To compile Exim with DMARC support, you must first enable SPF.
666 Please read the above section on enabling the EXPERIMENTAL_SPF
667 feature. You must also have DKIM support, so you cannot set the
668 DISABLE_DKIM feature. Once both of those conditions have been met
669 you can enable DMARC in Local/Makefile:
671 EXPERIMENTAL_DMARC=yes
672 LDFLAGS += -lopendmarc
673 # CFLAGS += -I/usr/local/include
674 # LDFLAGS += -L/usr/local/lib
676 The first line sets the feature to include the correct code, and
677 the second line says to link the libopendmarc libraries into the
678 exim binary. The commented out lines should be uncommented if you
679 built opendmarc from source and installed in the default location.
680 Adjust the paths if you installed them elsewhere, but you do not
681 need to uncomment them if an rpm (or you) installed them in the
682 package controlled locations (/usr/include and /usr/lib).
685 2. Use the following global settings to configure DMARC:
688 dmarc_tld_file Defines the location of a text file of valid
689 top level domains the opendmarc library uses
690 during domain parsing. Maintained by Mozilla,
691 the most current version can be downloaded
692 from a link at http://publicsuffix.org/list/.
695 dmarc_history_file Defines the location of a file to log results
696 of dmarc verification on inbound emails. The
697 contents are importable by the opendmarc tools
698 which will manage the data, send out DMARC
699 reports, and expire the data. Make sure the
700 directory of this file is writable by the user
703 dmarc_forensic_sender The email address to use when sending a
704 forensic report detailing alignment failures
705 if a sender domain's dmarc record specifies it
706 and you have configured Exim to send them.
707 Default: do-not-reply@$default_hostname
710 3. By default, the DMARC processing will run for any remote,
711 non-authenticated user. It makes sense to only verify DMARC
712 status of messages coming from remote, untrusted sources. You can
713 use standard conditions such as hosts, senders, etc, to decide that
714 DMARC verification should *not* be performed for them and disable
715 DMARC with a control setting:
717 control = dmarc_disable_verify
719 A DMARC record can also specify a "forensic address", which gives
720 exim an email address to submit reports about failed alignment.
721 Exim does not do this by default because in certain conditions it
722 results in unintended information leakage (what lists a user might
723 be subscribed to, etc). You must configure exim to submit forensic
724 reports to the owner of the domain. If the DMARC record contains a
725 forensic address and you specify the control statement below, then
726 exim will send these forensic emails. It's also advised that you
727 configure a dmarc_forensic_sender because the default sender address
728 construction might be inadequate.
730 control = dmarc_forensic_enable
732 (AGAIN: You can choose not to send these forensic reports by simply
733 not putting the dmarc_forensic_enable control line at any point in
734 your exim config. If you don't tell it to send them, it will not
737 There are no options to either control. Both must appear before
741 4. You can now run DMARC checks in incoming SMTP by using the
742 "dmarc_status" ACL condition in the DATA ACL. You are required to
743 call the spf condition first in the ACLs, then the "dmarc_status"
744 condition. Putting this condition in the ACLs is required in order
745 for a DMARC check to actually occur. All of the variables are set
746 up before the DATA ACL, but there is no actual DMARC check that
747 occurs until a "dmarc_status" condition is encountered in the ACLs.
749 The dmarc_status condition takes a list of strings on its
750 right-hand side. These strings describe recommended action based
751 on the DMARC check. To understand what the policy recommendations
752 mean, refer to the DMARC website above. Valid strings are:
754 o accept The DMARC check passed and the library recommends
756 o reject The DMARC check failed and the library recommends
758 o quarantine The DMARC check failed and the library recommends
759 keeping it for further inspection.
760 o none The DMARC check passed and the library recommends
761 no specific action, neutral.
762 o norecord No policy section in the DMARC record for this
764 o nofrom Unable to determine the domain of the sender.
765 o temperror Library error or dns error.
766 o off The DMARC check was disabled for this email.
