. Update the Copyright year (only) when changing content.
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-.set previousversion "4.95"
+.set previousversion "4.98"
.include ./local_params
.set ACL "access control lists (ACLs)"
.set drivernamemax "64"
.macro copyyear
-2021
+2024
.endmacro
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
. --- table with four columns. For cases when the option name is given with
. --- a space, so that it can be split, a fifth argument is used for the
. --- index entry.
+. --- Also one for multiple option def headings be grouped in a single
+. --- table (but without the split capability).
+
+.macro otable
+.itable all 0 0 4 8* left 6* center 6* center 6* right
+.endmacro
+
+.macro orow
+.row "&%$1%&" "Use: &'$2'&" "Type: &'$3'&" "Default: &'$4'&"
+.endmacro
.macro option
.arg 5
.arg -5
.oindex "&%$1%&"
.endarg
-.itable all 0 0 4 8* left 6* center 6* center 6* right
-.row "&%$1%&" "Use: &'$2'&" "Type: &'$3'&" "Default: &'$4'&"
+.otable
+.orow "$1" "$2" "$3" "$4"
+.endtable
+.endmacro
+
+.macro options
+.eacharg
+.oindex "&%$+1%&"
+.endeach 4
+.otable
+.eacharg
+.orow "$+1" "$+2" "$+3" "$+4"
+.endeach 4
.endtable
.endmacro
.itable none 0 0 2 $1 left $2 left
.endmacro
+
+. --- A macro for a plain variable, including the .vitem and .vindex
+.macro var
+.vitem $1
+.vindex $1
+.endmacro
+
+. --- A macro for a "tainted" marker, done as a one-element table
+.macro tmark
+.itable none 0 0 1 10pt left
+.row &'Tainted'&
+.endtable
+.endmacro
+
+. --- A macro for a tainted variable, adding a taint-marker
+.macro tvar
+.var $1
+.tmark
+.endmacro
+
+. --- A macro for a cmdline option, including a .oindex
+. --- 1st arg is the option name, undecorated (we do that here).
+. --- 2nd arg, optional, text (decorated as needed) to be appended to the name
+.macro cmdopt
+.vitem &%$1%&$=2+&~$2+
+.oindex &%$1%&
+.endmacro
+
. --- A macro that generates .row, but puts &I; at the start of the first
. --- argument, thus indenting it. Assume a minimum of two arguments, and
. --- allow up to four arguments, which is as many as we'll ever need.
. --- style of entry, use .scindex for the start and .ecindex for the end. The
. --- first argument of .scindex and the only argument of .ecindex must be the
. --- ID that ties them together.
+. --- The index entry points to the most-recent chapter head, section or subsection
+. --- head, or list-item.
.macro cindex
&<indexterm role="concept">&
&</indexterm>&
.endmacro
+. --- The index entry points to the most-recent chapter head, section or subsection
+. --- head, or varlist item.
+
.macro vindex
&<indexterm role="variable">&
&<primary>&$1&</primary>&
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-. This chunk of literal XML implements index entries of the form "x, see y" and
-. "x, see also y". However, the DocBook DTD doesn't allow <indexterm> entries
+. These implement index entries of the form "x, see y" and "x, see also y".
+. However, the DocBook DTD doesn't allow <indexterm> entries
. at the top level, so we have to put the .chapter directive first.
-
-. These do not turn up in the HTML output, unfortunately. The PDF does get them.
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
.chapter "Introduction" "CHID1"
-.literal xml
-<indexterm role="variable">
- <primary>$1, $2, etc.</primary>
- <see><emphasis>numerical variables</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>address</primary>
- <secondary>rewriting</secondary>
- <see><emphasis>rewriting</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>Bounce Address Tag Validation</primary>
- <see><emphasis>BATV</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>Client SMTP Authorization</primary>
- <see><emphasis>CSA</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>CR character</primary>
- <see><emphasis>carriage return</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>CRL</primary>
- <see><emphasis>certificate revocation list</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>delivery</primary>
- <secondary>failure report</secondary>
- <see><emphasis>bounce message</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>de-tainting</primary>
- <see><emphasis>tainting, de-tainting</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>detainting</primary>
- <see><emphasis>tainting, de-tainting</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>dialup</primary>
- <see><emphasis>intermittently connected hosts</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>exiscan</primary>
- <see><emphasis>content scanning</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>failover</primary>
- <see><emphasis>fallback</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>fallover</primary>
- <see><emphasis>fallback</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>filter</primary>
- <secondary>Sieve</secondary>
- <see><emphasis>Sieve filter</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>ident</primary>
- <see><emphasis>RFC 1413</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>LF character</primary>
- <see><emphasis>linefeed</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>maximum</primary>
- <seealso><emphasis>limit</emphasis></seealso>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>monitor</primary>
- <see><emphasis>Exim monitor</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>no_<emphasis>xxx</emphasis></primary>
- <see>entry for xxx</see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>NUL</primary>
- <see><emphasis>binary zero</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>passwd file</primary>
- <see><emphasis>/etc/passwd</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>process id</primary>
- <see><emphasis>pid</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>RBL</primary>
- <see><emphasis>DNS list</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>redirection</primary>
- <see><emphasis>address redirection</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>return path</primary>
- <seealso><emphasis>envelope sender</emphasis></seealso>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>scanning</primary>
- <see><emphasis>content scanning</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>SSL</primary>
- <see><emphasis>TLS</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>string</primary>
- <secondary>expansion</secondary>
- <see><emphasis>expansion</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>top bit</primary>
- <see><emphasis>8-bit characters</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>variables</primary>
- <see><emphasis>expansion, variables</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>zero, binary</primary>
- <see><emphasis>binary zero</emphasis></see>
-</indexterm>
-<indexterm role="concept">
- <primary>headers</primary>
- <see><emphasis>header lines</emphasis></see>
+.macro seeother
+.literal xml
+<indexterm role="$2">
+ <primary>$3</primary>
+.arg 5
+ <secondary>$5</secondary>
+.endarg
+ <$1><emphasis>$4</emphasis></$1>
</indexterm>
-
.literal off
+.endmacro
+
+. NB: for the 4-arg variant the ordering is awkward
+.macro see
+.seeother see "$1" "$2" "$3" "$4"
+.endmacro
+.macro seealso
+.seeother seealso "$1" "$2" "$3" "$4"
+.endmacro
+
+.see variable "<emphasis>$1</emphasis>, <emphasis>$2</emphasis>, etc." "numerical variables"
+.see concept address rewriting rewriting
+.see concept "Bounce Address Tag Validation" BATV
+.see concept "Client SMTP Authorization" CSA
+.see concept "CR character" "carriage return"
+.see concept CRL "certificate revocation list"
+.seealso concept de-tainting "tainted data"
+.see concept delivery "bounce message" "failure report"
+.see concept dialup "intermittently connected hosts"
+.see concept exiscan "content scanning"
+.see concept fallover fallback
+.see concept filter "Sieve filter" Sieve
+.see concept headers "header lines"
+.see concept ident "RFC 1413"
+.see concept "LF character" "linefeed"
+.seealso concept maximum limit
+.see concept monitor "Exim monitor"
+.see concept "no_<emphasis>xxx</emphasis>" "entry for xxx"
+.see concept NUL "binary zero"
+.see concept "passwd file" "/etc/passwd"
+.see concept "process id" pid
+.see concept RBL "DNS list"
+.see concept redirection "address redirection"
+.see concept "return path" "envelope sender"
+.see concept scanning "content scanning"
+.see concept SSL TLS
+.see concept string expansion expansion
+.see concept "top bit" "8-bit characters"
+.see concept variables "expansion, variables"
+.see concept "zero, binary" "binary zero"
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
.cindex "FAQ"
As well as Exim distribution tar files, the Exim website contains a number of
differently formatted versions of the documentation. A recent addition to the
-online information is the Exim wiki (&url(https://wiki.exim.org)),
+online information is &url(https://wiki.exim.org,the Exim wiki),
which contains what used to be a separate FAQ, as well as various other
examples, tips, and know-how that have been contributed by Exim users.
The wiki site should always redirect to the correct place, which is currently
The following Exim mailing lists exist:
.table2 140pt
-.row &'exim-announce@exim.org'& "Moderated, low volume announcements list"
-.row &'exim-users@exim.org'& "General discussion list"
-.row &'exim-dev@exim.org'& "Discussion of bugs, enhancements, etc."
-.row &'exim-cvs@exim.org'& "Automated commit messages from the VCS"
+.row &'exim-announce@lists.exim.org'& "Moderated, low volume announcements list"
+.row &'exim-users@lists.exim.org'& "General discussion list"
+.row &'exim-users-de@lists.exim.org'& "General discussion list in German language"
+.row &'exim-dev@lists.exim.org'& "Discussion of bugs, enhancements, etc."
+.row &'exim-cvs@lists.exim.org'& "Automated commit messages from the VCS"
.endtable
You can subscribe to these lists, change your existing subscriptions, and view
.cindex "bug reports"
.cindex "reporting bugs"
Reports of obvious bugs can be emailed to &'bugs@exim.org'& or reported
-via the Bugzilla (&url(https://bugs.exim.org)). However, if you are unsure
+via &url(https://bugs.exim.org,the Bugzilla). However, if you are unsure
whether some behaviour is a bug or not, the best thing to do is to post a
message to the &'exim-dev'& mailing list and have it discussed.
.cindex "limitations of Exim"
.cindex "bang paths" "not handled by Exim"
Exim is designed for use as an Internet MTA, and therefore handles addresses in
-RFC 2822 domain format only. It cannot handle UUCP &"bang paths"&, though
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+domain format only. It cannot handle UUCP &"bang paths"&, though
simple two-component bang paths can be converted by a straightforward rewriting
configuration. This restriction does not prevent Exim from being interfaced to
UUCP as a transport mechanism, provided that domain addresses are used.
.cindex "local part" "definition of"
.cindex "domain" "definition of"
-The term &'local part'&, which is taken from RFC 2822, is used to refer to the
+The term &'local part'&, which is taken from
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822), is used to refer to the
part of an email address that precedes the @ sign. The part that follows the
@ sign is called the &'domain'& or &'mail domain'&.
.ilist
Sieve filters are written in the standard filtering language that is defined
-by RFC 3028.
+by &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3028.html,RFC 3028).
.next
Exim filters are written in a syntax that is unique to Exim, but which is more
powerful than Sieve, which it pre-dates.
.cindex "base36"
.cindex "Darwin"
.cindex "Cygwin"
-Every message handled by Exim is given a &'message id'& which is sixteen
+.cindex "exim_msgdate"
+Every message handled by Exim is given a &'message id'& which is 23
characters long. It is divided into three parts, separated by hyphens, for
-example &`16VDhn-0001bo-D3`&. Each part is a sequence of letters and digits,
+example &`16VDhn-000000001bo-D342`&. Each part is a sequence of letters and digits,
normally encoding numbers in base 62. However, in the Darwin operating
system (Mac OS X) and when Exim is compiled to run under Cygwin, base 36
(avoiding the use of lower case letters) is used instead, because the message
contains the number of seconds since the start of the epoch (the normal Unix
way of representing the date and time of day).
.next
-After the first hyphen, the next six characters are the id of the process that
-received the message.
+After the first hyphen, the next
+eleven
+characters are the id of the process that received the message.
.next
-There are two different possibilities for the final two characters:
+There are two different possibilities for the final four characters:
.olist
.oindex "&%localhost_number%&"
If &%localhost_number%& is not set, this value is the fractional part of the
-time of reception, normally in units of 1/2000 of a second, but for systems
+time of reception, normally in units of
+microseconds.
+but for systems
that must use base 36 instead of base 62 (because of case-insensitive file
-systems), the units are 1/1000 of a second.
+systems), the units are
+2 us.
.next
-If &%localhost_number%& is set, it is multiplied by 200 (100) and added to
-the fractional part of the time, which in this case is in units of 1/200
-(1/100) of a second.
+If &%localhost_number%& is set, it is multiplied by
+500000 (250000) and added to
+the fractional part of the time, which in this case is in units of 2 us (4 us).
.endlist
.endlist
pid, it is guaranteed that the time will be different. In most cases, the clock
will already have ticked while the message was being received.
+The exim_msgdate utility (see section &<<SECTexim_msgdate>>&) can be
+used to display the date, and optionally the process id, of an Exim
+Message ID.
+
.section "Receiving mail" "SECID13"
.cindex "receiving mail"
order in which they are tested. The individual configuration options are
described in more detail in chapter &<<CHAProutergeneric>>&.
-.ilist
+.olist
.cindex affix "router precondition"
The &%local_part_prefix%& and &%local_part_suffix%& options can specify that
the local parts handled by the router may or must have certain prefixes and/or
If the &%domains%& option is set, the domain of the address must be in the set
of domains that it defines.
.cindex "tainted data" "de-tainting"
+.cindex "de-tainting" "using router domains option"
A match verifies the variable &$domain$& (which carries tainted data)
and assigns an untainted value to the &$domain_data$& variable.
Such an untainted value is often needed in the transport.
.cindex "delivery" "in detail"
When a message is to be delivered, the sequence of events is as follows:
-.ilist
+.olist
If a system-wide filter file is specified, the message is passed to it. The
filter may add recipients to the message, replace the recipients, discard the
message, cause a new message to be generated, or cause the message delivery to
-.section "Temporary delivery failure" "SECID20"
+.subsection "Temporary delivery failure" SECID20
.cindex "delivery" "temporary failure"
There are many reasons why a message may not be immediately deliverable to a
particular address. Failure to connect to a remote machine (because it, or the
-.section "Permanent delivery failure" "SECID21"
+.subsection "Permanent delivery failure" SECID21
.cindex "delivery" "permanent failure"
.cindex "bounce message" "when generated"
When a message cannot be delivered to some or all of its intended recipients, a
-.section "Failures to deliver bounce messages" "SECID22"
+.subsection "Failures to deliver bounce messages" SECID22
.cindex "bounce message" "failure to deliver"
If a bounce message (either locally generated or received from a remote host)
itself suffers a permanent delivery failure, the message is left in the queue,
versions. However, the more recent releases seem to have standardized on the
Berkeley DB library.
+.new
+Ownership of the Berkeley DB library has moved to a major corporation;
+development seems to have stalled and documentation is not freely available.
+This is probably not tenable for the long term use by Exim.
+.wen
+
Different DBM libraries have different conventions for naming the files they
use. When a program opens a file called &_dbmfile_&, there are several
possibilities:
.next
To complicate things further, there are several very different versions of the
Berkeley DB package. Version 1.85 was stable for a very long time, releases
-2.&'x'& and 3.&'x'& were current for a while, but the latest versions when Exim last revamped support were numbered 4.&'x'&.
-Maintenance of some of the earlier releases has ceased. All versions of
-Berkeley DB could be obtained from
+2.&'x'& and 3.&'x'& were current for a while,
+but the latest versions when Exim last revamped support were numbered 5.&'x'&.
+Maintenance of some of the earlier releases has ceased,
+and Exim no longer supports versions before 3.&'x'&.
+All versions of Berkeley DB could be obtained from
&url(http://www.sleepycat.com/), which is now a redirect to their new owner's
page with far newer versions listed.
It is probably wise to plan to move your storage configurations away from
Yet another DBM library, called &'tdb'&, is available from
&url(https://sourceforge.net/projects/tdb/files/). It has its own interface, and also
operates on a single file.
+.next
+It is possible to use &url(https://www.sqlite.org/index.html,sqlite3)
+for the DBM library.
.endlist
.cindex "USE_DB"
.code
USE_DB=yes
.endd
-Similarly, for gdbm you set USE_GDBM, and for tdb you set USE_TDB. An
-error is diagnosed if you set more than one of these.
+Similarly, for gdbm you set USE_GDBM, for tdb you set USE_TDB,
+and for sqlite3 you set USE_SQLITE.
+An error is diagnosed if you set more than one of these.
+You can set USE_NDBM if needed to override an operating system default.
At the lowest level, the build-time configuration sets none of these options,
thereby assuming an interface of type (1). However, some operating system
.code
DBMLIB = -ldb
DBMLIB = -ltdb
+DBMLIB = -lsqlite3
+DBMLIB = -lgdbm -lgdbm_compat
.endd
+The last of those was for a Linux having GDBM provide emulated NDBM facilities.
Settings like that will work if the DBM library is installed in the standard
place. Sometimes it is not, and the library's header file may also not be in
the default path. You may need to set INCLUDE to specify where the header
There is further detailed discussion about the various DBM libraries in the
file &_doc/dbm.discuss.txt_& in the Exim distribution.
+.new
+When moving from one DBM library to another,
+for the hints databases it suffices to just remove all the files in the
+directory named &"db/"& under the spool directory.
+This is because hints are only for optimisation and will be rebuilt
+during normal operations.
+Non-hints DBM databases (used by &"dbm"& lookups in the configuration)
+will need individual rebuilds for the new DBM library.
+This is not done automatically
+.wen
+
.section "Pre-building configuration" "SECID25"
.cindex "&[iconv()]& support"
.cindex "RFC 2047"
The contents of header lines in messages may be encoded according to the rules
-described RFC 2047. This makes it possible to transmit characters that are not
+described in &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2047,RFC 2047).
+This makes it possible to transmit characters that are not
in the ASCII character set, and to label them as being in a particular
character set. When Exim is inspecting header lines by means of the &%$h_%&
mechanism, it decodes them, and translates them into a specified character set
.cindex "OpenSSL" "building Exim with"
.cindex "GnuTLS" "building Exim with"
Exim is usually built to support encrypted SMTP connections, using the STARTTLS
-command as per RFC 2487. It can also support clients that expect to
+command as per &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2487,RFC 2487).
+It can also support clients that expect to
start a TLS session immediately on connection to a non-standard port (see the
&%tls_on_connect_ports%& runtime option and the &%-tls-on-connect%& command
line option).
-.section "Dynamically loaded lookup module support" "SECTdynamicmodules"
+.section "Dynamically loaded module support" "SECTdynamicmodules"
.cindex "lookup modules"
+.cindex "router modules"
+.cindex "transport modules"
+.cindex "authenticator modules"
.cindex "dynamic modules"
.cindex ".so building"
On some platforms, Exim supports not compiling all lookup types directly into
the main binary, instead putting some into external modules which can be loaded
on demand.
This permits packagers to build Exim with support for lookups with extensive
-library dependencies without requiring all users to install all of those
+library dependencies without requiring all systems to install all of those
dependencies.
-Most, but not all, lookup types can be built this way.
+.new
+Any combination of lookup types can be built this way.
+Lookup types that provide several variants will be loaded as
+Exim starts.
+Types that provide only one method are not loaded until used by
+the runtime configuration.
+.wen
-Set &`LOOKUP_MODULE_DIR`& to the directory into which the modules will be
+For building
+set &`LOOKUP_MODULE_DIR`& to the directory into which the modules will be
installed; Exim will only load modules from that directory, as a security
measure. You will need to set &`CFLAGS_DYNAMIC`& if not already defined
for your OS; see &_OS/Makefile-Linux_& for an example.
Then, for each module to be loaded dynamically, define the relevant
&`LOOKUP_`&<&'lookup_type'&> flags to have the value "2" instead of "yes".
For example, this will build in lsearch but load sqlite and mysql support
-on demand:
+only if each is installed:
.code
LOOKUP_LSEARCH=yes
LOOKUP_SQLITE=2
LOOKUP_MYSQL=2
.endd
+Set also &`LOOKUP_`&<&'lookup_type'&>&` INCLUDE`& and
+&`LOOKUP_`&<&'lookup_type'&>`_LIBS if needed for each lookup type,
+ensuring that duplicates are not present in more global values.
+
+.new
+Similarly, authenticator, router and transport drivers can be built
+as external modules.
+Modules will be searched for as demanded by the runtime configuration,
+permitting a smaller Exim binary.
+
+For building, as above but using
+&`AUTH_*`&, &`ROUTER_*`& and &`TRANSPORT_*`& instead of &`LOOKUP_*`&,
+.wen
.section "The building process" "SECID29"
.vlist
-.vitem &%--%&
-.oindex "--"
+.cmdopt "--" "--"
.cindex "options" "command line; terminating"
This is a pseudo-option whose only purpose is to terminate the options and
therefore to cause subsequent command line items to be treated as arguments
rather than options, even if they begin with hyphens.
-.vitem &%--help%&
-.oindex "&%--help%&"
+.cmdopt --help
This option causes Exim to output a few sentences stating what it is.
The same output is generated if the Exim binary is called with no options and
no arguments.
-.vitem &%--version%&
-.oindex "&%--version%&"
+.cmdopt --version
This option is an alias for &%-bV%& and causes version information to be
displayed.
These options are used by Sendmail for selecting configuration files and are
ignored by Exim.
-.vitem &%-B%&<&'type'&>
+.cmdopt -B <&'type'&>
.oindex "&%-B%&"
.cindex "8-bit characters"
.cindex "Sendmail compatibility" "8-bit characters"
This is a Sendmail option for selecting 7 or 8 bit processing. Exim is 8-bit
clean; it ignores this option.
-.vitem &%-bd%&
-.oindex "&%-bd%&"
+.cmdopt -bd
.cindex "daemon"
.cindex "SMTP" "listener"
.cindex "queue runner"
referenced from the configuration (for example, alias files) are changed,
because these are reread each time they are used.
-.vitem &%-bdf%&
-.oindex "&%-bdf%&"
+Either a SIGTERM or a SIGINT signal should be used to cause the daemon
+to cleanly shut down.
+Subprocesses handling recceiving or delivering messages,
+or for scanning the queue,
+will not be affected by the termination of the daemon process.
+
+.cmdopt -bdf
This option has the same effect as &%-bd%& except that it never disconnects
from the controlling terminal, even when no debugging is specified.
-.vitem &%-be%&
-.oindex "&%-be%&"
+.cmdopt -be
.cindex "testing" "string expansion"
.cindex "expansion" "testing"
Run Exim in expansion testing mode. Exim discards its root privilege, to
Because macros in the config file are often used for secrets, those are only
available to admin users.
-.vitem &%-bem%&&~<&'filename'&>
-.oindex "&%-bem%&"
+The word &"set"& at the start of a line, followed by a single space,
+is recognised specially as defining a value for a variable.
+.cindex "tainted data" "expansion testing"
+If the sequence &",t"& is inserted before the space,
+the value is marked as tainted.
+The syntax is otherwise the same as the ACL modifier &"set ="&.
+
+.cmdopt -bem <&'filename'&>
.cindex "testing" "string expansion"
.cindex "expansion" "testing"
This option operates like &%-be%& except that it must be followed by the name
line, because further arguments are taken as strings to expand (just like
&%-be%&).
-.vitem &%-bF%&&~<&'filename'&>
-.oindex "&%-bF%&"
+.cmdopt -bF <&'filename'&>
.cindex "system filter" "testing"
.cindex "testing" "system filter"
This option is the same as &%-bf%& except that it assumes that the filter being
tested is a system filter. The additional commands that are available only in
system filters are recognized.
-.vitem &%-bf%&&~<&'filename'&>
-.oindex "&%-bf%&"
+.cmdopt -bf <&'filename'&>
.cindex "filter" "testing"
.cindex "testing" "filter file"
.cindex "forward file" "testing"
can be set by means of additional command line options (see the next four
options).
-.vitem &%-bfd%&&~<&'domain'&>
-.oindex "&%-bfd%&"
+.cmdopt -bfd <&'domain'&>
.vindex "&$qualify_domain$&"
This sets the domain of the recipient address when a filter file is being
tested by means of the &%-bf%& option. The default is the value of
&$qualify_domain$&.
-.vitem &%-bfl%&&~<&'local&~part'&>
-.oindex "&%-bfl%&"
+.cmdopt -bfl <&'local&~part'&>
This sets the local part of the recipient address when a filter file is being
tested by means of the &%-bf%& option. The default is the username of the
process that calls Exim. A local part should be specified with any prefix or
suffix stripped, because that is how it appears to the filter when a message is
actually being delivered.
-.vitem &%-bfp%&&~<&'prefix'&>
-.oindex "&%-bfp%&"
+.cmdopt -bfp <&'prefix'&>
.cindex affix "filter testing"
This sets the prefix of the local part of the recipient address when a filter
file is being tested by means of the &%-bf%& option. The default is an empty
prefix.
-.vitem &%-bfs%&&~<&'suffix'&>
-.oindex "&%-bfs%&"
+.cmdopt -bfs <&'suffix'&>
.cindex affix "filter testing"
This sets the suffix of the local part of the recipient address when a filter
file is being tested by means of the &%-bf%& option. The default is an empty
suffix.
-.vitem &%-bh%&&~<&'IP&~address'&>
-.oindex "&%-bh%&"
+.cmdopt -bh <&'IP&~address'&>
.cindex "testing" "incoming SMTP"
.cindex "SMTP" "testing incoming"
.cindex "testing" "relay control"
&*Warning 1*&:
.cindex "RFC 1413"
-You can test features of the configuration that rely on ident (RFC 1413)
+You can test features of the configuration that rely on ident
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2487,RFC 1413))
information by using the &%-oMt%& option. However, Exim cannot actually perform
an ident callout when testing using &%-bh%& because there is no incoming SMTP
connection.
Features such as authentication and encryption, where the client input is not
plain text, cannot easily be tested with &%-bh%&. Instead, you should use a
specialized SMTP test program such as
-&url(https://www.jetmore.org/john/code/swaks/,swaks).
+&url(https://www.jetmore.org/john/code/swaks/,swaks,swaks).
-.vitem &%-bhc%&&~<&'IP&~address'&>
-.oindex "&%-bhc%&"
+.cmdopt -bhc <&'IP&~address'&>
This option operates in the same way as &%-bh%&, except that address
verification callouts are performed if required. This includes consulting and
updating the callout cache database.
-.vitem &%-bi%&
-.oindex "&%-bi%&"
+.cmdopt -bi
.cindex "alias file" "building"
.cindex "building alias file"
.cindex "Sendmail compatibility" "&%-bi%& option"
&%-bi%& is a no-op.
. // Keep :help first, then the rest in alphabetical order
-.vitem &%-bI:help%&
-.oindex "&%-bI:help%&"
+.cmdopt -bI:help
.cindex "querying exim information"
We shall provide various options starting &`-bI:`& for querying Exim for
information. The output of many of these will be intended for machine
synopsis of supported options beginning &`-bI:`&. Use of any of these
options shall cause Exim to exit after producing the requested output.
-.vitem &%-bI:dscp%&
-.oindex "&%-bI:dscp%&"
+.cmdopt -bI:dscp
.cindex "DSCP" "values"
This option causes Exim to emit an alphabetically sorted list of all
recognised DSCP names.
-.vitem &%-bI:sieve%&
-.oindex "&%-bI:sieve%&"
+.cmdopt -bI:sieve
.cindex "Sieve filter" "capabilities"
This option causes Exim to emit an alphabetically sorted list of all supported
Sieve protocol extensions on stdout, one per line. This is anticipated to be
-useful for ManageSieve (RFC 5804) implementations, in providing that protocol's
+useful for ManageSieve
+(&url(https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5804.html,RFC 5804))
+implementations, in providing that protocol's
&`SIEVE`& capability response line. As the precise list may depend upon
compile-time build options, which this option will adapt to, this is the only
way to guarantee a correct response.
-.vitem &%-bm%&
-.oindex "&%-bm%&"
+.cmdopt -bm
.cindex "local message reception"
This option runs an Exim receiving process that accepts an incoming,
locally-generated message on the standard input. The recipients are given as the
command arguments (except when &%-t%& is also present &-- see below). Each
-argument can be a comma-separated list of RFC 2822 addresses. This is the
+argument can be a comma-separated list of
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822) addresses.
+This is the
default option for selecting the overall action of an Exim call; it is assumed
if no other conflicting option is present.
suppressing this for special cases.
Policy checks on the contents of local messages can be enforced by means of
-the non-SMTP ACL. See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for details.
+the non-SMTP ACL. See section &<<SECnonSMTP>>& for details.
.cindex "return code" "for &%-bm%&"
The return code is zero if the message is successfully accepted. Otherwise, the
.cindex "&""From""& line"
.cindex "UUCP" "&""From""& line"
.cindex "Sendmail compatibility" "&""From""& line"
-of the message must be as defined in RFC 2822, except that, for
+of the message must be as defined in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822),
+except that, for
compatibility with Sendmail and Smail, a line in one of the forms
.code
From sender Fri Jan 5 12:55 GMT 1997
preference to the address taken from the message. The caller of Exim must be a
trusted user for the sender of a message to be set in this way.
-.vitem &%-bmalware%&&~<&'filename'&>
-.oindex "&%-bmalware%&"
+.cmdopt -bmalware <&'filename'&>
.cindex "testing", "malware"
.cindex "malware scan test"
This debugging option causes Exim to scan the given file or directory
there are better tools for file-scanning. This option exists to help
administrators verify their Exim and AV scanner configuration.
-.vitem &%-bnq%&
-.oindex "&%-bnq%&"
+.cmdopt -bnq
.cindex "address qualification, suppressing"
By default, Exim automatically qualifies unqualified addresses (those
without domains) that appear in messages that are submitted locally (that
unqualified addresses in header lines are left alone.
-.vitem &%-bP%&
-.oindex "&%-bP%&"
+.cmdopt -bP
.cindex "configuration options" "extracting"
.cindex "options" "configuration &-- extracting"
If this option is given with no arguments, it causes the values of all Exim's
For the "-bP macro <name>" form, if no such macro is found
the exit status will be nonzero.
-.vitem &%-bp%&
-.oindex "&%-bp%&"
+.cmdopt -bp
.cindex "queue" "listing messages in"
.cindex "listing" "messages in the queue"
This option requests a listing of the contents of the mail queue on the
complete.
-.vitem &%-bpa%&
-.oindex "&%-bpa%&"
+.cmdopt -bpa
This option operates like &%-bp%&, but in addition it shows delivered addresses
that were generated from the original top level address(es) in each message by
alias or forwarding operations. These addresses are flagged with &"+D"& instead
of just &"D"&.
-.vitem &%-bpc%&
-.oindex "&%-bpc%&"
+.cmdopt -bpc
.cindex "queue" "count of messages on"
This option counts the number of messages in the queue, and writes the total
to the standard output. It is restricted to admin users, unless
&%queue_list_requires_admin%& is set false.
-.vitem &%-bpr%&
-.oindex "&%-bpr%&"
+.cmdopt -bpi
+.cindex queue "list of message IDs"
+This option operates like &%-bp%&, but only outputs message ids
+(one per line).
+
+
+.cmdopt -bpr
This option operates like &%-bp%&, but the output is not sorted into
chronological order of message arrival. This can speed it up when there are
lots of messages in the queue, and is particularly useful if the output is
going to be post-processed in a way that doesn't need the sorting.
-.vitem &%-bpra%&
-.oindex "&%-bpra%&"
+.cmdopt -bpra
This option is a combination of &%-bpr%& and &%-bpa%&.
-.vitem &%-bpru%&
-.oindex "&%-bpru%&"
+.cmdopt -bpri
+This option is a combination of &%-bpr%& and &%-bpi%&.
+
+.cmdopt -bpru
This option is a combination of &%-bpr%& and &%-bpu%&.
-.vitem &%-bpu%&
-.oindex "&%-bpu%&"
+.cmdopt -bpu
This option operates like &%-bp%& but shows only undelivered top-level
addresses for each message displayed. Addresses generated by aliasing or
forwarding are not shown, unless the message was deferred after processing by a
router with the &%one_time%& option set.
-.vitem &%-brt%&
-.oindex "&%-brt%&"
+.cmdopt -brt
.cindex "testing" "retry configuration"
.cindex "retry" "configuration testing"
This option is for testing retry rules, and it must be followed by up to three
Retry rule: *@haydn.comp.mus.example quota_3d F,1h,15m
.endd
-.vitem &%-brw%&
-.oindex "&%-brw%&"
+.cmdopt -brw
.cindex "testing" "rewriting"
.cindex "rewriting" "testing"
This option is for testing address rewriting rules, and it must be followed by
would be rewritten for each possible place it might appear. See chapter
&<<CHAPrewrite>>& for further details.
-.vitem &%-bS%&
-.oindex "&%-bS%&"
+.cmdopt -bS
.cindex "SMTP" "batched incoming"
.cindex "batched SMTP input"
This option is used for batched SMTP input, which is an alternative interface
provoked if the terminating dot is missing. A further message may then follow.
As for other local message submissions, the contents of incoming batch SMTP
-messages can be checked using the non-SMTP ACL (see chapter &<<CHAPACL>>&).
+messages can be checked using the non-SMTP ACL (see section &<<SECnonSMTP>>&).
Unqualified addresses are automatically qualified using &%qualify_domain%& and
&%qualify_recipient%&, as appropriate, unless the &%-bnq%& option is used.
More details of input using batched SMTP are given in section
&<<SECTincomingbatchedSMTP>>&.
-.vitem &%-bs%&
-.oindex "&%-bs%&"
+.cmdopt -bs
.cindex "SMTP" "local input"
.cindex "local SMTP input"
This option causes Exim to accept one or more messages by reading SMTP commands
Exim behaves in exactly the same way as it does when receiving a message via
the listening daemon.
-.vitem &%-bt%&
-.oindex "&%-bt%&"
+.cmdopt -bt
.cindex "testing" "addresses"
.cindex "address" "testing"
This option runs Exim in address testing mode, in which each argument is taken
those conditions using &%-bt%&. The &%-N%& option provides a possible way of
doing such tests.
-.vitem &%-bV%&
-.oindex "&%-bV%&"
+.cmdopt -bV
.cindex "version number of Exim"
This option causes Exim to write the current version number, compilation
number, and compilation date of the &'exim'& binary to the standard output.
realistic testing is needed. The &%-bh%& and &%-N%& options provide more
dynamic testing facilities.
-.vitem &%-bv%&
-.oindex "&%-bv%&"
+.cmdopt -bv
.cindex "verifying address" "using &%-bv%&"
.cindex "address" "verification"
This option runs Exim in address verification mode, in which each argument is
sender when running &%-bv%& tests. Without it, the sender is assumed to be the
calling user at the default qualifying domain.
-.vitem &%-bvs%&
-.oindex "&%-bvs%&"
+.cmdopt -bvs
This option acts like &%-bv%&, but verifies the address as a sender rather
than a recipient address. This affects any rewriting and qualification that
might happen.
-.vitem &%-bw%&
-.oindex "&%-bw%&"
+.cmdopt -bw
.cindex "daemon"
.cindex "inetd"
.cindex "inetd" "wait mode"
If the option is given as &%-bw%&<&'time'&> then the time is a timeout, after
which the daemon will exit, which should cause inetd to listen once more.
-.vitem &%-C%&&~<&'filelist'&>
-.oindex "&%-C%&"
+.cmdopt -C <&'filelist'&>
.cindex "configuration file" "alternate"
.cindex "CONFIGURE_FILE"
.cindex "alternate configuration file"
debugging, whereas &%-d-all+filter%& selects only filter debugging. Note that
no spaces are allowed in the debug setting. The available debugging categories
are:
-.display
-&`acl `& ACL interpretation
-&`auth `& authenticators
-&`deliver `& general delivery logic
-&`dns `& DNS lookups (see also resolver)
-&`dnsbl `& DNS black list (aka RBL) code
-&`exec `& arguments for &[execv()]& calls
-&`expand `& detailed debugging for string expansions
-&`filter `& filter handling
-&`hints_lookup `& hints data lookups
-&`host_lookup `& all types of name-to-IP address handling
-&`ident `& ident lookup
-&`interface `& lists of local interfaces
-&`lists `& matching things in lists
-&`load `& system load checks
-&`local_scan `& can be used by &[local_scan()]& (see chapter &&&
- &<<CHAPlocalscan>>&)
-&`lookup `& general lookup code and all lookups
-&`memory `& memory handling
-&`noutf8 `& modifier: avoid UTF-8 line-drawing
-&`pid `& modifier: add pid to debug output lines
-&`process_info `& setting info for the process log
-&`queue_run `& queue runs
-&`receive `& general message reception logic
-&`resolver `& turn on the DNS resolver's debugging output
-&`retry `& retry handling
-&`rewrite `& address rewriting
-&`route `& address routing
-&`timestamp `& modifier: add timestamp to debug output lines
-&`tls `& TLS logic
-&`transport `& transports
-&`uid `& changes of uid/gid and looking up uid/gid
-&`verify `& address verification logic
-&`all `& almost all of the above (see below), and also &%-v%&
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 2 20* left 80* left
+.irow acl "ACL interpretation"
+.irow auth "authenticators"
+.irow deliver "general delivery logic"
+.irow dns "DNS lookups (see also resolver)"
+.irow dnsbl "DNS black list (aka RBL) code"
+.irow exec "arguments for &[execv()]& calls"
+.irow expand "detailed debugging for string expansions"
+.irow filter "filter handling"
+.irow hints_lookup "hints data lookups"
+.irow host_lookup "all types of name-to-IP address handling"
+.irow ident "ident lookup"
+.irow interface "lists of local interfaces"
+.irow lists "matching things in lists"
+.irow load "system load checks"
+.irow local_scan "can be used by &[local_scan()]& (see chapter &&&
+ &<<CHAPlocalscan>>&)"
+.irow lookup "general lookup code and all lookups"
+.irow memory "memory handling"
+.irow noutf8 "modifier: avoid UTF-8 line-drawing"
+.irow pid "modifier: add pid to debug output lines"
+.irow process_info "setting info for the process log"
+.irow queue_run "queue runs"
+.irow receive "general message reception logic"
+.irow resolver "turn on the DNS resolver's debugging output"
+.irow retry "retry handling"
+.irow rewrite "address rewriting""
+.irow route "address routing"
+.irow timestamp "modifier: add timestamp to debug output lines"
+.irow tls "TLS logic"
+.irow transport "transports"
+.irow uid "changes of uid/gid and looking up uid/gid"
+.irow verify "address verification logic"
+.irow all "almost all of the above (see below), and also &%-v%&"
+.endtable
The &`all`& option excludes &`memory`& when used as &`+all`&, but includes it
for &`-all`&. The reason for this is that &`+all`& is something that people
tend to use when generating debug output for Exim maintainers. If &`+memory`&
subprocesses that the daemon creates. Thus, it is useful for monitoring the
behaviour of the daemon without creating as much output as full debugging does.
