. Update the Copyright year (only) when changing content.
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-.set previousversion "4.87"
+.set previousversion "4.91"
.include ./local_params
.set ACL "access control lists (ACLs)"
.set I " "
.macro copyyear
-2016
+2018
.endmacro
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
An &"easier"& discussion of Exim which provides more in-depth explanatory,
introductory, and tutorial material can be found in a book entitled &'The Exim
SMTP Mail Server'& (second edition, 2007), published by UIT Cambridge
-(&url(http://www.uit.co.uk/exim-book/)).
+(&url(https://www.uit.co.uk/exim-book/)).
This book also contains a chapter that gives a general introduction to SMTP and
Internet mail. Inevitably, however, the book is unlikely to be fully up-to-date
.row &_filter.txt_& "specification of the filter language"
.row &_Exim3.upgrade_& "upgrade notes from release 2 to release 3"
.row &_Exim4.upgrade_& "upgrade notes from release 3 to release 4"
+.row &_openssl.txt_& "installing a current OpenSSL release"
.endtable
The main specification and the specification of the filtering language are also
.section "FTP and web sites" "SECID2"
.cindex "web site"
.cindex "FTP site"
-The primary site for Exim source distributions is currently the University of
-Cambridge's FTP site, whose contents are described in &'Where to find the Exim
-distribution'& below. In addition, there is a web site and an FTP site at
-&%exim.org%&. These are now also hosted at the University of Cambridge. The
-&%exim.org%& site was previously hosted for a number of years by Energis
-Squared, formerly Planet Online Ltd, whose support I gratefully acknowledge.
+The primary site for Exim source distributions is the &%exim.org%& FTP site,
+available over HTTPS, HTTP and FTP. These services, and the &%exim.org%&
+website, are hosted at the University of Cambridge.
.cindex "wiki"
.cindex "FAQ"
As well as Exim distribution tar files, the Exim web site contains a number of
differently formatted versions of the documentation. A recent addition to the
-online information is the Exim wiki (&url(http://wiki.exim.org)),
+online information is the Exim wiki (&url(https://wiki.exim.org)),
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
+provided by GitHub, and is open to editing by anyone with a GitHub account.
.cindex Bugzilla
-An Exim Bugzilla exists at &url(http://bugs.exim.org). You can use
+An Exim Bugzilla exists at &url(https://bugs.exim.org). You can use
this to report bugs, and also to add items to the wish list. Please search
first to check that you are not duplicating a previous entry.
-
+Please do not ask for configuration help in the bug-tracker.
.section "Mailing lists" "SECID3"
the Debian-specific mailing list &'pkg-exim4-users@lists.alioth.debian.org'&
via this web page:
.display
-&url(http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/pkg-exim4-users)
+&url(https://alioth-lists.debian.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pkg-exim4-users)
.endd
Please ask Debian-specific questions on this list and not on the general Exim
lists.
-.section "Exim training" "SECID4"
-.cindex "training courses"
-Training courses in Cambridge (UK) used to be run annually by the author of
-Exim, before he retired. At the time of writing, there are no plans to run
-further Exim courses in Cambridge. However, if that changes, relevant
-information will be posted at &url(http://www-tus.csx.cam.ac.uk/courses/exim/).
-
.section "Bug reports" "SECID5"
.cindex "bug reports"
.cindex "reporting bugs"
Reports of obvious bugs can be emailed to &'bugs@exim.org'& or reported
-via the Bugzilla (&url(http://bugs.exim.org)). However, if you are unsure
+via the Bugzilla (&url(https://bugs.exim.org)). 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.
.section "Where to find the Exim distribution" "SECTavail"
.cindex "FTP site"
+.cindex "HTTPS download site"
.cindex "distribution" "ftp site"
-The master ftp site for the Exim distribution is
+.cindex "distribution" "https site"
+The master distribution site for the Exim distribution is
.display
-&*ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/email/exim*&
+&url(https://downloads.exim.org/)
.endd
-This is mirrored by
-.display
-&*ftp://ftp.exim.org/pub/exim*&
-.endd
-The file references that follow are relative to the &_exim_& directories at
-these sites. There are now quite a number of independent mirror sites around
+The service is available over HTTPS, HTTP and FTP.
