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.
463 o err_temp Same as permerror, deprecated in 4.83, will be
464 removed in a future release.
465 o err_perm Same as temperror, deprecated in 4.83, will be
466 removed in a future release.
468 You can prefix each string with an exclamation mark to invert
469 its meaning, for example "!fail" will match all results but
470 "fail". The string list is evaluated left-to-right, in a
471 short-circuit fashion. When a string matches the outcome of
472 the SPF check, the condition succeeds. If none of the listed
473 strings matches the outcome of the SPF check, the condition
476 Here is an example to fail forgery attempts from domains that
480 deny message = $sender_host_address is not allowed to send mail from ${if def:sender_address_domain {$sender_address_domain}{$sender_helo_name}}. \
481 Please see http://www.openspf.org/Why?scope=${if def:sender_address_domain {mfrom}{helo}};identity=${if def:sender_address_domain {$sender_address}{$sender_helo_name}};ip=$sender_host_address
483 --------------------- */
485 You can also give special treatment to specific domains:
488 deny message = AOL sender, but not from AOL-approved relay.
489 sender_domains = aol.com
491 --------------------- */
493 Explanation: AOL publishes SPF records, but is liberal and
494 still allows non-approved relays to send mail from aol.com.
495 This will result in a "neutral" state, while mail from genuine
496 AOL servers will result in "pass". The example above takes
497 this into account and treats "neutral" like "fail", but only
498 for aol.com. Please note that this violates the SPF draft.
500 When the spf condition has run, it sets up several expansion
504 This contains a human-readable string describing the outcome
505 of the SPF check. You can add it to a custom header or use
506 it for logging purposes.
509 This contains a complete Received-SPF: header that can be
510 added to the message. Please note that according to the SPF
511 draft, this header must be added at the top of the header
512 list. Please see section 10 on how you can do this.
514 Note: in case of "Best-guess" (see below), the convention is
515 to put this string in a header called X-SPF-Guess: instead.
518 This contains the outcome of the SPF check in string form,
519 one of pass, fail, softfail, none, neutral, permerror or
523 This contains a string that can be used in a SMTP response
524 to the calling party. Useful for "fail".
526 In addition to SPF, you can also perform checks for so-called
527 "Best-guess". Strictly speaking, "Best-guess" is not standard
528 SPF, but it is supported by the same framework that enables SPF
529 capability. Refer to http://www.openspf.org/FAQ/Best_guess_record
530 for a description of what it means.
532 To access this feature, simply use the spf_guess condition in place
533 of the spf one. For example:
536 deny message = $sender_host_address doesn't look trustworthy to me
538 --------------------- */
540 In case you decide to reject messages based on this check, you
541 should note that although it uses the same framework, "Best-guess"
542 is NOT SPF, and therefore you should not mention SPF at all in your
545 When the spf_guess condition has run, it sets up the same expansion
546 variables as when spf condition is run, described above.
548 Additionally, since Best-guess is not standardized, you may redefine
549 what "Best-guess" means to you by redefining spf_guess variable in
550 global config. For example, the following:
553 spf_guess = v=spf1 a/16 mx/16 ptr ?all
554 --------------------- */
556 would relax host matching rules to a broader network range.
559 SRS (Sender Rewriting Scheme) Support
560 --------------------------------------------------------------
562 Exiscan currently includes SRS support via Miles Wilton's
563 libsrs_alt library. The current version of the supported
566 In order to use SRS, you must get a copy of libsrs_alt from
568 http://srs.mirtol.com/
570 Unpack the tarball, then refer to MTAs/README.EXIM
571 to proceed. You need to set
575 in your Local/Makefile.
579 --------------------------------------------------------------
583 In order to build exim with DCC support add
587 to your Makefile. (Re-)build/install exim. exim -d should show
588 EXPERIMENTAL_DCC under "Support for".
593 In the main section of exim.cf add at least
594 dccifd_address = /usr/local/dcc/var/dccifd
596 dccifd_address = <ip> <port>
598 In the DATA ACL you can use the new condition
601 After that "$dcc_header" contains the X-DCC-Header.
604 fail for overall "R", "G" from dccifd
605 defer for overall "T" from dccifd
606 accept for overall "A", "S" from dccifd
608 dcc = */defer_ok works as for spamd.