-.vitem &%-dropcr%&
-.oindex "&%-dropcr%&"
+.cmdopt -dropcr
This is an obsolete option that is now a no-op. It used to affect the way Exim
handled CR and LF characters in incoming messages. What happens now is
described in section &<<SECTlineendings>>&.
-.vitem &%-E%&
-.oindex "&%-E%&"
+.cmdopt -E
.cindex "bounce message" "generating"
This option specifies that an incoming message is a locally-generated delivery
failure report. It is used internally by Exim when handling delivery failures
example, the &%vacation%& program uses &%-eq%&. Exim treats all options of the
form &%-e%&&'x'& as synonymous with the corresponding &%-oe%&&'x'& options.
-.vitem &%-F%&&~<&'string'&>
-.oindex "&%-F%&"
+.cmdopt -F <&'string'&>
.cindex "sender" "name"
.cindex "name" "of sender"
This option sets the sender's full name for use when a locally-generated
their &'gecos'& entries, no security considerations are involved. White space
between &%-F%& and the <&'string'&> is optional.
-.vitem &%-f%&&~<&'address'&>
-.oindex "&%-f%&"
+.cmdopt -f <&'address'&>
.cindex "sender" "address"
.cindex "address" "sender"
.cindex "trusted users"
&"From&~"& line in the message &-- see the description of &%-bm%& above &-- but
if &%-f%& is also present, it overrides &"From&~"&.
-.vitem &%-G%&
-.oindex "&%-G%&"
+.cmdopt -G
.cindex "submission fixups, suppressing (command-line)"
This option is equivalent to an ACL applying:
.code
As this affects audit information, the caller must be a trusted user to use
this option.
-.vitem &%-h%&&~<&'number'&>
-.oindex "&%-h%&"
+.cmdopt -h <&'number'&>
.cindex "Sendmail compatibility" "&%-h%& option ignored"
This option is accepted for compatibility with Sendmail, but has no effect. (In
Sendmail it overrides the &"hop count"& obtained by counting &'Received:'&
headers.)
-.vitem &%-i%&
-.oindex "&%-i%&"
+.cmdopt -i
.cindex "Solaris" "&'mail'& command"
.cindex "dot" "in incoming non-SMTP message"
This option, which has the same effect as &%-oi%&, specifies that a dot on a
p. 1M-529), and therefore a &%-oi%& command line option, which both are used
by its &'mailx'& command.
-.vitem &%-L%&&~<&'tag'&>
-.oindex "&%-L%&"
+.cmdopt -L <&'tag'&>
.cindex "syslog" "process name; set with flag"
This option is equivalent to setting &%syslog_processname%& in the config
file and setting &%log_file_path%& to &`syslog`&.
The tag should not be longer than 32 characters.
-.vitem &%-M%&&~<&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
-.oindex "&%-M%&"
+.cmdopt -M <&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
.cindex "forcing delivery"
.cindex "delivery" "forcing attempt"
.cindex "frozen messages" "forcing delivery"
produced unless there is a serious error. If you want to see what is happening,
use the &%-v%& option as well, or inspect Exim's main log.
-.vitem &%-Mar%&&~<&'message&~id'&>&~<&'address'&>&~<&'address'&>&~...
-.oindex "&%-Mar%&"
+.cmdopt -Mar <&'message&~id'&>&~<&'address'&>&~<&'address'&>&~...
.cindex "message" "adding recipients"
.cindex "recipient" "adding"
This option requests Exim to add the addresses to the list of recipients of the
given in chapter &<<CHAPSMTP>>&. This must be the final option, and the caller
must be root or the Exim user in order to use it.
-.vitem &%-MCA%&
-.oindex "&%-MCA%&"
+.cmdopt -MCA
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option. It signifies that the
connection to the remote host has been authenticated.
-.vitem &%-MCD%&
-.oindex "&%-MCD%&"
+.cmdopt -MCD
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option. It signifies that the
remote host supports the ESMTP &_DSN_& extension.
-.vitem &%-MCd%&
-.oindex "&%-MCd%&"
+.cmdopt -MCd
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-d%& option
to pass on an information string on the purpose of the process.
-.vitem &%-MCG%&&~<&'queue&~name'&>
-.oindex "&%-MCG%&"
+.cmdopt -MCG <&'queue&~name'&>
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option. It signifies that an
alternate queue is used, named by the following argument.
-.vitem &%-MCK%&
-.oindex "&%-MCK%&"
+.cmdopt -MCK
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option. It signifies that a
remote host supports the ESMTP &_CHUNKING_& extension.
-.vitem &%-MCL%&
-.oindex "&%-MCL%&"
+.cmdopt -MCL
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option. It signifies that the server to
which Exim is connected advertised limits on numbers of mails, recipients or
recipient domains.
The limits are given by the following three arguments.
-.vitem &%-MCP%&
-.oindex "&%-MCP%&"
+.cmdopt -MCP
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option. It signifies that the server to
which Exim is connected supports pipelining.
-.vitem &%-MCp%&
-.oindex "&%-MCp%&"
+.cmdopt -MCp
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option. It signifies that the connection
t a remote server is via a SOCKS proxy, using addresses and ports given by
the following four arguments.
-.vitem &%-MCQ%&&~<&'process&~id'&>&~<&'pipe&~fd'&>
-.oindex "&%-MCQ%&"
+.cmdopt -MCQ <&'process&~id'&>&~<&'pipe&~fd'&>
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option when the original delivery was
started by a queue runner. It passes on the process id of the queue runner,
signals the final completion of the sequence of processes that are passing
messages through the same SMTP connection.
-.vitem &%-MCq%&&~<&'recipient&~address'&>&~<&'size'&>
-.oindex "&%-MCq%&"
+.cmdopt -MCq <&'recipient&~address'&>&~<&'size'&>
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim to implement quota checking for local users.
-.vitem &%-MCS%&
-.oindex "&%-MCS%&"
+.cmdopt -MCS
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option, and passes on the fact that the
ESMTP SIZE option should be used on messages delivered down the existing
connection.
-.vitem &%-MCT%&
-.oindex "&%-MCT%&"
+.cmdopt -MCT
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option, and passes on the fact that the
host to which Exim is connected supports TLS encryption.
The argument gives the SNI string.
The "r" variant indicates a DANE-verified connection.
-.vitem &%-MCt%&&~<&'IP&~address'&>&~<&'port'&>&~<&'cipher'&>
-.oindex "&%-MCt%&"
+.cmdopt -MCt <&'IP&~address'&>&~<&'port'&>&~<&'cipher'&>
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option, and passes on the fact that the
connection is being proxied by a parent process for handling TLS encryption.
The arguments give the local address and port being proxied, and the TLS cipher.
-.vitem &%-Mc%&&~<&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
-.oindex "&%-Mc%&"
+.cmdopt -Mc <&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
.cindex "hints database" "not overridden by &%-Mc%&"
.cindex "delivery" "manually started &-- not forced"
This option requests Exim to run a delivery attempt on each message, in turn,
&%-q%& with a message id argument. A distinction between queue run deliveries
and other deliveries is made in one or two places.
-.vitem &%-Mes%&&~<&'message&~id'&>&~<&'address'&>
-.oindex "&%-Mes%&"
+.cmdopt -Mes <&'message&~id'&>&~<&'address'&>
.cindex "message" "changing sender"
.cindex "sender" "changing"
This option requests Exim to change the sender address in the message to the
is active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not altered.
This option can be used only by an admin user.
-.vitem &%-Mf%&&~<&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
-.oindex "&%-Mf%&"
+.cmdopt -Mf <&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
.cindex "freezing messages"
.cindex "message" "manually freezing"
This option requests Exim to mark each listed message as &"frozen"&. This
attempt), their status is not altered. This option can be used only by an admin
user.
-.vitem &%-Mg%&&~<&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
-.oindex "&%-Mg%&"
+.cmdopt -Mg <&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
.cindex "giving up on messages"
.cindex "message" "abandoning delivery attempts"
.cindex "delivery" "abandoning further attempts"
This option requests Exim to give up trying to deliver the listed messages,
including any that are frozen. However, if any of the messages are active,
their status is not altered. For non-bounce messages, a delivery error message
-is sent to the sender, containing the text &"cancelled by administrator"&.
+is sent to the sender.
Bounce messages are just discarded. This option can be used only by an admin
user.
-.vitem &%-MG%&&~<&'queue&~name'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
-.oindex "&%-MG%&"
+.cmdopt -MG <&'queue&~name'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
.cindex queue named
.cindex "named queues" "moving messages"
.cindex "queue" "moving messages"
If the messages are not currently located in the default queue,
a &%-qG<name>%& option will be required to define the source queue.
-.vitem &%-Mmad%&&~<&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
-.oindex "&%-Mmad%&"
+.cmdopt -Mmad <&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
.cindex "delivery" "cancelling all"
This option requests Exim to mark all the recipient addresses in the messages
as already delivered (&"mad"& for &"mark all delivered"&). However, if any
message is active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not
altered. This option can be used only by an admin user.
-.vitem &%-Mmd%&&~<&'message&~id'&>&~<&'address'&>&~<&'address'&>&~...
-.oindex "&%-Mmd%&"
+.cmdopt -Mmd <&'message&~id'&>&~<&'address'&>&~<&'address'&>&~...
.cindex "delivery" "cancelling by address"
.cindex "recipient" "removing"
.cindex "removing recipients"
(in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not altered. This option
can be used only by an admin user.
-.vitem &%-Mrm%&&~<&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
-.oindex "&%-Mrm%&"
+.cmdopt -Mrm <&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
.cindex "removing messages"
.cindex "abandoning mail"
.cindex "message" "manually discarding"
. a bounce message.
. .wen
-.vitem &%-Mset%&&~<&'message&~id'&>
-.oindex "&%-Mset%&"
+.cmdopt -Mset <&'message&~id'&>
.cindex "testing" "string expansion"
.cindex "expansion" "testing"
This option is useful only in conjunction with &%-be%& (that is, when testing
make use of these variables. However, this option can be used only by an admin
user. See also &%-bem%&.
-.vitem &%-Mt%&&~<&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
-.oindex "&%-Mt%&"
+.cmdopt -Mt <&'message&~id'&>&~<&'message&~id'&>&~...
.cindex "thawing messages"
.cindex "unfreezing messages"
.cindex "frozen messages" "thawing"
messages are active, their status is not altered. This option can be used only
by an admin user.
-.vitem &%-Mvb%&&~<&'message&~id'&>
-.oindex "&%-Mvb%&"
+.cmdopt -Mvb <&'message&~id'&>
.cindex "listing" "message body"
.cindex "message" "listing body of"
This option causes the contents of the message body (-D) spool file to be
written to the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
-.vitem &%-Mvc%&&~<&'message&~id'&>
-.oindex "&%-Mvc%&"
+.cmdopt -Mvc <&'message&~id'&>
.cindex "message" "listing in RFC 2822 format"
.cindex "listing" "message in RFC 2822 format"
This option causes a copy of the complete message (header lines plus body) to
-be written to the standard output in RFC 2822 format. This option can be used
-only by an admin user.
+be written to the standard output in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+format. This option can be used only by an admin user.
-.vitem &%-Mvh%&&~<&'message&~id'&>
-.oindex "&%-Mvh%&"
+.cmdopt -Mvh <&'message&~id'&>
.cindex "listing" "message headers"
.cindex "header lines" "listing"
.cindex "message" "listing header lines"
This option causes the contents of the message headers (-H) spool file to be
written to the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
-.vitem &%-Mvl%&&~<&'message&~id'&>
-.oindex "&%-Mvl%&"
+.cmdopt -Mvl <&'message&~id'&>
.cindex "listing" "message log"
.cindex "message" "listing message log"
This option causes the contents of the message log spool file to be written to
the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
-.vitem &%-m%&
-.oindex "&%-m%&"
+.cmdopt -m
This is a synonym for &%-om%& that is accepted by Sendmail
(&url(https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19457-01/801-6680-1M/801-6680-1M.pdf)
p. 1M-258), so Exim treats it that way too.
-.vitem &%-N%&
-.oindex "&%-N%&"
+.cmdopt -N
.cindex "debugging" "&%-N%& option"
.cindex "debugging" "suppressing delivery"
This is a debugging option that inhibits delivery of a message at the transport
the message, and applies to any subsequent delivery attempts that may happen
for that message.
-.vitem &%-n%&
-.oindex "&%-n%&"
+.cmdopt -n
This option is interpreted by Sendmail to mean &"no aliasing"&.
For normal modes of operation, it is ignored by Exim.
When combined with &%-bP%& it makes the output more terse (suppresses
option names, environment values and config pretty printing).
-.vitem &%-O%&&~<&'data'&>
-.oindex "&%-O%&"
+.cmdopt -O <&'data'&>
This option is interpreted by Sendmail to mean &`set option`&. It is ignored by
Exim.
-.vitem &%-oA%&&~<&'file&~name'&>
-.oindex "&%-oA%&"
+.cmdopt -oA <&'file&~name'&>
.cindex "Sendmail compatibility" "&%-oA%& option"
This option is used by Sendmail in conjunction with &%-bi%& to specify an
alternative alias filename. Exim handles &%-bi%& differently; see the
description above.
-.vitem &%-oB%&&~<&'n'&>
-.oindex "&%-oB%&"
+.cmdopt -oB <&'n'&>
.cindex "SMTP" "passed connection"
.cindex "SMTP" "multiple deliveries"
.cindex "multiple SMTP deliveries"
be delivered down one SMTP connection, overriding the value set in any &(smtp)&
transport. If <&'n'&> is omitted, the limit is set to 1.
-.vitem &%-odb%&
-.oindex "&%-odb%&"
+.cmdopt -odb
.cindex "background delivery"
.cindex "delivery" "in the background"
This option applies to all modes in which Exim accepts incoming messages,
overrides it if &%queue_only_override%& is set true, which is the default
setting. If &%queue_only_override%& is set false, &%-odb%& has no effect.
-.vitem &%-odf%&
-.oindex "&%-odf%&"
+.cmdopt -odf
.cindex "foreground delivery"
.cindex "delivery" "in the foreground"
This option requests &"foreground"& (synchronous) delivery when Exim has
restricted configuration that never queues messages.
-.vitem &%-odi%&
-.oindex "&%-odi%&"
+.cmdopt -odi
This option is synonymous with &%-odf%&. It is provided for compatibility with
Sendmail.
-.vitem &%-odq%&
-.oindex "&%-odq%&"
+.cmdopt -odq
.cindex "non-immediate delivery"
.cindex "delivery" "suppressing immediate"
.cindex "queueing incoming messages"
conditions. This option overrides all of them and also &%-odqs%&. It always
forces queueing.
-.vitem &%-odqs%&
-.oindex "&%-odqs%&"
+.cmdopt -odqs
.cindex "SMTP" "delaying delivery"
.cindex "first pass routing"
This option is a hybrid between &%-odb%&/&%-odi%& and &%-odq%&.
configuration option has the same effect for specific domains. See also the
&%-qq%& option.
-.vitem &%-oee%&
-.oindex "&%-oee%&"
+.cmdopt -oee
.cindex "error" "reporting"
If an error is detected while a non-SMTP message is being received (for
example, a malformed address), the error is reported to the sender in a mail
is that the original message has no recipients, or 1 for any other error.
This is the default &%-oe%&&'x'& option if Exim is called as &'rmail'&.
-.vitem &%-oem%&
-.oindex "&%-oem%&"
+.cmdopt -oem
.cindex "error" "reporting"
.cindex "return code" "for &%-oem%&"
This is the same as &%-oee%&, except that Exim always exits with a non-zero
return code, whether or not the error message was successfully sent.
This is the default &%-oe%&&'x'& option, unless Exim is called as &'rmail'&.
-.vitem &%-oep%&
-.oindex "&%-oep%&"
+.cmdopt -oep
.cindex "error" "reporting"
If an error is detected while a non-SMTP message is being received, the
error is reported by writing a message to the standard error file (stderr).
.cindex "return code" "for &%-oep%&"
The return code is 1 for all errors.
-.vitem &%-oeq%&
-.oindex "&%-oeq%&"
+.cmdopt -oeq
.cindex "error" "reporting"
This option is supported for compatibility with Sendmail, but has the same
effect as &%-oep%&.
-.vitem &%-oew%&
-.oindex "&%-oew%&"
+.cmdopt -oew
.cindex "error" "reporting"
This option is supported for compatibility with Sendmail, but has the same
effect as &%-oem%&.
-.vitem &%-oi%&
-.oindex "&%-oi%&"
+.cmdopt -oi
.cindex "dot" "in incoming non-SMTP message"
This option, which has the same effect as &%-i%&, specifies that a dot on a
line by itself should not terminate an incoming, non-SMTP message. Otherwise, a
lines that start with a dot. This option is set by default if Exim is called as
&'rmail'&. See also &%-ti%&.
-.vitem &%-oitrue%&
-.oindex "&%-oitrue%&"
+.cmdopt -oitrue
This option is treated as synonymous with &%-oi%&.
-.vitem &%-oMa%&&~<&'host&~address'&>
-.oindex "&%-oMa%&"
+.cmdopt -oMa <&'host&~address'&>
.cindex "sender" "host address, specifying for local message"
A number of options starting with &%-oM%& can be used to set values associated
with remote hosts on locally-submitted messages (that is, messages not received
are present on the command line, the sender host IP address is taken from
whichever one is last.
-.vitem &%-oMaa%&&~<&'name'&>
-.oindex "&%-oMaa%&"
+.cmdopt -oMaa <&'name'&>
.cindex "authentication" "name, specifying for local message"
See &%-oMa%& above for general remarks about the &%-oM%& options. The &%-oMaa%&
option sets the value of &$sender_host_authenticated$& (the authenticator
This option can be used with &%-bh%& and &%-bs%& to set up an
authenticated SMTP session without actually using the SMTP AUTH command.
-.vitem &%-oMai%&&~<&'string'&>
-.oindex "&%-oMai%&"
+.cmdopt -oMai <&'string'&>
.cindex "authentication" "id, specifying for local message"
See &%-oMa%& above for general remarks about the &%-oM%& options. The &%-oMai%&
option sets the value of &$authenticated_id$& (the id that was authenticated).
where there is no default) for messages from local sources. See chapter
&<<CHAPSMTPAUTH>>& for a discussion of authenticated ids.
-.vitem &%-oMas%&&~<&'address'&>
-.oindex "&%-oMas%&"
+.cmdopt -oMas <&'address'&>
.cindex "authentication" "sender, specifying for local message"
See &%-oMa%& above for general remarks about the &%-oM%& options. The &%-oMas%&
option sets the authenticated sender value in &$authenticated_sender$&. It
specified on a MAIL command overrides this value. See chapter
&<<CHAPSMTPAUTH>>& for a discussion of authenticated senders.
-.vitem &%-oMi%&&~<&'interface&~address'&>
-.oindex "&%-oMi%&"
+.cmdopt -oMi <&'interface&~address'&>
.cindex "interface" "address, specifying for local message"
See &%-oMa%& above for general remarks about the &%-oM%& options. The &%-oMi%&
option sets the IP interface address value. A port number may be included,
using the same syntax as for &%-oMa%&. The interface address is placed in
&$received_ip_address$& and the port number, if present, in &$received_port$&.
-.vitem &%-oMm%&&~<&'message&~reference'&>
-.oindex "&%-oMm%&"
+.cmdopt -oMm <&'message&~reference'&>
.cindex "message reference" "message reference, specifying for local message"
See &%-oMa%& above for general remarks about the &%-oM%& options. The &%-oMm%&
option sets the message reference, e.g. message-id, and is logged during
The message reference is the message-id of the original message for which Exim
is sending the bounce.
-.vitem &%-oMr%&&~<&'protocol&~name'&>
-.oindex "&%-oMr%&"
+.cmdopt -oMr <&'protocol&~name'&>
.cindex "protocol, specifying for local message"
.vindex "&$received_protocol$&"
See &%-oMa%& above for general remarks about the &%-oM%& options. The &%-oMr%&
one of those same names. For &%-bS%& (batched SMTP) however, the protocol can
be set by &%-oMr%&. Repeated use of this option is not supported.
-.vitem &%-oMs%&&~<&'host&~name'&>
-.oindex "&%-oMs%&"
+.cmdopt -oMs <&'host&~name'&>
.cindex "sender" "host name, specifying for local message"
See &%-oMa%& above for general remarks about the &%-oM%& options. The &%-oMs%&
option sets the sender host name in &$sender_host_name$&. When this option is
present, Exim does not attempt to look up a host name from an IP address; it
uses the name it is given.
-.vitem &%-oMt%&&~<&'ident&~string'&>
-.oindex "&%-oMt%&"
+.cmdopt -oMt <&'ident&~string'&>
.cindex "sender" "ident string, specifying for local message"
See &%-oMa%& above for general remarks about the &%-oM%& options. The &%-oMt%&
option sets the sender ident value in &$sender_ident$&. The default setting for
local callers is the login id of the calling process, except when &%-bh%& is
used, when there is no default.
-.vitem &%-om%&
-.oindex "&%-om%&"
+.cmdopt -om
.cindex "Sendmail compatibility" "&%-om%& option ignored"
In Sendmail, this option means &"me too"&, indicating that the sender of a
message should receive a copy of the message if the sender appears in an alias
expansion. Exim always does this, so the option does nothing.
-.vitem &%-oo%&
-.oindex "&%-oo%&"
+.cmdopt -oo
.cindex "Sendmail compatibility" "&%-oo%& option ignored"
This option is ignored. In Sendmail it specifies &"old style headers"&,
whatever that means.
-.vitem &%-oP%&&~<&'path'&>
-.oindex "&%-oP%&"
+.cmdopt -oP <&'path'&>
.cindex "pid (process id)" "of daemon"
.cindex "daemon" "process id (pid)"
This option is useful only in conjunction with &%-bd%& or &%-q%& with a time
without &%-bd%&, this is the only way of causing Exim to write a pid file,
because in those cases, the normal pid file is not used.
-.vitem &%-oPX%&
-.oindex "&%-oPX%&"
+.cmdopt -oPX
.cindex "pid (process id)" "of daemon"
.cindex "daemon" "process id (pid)"
This option is not intended for general use.
combination with &%-oP%&&~<&'path'&>.
It causes the pid file to be removed.
-.vitem &%-or%&&~<&'time'&>
-.oindex "&%-or%&"
+.cmdopt -or <&'time'&>
.cindex "timeout" "for non-SMTP input"
This option sets a timeout value for incoming non-SMTP messages. If it is not
set, Exim will wait forever for the standard input. The value can also be set
by the &%receive_timeout%& option. The format used for specifying times is
described in section &<<SECTtimeformat>>&.
-.vitem &%-os%&&~<&'time'&>
-.oindex "&%-os%&"
+.cmdopt -os <&'time'&>
.cindex "timeout" "for SMTP input"
.cindex "SMTP" "input timeout"
This option sets a timeout value for incoming SMTP messages. The timeout
the &%smtp_receive_timeout%& option; it defaults to 5 minutes. The format used
for specifying times is described in section &<<SECTtimeformat>>&.
-.vitem &%-ov%&
-.oindex "&%-ov%&"
+.cmdopt -ov
This option has exactly the same effect as &%-v%&.
-.vitem &%-oX%&&~<&'number&~or&~string'&>
-.oindex "&%-oX%&"
+.cmdopt -oX <&'number&~or&~string'&>
.cindex "TCP/IP" "setting listening ports"
.cindex "TCP/IP" "setting listening interfaces"
.cindex "port" "receiving TCP/IP"
in chapter &<<CHAPinterfaces>>&. When &%-oX%& is used to start a daemon, no pid
file is written unless &%-oP%& is also present to specify a pid filename.
-.vitem &%-oY%&
-.oindex &%-oY%&
+.cmdopt -oY
.cindex "daemon notifier socket"
This option controls the creation of an inter-process communications endpoint
by the Exim daemon.
given.
Normally the daemon creates this socket, unless a &%-oX%& and &*no*& &%-oP%&
option is also present.
-If this option is given then the socket will not be created. This could be
-required if the system is running multiple daemons.
+If this option is given then the socket will not be created. This is required
+if the system is running multiple daemons, in which case it should
+be used on all.
+The features supported by the socket will not be available in such cases.
The socket is currently used for
.ilist
fast ramp-up of queue runner processes
.next
+caching compiled regexes
+.next
obtaining a current queue size
.endlist
-.vitem &%-pd%&
-.oindex "&%-pd%&"
+.cmdopt -pd
.cindex "Perl" "starting the interpreter"
This option applies when an embedded Perl interpreter is linked with Exim (see
chapter &<<CHAPperl>>&). It overrides the setting of the &%perl_at_start%&
option, forcing the starting of the interpreter to be delayed until it is
needed.
-.vitem &%-ps%&
-.oindex "&%-ps%&"
+.cmdopt -ps
.cindex "Perl" "starting the interpreter"
This option applies when an embedded Perl interpreter is linked with Exim (see
chapter &<<CHAPperl>>&). It overrides the setting of the &%perl_at_start%&
or &`s`& using this option (but that does not seem a real limitation).
Repeated use of this option is not supported.
-.vitem &%-q%&
-.oindex "&%-q%&"
+.cmdopt -q
.cindex "queue runner" "starting manually"
This option is normally restricted to admin users. However, there is a
configuration option called &%prod_requires_admin%& which can be set false to
transports are run.
Performance will be best if the &%queue_run_in_order%& option is false.
-If that is so and the &%queue_fast_ramp%& option is true then
-in the first phase of the run,
+If that is so and
+the &%queue_fast_ramp%& option is true
+and a daemon-notifier socket is available
+then in the first phase of the run,
once a threshold number of messages are routed for a given host,
a delivery process is forked in parallel with the rest of the scan.
.cindex "hints database" "remembering routing"
The hints database that remembers which messages are waiting for specific hosts
-is updated, as if delivery to those hosts had been deferred. After this is
-complete, a second, normal queue scan happens, with routing and delivery taking
-place as normal. Messages that are routed to the same host should mostly be
+is updated, as if delivery to those hosts had been deferred.
+
+After the first queue scan complete,
+a second, normal queue scan is done, with routing and delivery taking
+place as normal.
+Messages that are routed to the same host should mostly be
delivered down a single SMTP
.cindex "SMTP" "passed connection"
.cindex "SMTP" "multiple deliveries"
.cindex "multiple SMTP deliveries"
connection because of the hints that were set up during the first queue scan.
-This option may be useful for hosts that are connected to the Internet
+
+Two-phase queue runs should be used on systems which, even intermittently,
+have a large queue (such as mailing-list operators).
+They may also be useful for hosts that are connected to the Internet
intermittently.
.vitem &%-q[q]i...%&
Such a daemon listens for incoming SMTP calls, and also starts a queue runner
process every 30 minutes.
+.cindex "named queues" "queue runners"
+It is possible to set up runners for multiple named queues within one daemon,
+For example:
+.code
+exim -qGhipri/2m -q10m -qqGmailinglist/1h
+.endd
+
When a daemon is started by &%-q%& with a time value, but without &%-bd%&, no
pid file is written unless one is explicitly requested by the &%-oP%& option.
The &%-R%& option makes it straightforward to initiate delivery of all messages
to a given domain after a host has been down for some time. When the SMTP
-command ETRN is accepted by its ACL (see chapter &<<CHAPACL>>&), its default
+command ETRN is accepted by its ACL (see section &<<SECTETRN>>&), its default
effect is to run Exim with the &%-R%& option, but it can be configured to run
an arbitrary command instead.
-.vitem &%-r%&
-.oindex "&%-r%&"
+.cmdopt -r
This is a documented (for Sendmail) obsolete alternative name for &%-f%&.
.vitem &%-S%&<&'rsflags'&>&~<&'string'&>
conditions must be met for a message to be selected. If either of the options
has &'f'& or &'ff'& in its flags, the associated action is taken.
-.vitem &%-Tqt%&&~<&'times'&>
-.oindex "&%-Tqt%&"
+.cmdopt -Tqt <&'times'&>
This is an option that is exclusively for use by the Exim testing suite. It is not
recognized when Exim is run normally. It allows for the setting up of explicit
&"queue times"& so that various warning/retry features can be tested.
-.vitem &%-t%&
-.oindex "&%-t%&"
+.cmdopt -t
.cindex "recipient" "extracting from header lines"
.chindex Bcc:
.chindex Cc:
with Sendmail and other MTAs. (Prior to release 4.20, Exim gave an error if
&%-t%& was used in conjunction with &%Resent-%& header lines.)
-RFC 2822 talks about different sets of &%Resent-%& header lines (for when a
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+talks about different sets of &%Resent-%& header lines (for when a
message is resent several times). The RFC also specifies that they should be
added at the front of the message, and separated by &'Received:'& lines. It is
not at all clear how &%-t%& should operate in the present of multiple sets,
once, it is common for the original set of &%Resent-%& headers to be renamed as
&%X-Resent-%& when a new set is added. This removes any possible ambiguity.
-.vitem &%-ti%&
-.oindex "&%-ti%&"
+.cmdopt -ti
This option is exactly equivalent to &%-t%& &%-i%&. It is provided for
compatibility with Sendmail.
-.vitem &%-tls-on-connect%&
-.oindex "&%-tls-on-connect%&"
+.cmdopt -tls-on-connect
.cindex "TLS" "use without STARTTLS"
.cindex "TLS" "automatic start"
This option is available when Exim is compiled with TLS support. It forces all
&<<CHAPTLS>>& for further details.
-.vitem &%-U%&
-.oindex "&%-U%&"
+.cmdopt -U
.cindex "Sendmail compatibility" "&%-U%& option ignored"
Sendmail uses this option for &"initial message submission"&, and its
documentation states that in future releases, it may complain about
syntactically invalid messages rather than fixing them when this flag is not
set. Exim ignores this option.
-.vitem &%-v%&
-.oindex "&%-v%&"
+.cmdopt -v
This option causes Exim to write information to the standard error stream,
describing what it is doing. In particular, it shows the log lines for
receiving and delivering a message, and if an SMTP connection is made, the SMTP
selectors are shown with each log line. If none are shown, the logging is
unconditional.
-.vitem &%-x%&
-.oindex "&%-x%&"
+.cmdopt -x
AIX uses &%-x%& for a private purpose (&"mail from a local mail program has
National Language Support extended characters in the body of the mail item"&).
It sets &%-x%& when calling the MTA from its &%mail%& command. Exim ignores
this option.
-.vitem &%-X%&&~<&'logfile'&>
-.oindex "&%-X%&"
+.cmdopt -X <&'logfile'&>
This option is interpreted by Sendmail to cause debug information to be sent
to the named file. It is ignored by Exim.
-.vitem &%-z%&&~<&'log-line'&>
-.oindex "&%-z%&"
+.cmdopt -z <&'log-line'&>
This option writes its argument to Exim's logfile.
Use is restricted to administrators; the intent is for operational notes.
Quotes should be used to maintain a multi-word item as a single argument,
&` _DRIVER_ROUTER_* `& router drivers
&` _DRIVER_TRANSPORT_* `& transport drivers
&` _DRIVER_AUTHENTICATOR_* `& authenticator drivers
+&` _EXP_COND_* `& expansion conditions
+&` _EXP_ITEM_* `& expansion items
+&` _EXP_OP_* `& expansion operators
+&` _EXP_VAR_* `& expansion variables
&` _LOG_* `& log_selector values
&` _OPT_MAIN_* `& main config options
&` _OPT_ROUTERS_* `& generic router options
colon in the example above are necessary. If they were not there, the list would
be interpreted as the two items 127.0.0.1:: and 1.
-.section "Changing list separators" "SECTlistsepchange"
+.subsection "Changing list separators" "SECTlistsepchange"
.cindex "list separator" "changing"
.cindex "IPv6" "addresses in lists"
Doubling colons in IPv6 addresses is an unwelcome chore, so a mechanism was
-.section "Empty items in lists" "SECTempitelis"
+.subsection "Empty items in lists" "SECTempitelis"
.cindex "list" "empty item in"
An empty item at the end of a list is always ignored. In other words, trailing
separator characters are ignored. Thus, the list in
to your domain (MX delivery) for various good reasons (eg, ability to impose
much saner TLS protocol and ciphersuite requirements without unintended
consequences).
-RFC 6409 (previously 4409) specifies use of port 587 for SMTP Submission,
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6409,RFC 6409) (previously 4409)
+specifies use of port 587 for SMTP Submission,
which uses STARTTLS, so this is the &"submission"& port.
-RFC 8314 specifies use of port 465 as the &"submissions"& protocol,
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8314,RFC 8314)
+specifies use of port 465 as the &"submissions"& protocol,
which should be used in preference to 587.
You should also consider deploying SRV records to help clients find
these ports.
because not all DNS reverse zones are maintained, and sometimes DNS servers are
unreachable.
-The next two lines are concerned with &'ident'& callbacks, as defined by RFC
-1413 (hence their names):
+The next two lines are concerned with &'ident'& callbacks, as defined by
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1413,RFC 1413)
+(hence their names):
.code
rfc1413_hosts = *
rfc1413_query_timeout = 0s
.endd
In an ideal world everybody follows the standards. For non-ASCII
-messages RFC 2047 is a standard, allowing a maximum line length of 76
+messages &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2048,RFC 2047)
+is a standard, allowing a maximum line length of 76
characters. Exim adheres that standard and won't process messages which
violate this standard. (Even ${rfc2047:...} expansions will fail.)
In particular, the Exim maintainers have had multiple reports of
or &"|"&. If you have local accounts that include these characters, you will
have to modify this rule.
-Empty components (two dots in a row) are not valid in RFC 2822, but Exim
+Empty components (two dots in a row) are not valid in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822),
+but Exim
allows them because they have been encountered in practice. (Consider the
common convention of local parts constructed as
&"&'first-initial.second-initial.family-name'&"& when applied to someone like
lookup. Lookups of this type are conditional expansion items. Different results
can be defined for the cases of lookup success and failure. See chapter
&<<CHAPexpand>>&, where string expansions are described in detail.
-The key for the lookup is &*specified*& as part of the string expansion.
+The key for the lookup is &*specified*& as part of the string to be expanded.
.next
Lists of domains, hosts, and email addresses can contain lookup requests as a
way of avoiding excessively long linear lists. In this case, the data that is
returned by the lookup is often (but not always) discarded; whether the lookup
succeeds or fails is what really counts. These kinds of list are described in
chapter &<<CHAPdomhosaddlists>>&.
-The key for the lookup is &*implicit*&,
-given by the context in which the list is expanded.
+Depending on the lookup type (see below)
+the key for the lookup may need to be &*specified*& as above
+or may be &*implicit*&,
+given by the context in which the list is being checked.
.endlist
String expansions, lists, and lookups interact with each other in such a way
domains = ${lookup{$sender_host_address}lsearch{/some/file}}
domains = lsearch;/some/file
.endd
+.ilist
The first uses a string expansion, the result of which must be a domain list.
-.new
The key for an expansion-style lookup must be given explicitly.
-.wen
No strings have been specified for a successful or a failing lookup; the
defaults in this case are the looked-up data and an empty string, respectively.
The expansion takes place before the string is processed as a list, and the
When the lookup succeeds, the result of the expansion is a list of domains (and
possibly other types of item that are allowed in domain lists).
.cindex "tainted data" "de-tainting"
+.cindex "de-tainting" "using a lookup expansion"
The result of the expansion is not tainted.
+.next
In the second example, the lookup is a single item in a domain list. It causes
Exim to use a lookup to see if the domain that is being processed can be found
in the file.
Any data that follows the keys is not relevant when checking that the domain
matches the list item.
-.new
The key for a list-style lookup is implicit, from the lookup context, if
the lookup is a single-key type (see below).
-For query-style lookup types the key must be given explicitly.
-.wen
+For query-style lookup types the query must be given explicitly.
+.endlist
It is possible, though no doubt confusing, to use both kinds of lookup at once.
Consider a file containing lines like this:
The file string may not be tainted.
.cindex "tainted data" "de-tainting"
+.cindex "de-tainting" "using a single-key lookup"
All single-key lookups support the option &"ret=key"&.
If this is given and the lookup
(either underlying implementation or cached value)
returns data, the result is replaced with a non-tainted
version of the lookup key.
-.cindex "tainted data" "de-tainting"
+
.next
.cindex "query-style lookup" "definition of"
The &'query-style'& type accepts a generalized database query. No particular
key value is assumed by Exim for query-style lookups. You can use whichever
Exim variables you need to construct the database query.
+
+For the string-expansion kind of lookups, the query is given in the first
+bracketed argument of the &${lookup ...}$& expansion.
+For the list-argument kind of lookup the query is given by the remainder of the
+list item after the first semicolon.
+
+.cindex "tainted data" "quoting for lookups"
+If tainted data is used in the query then it should be quoted by
+using the &*${quote_*&<&'lookup-type'&>&*:*&<&'string'&>&*}*& expansion operator
+appropriate for the lookup.