768 You can prefix each string with an exclamation mark to invert its
769 meaning, for example "!accept" will match all results but
770 "accept". The string list is evaluated left-to-right in a
771 short-circuit fashion. When a string matches the outcome of the
772 DMARC check, the condition succeeds. If none of the listed
773 strings matches the outcome of the DMARC check, the condition
776 Of course, you can also use any other lookup method that Exim
777 supports, including LDAP, Postgres, MySQL, etc, as long as the
778 result is a list of colon-separated strings;
780 Several expansion variables are set before the DATA ACL is
781 processed, and you can use them in this ACL. The following
782 expansion variables are available:
785 This is a one word status indicating what the DMARC library
789 This is a slightly longer, human readable status.
792 This is the domain which DMARC used to look up the DMARC
796 This is the entire Authentication-Results header which you can
797 add using an add_header modifier.
800 5. How to enable DMARC advanced operation:
801 By default, Exim's DMARC configuration is intended to be
802 non-intrusive and conservative. To facilitate this, Exim will not
803 create any type of logging files without explicit configuration by
804 you, the admin. Nor will Exim send out any emails/reports about
805 DMARC issues without explicit configuration by you, the admin (other
806 than typical bounce messages that may come about due to ACL
807 processing or failure delivery issues).
809 In order to log statistics suitable to be imported by the opendmarc
811 a. Configure the global setting dmarc_history_file.
812 b. Configure cron jobs to call the appropriate opendmarc history
813 import scripts and truncating the dmarc_history_file.
815 In order to send forensic reports, you need to:
816 a. Configure the global setting dmarc_forensic_sender.
817 b. Configure, somewhere before the DATA ACL, the control option to
818 enable sending DMARC forensic reports.
823 warn domains = +local_domains
825 control = dmarc_disable_verify
827 warn !domains = +screwed_up_dmarc_records
828 control = dmarc_enable_forensic
831 warn dmarc_status = accept : none : off
833 log_message = DMARC DEBUG: $dmarc_status $dmarc_used_domain
834 add_header = $dmarc_ar_header
836 warn dmarc_status = !accept
838 log_message = DMARC DEBUG: '$dmarc_status' for $dmarc_used_domain
840 warn dmarc_status = quarantine
842 set $acl_m_quarantine = 1
843 # Do something in a transport with this flag variable
845 deny dmarc_status = reject
847 message = Message from $domain_used_domain failed sender's DMARC policy, REJECT
851 Transport post-delivery actions
852 --------------------------------------------------------------
854 An arbitrary per-transport string can be expanded on successful delivery,
855 and (for SMTP transports) a second string on deferrals caused by a host error.
856 This feature may be used, for example, to write exim internal log information
857 (not available otherwise) into a database.
859 In order to use the feature, you must set
861 EXPERIMENTAL_TPDA=yes
863 in your Local/Makefile
865 and define the expandable strings in the runtime config file, to
866 be executed at end of delivery.
868 Additionally, there are 6 more variables, available at end of
871 tpda_delivery_ip IP of host, which has accepted delivery
872 tpda_delivery_port Port of remote host which has accepted delivery
873 tpda_delivery_fqdn FQDN of host, which has accepted delivery
874 tpda_delivery_local_part local part of address being delivered
875 tpda_delivery_domain domain part of address being delivered
876 tpda_delivery_confirmation SMTP confirmation message
878 In case of a deferral caused by a host-error:
879 tpda_defer_errno Error number
880 tpda_defer_errstr Error string possibly containing more details
882 The $router_name and $transport_name variables are also usable.
885 To take action after successful deliveries, set the following option
886 on any transport of interest.
890 An example might look like:
892 tpda_delivery_action = \
893 ${lookup pgsql {SELECT * FROM record_Delivery( \
894 '${quote_pgsql:$sender_address_domain}',\
895 '${quote_pgsql:${lc:$sender_address_local_part}}', \
896 '${quote_pgsql:$tpda_delivery_domain}', \
897 '${quote_pgsql:${lc:$tpda_delivery_local_part}}', \
898 '${quote_pgsql:$tpda_delivery_ip}', \
899 '${quote_pgsql:${lc:$tpda_delivery_fqdn}}', \
900 '${quote_pgsql:$message_exim_id}')}}
902 The string is expanded after the delivery completes and any
903 side-effects will happen. The result is then discarded.
904 Note that for complex operations an ACL expansion can be used.
907 In order to log host deferrals, add the following option to an SMTP
910 tpda_host_defer_action
912 This is a private option of the SMTP transport. It is intended to
913 log failures of remote hosts. It is executed only when exim has
914 attempted to deliver a message to a remote host and failed due to
915 an error which doesn't seem to be related to the individual
916 message, sender, or recipient address.