610 The "$dcc_result" variable contains the overall result from DCC
611 answer. There will an X-DCC: header added to the mail.
615 to greylist with DCC.
617 If you set, in the main section,
618 dcc_direct_add_header = true
619 then the dcc header will be added "in deep" and if the spool
620 file was already written it gets removed. This forces Exim to
621 write it again if needed. This helps to get the DCC Header
622 through to eg. SpamAssassin.
624 If you want to pass even more headers in the middle of the
625 DATA stage you can set
626 $acl_m_dcc_add_header
627 to tell the DCC routines to add more information; eg, you might set
628 this to some results from ClamAV. Be careful. Header syntax is
629 not checked and is added "as is".
631 In case you've troubles with sites sending the same queue items from several
632 hosts and fail to get through greylisting you can use
633 $acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip
635 Setting $acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip to an IP address overrides the default
636 of $sender_host_address. eg. use the following ACL in DATA stage:
638 warn set acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip = \
639 ${lookup{$sender_helo_name}nwildlsearch{/etc/mail/multipleip_sites}{$value}{}}
640 condition = ${if def:acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip}
641 log_message = dbg: acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip set to \
642 $acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip
644 Then set something like
645 # cat /etc/mail/multipleip_sites
646 mout-xforward.gmx.net 82.165.159.12
647 mout.gmx.net 212.227.15.16
649 Use a reasonable IP. eg. one the sending cluster acutally uses.
652 --------------------------------------------------------------
654 DMARC combines feedback from SPF, DKIM, and header From: in order
655 to attempt to provide better indicators of the authenticity of an
656 email. This document does not explain the fundamentals, you
657 should read and understand how it works by visiting the website at
658 http://www.dmarc.org/.
660 DMARC support is added via the libopendmarc library. Visit:
662 http://sourceforge.net/projects/opendmarc/
664 to obtain a copy, or find it in your favorite rpm package
665 repository. If building from source, this description assumes
666 that headers will be in /usr/local/include, and that the libraries
667 are in /usr/local/lib.
669 1. To compile Exim with DMARC support, you must first enable SPF.
670 Please read the above section on enabling the EXPERIMENTAL_SPF
671 feature. You must also have DKIM support, so you cannot set the
672 DISABLE_DKIM feature. Once both of those conditions have been met
673 you can enable DMARC in Local/Makefile:
675 EXPERIMENTAL_DMARC=yes
676 LDFLAGS += -lopendmarc
677 # CFLAGS += -I/usr/local/include
678 # LDFLAGS += -L/usr/local/lib
680 The first line sets the feature to include the correct code, and
681 the second line says to link the libopendmarc libraries into the
682 exim binary. The commented out lines should be uncommented if you
683 built opendmarc from source and installed in the default location.
684 Adjust the paths if you installed them elsewhere, but you do not
685 need to uncomment them if an rpm (or you) installed them in the
686 package controlled locations (/usr/include and /usr/lib).
689 2. Use the following global settings to configure DMARC:
692 dmarc_tld_file Defines the location of a text file of valid
693 top level domains the opendmarc library uses
694 during domain parsing. Maintained by Mozilla,
695 the most current version can be downloaded
696 from a link at http://publicsuffix.org/list/.
699 dmarc_history_file Defines the location of a file to log results
700 of dmarc verification on inbound emails. The
701 contents are importable by the opendmarc tools
702 which will manage the data, send out DMARC
703 reports, and expire the data. Make sure the
704 directory of this file is writable by the user
707 dmarc_forensic_sender The email address to use when sending a
708 forensic report detailing alignment failures
709 if a sender domain's dmarc record specifies it
710 and you have configured Exim to send them.