.endlist
The code for each lookup type is in a separate source file that is included in
.cindex "single-key lookup" "list of types"
The following single-key lookup types are implemented:
-.ilist
+.subsection cdb
.cindex "cdb" "description of"
.cindex "lookup" "cdb"
.cindex "binary zero" "in lookup key"
-&(cdb)&: The given file is searched as a Constant DataBase file, using the key
+The given file is searched as a Constant DataBase file, using the key
string without a terminating binary zero. The cdb format is designed for
indexed files that are read frequently and never updated, except by total
re-creation. As such, it is particularly suitable for large files containing
because the code for reading cdb files is included directly in Exim itself.
However, no means of building or testing cdb files is provided with Exim, so
you need to obtain a cdb distribution in order to do this.
-.next
+
+.subsection dbm
.cindex "DBM" "lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "dbm"
.cindex "binary zero" "in lookup key"
-&(dbm)&: Calls to DBM library functions are used to extract data from the given
+Calls to DBM library functions are used to extract data from the given
DBM file by looking up the record with the given key. A terminating binary
zero is included in the key that is passed to the DBM library. See section
&<<SECTdb>>& for a discussion of DBM libraries.
the DB_UNKNOWN option. This enables it to handle any of the types of database
that the library supports, and can be useful for accessing DBM files created by
other applications. (For earlier DB versions, DB_HASH is always used.)
-.next
+
+.subsection dbmjz
.cindex "lookup" "dbmjz"
.cindex "lookup" "dbm &-- embedded NULs"
.cindex "sasldb2"
.cindex "dbmjz lookup type"
-&(dbmjz)&: This is the same as &(dbm)&, except that the lookup key is
+This is the same as &(dbm)&, except that the lookup key is
interpreted as an Exim list; the elements of the list are joined together with
ASCII NUL characters to form the lookup key. An example usage would be to
authenticate incoming SMTP calls using the passwords from Cyrus SASL's
&_/etc/sasldb2_& file with the &(gsasl)& authenticator or Exim's own
&(cram_md5)& authenticator.
-.next
+
+.subsection dbmnz
.cindex "lookup" "dbmnz"
.cindex "lookup" "dbm &-- terminating zero"
.cindex "binary zero" "in lookup key"
.cindex "Courier"
.cindex "&_/etc/userdbshadow.dat_&"
.cindex "dbmnz lookup type"
-&(dbmnz)&: This is the same as &(dbm)&, except that a terminating binary zero
+This is the same as &(dbm)&, except that a terminating binary zero
is not included in the key that is passed to the DBM library. You may need this
if you want to look up data in files that are created by or shared with some
other application that does not use terminating zeros. For example, you need to
calls using the passwords from Courier's &_/etc/userdbshadow.dat_& file. Exim's
utility program for creating DBM files (&'exim_dbmbuild'&) includes the zeros
by default, but has an option to omit them (see section &<<SECTdbmbuild>>&).
-.next
+
+.subsection dsearch
.cindex "lookup" "dsearch"
.cindex "dsearch lookup type"
-&(dsearch)&: The given file must be an
-absolute
-directory path; this is searched for an entry
+The given file must be an absolute directory path; this is searched for an entry
whose name is the key by calling the &[lstat()]& function.
-The key may not
-contain any forward slash characters.
+Unless the options (below) permit a path,
+the key may not contain any forward slash characters.
If &[lstat()]& succeeds then so does the lookup.
.cindex "tainted data" "dsearch result"
The result is regarded as untainted.
separated by a comma. Options, if present, are a comma-separated list having
each element starting with a tag name and an equals.
-Two options are supported, for the return value and for filtering match
+Three options are supported, for the return value and for filtering match
candidates.
The "ret" option requests an alternate result value of
the entire path for the entry. Example:
${lookup {passwd} dsearch,ret=full {/etc}}
.endd
The default result is just the requested entry.
+
The "filter" option requests that only directory entries of a given type
are matched. The match value is one of "file", "dir" or "subdir" (the latter
not matching "." or ".."). Example:
The default matching is for any entry type, including directories
and symlinks.
+The "key" option relaxes the restriction that only a simple path component can
+be searched for, to permit a sequence of path components. Example:
+.code
+${lookup {foo/bar} dsearch,key=path {/etc}}
+.endd
+If this option is used, a ".." component in the key is specifically disallowed.
+The default operation is that the key may only be a single path component.
+
An example of how this
lookup can be used to support virtual domains is given in section
&<<SECTvirtualdomains>>&.
-.next
+
+.subsection iplsearch
.cindex "lookup" "iplsearch"
.cindex "iplsearch lookup type"
-&(iplsearch)&: The given file is a text file containing keys and data. A key is
+The given file is a text file containing keys and data. A key is
terminated by a colon or white space or the end of the line. The keys in the
file must be IP addresses, or IP addresses with CIDR masks. Keys that involve
IPv6 addresses must be enclosed in quotes to prevent the first internal colon
lookup types support only literal keys.
&*Warning 2*&: In a host list, you must always use &(net-iplsearch)& so that
-the implicit key is the host's IP address rather than its name (see section
-&<<SECThoslispatsikey>>&).
+the implicit key is the host's IP address rather than its name
+(see section &<<SECThoslispatsikey>>&).
&*Warning 3*&: Do not use an IPv4-mapped IPv6 address for a key; use the
IPv4, in dotted-quad form. (Exim converts IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses to this
notation before executing the lookup.)
One option is supported, "ret=full", to request the return of the entire line
-rather than omitting the key porttion.
+rather than omitting the key portion.
Note however that the key portion will have been de-quoted.
-.next
+.subsection json
.cindex lookup json
.cindex json "lookup type"
.cindex JSON expansions
-&(json)&: The given file is a text file with a JSON structure.
+The given file is a text file with a JSON structure.
An element of the structure is extracted, defined by the search key.
The key is a list of subelement selectors
(colon-separated by default but changeable in the usual way)
For elements of type string, the returned value is de-quoted.
-.next
+.subsection lmdb
.cindex LMDB
.cindex lookup lmdb
.cindex database lmdb
-&(lmdb)&: The given file is an LMDB database.
+The given file is an LMDB database.
LMDB is a memory-mapped key-value store,
with API modeled loosely on that of BerkeleyDB.
-See &url(https://symas.com/products/lightning-memory-mapped-database/)
+See &url(https://symas.com/products/lightning-memory-mapped-database/,LMDB)
for the feature set and operation modes.
Exim provides read-only access via the LMDB C library.
possibly using the &"mdb_load"& utility.
-.next
+.subsection lsearch
.cindex "linear search"
.cindex "lookup" "lsearch"
.cindex "lsearch lookup type"
.cindex "case sensitivity" "in lsearch lookup"
-&(lsearch)&: The given file is a text file that is searched linearly for a
+The given file is a text file that is searched linearly for a
line beginning with the search key, terminated by a colon or white space or the
end of the line. The search is case-insensitive; that is, upper and lower case
letters are treated as the same. The first occurrence of the key that is found
quoted keys (exactly as for unquoted keys). There is no special handling of
quotes for the data part of an &(lsearch)& line.
-.next
+.subsection nis
.cindex "NIS lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "NIS"
.cindex "binary zero" "in lookup key"
-&(nis)&: The given file is the name of a NIS map, and a NIS lookup is done with
+The given file is the name of a NIS map, and a NIS lookup is done with
the given key, without a terminating binary zero. There is a variant called
&(nis0)& which does include the terminating binary zero in the key. This is
reportedly needed for Sun-style alias files. Exim does not recognize NIS
aliases; the full map names must be used.
-.next
+.subsection (n)wildlsearch
.cindex "wildlsearch lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "wildlsearch"
.cindex "nwildlsearch lookup type"
file that are regular expressions can be made case-sensitive by the use of
&`(-i)`& within the pattern. The following forms of wildcard are recognized:
-. ==== As this is a nested list, any displays it contains must be indented
-. ==== as otherwise they are too far to the left.
-
.olist
The string may begin with an asterisk to mean &"ends with"&. For example:
.code
- *.a.b.c data for anything.a.b.c
- *fish data for anythingfish
+*.a.b.c data for anything.a.b.c
+*fish data for anythingfish
.endd
.next
The string may begin with a circumflex to indicate a regular expression. For
example, for &(wildlsearch)&:
.code
- ^\N\d+\.a\.b\N data for <digits>.a.b
+^\N\d+\.a\.b\N data for <digits>.a.b
.endd
Note the use of &`\N`& to disable expansion of the contents of the regular
expression. If you are using &(nwildlsearch)&, where the keys are not
string-expanded, the equivalent entry is:
.code
- ^\d+\.a\.b data for <digits>.a.b
+^\d+\.a\.b data for <digits>.a.b
.endd
The case-insensitive flag is set at the start of compiling the regular
expression, but it can be turned off by using &`(-i)`& at an appropriate point.
For example, to make the entire pattern case-sensitive:
.code
- ^(?-i)\d+\.a\.b data for <digits>.a.b
+^(?-i)\d+\.a\.b data for <digits>.a.b
.endd
If the regular expression contains white space or colon characters, you must
lookup name terminated by a semicolon, and followed by lookup data. For
example:
.code
- cdb;/some/file data for keys that match the file
+cdb;/some/file data for keys that match the file
.endd
The data that is obtained from the nested lookup is discarded.
.endlist olist
&((n)wildlsearch)& can &'not'& be turned into a DBM or cdb file, because those
lookup types support only literal keys.
-.next
+.subsection spf
.cindex "spf lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "spf"
-&(spf)&: If Exim is built with SPF support, manual lookups can be done
+If Exim is built with SPF support, manual lookups can be done
(as opposed to the standard ACL condition method).
For details see section &<<SECSPF>>&.
-.endlist ilist
.section "Query-style lookup types" "SECTquerystylelookups"
The supported query-style lookup types are listed below. Further details about
many of them are given in later sections.
-.ilist
+.subsection dnsdb
.cindex "DNS" "as a lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "DNS"
-&(dnsdb)&: This does a DNS search for one or more records whose domain names
+This does a DNS search for one or more records whose domain names
are given in the supplied query. The resulting data is the contents of the
records. See section &<<SECTdnsdb>>&.
-.next
+
+.subsection ibase
.cindex "InterBase lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "InterBase"
-&(ibase)&: This does a lookup in an InterBase database.
-.next
+This does a lookup in an InterBase database.
+
+.subsection ldap
.cindex "LDAP" "lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "LDAP"
-&(ldap)&: This does an LDAP lookup using a query in the form of a URL, and
+This does an LDAP lookup using a query in the form of a URL, and
returns attributes from a single entry. There is a variant called &(ldapm)&
that permits values from multiple entries to be returned. A third variant
called &(ldapdn)& returns the Distinguished Name of a single entry instead of
any attribute values. See section &<<SECTldap>>&.
-.next
+
+.subsection mysql
.cindex "MySQL" "lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "MySQL"
-&(mysql)&: The format of the query is an SQL statement that is passed to a
+The format of the query is an SQL statement that is passed to a
MySQL database. See section &<<SECTsql>>&.
-.next
+
+.subsection nisplus
.cindex "NIS+ lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "NIS+"
-&(nisplus)&: This does a NIS+ lookup using a query that can specify the name of
+This does a NIS+ lookup using a query that can specify the name of
the field to be returned. See section &<<SECTnisplus>>&.
-.next
+
+.subsection oracle
.cindex "Oracle" "lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "Oracle"
-&(oracle)&: The format of the query is an SQL statement that is passed to an
+The format of the query is an SQL statement that is passed to an
Oracle database. See section &<<SECTsql>>&.
-.next
+
+.subsection passwd
.cindex "lookup" "passwd"
.cindex "passwd lookup type"
.cindex "&_/etc/passwd_&"
-&(passwd)& is a query-style lookup with queries that are just user names. The
+This is a query-style lookup with queries that are just user names. The
lookup calls &[getpwnam()]& to interrogate the system password data, and on
success, the result string is the same as you would get from an &(lsearch)&
lookup on a traditional &_/etc/passwd file_&, though with &`*`& for the
.code
*:42:42:King Rat:/home/kr:/bin/bash
.endd
-.next
+
+.subsection pgsql
.cindex "PostgreSQL lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "PostgreSQL"
-&(pgsql)&: The format of the query is an SQL statement that is passed to a
+The format of the query is an SQL statement that is passed to a
PostgreSQL database. See section &<<SECTsql>>&.
-.next
+.subsection redis
.cindex "Redis lookup type"
.cindex lookup Redis
-&(redis)&: The format of the query is either a simple get or simple set,
+The format of the query is either a simple get or simple set,
passed to a Redis database. See section &<<SECTsql>>&.
-.next
+.subsection sqlite
.cindex "sqlite lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "sqlite"
-&(sqlite)&: The format of the query is
+The format of the query is
an SQL statement that is passed to an SQLite database. See section &<<SECTsqlite>>&.
-.next
-&(testdb)&: This is a lookup type that is used for testing Exim. It is
+.subsection testdb
+This is a lookup type that is used for testing Exim. It is
not likely to be useful in normal operation.
-.next
+
+.subsection whoson
.cindex "whoson lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "whoson"
-. --- still http:-only, 2018-09-07
-&(whoson)&: &'Whoson'& (&url(http://whoson.sourceforge.net)) is a protocol that
+&'Whoson'& (&url(http://whoson.sourceforge.net)) is a protocol that
allows a server to check whether a particular (dynamically allocated) IP
address is currently allocated to a known (trusted) user and, optionally, to
obtain the identity of the said user. For SMTP servers, &'Whoson'& was popular
the authenticated user, which is stored in the variable &$value$&. However, in
this example, the data in &$value$& is not used; the result of the lookup is
one of the fixed strings &"yes"& or &"no"&.
-.endlist
in a database file is useless, because the asterisk in a partial matching
subject key is always followed by a dot.
+When the lookup is done from a string-expansion,
+the variables &$1$& and &$2$& contain the wild and non-wild parts of the key
+during the expansion of the replacement text.
+They return to their previous values at the end of the lookup item.
+
.code
${quote_<lookup-type>:<string>}
.endd
-For example, the safest way to write the NIS+ query is
+For example, the way to write the NIS+ query is
.code
[name="${quote_nisplus:$local_part}"]
.endd
+.cindex "tainted data" "in lookups"
+&*All*& tainted data used in a query-style lookup must be quoted
+using a mechanism appropriate for the lookup type.
See chapter &<<CHAPexpand>>& for full coverage of string expansions. The quote
operator can be used for all lookup types, but has no effect for single-key
lookups, since no quoting is ever needed in their key strings.
${lookup dnsdb{>:,; soa=a.b.example.com}}
.endd
-.section "Dnsdb lookup modifiers" "SECTdnsdb_mod"
+.subsection "Dnsdb lookup modifiers" SECTdnsdb_mod
.cindex "dnsdb modifiers"
.cindex "modifiers" "dnsdb"
.cindex "options" "dnsdb"
value of the set of returned DNS records.
-.section "Pseudo dnsdb record types" "SECID66"
+.subsection "Pseudo dnsdb record types" SECID66
.cindex "MX record" "in &(dnsdb)& lookup"
By default, both the preference value and the host name are returned for
each MX record, separated by a space. If you want only host names, you can use
.endd
-.section "Multiple dnsdb lookups" "SECID67"
+.subsection "Multiple dnsdb lookups" SECID67
In the previous sections, &(dnsdb)& lookups for a single domain are described.
However, you can specify a list of domains or IP addresses in a single
&(dnsdb)& lookup. The list is specified in the normal Exim way, with colon as
First we explain how LDAP queries are coded.
-.section "Format of LDAP queries" "SECTforldaque"
+.subsection "Format of LDAP queries" SECTforldaque
.cindex "LDAP" "query format"
-An LDAP query takes the form of a URL as defined in RFC 2255. For example, in
+An LDAP query takes the form of a URL as defined in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2255,RFC 2255). For example, in
the configuration of a &(redirect)& router one might have this setting:
.code
data = ${lookup ldap \
&_exim.conf_&.
-.section "LDAP quoting" "SECID68"
+.subsection "LDAP quoting" SECID68
.cindex "LDAP" "quoting"
Two levels of quoting are required in LDAP queries, the first for LDAP itself
and the second because the LDAP query is represented as a URL. Furthermore,
) => \29
\ => \5C
.endd
-in accordance with RFC 2254. The resulting string is then quoted according
+in accordance with
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2254,RFC 2254).
+The resulting string is then quoted according
to the rules for URLs, that is, all non-alphanumeric characters except
.code
! $ ' - . _ ( ) * +
, + " \ < > ;
.endd
It also inserts a backslash before any leading spaces or # characters, and
-before any trailing spaces. (These rules are in RFC 2253.) The resulting string
-is then quoted according to the rules for URLs. For example:
+before any trailing spaces. (These rules are in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2255,RFC 2253).)
+The resulting string is then quoted according to the rules for URLs.
+For example:
.code
${quote_ldap_dn: a(bc)*, a<yz>; }
.endd
authentication below.
-.section "LDAP connections" "SECID69"
+.subsection "LDAP connections" SECID69
.cindex "LDAP" "connections"
The connection to an LDAP server may either be over TCP/IP, or, when OpenLDAP
is in use, via a Unix domain socket. The example given above does not specify
failures, and timeouts.
For each server name in the list, a port number can be given. The standard way
-of specifying a host and port is to use a colon separator (RFC 1738). Because
+of specifying a host and port is to use a colon separator
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1738,RFC 1738)). Because
&%ldap_default_servers%& is a colon-separated list, such colons have to be
doubled. For example
.code
-.section "LDAP authentication and control information" "SECID70"
+.subsection "LDAP authentication and control information" SECID70
.cindex "LDAP" "authentication"
The LDAP URL syntax provides no way of passing authentication and other control
information to the server. To make this possible, the URL in an LDAP query may
spaces. If a value contains spaces it must be enclosed in double quotes, and
when double quotes are used, backslash is interpreted in the usual way inside
them. The following names are recognized:
-.display
-&`DEREFERENCE`& set the dereferencing parameter
-&`NETTIME `& set a timeout for a network operation
-&`USER `& set the DN, for authenticating the LDAP bind
-&`PASS `& set the password, likewise
-&`REFERRALS `& set the referrals parameter
-&`SERVERS `& set alternate server list for this query only
-&`SIZE `& set the limit for the number of entries returned
-&`TIME `& set the maximum waiting time for a query
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 2 20* left 80* left
+.irow DEREFERENCE "set the dereferencing parameter"
+.irow NETTIME "set a timeout for a network operation"
+.irow USER "set the DN, for authenticating the LDAP bind"
+.irow PASS "set the password, likewise"
+.irow REFERRALS "set the referrals parameter"
+.irow SERVERS "set alternate server list for this query only"
+.irow SIZE "set the limit for the number of entries returned"
+.irow TIME "set the maximum waiting time for a query"
+.endtable
The value of the DEREFERENCE parameter must be one of the words &"never"&,
&"searching"&, &"finding"&, or &"always"&. The value of the REFERRALS parameter
must be &"follow"& (the default) or &"nofollow"&. The latter stops the LDAP
on the number of entries returned, and no time limit on queries.
When a DN is quoted in the USER= setting for LDAP authentication, Exim
-removes any URL quoting that it may contain before passing it LDAP. Apparently
+removes any URL quoting that it may contain before passing it to the LDAP library.
+Apparently
some libraries do this for themselves, but some do not. Removing the URL
quoting has two advantages:
-.section "Format of data returned by LDAP" "SECID71"
+.subsection "Format of data returned by LDAP" SECID71
.cindex "LDAP" "returned data formats"
The &(ldapdn)& lookup type returns the Distinguished Name from a single entry
as a sequence of values, for example
with a newline between the data for each row.
-.section "More about MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, InterBase, and Redis" "SECID72"
+.subsection "More about MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, InterBase, and Redis" SECID72
.cindex "MySQL" "lookup type"
.cindex "PostgreSQL lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "MySQL"
The &%quote_redis%& expansion operator
escapes whitespace and backslash characters with a backslash.
-.section "Specifying the server in the query" "SECTspeserque"
+.subsection "Specifying the server in the query" SECTspeserque
For MySQL, PostgreSQL and Redis lookups (but not currently for Oracle and InterBase),
it is possible to specify a list of servers with an individual query. This is
done by appending a comma-separated option to the query type:
${lookup pgsql,servers=master/db/name/pw {UPDATE ...} }
.endd
-An older syntax places the servers specification before the query,
+A now-deprecated syntax places the servers specification before the query,
semicolon separated:
.code
${lookup mysql{servers=master; UPDATE ...} }
.endd
-The new version avoids potential issues with tainted
-arguments in the query, for explicit expansion.
+The new version avoids issues with tainted
+arguments explicitly expanded as part of the query.
+The entire string within the braces becomes tainted,
+including the server specification - which is not permissible.
+If the older sytax is used, a warning message will be logged.
+This syntax will be removed in a future release.
+
&*Note*&: server specifications in list-style lookups are still problematic.
-.section "Special MySQL features" "SECID73"
+.subsection "Special MySQL features" SECID73
For MySQL, an empty host name or the use of &"localhost"& in &%mysql_servers%&
causes a connection to the server on the local host by means of a Unix domain
socket. An alternate socket can be specified in parentheses.
anything (for example, setting a field to the value it already has), the result
is zero because no rows are affected.
+To get an encryted connection, use a Mysql option file with the required
+parameters for the connection.
+
-.section "Special PostgreSQL features" "SECID74"
+.subsection "Special PostgreSQL features" SECID74
PostgreSQL lookups can also use Unix domain socket connections to the database.
This is usually faster and costs less CPU time than a TCP/IP connection.
However it can be used only if the mail server runs on the same machine as the
update, or delete command), the result of the lookup is the number of rows
affected.
-.section "More about SQLite" "SECTsqlite"
+.subsection "More about SQLite" SECTsqlite
.cindex "lookup" "SQLite"
.cindex "sqlite lookup type"
SQLite is different to the other SQL lookups because a filename is required in
.oindex &%sqlite_dbfile%&
There are two ways of
specifying the file.
-The first is is by using the &%sqlite_dbfile%& main option.
+The first is by using the &%sqlite_dbfile%& main option.
The second, which allows separate files for each query,
is to use an option appended, comma-separated, to the &"sqlite"&
lookup type word. The option is the word &"file"&, then an equals,
to 5 seconds, but it can be changed by means of the &%sqlite_lock_timeout%&
option.
-.section "More about Redis" "SECTredis"
+.subsection "More about Redis" SECTredis
.cindex "lookup" "Redis"
.cindex "redis lookup type"
Redis is a non-SQL database. Commands are simple get and set.
+.section "Results of list checking" SECTlistresults
+The primary result of doing a list check is a truth value.
+In some contexts additional information is stored
+about the list element that matched:
+.vlist
+.vitem hosts
+A &%hosts%& ACL condition
+will store a result in the &$host_data$& variable.
+.vitem local_parts
+A &%local_parts%& router option or &%local_parts%& ACL condition
+will store a result in the &$local_part_data$& variable.
+.vitem domains
+A &%domains%& router option or &%domains%& ACL condition
+will store a result in the &$domain_data$& variable.
+.vitem senders
+A &%senders%& router option or &%senders%& ACL condition
+will store a result in the &$sender_data$& variable.
+.vitem recipients
+A &%recipients%& ACL condition
+will store a result in the &$recipient_data$& variable.
+.endlist
+
+The detail of the additional information depends on the
+type of match and is given below as the &*value*& information.
+
+
+
+
.section "Expansion of lists" "SECTlistexpand"
.cindex "expansion" "of lists"
Each list is expanded as a single string before it is used.
+.cindex "tainted data" tracking
+&*Note*&: As a result, if any componend was tainted then the
+entire result string becomes tainted.
&'Exception: the router headers_remove option, where list-item
splitting is done before string-expansion.'&
-.section "Negated items in lists" "SECID76"
+.subsection "Negated items in lists" SECID76
.cindex "list" "negation"
.cindex "negation" "in lists"
Items in a list may be positive or negative. Negative items are indicated by a
-.section "File names in lists" "SECTfilnamlis"
+.subsection "File names in lists" SECTfilnamlis
.cindex "list" "filename in"
If an item in a domain, host, address, or local part list is an absolute
filename (beginning with a slash character), each line of the file is read and
-.section "An lsearch file is not an out-of-line list" "SECID77"
+.subsection "An lsearch file is not an out-of-line list" SECID77
As will be described in the sections that follow, lookups can be used in lists
to provide indexed methods of checking list membership. There has been some
confusion about the way &(lsearch)& lookups work in lists. Because
-.section "Results of list checking" SECTlistresults
-The primary result of doing a list check is a truth value.
-In some contexts additional information is stored
-about the list element that matched:
-.vlist
-.vitem hosts
-A &%hosts%& ACL condition
-will store a result in the &$host_data$& variable.
-.vitem local_parts
-A &%local_parts%& router option or &%local_parts%& ACL condition
-will store a result in the &$local_part_data$& variable.
-.vitem domains
-A &%domains%& router option or &%domains%& ACL condition
-will store a result in the &$domain_data$& variable.
-.vitem senders
-A &%senders%& router option or &%senders%& ACL condition
-will store a result in the &$sender_data$& variable.
-.vitem recipients
-A &%recipients%& ACL condition
-will store a result in the &$recipient_data$& variable.
-.endlist
-
-The detail of the additional information depends on the
-type of match and is given below as the &*value*& information.
-
-
-
-
-.section "Named lists" "SECTnamedlists"
+.subsection "Named lists" SECTnamedlists
.cindex "named lists"
.cindex "list" "named"
A list of domains, hosts, email addresses, or local parts can be given a name
-.section "Named lists compared with macros" "SECID78"
+.subsection "Named lists compared with macros" SECID78
.cindex "list" "named compared with macro"
.cindex "macro" "compared with named list"
At first sight, named lists might seem to be no different from macros in the
.endd
-.section "Named list caching" "SECID79"
+.subsection "Named list caching" SECID79
.cindex "list" "caching of named"
.cindex "caching" "named lists"
While processing a message, Exim caches the result of checking a named list if
&$domain_data$& variable and can be referred to in other router options or
other statements in the same ACL.
.cindex "tainted data" "de-tainting"
+.cindex "de-tainting" "using ACL domains condition"
The value will be untainted.
&*Note*&: If the data result of the lookup (as opposed to the key)
&%domains%& option on a router, the value is preserved in the &$domain_data$&
variable and can be referred to in other options.
.cindex "tainted data" "de-tainting"
+.cindex "de-tainting" "using router domains option"
The value will be untainted.
.next
involved, to ensure that the right value is being used as the key.
-.section "Special host list patterns" "SECID80"
+.subsection "Special host list patterns" SECID80
.cindex "empty item in hosts list"
.cindex "host list" "empty string in"
If a host list item is the empty string, it matches only when no remote host is
-.section "Host list patterns that match by IP address" "SECThoslispatip"
+.subsection "Host list patterns that match by IP address" SECThoslispatip
.cindex "host list" "matching IP addresses"
If an IPv4 host calls an IPv6 host and the call is accepted on an IPv6 socket,
the incoming address actually appears in the IPv6 host as
-.section "Host list patterns for single-key lookups by host address" &&&
- "SECThoslispatsikey"
+.subsection "Host list patterns for single-key lookups by host address" &&&
+ SECThoslispatsikey
.cindex "host list" "lookup of IP address"
When a host is to be identified by a single-key lookup of its complete IP
address, the pattern takes this form:
-.section "Host list patterns that match by host name" "SECThoslispatnam"
+.subsection "Host list patterns that match by host name" SECThoslispatnam
.cindex "host" "lookup failures"
.cindex "unknown host name"
.cindex "host list" "matching host name"
-.section "Behaviour when an IP address or name cannot be found" "SECTbehipnot"
+.subsection "Behaviour when an IP address or name cannot be found" SECTbehipnot
.cindex "host" "lookup failures, permanent"
While processing a host list, Exim may need to look up an IP address from a
name (see section &<<SECThoslispatip>>&), or it may need to look up a host name
list. The effect of each one lasts until the next, or until the end of the
list.
-.section "Mixing wildcarded host names and addresses in host lists" &&&
- "SECTmixwilhos"
+.subsection "Mixing wildcarded host names and addresses in host lists" &&&
+ SECTmixwilhos
.cindex "host list" "mixing names and addresses in"
This section explains the host/ip processing logic with the same concepts
.endlist
-.section "Temporary DNS errors when looking up host information" &&&
- "SECTtemdnserr"
+.subsection "Temporary DNS errors when looking up host information" &&&
+ SECTtemdnserr
.cindex "host" "lookup failures, temporary"
.cindex "&`+include_defer`&"
.cindex "&`+ignore_defer`&"
-.section "Host list patterns for single-key lookups by host name" &&&
- "SECThoslispatnamsk"
+.subsection "Host list patterns for single-key lookups by host name" &&&
+ SECThoslispatnamsk
.cindex "unknown host name"
.cindex "host list" "matching host name"
If a pattern is of the form
&*Reminder*&: With this kind of pattern, you must have host &'names'& as
keys in the file, not IP addresses. If you want to do lookups based on IP
-addresses, you must precede the search type with &"net-"& (see section
-&<<SECThoslispatsikey>>&). There is, however, no reason why you could not use
+addresses, you must precede the search type with &"net-"&
+(see section &<<SECThoslispatsikey>>&).
+There is, however, no reason why you could not use
two items in the same list, one doing an address lookup and one doing a name
lookup, both using the same file.
-.section "Host list patterns for query-style lookups" "SECID81"
+.subsection "Host list patterns for query-style lookups" SECID81
If a pattern is of the form
.display
<&'query-style-search-type'&>;<&'query'&>
-.section "Case of letters in address lists" "SECTcasletadd"
+.subsection "Case of letters in address lists" SECTcasletadd
.cindex "case of local parts"
.cindex "address list" "case forcing"
.cindex "case forcing in address lists"
Domains in email addresses are always handled caselessly, but for local parts
case may be significant on some systems (see &%caseful_local_part%& for how
-Exim deals with this when routing addresses). However, RFC 2505 (&'Anti-Spam
+Exim deals with this when routing addresses). However,
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2505,RFC 2505) (&'Anti-Spam
Recommendations for SMTP MTAs'&) suggests that matching of addresses to
blocking lists should be done in a case-independent manner. Since most address
lists in Exim are used for this kind of control, Exim attempts to do this by
below in section &<<SECTexpansionitems>>& onwards. Backslash is used as an
escape character, as described in the following section.
+.cindex "tainted data" tracking
+If any porttion of the result string is tainted, the entire result is.
+
Whether a string is expanded depends upon the context. Usually this is solely
dependent upon the option for which a value is sought; in this documentation,
options for which string expansion is performed are marked with † after
.cindex expansion "tainted data"
and expansion of data deriving from the sender (&"tainted data"&)
is not permitted (including acessing a file using a tainted name).
-The main config option &%allow_insecure_tainted_data%& can be used as
-mitigation during uprades to more secure configurations.
Common ways of obtaining untainted equivalents of variables with
tainted values
database lookups, and the use of expansion operators such as &%sg%&, &%substr%&
and &%nhash%&.
+When reading lines from the standard input,
+macros can be defined and ACL variables can be set.
+For example:
+.code
+MY_MACRO = foo
+set acl_m_myvar = bar
+.endd
+Such macros and variables can then be used in later input lines.
+
Exim gives up its root privilege when it is called with the &%-be%& option, and
instead runs under the uid and gid it was called with, to prevent users from
using &%-be%& for reading files to which they do not have access.
.code
add_header = :at_start:${authresults {$primary_hostname}}
.endd
-This is safe even if no authentication results are available.
+This is safe even if no authentication results are available
+and would generally be placed in the DATA ACL.
.vitem "&*${certextract{*&<&'field'&>&*}{*&<&'certificate'&>&*}&&&
After expansion, <&'string'&> is interpreted as a list, colon-separated by
default, but the separator can be changed in the usual way (&<<SECTlistsepchange>>&).
For each item
-in this list, its value is place in &$item$&, and then the condition is
-evaluated. If the condition is true, &$item$& is added to the output as an
+in this list, its value is placed in &$item$&, and then the condition is
+evaluated.
+Any modification of &$value$& by this evaluation is discarded.
+If the condition is true, &$item$& is added to the output as an
item in a new list; if the condition is false, the item is discarded. The
separator used for the output list is the same as the one used for the
input, but a separator setting is not included in the output. For example:
${filter{a:b:c}{!eq{$item}{b}}}
.endd
yields &`a:c`&. At the end of the expansion, the value of &$item$& is restored
-to what it was before. See also the &%map%& and &%reduce%& expansion items.
+to what it was before.
+See also the &%map%& and &%reduce%& expansion items.
.vitem &*${hash{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}{*&<&'string3'&>&*}}*&
value of HEADERS_CHARSET in &_Local/Makefile_&. The ultimate default is
ISO-8859-1.
-Header names follow the syntax of RFC 2822, which states that they may contain
+Header names follow the syntax of
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822),
+which states that they may contain
any printing characters except space and colon. Consequently, curly brackets
&'do not'& terminate header names, and should not be used to enclose them as
if they were variables. Attempting to do so causes a syntax error.
.cindex &%hmac%&
This function uses cryptographic hashing (either MD5 or SHA-1) to convert a
shared secret and some text into a message authentication code, as specified in
-RFC 2104. This differs from &`${md5:secret_text...}`& or
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2104.RFC 2104).
+This differs from &`${md5:secret_text...}`& or
&`${sha1:secret_text...}`& in that the hmac step adds a signature to the
cryptographic hash, allowing for authentication that is not possible with MD5
or SHA-1 alone. The hash name must expand to either &`md5`& or &`sha1`& at
sending the request. Values are &"yes"& (the default) or &"no"&
(preferred, eg. by some webservers).
+.next
+&*sni*&
+Controls the use of Server Name Identification on the connection.
+Any nonempty value will be the SNI sent; TLS will be forced.
+
.next
&*tls*&
Controls the use of TLS on the connection.
restored to what they were before. See also the &%filter%& and &%map%&
expansion items.
+. A bit of a special-case logic error in writing an expansion;
+. probably not worth including in the mainline of documentation.
+. If only we had footnotes (the html output variant is the problem).
+.
+. .new
+. &*Note*&: if an &'expansion condition'& is used in <&'string3'&>
+. and that condition modifies &$value$&,
+. then the string expansions dependent on the condition cannot use
+. the &$value$& of the reduce iteration.
+. .wen
+
.vitem &*$rheader_*&<&'header&~name'&>&*:*&&~or&~&*$rh_*&<&'header&~name'&>&*:*&
This item inserts &"raw"& header lines. It is described with the &%header%&
expansion item in section &<<SECTexpansionitems>>& above.
-.vitem "&*${run{*&<&'command'&>&*&~*&<&'args'&>&*}{*&<&'string1'&>&*}&&&
+.vitem "&*${run<&'options'&> {*&<&'command&~string'&>&*}{*&<&'string1'&>&*}&&&
{*&<&'string2'&>&*}}*&"
.cindex "expansion" "running a command"
.cindex "&%run%& expansion item"
-The command and its arguments are first expanded as one string. The string is
-split apart into individual arguments by spaces, and then the command is run
+This item runs an external command, as a subprocess.
+One option is supported after the word &'run'&, comma-separated
+and without whitespace.
+
+If the option &'preexpand'& is not used,
+the command string before expansion is split into individual arguments by spaces
+and then each argument is separately expanded.
+Then the command is run
in a separate process, but under the same uid and gid. As in other command
executions from Exim, a shell is not used by default. If the command requires
a shell, you must explicitly code it.
+The command name may not be tainted, but the remaining arguments can be.
+&*Note*&: if tainted arguments are used, they are supplied by a
+potential attacker;
+a careful assessment for security vulnerabilities should be done.
+
+If the option &'preexpand'& is used,
+the command string is first expanded as a whole.
+The expansion result is split apart into individual arguments by spaces,
+and then the command is run as above.
Since the arguments are split by spaces, when there is a variable expansion
which has an empty result, it will cause the situation that the argument will
simply be omitted when the program is actually executed by Exim. If the
around the command arguments. A possible guard against this is to wrap the
variable in the &%sg%& operator to change any quote marks to some other
character.
+Neither the command nor any argument may be tainted.
The standard input for the command exists, but is empty. The standard output
and standard error are set to the same file descriptor.
.code
${run{/bin/bash -c "/usr/bin/id >/tmp/id"}{yes}{yes}}
.endd
+Note that &$value$& will not persist beyond the reception of a single message.
.vindex "&$runrc$&"
The return code from the command is put in the variable &$runrc$&, and this
.vitem &*${srs_encode&~{*&<&'secret'&>&*}{*&<&'return&~path'&>&*}{*&<&'original&~domain'&>&*}}*&
-SRS encoding. See SECT &<<SECTSRS>>& for details.
+SRS encoding. See section &<<SECTSRS>>& for details.
-.vitem &*${substr{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}{*&<&'string3'&>&*}}*&
+.vitem &*${substr{*&<&'start'&>&*}{*&<&'len'&>&*}{*&<&'subject'&>&*}}*&
.cindex "&%substr%& expansion item"
.cindex "substring extraction"
.cindex "expansion" "substring extraction"
The three strings are expanded; the first two must yield numbers. Call them
<&'n'&> and <&'m'&>. If you are using fixed values for these numbers, that is,
-if <&'string1'&> and <&'string2'&> do not change when they are expanded, you
+if <&'start'&> and <&'len'&> do not change when they are expanded, you
can use the simpler operator notation that avoids some of the braces:
.code
-${substr_<n>_<m>:<string>}
+${substr_<n>_<m>:<subject>}
.endd
The second number is optional (in both notations).
If it is absent in the simpler format, the preceding underscore must also be
.vitem &*${address:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "expansion" "RFC 2822 address handling"
.cindex "&%address%& expansion item"
-The string is interpreted as an RFC 2822 address, as it might appear in a
+The string is interpreted as an
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+address, as it might appear in a
header line, and the effective address is extracted from it. If the string does
not parse successfully, the result is empty.