+We encourage people to migrate to HTTPS.
+
+The content served at &url(https://downloads.exim.org/) is identical to the
+content served at &url(https://ftp.exim.org/pub/exim) and
+&url(ftp://ftp.exim.org/pub/exim).
+
+If accessing via a hostname containing &'ftp'&, then the file references that
+follow are relative to the &_exim_& directories at these sites.
+If accessing via the hostname &'downloads'& then the subdirectories described
+here are top-level directories.
+
+There are now quite a number of independent mirror sites around
the world. Those that I know about are listed in the file called &_Mirrors_&.
-Within the &_exim_& directory there are subdirectories called &_exim3_& (for
+Within the top exim directory there are subdirectories called &_exim3_& (for
previous Exim 3 distributions), &_exim4_& (for the latest Exim 4
distributions), and &_Testing_& for testing versions. In the &_exim4_&
subdirectory, the current release can always be found in files called
.display
+&_exim-n.nn.tar.xz_&
&_exim-n.nn.tar.gz_&
&_exim-n.nn.tar.bz2_&
.endd
-where &'n.nn'& is the highest such version number in the directory. The two
+where &'n.nn'& is the highest such version number in the directory. The three
files contain identical data; the only difference is the type of compression.
-The &_.bz2_& file is usually a lot smaller than the &_.gz_& file.
+The &_.xz_& file is usually the smallest, while the &_.gz_& file is the
+most portable to old systems.
.cindex "distribution" "signing details"
.cindex "distribution" "public key"
&_nigel-pubkey.asc_&. All keys used will be available in public keyserver pools,
such as &'pool.sks-keyservers.net'&.
-At time of last update, releases were being made by Phil Pennock and signed with
-key &'0x403043153903637F'&, although that key is expected to be replaced in 2013.
-A trust path from Nigel's key to Phil's can be observed at
-&url(https://www.security.spodhuis.org/exim-trustpath).
-
-Releases have also been authorized to be performed by Todd Lyons who signs with
-key &'0xC4F4F94804D29EBA'&. A direct trust path exists between previous RE Phil
-Pennock and Todd Lyons through a common associate.
+At time of last update, releases were being made by Jeremy Harris and signed
+with key &'0xBCE58C8CE41F32DF'&. Other recent keys used for signing are those
+of Heiko Schlittermann, &'0x26101B62F69376CE'&,
+and of Phil Pennock, &'0x4D1E900E14C1CC04'&.
The signatures for the tar bundles are in:
.display
+&_exim-n.nn.tar.xz.asc_&
&_exim-n.nn.tar.gz.asc_&
&_exim-n.nn.tar.bz2.asc_&
.endd
&_exim-texinfo-n.nn.tar.gz_&
.endd
These tar files contain only the &_doc_& directory, not the complete
-distribution, and are also available in &_.bz2_& as well as &_.gz_& forms.
+distribution, and are also available in &_.bz2_& and &_.xz_& forms.
.section "Limitations" "SECID6"
version.
This code implements Dan Bernstein's Constant DataBase (cdb) spec. Information,
the spec and sample code for cdb can be obtained from
-&url(http://www.pobox.com/~djb/cdb.html). This implementation borrows
+&url(https://cr.yp.to/cdb.html). This implementation borrows
some code from Dan Bernstein's implementation (which has no license
restrictions applied to it).
.endblockquote
acknowledgment:
&"This product includes software developed by Computing Services
-at Carnegie Mellon University (&url(http://www.cmu.edu/computing/)."&
+at Carnegie Mellon University (&url(https://www.cmu.edu/computing/)."&
CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO
THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
described in more detail in chapter &<<CHAProutergeneric>>&.
.ilist
+.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
suffixes. If a mandatory affix (prefix or suffix) is not present, the router is
.vindex "&$local_part_prefix$&"
.vindex "&$local_part$&"
.vindex "&$local_part_suffix$&"
+.cindex affix "router precondition"
If the &%local_parts%& option is set, the local part of the address must be in
the set of local parts that it defines. If &%local_part_prefix%& or
&%local_part_suffix%& is in use, the prefix or suffix is removed from the local
the actual building takes place. In most cases, Exim can discover the machine
architecture and operating system for itself, but the defaults can be
overridden if necessary.