917 See section 47.2 of the exim documentation for more details on how
922 tpda_host_defer_action = \
923 ${lookup mysql {insert into delivlog set \
924 msgid = '${quote_mysql:$message_exim_id}', \
925 senderlp = '${quote_mysql:${lc:$sender_address_local_part}}', \
926 senderdom = '${quote_mysql:$sender_address_domain}', \
927 delivlp = '${quote_mysql:${lc:$tpda_delivery_local_part}}', \
928 delivdom = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_delivery_domain}', \
929 delivip = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_delivery_ip}', \
930 delivport = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_delivery_port}', \
931 delivfqdn = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_delivery_fqdn}', \
932 deliverrno = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_defer_errno}', \
933 deliverrstr = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_defer_errstr}' \
938 --------------------------------------------------------------
940 Redis is open source advanced key-value data store. This document
941 does not explain the fundamentals, you should read and understand how
942 it works by visiting the website at http://www.redis.io/.
944 Redis lookup support is added via the hiredis library. Visit:
946 https://github.com/redis/hiredis
948 to obtain a copy, or find it in your operating systems package repository.
949 If building from source, this description assumes that headers will be in
950 /usr/local/include, and that the libraries are in /usr/local/lib.
952 1. In order to build exim with Redis lookup support add
954 EXPERIMENTAL_REDIS=yes
956 to your Local/Makefile. (Re-)build/install exim. exim -d should show
957 Experimental_Redis in the line "Support for:".
959 EXPERIMENTAL_REDIS=yes
961 # CFLAGS += -I/usr/local/include
962 # LDFLAGS += -L/usr/local/lib
964 The first line sets the feature to include the correct code, and
965 the second line says to link the hiredis libraries into the
966 exim binary. The commented out lines should be uncommented if you
967 built hiredis from source and installed in the default location.
968 Adjust the paths if you installed them elsewhere, but you do not
969 need to uncomment them if an rpm (or you) installed them in the
970 package controlled locations (/usr/include and /usr/lib).
973 2. Use the following global settings to configure Redis lookup support:
976 redis_servers This option provides a list of Redis servers
977 and associated connection data, to be used in
978 conjunction with redis lookups. The option is
979 only available if Exim is configured with Redis
984 redis_servers = 127.0.0.1/10/ - using database 10 with no password
985 redis_servers = 127.0.0.1//password - to make use of the default database of 0 with a password
986 redis_servers = 127.0.0.1// - for default database of 0 with no password
988 3. Once you have the Redis servers defined you can then make use of the
989 experimental Redis lookup by specifying ${lookup redis{}} in a lookup query.
994 hostlist relay_from_ips = <\n ${lookup redis{SMEMBERS relay_from_ips}}
996 Where relay_from_ips is a Redis set which contains entries such as "192.168.0.0/24" "10.0.0.0/8" and so on.
997 The result set is returned as
1004 domainlist virtual_domains = ${lookup redis {HGET $domain domain}}
1006 Where $domain is a hash which includes the key 'domain' and the value '$domain'.
1008 (Adding or updating an existing key)
1009 set acl_c_spammer = ${if eq{${lookup redis{SPAMMER_SET}}}{OK}}
1011 Where SPAMMER_SET is a macro and it is defined as
1013 "SET SPAMMER <some_value>"
1015 (Getting a value from Redis)
1017 set acl_c_spam_host = ${lookup redis{GET...}}
1020 Proxy Protocol Support
1021 --------------------------------------------------------------
1023 Exim now has Experimental "Proxy Protocol" support. It was built on
1024 specifications from:
1025 http://haproxy.1wt.eu/download/1.5/doc/proxy-protocol.txt
1027 The purpose of this function is so that an application load balancer,
1028 such as HAProxy, can sit in front of several Exim servers and Exim
1029 will log the IP that is connecting to the proxy server instead of
1030 the IP of the proxy server when it connects to Exim. It resets the
1031 $sender_address_host and $sender_address_port to the IP:port of the
1032 connection to the proxy. It also re-queries the DNS information for
1033 this new IP address so that the original sender's hostname and IP
1034 get logged in the Exim logfile. There is no logging if a host passes or
1035 fails Proxy Protocol negotiation, but it can easily be determined and
1036 recorded in an ACL (example is below).