.vitem &*${addresses:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "expansion" "RFC 2822 address handling"
.cindex "&%addresses%& expansion item"
-The string (after expansion) is interpreted as a list of addresses in RFC
-2822 format, such as can be found in a &'To:'& or &'Cc:'& header line. The
+The string (after expansion) is interpreted as a list of addresses in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+format, such as can be found in a &'To:'& or &'Cc:'& header line. The
operative address (&'local-part@domain'&) is extracted from each item, and the
result of the expansion is a colon-separated list, with appropriate
doubling of colons should any happen to be present in the email addresses.
.vitem &*${domain:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "domain" "extraction"
.cindex "expansion" "domain extraction"
-The string is interpreted as an RFC 2822 address and the domain is extracted
-from it. If the string does not parse successfully, the result is empty.
+The string is interpreted as an
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+address and the domain is extracted from it.
+If the string does not parse successfully, the result is empty.
.vitem &*${escape:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
+.vitem &*${headerwrap_*&<&'cols'&>&*_*&<&'limit'&>&*:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
+.cindex header "wrapping operator"
+.cindex expansion "header wrapping"
+This operator line-wraps its argument in a way useful for headers.
+The &'cols'& value gives the column number to wrap after,
+the &'limit'& gives a limit number of result characters to truncate at.
+Either just the &'limit'& and the preceding underbar, or both, can be omitted;
+the defaults are 80 and 998.
+Wrapping will be inserted at a space if possible before the
+column number is reached.
+Whitespace at a chosen wrap point is removed.
+A line-wrap consists of a newline followed by a tab,
+and the tab is counted as 8 columns.
+
+
+
.vitem &*${hex2b64:*&<&'hexstring'&>&*}*&
.cindex "base64 encoding" "conversion from hex"
.cindex "expansion" "hex to base64"
.vitem &*${local_part:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "expansion" "local part extraction"
.cindex "&%local_part%& expansion item"
-The string is interpreted as an RFC 2822 address and the local part is
-extracted from it. If the string does not parse successfully, the result is
-empty.
+The string is interpreted as an
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+address and the local part is extracted from it.
+If the string does not parse successfully, the result is empty.
The parsing correctly handles SMTPUTF8 Unicode in the string.
Since this operation is expected to
be mostly used for looking up masked addresses in files, the
-.new
normal
-.wen
result for an IPv6
address uses dots to separate components instead of colons, because colon
terminates a key string in lsearch files. So, for example,
.code
3ffe.ffff.836f.0a00.000a.0800.2000.0000/99
.endd
-.new
If the optional form &*mask_n*& is used, IPv6 address result are instead
returned in normailsed form, using colons and with zero-compression.
-.wen
Letters in IPv6 addresses are always output in lower case.
.vitem &*${quote_local_part:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "&%quote_local_part%& expansion item"
This operator is like &%quote%&, except that it quotes the string only if
-required to do so by the rules of RFC 2822 for quoting local parts. For
-example, a plus sign would not cause quoting (but it would for &%quote%&).
+required to do so by the rules of
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+for quoting local parts. For example,
+a plus sign would not cause quoting (but it would for &%quote%&).
If you are creating a new email address from the contents of &$local_part$&
(or any other unknown data), you should always use this operator.
.cindex "expansion" "RFC 2047"
.cindex "RFC 2047" "expansion operator"
.cindex "&%rfc2047%& expansion item"
-This operator encodes text according to the rules of RFC 2047. This is an
+This operator encodes text according to the rules of
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2047,RFC 2047). This is an
encoding that is used in header lines to encode non-ASCII characters. It is
assumed that the input string is in the encoding specified by the
&%headers_charset%& option, which gets its default at build time. If the string
.cindex "expansion" "RFC 2047"
.cindex "RFC 2047" "decoding"
.cindex "&%rfc2047d%& expansion item"
-This operator decodes strings that are encoded as per RFC 2047. Binary zero
+This operator decodes strings that are encoded as per
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2047,RFC 2047).
+Binary zero
bytes are replaced by question marks. Characters are converted into the
character set defined by &%headers_charset%&. Overlong RFC 2047 &"words"& are
not recognized unless &%check_rfc2047_length%& is set false.
.cindex "&%utf8_localpart_from_alabel%& expansion item"
These convert EAI mail name components between UTF-8 and a-label forms.
For information on internationalisation support see &<<SECTi18nMTA>>&.
+
+
+.vitem &*${xtextd:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
+.cindex "text forcing in strings"
+.cindex "string" "xtext decoding"
+.cindex "xtext"
+.cindex "&%xtextd%& expansion item"
+This performs xtext decoding of the string (per
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3461,RFC 3461) section 4).
+
+
+
.endlist
.cindex "expansion" "numeric comparison"
There are a number of symbolic operators for doing numeric comparisons. They
are:
-.display
-&`= `& equal
-&`== `& equal
-&`> `& greater
-&`>= `& greater or equal
-&`< `& less
-&`<= `& less or equal
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 2 10* left 90* left
+.irow "= " "equal"
+.irow "== " "equal"
+.irow "> " "greater"
+.irow ">= " "greater or equal"
+.irow "< " "less"
+.irow "<= " "less or equal"
+.endtable
For example:
.code
${if >{$message_size}{10M} ...
.cindex "first delivery"
.cindex "expansion" "first delivery test"
.cindex "&%first_delivery%& expansion condition"
+.cindex retry condition
This condition, which has no data, is true during a message's first delivery
attempt. It is false during any subsequent delivery attempts.
.endlist
Note that negation of &*forany*& means that the condition must be false for all
items for the overall condition to succeed, and negation of &*forall*& means
-that the condition must be false for at least one item. In this example, the
-list separator is changed to a comma:
+that the condition must be false for at least one item.
+
+Example:
.code
-${if forany{<, $recipients}{match{$item}{^user3@}}{yes}{no}}
+${if forany{$recipients_list}{match{$item}{^user3@}}{yes}{no}}
.endd
The value of &$item$& is saved and restored while &%forany%& or &%forall%& is
being processed, to enable these expansion items to be nested.
SRS decode. See SECT &<<SECTSRS>>& for details.
-.vitem &*inlist&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*& &&&
- &*inlisti&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*&
+.vitem &*inlist&~{*&<&'subject'&>&*}{*&<&'list'&>&*}*& &&&
+ &*inlisti&~{*&<&'subject'&>&*}{*&<&'list'&>&*}*&
.cindex "string" "comparison"
.cindex "list" "iterative conditions"
Both strings are expanded; the second string is treated as a list of simple
${if forany{fOo:NeeDLE:bAr}{eqi{$item}{Needle}}}
.endd
+The variable &$value$& will be set for a successful match and can be
+used in the success clause of an &%if%& expansion item using the condition.
+.cindex "tainted data" "de-tainting"
+.cindex "de-tainting" "using an inlist expansion condition"
+It will have the same taint status as the list; expansions such as
+.code
+${if inlist {$h_mycode:} {0 : 1 : 42} {$value}}
+.endd
+can be used for de-tainting.
+Any previous &$value$& is restored after the if.
+
+
.vitem &*isip&~{*&<&'string'&>&*}*& &&&
&*isip4&~{*&<&'string'&>&*}*& &&&
&*isip6&~{*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.next
The item @[] matches any of the local host's interface addresses.
.next
-Single-key lookups are assumed to be like &"net-"& style lookups in host lists,
+Single-key lookups are assumed to be like &"net-"& style lookups in host lists
+(see section &<<SECThoslispatsikey>>&),
even if &`net-`& is not specified. There is never any attempt to turn the IP
address into a host name. The most common type of linear search for
&*match_ip*& is likely to be &*iplsearch*&, in which the file can contain CIDR
Consult section &<<SECThoslispatip>>& for further details of these patterns.
+The variable &$value$& will be set for a successful match and can be
+used in the success clause of an &%if%& expansion item using the condition.
+Any previous &$value$& is restored after the if.
+
.vitem &*match_local_part&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*&
.cindex "domain list" "in expansion condition"
.cindex "address list" "in expansion condition"
have their local parts matched casefully. Domains are always matched
caselessly.
+The variable &$value$& will be set for a successful match and can be
+used in the success clause of an &%if%& expansion item using the condition.
+.cindex "tainted data" "de-tainting"
+.cindex "de-tainting" "using a match_local_part expansion condition"
+It will have the same taint status as the list; expansions such as
+.code
+${if match_local_part {$local_part} {alice : bill : charlotte : dave} {$value}}
+.endd
+can be used for de-tainting.
+Any previous &$value$& is restored after the if.
+
Note that <&'string2'&> is not itself subject to string expansion, unless
Exim was built with the EXPAND_LISTMATCH_RHS option.
.cindex "Radius"
.cindex "expansion" "Radius authentication"
.cindex "&%radius%& expansion condition"
-Radius authentication (RFC 2865) is supported in a similar way to PAM. You must
+Radius authentication
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2865,RFC 2865))
+is supported in a similar way to PAM. You must
set RADIUS_CONFIG_FILE in &_Local/Makefile_& to specify the location of
the Radius client configuration file in order to build Exim with Radius
support.
This section contains an alphabetical list of all the expansion variables. Some
of them are available only when Exim is compiled with specific options such as
support for TLS or the content scanning extension.
+.cindex "tainted data"
+Variables marked as &'tainted'& are likely to carry data supplied by
+a potential attacker.
+Variables without such marking may also, depending on how their
+values are created.
+Such variables should not be further expanded,
+used as filenames
+or used as command-line arguments for external commands.
.vlist
.vitem "&$0$&, &$1$&, etc"
precedes the expansion of the string. For example, the commands available in
Exim filter files include an &%if%& command with its own regular expression
matching condition.
+If the subject string was tainted then any captured substring will also be.
.vitem "&$acl_arg1$&, &$acl_arg2$&, etc"
Within an acl condition, expansion condition or expansion item
the ACL's as well.
-.vitem &$authenticated_sender$&
+.tvar &$authenticated_sender$&
.cindex "sender" "authenticated"
.cindex "authentication" "sender"
.cindex "AUTH" "on MAIL command"
-.vindex "&$authenticated_sender$&"
When acting as a server, Exim takes note of the AUTH= parameter on an incoming
SMTP MAIL command if it believes the sender is sufficiently trusted, as
described in section &<<SECTauthparamail>>&. Unless the data is the string
possible to distinguish between &"did not try to authenticate"&
(&$sender_host_authenticated$& is empty and &$authentication_failed$& is set to
&"0"&) and &"tried to authenticate but failed"& (&$sender_host_authenticated$&
-is empty and &$authentication_failed$& is set to &"1"&). Failure includes any
-negative response to an AUTH command, including (for example) an attempt to use
-an undefined mechanism.
+is empty and &$authentication_failed$& is set to &"1"&).
+Failure includes cancellation of a authentication attempt,
+and any negative response to an AUTH command,
+(including, for example, an attempt to use an undefined mechanism).
.vitem &$av_failed$&
.cindex "content scanning" "AV scanner failure"
.vindex "&$config_file$&"
The name of the main configuration file Exim is using.
+.vitem &$connection_id$&
+.vindex "&$connection_id$&"
+.cindex connection "identifier logging"
+An identifier for the accepted connection, for use in custom logging.
+
.vitem &$dkim_verify_status$&
Results of DKIM verification.
For details see section &<<SECDKIMVFY>>&.
looked up, the contents of any associated TXT record, and the value from the
main A record. See section &<<SECID204>>& for more details.
-.vitem &$domain$&
-.vindex "&$domain$&"
+.tvar &$domain$&
When an address is being routed, or delivered on its own, this variable
contains the domain. Uppercase letters in the domain are converted into lower
case for &$domain$&.
This value may be overridden by the &%exim_version%& main config option.
.vitem &$header_$&<&'name'&>
+.tmark
This is not strictly an expansion variable. It is expansion syntax for
inserting the message header line with the given name. Note that the name must
be terminated by colon or white space, because it may contain a wide variety of
deny hosts = net-lsearch;/some/file
message = $host_data
.endd
+
.vitem &$host_lookup_deferred$&
.cindex "host name" "lookup, failure of"
.vindex "&$host_lookup_deferred$&"
is an integer. For example, if the load average is 0.21, the value of the
variable is 210. The value is recomputed every time the variable is referenced.
-.vitem &$local_part$&
-.vindex "&$local_part$&"
+.tvar &$local_part$&
When an address is being routed, or delivered on its own, this
variable contains the local part. When a number of addresses are being
delivered together (for example, multiple RCPT commands in an SMTP
of seconds since the message was received. It does not change during a single
delivery attempt.
-.vitem &$message_body$&
+.tvar &$message_body$&
.cindex "body of message" "expansion variable"
.cindex "message body" "in expansion"
.cindex "binary zero" "in message body"
-.vindex "&$message_body$&"
.oindex "&%message_body_visible%&"
This variable contains the initial portion of a message's body while it is
being delivered, and is intended mainly for use in filter files. The maximum
this can be disabled by setting &%message_body_newlines%& to be true. Binary
zeros are always converted into spaces.
-.vitem &$message_body_end$&
+.tvar &$message_body_end$&
.cindex "body of message" "expansion variable"
.cindex "message body" "in expansion"
-.vindex "&$message_body_end$&"
This variable contains the final portion of a message's
body while it is being delivered. The format and maximum size are as for
&$message_body$&.
line; it is the local id that Exim assigns to the message, for example:
&`1BXTIK-0001yO-VA`&.
-.vitem &$message_headers$&
-.vindex &$message_headers$&
+.tvar &$message_headers$&
This variable contains a concatenation of all the header lines when a message
is being processed, except for lines added by routers or transports. The header
lines are separated by newline characters. Their contents are decoded in the
same way as a header line that is inserted by &%bheader%&.
-.vitem &$message_headers_raw$&
-.vindex &$message_headers_raw$&
+.tvar &$message_headers_raw$&
This variable is like &$message_headers$& except that no processing of the
contents of header lines is done.
These variables are counters that can be incremented by means
of the &%add%& command in filter files.
-.vitem &$original_domain$&
+.tvar &$original_domain$&
.vindex "&$domain$&"
-.vindex "&$original_domain$&"
When a top-level address is being processed for delivery, this contains the
same value as &$domain$&. However, if a &"child"& address (for example,
generated by an alias, forward, or filter file) is being processed, this
filter, it is set up with an artificial &"parent"& address. This has the local
part &'system-filter'& and the default qualify domain.
-.vitem &$original_local_part$&
+.tvar &$original_local_part$&
.vindex "&$local_part$&"
-.vindex "&$original_local_part$&"
When a top-level address is being processed for delivery, this contains the
same value as &$local_part$&, unless a prefix or suffix was removed from the
local part, because &$original_local_part$& always contains the full local
For messages received by SMTP over TCP/IP, this is normally the uid of the Exim
user.
-.vitem &$parent_domain$&
-.vindex "&$parent_domain$&"
+.tvar &$parent_domain$&
This variable is similar to &$original_domain$& (see
above), except that it refers to the immediately preceding parent address.
-.vitem &$parent_local_part$&
-.vindex "&$parent_local_part$&"
+.tvar &$parent_local_part$&
This variable is similar to &$original_local_part$&
(see above), except that it refers to the immediately preceding parent address.
(described under &%transport_filter%& in chapter &<<CHAPtransportgeneric>>&).
It cannot be used in general expansion strings, and provokes an &"unknown
variable"& error if encountered.
+&*Note*&: This value permits data supplied by a potential attacker to
+be used in the command for a &(pipe)& transport.
+Such configurations should be carefully assessed for security vulnerbilities.
.vitem &$primary_hostname$&
.vindex "&$primary_hostname$&"
is available in the DATA ACL, the non-SMTP ACL, and while routing and
delivering.
-.vitem &$received_for$&
-.vindex "&$received_for$&"
+.tvar &$received_for$&
If there is only a single recipient address in an incoming message, this
variable contains that address when the &'Received:'& header line is being
built. The value is copied after recipient rewriting has happened, but before
The main use of this variable is expected to be to distinguish between
rejections of MAIL and rejections of RCPT.
-.vitem &$recipients$&
-.vindex "&$recipients$&"
-This variable contains a list of envelope recipients for a message. A comma and
-a space separate the addresses in the replacement text. However, the variable
-is not generally available, to prevent exposure of Bcc recipients in
-unprivileged users' filter files. You can use &$recipients$& only in these
+.tvar &$recipients$&
+.tvar &$recipients_list$&
+These variables both contain the envelope recipients for a message.
+
+The first uses a comma and a space separate the addresses in the replacement text.
+&*Note*&: an address can legitimately contain a comma;
+this variable is not intended for further processing.
+
+The second is a proper Exim list; colon-separated.
+
+However, the variables
+are not generally available, to prevent exposure of Bcc recipients in
+unprivileged users' filter files. You can use either of them only in these
cases:
.olist
When a &%regex%& or &%mime_regex%& ACL condition succeeds,
these variables contain the
captured substrings identified by the regular expression.
+If the subject string was tainted then so will any captured substring.
-.vitem &$reply_address$&
-.vindex "&$reply_address$&"
+.tvar &$reply_address$&
When a message is being processed, this variable contains the contents of the
&'Reply-To:'& header line if one exists and it is not empty, or otherwise the
contents of the &'From:'& header line. Apart from the removal of leading
.cindex "router" "name"
.cindex "name" "of router"
.vindex "&$router_name$&"
-During the running of a router this variable contains its name.
+During the running of a router, or a transport called,
+this variable contains the router name.
.vitem &$runrc$&
.cindex "return code" "from &%run%& expansion"
happens, &$self_hostname$& is set to the name of the local host that the
original router encountered. In other circumstances its contents are null.
-.vitem &$sender_address$&
-.vindex "&$sender_address$&"
+.tvar &$sender_address$&
When a message is being processed, this variable contains the sender's address
that was received in the message's envelope. The case of letters in the address
is retained, in both the local part and the domain. For bounce messages, the
after the end of the current ACL statement. If you want to preserve it for
longer, you can save it in an ACL variable.
-.vitem &$sender_address_domain$&
-.vindex "&$sender_address_domain$&"
+.tvar &$sender_address_domain$&
The domain portion of &$sender_address$&.
-.vitem &$sender_address_local_part$&
-.vindex "&$sender_address_local_part$&"
+.tvar &$sender_address_local_part$&
The local part portion of &$sender_address$&.
.vitem &$sender_data$&
.cindex "DNS" "DNSSEC"
done using DNS information the resolver library stated was authenticated data.
-.vitem &$sender_helo_name$&
-.vindex "&$sender_helo_name$&"
+.tvar &$sender_helo_name$&
When a message is received from a remote host that has issued a HELO or EHLO
command, the argument of that command is placed in this variable. It is also
set if HELO or EHLO is used when a message is received using SMTP locally via
is known to currently ignore EDNS0, documented in CAVEATS of asr_run(3).
-.vitem &$sender_host_name$&
-.vindex "&$sender_host_name$&"
+.tvar &$sender_host_name$&
When a message is received from a remote host, this variable contains the
host's name as obtained by looking up its IP address. For messages received by
other means, this variable is empty.
&$smtp_active_hostname$& is saved with any message that is received, so its
value can be consulted during routing and delivery.
-.vitem &$smtp_command$&
-.vindex "&$smtp_command$&"
+.tvar &$smtp_command$&
During the processing of an incoming SMTP command, this variable contains the
entire command. This makes it possible to distinguish between HELO and EHLO in
the HELO ACL, and also to distinguish between commands such as these:
rewriting, whereas the values in &$local_part$& and &$domain$& are taken from
the address after SMTP-time rewriting.
-.vitem &$smtp_command_argument$&
+.tvar &$smtp_command_argument$&
.cindex "SMTP" "command, argument for"
-.vindex "&$smtp_command_argument$&"
While an ACL is running to check an SMTP command, this variable contains the
argument, that is, the text that follows the command name, with leading white
space removed. Following the introduction of &$smtp_command$&, this variable is
single connection is being processed. When a child process terminates, the
daemon decrements its copy of the variable.
+.vitem &$smtp_notquit_reason$&
+.vindex "&$smtp_notquit_reason$&"
+When the not-QUIT ACL is running, this variable is set to a string
+that indicates the reason for the termination of the SMTP connection.
+
.vitem "&$sn0$& &-- &$sn9$&"
These variables are copies of the values of the &$n0$& &-- &$n9$& accumulators
that were current at the end of the system filter file. This allows a system
Observability for TLS session resumption. See &<<SECTresumption>>& for details.
-.vitem &$tls_in_sni$&
-.vindex "&$tls_in_sni$&"
+.tvar &$tls_in_sni$&
.vindex "&$tls_sni$&"
.cindex "TLS" "Server Name Indication"
.cindex "TLS" SNI
.code
tls_on_connect_ports = 465
.endd
-per RFC 8314.
+per &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8314,RFC 8314).
There is also a command line option &%-tls-on-connect%&, which forces all ports
to behave in this way when a daemon is started.
.section "Miscellaneous" "SECID96"
.table2
.row &%add_environment%& "environment variables"
-.row &%allow_insecure_tainted_data%& "turn taint errors into warnings"
.row &%bi_command%& "to run for &%-bi%& command line option"
.row &%debug_store%& "do extra internal checks"
.row &%disable_ipv6%& "do no IPv6 processing"
.row &%log_timezone%& "add timezone to log lines"
.row &%message_logs%& "create per-message logs"
.row &%preserve_message_logs%& "after message completion"
+.row &%panic_coredump%& "request coredump on fatal errors"
.row &%process_log_path%& "for SIGUSR1 and &'exiwhat'&"
.row &%slow_lookup_log%& "control logging of slow DNS lookups"
.row &%syslog_duplication%& "controls duplicate log lines on syslog"
.row &%acl_smtp_rcpt%& "ACL for RCPT"
.row &%acl_smtp_starttls%& "ACL for STARTTLS"
.row &%acl_smtp_vrfy%& "ACL for VRFY"
+.row &%acl_smtp_wellknown%& "ACL for WELLKNOWN"
.row &%av_scanner%& "specify virus scanner"
.row &%check_rfc2047_length%& "check length of RFC 2047 &""encoded &&&
words""&"
.row &%gnutls_compat_mode%& "use GnuTLS compatibility mode"
.row &%gnutls_allow_auto_pkcs11%& "allow GnuTLS to autoload PKCS11 modules"
.row &%hosts_require_alpn%& "mandatory ALPN"
+.row &%hosts_require_helo%& "mandatory HELO/EHLO"
.row &%openssl_options%& "adjust OpenSSL compatibility options"
.row &%tls_advertise_hosts%& "advertise TLS to these hosts"
.row &%tls_alpn%& "acceptable protocol names"
.row &%dsn_advertise_hosts%& "advertise DSN extensions to these hosts"
.row &%ignore_fromline_hosts%& "allow &""From ""& from these hosts"
.row &%ignore_fromline_local%& "allow &""From ""& from local SMTP"
+.row &%limits_advertise_hosts%& "advertise LIMITS to these hosts"
.row &%pipelining_advertise_hosts%& "advertise pipelining to these hosts"
.row &%pipelining_connect_advertise_hosts%& "advertise pipelining to these hosts"
.row &%prdr_enable%& "advertise PRDR to all hosts"
.row &%smtputf8_advertise_hosts%& "advertise SMTPUTF8 to these hosts"
.row &%tls_advertise_hosts%& "advertise TLS to these hosts"
+.row &%wellknown_advertise_hosts%& "advertise WELLKNOWN to these hosts"
.endtable
.cindex "&ACL;" "for non-SMTP messages"
.cindex "non-SMTP messages" "ACLs for"
This option defines the ACL that is run when a non-SMTP message has been
-read and is on the point of being accepted. See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for
+read and is on the point of being accepted. See section &<<SECnonSMTP>>& for
further details.
.option acl_not_smtp_mime main string&!! unset
.cindex "&ACL;" "at start of non-SMTP message"
.cindex "non-SMTP messages" "ACLs for"
This option defines the ACL that is run before Exim starts reading a
-non-SMTP message. See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for further details.
+non-SMTP message. See section &<<SECnonSMTP>>& for further details.
.option acl_smtp_auth main string&!! unset
.cindex "&ACL;" "setting up for SMTP commands"
.cindex "AUTH" "ACL for"
This option defines the ACL that is run when an SMTP AUTH command is
-received. See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for further details.
+received.
+See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for general information on ACLs, and chapter
+&<<CHAPSMTPAUTH>>& for details of authentication.
.option acl_smtp_connect main string&!! unset
.cindex "&ACL;" "on SMTP connection"
This option defines the ACL that is run when an SMTP connection is received.
-See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for further details.
+See section &<<SECconnectACL>>& for further details.
.option acl_smtp_data main string&!! unset
.cindex "DATA" "ACL for"
This option defines the ACL that is run after an SMTP DATA command has been
processed and the message itself has been received, but before the final
-acknowledgment is sent. See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for further details.
+acknowledgment is sent. See section &<<SECdataACLS>>& for further details.
.option acl_smtp_data_prdr main string&!! accept
.cindex "PRDR" "ACL for"
if the PRDR feature has been negotiated,
is run for each recipient after an SMTP DATA command has been
processed and the message itself has been received, but before the
-acknowledgment is sent. See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for further details.
+acknowledgment is sent. See section &<<SECTPRDRACL>>& for further details.
.option acl_smtp_dkim main string&!! unset
.cindex DKIM "ACL for"
.option acl_smtp_etrn main string&!! unset
.cindex "ETRN" "ACL for"
+.cindex "ETRN" advertisement
This option defines the ACL that is run when an SMTP ETRN command is
-received. See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for further details.
+received.
+If no value is set then the ETRN facility is not advertised.
+See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for further details.
.option acl_smtp_expn main string&!! unset
.cindex "EXPN" "ACL for"
.cindex "EHLO" "ACL for"
.cindex "HELO" "ACL for"
This option defines the ACL that is run when an SMTP EHLO or HELO
-command is received. See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for further details.
+command is received. See section &<<SECheloACL>>& for further details.
.option acl_smtp_mail main string&!! unset
.option acl_smtp_mailauth main string&!! unset
.cindex "AUTH" "on MAIL command"
This option defines the ACL that is run when there is an AUTH parameter on
-a MAIL command. See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for details of ACLs, and chapter
+a MAIL command.
+See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for general information on ACLs, and chapter
&<<CHAPSMTPAUTH>>& for details of authentication.
.option acl_smtp_mime main string&!! unset
.cindex "not-QUIT, ACL for"
This option defines the ACL that is run when an SMTP session
ends without a QUIT command being received.
-See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for further details.
+See section &<<SECTNOTQUITACL>>& for further details.
.option acl_smtp_predata main string&!! unset
This option defines the ACL that is run when an SMTP DATA command is
.option acl_smtp_rcpt main string&!! unset
.cindex "RCPT" "ACL for"
This option defines the ACL that is run when an SMTP RCPT command is
-received. See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for further details.
+received. See section &<<SECTQUITACL>>& for further details.
.option acl_smtp_starttls main string&!! unset
.cindex "STARTTLS, ACL for"
This option defines the ACL that is run when an SMTP VRFY command is
received. See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for further details.
+.option acl_smtp_wellknown main string&!! unset
+.cindex "WELLKNOWN, ACL for"
+This option defines the ACL that is run when an SMTP WELLKNOWN command is
+received. See section &<<SECTWELLKNOWNACL>>& for further details.
+
.option add_environment main "string list" empty
.cindex "environment" "set values"
This option adds individual environment variables that the
.option allow_domain_literals main boolean false
.cindex "domain literal"
-If this option is set, the RFC 2822 domain literal format is permitted in
+If this option is set, the
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+domain literal format is permitted in
email addresses. The option is not set by default, because the domain literal
format is not normally required these days, and few people know about it. It
has, however, been exploited by mail abusers.
configuration). This &"magic string"& matches the domain literal form of all
the local host's IP addresses.
-.option allow_insecure_tainted_data main boolean false
-.cindex "de-tainting"
-.oindex "allow_insecure_tainted_data"
-The handling of tainted data may break older (pre 4.94) configurations.
-Setting this option to "true" turns taint errors (which result in a temporary
-message rejection) into warnings. This option is meant as mitigation only
-and deprecated already today. Future releases of Exim may ignore it.
-The &%taint%& log selector can be used to suppress even the warnings.
-
-
-
.option allow_mx_to_ip main boolean false
.cindex "MX record" "pointing to IP address"
It appears that more and more DNS zone administrators are breaking the rules
See section &<<CALLaddparcall>>& for details of how this value is used.
-.option check_log_inodes main integer 100
-See &%check_spool_space%& below.
-
-
-.option check_log_space main integer 10M
+.options check_log_inodes main integer 100 &&&
+ check_log_space main integer 10M
See &%check_spool_space%& below.
.oindex "&%check_rfc2047_length%&"
.cindex "RFC 2047" "disabling length check"
.option check_rfc2047_length main boolean true
-RFC 2047 defines a way of encoding non-ASCII characters in headers using a
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2047,RFC 2047)
+defines a way of encoding non-ASCII characters in headers using a
system of &"encoded words"&. The RFC specifies a maximum length for an encoded
word; strings to be encoded that exceed this length are supposed to use
multiple encoded words. By default, Exim does not recognize encoded words that
set false, Exim recognizes encoded words of any length.
-.option check_spool_inodes main integer 100
-See &%check_spool_space%& below.
-
-
-.option check_spool_space main integer 10M
+.options check_spool_inodes main integer 100 &&&
+ check_spool_space main integer 10M
.cindex "checking disk space"
.cindex "disk space, checking"
.cindex "spool directory" "checking space"
.cindex CHUNKING advertisement
.cindex "RFC 3030" "CHUNKING"
.cindex "ESMTP extensions" CHUNKING
-The CHUNKING extension (RFC3030) will be advertised in the EHLO message to
-these hosts.
+The CHUNKING extension
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3030.html,RFC 3030))
+will be advertised in the EHLO message to these hosts.
Hosts may use the BDAT command as an alternate to DATA.
.option commandline_checks_require_admin main boolean &`false`&
listens. See chapter &<<CHAPinterfaces>>& for details of how it is used. For
backward compatibility, &%daemon_smtp_port%& (singular) is a synonym.
-.option daemon_startup_retries main integer 9
+.options daemon_startup_retries main integer 9 &&&
+ daemon_startup_sleep main time 30s
.cindex "daemon startup, retrying"
-This option, along with &%daemon_startup_sleep%&, controls the retrying done by
+These options control the retrying done by
the daemon at startup when it cannot immediately bind a listening socket
(typically because the socket is already in use): &%daemon_startup_retries%&
defines the number of retries after the first failure, and
&%daemon_startup_sleep%& defines the length of time to wait between retries.
-.option daemon_startup_sleep main time 30s
-See &%daemon_startup_retries%&.
-
.option delay_warning main "time list" 24h
.cindex "warning of delay"
.cindex "delay warning, specifying"
sha512
.endd
-Note that the acceptance of sha1 violates RFC 8301.
+Note that the acceptance of sha1 violates
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8301,RFC 8301).
.option dkim_verify_keytypes main "string list" "ed25519 : rsa"
This option gives a list of key types which are acceptable in signatures,
The list is keyed by the algorithm type for the key; the values are in bits.
Signatures with keys smaller than given by this option will fail verification.
-The default enforces the RFC 8301 minimum key size for RSA signatures.
+The default enforces the
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8301,RFC 8301)
+minimum key size for RSA signatures.
.option dkim_verify_minimal main boolean false
If set to true, verification of signatures will terminate after the
See section &<<SECDKIMVFY>>&.
-.option dmarc_forensic_sender main string&!! unset
-.option dmarc_history_file main string unset
-.option dmarc_tld_file main string unset
+.options dmarc_forensic_sender main string&!! unset &&&
+ dmarc_history_file main string unset &&&
+ dmarc_tld_file main string unset
.cindex DMARC "main section options"
These options control DMARC processing.
See section &<<SECDMARC>>& for details.
.code
dns_again_means_nonexist = *.in-addr.arpa
.endd
-This option applies to all DNS lookups that Exim does. It also applies when the
+This option applies to all DNS lookups that Exim does,
+except for TLSA lookups (where knowing about such failures
+is security-relevant).
+It also applies when the
&[gethostbyname()]& or &[getipnodebyname()]& functions give temporary errors,
since these are most likely to be caused by DNS lookup problems. The
&(dnslookup)& router has some options of its own for controlling what happens
.cindex "DSN" "success"
.cindex "Delivery Status Notification" "success"
.cindex "ESMTP extensions" DSN
-DSN extensions (RFC3461) will be advertised in the EHLO message to,
+DSN extensions (&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3461,RFC 3461))
+will be advertised in the EHLO message to,
and accepted from, these hosts.
Hosts may use the NOTIFY and ORCPT options on RCPT TO commands,
and RET and ENVID options on MAIL FROM commands.
.code
errors_reply_to = postmaster@my.domain.example
.endd
-The value of the option is not expanded. It must specify a valid RFC 2822
+The value of the option is not expanded. It must specify a valid
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
address. However, if a warning message that is generated by the
&%quota_warn_message%& option in an &(appendfile)& transport contain its
own &'Reply-To:'& header line, the value of the &%errors_reply_to%& option is
. Allow this long option name to split; give it unsplit as a fifth argument
. for the automatic .oindex that is generated by .option.
+. WAS:
+. .option "extract_addresses_remove_ &~&~arguments"
+. but apparently this results in searchability problems; bug 1197
-.option "extract_addresses_remove_arguments" main boolean true &&&
- extract_addresses_remove_arguments
+.option extract_addresses_remove_arguments main boolean true
.oindex "&%-t%&"
.cindex "command line" "addresses with &%-t%&"
.cindex "Sendmail compatibility" "&%-t%& option"
.option freeze_tell main "string list, comma separated" unset
.cindex "freezing messages" "sending a message when freezing"
+.cindex "frozen messages" "sending a message when freezing"
On encountering certain errors, or when configured to do so in a system filter,
ACL, or special router, Exim freezes a message. This means that no further
delivery attempts take place until an administrator thaws the message, or the
logging that you require.
-.option gecos_name main string&!! unset
+.options gecos_name main string&!! unset &&&
+ gecos_pattern main string unset
.cindex "HP-UX"
.cindex "&""gecos""& field, parsing"
Some operating systems, notably HP-UX, use the &"gecos"& field in the system
gecos_name = $1
.endd
-.option gecos_pattern main string unset
-See &%gecos_name%& above.
-
.option gnutls_compat_mode main boolean unset
This option controls whether GnuTLS is used in compatibility mode in an Exim
.cindex "EHLO" "underscores in"
.cindex "underscore in EHLO/HELO"
This option can be set to a string of rogue characters that are permitted in
-all EHLO and HELO names in addition to the standard letters, digits,
-hyphens, and dots. If you really must allow underscores, you can set
+non-ip-literal EHLO and HELO names in addition to the standard letters, digits,
+hyphens, and dots. For example if you really must allow underscores,
+you can set
.code
helo_allow_chars = _
.endd
+This option does not apply to names that look like ip-literals.
Note that the value is one string, not a list.
nowadays the ACL specified by &%acl_smtp_connect%& can also reject incoming
connections immediately.
+If the connection is on a TLS-on-connect port then the TCP connection is
+just dropped. Otherwise, an SMTP error is sent first.
+
The ability to give an immediate rejection (either by this option or using an
ACL) is provided for use in unusual cases. Many hosts will just try again,
sometimes without much delay. Normally, it is better to use an ACL to reject
.code
hosts_connection_nolog = :
.endd
-If the &%smtp_connection%& log selector is not set, this option has no effect.
+The hosts affected by this option also do not log "no MAIL in SMTP connection"
+lines, as may commonly be produced by a monitoring system.
.option hosts_require_alpn main "host list&!!" unset
managed by this option, and should be done separately.
+.option hosts_require_helo main "host list&!!" *
+.cindex "HELO/EHLO" requiring
+Exim will require an accepted HELO or EHLO command from a host matching
+this list, before accepting a MAIL command.
+
+
.option hosts_proxy main "host list&!!" unset
.cindex proxy "proxy protocol"
This option enables use of Proxy Protocol proxies for incoming
&%timeout_frozen_after%&.
-.option ignore_fromline_hosts main "host list&!!" unset
+.options ignore_fromline_hosts main "host list&!!" unset &&&
+ ignore_fromline_local main boolean false
.cindex "&""From""& line"
.cindex "UUCP" "&""From""& line"
Some broken SMTP clients insist on sending a UUCP-like &"From&~"& line before
&%ignore_fromline_local%& must be set to achieve this effect.
-.option ignore_fromline_local main boolean false
-See &%ignore_fromline_hosts%& above.
.option keep_environment main "string list" unset
.cindex "environment" "values from"
+.option limits_advertise_hosts main "host list&!!" *
+.cindex LIMITS "suppressing advertising"
+.cindex "ESMTP extensions" LIMITS
+This option can be used to suppress the advertisement of the SMTP
+LIMITS extension (&url(https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc9422.html,RFC 9422))
+to specific hosts.
+If permitted, Exim as a server will advertise in the EHLO response
+the limit for RCPT commands set by the &%recipients_max%& option (if it is set)
+and the limit for MAIL commands set by the &%smtp_accept_max_per_connection%&
+option.
+
.option local_from_check main boolean true
.cindex "&'Sender:'& header line" "disabling addition of"
.cindex "&'From:'& header line" "disabling checking of"
-.option local_from_prefix main string unset
+.options local_from_prefix main string unset &&&
+ local_from_suffix main string unset
When Exim checks the &'From:'& header line of locally submitted messages for
matching the login id (see &%local_from_check%& above), it can be configured to
ignore certain prefixes and suffixes in the local part of the address. This is
qualify domain.