711 Default: do-not-reply@$default_hostname
714 3. By default, the DMARC processing will run for any remote,
715 non-authenticated user. It makes sense to only verify DMARC
716 status of messages coming from remote, untrusted sources. You can
717 use standard conditions such as hosts, senders, etc, to decide that
718 DMARC verification should *not* be performed for them and disable
719 DMARC with a control setting:
721 control = dmarc_disable_verify
723 A DMARC record can also specify a "forensic address", which gives
724 exim an email address to submit reports about failed alignment.
725 Exim does not do this by default because in certain conditions it
726 results in unintended information leakage (what lists a user might
727 be subscribed to, etc). You must configure exim to submit forensic
728 reports to the owner of the domain. If the DMARC record contains a
729 forensic address and you specify the control statement below, then
730 exim will send these forensic emails. It's also advised that you
731 configure a dmarc_forensic_sender because the default sender address
732 construction might be inadequate.
734 control = dmarc_forensic_enable
736 (AGAIN: You can choose not to send these forensic reports by simply
737 not putting the dmarc_forensic_enable control line at any point in
738 your exim config. If you don't tell it to send them, it will not
741 There are no options to either control. Both must appear before
745 4. You can now run DMARC checks in incoming SMTP by using the
746 "dmarc_status" ACL condition in the DATA ACL. You are required to
747 call the spf condition first in the ACLs, then the "dmarc_status"
748 condition. Putting this condition in the ACLs is required in order
749 for a DMARC check to actually occur. All of the variables are set
750 up before the DATA ACL, but there is no actual DMARC check that
751 occurs until a "dmarc_status" condition is encountered in the ACLs.
753 The dmarc_status condition takes a list of strings on its
754 right-hand side. These strings describe recommended action based
755 on the DMARC check. To understand what the policy recommendations
756 mean, refer to the DMARC website above. Valid strings are:
758 o accept The DMARC check passed and the library recommends
760 o reject The DMARC check failed and the library recommends
762 o quarantine The DMARC check failed and the library recommends
763 keeping it for further inspection.
764 o none The DMARC check passed and the library recommends
765 no specific action, neutral.
766 o norecord No policy section in the DMARC record for this
768 o nofrom Unable to determine the domain of the sender.
769 o temperror Library error or dns error.
770 o off The DMARC check was disabled for this email.
772 You can prefix each string with an exclamation mark to invert its
773 meaning, for example "!accept" will match all results but
774 "accept". The string list is evaluated left-to-right in a
775 short-circuit fashion. When a string matches the outcome of the
776 DMARC check, the condition succeeds. If none of the listed
777 strings matches the outcome of the DMARC check, the condition
780 Of course, you can also use any other lookup method that Exim
781 supports, including LDAP, Postgres, MySQL, etc, as long as the
782 result is a list of colon-separated strings.
784 Several expansion variables are set before the DATA ACL is
785 processed, and you can use them in this ACL. The following
786 expansion variables are available:
789 This is a one word status indicating what the DMARC library
790 thinks of the email. It is a combination of the results of
791 DMARC record lookup and the SPF/DKIM/DMARC processing results
792 (if a DMARC record was found). The actual policy declared
793 in the DMARC record is in a separate expansion variable.
796 This is a slightly longer, human readable status.
799 This is the domain which DMARC used to look up the DMARC
802 o $dmarc_domain_policy
803 This is the policy declared in the DMARC record. Valid values
804 are "none", "reject" and "quarantine". It is blank when there
805 is any error, including no DMARC record.
808 This is the entire Authentication-Results header which you can
809 add using an add_header modifier.
812 5. How to enable DMARC advanced operation:
813 By default, Exim's DMARC configuration is intended to be
814 non-intrusive and conservative. To facilitate this, Exim will not
815 create any type of logging files without explicit configuration by
816 you, the admin. Nor will Exim send out any emails/reports about
817 DMARC issues without explicit configuration by you, the admin (other
818 than typical bounce messages that may come about due to ACL
819 processing or failure delivery issues).
821 In order to log statistics suitable to be imported by the opendmarc
823 a. Configure the global setting dmarc_history_file.