+.cindex compiler requirements
+.cindex compiler version
+A C99-capable compiler will be required for the build.
.section "PCRE library" "SECTpcre"
If your operating system has no
PCRE support then you will need to obtain and build the current PCRE
from &url(ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/programming/pcre/).
-More information on PCRE is available at &url(http://www.pcre.org/).
+More information on PCRE is available at &url(https://www.pcre.org/).
.section "DBM libraries" "SECTdb"
.cindex "DBM libraries" "discussion of"
.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 are now
-numbered 4.&'x'&. Maintenance of some of the earlier releases has ceased. All
-versions of Berkeley DB can be obtained from
-&url(http://www.sleepycat.com/).
+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
+&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
+Berkeley DB format, as today there are smaller and simpler alternatives more
+suited to Exim's usage model.
.next
.cindex "&'tdb'& DBM library"
Yet another DBM library, called &'tdb'&, is available from
-&url(http://download.sourceforge.net/tdb). It has its own interface, and also
+&url(https://sourceforge.net/projects/tdb/files/). It has its own interface, and also
operates on a single file.
.endlist
However, some of the operating systems that supply &[iconv()]& do not support
very many conversions. The GNU &%libiconv%& library (available from
-&url(http://www.gnu.org/software/libiconv/)) can be installed on such
+&url(https://www.gnu.org/software/libiconv/)) can be installed on such
systems to remedy this deficiency, as well as on systems that do not supply
&[iconv()]& at all. After installing &%libiconv%&, you should add
.code
the same lookup again. Otherwise, because each Exim process caches the results
of lookups, you will just get the same result as before.
+Macro processing is done on lines before string-expansion: new macros can be
+defined and macros will be expanded.
+Because macros in the config file are often used for secrets, those are only
+available to admin users.
+
.vitem &%-bem%&&~<&'filename'&>
.oindex "&%-bem%&"
.cindex "testing" "string expansion"
.vitem &%-bfp%&&~<&'prefix'&>
.oindex "&%-bfp%&"
+.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%&"
+.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.
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(http://jetmore.org/john/code/#swaks,swaks).
+&url(https://www.jetmore.org/john/code/swaks/,swaks).
.vitem &%-bhc%&&~<&'IP&~address'&>
.oindex "&%-bhc%&"
are available, similarly to the drivers. Because macros are sometimes used
for storing passwords, this option is restricted.
The output format is one item per line.
+For the "-bP macro <name>" form, if no such macro is found
+the exit status will be nonzero.
.vitem &%-bp%&
.oindex "&%-bp%&"
&<<CHAPlocalscan>>&)
&`lookup `& general lookup code and all lookups
&`memory `& memory handling
-&`pid `& add pid to debug output lines
+&`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
&`retry `& retry handling
&`rewrite `& address rewriting
&`route `& address routing
-&`timestamp `& add timestamp to debug output lines
+&`timestamp `& modifier: add timestamp to debug output lines
&`tls `& TLS logic
&`transport `& transports
&`uid `& changes of uid/gid and looking up uid/gid
of all debug output lines. This can be useful when trying to track down delays
in processing.
+.new
+.cindex debugging "UTF-8 in"
+.cindex UTF-8 "in debug output"
+The &`noutf8`& selector disables the use of
+UTF-8 line-drawing characters to group related information.
+When disabled. ascii-art is used instead.
+Using the &`+all`& option does not set this modifier,
+.wen
+
If the &%debug_print%& option is set in any driver, it produces output whenever
any debugging is selected, or if &%-v%& is used.
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option. It signifies that the
remote host supports the ESMTP &_DSN_& extension.
-.new
-.vitem &%-MCG%&
+.vitem &%-MCG%&&~<&'queue&~name'&>
.oindex "&%-MCG%&"
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 option.
-.wen
+alternate queue is used, named by the following argument.
+
+.vitem &%-MCK%&
+.oindex "&%-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 &%-MCP%&
.oindex "&%-MCP%&"
by Exim in conjunction with the &%-MC%& option, and passes on the fact that the
host to which Exim is connected supports TLS encryption.