-.option local_from_suffix main string unset
-See &%local_from_prefix%& above.
-
-
.option local_interfaces main "string list" "see below"
This option controls which network interfaces are used by the daemon for
listening; they are also used to identify the local host when routing. Chapter
.option localhost_number main string&!! unset
.cindex "host" "locally unique number for"
.cindex "message ids" "with multiple hosts"
+.cindex multiple "systems sharing a spool"
+.cindex "multiple hosts" "sharing a spool"
+.cindex "shared spool directory"
+.cindex "spool directory" sharing
.vindex "&$localhost_number$&"
Exim's message ids are normally unique only within the local host. If
-uniqueness among a set of hosts is required, each host must set a different
+uniqueness among a set of hosts is required
+(eg. because they share a spool directory),
+each host must set a different
value for the &%localhost_number%& option. The string is expanded immediately
after reading the configuration file (so that a number can be computed from the
host name, for example) and the result of the expansion must be a number in the
range 0&--16 (or 0&--10 on operating systems with case-insensitive file
systems). This is available in subsequent string expansions via the variable
-&$localhost_number$&. When &%localhost_number is set%&, the final two
+&$localhost_number$&. When &%localhost_number%& is set, the final four
characters of the message id, instead of just being a fractional part of the
time, are computed from the time and the local host number as described in
section &<<SECTmessiden>>&.
.option message_id_header_text main string&!! unset
If this variable is set, the string is expanded and used to augment the text of
the &'Message-id:'& header that Exim creates if a locally-originated incoming
-message does not have one. The text of this header is required by RFC 2822 to
-take the form of an address. By default, Exim uses its internal message id as
+message does not have one. The text of this header is required by
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+to take the form of an address. By default, Exim uses its internal message id as
the local part, and the primary host name as the domain. If this option is set,
it is expanded, and provided the expansion is not forced to fail, and does not
yield an empty string, the result is inserted into the header immediately
The option is available only if Exim has been built with Oracle support.
+.option panic_coredump main boolean false
+This option is rarely needed but can help for some debugging investigations.
+If set, when an internal error is detected by Exim which is sufficient
+to terminate the process
+(all such are logged in the paniclog)
+then a coredump is requested.
+
+Note that most systems require additional administrative configuration
+to permit write a core file for a setuid program, which is Exim's
+common installed configuration.
+
.option percent_hack_domains main "domain list&!!" unset
.cindex "&""percent hack""&"
.cindex "source routing" "in email address"
The &"percent hack"& is the convention whereby a local part containing a
percent sign is re-interpreted as a new email address, with the percent
replaced by @. This is sometimes called &"source routing"&, though that term is
-also applied to RFC 2822 addresses that begin with an @ character. If this
+also applied to
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+addresses that begin with an @ character. If this
option is set, Exim implements the percent facility for those domains listed,
but no others. This happens before an incoming SMTP address is tested against
an ACL.
local parts. Exim's default configuration does this.
-.option perl_at_start main boolean false
+.options perl_at_start main boolean false &&&
+ perl_startup main string unset
.cindex "Perl"
-This option is available only when Exim is built with an embedded Perl
-interpreter. See chapter &<<CHAPperl>>& for details of its use.
-
-
-.option perl_startup main string unset
-.cindex "Perl"
-This option is available only when Exim is built with an embedded Perl
-interpreter. See chapter &<<CHAPperl>>& for details of its use.
+These options are available only when Exim is built with an embedded Perl
+interpreter. See chapter &<<CHAPperl>>& for details of their use.
.option perl_taintmode main boolean false
.cindex "Perl"
.option pipelining_connect_advertise_hosts main "host list&!!" *
.cindex "pipelining" "early connection"
-.cindex "pipelining" PIPE_CONNECT
-.cindex "ESMTP extensions" PIPE_CONNECT
-If Exim is built with the SUPPORT_PIPE_CONNECT build option
+.cindex "pipelining" PIPECONNECT
+.cindex "ESMTP extensions" PIPECONNECT
+If Exim is built without the DISABLE_PIPE_CONNECT build option
this option controls which hosts the facility is advertised to
and from which pipeline early-connection (before MAIL) SMTP
commands are acceptable.
See also the &%hosts_pipe_connect%& smtp transport option.
-The SMTP service extension keyword advertised is &"PIPE_CONNECT"&.
+The SMTP service extension keyword advertised is &"PIPECONNECT"&;
+it permits the client to pipeline
+TCP connection and hello command (cleatext phase),
+or TLS-establishment and hello command (encrypted phase),
+on later connections to the same host.
.option prdr_enable main boolean false
characters.
This option also affects the header syntax checks performed by the
-&(autoreply)& transport, and whether Exim uses RFC 2047 encoding of
+&(autoreply)& transport, and whether Exim uses
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2047,RFC 2047) encoding of
the user's full name when constructing From: and Sender: addresses (as
described in section &<<SECTconstr>>&). Setting this option can cause
Exim to generate eight bit message headers that do not conform to the
next queue run. See also &%hold_domains%& and &%queue_smtp_domains%&.
-.option queue_fast_ramp main boolean false
+.option queue_fast_ramp main boolean true
.cindex "queue runner" "two phase"
.cindex "queue" "double scanning"
If set to true, two-phase queue runs, initiated using &%-qq%& on the
&%queue_only_load%&, and &%smtp_accept_queue%&.
-.option queue_only_file main string unset
+.option queue_only_file main "string list" unset
.cindex "queueing incoming messages"
.cindex "message" "queueing by file existence"
This option can be set to a colon-separated list of absolute path names, each
on at the end (preceded by a semicolon). The string is expanded each time it is
used. If the expansion yields an empty string, no &'Received:'& header line is
added to the message. Otherwise, the string should start with the text
-&"Received:"& and conform to the RFC 2822 specification for &'Received:'&
-header lines.
+&"Received:"& and conform to the
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+specification for &'Received:'& header lines.
The default setting is:
.code
option was not set.
-.option recipients_max main integer 50000
+.option recipients_max main integer&!! 50000
.cindex "limit" "number of recipients"
.cindex "recipient" "maximum number"
-If this option is set greater than zero, it specifies the maximum number of
+If the value resulting from expanding this option
+is set greater than zero, it specifies the maximum number of
original recipients for any message. Additional recipients that are generated
by aliasing or forwarding do not count. SMTP messages get a 452 response for
all recipients over the limit; earlier recipients are delivered as normal.
Non-SMTP messages with too many recipients are failed, and no deliveries are
done.
+For SMTP message the expansion is done after the connection is
+accepted (but before any SMTP conversation) and may depend on
+the IP addresses and port numbers of the connection.
+&*Note*&: If an expansion is used for the option,
+care should be taken that a resonable value results for
+non-SMTP messages.
+
.cindex "RCPT" "maximum number of incoming"
&*Note*&: The RFCs specify that an SMTP server should accept at least 100
RCPT commands in a single message.
for the remaining recipients at a later time.
-.option remote_max_parallel main integer 2
+.option remote_max_parallel main integer 4
.cindex "delivery" "parallelism for remote"
This option controls parallel delivery of one message to a number of remote
hosts. If the value is less than 2, parallel delivery is disabled, and Exim
.option return_path_remove main boolean true
.cindex "&'Return-path:'& header line" "removing"
-RFC 2821, section 4.4, states that an SMTP server must insert a
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2821,RFC 2821), section 4.4,
+states that an SMTP server must insert a
&'Return-path:'& header line into a message when it makes a &"final delivery"&.
The &'Return-path:'& header preserves the sender address as received in the
MAIL command. This description implies that this header should not be present
.option rfc1413_hosts main "host list&!!" @[]
.cindex "RFC 1413"
.cindex "host" "for RFC 1413 calls"
-RFC 1413 identification calls are made to any client host which matches
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1413,RFC 1413)
+identification calls are made to any client host which matches
an item in the list.
The default value specifies just this host, being any local interface
for the system.
.option rfc1413_query_timeout main time 0s
.cindex "RFC 1413" "query timeout"
.cindex "timeout" "for RFC 1413 call"
-This sets the timeout on RFC 1413 identification calls. If it is set to zero,
+This sets the timeout on
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1413,RFC 1413)
+identification calls. If it is set to zero,
no RFC 1413 calls are ever made.
. searchable. NM changed this occurrence for bug 1197 to no longer allow
. the option name to split.
-.option "smtp_accept_max_per_connection" main integer&!! 1000 &&&
- smtp_accept_max_per_connection
+.option smtp_accept_max_per_connection main integer&!! 1000
.cindex "SMTP" "limiting incoming message count"
.cindex "limit" "messages per SMTP connection"
The value of this option limits the number of MAIL commands that Exim is
. See the comment on smtp_accept_max_per_connection
-.option "smtp_accept_queue_per_connection" main integer 10 &&&
- smtp_accept_queue_per_connection
+.option smtp_accept_queue_per_connection main integer 10
.cindex "queueing incoming messages"
.cindex "message" "queueing by message count"
This option limits the number of delivery processes that Exim starts
.cindex "banner for SMTP"
.cindex "welcome banner for SMTP"
.cindex "customizing" "SMTP banner"
-This string, which is expanded every time it is used, is output as the initial
+If a connect ACL does not supply a message,
+this string (which is expanded every time it is used) is output as the initial
positive response to an SMTP connection. The default setting is:
.code
smtp_banner = $smtp_active_hostname ESMTP Exim \
$version_number $tod_full
.endd
-Failure to expand the string causes a panic error. If you want to create a
+Failure to expand the string causes a panic error;
+a forced fail just closes the connection.
+If you want to create a
multiline response to the initial SMTP connection, use &"\n"& in the string at
appropriate points, but not at the end. Note that the 220 code is not included
in this string. Exim adds it automatically (several times in the case of a
-.option smtp_ratelimit_hosts main "host list&!!" unset
+.options smtp_ratelimit_hosts main "host list&!!" unset &&&
+ smtp_ratelimit_mail main string unset &&&
+ smtp_ratelimit_rcpt main string unset
.cindex "SMTP" "rate limiting"
.cindex "limit" "rate of message arrival"
.cindex "RCPT" "rate limiting"
delays to RCPT commands when more than four occur in a single message.
-.option smtp_ratelimit_mail main string unset
-See &%smtp_ratelimit_hosts%& above.
-
-
-.option smtp_ratelimit_rcpt main string unset
-See &%smtp_ratelimit_hosts%& above.
-
.option smtp_receive_timeout main time&!! 5m
.cindex "timeout" "for SMTP input"
.cindex ALPN "set acceptable names for server"
If this option is set,
the TLS library supports ALPN,
-and the client offers either more than
+and the client offers either more than one
ALPN name or a name which does not match the list,
the TLS connection is declined.
a default DH prime; the default is Exim-specific but lacks verifiable provenance.
In older versions of Exim the default was the 2048 bit prime described in section
-2.2 of RFC 5114, "2048-bit MODP Group with 224-bit Prime Order Subgroup", which
+2.2 of &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5114,RFC 5114),
+"2048-bit MODP Group with 224-bit Prime Order Subgroup", which
in IKE is assigned number 23.
Otherwise, the option must expand to the name used by Exim for any of a number
-of DH primes specified in RFC 2409, RFC 3526, RFC 5114, RFC 7919, or from other
+of DH primes specified in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2409,RFC 2409),
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3526,RFC 3526),
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5114,RFC 5114),
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7919,RFC 7919), or from other
sources. As names, Exim uses a standard specified name, else "ike" followed by
the number used by IKE, or "default" which corresponds to
&`exim.dev.20160529.3`&.
Some of these will be too small to be accepted by clients.
Some may be too large to be accepted by clients.
The open cryptographic community has suspicions about the integrity of some
-of the later IKE values, which led into RFC7919 providing new fixed constants
-(the "ffdhe" identifiers).
+of the later IKE values, which led into
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7919,RFC 7919)
+providing new fixed constants (the "ffdhe" identifiers).
At this point, all of the "ike" values should be considered obsolete;
they are still in Exim to avoid breaking unusual configurations, but are
candidates for removal the next time we have backwards-incompatible changes.
-.new
-Two of them in particular (&`ike1`& and &`ike22`&) are called out by RFC 8247
+Two of them in particular (&`ike1`& and &`ike22`&) are called out by
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8247,RFC 8247)
as MUST NOT use for IPSEC, and two more (&`ike23`& and &`ike24`&) as
SHOULD NOT.
Because of this, Exim regards them as deprecated; if either of the first pair
are used, warnings will be logged in the paniclog, and if any are used then
warnings will be logged in the mainlog.
All four will be removed in a future Exim release.
-.wen
The TLS protocol does not negotiate an acceptable size for this; clients tend
to hard-drop connections if what is offered by the server is unacceptable,
acceptable bound from 1024 to 2048.
-.option tls_eccurve main string&!! &`auto`&
+.option tls_eccurve main string list&!! &`auto`&
.cindex TLS "EC cryptography"
-This option selects a EC curve for use by Exim when used with OpenSSL.
-It has no effect when Exim is used with GnuTLS.
+This option selects EC curves for use by Exim when used with OpenSSL.
+It has no effect when Exim is used with GnuTLS
+(the equivalent can be done using a priority string for the
+&%tls_require_ciphers%& option).
-After expansion it must contain a valid EC curve parameter, such as
-&`prime256v1`&, &`secp384r1`&, or &`P-512`&. Consult your OpenSSL manual
-for valid selections.
+After expansion it must contain
+one or (only for OpenSSL versiona 1.1.1 onwards) more
+EC curve names, such as &`prime256v1`&, &`secp384r1`&, or &`P-521`&.
+Consult your OpenSSL manual for valid curve names.
For OpenSSL versions before (and not including) 1.0.2, the string
&`auto`& selects &`prime256v1`&. For more recent OpenSSL versions
&`auto`& tells the library to choose.
-If the option expands to an empty string, no EC curves will be enabled.
+If the option expands to an empty string, the effect is undefined.
.option tls_ocsp_file main string&!! unset
See also &%bounce_message_file%&.
+.option wellknown_advertise_hosts main boolean unset
+.cindex WELLKNOWN advertisement
+.cindex "ESMTP extensions" WELLKNOWN
+This option enables the advertising of the SMTP WELLKNOWN extension.
+See also the &%acl_smtp_wellknown%& ACL (&<<SECTWELLKNOWNACL>>&).
+
.option write_rejectlog main boolean true
.cindex "reject log" "disabling"
If this option is set false, Exim no longer writes anything to the reject log.
holding password data (such as NIS) are supported. If the local part is a local
user,
.cindex "tainted data" "de-tainting"
+.cindex "de-tainting" "using router check_local_user option"
&$local_part_data$& is set to an untainted version of the local part and
&$home$& is set from the password data. The latter can be tested in other
preconditions that are evaluated after this one (the order of evaluation is
.cindex "router" "restricting to specific domains"
.vindex "&$domain_data$&"
If this option is set, the router is skipped unless the current domain matches
-the list. If the match is achieved by means of a file lookup, the data that the
-lookup returned for the domain is placed in &$domain_data$& for use in string
+the list.
+The data returned by the list check
+is placed in &$domain_data$& for use in string
expansions of the driver's private options and in the transport.
See section &<<SECTrouprecon>>& for
a list of the order in which preconditions are evaluated.
+A complex example, using a file like:
+.code
+alice@dom1
+bill@dom1
+maggie@dom1
+.endd
+and checking both domain and local_part
+.code
+domains = ${domain:${lookup {$local_part@$domain} lseach,ret=key {/path/to/accountsfile}}}
+local_parts = ${local_part:${lookup {$local_part@$domain} lseach,ret=key {/path/to/accountsfile}}}
+.endd
+
.option driver routers string unset
.option dsn_lasthop routers boolean false
.cindex "DSN" "success"
.cindex "Delivery Status Notification" "success"
-If this option is set true, and extended DSN (RFC3461) processing is in effect,
+If this option is set true, and extended DSN
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3461,RFC 3461)) processing is in effect,
Exim will not pass on DSN requests to downstream DSN-aware hosts but will
instead send a success DSN as if the next hop does not support DSN.
Not effective on redirect routers.
local_parts = dbm;/usr/local/specials/$domain_data
.endd
.vindex "&$local_part_data$&"
-If the match is achieved by a lookup, the data that the lookup returned
+the data returned by the list check
for the local part is placed in the variable &$local_part_data$& for use in
expansions of the router's private options or in the transport.
You might use this option, for
.option check_srv dnslookup string&!! unset
.cindex "SRV record" "enabling use of"
-The &(dnslookup)& router supports the use of SRV records (see RFC 2782) in
-addition to MX and address records. The support is disabled by default. To
+The &(dnslookup)& router supports the use of SRV records
+(see &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2782,RFC 2782))
+in addition to MX and address records. The support is disabled by default. To
enable SRV support, set the &%check_srv%& option to the name of the service
required. For example,
.code
This router has no private options. Unless it is being used purely for
verification (see &%verify_only%&) a transport is required to be defined by the
generic &%transport%& option. The router accepts the address if its domain part
-takes the form of an RFC 2822 domain literal. For example, the &(ipliteral)&
+takes the form of an
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+domain literal. For example, the &(ipliteral)&
router handles the address
.code
root@[192.168.1.1]
If the file does not exist, or causes no action to be taken (for example, it is
empty or consists only of comments), the router declines. &*Warning*&: This
is not the case when the file contains syntactically valid items that happen to
-yield empty addresses, for example, items containing only RFC 2822 address
-comments.
+yield empty addresses, for example, items containing only
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+address comments.
.cindex "tainted data" "in filenames"
.cindex redirect "tainted data"
it does make a difference if more than one domain is being handled
synonymously.
-If an item begins with &"\"& and the rest of the item parses as a valid RFC
-2822 address that does not include a domain, the item is qualified using the
+If an item begins with &"\"& and the rest of the item parses as a valid
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+address that does not include a domain, the item is qualified using the
domain of the incoming address. In the absence of a leading &"\"&, unqualified
addresses are qualified using the value in &%qualify_recipient%&, but you can
force the incoming domain to be used by setting &%qualify_preserve_domain%&.
.cindex "pipe" "in redirection list"
.cindex "address redirection" "to pipe"
An item is treated as a pipe command if it begins with &"|"& and does not parse
-as a valid RFC 2822 address that includes a domain. A transport for running the
+as a valid
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+address that includes a domain. A transport for running the
command must be specified by the &%pipe_transport%& option.
Normally, either the router or the transport specifies a user and a group under
which to run the delivery. The default is to use the Exim user and group.
.cindex "file" "in redirection list"
.cindex "address redirection" "to file"
An item is interpreted as a path name if it begins with &"/"& and does not
-parse as a valid RFC 2822 address that includes a domain. For example,
+parse as a valid
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+address that includes a domain. For example,
.code
/home/world/minbari
.endd
and are rewritten according to the global rewriting rules.
+.option sieve_inbox redirect string&!! inbox
+.new
+The value of this option is passed to a Sieve filter to specify the
+name of the mailbox used for "keep" operations (explicit or implicit).
+.wen
+
.option sieve_subaddress redirect string&!! unset
The value of this option is passed to a Sieve filter to specify the
:subaddress part of an address.
.cindex "Sieve filter" "syntax errors in"
Syntax errors in a Sieve filter file cause the &"keep"& action to occur. This
-action is specified by RFC 3028. The values of &%skip_syntax_errors%&,
+action is specified by
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3028.html,RFC 3028).
+The values of &%skip_syntax_errors%&,
&%syntax_errors_to%&, and &%syntax_errors_text%& are not used.
&%skip_syntax_errors%& can be used to specify that errors in users' forward
resent to other recipients.
&*Note:*& If used on a transport handling multiple recipients
-(the smtp transport unless &%rcpt_max%& is 1, the appendfile, pipe or lmtp
+(the smtp transport unless &%max_rcpt%& is 1, the appendfile, pipe or lmtp
transport if &%batch_max%& is greater than 1)
then information about Bcc recipients will be leaked.
Doing so is generally not advised.
mailboxes, this is commonly not displayed by MUAs, and so the user does not
have easy access to it.
-RFC 2821 states that the &'Return-path:'& header is added to a message &"when
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2821,RFC 2821)
+states that the &'Return-path:'& header is added to a message &"when
the delivery SMTP server makes the final delivery"&. This implies that this
header should not be present in incoming messages. Exim has a configuration
option, &%return_path_remove%&, which requests removal of this header from
When the message is about to be written out, the command specified by
&%transport_filter%& is started up in a separate, parallel process, and
the entire message, including the header lines, is passed to it on its standard
-input (this in fact is done from a third process, to avoid deadlock). The
-command must be specified as an absolute path.
+input (this in fact is done from a third process, to avoid deadlock).
+The command must be specified as an absolute path.
+
+The process run by the command must use its standard input as the message
+data to be transformed, and write the results on its standard output.
The lines of the message that are written to the transport filter are
terminated by newline (&"\n"&). The message is passed to the filter before any
are all run in parallel, like a shell pipeline.
The filter can perform any transformations it likes, but of course should take
-care not to break RFC 2822 syntax. Exim does not check the result, except to
+care not to break
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+syntax. Exim does not check the result, except to
test for a final newline when SMTP is in use. All messages transmitted over
SMTP must end with a newline, so Exim supplies one if it is missing.
The expansion variables &$host$& and &$host_address$& are available when the
transport is a remote one. They contain the name and IP address of the host to
which the message is being sent. For example:
+. used to have $sender_address in this cmdline, but it's tainted
.code
transport_filter = /some/directory/transport-filter.pl \
- $host $host_address $sender_address $pipe_addresses
+ $host $host_address $pipe_addresses
.endd
Two problems arise if you want to use more complicated expansion items to
transport_filter = '/bin/cmd${if eq{$host}{a.b.c}{1}{2}}'
.endd
This runs the command &(/bin/cmd1)& if the host name is &'a.b.c'&, and
-&(/bin/cmd2)& otherwise. If double quotes had been used, they would have been
+&(/bin/cmd2)& otherwise.
+
+Option strings in general have any fully-surrounding double quote wrapping
+removed early in parsing (see &<<SECTstrings>>&).
+Then, for this option, quotes protect against whitespace being
+regarded as a separator while splitting into the command argument vector.
+Either double or single quotes can be used here;
+the former interprets backlash-quoted charachters
+and the latter does not.
+
+If double quotes had been used in this example, they would have been
stripped by Exim when it read the option's value. When the value is used, if
the single quotes were missing, the line would be split into two items,
&`/bin/cmd${if`& and &`eq{$host}{a.b.c}{1}{2}`&, and an error would occur when
.endd
In this situation, the expansion of &%file%& or &%directory%& in the transport
must transform the relative path into an appropriate absolute filename. In the
-case of Sieve filters, the name &'inbox'& must be handled. It is the name that
+case of Sieve filters, the name &'inbox'& must be handled. It is the
+.new
+default
+.wen
+name that
is used as a result of a &"keep"& action in the filter. This example shows one
way of handling this requirement:
.code
location, absolute paths are used without change, and other folders are in the
&_mail_& directory within the home directory.
+.new
+An alternative for the &"keep"& aspect is to use the &%sieve_inbox%& option
+on the redirect router that calls the Sieve filter,
+to explicitly set the filename used.
+.wen
+
&*Note 1*&: While processing an Exim filter, a relative path such as
&_folder23_& is turned into an absolute path if a home directory is known to
the router. In particular, this is the case if &%check_local_user%& is set. If
&*Note 2*&: An absolute path in &$address_file$& is not treated specially;
the &%file%& or &%directory%& option is still used if it is set.
+.new
+&*Note 3*&: Permitting a user to enable writes to an absolute path
+may be a security issue.
+.wen
checking is done in "belowhome" mode.
.cindex "tainted data" "de-tainting"
+.cindex "de-tainting" "using appendfile create_file option"
If "belowhome" checking is used, the file or directory path
becomes de-tainted.
the message to be transmitted. Instead, it generates a new mail message as an
automatic reply to the incoming message. &'References:'& and
&'Auto-Submitted:'& header lines are included. These are constructed according
-to the rules in RFCs 2822 and 3834, respectively.
+to the rules in RFCs
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,2822) and
+&url(https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3834,3834), respectively.
If the router that passes the message to this transport does not have the
&%unseen%& option set, the original message (for the current recipient) is not
.option headers autoreply string&!! unset
-This specifies additional RFC 2822 headers that are to be added to the message
+This specifies additional
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+headers that are to be added to the message
when the message is specified by the transport. Several can be given by using
&"\n"& to separate them. There is no check on the format.
.cindex "transports" "&(lmtp)&"
.cindex "&(lmtp)& transport"
.cindex "LMTP" "over a pipe"
-.cindex "LMTP" "over a socket"
-The &(lmtp)& transport runs the LMTP protocol (RFC 2033) over a pipe to a
+.cindex "LMTP" "over a unix-domain socket"
+The &(lmtp)& transport runs the LMTP protocol
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2033,RFC 2033)) over a pipe to a
specified command
or by interacting with a Unix domain socket.
This transport is something of a cross between the &(pipe)& and &(smtp)&
the &%environment%& option can be used to add additional variables to this
environment. The environment for the &(pipe)& transport is not subject
to the &%add_environment%& and &%keep_environment%& main config options.
+&*Note*&: Using enviroment variables loses track of tainted data.
+Writers of &(pipe)& transport commands should be wary of data supplied
+by potential attackers.
.display
&`DOMAIN `& the domain of the address
&`HOME `& the home directory, if set
Exim, and each argument is separately expanded, as described in section
&<<SECThowcommandrun>>& above.
+.cindex "tainted data"
+No part of the resulting command may be tainted.
+
-.option environment pipe string&!! unset
+.option environment pipe "string list&!!" unset
.cindex "&(pipe)& transport" "environment for command"
.cindex "environment" "&(pipe)& transport"
This option is used to add additional variables to the environment in which the
.cindex "Cyrus"
The next example shows a transport and a router for a system where local
deliveries are handled by the Cyrus IMAP server.
+. Used to have R: local_part_suffix = .* + T: -m $local_part_suffix_v
+. but that suffix is tainted so cannot be used in a command arg
+. Really, you'd want to use a lookup for acceptable suffixes to do real detainting
.code
# transport
local_delivery_cyrus:
driver = pipe
command = /usr/cyrus/bin/deliver \
- -m ${substr_1:$local_part_suffix} -- $local_part
+ -- $local_part_data
user = cyrus
group = mail
return_output
local_user_cyrus:
driver = accept
check_local_user
- local_part_suffix = .*
transport = local_delivery_cyrus
.endd
Note the unsetting of &%message_prefix%& and &%message_suffix%&, and the use of
several minutes) to act. To have any effect, the value of this option must be
less than the system timeout. However, it has been observed that on some
systems there is no system timeout, which is why the default value for this
-option is 5 minutes, a value recommended by RFC 1123.
+option is 5 minutes, a value recommended by
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1123,RFC 1123).
.option connection_max_messages smtp integer 500
For testing purposes, this value can be overridden by the &%-oB%& command line
option.
+.cindex "ESMTP extensions" LIMITS
+If the peer advertises a LIMITS extension with a MAILMAX value,
+and either TLSS is in use or was not advertised,
+that value also constrains the result of this option.
+
.option dane_require_tls_ciphers smtp string&!! unset
.cindex "TLS" "requiring specific ciphers for DANE"
that is used for &%helo_data%& to be obtained by a DNS lookup of the outgoing
interface address, you could use this:
.code
-helo_data = ${lookup dnsdb{ptr=$sending_ip_address}{$value}\
+helo_data = ${lookup dnsdb{ptr=$sending_ip_address} \
+ {${listextract{1}{<\n $value}}} \
{$primary_hostname}}
.endd
The use of &%helo_data%& applies both to sending messages and when doing
callouts.
+.option host_name_extract smtp "string list&!!" "see below"
+.cindex "load balancer" "hosts behind"
+.cindex TLS resumption
+Some mail-accepting sites
+(notably Microsoft)
+operate many servers behind a network load-balancer. When this is done,
+with separated TLS session caches, TLS session resuption becomes problematic.
+It will only succeed when the same server happens to be selected by the
+load-balancer, matching the session stored in the client's cache.
+
+Exim can pull out a server name, if there is one, from the response to the
+client's SMTP EHLO command.
+For normal STARTTLS use, the default value of this option:
+.code
+ ${if and { {match {$host} {.outlook.com\$}} \
+ {match {$item} {\N^250-([\w.]+)\s\N}} \
+ } {$1}}
+.endd
+suffices for one known case.
+
+During the expansion of this option the &$item$& variable will have the
+server's EHLO response.
+
+For TLS-on-connect connections we do not have an EHLO
+response to use. Because of this the default value of this option is
+set to a static string for those cases, meaning that resumption will
+always be attempted if permitted by the &%tls_resumption_hosts%& option.
+
+The result of the option expansion is included in the key used to store and
+retrieve the TLS session, for session resumption.
+
+Operators of high-load sites may wish to evaluate their logs for indications
+of other destination sites operating load-balancers, and develop a suitable
+expression for this option.
+The smtp:ehlo event and the &$tls_out_resumption$& variable
+will be useful for such work.
+
.option hosts smtp "string list&!!" unset
Hosts are associated with an address by a router such as &(dnslookup)&, which
finds the hosts by looking up the address domain in the DNS, or by
.option hosts_pipe_connect smtp "host list&!!" unset
.cindex "pipelining" "early connection"
-.cindex "pipelining" PIPE_CONNECT
+.cindex "pipelining" PIPECONNECT
If Exim is built with the SUPPORT_PIPE_CONNECT build option
this option controls which to hosts the facility watched for
and recorded, and used for subsequent connections.
See also the &%pipelining_connect_advertise_hosts%& main option.
Note:
-When the facility is used, the transport &%helo_data%& option
+When the facility is used, if the transport &%interface%& option is unset
+the &%helo_data%& option
will be expanded before the &$sending_ip_address$& variable
is filled in.
A check is made for the use of that variable, without the
&<<CHAPSMTPAUTH>>& for details of authentication.
-.option hosts_request_ocsp smtp "host list&!!" *
+.option hosts_request_ocsp smtp "host list&!!" "see below"
.cindex "TLS" "requiring for certain servers"
Exim will request a Certificate Status on a
TLS session for any host that matches this list.
&%tls_verify_certificates%& should also be set for the transport.
+The default is &"**"& if DANE is not in use for the connection,
+or if DANE-TA us used.
+It is empty if DANE-EE is used.
+
.option hosts_require_alpn smtp "host list&!!" unset
.cindex ALPN "require negotiation in client"
.cindex TLS ALPN
See the &%dnssec_request_domains%& router and transport options.
See section &<<SECDANE>>&.
-.option hosts_require_helo smtp "host list&!!" *
-.cindex "HELO/EHLO" requiring
-Exim will require an accepted HELO or EHLO command from a host matching
-this list, before accepting a MAIL command.
-
.option hosts_require_ocsp smtp "host list&!!" unset
.cindex "TLS" "requiring for certain servers"
Exim will request, and check for a valid Certificate Status being given, on a
.cindex "RFC 7413" "TCP Fast Open"
This option provides a list of servers to which, provided
the facility is supported by this system, Exim will attempt to
-perform a TCP Fast Open.
+perform a TCP Fast Open (&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7413,RFC 7413).
No data is sent on the SYN segment but, if the remote server also
supports the facility, it can send its SMTP banner immediately after
the SYN,ACK segment. This can save up to one round-trip time.
string &`IGNOREQUOTA`& is added to RCPT commands, provided that the LMTP server
has advertised support for IGNOREQUOTA in its response to the LHLO command.
-.option max_rcpt smtp integer 100
+.option max_rcpt smtp integer&!! 100
.cindex "RCPT" "maximum number of outgoing"
-This option limits the number of RCPT commands that are sent in a single
-SMTP message transaction. Each set of addresses is treated independently, and
+This option,
+after expansion,
+limits the number of RCPT commands that are sent in a single
+SMTP message transaction.
+A value setting of zero disables the limit.
+
+If a constant is given,
+each set of addresses is treated independently, and
so can cause parallel connections to the same host if &%remote_max_parallel%&
-permits this. A value setting of zero disables the limit.
+permits this.
+
+.cindex "ESMTP extensions" LIMITS
+If the peer advertises a LIMITS extension with a RCPTMAX value,
+and either TLSS is in use or was not advertised,
+that value also constrains the result of this option
+and no parallel connections will be caused on meeting the RCPTMAX limit.
.option message_linelength_limit smtp integer 998
.cindex "line length" limit
This option sets the maximum line length, in bytes, that the transport
will send. Any messages with lines exceeding the given value
+(before a transport filter, if any)
will fail and a failure-DSN ("bounce") message will if possible be returned
to the sender.
The default value is that defined by the SMTP standards.
only messages having the domain used for the DANE TLSA lookup are
sent on the connection.
+.cindex "ESMTP extensions" LIMITS
+If the peer advertises a LIMITS extension with a RCPTDOMAINMAX value,
+and either TLSS is in use or was not advertised,
+this option is regarded as being false.
+
+
.option port smtp string&!! "see below"
.cindex "port" "sending TCP/IP"
.cindex "TCP/IP" "setting outgoing port"
.vindex "&$port$&"
If this option is set to &"lmtp"& instead of &"smtp"&, the default value for
the &%port%& option changes to &"lmtp"&, and the transport operates the LMTP
-protocol (RFC 2033) instead of SMTP. This protocol is sometimes used for local
+protocol
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2033,RFC 2033)) instead of SMTP.
+This protocol is sometimes used for local
deliveries into closed message stores. Exim also has support for running LMTP
over a pipe to a local process &-- see chapter &<<CHAPLMTP>>&.
+&*Note*&: When using LMTP it should be considered whether the default values
+for some other features, such as DANE, are appropriate.
+
If this option is set to &"smtps"&, the default value for the &%port%& option
changes to &"smtps"&, and the transport initiates TLS immediately after
connecting, as an outbound SSL-on-connect, instead of using STARTTLS to upgrade.
The Internet standards bodies used to strongly discourage use of this mode,
-but as of RFC 8314 it is preferred over STARTTLS for message submission
+but as of &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8314,RFC 8314) it is preferred
+over STARTTLS for message submission
(as distinct from MTA-MTA communication).
while verifying the server certificate,
checks will be included on the host name
(note that this will generally be the result of a DNS MX lookup)
-versus Subject and Subject-Alternate-Name fields. Wildcard names are permitted
+versus the Subject-Alternate-Name (or, if none, Subject-Name) fields.
+Wildcard names are permitted,
limited to being the initial component of a 3-or-more component FQDN.
There is no equivalent checking on client certificates.
operation is as if this option selected all hosts.
&*Warning*&: Including a host in &%tls_verify_hosts%& does not require
that connections use TLS.
-Fallback to in-clear communication will be done unless restricted by
+Fallback to in-clear communication will be done unless restricted by
the &%hosts_require_tls%& option.
.option utf8_downconvert smtp integer&!! -1
.vindex "&$sender_address$&"
At the start of an ACL for MAIL, the sender address may have been rewritten
-by a special SMTP-time rewrite rule (see section &<<SECTrewriteS>>&), but no
+by a special SMTP-time rewrite rule (see section &<<SSECTrewriteS>>&), but no
ordinary rewrite rules have yet been applied. If, however, the sender address
is verified in the ACL, it is rewritten before verification, and remains
rewritten thereafter. The subsequent value of &$sender_address$& is the
.cindex "testing" "rewriting"
Exim's input rewriting configuration appears in a part of the runtime
configuration file headed by &"begin rewrite"&. It can be tested by the
-&%-brw%& command line option. This takes an address (which can be a full RFC
-2822 address) as its argument. The output is a list of how the address would be
+&%-brw%& command line option. This takes an address (which can be a full
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+address) as its argument. The output is a list of how the address would be
transformed by the rewriting rules for each of the different places it might
appear in an incoming message, that is, for each different header and for the
envelope sender and recipient fields. For example,
-.section "Rewriting flags" "SECID153"
+.subsection "Rewriting flags" "SSECID153"
There are three different kinds of flag that may appear on rewriting rules:
.ilist
-.section "Flags specifying which headers and envelope addresses to rewrite" &&&
- "SECID154"
-.cindex "rewriting" "flags"
+.subsection "Flags specifying which headers and envelope addresses to rewrite" &&&
+ "SSECID154"
+.cindex rewriting flags
If none of the following flag letters, nor the &"S"& flag (see section
-&<<SECTrewriteS>>&) are present, a main rewriting rule applies to all headers
+&<<SSECTrewriteS>>&) are present, a main rewriting rule applies to all headers
and to both the sender and recipient fields of the envelope, whereas a
transport-time rewriting rule just applies to all headers. Otherwise, the
rewriting rule is skipped unless the relevant addresses are being processed.
restrict this to special known cases in your own domains.
-.section "The SMTP-time rewriting flag" "SECTrewriteS"
-.cindex "SMTP" "rewriting malformed addresses"
-.cindex "RCPT" "rewriting argument of"
-.cindex "MAIL" "rewriting argument of"
+.subsection "The SMTP-time rewriting flag" SSECTrewriteS
+.cindex SMTP "rewriting malformed addresses"
+.cindex RCPT "rewriting argument of"
+.cindex MAIL "rewriting argument of"
The rewrite flag &"S"& specifies a rewrite of incoming envelope addresses at
SMTP time, as soon as an address is received in a MAIL or RCPT command, and
before any other processing; even before syntax checking. The pattern is
.vindex "&$domain$&"
.vindex "&$local_part$&"
This form of rewrite rule allows for the handling of addresses that are not
-compliant with RFCs 2821 and 2822 (for example, &"bang paths"& in batched SMTP
+compliant with RFCs
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2821,2821) and
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,2822)
+(for example, &"bang paths"& in batched SMTP
input). Because the input is not required to be a syntactically valid address,
the variables &$local_part$& and &$domain$& are not available during the
expansion of the replacement string. The result of rewriting replaces the
original address in the MAIL or RCPT command.