824 b. Configure cron jobs to call the appropriate opendmarc history
825 import scripts and truncating the dmarc_history_file.
827 In order to send forensic reports, you need to:
828 a. Configure the global setting dmarc_forensic_sender.
829 b. Configure, somewhere before the DATA ACL, the control option to
830 enable sending DMARC forensic reports.
835 warn domains = +local_domains
837 control = dmarc_disable_verify
839 warn !domains = +screwed_up_dmarc_records
840 control = dmarc_enable_forensic
842 warn condition = (lookup if destined to mailing list)
843 set acl_m_mailing_list = 1
846 warn dmarc_status = accept : none : off
848 log_message = DMARC DEBUG: $dmarc_status $dmarc_used_domain
849 add_header = $dmarc_ar_header
851 warn dmarc_status = !accept
853 log_message = DMARC DEBUG: '$dmarc_status' for $dmarc_used_domain
855 warn dmarc_status = quarantine
857 set $acl_m_quarantine = 1
858 # Do something in a transport with this flag variable
860 deny condition = ${if eq{$dmarc_domain_policy}{reject}}
861 condition = ${if eq{$acl_m_mailing_list}{1}}
862 message = Messages from $dmarc_used_domain break mailing lists
864 deny dmarc_status = reject
866 message = Message from $domain_used_domain failed sender's DMARC policy, REJECT
870 Transport post-delivery actions
871 --------------------------------------------------------------
873 An arbitrary per-transport string can be expanded on successful delivery,
874 and (for SMTP transports) a second string on deferrals caused by a host error.
875 This feature may be used, for example, to write exim internal log information
876 (not available otherwise) into a database.
878 In order to use the feature, you must set
880 EXPERIMENTAL_TPDA=yes
882 in your Local/Makefile
884 and define the expandable strings in the runtime config file, to
885 be executed at end of delivery.
887 Additionally, there are 6 more variables, available at end of
890 tpda_delivery_ip IP of host, which has accepted delivery
891 tpda_delivery_port Port of remote host which has accepted delivery
892 tpda_delivery_fqdn FQDN of host, which has accepted delivery
893 tpda_delivery_local_part local part of address being delivered
894 tpda_delivery_domain domain part of address being delivered
895 tpda_delivery_confirmation SMTP confirmation message
897 In case of a deferral caused by a host-error:
898 tpda_defer_errno Error number
899 tpda_defer_errstr Error string possibly containing more details
901 The $router_name and $transport_name variables are also usable.
904 To take action after successful deliveries, set the following option
905 on any transport of interest.
909 An example might look like:
911 tpda_delivery_action = \
912 ${lookup pgsql {SELECT * FROM record_Delivery( \
913 '${quote_pgsql:$sender_address_domain}',\
914 '${quote_pgsql:${lc:$sender_address_local_part}}', \
915 '${quote_pgsql:$tpda_delivery_domain}', \
916 '${quote_pgsql:${lc:$tpda_delivery_local_part}}', \
917 '${quote_pgsql:$tpda_delivery_ip}', \
918 '${quote_pgsql:${lc:$tpda_delivery_fqdn}}', \
919 '${quote_pgsql:$message_exim_id}')}}
921 The string is expanded after the delivery completes and any
922 side-effects will happen. The result is then discarded.
923 Note that for complex operations an ACL expansion can be used.
926 In order to log host deferrals, add the following option to an SMTP
929 tpda_host_defer_action
931 This is a private option of the SMTP transport. It is intended to
932 log failures of remote hosts. It is executed only when exim has
933 attempted to deliver a message to a remote host and failed due to
934 an error which doesn't seem to be related to the individual
935 message, sender, or recipient address.