+.vitem &%-MCt%&&~<&'IP&~address'&>&~<&'port'&>&~<&'cipher'&>
+.oindex "&%-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
+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%&"
.cindex "hints database" "not overridden by &%-Mc%&"
only by an admin user or by the user who originally caused the message to be
placed on the queue.
+. .new
+. .vitem &%-MS%&
+. .oindex "&%-MS%&"
+. .cindex REQUIRETLS
+. This option is used to request REQUIRETLS processing on the message.
+. It is used internally by Exim in conjunction with -E when generating
+. a bounce message.
+. .wen
+
.vitem &%-Mset%&&~<&'message&~id'&>
-.oindex "&%-Mset%&
+.oindex "&%-Mset%&"
.cindex "testing" "string expansion"
.cindex "expansion" "testing"
This option is useful only in conjunction with &%-be%& (that is, when testing
SMTP protocol names (see the description of &$received_protocol$& in section
&<<SECTexpvar>>&). For &%-bs%&, the protocol is always &"local-"& followed by
one of those same names. For &%-bS%& (batched SMTP) however, the protocol can
-be set by &%-oMr%&.
+be set by &%-oMr%&. Repeated use of this option is not supported.
.vitem &%-oMs%&&~<&'host&~name'&>
.oindex "&%-oMs%&"
Note the Exim already has two private options, &%-pd%& and &%-ps%&, that refer
to embedded Perl. It is therefore impossible to set a protocol value of &`d`&
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%&"
and &%-S%& options).
.cindex "queue runner" "description of operation"
-.new
If other commandline options do not specify an action,
-.wen
the &%-q%& option starts one queue runner process. This scans the queue of
waiting messages, and runs a delivery process for each one in turn. It waits
for each delivery process to finish before starting the next one. A delivery
be done. If a message requires any remote deliveries, it remains on the queue
for later delivery.
-.new
.vitem &%-q[q][i][f[f]][l][G<name>[/<time>]]]%&
.oindex "&%-qG%&"
.cindex queue named
For a periodic queue run (see below)
append to the name a slash and a time value.
-If other commandline options speicify an action, a &'-qG<name>'& option
+If other commandline options specify an action, a &'-qG<name>'& option
will specify a queue to operate on.
For example:
.code
exim -bp -qGquarantine
-mailq -qGquarantime
+mailq -qGquarantine
exim -qGoffpeak -Rf @special.domain.example
.endd
-.wen
.vitem &%-q%&<&'qflags'&>&~<&'start&~id'&>&~<&'end&~id'&>
When scanning the queue, Exim can be made to skip over messages whose ids are
.endd
on a line by itself. Double quotes round the file name are optional. If you use
the first form, a configuration error occurs if the file does not exist; the
-second form does nothing for non-existent files. In all cases, an absolute file
+second form does nothing for non-existent files.
+The first form allows a relative name. It is resolved relative to
+the directory of the including file. For the second form an absolute file
name is required.
Includes may be nested to any depth, but remember that Exim reads its
section &<<SECTnamedlists>>&.
-.new
.section "Builtin macros" "SECTbuiltinmacros"
Exim defines some macros depending on facilities available, which may
differ due to build-time definitions and from one release to another.
The following classes of macros are defined:
.display
-&` _HAVE_ `& build-time defines
-&` _DRVR_AUTH_ `& authenticator drivers
-&` _DRVR_RTR_ `& router drivers
-&` _DRVR_TPT_ `& transport drivers
-&` _OPT_ `& configuration option support
+&` _HAVE_* `& build-time defines
+&` _DRIVER_ROUTER_* `& router drivers
+&` _DRIVER_TRANSPORT_* `& transport drivers
+&` _DRIVER_AUTHENTICATOR_* `& authenticator drivers
+&` _LOG_* `& log_selector values
+&` _OPT_MAIN_* `& main config options
+&` _OPT_ROUTERS_* `& generic router options
+&` _OPT_TRANSPORTS_* `& generic transport options
+&` _OPT_AUTHENTICATORS_* `& generic authenticator options
+&` _OPT_ROUTER_*_* `& private router options
+&` _OPT_TRANSPORT_*_* `& private transport options
+&` _OPT_AUTHENTICATOR_*_* `& private authenticator options
.endd
Use an &"exim -bP macros"& command to get the list of macros.