-.section "Flags controlling the rewriting process" "SECID155"
+.subsection "Flags controlling the rewriting process" SSECID155
There are four flags which control the way the rewriting process works. These
take effect only when a rule is invoked, that is, when the address is of the
correct type (matches the flags) and matches the pattern:
.next
.cindex "rewriting" "whole addresses"
When an address in a header is rewritten, the rewriting normally applies only
-to the working part of the address, with any comments and RFC 2822 &"phrase"&
-left unchanged. For example, rewriting might change
+to the working part of the address, with any comments and
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+&"phrase"& left unchanged. For example, rewriting might change
.code
From: Ford Prefect <fp42@restaurant.hitch.fict.example>
.endd
Sometimes there is a need to replace the whole address item, and this can be
done by adding the flag letter &"w"& to a rule. If this is set on a rule that
causes an address in a header line to be rewritten, the entire address is
-replaced, not just the working part. The replacement must be a complete RFC
-2822 address, including the angle brackets if necessary. If text outside angle
+replaced, not just the working part. The replacement must be a complete
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+address, including the angle brackets if necessary. If text outside angle
brackets contains a character whose value is greater than 126 or less than 32
-(except for tab), the text is encoded according to RFC 2047. The character set
+(except for tab), the text is encoded according to
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2047,RFC 2047). The character set
is taken from &%headers_charset%&, which gets its default at build time.
When the &"w"& flag is set on a rule that causes an envelope address to be
.scindex IIDauthconf2 "authentication"
The &"authenticators"& section of Exim's runtime configuration is concerned
with SMTP authentication. This facility is an extension to the SMTP protocol,
-described in RFC 2554, which allows a client SMTP host to authenticate itself
+described in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2554,RFC 2554),
+which allows a client SMTP host to authenticate itself
to a server. This is a common way for a server to recognize clients that are
permitted to use it as a relay. SMTP authentication is not of relevance to the
transfer of mail between servers that have no managerial connection with each
.cindex "ESMTP extensions" AUTH
Very briefly, the way SMTP authentication works is as follows:
-.ilist
+.olist
The server advertises a number of authentication &'mechanisms'& in response to
the client's EHLO command.
.next
AUTH_TLS=yes
.endd
in &_Local/Makefile_&, respectively. The first of these supports the CRAM-MD5
-authentication mechanism (RFC 2195), and the second provides an interface to
-the Cyrus SASL authentication library.
+authentication mechanism
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2195,RFC 2195)),
+and the second provides an interface to the Cyrus SASL authentication library.
The third is an interface to Dovecot's authentication system, delegating the
work via a socket interface.
The fourth provides for negotiation of authentication done via non-SMTP means,
-as defined by RFC 4422 Appendix A.
+as defined by &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4422,RFC 4422) Appendix A.
The fifth provides an interface to the GNU SASL authentication library, which
provides mechanisms but typically not data sources.
The sixth provides direct access to Heimdal GSSAPI, geared for Kerberos, but
supporting setting a server keytab.
The seventh can be configured to support
-the PLAIN authentication mechanism (RFC 2595) or the LOGIN mechanism, which is
+the PLAIN authentication mechanism
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2595,RFC 2595))
+or the LOGIN mechanism, which is
not formally documented, but used by several MUAs.
The eighth authenticator
supports Microsoft's &'Secure Password Authentication'& mechanism.
.option public_name authenticators string unset
This option specifies the name of the authentication mechanism that the driver
implements, and by which it is known to the outside world. These names should
-contain only upper case letters, digits, underscores, and hyphens (RFC 2222),
+contain only upper case letters, digits, underscores, and hyphens
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2222,RFC 2222)),
but Exim in fact matches them caselessly. If &%public_name%& is not set, it
defaults to the driver's instance name.
Successful authentication sets up information used by the
&%authresults%& expansion item.
-
+.cindex authentication "failure event, server"
+If an authenticator is run and does not succeed,
+an event (see &<<CHAPevents>>&) of type "auth:fail" is raised.
+While the event is being processed the variables
+&$sender_host_authenticated$& (with the authenticator name)
+and &$authenticated_fail_id$& (as set by the authenticator &%server_set_id%& option)
+will be valid.
+If the event is serviced and a string is returned then the string will be logged
+instead of the default log line.
+See <<CHAPevents>> for details on events.
.section "Testing server authentication" "SECID169"
Exim abandons trying to send the message to the host for the moment. It will
try again later. If there are any backup hosts available, they are tried in the
usual way.
+
+.next
+.cindex authentication "failure event, client"
+If the response to authentication is a permanent error (5&'xx'& code),
+an event (see &<<CHAPevents>>&) of type "auth:fail" is raised.
+While the event is being processed the variable
+&$sender_host_authenticated$& (with the authenticator name)
+will be valid.
+If the event is serviced and a string is returned then the string will be logged.
+See <<CHAPevents>> for details on events.
+
.next
If the response to authentication is a permanent error (5&'xx'& code), Exim
carries on searching the list of authenticators and tries another one if
.cindex "PLAIN authentication mechanism"
.cindex authentication PLAIN
.cindex "binary zero" "in &(plaintext)& authenticator"
-The PLAIN authentication mechanism (RFC 2595) specifies that three strings be
+The PLAIN authentication mechanism
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2595,RFC 2595))
+specifies that three strings be
sent as one item of data (that is, one combined string containing two NUL
separators). The data is sent either as part of the AUTH command, or
subsequently in response to an empty prompt from the server.
.scindex IIDcramauth2 "authenticators" "&(cram_md5)&"
.cindex "CRAM-MD5 authentication mechanism"
.cindex authentication CRAM-MD5
-The CRAM-MD5 authentication mechanism is described in RFC 2195. The server
+The CRAM-MD5 authentication mechanism is described in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2195,RFC 2195). The server
sends a challenge string to the client, and the response consists of a user
name and the CRAM-MD5 digest of the challenge string combined with a secret
string (password) which is known to both server and client. Thus, the secret
at A L Digital Ltd.
The &(cyrus_sasl)& authenticator provides server support for the Cyrus SASL
-library implementation of the RFC 2222 (&"Simple Authentication and Security
+library implementation of the
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2222,RFC 2222)
+(&"Simple Authentication and Security
Layer"&). This library supports a number of authentication mechanisms,
including PLAIN and LOGIN, but also several others that Exim does not support
directly. In particular, there is support for Kerberos authentication.
Note that Dovecot must be configured to use auth-client not auth-userdb.
If you are using Dovecot to authenticate POP/IMAP clients, it might be helpful
to use the same mechanisms for SMTP authentication. This is a server
-authenticator only. There is only one option:
+authenticator only. There is only one non-generic option:
.option server_socket dovecot string unset
dovecot_plain:
driver = dovecot
public_name = PLAIN
+ server_advertise_condition = ${if def:tls_in_cipher}
server_socket = /var/run/dovecot/auth-client
server_set_id = $auth1
server_socket = /var/run/dovecot/auth-client
server_set_id = $auth1
.endd
+
+&*Note*&: plaintext authentication methods such as PLAIN and LOGIN
+should not be advertised on cleartext SMTP connections.
+See the discussion in section &<<SECTplain_TLS>>&.
+
If the SMTP connection is encrypted, or if &$sender_host_address$& is equal to
&$received_ip_address$& (that is, the connection is local), the &"secured"&
option is passed in the Dovecot authentication command. If, for a TLS
Password Authentication'& mechanism,
which is also sometimes known as NTLM (NT LanMan). The code for client side of
this authenticator was contributed by Marc Prud'hommeaux, and much of it is
-taken from the Samba project (&url(https://www.samba.org/)). The code for the
+taken from the &url(https://www.samba.org/,Samba project). The code for the
server side was subsequently contributed by Tom Kistner. The mechanism works as
follows:
.cindex "Certificate-based authentication"
The &(external)& authenticator provides support for
authentication based on non-SMTP information.
-The specification is in RFC 4422 Appendix A
-(&url(https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4422)).
+The specification is in
+&url(https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4422,RFC 4422) Appendix A.
It is only a transport and negotiation mechanism;
the process of authentication is entirely controlled
by the server configuration.
this authentication method on a secure (eg. under TLS) connection.
One possible use, compatible with the
-K-9 Mail Android client (&url(https://k9mail.github.io/)),
+&url(https://k9mail.github.io/,K-9 Mail Android client)
is for using X509 client certificates.
It thus overlaps in function with the TLS authenticator
(see &<<CHAPTLS>>&).
If an authenticator of this type is configured it is
-run before any SMTP-level communication is done,
+run immediately after a TLS connection being negotiated
+(due to either STARTTLS or TLS-on-connect)
and can authenticate the connection.
-If it does, SMTP authentication is not offered.
+If it does, SMTP authentication is not subsequently offered.
A maximum of one authenticator of this type may be present.
level, and in particular, the way that public keys, private keys, and
certificates are used.
-RFC 3207 defines how SMTP connections can make use of encryption. Once a
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3207,RFC 3207)
+defines how SMTP connections can make use of encryption. Once a
connection is established, the client issues a STARTTLS command. If the
server accepts this, the client and the server negotiate an encryption
mechanism. If the negotiation succeeds, the data that subsequently passes
.cindex "SMTP" "ssmtp protocol"
.cindex "SMTP" "smtps protocol"
The history of port numbers for TLS in SMTP is a little messy and has been
-contentious. As of RFC 8314, the common practice of using the historically
+contentious. As of
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8314,RFC 8314),
+the common practice of using the historically
allocated port 465 for "email submission but with TLS immediately upon connect
instead of using STARTTLS" is officially blessed by the IETF, and recommended
by them in preference to STARTTLS.
.vindex "&$tls_in_peerdn$&"
.vindex "&$tls_out_peerdn$&"
Distinguished Name (DN) strings reported by the OpenSSL library use a slash for
-separating fields; GnuTLS uses commas, in accordance with RFC 2253. This
+separating fields; GnuTLS uses commas, in accordance with
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2253,RFC 2253). This
affects the value of the &$tls_in_peerdn$& and &$tls_out_peerdn$& variables.
.next
OpenSSL identifies cipher suites using hyphens as separators, for example:
(If an API is found to let OpenSSL be configured in this way,
let the Exim Maintainers know and we'll likely use it).
.next
-With GnuTLS, if an explicit list is used for the &%tls_privatekey%& main option
-main option, it must be ordered to match the &%tls_certificate%& list.
+With GnuTLS, if an explicit list is used for the &%tls_privatekey%& main option,
+it must be ordered to match the &%tls_certificate%& list.
.next
Some other recently added features may only be available in one or the other.
This should be documented with the feature. If the documentation does not
(again depending on the &%tls_cipher%& log selector).
-.section "Requesting and verifying client certificates" "SECID183"
+.subsection "Requesting and verifying client certificates"
.cindex "certificate" "verification of client"
.cindex "TLS" "client certificate verification"
If you want an Exim server to request a certificate when negotiating a TLS
certificate is supplied, &$tls_in_peerdn$& is empty.
-.section "Revoked certificates" "SECID184"
-.cindex "TLS" "revoked certificates"
-.cindex "revocation list"
-.cindex "certificate" "revocation list"
-.cindex "OCSP" "stapling"
-Certificate issuing authorities issue Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) when
-certificates are revoked. If you have such a list, you can pass it to an Exim
-server using the global option called &%tls_crl%& and to an Exim client using
-an identically named option for the &(smtp)& transport. In each case, the value
-of the option is expanded and must then be the name of a file that contains a
-CRL in PEM format.
-The downside is that clients have to periodically re-download a potentially huge
-file from every certificate authority they know of.
-
-The way with most moving parts at query time is Online Certificate
-Status Protocol (OCSP), where the client verifies the certificate
-against an OCSP server run by the CA. This lets the CA track all
-usage of the certs. It requires running software with access to the
-private key of the CA, to sign the responses to the OCSP queries. OCSP
-is based on HTTP and can be proxied accordingly.
-
-The only widespread OCSP server implementation (known to this writer)
-comes as part of OpenSSL and aborts on an invalid request, such as
-connecting to the port and then disconnecting. This requires
-re-entering the passphrase each time some random client does this.
-
-The third way is OCSP Stapling; in this, the server using a certificate
-issued by the CA periodically requests an OCSP proof of validity from
-the OCSP server, then serves it up inline as part of the TLS
-negotiation. This approach adds no extra round trips, does not let the
-CA track users, scales well with number of certs issued by the CA and is
-resilient to temporary OCSP server failures, as long as the server
-starts retrying to fetch an OCSP proof some time before its current
-proof expires. The downside is that it requires server support.
-
-Unless Exim is built with the support disabled,
-or with GnuTLS earlier than version 3.3.16 / 3.4.8
-support for OCSP stapling is included.
-
-There is a global option called &%tls_ocsp_file%&.
-The file specified therein is expected to be in DER format, and contain
-an OCSP proof. Exim will serve it as part of the TLS handshake. This
-option will be re-expanded for SNI, if the &%tls_certificate%& option
-contains &`tls_in_sni`&, as per other TLS options.
-
-Exim does not at this time implement any support for fetching a new OCSP
-proof. The burden is on the administrator to handle this, outside of
-Exim. The file specified should be replaced atomically, so that the
-contents are always valid. Exim will expand the &%tls_ocsp_file%& option
-on each connection, so a new file will be handled transparently on the
-next connection.
-
-When built with OpenSSL Exim will check for a valid next update timestamp
-in the OCSP proof; if not present, or if the proof has expired, it will be
-ignored.
-
-For the client to be able to verify the stapled OCSP the server must
-also supply, in its stapled information, any intermediate
-certificates for the chain leading to the OCSP proof from the signer
-of the server certificate. There may be zero or one such. These
-intermediate certificates should be added to the server OCSP stapling
-file named by &%tls_ocsp_file%&.
-
-Note that the proof only covers the terminal server certificate,
-not any of the chain from CA to it.
-
-There is no current way to staple a proof for a client certificate.
-
-.code
- A helper script "ocsp_fetch.pl" for fetching a proof from a CA
- OCSP server is supplied. The server URL may be included in the
- server certificate, if the CA is helpful.
-
- One failure mode seen was the OCSP Signer cert expiring before the end
- of validity of the OCSP proof. The checking done by Exim/OpenSSL
- noted this as invalid overall, but the re-fetch script did not.
-.endd
-
-
-.section "Caching of static server configuration items" "SECTserverTLScache"
+.subsection "Caching of static server configuration items" "SSECTserverTLScache"
.cindex certificate caching
.cindex privatekey caching
.cindex crl caching
The value &"system"& results in no caching under GnuTLS.
The macro _HAVE_TLS_CA_CACHE will be defined if the suffix for "system"
-is acceptable in configurations for the Exim executavble.
+is acceptable in configurations for the Exim executable.
Caching of the system Certificate Authorities bundle can
-save siginificant time and processing on every TLS connection
+save significant time and processing on every TLS connection
accepted by Exim.
-.section "Caching of static client configuration items" "SECTclientTLScache"
+.subsection "Caching of static client configuration items" SECTclientTLScache
.cindex certificate caching
.cindex privatekey caching
.cindex crl caching
The value &"system"& results in no caching under GnuTLS.
The macro _HAVE_TLS_CA_CACHE will be defined if the suffix for "system"
-is acceptable in configurations for the Exim executavble.
+is acceptable in configurations for the Exim executable.
Caching of the system Certificate Authorities bundle can
-save siginificant time and processing on every TLS connection
+save significant time and processing on every TLS connection
initiated by Exim.
.oindex "&%tls_in_sni%&"
With TLS1.0 or above, there is an extension mechanism by which extra
information can be included at various points in the protocol. One of these
-extensions, documented in RFC 6066 (and before that RFC 4366) is
+extensions, documented in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6066,RFC 6066)
+(and before that &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4366,RFC 4366)) is
&"Server Name Indication"&, commonly &"SNI"&. This extension is sent by the
client in the initial handshake, so that the server can examine the servername
within and possibly choose to use different certificates and keys (and more)
for the lifetime of the client connection (including during authentication).
If DANE validated the connection attempt then the value of the &%tls_sni%& option
-is forced to the domain part of the recipient address.
+is forced to the name of the destination host, after any MX- or CNAME-following.
Except during SMTP client sessions, if &$tls_in_sni$& is set then it is a string
received from a client.
0.5.10. (Its presence predates the current API which Exim uses, so if Exim
built, then you have SNI support).
+.subsection ALPN
.cindex TLS ALPN
.cindex ALPN "general information"
.cindex TLS "Application Layer Protocol Names"
The client for the connection proposes a set of protocol names, and
the server responds with a selected one.
It is not, as of 2021, commonly used for SMTP connections.
-However, to guard against misirected or malicious use of web clients
+However, to guard against misdirected or malicious use of web clients
(which often do use ALPN) against MTA ports, Exim by default check that
there is no incompatible ALPN specified by a client for a TLS connection.
If there is, the connection is rejected.
&%tls_alpn%& and &%hosts_require_alpn%&.
There are no variables providing observability.
Some feature-specific logging may appear on denied connections, but this
-depends on the behavious of the peer
+depends on the behaviour of the peer
(not all peers can send a feature-specific TLS Alert).
This feature is available when Exim is built with
&url(https://www.ssllabs.com/).
-.section "Certificate chains" "SECID186"
+.subsection "Certificate chains" SECID186
A file named by &%tls_certificate%& may contain more than one
certificate. This is useful in the case where the certificate that is being
sent is validated by an intermediate certificate which the other end does
-.section "Self-signed certificates" "SECID187"
+.subsection "Self-signed certificates" SECID187
.cindex "certificate" "self-signed"
You can create a self-signed certificate using the &'req'& command provided
with OpenSSL, like this:
user certificates, see the &'General implementation overview'& chapter of the
Open-source PKI book, available online at
&url(https://sourceforge.net/projects/ospkibook/).
+
+
+.subsection "Revoked certificates"
+.cindex "TLS" "revoked certificates"
+.cindex "revocation list"
+.cindex "certificate" "revocation list"
+.cindex "OCSP" "stapling"
+There are three ways for a certificate to be made unusable
+before its expiry.
+
+.ilist
+Certificate issuing authorities issue Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) when
+certificates are revoked. If you have such a list, you can pass it to an Exim
+server using the global option called &%tls_crl%& and to an Exim client using
+an identically named option for the &(smtp)& transport. In each case, the value
+of the option is expanded and must then be the name of a file that contains a
+CRL in PEM format.
+The downside is that clients have to periodically re-download a potentially huge
+file from every certificate authority they know of.
+
+.next
+The way with most moving parts at query time is Online Certificate
+Status Protocol (OCSP), where the client verifies the certificate
+against an OCSP server run by the CA. This lets the CA track all
+usage of the certs. It requires running software with access to the
+private key of the CA, to sign the responses to the OCSP queries. OCSP
+is based on HTTP and can be proxied accordingly.
+
+The only widespread OCSP server implementation (known to this writer)
+comes as part of OpenSSL and aborts on an invalid request, such as
+connecting to the port and then disconnecting. This requires
+re-entering the passphrase each time some random client does this.
+
+.next
+The third way is OCSP Stapling; in this, the server using a certificate
+issued by the CA periodically requests an OCSP proof of validity from
+the OCSP server, then serves it up inline as part of the TLS
+negotiation. This approach adds no extra round trips, does not let the
+CA track users, scales well with number of certs issued by the CA and is
+resilient to temporary OCSP server failures, as long as the server
+starts retrying to fetch an OCSP proof some time before its current
+proof expires. The downside is that it requires server support.
+
+Unless Exim is built with the support disabled,
+or with GnuTLS earlier than version 3.3.16 / 3.4.8
+support for OCSP stapling is included.
+
+There is a global option called &%tls_ocsp_file%&.
+The file specified therein is expected to be in DER format, and contain
+an OCSP proof. Exim will serve it as part of the TLS handshake. This
+option will be re-expanded for SNI, if the &%tls_certificate%& option
+contains &`tls_in_sni`&, as per other TLS options.
+
+Exim does not at this time implement any support for fetching a new OCSP
+proof. The burden is on the administrator to handle this, outside of
+Exim. The file specified should be replaced atomically, so that the
+contents are always valid. Exim will expand the &%tls_ocsp_file%& option
+on each connection, so a new file will be handled transparently on the
+next connection.
+
+When built with OpenSSL Exim will check for a valid next update timestamp
+in the OCSP proof; if not present, or if the proof has expired, it will be
+ignored.
+
+For the client to be able to verify the stapled OCSP the server must
+also supply, in its stapled information, any intermediate
+certificates for the chain leading to the OCSP proof from the signer
+of the server certificate. There may be zero or one such. These
+intermediate certificates should be added to the server OCSP stapling
+file named by &%tls_ocsp_file%&.
+
+Note that the proof only covers the terminal server certificate,
+not any of the chain from CA to it.
+
+There is no current way to staple a proof for a client certificate.
+
+.code
+ A helper script "ocsp_fetch.pl" for fetching a proof from a CA
+ OCSP server is supplied. The server URL may be included in the
+ server certificate, if the CA is helpful.
+
+ One failure mode seen was the OCSP Signer cert expiring before the end
+ of validity of the OCSP proof. The checking done by Exim/OpenSSL
+ noted this as invalid overall, but the re-fetch script did not.
+.endd
+.endlist
+
+
.ecindex IIDencsmtp1
.ecindex IIDencsmtp2
.section "TLS Resumption" "SECTresumption"
.cindex TLS resumption
TLS Session Resumption for TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3 connections can be used (defined
-in RFC 5077 for 1.2). The support for this requires GnuTLS 3.6.3 or OpenSSL 1.1.1
-(or later).
+in &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5077,RFC 5077) for 1.2).
+The support for this requires GnuTLS 3.6.3 or OpenSSL 1.1.1 (or later).
Session resumption (this is the "stateless" variant) involves the server sending
a "session ticket" to the client on one connection, which can be stored by the
for every possible target server. It also scales (slightly) better than having to maintain on an SMTP
client a copy of the standard CAs bundle. It also means not having to pay a CA for certificates.
-DANE requires a server operator to do three things: 1) run DNSSEC. This provides assurance to clients
+DANE requires a server operator to do three things:
+.olist
+Run DNSSEC. This provides assurance to clients
that DNS lookups they do for the server have not been tampered with. The domain MX record applying
to this server, its A record, its TLSA record and any associated CNAME records must all be covered by
DNSSEC.
-2) add TLSA DNS records. These say what the server certificate for a TLS connection should be.
-3) offer a server certificate, or certificate chain, in TLS connections which is is anchored by one of the TLSA records.
+.next
+Add TLSA DNS records. These say what the server certificate for a TLS connection should be.
+.next
+Offer a server certificate, or certificate chain, in TLS connections which is anchored by one of the TLSA records.
+.endlist
There are no changes to Exim specific to server-side operation of DANE.
Support for client-side operation of DANE can be included at compile time by defining SUPPORT_DANE=yes
in &_Local/Makefile_&.
If it has been included, the macro "_HAVE_DANE" will be defined.
+.subsection "DNS records"
A TLSA record consist of 4 fields, the "Certificate Usage", the
"Selector", the "Matching type", and the "Certificate Association Data".
For a detailed description of the TLSA record see
This means no MD5 and no SHA-1. SHA2-256 is the minimum for reliable
interoperability (and probably the maximum too, in 2018).
+.subsection "Interaction with OCSP"
The use of OCSP-stapling should be considered, allowing for fast revocation of certificates (which would otherwise
be limited by the DNS TTL on the TLSA records). However, this is likely to only be usable with DANE-TA. NOTE: the
default of requesting OCSP for all hosts is modified iff DANE is in use, to:
those who use &%hosts_require_ocsp%&, should consider the interaction with DANE in their OCSP settings.
+.subsection "Client configuration"
For client-side DANE there are three new smtp transport options, &%hosts_try_dane%&, &%hosts_require_dane%&
and &%dane_require_tls_ciphers%&.
The &"require"& variant will result in failure if the target host is not
The router and transport option &%dnssec_request_domains%& must not be
set to &"never"&, and &%dnssec_require_domains%& is ignored.
+.subsection Observability
If verification was successful using DANE then the "CV" item in the delivery log line will show as "CV=dane".
There is a new variable &$tls_out_dane$& which will have "yes" if
The &$event_data$& will be one of the Result Types defined in
Section 4.3 of that document.
+.subsection General
Under GnuTLS, DANE is only supported from version 3.0.0 onwards.
-DANE is specified in published RFCs and decouples certificate authority trust
+DANE is specified in &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6698,RFC 6698).
+It decouples certificate authority trust
selection from a "race to the bottom" of "you must trust everything for mail
-to get through". There is an alternative technology called MTA-STS, which
-instead publishes MX trust anchor information on an HTTPS website. At the
-time this text was last updated, MTA-STS was still a draft, not yet an RFC.
+to get through".
+It does retain the need to trust the assurances provided by the DNSSEC tree.
+
+There is an alternative technology called MTA-STS
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8461,RFC 8461)), which
+instead publishes MX trust anchor information on an HTTPS website.
+The discovery of the address for that website does not (per standard)
+require DNSSEC, and could be regarded as being less secure than DANE
+as a result.
+
Exim has no support for MTA-STS as a client, but Exim mail server operators
can choose to publish information describing their TLS configuration using
MTA-STS to let those clients who do use that protocol derive trust
.cindex "RCPT" "ACL for"
.cindex "STARTTLS, ACL for"
.cindex "VRFY" "ACL for"
+.cindex "WELLKNOWN" "ACL for"
.cindex "SMTP" "connection, ACL for"
.cindex "non-SMTP messages" "ACLs for"
.cindex "MIME content scanning" "ACL for"
.irow &%acl_smtp_rcpt%& "ACL for RCPT"
.irow &%acl_smtp_starttls%& "ACL for STARTTLS"
.irow &%acl_smtp_vrfy%& "ACL for VRFY"
+.irow &%acl_smtp_wellknown%& "ACL for WELLKNOWN"
.endtable
For example, if you set
testing as possible at RCPT time.
-.section "The non-SMTP ACLs" "SECID190"
+.subsection "The non-SMTP ACLs" SECnonSMTP
.cindex "non-SMTP messages" "ACLs for"
The non-SMTP ACLs apply to all non-interactive incoming messages, that is, they
apply to batched SMTP as well as to non-SMTP messages. (Batched SMTP is not
temporary error for these kinds of message.
-.section "The SMTP connect ACL" "SECID191"
+.subsection "The SMTP connect ACL" SECconnectACL
.cindex "SMTP" "connection, ACL for"
.oindex &%smtp_banner%&
The ACL test specified by &%acl_smtp_connect%& happens at the start of an SMTP
the message override the banner message that is otherwise specified by the
&%smtp_banner%& option.
-.new
-For tls-on-connect connections, the ACL is run after the TLS connection
-is accepted (however, &%host_reject_connection%& is tested before).
-.wen
+For tls-on-connect connections, the ACL is run before the TLS connection
+is accepted; if the ACL does not accept then the TCP connection is dropped without
+any TLS startup attempt and without any SMTP response being transmitted.
-.section "The EHLO/HELO ACL" "SECID192"
+.subsection "The EHLO/HELO ACL" SECheloACL
.cindex "EHLO" "ACL for"
.cindex "HELO" "ACL for"
The ACL test specified by &%acl_smtp_helo%& happens when the client issues an
an EHLO response.
-.section "The DATA ACLs" "SECID193"
+.subsection "The DATA ACLs" SECdataACLS
.cindex "DATA" "ACLs for"
Two ACLs are associated with the DATA command, because it is two-stage
command, with two responses being sent to the client.
the &%acl_smtp_dkim%&
and the &%acl_smtp_mime%& ACLs.
-.section "The SMTP DKIM ACL" "SECTDKIMACL"
+.subsection "The SMTP DKIM ACL" SECTDKIMACL
The &%acl_smtp_dkim%& ACL is available only when Exim is compiled with DKIM support
enabled (which is the default).
+If, for a specific message, an ACL control
+&*dkim_disable_verify*&
+has been set, this &%acl_smtp_dkim%& ACL is not called.
+
The ACL test specified by &%acl_smtp_dkim%& happens after a message has been
received, and is executed for each DKIM signature found in a message. If not
otherwise specified, the default action is to accept.
For details on the operation of DKIM, see section &<<SECDKIM>>&.
-.section "The SMTP MIME ACL" "SECID194"
+.subsection "The SMTP MIME ACL" SECID194
The &%acl_smtp_mime%& option is available only when Exim is compiled with the
content-scanning extension. For details, see chapter &<<CHAPexiscan>>&.
This ACL is evaluated after &%acl_smtp_dkim%& but before &%acl_smtp_data%&.
-.section "The SMTP PRDR ACL" "SECTPRDRACL"
+.subsection "The SMTP PRDR ACL" SECTPRDRACL
.cindex "PRDR" "ACL for"
.oindex "&%prdr_enable%&"
The &%acl_smtp_data_prdr%& ACL is available only when Exim is compiled
If the ACL is not defined, processing completes as if
the feature was not requested by the client.
-.section "The QUIT ACL" "SECTQUITACL"
+.subsection "The SMTP WELLKNOWN ACL" SECTWELLKNOWNACL
+.cindex "WELLKNOWN" "ACL for"
+.oindex "&%acl_smtp_wellknown%&"
+The &%acl_smtp_wellknown%& ACL is available only when Exim is compiled
+with WELLKNOWN support enabled.
+
+The ACL determines the response to an SMTP WELLKNOWN command, using the normal
+accept/defer/deny verbs for the response code,
+and a new &"control=wellknown"& modifier.
+This modifier takes a single option, separated by a '/'
+character, which must be the name of a file containing the response
+cleartext. The modifier is expanded before use in the usual way before
+it is used. The configuration is responsible for picking a suitable file
+to return and, most importantly, not returning any unexpected file.
+The argument for the SMTP verb will be available in the &$smtp_command_argument$&
+variable and can be used for building the file path.
+If the file path given in the modifier is empty or inacessible, the control will
+fail.
+
+For example:
+.code
+ check_wellknown:
+ accept control = wellknown/\
+ ${lookup {${xtextd:$smtp_command_argument}} \
+ dsearch,key=path,filter=file,ret=full \
+ {$spooldir/wellknown.d}}
+.endd
+File content will be encoded in &"xtext"& form, and line-wrapping
+for line-length limitation will be done before transmission.
+A response summary line will be prepended, with the (pre-encoding) file size.
+
+The above example uses the expansion operator ${xtextd:<coded-string>}
+which is needed to decode the xtext-encoded key from the SMTP verb.
+
+Under the util directory there is a "mailtest" utility which can be used
+to test/retrieve WELLKNOWN items. Syntax is
+.code
+ mailtest -h host.example.com -w security.txt
+.endd
+
+WELLKNOWN is a ESMTP extension providing access to extended
+information about the server. It is modelled on the webserver
+facilities documented in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8615,RFC 8615)
+and can be used for a security.txt file
+and could be used for ACME handshaking
+(&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8555,RFC 8555)).
+
+Exim will advertise WELLKNOWN support in the EHLO response
+.oindex &%wellknown_advertise_hosts%&
+(conditional on a new option &%wellknown_advertise_hosts%&)
+and service WELLKNOWN smtp verbs having a single parameter
+giving a key for an item of "site-wide metadata".
+The verb and key are separated by whitespace,
+and the key is xtext-encoded
+(per &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3461,RFC 3461) section 4).
+
+
+.subsection "The QUIT ACL" SECTQUITACL
.cindex "QUIT, ACL for"
The ACL for the SMTP QUIT command is anomalous, in that the outcome of the ACL
does not affect the response code to QUIT, which is always 221. Thus, the ACL
connection is closed. In these special cases, the QUIT ACL does not run.
-.section "The not-QUIT ACL" "SECTNOTQUITACL"
+.subsection "The not-QUIT ACL" SECTNOTQUITACL
.vindex &$acl_smtp_notquit$&
The not-QUIT ACL, specified by &%acl_smtp_notquit%&, is run in most cases when
an SMTP session ends without sending QUIT. However, when Exim itself is in bad
{acl_check_rcpt} {acl_check_rcpt_submit} }
.endd
In the default configuration file there are some example settings for
-providing an RFC 4409 message &"submission"& service on port 587 and
-an RFC 8314 &"submissions"& service on port 465. You can use a string
+providing an
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4409,RFC 4409)
+message &"submission"& service on port 587 and an
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8314,RFC 8314)
+&"submissions"& service on port 465. You can use a string
expansion like this to choose an ACL for MUAs on these ports which is
more appropriate for this purpose than the default ACL on port 25.
&%acl_smtp_mime%&, &%acl_smtp_predata%&, and &%acl_smtp_starttls%&, the action
when the ACL is not defined is &"accept"&.
-For the others (&%acl_smtp_etrn%&, &%acl_smtp_expn%&, &%acl_smtp_rcpt%&, and
-&%acl_smtp_vrfy%&), the action when the ACL is not defined is &"deny"&.
-This means that &%acl_smtp_rcpt%& must be defined in order to receive any
-messages over an SMTP connection. For an example, see the ACL in the default
-configuration file.
-
+For the others (&%acl_smtp_etrn%&, &%acl_smtp_expn%&, &%acl_smtp_rcpt%&,
+&%acl_smtp_vrfy%&
+and &%acl_smtp_wellknown%&),
+the action when the ACL
+is not defined is &"deny"&. This means that &%acl_smtp_rcpt%& must be
+defined in order to receive any messages over an SMTP connection.
+For an example, see the ACL in the default configuration file.
.section "Format of an ACL" "SECID199"
.cindex "&ACL;" "format of"
.cindex "&ACL;" "verbs, definition of"
-An individual ACL consists of a number of statements. Each statement starts
+An individual ACL definition consists of a number of statements.
+Each statement starts
with a verb, optionally followed by a number of conditions and &"modifiers"&.
Modifiers can change the way the verb operates, define error and log messages,
set variables, insert delays, and vary the processing of accepted messages.
all the conditions make sense at every testing point. For example, you cannot
test a sender address in the ACL that is run for a VRFY command.
+The definition of an ACL ends where another starts,
+or a different configuration section starts.
+
.section "ACL verbs" "SECID200"
The ACL verbs are as follows:
The text in a &%message%& modifier is literal; any quotes are taken as
literals, but because the string is expanded, backslash escapes are processed
-anyway. If the message contains newlines, this gives rise to a multi-line SMTP
+anyway.
+If the message contains newlines, this gives rise to a multi-line SMTP
response.
+A long message line will also be split into multi-line SMTP responses,
+on word boundaries if possible.
.vindex "&$acl_verify_message$&"
While the text is being expanded, the &$acl_verify_message$& variable
with &`-d`&, with the output going to a new logfile in the usual logs directory,
by default called &'debuglog'&.
-.new
+Logging set up by the control will be maintained across spool residency.
+
Options are a slash-separated list.
If an option takes an argument, the option name and argument are separated by
an equals character.
Several options are supported:
-.wen
.display
tag=<&'suffix'&> The filename can be adjusted with thise option.
The argument, which may access any variables already defined,
immediate writes to file are done as normal.
trigger=<&'reason'&> This option selects cause for the pretrigger buffer
- see above) to be copied to file. A reason of $*now*
+ see above) to be copied to file. A reason of &*now*&
take effect immediately; one of &*paniclog*& triggers
on a write to the panic log.
.endd
the operation and configuration of DKIM, see section &<<SECDKIM>>&.
-.vitem &*control&~=&~dmarc_disable_verify*&
+.vitem &*control&~=&~dmarc_disable_verify*& &&&
+ &*control&~=&~dmarc_enable_forensic*&
.cindex "disable DMARC verify"
-.cindex "DMARC" "disable verify"
-This control turns off DMARC verification processing entirely. For details on
+.cindex DMARC "disable verify"
+.cindex DMARC controls
+.cindex DMARC "forensic mails"
+These control affect DMARC processing. For details on
the operation and configuration of DMARC, see section &<<SECDMARC>>&.
+The &"disable"& turns off DMARC verification processing entirely.
+
.vitem &*control&~=&~dscp/*&<&'value'&>
.cindex "&ACL;" "setting DSCP value"
.vitem &*control&~=&~fakedefer/*&<&'message'&>
.cindex "fake defer"
.cindex "defer, fake"
+.cindex fakedefer
This control works in exactly the same way as &%fakereject%& (described below)
except that it causes an SMTP 450 response after the message data instead of a
550 response. You must take care when using &%fakedefer%& because it causes the
.vitem &*control&~=&~fakereject/*&<&'message'&>
.cindex "fake rejection"
.cindex "rejection, fake"
+.cindex fakereject
This control is permitted only for the MAIL, RCPT, and DATA ACLs, in other
words, only when an SMTP message is being received. If Exim accepts the
message, instead the final 250 response, a 550 rejection message is sent.
.cindex "multiline responses, suppressing"
This control is permitted for any ACL except the one for non-SMTP messages.
It seems that there are broken clients in use that cannot handle multiline
-SMTP responses, despite the fact that RFC 821 defined them over 20 years ago.
+SMTP responses, despite the fact that
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc821,RFC 821)
+defined them over 20 years ago.
If this control is set, multiline SMTP responses from ACL rejections are
suppressed. One way of doing this would have been to put out these responses as
-one long line. However, RFC 2821 specifies a maximum of 512 bytes per response
+one long line. However,
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2821,RFC 2821)
+specifies a maximum of 512 bytes per response
(&"use multiline responses for more"& it says &-- ha!), and some of the
responses might get close to that. So this facility, which is after all only a
sop to broken clients, is implemented by doing two very easy things:
This control enables conversion of UTF-8 in message envelope addresses
to a-label form.