936 See section 47.2 of the exim documentation for more details on how
941 tpda_host_defer_action = \
942 ${lookup mysql {insert into delivlog set \
943 msgid = '${quote_mysql:$message_exim_id}', \
944 senderlp = '${quote_mysql:${lc:$sender_address_local_part}}', \
945 senderdom = '${quote_mysql:$sender_address_domain}', \
946 delivlp = '${quote_mysql:${lc:$tpda_delivery_local_part}}', \
947 delivdom = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_delivery_domain}', \
948 delivip = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_delivery_ip}', \
949 delivport = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_delivery_port}', \
950 delivfqdn = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_delivery_fqdn}', \
951 deliverrno = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_defer_errno}', \
952 deliverrstr = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_defer_errstr}' \
957 --------------------------------------------------------------
959 Redis is open source advanced key-value data store. This document
960 does not explain the fundamentals, you should read and understand how
961 it works by visiting the website at http://www.redis.io/.
963 Redis lookup support is added via the hiredis library. Visit:
965 https://github.com/redis/hiredis
967 to obtain a copy, or find it in your operating systems package repository.
968 If building from source, this description assumes that headers will be in
969 /usr/local/include, and that the libraries are in /usr/local/lib.
971 1. In order to build exim with Redis lookup support add
973 EXPERIMENTAL_REDIS=yes
975 to your Local/Makefile. (Re-)build/install exim. exim -d should show
976 Experimental_Redis in the line "Support for:".
978 EXPERIMENTAL_REDIS=yes
980 # CFLAGS += -I/usr/local/include
981 # LDFLAGS += -L/usr/local/lib
983 The first line sets the feature to include the correct code, and
984 the second line says to link the hiredis libraries into the
985 exim binary. The commented out lines should be uncommented if you
986 built hiredis from source and installed in the default location.
987 Adjust the paths if you installed them elsewhere, but you do not
988 need to uncomment them if an rpm (or you) installed them in the
989 package controlled locations (/usr/include and /usr/lib).
992 2. Use the following global settings to configure Redis lookup support:
995 redis_servers This option provides a list of Redis servers
996 and associated connection data, to be used in
997 conjunction with redis lookups. The option is
998 only available if Exim is configured with Redis
1003 redis_servers = 127.0.0.1/10/ - using database 10 with no password
1004 redis_servers = 127.0.0.1//password - to make use of the default database of 0 with a password
1005 redis_servers = 127.0.0.1// - for default database of 0 with no password
1007 3. Once you have the Redis servers defined you can then make use of the
1008 experimental Redis lookup by specifying ${lookup redis{}} in a lookup query.
1013 hostlist relay_from_ips = <\n ${lookup redis{SMEMBERS relay_from_ips}}
1015 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.
1016 The result set is returned as
1023 domainlist virtual_domains = ${lookup redis {HGET $domain domain}}
1025 Where $domain is a hash which includes the key 'domain' and the value '$domain'.
1027 (Adding or updating an existing key)
1028 set acl_c_spammer = ${if eq{${lookup redis{SPAMMER_SET}}}{OK}}
1030 Where SPAMMER_SET is a macro and it is defined as
1032 "SET SPAMMER <some_value>"
1034 (Getting a value from Redis)
1036 set acl_c_spam_host = ${lookup redis{GET...}}
1039 Proxy Protocol Support
1040 --------------------------------------------------------------
1042 Exim now has Experimental "Proxy Protocol" support. It was built on
1043 specifications from:
1044 http://haproxy.1wt.eu/download/1.5/doc/proxy-protocol.txt
1046 The purpose of this function is so that an application load balancer,
1047 such as HAProxy, can sit in front of several Exim servers and Exim
1048 will log the IP that is connecting to the proxy server instead of
1049 the IP of the proxy server when it connects to Exim. It resets the
1050 $sender_address_host and $sender_address_port to the IP:port of the
1051 connection to the proxy. It also re-queries the DNS information for
1052 this new IP address so that the original sender's hostname and IP
1053 get logged in the Exim logfile. There is no logging if a host passes or
1054 fails Proxy Protocol negotiation, but it can easily be determined and
1055 recorded in an ACL (example is below).
1057 1. To compile Exim with Proxy Protocol support, put this in
1060 EXPERIMENTAL_PROXY=yes
1062 2. Global configuration settings:
1064 proxy_required_hosts = HOSTLIST
1066 The proxy_required_hosts option will require any IP in that hostlist
1067 to use Proxy Protocol. The specification of Proxy Protocol is very
1068 strict, and if proxy negotiation fails, Exim will not allow any SMTP
1069 command other than QUIT. (See end of this section for an example.)