-.wen
.section "Conditional skips in the configuration file" "SECID46"
If an integer value is followed by the letter K, it is multiplied by 1024; if
it is followed by the letter M, it is multiplied by 1024x1024;
-.new
if by the letter G, 1024x1024x1024.
-.wen
When the values
of integer option settings are output, values which are an exact multiple of
1024 or 1024x1024 are sometimes, but not always, printed using the letters K
.cindex "port" "465 and 587"
.cindex "port" "for message submission"
.cindex "message" "submission, ports for"
-.cindex "ssmtp protocol"
+.cindex "submissions protocol"
.cindex "smtps protocol"
+.cindex "ssmtp protocol"
+.cindex "SMTP" "submissions protocol"
.cindex "SMTP" "ssmtp protocol"
.cindex "SMTP" "smtps protocol"
These options provide better support for roaming users who wish to use this
server for message submission. They are not much use unless you have turned on
TLS (as described in the previous paragraph) and authentication (about which
-more in section &<<SECTdefconfauth>>&). The usual SMTP port 25 is often blocked
-on end-user networks, so RFC 4409 specifies that message submission should use
-port 587 instead. However some software (notably Microsoft Outlook) cannot be
-configured to use port 587 correctly, so these settings also enable the
-non-standard &"smtps"& (aka &"ssmtp"&) port 465 (see section
-&<<SECTsupobssmt>>&).
+more in section &<<SECTdefconfauth>>&).
+Mail submission from mail clients (MUAs) should be separate from inbound mail
+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,
+which uses STARTTLS, so this is the &"submission"& port.
+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.
+Older names for &"submissions"& are &"smtps"& and &"ssmtp"&.
Two more commented-out options settings follow:
.code
uses the PCRE regular expression library; this provides regular expression
matching that is compatible with Perl 5. The syntax and semantics of
regular expressions is discussed in
-.new
online Perl manpages, in
-.wen
many Perl reference books, and also in
Jeffrey Friedl's &'Mastering Regular Expressions'&, which is published by
O'Reilly (see &url(http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/regex2/)).
+. --- the http: URL here redirects to another page with the ISBN in the URL
+. --- where trying to use https: just redirects back to http:, so sticking
+. --- to the old URL for now. 2018-09-07.
The documentation for the syntax and semantics of the regular expressions that
are supported by PCRE is included in the PCRE distribution, and no further
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
-aliases or other indexed data referenced by an MTA. Information about cdb can
-be found in several places:
+aliases or other indexed data referenced by an MTA. Information about cdb and
+tools for building the files can be found in several places:
.display
-&url(http://www.pobox.com/~djb/cdb.html)
-&url(ftp://ftp.corpit.ru/pub/tinycdb/)
-&url(http://packages.debian.org/stable/utils/freecdb.html)
+&url(https://cr.yp.to/cdb.html)
+&url(http://www.corpit.ru/mjt/tinycdb.html)
+&url(https://packages.debian.org/stable/utils/freecdb)
+&url(https://github.com/philpennock/cdbtools) (in Go)
.endd
+. --- 2018-09-07: corpit.ru http:-only
A cdb distribution is not needed in order to build Exim with cdb support,
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
the implicit key is the host's IP address rather than its name (see section
&<<SECThoslispatsikey>>&).
.next
+.new
+.cindex lookup json
+.cindex json "lookup type"
+.cindex JSON expansions
+&(json)&: 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)
+which are applied in turn to select smaller and smaller portions
+of the JSON structure.
+If a selector is numeric, it must apply to a JSON array; the (zero-based)
+nunbered array element is selected.
+Otherwise it must apply to a JSON object; the named element is selected.
+The final resulting element can be a simple JSON type or a JSON object
+or array; for the latter two a string-representation os the JSON
+is returned.
+For elements of type string, the returned value is de-quoted.
+.wen
+.next
.cindex "linear search"
.cindex "lookup" "lsearch"
.cindex "lsearch lookup type"
&*Warning*&: Unlike most other single-key lookup types, a file of data for
&((n)wildlsearch)& can &'not'& be turned into a DBM or cdb file, because those
lookup types support only literal keys.