For details see section &<<SECTi18nMTA>>&.
+
+.vitem &*control&~=&~wellknown*&
+This control sets up a response data file for a WELLKNOWN SMTP command.
+It may only be used in an ACL servicing that command.
+For details see section &<<SECTWELLKNOWNACL>>&.
.endlist vlist
DATA, MIME or DKIM ACLs for a message delivered by cutthrough routing.
More than one header can be removed at the same time by using a colon separated
-list of header names. The header matching is case insensitive. Wildcards are
-not permitted, nor is list expansion performed, so you cannot use hostlists to
+list of header specifiers.
+If a specifier does not start with a circumflex (^)
+then it is treated as a header name.
+The header name matching is case insensitive.
+If it does, then it is treated as a (front-anchored)
+regular expression applied to the whole header.
+
+&*Note*&: The colon terminating a header name will need to be doubled
+if used in an RE, and there can legitimately be whitepace before it.
+
+Example:
+.code
+remove_header = \N^(?i)Authentication-Results\s*::\s*example.org;\N
+.endd
+
+List expansion is not performed, so you cannot use hostlists to
create a list of headers, however both connection and message variable expansion
are performed (&%$acl_c_*%& and &%$acl_m_*%&), illustrated in this example:
.code
warn message = Remove internal headers
remove_header = $acl_c_ihdrs
.endd
-Header names for removal are accumulated during the MAIL, RCPT, and predata ACLs.
+Header specifiers for removal are accumulated during the MAIL, RCPT, and predata ACLs.
Matching header lines are removed from the message before processing the DATA and MIME ACLs.
If multiple header lines match, all are removed.
There is no harm in attempting to remove the same header twice nor in removing
-a non-existent header. Further header lines to be removed may be accumulated
-during the DATA and MIME ACLs, after which they are removed from the message,
-if present. In the case of non-SMTP messages, headers to be removed are
-accumulated during the non-SMTP ACLs, and are removed from the message after
+a non-existent header. Further header specifiers for removal may be accumulated
+during the DATA and MIME ACLs, after which matching headers are removed
+if present. In the case of non-SMTP messages, remove specifiers are
+accumulated during the non-SMTP ACLs, and are acted on after
all the ACLs have run. If a message is rejected after DATA or by the non-SMTP
ACL, there really is no effect because there is no logging of what headers
would have been removed.
.cindex "domain" "ACL checking"
.cindex "&ACL;" "testing a recipient domain"
.vindex "&$domain_data$&"
-This condition is relevant only after a RCPT command. It checks that the domain
+This condition is relevant only in a RCPT ACL. It checks that the domain
of the recipient address is in the domain list. If percent-hack processing is
enabled, it is done before this test is done. If the check succeeds with a
lookup, the result of the lookup is placed in &$domain_data$& until the next
.cindex "local part" "ACL checking"
.cindex "&ACL;" "testing a local part"
.vindex "&$local_part_data$&"
-This condition is relevant only after a RCPT command. It checks that the local
+This condition is relevant only in a RCPT ACL. It checks that the local
part of the recipient address is in the list. If percent-hack processing is
enabled, it is done before this test. If the check succeeds with a lookup, the
result of the lookup is placed in &$local_part_data$&, which remains set until
.cindex "&%recipients%& ACL condition"
.cindex "recipient" "ACL checking"
.cindex "&ACL;" "testing a recipient"
-This condition is relevant only after a RCPT command. It checks the entire
+This condition is relevant only in a RCPT ACL. It checks the entire
recipient address against a list of recipients.
.vitem &*regex&~=&~*&<&'list&~of&~regular&~expressions'&>
non-SMTP ACLs. It causes the incoming message to be scanned for a match with
any of the regular expressions. For details, see chapter &<<CHAPexiscan>>&.
-.new
.vitem &*seen&~=&~*&<&'parameters'&>
-.cindex "&%sseen%& ACL condition"
+.cindex "&%seen%& ACL condition"
This condition can be used to test if a situation has been previously met,
for example for greylisting.
Details are given in section &<<SECTseen>>&.
-.wen
.vitem &*sender_domains&~=&~*&<&'domain&~list'&>
.cindex "&%sender_domains%& ACL condition"
(which is the most common usage), because it prevents a DNS failure from
blocking mail. However, you can change this behaviour by putting one of the
following special items in the list:
-.display
-&`+include_unknown `& behave as if the item is on the list
-&`+exclude_unknown `& behave as if the item is not on the list (default)
-&`+defer_unknown `& give a temporary error
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 2 25* left 75* left
+.irow "+include_unknown" "behave as if the item is on the list"
+.irow "+exclude_unknown" "behave as if the item is not on the list (default)"
+.irow "+defer_unknown " "give a temporary error"
+.endtable
.cindex "&`+include_unknown`&"
.cindex "&`+exclude_unknown`&"
.cindex "&`+defer_unknown`&"
-.section "Specifying the IP address for a DNS list lookup" "SECID201"
+.subsection "Specifying the IP address for a DNS list lookup" SECID201
.cindex "DNS list" "keyed by explicit IP address"
By default, the IP address that is used in a DNS list lookup is the IP address
of the calling host. However, you can specify another IP address by listing it
-.section "DNS lists keyed on domain names" "SECID202"
+.subsection "DNS lists keyed on domain names" SECID202
.cindex "DNS list" "keyed by domain name"
There are some lists that are keyed on domain names rather than inverted IP
addresses (see, e.g., the &'domain based zones'& link at
-.section "Multiple explicit keys for a DNS list" "SECTmulkeyfor"
+.subsection "Multiple explicit keys for a DNS list" SECTmulkeyfor
.cindex "DNS list" "multiple keys for"
The syntax described above for looking up explicitly-defined values (either
names or IP addresses) in a DNS blacklist is a simplification. After the domain
-.section "Data returned by DNS lists" "SECID203"
+.subsection "Data returned by DNS lists" SECID203
.cindex "DNS list" "data returned from"
DNS lists are constructed using address records in the DNS. The original RBL
just used the address 127.0.0.1 on the right hand side of each record, but the
RBL+ list and some other lists use a number of values with different meanings.
The values used on the RBL+ list are:
-.display
-127.1.0.1 RBL
-127.1.0.2 DUL
-127.1.0.3 DUL and RBL
-127.1.0.4 RSS
-127.1.0.5 RSS and RBL
-127.1.0.6 RSS and DUL
-127.1.0.7 RSS and DUL and RBL
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 2 20* left 80* left
+.irow 127.1.0.1 "RBL"
+.irow 127.1.0.2 "DUL"
+.irow 127.1.0.3 "DUL and RBL"
+.irow 127.1.0.4 "RSS"
+.irow 127.1.0.5 "RSS and RBL"
+.irow 127.1.0.6 "RSS and DUL"
+.irow 127.1.0.7 "RSS and DUL and RBL"
+.endtable
Section &<<SECTaddmatcon>>& below describes how you can distinguish between
different values. Some DNS lists may return more than one address record;
see section &<<SECThanmuldnsrec>>& for details of how they are checked.
returned values outside the 127/8 region.
-.section "Variables set from DNS lists" "SECID204"
+.subsection "Variables set from DNS lists" SECID204
.cindex "expansion" "variables, set from DNS list"
.cindex "DNS list" "variables set from"
.vindex "&$dnslist_domain$&"
-.section "Additional matching conditions for DNS lists" "SECTaddmatcon"
+.subsection "Additional matching conditions for DNS lists" SECTaddmatcon
.cindex "DNS list" "matching specific returned data"
You can add an equals sign and an IP address after a &%dnslists%& domain name
in order to restrict its action to DNS records with a matching right hand side.
-.section "Negated DNS matching conditions" "SECID205"
+.subsection "Negated DNS matching conditions" SECID205
You can supply a negative list of IP addresses as part of a &%dnslists%&
condition. Whereas
.code
-.section "Handling multiple DNS records from a DNS list" "SECThanmuldnsrec"
+.subsection "Handling multiple DNS records from a DNS list" SECThanmuldnsrec
A DNS lookup for a &%dnslists%& condition may return more than one DNS record,
thereby providing more than one IP address. When an item in a &%dnslists%& list
is followed by &`=`& or &`&&`& and a list of IP addresses, in order to restrict
-.section "Detailed information from merged DNS lists" "SECTmordetinf"
+.subsection "Detailed information from merged DNS lists" SECTmordetinf
.cindex "DNS list" "information from merged"
When the facility for restricting the matching IP values in a DNS list is used,
the text from the TXT record that is set in &$dnslist_text$& may not reflect
-.section "DNS lists and IPv6" "SECTmorednslistslast"
+.subsection "DNS lists and IPv6" SECTmorednslistslast
.cindex "IPv6" "DNS black lists"
.cindex "DNS list" "IPv6 usage"
If Exim is asked to do a dnslist lookup for an IPv6 address, it inverts it
.endd
-.new
.section "Previously seen user and hosts" "SECTseen"
-.cindex "&%sseen%& ACL condition"
+.cindex "&%seen%& ACL condition"
.cindex greylisting
The &%seen%& ACL condition can be used to test whether a
situation has been previously met.
It uses a hints database to record a timestamp against a key.
-host. The syntax of the condition is:
+The syntax of the condition is:
.display
-&`seen =`& <&'time interval'&> &`/`& <&'options'&>
+&`seen =`& <&'optional flag'&><&'time interval'&> &`/`& <&'options'&>
.endd
For example,
.endd
in a RCPT ACL will implement simple greylisting.
-The parameters for the condition
-are an interval followed, slash-separated, by a list of options.
+The parameters for the condition are
+a possible minus sign,
+then an interval,
+then, slash-separated, a list of options.
The interval is taken as an offset before the current time,
and used for the test.
If the interval is preceded by a minus sign then the condition returns
If a &%write%& option is given then
a record create or update is always done.
An update is done if the test is for &"since"&.
+If none of those hold and there was no existing record,
+a record is created.
Creates and updates are marked with the current time.
Note that &"seen"& should be added to the list of hints databases
for maintenance if this ACL condition is used.
-.wen
.section "Rate limiting incoming messages" "SECTratelimiting"
the &%count=%& option.
-.section "Ratelimit options for what is being measured" "ratoptmea"
+.subsection "Ratelimit options for what is being measured" ratoptmea
.cindex "rate limiting" "per_* options"
-The &%per_conn%& option limits the client's connection rate. It is not
+.vlist
+.vitem per_conn
+.cindex "rate limiting" per_conn
+This option limits the client's connection rate. It is not
normally used in the &%acl_not_smtp%&, &%acl_not_smtp_mime%&, or
&%acl_not_smtp_start%& ACLs.
-The &%per_mail%& option limits the client's rate of sending messages. This is
+.vitem per_mail
+.cindex "rate limiting" per_conn
+This option limits the client's rate of sending messages. This is
the default if none of the &%per_*%& options is specified. It can be used in
&%acl_smtp_mail%&, &%acl_smtp_rcpt%&, &%acl_smtp_predata%&, &%acl_smtp_mime%&,
&%acl_smtp_data%&, or &%acl_not_smtp%&.
-The &%per_byte%& option limits the sender's email bandwidth. It can be used in
+.vitem per_byte
+.cindex "rate limiting" per_conn
+This option limits the sender's email bandwidth. It can be used in
the same ACLs as the &%per_mail%& option, though it is best to use this option
in the &%acl_smtp_mime%&, &%acl_smtp_data%& or &%acl_not_smtp%& ACLs; if it is
used in an earlier ACL, Exim relies on the SIZE parameter given by the client
follow the limit &'m'& in the configuration with K, M, or G to specify limits
in kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes, respectively.
-The &%per_rcpt%& option causes Exim to limit the rate at which recipients are
+.vitem per_rcpt
+.cindex "rate limiting" per_rcpt
+This option causes Exim to limit the rate at which recipients are
accepted. It can be used in the &%acl_smtp_rcpt%&, &%acl_smtp_predata%&,
&%acl_smtp_mime%&, or &%acl_smtp_data%& ACLs. In
&%acl_smtp_rcpt%& the rate is updated one recipient at a time; in the other
in either case the rate limiting engine will see a message with many
recipients as a large high-speed burst.
-The &%per_addr%& option is like the &%per_rcpt%& option, except it counts the
+.vitem per_addr
+.cindex "rate limiting" per_addr
+This option is like the &%per_rcpt%& option, except it counts the
number of different recipients that the client has sent messages to in the
last time period. That is, if the client repeatedly sends messages to the same
recipient, its measured rate is not increased. This option can only be used in
&%acl_smtp_rcpt%&.
-The &%per_cmd%& option causes Exim to recompute the rate every time the
+.vitem per_cmd
+.cindex "rate limiting" per_cmd
+This option causes Exim to recompute the rate every time the
condition is processed. This can be used to limit the rate of any SMTP
command. If it is used in multiple ACLs it can limit the aggregate rate of
multiple different commands.
-The &%count=%& option can be used to alter how much Exim adds to the client's
-measured rate. For example, the &%per_byte%& option is equivalent to
-&`per_mail/count=$message_size`&. If there is no &%count=%& option, Exim
+.vitem count
+.cindex "rate limiting" count
+This option can be used to alter how much Exim adds to the client's
+measured rate.
+A value is required, after an equals sign.
+For example, the &%per_byte%& option is equivalent to
+&`per_mail/count=$message_size`&.
+If there is no &%count=%& option, Exim
increases the measured rate by one (except for the &%per_rcpt%& option in ACLs
-other than &%acl_smtp_rcpt%&). The count does not have to be an integer.
+other than &%acl_smtp_rcpt%&).
+The count does not have to be an integer.
-The &%unique=%& option is described in section &<<ratoptuniq>>& below.
+.vitem unique
+.cindex "rate limiting" unique
+This option is described in section &<<ratoptuniq>>& below.
+.endlist
-.section "Ratelimit update modes" "ratoptupd"
+.subsection "Ratelimit update modes" ratoptupd
.cindex "rate limiting" "reading data without updating"
You can specify one of three options with the &%ratelimit%& condition to
control when its database is updated. This section describes the &%readonly%&
next section) so you must specify the &%readonly%& option explicitly.
-.section "Ratelimit options for handling fast clients" "ratoptfast"
+.subsection "Ratelimit options for handling fast clients" ratoptfast
.cindex "rate limiting" "strict and leaky modes"
If a client's average rate is greater than the maximum, the rate limiting
engine can react in two possible ways, depending on the presence of the
.endd
-.section "Limiting the rate of different events" "ratoptuniq"
+.subsection "Limiting the rate of different events" ratoptuniq
.cindex "rate limiting" "counting unique events"
The &%ratelimit%& &%unique=%& option controls a mechanism for counting the
rate of different events. For example, the &%per_addr%& option uses this
as intended.
-.section "Using rate limiting" "useratlim"
+.subsection "Using rate limiting" useratlim
Exim's other ACL facilities are used to define what counter-measures are taken
when the rate limit is exceeded. This might be anything from logging a warning
(for example, while measuring existing sending rates in order to define
clients when the SMTP PIPELINING extension is in use. The flushing can be
disabled by using a &%control%& modifier to set &%no_callout_flush%&.
+.cindex "tainted data" "de-tainting"
+.cindex "de-tainting" "using recipient verify"
+A recipient callout which gets a 2&'xx'& code
+will assign untainted values to the
+&$domain_data$& and &$local_part_data$& variables,
+corresponding to the domain and local parts of the recipient address.
+
-.section "Additional parameters for callouts" "CALLaddparcall"
+.subsection "Additional parameters for callouts" CALLaddparcall
.cindex "callout" "additional parameters for"
The &%callout%& option can be followed by an equals sign and a number of
optional parameters, separated by commas. For example:
.cindex "callout" "full postmaster check"
This operates like the &%postmaster%& option (see below), but if the check for
&'postmaster@domain'& fails, it tries just &'postmaster'&, without a domain, in
-accordance with the specification in RFC 2821. The RFC states that the
-unqualified address &'postmaster'& should be accepted.
+accordance with the specification in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2821,RFC 2821).
+The RFC states that the unqualified address &'postmaster'& should be accepted.
.vitem &*mailfrom&~=&~*&<&'email&~address'&>
-.section "Callout caching" "SECTcallvercache"
+.subsection "Callout caching" SECTcallvercache
.cindex "hints database" "callout cache"
.cindex "callout" "cache, description of"
.cindex "caching" "callout"
entire domain (for example, that it accepts the local part &'postmaster'&).
When an original callout fails, a detailed SMTP error message is given about
-the failure. However, for subsequent failures use the cache data, this message
+the failure. However, for subsequent failures that use the cache data, this message
is not available.
The expiry times for negative and positive address cache records are
filename, and the default path is then used.
.endlist
The &%decode%& condition normally succeeds. It is only false for syntax
-errors or unusual circumstances such as memory shortages. You can easily decode
-a file with its original, proposed filename using
-.code
-decode = $mime_filename
-.endd
-However, you should keep in mind that &$mime_filename$& might contain
-anything. If you place files outside of the default path, they are not
+errors or unusual circumstances such as memory shortages.
+The variable &$mime_filename$& will have the suggested name for the file.
+Note however that this might contain anything, and is very difficult
+to safely use as all or even part of the filename.
+If you place files outside of the default path, they are not
automatically unlinked.
For RFC822 attachments (these are messages attached to messages, with a
This is perhaps the most important of the MIME variables. It contains a
proposed filename for an attachment, if one was found in either the
&'Content-Type:'& or &'Content-Disposition:'& headers. The filename will be
-RFC2047
-or RFC2231
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2047,RFC 2047) or
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2231,RFC 2231)
decoded, but no additional sanity checks are done.
If no filename was
found, this variable contains the empty string.
(the -D file). The file is open for reading and writing, but updating it is not
recommended. &*Warning*&: You must &'not'& close this file descriptor.
-The descriptor is positioned at character 19 of the file, which is the first
-character of the body itself, because the first 19 characters are the message
-id followed by &`-D`& and a newline. If you rewind the file, you should use the
+The descriptor is positioned at character 26 of the file, which is the first
+character of the body itself, because the first 26 characters (19 characters
+before Exim 4.97) are the message id followed by &`-D`& and a newline.
+If you rewind the file, you should use the
macro SPOOL_DATA_START_OFFSET to reset to the start of the data, just in
case this changes in some future version.
.next
.vitem &*header_line&~*header_last*&
A pointer to the last of the header lines.
-.new
.vitem &*const&~uschar&~*headers_charset*&
The value of the &%headers_charset%& configuration option.
-.wen
.vitem &*BOOL&~host_checking*&
This variable is TRUE during a host checking session that is initiated by the
.vitem &*void&~debug_printf(char&~*,&~...)*&
-This is Exim's debugging function, with arguments as for &'(printf()'&. The
+This is Exim's debugging function, with arguments as for &'printf()'&. The
output is written to the standard error stream. If no debugging is selected,
calls to &'debug_printf()'& have no effect. Normally, you should make calls
conditional on the &`local_scan`& debug selector by coding like this:
.vitem &*int&~lss_match_domain(uschar&~*domain,&~uschar&~*list)*&
This function checks for a match in a domain list. Domains are always
matched caselessly. The return value is one of the following:
-.display
-&`OK `& match succeeded
-&`FAIL `& match failed
-&`DEFER `& match deferred
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 2 15* left 85* left
+.irow &`OK`& "match succeeded"
+.irow &`FAIL`& "match failed"
+.irow &`DEFER`& "match deferred"
+.endtable
DEFER is usually caused by some kind of lookup defer, such as the
inability to contact a database.
.vlist
.vitem "&*uschar&~rfc2047_decode(uschar&~*string,&~BOOL&~lencheck,&&&
&~uschar&~*target,&~int&~zeroval,&~int&~*lenptr, &~&~uschar&~**error)*&"
-This function decodes strings that are encoded according to RFC 2047. Typically
+This function decodes strings that are encoded according to
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2047,RFC 2047). Typically
these are the contents of header lines. First, each &"encoded word"& is decoded
from the Q or B encoding into a byte-string. Then, if provided with the name of
a charset encoding, and if the &[iconv()]& function is available, an attempt is
is done. If a message fails to be completely delivered at the first attempt,
the system filter is run again at the start of every retry.
If you want your filter to do something only once per message, you can make use
+.cindex retry condition
of the &%first_delivery%& condition in an &%if%& command in the filter to
prevent it happening on retries.
.endd
The argument for the &%headers add%& is a string that is expanded and then
added to the end of the message's headers. It is the responsibility of the
-filter maintainer to make sure it conforms to RFC 2822 syntax. Leading white
+filter maintainer to make sure it conforms to
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822) syntax. Leading white
space is ignored, and if the string is otherwise empty, or if the expansion is
forced to fail, the command has no effect.
.cindex "line endings"
.cindex "carriage return"
.cindex "linefeed"
-RFC 2821 specifies that CRLF (two characters: carriage-return, followed by
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2821,RFC 2821)
+specifies that CRLF (two characters: carriage-return, followed by
linefeed) is the line ending for messages transmitted over the Internet using
SMTP over TCP/IP. However, within individual operating systems, different
conventions are used. For example, Unix-like systems use just LF, but others
follows:
.ilist
-LF not preceded by CR is treated as a line ending.
-.next
CR is treated as a line ending; if it is immediately followed by LF, the LF
is ignored.
.next
.next
If the first header line received in a message ends with CRLF, a subsequent
bare LF in a header line is treated in the same way as a bare CR in a header
-line.
+line and a bare LF in a body line is replaced with a space.
+.next
+If the first header line received in a message does not end with CRLF, a subsequent
+LF not preceded by CR is treated as a line ending.
.endlist
From a.oakley@berlin.mus Fri Jan 5 12:35 GMT 1996
From f.butler@berlin.mus Fri, 7 Jan 97 14:00:00 GMT
.endd
-This line precedes the RFC 2822 header lines. For compatibility with Sendmail,
+This line precedes the
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+header lines. For compatibility with Sendmail,
Exim recognizes such lines at the start of messages that are submitted to it
via the command line (that is, on the standard input). It does not recognize
such lines in incoming SMTP messages, unless the sending host matches
When the caller of Exim for a non-SMTP message that contains a &"From"& line is
a trusted user, the message's sender address is constructed by expanding the
contents of &%uucp_sender_address%&, whose default value is &"$1"&. This is
-then parsed as an RFC 2822 address. If there is no domain, the local part is
+then parsed as an
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+address. If there is no domain, the local part is
qualified with &%qualify_domain%& unless it is the empty string. However, if
the command line &%-f%& option is used, it overrides the &"From"& line.
-.section "Resent- header lines" "SECID220"
+.section "Header lines"
+.subsection "Resent- header lines" SECID220
.chindex Resent-
-RFC 2822 makes provision for sets of header lines starting with the string
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+makes provision for sets of header lines starting with the string
&`Resent-`& to be added to a message when it is resent by the original
recipient to somebody else. These headers are &'Resent-Date:'&,
&'Resent-From:'&, &'Resent-Sender:'&, &'Resent-To:'&, &'Resent-Cc:'&,
-.section "The Auto-Submitted: header line" "SECID221"
+.subsection Auto-Submitted: SECID221
Whenever Exim generates an autoreply, a bounce, or a delay warning message, it
includes the header line:
.code
Auto-Submitted: auto-replied
.endd
-.section "The Bcc: header line" "SECID222"
+.subsection Bcc: SECID222
.cindex "&'Bcc:'& header line"
If Exim is called with the &%-t%& option, to take recipient addresses from a
message's header, it removes any &'Bcc:'& header line that may exist (after
existing &'Bcc:'& is not removed.
-.section "The Date: header line" "SECID223"
+.subsection Date: SECID223
.cindex Date:
If a locally-generated or submission-mode message has no &'Date:'& header line,
Exim adds one, using the current date and time, unless the
&%suppress_local_fixups%& control has been specified.
-.section "The Delivery-date: header line" "SECID224"
+.subsection Delivery-date: SECID224
.cindex "&'Delivery-date:'& header line"
.oindex "&%delivery_date_remove%&"
-&'Delivery-date:'& header lines are not part of the standard RFC 2822 header
-set. Exim can be configured to add them to the final delivery of messages. (See
+&'Delivery-date:'& header lines are not part of the standard
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+header set.
+Exim can be configured to add them to the final delivery of messages. (See
the generic &%delivery_date_add%& transport option.) They should not be present
in messages in transit. If the &%delivery_date_remove%& configuration option is
set (the default), Exim removes &'Delivery-date:'& header lines from incoming
messages.
-.section "The Envelope-to: header line" "SECID225"
+.subsection Envelope-to: SECID225
.chindex Envelope-to:
.oindex "&%envelope_to_remove%&"
-&'Envelope-to:'& header lines are not part of the standard RFC 2822 header set.
+&'Envelope-to:'& header lines are not part of the standard
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822) header set.
Exim can be configured to add them to the final delivery of messages. (See the
generic &%envelope_to_add%& transport option.) They should not be present in
messages in transit. If the &%envelope_to_remove%& configuration option is set
messages.
-.section "The From: header line" "SECTthefrohea"
+.subsection From: SECTthefrohea
.chindex From:
.cindex "Sendmail compatibility" "&""From""& line"
.cindex "message" "submission"
name as described in section &<<SECTconstr>>&.
-.section "The Message-ID: header line" "SECID226"
+.subsection Message-ID: SECID226
.chindex Message-ID:
.cindex "message" "submission"
.oindex "&%message_id_header_text%&"
&%message_id_header_domain%& options.
-.section "The Received: header line" "SECID227"
+.subsection Received: SECID227
.chindex Received:
A &'Received:'& header line is added at the start of every message. The
contents are defined by the &%received_header_text%& configuration option, and
-H spool file is written) the earliest time at which delivery could start.
-.section "The References: header line" "SECID228"
+.subsection References: SECID228
.chindex References:
Messages created by the &(autoreply)& transport include a &'References:'&
header line. This is constructed according to the rules that are described in
-section 3.64 of RFC 2822 (which states that replies should contain such a
-header line), and section 3.14 of RFC 3834 (which states that automatic
+section 3.64 of
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+(which states that replies should contain such a header line),
+and section 3.14 of &url(https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3834,RFC 3834)
+(which states that automatic
responses are not different in this respect). However, because some mail
processing software does not cope well with very long header lines, no more
than 12 message IDs are copied from the &'References:'& header line in the
-.section "The Return-path: header line" "SECID229"
+.subsection Return-path: SECID229
.chindex Return-path:
.oindex "&%return_path_remove%&"
&'Return-path:'& header lines are defined as something an MTA may insert when
-.section "The Sender: header line" "SECTthesenhea"
+.subsection Sender: SECTthesenhea
.cindex "&'Sender:'& header line"
.cindex "message" "submission"
.chindex Sender:
expansions all occur before the message is actually transported.
For both routers and transports, the argument of a &%headers_add%&
-option must be in the form of one or more RFC 2822 header lines, separated by
-newlines (coded as &"\n"&). For example:
+option must be in the form of one or more
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+header lines, separated by newlines (coded as &"\n"&). For example:
.code
headers_add = X-added-header: added by $primary_hostname\n\
X-added-second: another added header line
there is no password file entry.
.cindex "RFC 2047"
-In all cases, the user name is made to conform to RFC 2822 by quoting all or
+In all cases, the user name is made to conform to
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+by quoting all or
parts of it if necessary. In addition, if it contains any non-printing
-characters, it is encoded as described in RFC 2047, which defines a way of
+characters, it is encoded as described in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2047,RFC 2047), which defines a way of
including non-ASCII characters in header lines. The value of the
&%headers_charset%& option specifies the name of the encoding that is used (the
characters are assumed to be in this encoding). The setting of
.section "Case of local parts" "SECID230"
.cindex "case of local parts"
.cindex "local part" "case of"
-RFC 2822 states that the case of letters in the local parts of addresses cannot
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+states that the case of letters in the local parts of addresses cannot
be assumed to be non-significant. Exim preserves the case of local parts of
addresses, but by default it uses a lower-cased form when it is routing,
because on most Unix systems, usernames are in lower case and case-insensitive
.section "Dots in local parts" "SECID231"
.cindex "dot" "in local part"
.cindex "local part" "dots in"
-RFC 2822 forbids empty components in local parts. That is, an unquoted local
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2822,RFC 2822)
+forbids empty components in local parts. That is, an unquoted local
part may not begin or end with a dot, nor have two consecutive dots in the
middle. However, it seems that many MTAs do not enforce this, so Exim permits
empty components for compatibility.
suppressed.
If the remote server advertises support for PIPELINING, Exim uses the
-pipelining extension to SMTP (RFC 2197) to reduce the number of TCP/IP packets
-required for the transaction.
+pipelining extension to SMTP
+(&url(https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2197,RFC 2197))
+to reduce the number of TCP/IP packets required for the transaction.
If the remote server advertises support for the STARTTLS command, and Exim
was built to support TLS encryption, it tries to start a TLS session unless the
.cindex "SMTP" "batching over TCP/IP"
When a message is successfully delivered over a TCP/IP SMTP connection, Exim
looks in the hints database for the transport to see if there are any queued
-messages waiting for the host to which it is connected. If it finds one, it
-creates a new Exim process using the &%-MC%& option (which can only be used by
-a process running as root or the Exim user) and passes the TCP/IP socket to it
-so that it can deliver another message using the same socket. The new process
-does only those deliveries that are routed to the connected host, and may in
-turn pass the socket on to a third process, and so on.
+messages waiting for the host to which it is connected.
+If it finds one, it arranges to attempt that message on the same connection.
The &%connection_max_messages%& option of the &(smtp)& transport can be used to
limit the number of messages sent down a single TCP/IP connection.
-.section "Errors in outgoing SMTP" "SECToutSMTPerr"
+.subsection "Errors in outgoing SMTP" SECToutSMTPerr
.cindex "error" "in outgoing SMTP"
.cindex "SMTP" "errors in outgoing"
.cindex "host" "error"
Exim can be configured to verify addresses in incoming SMTP commands as they
are received. See chapter &<<CHAPACL>>& for details. It can also be configured
to rewrite addresses at this time &-- before any syntax checking is done. See
-section &<<SECTrewriteS>>&.
+section &<<SSECTrewriteS>>&.
Exim can also be configured to limit the rate at which a client host submits
MAIL and RCPT commands in a single SMTP session. See the
-.section "Unrecognized SMTP commands" "SECID234"
+.subsection "Unrecognized SMTP commands" SECID234
.cindex "SMTP" "unrecognized commands"
If Exim receives more than &%smtp_max_unknown_commands%& unrecognized SMTP
commands during a single SMTP connection, it drops the connection after sending
circumstances, a number of non-SMTP lines are sent first.
-.section "Syntax and protocol errors in SMTP commands" "SECID235"
+.subsection "Syntax and protocol errors in SMTP commands" SECID235
.cindex "SMTP" "syntax errors"
.cindex "SMTP" "protocol errors"
A syntax error is detected if an SMTP command is recognized, but there is
-.section "Use of non-mail SMTP commands" "SECID236"
+.subsection "Use of non-mail SMTP commands" SECID236
.cindex "SMTP" "non-mail commands"
The &"non-mail"& SMTP commands are those other than MAIL, RCPT, and
DATA. Exim counts such commands, and drops the connection if there are too
-.section "The VRFY and EXPN commands" "SECID237"
+.subsection "The VRFY and EXPN commands" SECID237
When Exim receives a VRFY or EXPN command on a TCP/IP connection, it
runs the ACL specified by &%acl_smtp_vrfy%& or &%acl_smtp_expn%& (as
appropriate) in order to decide whether the command should be accepted or not.
than a verification (the &%-bv%& option). If an unqualified local part is given
as the argument to EXPN, it is qualified with &%qualify_domain%&. Rejections
of VRFY and EXPN commands are logged on the main and reject logs, and
-VRFY verification failures are logged on the main log for consistency with
+VRFY verification failures are logged in the main log for consistency with
RCPT failures.
-.section "The ETRN command" "SECTETRN"
+.subsection "The ETRN command" SECTETRN
.cindex "ETRN" "processing"
.cindex "ESMTP extensions" ETRN
-RFC 1985 describes an ESMTP command called ETRN that is designed to
+Most modern installations never need to use this.
+It is used for managing messages queued for an intermittently-connecting
+destination (eg. one using a dialup connection).
+
+.oindex "&%acl_smtp_etrn%&"
+The command is only available if permitted by an ACL
+specfied by the main-section &%acl_smtp_etrn%& option.
+
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1985,RFC 1985)
+describes an ESMTP command called ETRN that is designed to
overcome the security problems of the TURN command (which has fallen into
disuse). When Exim receives an ETRN command on a TCP/IP connection, it runs
the ACL specified by &%acl_smtp_etrn%& in order to decide whether the command
&"syslog"&. This means that an empty item in &%log_file_path%& can be used to
mean &"use the path specified at build time"&. If no such item exists, log
files are written in the &_log_& subdirectory of the spool directory. This is
-equivalent to the setting:
+equivalent to the configuration file setting:
.code
log_file_path = $spool_directory/log/%slog
.endd
A log file path may also contain &`%D`& or &`%M`& if datestamped log filenames
are in use &-- see section &<<SECTdatlogfil>>& below.