1070 The option is expanded when used, so it can be a hostlist as well as
1071 string of IP addresses. Since it is expanded, specifying an alternate
1072 separator is supported for ease of use with IPv6 addresses.
1074 To log the IP of the proxy in the incoming logline, add:
1075 log_selector = +proxy
1077 A default incoming logline (wrapped for appearance) will look like this:
1079 2013-11-04 09:25:06 1VdNti-0001OY-1V <= me@example.net
1080 H=mail.example.net [1.2.3.4] P=esmtp S=433
1082 With the log selector enabled, an email that was proxied through a
1083 Proxy Protocol server at 192.168.1.2 will look like this:
1085 2013-11-04 09:25:06 1VdNti-0001OY-1V <= me@example.net
1086 H=mail.example.net [1.2.3.4] P=esmtp PRX=192.168.1.2 S=433
1088 3. In the ACL's the following expansion variables are available.
1090 proxy_host_address The src IP of the proxy server making the connection
1091 proxy_host_port The src port the proxy server is using
1092 proxy_session Boolean, yes/no, the connected host is required to use
1095 There is no expansion for a failed proxy session, however you can detect
1096 it by checking if $proxy_session is true but $proxy_host is empty. As
1097 an example, in my connect ACL, I have:
1099 warn condition = ${if and{ {bool{$proxy_session}} \
1100 {eq{$proxy_host_address}{}} } }
1101 log_message = Failed required proxy protocol negotiation \
1102 from $sender_host_name [$sender_host_address]
1104 warn condition = ${if and{ {bool{$proxy_session}} \
1105 {!eq{$proxy_host_address}{}} } }
1106 # But don't log health probes from the proxy itself
1107 condition = ${if eq{$proxy_host_address}{$sender_host_address} \
1109 log_message = Successfully proxied from $sender_host_name \
1110 [$sender_host_address] through proxy protocol \
1111 host $proxy_host_address
1113 4. Runtime issues to be aware of:
1114 - Since the real connections are all coming from your proxy, and the
1115 per host connection tracking is done before Proxy Protocol is
1116 evaluated, smtp_accept_max_per_host must be set high enough to
1117 handle all of the parallel volume you expect per inbound proxy.
1118 - The proxy has 3 seconds (hard-coded in the source code) to send the
1119 required Proxy Protocol header after it connects. If it does not,
1120 the response to any commands will be:
1121 "503 Command refused, required Proxy negotiation failed"
1122 - If the incoming connection is configured in Exim to be a Proxy
1123 Protocol host, but the proxy is not sending the header, the banner
1124 does not get sent until the timeout occurs. If the sending host
1125 sent any input (before the banner), this causes a standard Exim
1126 synchronization error (i.e. trying to pipeline before PIPELINING
1128 - This is not advised, but is mentioned for completeness if you have
1129 a specific internal configuration that you want this: If the Exim
1130 server only has an internal IP address and no other machines in your
1131 organization will connect to it to try to send email, you may
1132 simply set the hostlist to "*", however, this will prevent local
1133 mail programs from working because that would require mail from
1134 localhost to use Proxy Protocol. Again, not advised!
1136 5. Example of a refused connection because the Proxy Protocol header was
1137 not sent from a host configured to use Proxy Protocol. In the example,
1138 the 3 second timeout occurred (when a Proxy Protocol banner should have
1139 been sent), the banner was displayed to the user, but all commands are
1140 rejected except for QUIT:
1142 # nc mail.example.net 25
1143 220-mail.example.net, ESMTP Exim 4.82+proxy, Mon, 04 Nov 2013 10:45:59
1144 220 -0800 RFC's enforced
1146 503 Command refused, required Proxy negotiation failed
1148 221 mail.example.net closing connection
1152 --------------------------------------------------------------
1154 --------------------------------------------------------------