+
+.next
+.cindex "lookup" "spf"
+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
.next
.cindex "Redis lookup type"
.cindex lookup Redis
-&(redis)&: The format of the query is an SQL statement that is passed to a
-Redis database. See section &<<SECTsql>>&.
+&(redis)&: The format of the query is either a simple get or simple set,
+passed to a Redis database. See section &<<SECTsql>>&.
.next
.cindex "sqlite lookup type"
.next
.cindex "whoson lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "whoson"
+. --- still http:-only, 2018-09-07
&(whoson)&: &'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
The form if &"retry_VAL"& where VAL is an integer.
The default count is set by the main configuration option &%dns_retry%&.
-.cindex cacheing "of dns lookup"
+.cindex caching "of dns lookup"
.cindex TTL "of dns lookup"
.cindex DNS TTL
Dnsdb lookup results are cached within a single process (and its children).
waits for the lock to be released. In Exim, the default timeout is set
to 5 seconds, but it can be changed by means of the &%sqlite_lock_timeout%&
option.
+
+.section "More about Redis" "SECTredis"
+.cindex "lookup" "Redis"
+.cindex "redis lookup type"
+Redis is a non-SQL database. Commands are simple get and set.
+Examples:
+.code
+${lookup redis{set keyname ${quote_redis:objvalue plus}}}
+${lookup redis{get keyname}}
+.endd
+
+As of release 4.91, "lightweight" support for Redis Cluster is available.
+Requires &%redis_servers%& list to contain all the servers in the cluster, all
+of which must be reachable from the running exim instance. If the cluster has
+master/slave replication, the list must contain all the master and slave
+servers.
+
+When the Redis Cluster returns a "MOVED" response to a query, Exim does not
+immediately follow the redirection but treats the response as a DEFER, moving on
+to the next server in the &%redis_servers%& list until the correct server is
+reached.
+
.ecindex IIDfidalo1
.ecindex IIDfidalo2
.cindex "expansion" "of lists"
Each list is expanded as a single string before it is used.
-.new
&'Exception: the router headers_remove option, where list-item
splitting is done before string-expansion.'&
-.wen
The result of
expansion must be a list, possibly containing empty items, which is split up
If the ACL returns defer the result is a forced-fail. Otherwise the expansion fails.
+.vitem "&*${authresults{*&<&'authserv-id'&>&*}}*&"
+.cindex authentication "results header"
+.cindex headers "authentication-results:"
+.cindex authentication "expansion item"
+This item returns a string suitable for insertion as an
+&'Authentication-Results"'&
+header line.
+The given <&'authserv-id'&> is included in the result; typically this
+will be a domain name identifying the system performing the authentications.
+Methods that might be present in the result include:
+.code
+none
+iprev
+auth
+spf
+dkim
+.endd
+
+Example use (as an ACL modifier):
+.code
+ add_header = :at_start:${authresults {$primary_hostname}}
+.endd
+This is safe even if no authentication results are available.
+
+
.vitem "&*${certextract{*&<&'field'&>&*}{*&<&'certificate'&>&*}&&&
{*&<&'string2'&>&*}{*&<&'string3'&>&*}}*&"
-.cindex "expansion" "extracting cerificate fields"
+.cindex "expansion" "extracting certificate fields"
.cindex "&%certextract%&" "certificate fields"
.cindex "certificate" "extracting fields"
The <&'certificate'&> must be a variable of type certificate.
This forces an expansion failure (see section &<<SECTforexpfai>>&);
{<&'string2'&>} must be present for &"fail"& to be recognized.
+.new
+.vitem "&*${extract json {*&<&'key'&>&*}{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}&&&
+ {*&<&'string3'&>&*}}*&" &&&
+ "&*${extract jsons{*&<&'key'&>&*}{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}&&&
+ {*&<&'string3'&>&*}}*&"
+.cindex "expansion" "extracting from JSON object"
+.cindex JSON expansions
+The key and <&'string1'&> are first expanded separately. Leading and trailing
+white space is removed from the key (but not from any of the strings). The key
+must not be empty and must not consist entirely of digits.