-Here are some examples of possible settings:
+Here are some examples of possible Makefile settings:
.display
&`LOG_FILE_PATH=syslog `& syslog only
&`LOG_FILE_PATH=:syslog `& syslog and default path
870 data characters. (This allows for a total syslog line length of 1024, when
additions such as timestamps are added.) If you are running a syslog
replacement that can handle lines longer than the 1024 characters allowed by
-RFC 3164, you should set
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3164,RFC 3164), you should set
.code
SYSLOG_LONG_LINES=yes
.endd
successful, unsuccessful, and delayed delivery. These lines can readily be
picked out by the distinctive two-character flags that immediately follow the
timestamp. The flags are:
-.display
-&`<=`& message arrival
-&`(=`& message fakereject
-&`=>`& normal message delivery
-&`->`& additional address in same delivery
-&`>>`& cutthrough message delivery
-&`*>`& delivery suppressed by &%-N%&
-&`**`& delivery failed; address bounced
-&`==`& delivery deferred; temporary problem
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 2 10* left 90* left
+.irow &%<=%& "message arrival"
+.irow &%(=%& "message fakereject"
+.irow &%=>%& "normal message delivery"
+.irow &%->%& "additional address in same delivery"
+.irow &%>>%& "cutthrough message delivery"
+.irow &%*>%& "delivery suppressed by &%-N%&"
+.irow &%**%& "delivery failed; address bounced"
+.irow &%==%& "delivery deferred; temporary problem"
+.endtable
.section "Logging message reception" "SECID251"
.display
&`A `& authenticator name (and optional id and sender)
&`C `& SMTP confirmation on delivery
+&`Ci `& connection identifier
&` `& command list for &"no mail in SMTP session"&
&`CV `& certificate verification status
&`D `& duration of &"no mail in SMTP session"&
.section "Reducing or increasing what is logged" "SECTlogselector"
.cindex "log" "selectors"
By setting the &%log_selector%& global option, you can disable some of Exim's
-default logging, or you can request additional logging. The value of
+default logging to the main log, or you can request additional logging. The value of
&%log_selector%& is made up of names preceded by plus or minus characters. For
example:
.code
.endd
The list of optional log items is in the following table, with the default
selection marked by asterisks:
-.display
-&` 8bitmime `& received 8BITMIME status
-&`*acl_warn_skipped `& skipped &%warn%& statement in ACL
-&` address_rewrite `& address rewriting
-&` all_parents `& all parents in => lines
-&` arguments `& command line arguments
-&`*connection_reject `& connection rejections
-&`*delay_delivery `& immediate delivery delayed
-&` deliver_time `& time taken to attempt delivery
-&` delivery_size `& add &`S=`&&'nnn'& to => lines
-&`*dkim `& DKIM verified domain on <= lines
-&` dkim_verbose `& separate full DKIM verification result line, per signature
-&`*dnslist_defer `& defers of DNS list (aka RBL) lookups
-&` dnssec `& DNSSEC secured lookups
-&`*etrn `& ETRN commands
-&`*host_lookup_failed `& as it says
-&` ident_timeout `& timeout for ident connection
-&` incoming_interface `& local interface on <= and => lines
-&` incoming_port `& remote port on <= lines
-&`*lost_incoming_connection `& as it says (includes timeouts)
-&` millisec `& millisecond timestamps and RT,QT,DT,D times
-&`*msg_id `& on <= lines, Message-ID: header value
-&` msg_id_created `& on <= lines, Message-ID: header value when one had to be added
-&` outgoing_interface `& local interface on => lines
-&` outgoing_port `& add remote port to => lines
-&`*queue_run `& start and end queue runs
-&` queue_time `& time on queue for one recipient
-&`*queue_time_exclusive `& exclude recieve time from QT times
-&` queue_time_overall `& time on queue for whole message
-&` pid `& Exim process id
-&` pipelining `& PIPELINING use, on <= and => lines
-&` proxy `& proxy address on <= and => lines
-&` receive_time `& time taken to receive message
-&` received_recipients `& recipients on <= lines
-&` received_sender `& sender on <= lines
-&`*rejected_header `& header contents on reject log
-&`*retry_defer `& &"retry time not reached"&
-&` return_path_on_delivery `& put return path on => and ** lines
-&` sender_on_delivery `& add sender to => lines
-&`*sender_verify_fail `& sender verification failures
-&`*size_reject `& rejection because too big
-&`*skip_delivery `& delivery skipped in a queue run
-&`*smtp_confirmation `& SMTP confirmation on => lines
-&` smtp_connection `& incoming SMTP connections
-&` smtp_incomplete_transaction`& incomplete SMTP transactions
-&` smtp_mailauth `& AUTH argument to MAIL commands
-&` smtp_no_mail `& session with no MAIL commands
-&` smtp_protocol_error `& SMTP protocol errors
-&` smtp_syntax_error `& SMTP syntax errors
-&` subject `& contents of &'Subject:'& on <= lines
-&`*taint `& taint errors or warnings
-&`*tls_certificate_verified `& certificate verification status
-&`*tls_cipher `& TLS cipher suite on <= and => lines
-&` tls_peerdn `& TLS peer DN on <= and => lines
-&` tls_resumption `& append * to cipher field
-&` tls_sni `& TLS SNI on <= lines
-&` unknown_in_list `& DNS lookup failed in list match
-
-&` all `& all of the above
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 3 2.8in left 10pt center 3in left
+.irow &`8bitmime`& "received 8BITMIME status"
+.irow &`acl_warn_skipped`& * "skipped &%warn%& statement in ACL"
+.irow &`address_rewrite`& "address rewriting"
+.irow &`all_parents`& "all parents in => lines"
+.irow &`arguments`& "command line arguments"
+.irow &`connection_id`& "connection identifier"
+.irow &`connection_reject`& * "connection rejections"
+.irow &`delay_delivery`& * "immediate delivery delayed"
+.irow &`deliver_time`& "time taken to attempt delivery"
+.irow &`delivery_size`& "add &`S=`&&'nnn'& to => lines"
+.irow &`dkim`& * "DKIM verified domain on <= lines"
+.irow &`dkim_verbose`& "separate full DKIM verification result line, per signature; DKIM signing"
+.irow &`dnslist_defer`& * "defers of DNS list (aka RBL) lookups"
+.irow &`dnssec`& "DNSSEC secured lookups"
+.irow &`etrn`& * "ETRN commands"
+.irow &`host_lookup_failed`& * "as it says"
+.irow &`ident_timeout`& "timeout for ident connection"
+.irow &`incoming_interface`& "local interface & port on <= and => lines"
+.irow &`incoming_port`& "remote port on <= lines"
+.irow &`lost_incoming_connection`& * "as it says (includes timeouts)"
+.irow &`millisec`& "millisecond timestamps and RT,QT,DT,D times"
+.irow &`msg_id`& * "on <= lines, Message-ID: header value"
+.irow &`msg_id_created`& "on <= lines, Message-ID: header value when one had to be added"
+.irow &`outgoing_interface`& "local interface on => lines"
+.irow &`outgoing_port`& "add remote port to => lines"
+.irow &`queue_run`& * "start and end queue runs"
+.irow &`queue_time`& "time on queue for one recipient"
+.irow &`queue_time_exclusive`& "exclude recieve time from QT times"
+.irow &`queue_time_overall`& "time on queue for whole message"
+.irow &`pid`& "Exim process id"
+.irow &`pipelining`& "PIPELINING use, on <= and => lines"
+.irow &`proxy`& "proxy address on <= and => lines"
+.irow &`receive_time`& "time taken to receive message"
+.irow &`received_recipients`& "recipients on <= lines"
+.irow &`received_sender`& "sender on <= lines"
+.irow &`rejected_header`& * "header contents on reject log"
+.irow &`retry_defer`& * "&<quote>&retry time not reached&</quote>&"
+.irow &`return_path_on_delivery`& "put return path on => and ** lines"
+.irow &`sender_on_delivery`& "add sender to => lines"
+.irow &`sender_verify_fail`& * "sender verification failures"
+.irow &`size_reject`& * "rejection because too big"
+.irow &`skip_delivery`& * "delivery skipped in a queue run"
+.irow &`smtp_confirmation`& * "SMTP confirmation on => lines"
+.irow &`smtp_connection`& "incoming SMTP connections"
+.irow &`smtp_incomplete_transaction`& "incomplete SMTP transactions"
+.irow &`smtp_mailauth`& "AUTH argument to MAIL commands"
+.irow &`smtp_no_mail`& "session with no MAIL commands"
+.irow &`smtp_protocol_error`& "SMTP protocol errors"
+.irow &`smtp_syntax_error`& "SMTP syntax errors"
+.irow &`subject`& "contents of &'Subject:'& on <= lines"
+.irow &`tls_certificate_verified`& * "certificate verification status"
+.irow &`tls_cipher`& * "TLS cipher suite on <= and => lines"
+.irow &`tls_peerdn`& "TLS peer DN on <= and => lines"
+.irow &`tls_resumption`& "append * to cipher field"
+.irow &`tls_sni`& "TLS SNI on <= lines"
+.irow &`unknown_in_list`& "lookup failed in list match"
+.irow &`all`& "&*all of the above*&"
+.endtable
See also the &%slow_lookup_log%& main configuration option,
section &<<SECID99>>&
only way to log such cases is to interpose a script such as &_util/logargs.sh_&
between the caller and Exim.
.next
-.cindex "log" "connection rejections"
+.cindex log "connection identifier"
+.cindex connection "identifier logging"
+&%connection_id%&: An identifier for the accepted connection is added to
+connection start and end lines and to message accept lines.
+The identifier is tagged by Ci=.
+The value is PID-based, so will reset on reboot and will wrap.
+.next
+.cindex log "connection rejections"
+.cindex connection "rejection logging"
&%connection_reject%&: A log entry is written whenever an incoming SMTP
connection is rejected, for whatever reason.
.next
-.cindex "log" "delayed delivery"
+.cindex log "delayed delivery"
.cindex "delayed delivery, logging"
&%delay_delivery%&: A log entry is written whenever a delivery process is not
started for an incoming message because the load is too high or too many
.cindex log "DKIM verification"
.cindex DKIM "verification logging"
&%dkim_verbose%&: A log entry is written for each attempted DKIM verification.
+Also, on message delivery lines signing information (domain and selector)
+is added, tagged with DKIM=.
.next
.cindex "log" "dnslist defer"
.cindex "DNS list" "logging defer"
in square brackets, and separated from it by a colon. This is implemented by
changing the value that is put in the &$sender_fullhost$& and
&$sender_rcvhost$& variables. Recording the remote port number has become more
-important with the widening use of NAT (see RFC 2505).
+important with the widening use of NAT
+(see &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2505,RFC 2505)).
.next
.cindex "log" "dropped connection"
&%lost_incoming_connection%&: A log line is written when an incoming SMTP
the field has a minus appended.
.cindex "pipelining" "early connection"
-If Exim is built with the SUPPORT_PIPE_CONNECT build option
+If Exim is built without the DISABLE_PIPE_CONNECT build option
accept "L" fields have a period appended if the feature was
offered but not used, or an asterisk appended if used.
Delivery "L" fields have an asterisk appended if used.
&`CV=dane`& if using a DNS trust anchor,
and &`CV=no`& if not.
.next
-.cindex "log" "Taint warnings"
-&%taint%&: Log warnings about tainted data. This selector can't be
-turned of if &%allow_insecure_tainted_data%& is false (which is the
-default).
-.next
.cindex "log" "TLS cipher"
.cindex "TLS" "logging cipher"
&%tls_cipher%&: When a message is sent or received over an encrypted
.next
.cindex "log" "DNS failure in list"
&%unknown_in_list%&: This setting causes a log entry to be written when the
-result of a list match is failure because a DNS lookup failed.
+result of a list match is failure because a DNS lookup failed, or because
+a bad IP address was in the list.
.endlist
.irow &<<SECTtidydb>>& &'exim_tidydb'& "clean up a hints database"
.irow &<<SECTfixdb>>& &'exim_fixdb'& "patch a hints database"
.irow &<<SECTmailboxmaint>>& &'exim_lock'& "lock a mailbox file"
+.irow &<<SECTexim_msgdate>>& &'exim_msgdate'& "Message Ids for humans (exim_msgdate)"
.endtable
Another utility that might be of use to sites with many MTAs is Tom Kistner's
system configuration options that configure exactly how &'exiwhat'& works. If
it doesn't seem to be working for you, check the following compile-time
options:
-.display
-&`EXIWHAT_PS_CMD `& the command for running &'ps'&
-&`EXIWHAT_PS_ARG `& the argument for &'ps'&
-&`EXIWHAT_EGREP_ARG `& the argument for &'egrep'& to select from &'ps'& output
-&`EXIWHAT_KILL_ARG `& the argument for the &'kill'& command
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 2 30* left 70* left
+.irow &`EXIWHAT_PS_CMD`& "the command for running &'ps'&"
+.irow &`EXIWHAT_PS_ARG`& "the argument for &'ps'&"
+.irow &`EXIWHAT_EGREP_ARG`& "the argument for &'egrep'& to select from &'ps'& output"
+.irow &`EXIWHAT_KILL_ARG`& "the argument for the &'kill'& command"
+.endtable
An example of typical output from &'exiwhat'& is
.code
164 daemon: -q1h, listening on port 25
.code
exim -bp
.endd
-The &*-C*& option is used to specify an alternate &_exim.conf_& which might
-contain alternate exim configuration the queue management might be using.
-
to obtain a queue listing, and then greps the output to select messages
that match given criteria. The following selection options are available:
Include delivered recipients in queue listing.
.endlist
+The following options give alternates for configuration:
+
+.vlist
+.vitem &*-C*&&~<&'config&~file'&>
+is used to specify an alternate &_exim.conf_& which might
+contain alternate exim configuration the queue management might be using.
+
+.vitem &*-E*&&~<&'path'&>
+can be used to specify a path for the exim binary,
+overriding the built-in one.
+.endlist
+
There is one more option, &%-h%&, which outputs a list of options.
+At least one selection option, or either the &*-c*& or &*-h*& option, must be given.
The &'misc'& database is used for
.ilist
-Serializing ETRN runs (when &%smtp_etrn_serialize%& is set)
-.next
Serializing delivery to a specific host (when &%serialize_hosts%& is set in an
&(smtp)& transport)
.next
Limiting the concurrency of specific transports (when &%max_parallel%& is set
in a transport)
+.next
+Recording EHLO-time facilities advertised by hosts
+.next
+Serializing ETRN runs (when &%smtp_etrn_serialize%& is set)
.endlist
-.section "exim_dumpdb" "SECTdumpdb"
+.subsection "exim_dumpdb" "SECTdumpdb"
.cindex "&'exim_dumpdb'&"
The entire contents of a database are written to the standard output by the
&'exim_dumpdb'& program,
-.new
taking as arguments the spool and database names.
-An option &'-z'& may be given to regest times in UTC;
+An option &'-z'& may be given to request times in UTC;
otherwise times are in the local timezone.
-.wen
+An option &'-k'& may be given to dump only the record keys.
For example, to dump the retry database:
.code
exim_dumpdb /var/spool/exim retry
-.section "exim_tidydb" "SECTtidydb"
+.subsection "exim_tidydb" "SECTtidydb"
.cindex "&'exim_tidydb'&"
The &'exim_tidydb'& utility program is used to tidy up the contents of a hints
database. If run with no options, it removes all records that are more than 30
-.section "exim_fixdb" "SECTfixdb"
+.subsection "exim_fixdb" "SECTfixdb"
.cindex "&'exim_fixdb'&"
The &'exim_fixdb'& program is a utility for interactively modifying databases.
Its main use is for testing Exim, but it might also be occasionally useful for
sequence of digit pairs for year, month, day, hour, and minute. Colons can be
used as optional separators.
-.new
Both displayed and input times are in the local timezone by default.
If an option &'-z'& is used on the command line, displayed times
are in UTC.
-.wen
.endd
Note that if a command is supplied, it must be entirely contained within the
second argument &-- hence the quotes.
-.ecindex IIDutils
+.section "Message Ids for humans (exim_msgdate)" "SECTexim_msgdate"
+.cindex "exim_msgdate"
+The &'exim_msgdate'& utility is written by Andrew Aitchison and included in the Exim distribution.
+This Perl script converts an Exim Mesage ID back into a human readable form.
+For details of &'exim_msgdate'&'s options, run &'exim_msgdate'& with the &%--help%& option.
+
+Section &<<SECTmessiden>>& (Message identification) describes Exim Mesage IDs.
+.ecindex IIDutils
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
.next
A queue runner process retains root privilege throughout its execution. Its
job is to fork a controlled sequence of delivery processes.
+
+.next
+A delivery process retains root privilege throughout most of its execution.,
+including while the recipient addresses in a message are being routed.
+
+.ilist
+However, if a user's filter file has to be processed,
+this is done in a subprocess that runs under the individual user's uid and
+gid. A system filter is run as root unless &%system_filter_user%& is set.
+.endlist
+
+Any actual deliveries (that is, the transports themselves) are run in
+subprocesses which always change to a non-root uid and gid.
+.ilist
+For local
+deliveries this is typically the uid and gid of the owner of the mailbox.
.next
-A delivery process retains root privilege throughout most of its execution,
-but any actual deliveries (that is, the transports themselves) are run in
-subprocesses which always change to a non-root uid and gid. For local
-deliveries this is typically the uid and gid of the owner of the mailbox; for
-remote deliveries, the Exim uid and gid are used. Once all the delivery
+For remote deliveries, the Exim uid and gid are used.
+.endlist
+
+Once all the delivery
subprocesses have been run, a delivery process changes to the Exim uid and gid
while doing post-delivery tidying up such as updating the retry database and
generating bounce and warning messages.
-While the recipient addresses in a message are being routed, the delivery
-process runs as root. However, if a user's filter file has to be processed,
-this is done in a subprocess that runs under the individual user's uid and
-gid. A system filter is run as root unless &%system_filter_user%& is set.
.next
A process that is testing addresses (the &%-bt%& option) runs as root so that
the routing is done in the same environment as a message delivery.
start of the epoch. The second number is a count of the number of messages
warning of delayed delivery that have been sent to the sender.
-There follow a number of lines starting with a hyphen. These can appear in any
-order, and are omitted when not relevant:
+There follow a number of lines starting with a hyphen.
+These contain variables, can appear in any
+order, and are omitted when not relevant.
+
+If there is a second hyphen after the first,
+the corresponding data is tainted.
+If there is a value in parentheses, the data is quoted for a lookup.
+
+The following word specifies a variable,
+and the remainder of the item depends on the variable.
.vlist
.vitem "&%-acl%&&~<&'number'&>&~<&'length'&>"
certificate.
.endlist
-Any of the above may have an extra hyphen prepended, to indicate the the
-corresponding data is untrusted.
-
Following the options there is a list of those addresses to which the message
is not to be delivered. This set of addresses is initialized from the command
line when the &%-t%& option is used and &%extract_addresses_remove_arguments%&
DKIM is a mechanism by which messages sent by some entity can be provably
linked to a domain which that entity controls. It permits reputation to
be tracked on a per-domain basis, rather than merely upon source IP address.
-DKIM is documented in RFC 6376.
+DKIM is documented in &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6376,RFC 6376).
As DKIM relies on the message being unchanged in transit, messages handled
by a mailing-list (which traditionally adds to the message) will not match
.olist
Signing outgoing messages: This function is implemented in the SMTP transport.
It can co-exist with all other Exim features
-(including transport filters)
-except cutthrough delivery.
+(including transport filters) except cutthrough delivery.
+However, signing options may not depend on headers modified by
+routers, the transport or a transport filter.
.next
Verifying signatures in incoming messages: This is implemented by an additional
ACL (acl_smtp_dkim), which can be called several times per message, with
senders).
-.section "Signing outgoing messages" "SECDKIMSIGN"
-.cindex "DKIM" "signing"
+.subsection "Signing outgoing messages" SECDKIMSIGN
+.cindex DKIM signing
For signing to be usable you must have published a DKIM record in DNS.
-Note that RFC 8301 (which does not cover EC keys) says:
+Note that &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8301,RFC 8301)
+(which does not cover EC keys) says:
.code
rsa-sha1 MUST NOT be used for signing or verifying.
After expansion, this can be a list.
Each element in turn,
lowercased,
+.vindex "&$dkim_domain$&"
is put into the &%$dkim_domain%& expansion variable
while expanding the remaining signing options.
If it is empty after expansion, DKIM signing is not done,
This sets the key selector string.
After expansion, which can use &$dkim_domain$&, this can be a list.
Each element in turn is put in the expansion
+.vindex "&$dkim_selector$&"
variable &%$dkim_selector%& which may be used in the &%dkim_private_key%&
option along with &%$dkim_domain%&.
If the option is empty after expansion, DKIM signing is not done for this domain,
openssl genrsa -out dkim_rsa.private 2048
openssl rsa -in dkim_rsa.private -out /dev/stdout -pubout -outform PEM
.endd
-The result file from the first command should be retained, and
-this option set to use it.
+The result file from the first command should be retained,
+permissions set so that Exim can read it,
+and this option set to use it.
Take the base-64 lines from the output of the second command, concatenated,
for the DNS TXT record.
-See section 3.6 of RFC6376 for the record specification.
+See section 3.6 of &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6376,RFC 6376)
+for the record specification.
Under GnuTLS:
.code
certtool --load-privkey=dkim_rsa.private --pubkey-info
.endd
-Note that RFC 8301 says:
+Note that &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8301,RFC 8301) says:
.code
Signers MUST use RSA keys of at least 1024 bits for all keys.
Signers SHOULD use RSA keys of at least 2048 bits.
.endd
-EC keys for DKIM are defined by RFC 8463.
+EC keys for DKIM are defined by
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8463,RFC 8463).
They are considerably smaller than RSA keys for equivalent protection.
As they are a recent development, users should consider dual-signing
(by setting a list of selectors, and an expansion for this option)
&`sha512`& &-- possibly more secure but less well supported
.endlist
-Note that RFC 8301 says:
+Note that &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8301,RFC 8301) says:
.code
rsa-sha1 MUST NOT be used for signing or verifying.
.endd
.option dkim_sign_headers smtp string&!! "see below"
If set, this option must expand to a colon-separated
list of header names.
-Headers with these names, or the absence or such a header, will be included
+Headers with these names, or the absence of such a header, will be included
in the message signature.
-When unspecified, the header names listed in RFC4871 will be used,
+When unspecified, the header names listed in
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4871,RFC 4871) will be used,
whether or not each header is present in the message.
The default list is available for the expansion in the macro
&"_DKIM_SIGN_HEADERS"&
.option dkim_timestamps smtp integer&!! unset
This option controls the inclusion of timestamp information in the signature.
If not set, no such information will be included.
-Otherwise, must be an unsigned number giving an offset in seconds from the current time
-for the expiry tag
-(eg. 1209600 for two weeks);
-both creation (t=) and expiry (x=) tags will be included.
+Otherwise, must be an unsigned number giving an offset in seconds from the
+current time for the expiry tag (e.g. 1209600 for two weeks); both creation
+(t=) and expiry (x=) tags will be included unless the offset is 0 (no expiry).
-RFC 6376 lists these tags as RECOMMENDED.
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6376,RFC 6376)
+lists these tags as RECOMMENDED.
-.section "Verifying DKIM signatures in incoming mail" "SECDKIMVFY"
-.cindex "DKIM" "verification"
+.subsection "Verifying DKIM signatures in incoming mail" SECDKIMVFY
+.cindex DKIM verification
Verification of DKIM signatures in SMTP incoming email is done for all
messages for which an ACL control &%dkim_disable_verify%& has not been set.
+
.cindex DKIM "selecting signature algorithms"
-Individual classes of signature algorithm can be ignored by changing
+Individual classes of DKIM signature algorithm can be ignored by changing
the main options &%dkim_verify_hashes%& or &%dkim_verify_keytypes%&.
The &%dkim_verify_minimal%& option can be set to cease verification
processing for a message once the first passing signature is found.
of this section can be ignored.
The results of verification are made available to the
-&%acl_smtp_dkim%& ACL, which can examine and modify them.
+&%acl_smtp_dkim%& ACL, which (for complex needs) can examine and modify them.
A missing ACL definition defaults to accept.
By default, the ACL is called once for each
syntactically(!) correct signature in the incoming message.
&%dkim_verify_signers%& (see above).
.vitem &%$dkim_verify_status%&
+So long as a DKIM ACL is defined
+(it need do no more than accept, which is the default),
+after all the DKIM ACL runs have completed, the value becomes a
+colon-separated list of the values after each run.
+The value is maintained for the MIME, PRDR and DATA ACLs.
+
Within the DKIM ACL,
a string describing the general status of the signature. One of
.ilist
set dkim_verify_reason = hash too weak or key too short
.endd
-So long as a DKIM ACL is defined (it need do no more than accept),
-after all the DKIM ACL runs have completed, the value becomes a
-colon-separated list of the values after each run.
-This is maintained for the mime, prdr and data ACLs.
-
.vitem &%$dkim_verify_reason%&
A string giving a little bit more detail when &%$dkim_verify_status%& is either
"fail" or "invalid". One of
The "_CRYPTO_SIGN_ED25519" macro will be defined if support is present
for EC keys.
-Note that RFC 8301 says:
+Note that &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8301,RFC 8301) says:
.code
rsa-sha1 MUST NOT be used for signing or verifying.
.vitem &%$dkim_copiedheaders%&
A transcript of headers and their values which are included in the signature
(copied from the 'z=' tag of the signature).
-Note that RFC6376 requires that verification fail if the From: header is
+Note that &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6376,RFC 6376)
+requires that verification fail if the From: header is
not included in the signature. Exim does not enforce this; sites wishing
strict enforcement should code the check explicitly.
Valid only once the key is loaded, which is at the time the header signature
is verified, which is after the body hash is.
-Note that RFC 8301 says:
+Note that &url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8301,RFC 8301) says:
.code
Verifiers MUST NOT consider signatures using RSA keys of
less than 1024 bits as valid signatures.
.vitem &%dkim_signers%&
ACL condition that checks a colon-separated list of domains or identities
for a match against the domain or identity that the ACL is currently verifying
-(reflected by &%$dkim_cur_signer%&). This is typically used to restrict an ACL
+(reflected by &%$dkim_cur_signer%&).
+This condition is only usable in a DKIM ACL.
+This is typically used to restrict an ACL
verb to a group of domains or identities. For example:
.code
.vitem &%dkim_status%&
ACL condition that checks a colon-separated list of possible DKIM verification
-results against the actual result of verification. This is typically used
+results against the actual result of verification,
+given by &$dkim_verify_status$& if that is non-empty or "none" if empty.
+This condition may be used in DKIM, MIME, PRDR and DATA ACLs.
+
+A basic verification might be:
+.code
+deny !dkim_status = pass:none:invalid
+.endd
+
+A more complex use could be
to restrict an ACL verb to a list of verification outcomes, for example:
.code
The possible status keywords are: 'none','invalid','fail' and 'pass'. Please
see the documentation of the &%$dkim_verify_status%& expansion variable above
for more information of what they mean.
+
+The condition is true if the status
+(or any of the list of status values)
+is any one of the supplied list.
.endlist
.cindex SPF verification
SPF is a mechanism whereby a domain may assert which IP addresses may transmit
-messages with its domain in the envelope from, documented by RFC 7208.
+messages with its domain in the envelope from, documented by
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7208,RFC 7208).
For more information on SPF see &url(http://www.open-spf.org), a static copy of
the &url(http://openspf.org).
. --- 2019-10-28: still not https, open-spf.org is told to be a
SPF verification support is built into Exim if SUPPORT_SPF=yes is set in
&_Local/Makefile_&. The support uses the &_libspf2_& library
&url(https://www.libspf2.org/).
+.new
+.cindex "dynamic modules"
+The support can be built as a dynamic-load module if desired;
+see the comments in that Makefile.
+.wen
+
There is no Exim involvement in the transmission of messages;
publishing certain DNS records is all that is required.
-.section "SRS (Sender Rewriting Scheme)" SECTSRS
+.subsection "SRS (Sender Rewriting Scheme)" SECTSRS
.cindex SRS "sender rewriting scheme"
+.cindex VERP "variable envelope return path"
SRS can be used to modify sender addresses when forwarding so that
SPF verification does not object to them.
-It operates by encoding the original envelope sender in a new
+It can also be used to identify a received bounce message as
+likely (or not) having been trigged by a message from the
+local system, and for identifying dead addresses in mailing lists.
+It is one implementation of a VERP (Variable Envelope Return Path) method.
+
+SRS operates by encoding the original envelope sender in a new
sender local part and using a domain run by the forwarding site
as the new domain for the sender. Any DSN message should be returned
to this new sender at the forwarding site, which can extract the
encoded.
The second argument should be given as the envelope sender address before this
encoding operation.
+If this value is empty the the expansion result will be empty.
The third argument should be the recipient domain of the message when
it arrived at this system.
+All arguments are expanded before use.
+
+The result of the expansion is the replacement envelope-from (return path)
+to be used.
.endlist
.cindex SRS decoding
To decode an address use this expansion condition:
.vlist
.vitem &*inbound_srs&~{*&<&'local&~part'&>&*}{*&<&'secret'&>&*}*&
-The first argument should be the recipient local prt as is was received.
+The first argument should be the recipient local part as it was received.
The second argument is the site secret.
+Both arguments are expanded before use.
If the messages is not for an SRS-encoded recipient the condition will
-return false. If it is, the condition will return true and the variable
+return false.
+If it is, the condition will return true and the variable
&$srs_recipient$& will be set to the decoded (original) value.
+
+If the second argument is empty then the condition returns true if
+the first argument is in valid SRS formet, else false.
+The variable &$srs_recipient$& is not set for this case.
.endlist
Example usage:
allow_fail
data = :fail: Invalid SRS recipient address
- #... further routers here
+ #... further routers here get inbound_srs-redirected recipients
+ # and any that were not SRS'd
# transport; should look like the non-forward outbound
# one, plus the max_rcpt and return_path options
remote_forwarded_smtp:
driver = smtp
- # modify the envelope from, for mails that we forward
+ # single-recipient so that $original_domain is valid
max_rcpt = 1
+ # modify the envelope from, for mails that we forward
return_path = ${srs_encode {SRS_SECRET} {$return_path} {$original_domain}}
.endd
DMARC combines feedback from SPF, DKIM, and header From: in order
to attempt to provide better indicators of the authenticity of an
email. This document does not explain the fundamentals; you
-should read and understand how it works by visiting the website at
-&url(http://www.dmarc.org/).
+should read and understand how it works by visiting the
+&url(http://www.dmarc.org/,DMARC website).
If Exim is built with DMARC support,
the libopendmarc library is used.
For building Exim yourself, obtain the library from
-&url(http://sourceforge.net/projects/opendmarc/)
+&url(http://sourceforge.net/projects/opendmarc/,sourceforge)
to obtain a copy, or find it in your favorite package
repository. You will need to attend to the local/Makefile feature
SUPPORT_DMARC and the associated LDFLAGS addition.
that headers will be in /usr/local/include, and that the libraries
are in /usr/local/lib.
-. subsection
+.subsection Configuration SSECDMARCCONFIG
+.cindex DMARC configuration
There are three main-configuration options:
.cindex DMARC "configuration options"
the dsn_from option, and <> is used for the
envelope from.
-. I wish we had subsections...
-
+.subsection Controls SSECDMARCCONTROLS
.cindex DMARC controls
+
By default, the DMARC processing will run for any remote,
non-authenticated user. It makes sense to only verify DMARC
status of messages coming from remote, untrusted sources. You can
There are no options to either control. Both must appear before
the DATA acl.
-. subsection
+.subsection ACL SSECDMARCACL
+.cindex DMARC "ACL condition"
-DMARC checks cam be run on incoming SMTP messages by using the
+DMARC checks can be run on incoming SMTP messages by using the
&"dmarc_status"& ACL condition in the DATA ACL. You are required to
call the &"spf"& condition first in the ACLs, then the &"dmarc_status"&
condition. Putting this condition in the ACLs is required in order
right-hand side. These strings describe recommended action based
on the DMARC check. To understand what the policy recommendations
mean, refer to the DMARC website above. Valid strings are:
-.display
-&'accept '& The DMARC check passed and the library recommends accepting the email.
-&'reject '& The DMARC check failed and the library recommends rejecting the email.
-&'quarantine '& The DMARC check failed and the library recommends keeping it for further inspection.
-&'none '& The DMARC check passed and the library recommends no specific action, neutral.
-&'norecord '& No policy section in the DMARC record for this RFC5322.From field
-&'nofrom '& Unable to determine the domain of the sender.
-&'temperror '& Library error or dns error.
-&'off '& The DMARC check was disabled for this email.
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 2 20* left 80* left
+.irow &'accept'& "The DMARC check passed and the library recommends accepting the email"
+.irow &'reject'& "The DMARC check failed and the library recommends rejecting the email"
+.irow &'quarantine'& "The DMARC check failed and the library recommends keeping it for further inspection"
+.irow &'none'& "The DMARC check passed and the library recommends no specific action, neutral"
+.irow &'norecord'& "No policy section in the DMARC record for this RFC5322.From field"
+.irow &'nofrom'& "Unable to determine the domain of the sender"
+.irow &'temperror'& "Library error or dns error"
+.irow &'off'& "The DMARC check was disabled for this email"
+.endtable
You can prefix each string with an exclamation mark to invert its
meaning, for example "!accept" will match all results but
"accept". The string list is evaluated left-to-right in a
is any error, including no DMARC record.
.endlist
-. subsection
+.subsection Logging SSECDMARCLOGGING
+.cindex DMARC logging
By default, Exim's DMARC configuration is intended to be
non-intrusive and conservative. To facilitate this, Exim will not
enable sending DMARC forensic reports
.endlist
-. subsection
+.subsection Example SSECDMARCEXAMPLE
+.cindex DMARC example
Example usage:
.code
The following expansion variables are usable
(&"internal"& and &"external"& here refer to the interfaces
of the proxy):
-.display
-&'proxy_external_address '& IP of host being proxied or IP of remote interface of proxy
-&'proxy_external_port '& Port of host being proxied or Port on remote interface of proxy
-&'proxy_local_address '& IP of proxy server inbound or IP of local interface of proxy
-&'proxy_local_port '& Port of proxy server inbound or Port on local interface of proxy
-&'proxy_session '& boolean: SMTP connection via proxy
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 2 30* left 70* left
+.irow $proxy_external_address "IP of host being proxied or IP of remote interface of proxy"
+.irow $proxy_external_port "Port of host being proxied or Port on remote interface of proxy"
+.irow $proxy_local_address "IP of proxy server inbound or IP of local interface of proxy"
+.irow $proxy_local_port "Port of proxy server inbound or Port on local interface of proxy"
+.irow $proxy_session "boolean: SMTP connection via proxy"
+.endtable
If &$proxy_session$& is set but &$proxy_external_address$& is empty
there was a protocol error.
The variables &$sender_host_address$& and &$sender_host_port$&
.cindex proxy SOCKS
.cindex SOCKS proxy
Exim has support for sending outbound SMTP via a proxy
-using a protocol called SOCKS5 (defined by RFC1928).
+using a protocol called SOCKS5 (defined by
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1928,RFC 1928)).
The support can be optionally included by defining SUPPORT_SOCKS=yes in
Local/Makefile.
Options are a string <name>=<value>.
The list of options is in the following table:
-.display
-&'auth '& authentication method
-&'name '& authentication username
-&'pass '& authentication password
-&'port '& tcp port
-&'tmo '& connection timeout
-&'pri '& priority
-&'weight '& selection bias
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 2 10* left 90* left
+.irow &'auth'& "authentication method"
+.irow &'name'& "authentication username"
+.irow &'pass'& "authentication password"
+.irow &'port'& "tcp port"
+.irow &'tmo'& "connection timeout"
+.irow &'pri'& "priority"
+.irow &'weight'& "selection bias"
+.endtable
More details on each of these options follows:
.cindex authentication "to proxy"
.cindex proxy authentication
&%auth%&: Either &"none"& (default) or &"name"&.
-Using &"name"& selects username/password authentication per RFC 1929
+Using &"name"& selects username/password authentication per
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1929,RFC 1929)
for access to the proxy.
Default is &"none"&.
.next
Exim has support for Internationalised mail names.
To include this it must be built with SUPPORT_I18N and the libidn library.
-Standards supported are RFCs 2060, 5890, 6530 and 6533.
+Standards supported are RFCs
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2060.html,2060),
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5890.html,5890),
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6530.html,6530) and
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6533.html,6533).
If Exim is built with SUPPORT_I18N_2008 (in addition to SUPPORT_I18N, not
instead of it) then IDNA2008 is supported; this adds an extra library
but could be used for any message.
If a value is appended it may be:
-.display
-&`1 `& mandatory downconversion
-&`0 `& no downconversion
-&`-1 `& if SMTPUTF8 not supported by destination host
-.endd
+.itable none 0 0 2 5* right 95* left
+.irow &`1`& "mandatory downconversion"
+.irow &`0`& "no downconversion"
+.irow &`-1`& "if SMTPUTF8 not supported by destination host"
+.endtable
If no value is given, 1 is used.
If mua_wrapper is set, the utf8_downconvert control
the "headers charset" command (in a filter file)
or &%headers_charset%& main configuration option (otherwise),
to the
-modified UTF-7 encoding specified by RFC 2060,
+modified UTF-7 encoding specified by
+&url(https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2060.html,RFC 2060),
with the following exception: All occurrences of <sep>
(which has to be a single character)
are replaced with periods ("."), and all periods and slashes that are not
.new
The current list of events is:
-.display
-&`dane:fail after transport `& per connection
-&`msg:complete after main `& per message
-&`msg:defer after transport `& per message per delivery try
-&`msg:delivery after transport `& per recipient
-&`msg:rcpt:host:defer after transport `& per recipient per host
-&`msg:rcpt:defer after transport `& per recipient
-&`msg:host:defer after transport `& per host per delivery try; host errors
-&`msg:fail:delivery after transport `& per recipient
-&`msg:fail:internal after main `& per recipient
-&`tcp:connect before transport `& per connection
-&`tcp:close after transport `& per connection
-&`tls:cert before both `& per certificate in verification chain
-&`tls:fail:connect after main `& per connection
-&`smtp:connect after transport `& per connection
-&`smtp:ehlo after transport `& per connection
-.endd
+.itable all 0 0 4 25* left 10* center 15* center 50* left
+.row auth:fail after both "per driver per authentication attempt"
+.row dane:fail after transport "per connection"
+.row dns:fail after both "per lookup"
+.row msg:complete after main "per message"
+.row msg:defer after transport "per message per delivery try"
+.row msg:delivery after transport "per recipient"
+.row msg:rcpt:host:defer after transport "per recipient per host"
+.row msg:rcpt:defer after transport "per recipient"
+.row msg:host:defer after transport "per host per delivery try; host errors"
+.row msg:fail:delivery after transport "per recipient"
+.row msg:fail:internal after main "per recipient"
+.row tcp:connect before transport "per connection"
+.row tcp:close after transport "per connection"
+.row tls:cert before both "per certificate in verification chain"
+.row tls:fail:connect after main "per connection"
+.row smtp:connect after transport "per connection"
+.row smtp:ehlo after transport "per connection"
+.row smtp:fail:protocol after main "per connection"
+.row smtp:fail:syntax after main "per connection"
+.endtable
.wen
New event types may be added in future.
An additional variable, &$event_data$&, is filled with information varying
with the event type:
-.display
-&`dane:fail `& failure reason
-&`msg:defer `& error string
-&`msg:delivery `& smtp confirmation message
-&`msg:fail:internal `& failure reason
-&`msg:fail:delivery `& smtp error message
-&`msg:host:defer `& error string
-&`msg:rcpt:host:defer `& error string
-&`msg:rcpt:defer `& error string
-&`tls:cert `& verification chain depth
-&`tls:fail:connect `& error string
-&`smtp:connect `& smtp banner
-&`smtp:ehlo `& smtp ehlo response
-.endd
+.new
+.itable all 0 0 2 20* left 80* left
+.row auth:fail "smtp response"
+.row dane:fail "failure reason"
+.row dns:fail "failure reason, key and lookup-type"
+.row msg:defer "error string"
+.row msg:delivery "smtp confirmation message"
+.row msg:fail:internal "failure reason"
+.row msg:fail:delivery "smtp error message"
+.row msg:host:defer "error string"
+.row msg:rcpt:host:defer "error string"
+.row msg:rcpt:defer "error string"
+.row tls:cert "verification chain depth"
+.row tls:fail:connect "error string"
+.row smtp:connect "smtp banner"
+.row smtp:ehlo "smtp ehlo response"
+.row smtp:fail:protocol "error string"
+.row smtp:fail:syntax "error string"
+.endtable
+.wen
The :defer events populate one extra variable: &$event_defer_errno$&.
-For complex operations an ACL expansion can be used in &%event_action%&
+For complex operations an ACL expansion can be used in &%event_action%&,
however due to the multiple contexts that Exim operates in during
the course of its processing:
.ilist
The expansion of the event_action option should normally
return an empty string. Should it return anything else the
following will be forced:
-.display
-&`tcp:connect `& do not connect
-&`tls:cert `& refuse verification
-&`smtp:connect `& close connection
-.endd
+.itable all 0 0 2 20* left 80* left
+.row auth:fail "log information to write"
+.row tcp:connect "do not connect"
+.row tls:cert "refuse verification"
+.row smtp:connect "close connection"
+.endtable
All other message types ignore the result string, and
no other use is made of it.
For a tcp:connect event, if the connection is being made to a proxy
-then the address and port variables will be that of the proxy and not
-the target system.
+then the &$host_address$& and &$host_port$& variables
+will be that of the proxy and not the target system.
For tls:cert events, if GnuTLS is in use this will trigger only per
chain element received on the connection.
For OpenSSL it will trigger for every chain element including those
loaded locally.
+For dns:fail events from dnsdb lookups, a &"defer_never"& option does not
+affect the reporting of DNS_AGAIN.
+
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
git://git.exim.org / exim.git / blobdiff