1038 1. To compile Exim with Proxy Protocol support, put this in
1041 EXPERIMENTAL_PROXY=yes
1043 2. Global configuration settings:
1045 proxy_required_hosts = HOSTLIST
1047 The proxy_required_hosts option will require any IP in that hostlist
1048 to use Proxy Protocol. The specification of Proxy Protocol is very
1049 strict, and if proxy negotiation fails, Exim will not allow any SMTP
1050 command other than QUIT. (See end of this section for an example.)
1051 The option is expanded when used, so it can be a hostlist as well as
1052 string of IP addresses. Since it is expanded, specifying an alternate
1053 separator is supported for ease of use with IPv6 addresses.
1055 To log the IP of the proxy in the incoming logline, add:
1056 log_selector = +proxy
1058 A default incoming logline (wrapped for appearance) will look like this:
1060 2013-11-04 09:25:06 1VdNti-0001OY-1V <= me@example.net
1061 H=mail.example.net [1.2.3.4] P=esmtp S=433
1063 With the log selector enabled, an email that was proxied through a
1064 Proxy Protocol server at 192.168.1.2 will look like this:
1066 2013-11-04 09:25:06 1VdNti-0001OY-1V <= me@example.net
1067 H=mail.example.net [1.2.3.4] P=esmtp PRX=192.168.1.2 S=433
1069 3. In the ACL's the following expansion variables are available.
1071 proxy_host_address The src IP of the proxy server making the connection
1072 proxy_host_port The src port the proxy server is using
1073 proxy_session Boolean, yes/no, the connected host is required to use
1076 There is no expansion for a failed proxy session, however you can detect
1077 it by checking if $proxy_session is true but $proxy_host is empty. As
1078 an example, in my connect ACL, I have:
1080 warn condition = ${if and{ {bool{$proxy_session}} \
1081 {eq{$proxy_host_address}{}} } }
1082 log_message = Failed required proxy protocol negotiation \
1083 from $sender_host_name [$sender_host_address]
1085 warn condition = ${if and{ {bool{$proxy_session}} \
1086 {!eq{$proxy_host_address}{}} } }
1087 # But don't log health probes from the proxy itself
1088 condition = ${if eq{$proxy_host_address}{$sender_host_address} \
1090 log_message = Successfully proxied from $sender_host_name \
1091 [$sender_host_address] through proxy protocol \
1092 host $proxy_host_address
1094 4. Runtime issues to be aware of:
1095 - Since the real connections are all coming from your proxy, and the
1096 per host connection tracking is done before Proxy Protocol is
1097 evaluated, smtp_accept_max_per_host must be set high enough to
1098 handle all of the parallel volume you expect per inbound proxy.
1099 - The proxy has 3 seconds (hard-coded in the source code) to send the
1100 required Proxy Protocol header after it connects. If it does not,
1101 the response to any commands will be:
1102 "503 Command refused, required Proxy negotiation failed"
1103 - If the incoming connection is configured in Exim to be a Proxy
1104 Protocol host, but the proxy is not sending the header, the banner
1105 does not get sent until the timeout occurs. If the sending host
1106 sent any input (before the banner), this causes a standard Exim
1107 synchronization error (i.e. trying to pipeline before PIPELINING
1109 - This is not advised, but is mentioned for completeness if you have
1110 a specific internal configuration that you want this: If the Exim
1111 server only has an internal IP address and no other machines in your
1112 organization will connect to it to try to send email, you may
1113 simply set the hostlist to "*", however, this will prevent local
1114 mail programs from working because that would require mail from
1115 localhost to use Proxy Protocol. Again, not advised!
1117 5. Example of a refused connection because the Proxy Protocol header was
1118 not sent from a host configured to use Proxy Protocol. In the example,
1119 the 3 second timeout occurred (when a Proxy Protocol banner should have
1120 been sent), the banner was displayed to the user, but all commands are
1121 rejected except for QUIT:
1123 # nc mail.example.net 25
1124 220-mail.example.net, ESMTP Exim 4.82+proxy, Mon, 04 Nov 2013 10:45:59
1125 220 -0800 RFC's enforced
1127 503 Command refused, required Proxy negotiation failed
1129 221 mail.example.net closing connection
1133 --------------------------------------------------------------
1135 --------------------------------------------------------------