+The expanded <&'string1'&> must be of the form:
+.display
+{ <&'"key1"'&> : <&'value1'&> , <&'"key2"'&> , <&'value2'&> ... }
+.endd
+.vindex "&$value$&"
+The braces, commas and colons, and the quoting of the member name are required;
+the spaces are optional.
+Matching of the key against the member names is done case-sensitively.
+For the &"json"& variant,
+if a returned value is a JSON string, it retains its leading and
+trailing quotes.
+For the &"jsons"& variant, which is intended for use with JSON strings, the
+leading and trailing quotes are removed from the returned value.
+. XXX should be a UTF-8 compare
+
+The results of matching are handled as above.
+.wen
+
.vitem "&*${extract{*&<&'number'&>&*}{*&<&'separators'&>&*}&&&
{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}{*&<&'string3'&>&*}}*&"
empty (for example, the fifth field above).
+.new
+.vitem "&*${extract json {*&<&'number'&>&*}}&&&
+ {*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}{*&<&'string3'&>&*}}*&" &&&
+ "&*${extract jsons{*&<&'number'&>&*}}&&&
+ {*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}{*&<&'string3'&>&*}}*&"
+.cindex "expansion" "extracting from JSON array"
+.cindex JSON expansions
+The <&'number'&> argument must consist entirely of decimal digits,
+apart from leading and trailing white space, which is ignored.
+
+Field selection and result handling is as above;
+there is no choice of field separator.
+For the &"json"& variant,
+if a returned value is a JSON string, it retains its leading and
+trailing quotes.
+For the &"jsons"& variant, which is intended for use with JSON strings, the
+leading and trailing quotes are removed from the returned value.
+.wen
+
+
.vitem &*${filter{*&<&'string'&>&*}{*&<&'condition'&>&*}}*&
.cindex "list" "selecting by condition"
.cindex "expansion" "selecting from list by condition"
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:
.code
-${filter{a:b:c}{!eq{$item}{b}}
+${filter{a:b:c}{!eq{$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.
&*$h_*&<&'header&~name'&>&*:*&" &&&
"&*$bheader_*&<&'header&~name'&>&*:*&&~or&~&&&
&*$bh_*&<&'header&~name'&>&*:*&" &&&
+ "&*$lheader_*&<&'header&~name'&>&*:*&&~or&~&&&
+ &*$lh_*&<&'header&~name'&>&*:*&"
"&*$rheader_*&<&'header&~name'&>&*:*&&~or&~&&&
&*$rh_*&<&'header&~name'&>&*:*&"
.cindex "expansion" "header insertion"
.vindex "&$header_$&"
.vindex "&$bheader_$&"
+.vindex "&$lheader_$&"
.vindex "&$rheader_$&"
.cindex "header lines" "in expansion strings"
.cindex "header lines" "character sets"
internal newlines (caused by splitting the header line over several physical
lines) may be present.
-The difference between &%rheader%&, &%bheader%&, and &%header%& is in the way
+The difference between the four pairs of expansions is in the way
the data in the header line is interpreted.
.ilist
&%rheader%& gives the original &"raw"& content of the header line, with no
processing at all, and without the removal of leading and trailing white space.
+.next
+.cindex "list" "of header lines"
+&%lheader%& gives a colon-separated list, one element per header when there
+are multiple headers with a given name.
+Any embedded colon characters within an element are doubled, so normal Exim
+list-processing facilities can be used.
+The terminating newline of each element is removed; in other respects
+the content is &"raw"&.
+
.next
.cindex "base64 encoding" "in header lines"
&%bheader%& removes leading and trailing white space, and then decodes base64
filter. Header lines that are added to a particular copy of a message by a
router or transport are not accessible.
-For incoming SMTP messages, no header lines are visible in ACLs that are obeyed
-before the DATA ACL, because the header structure is not set up until the
-message is received. Header lines that are added in a RCPT ACL (for example)
+For incoming SMTP messages, no header lines are visible in
+ACLs that are obeyed before the data phase completes,
+because the header structure is not set up until the message is received.
+They are visible in DKIM, PRDR and DATA ACLs.
+Header lines that are added in a RCPT ACL (for example)
are saved until the message's incoming header lines are available, at which
-point they are added. When a DATA ACL is running, however, header lines added
-by earlier ACLs are visible.
+point they are added.
+When any of the above ACLs ar
+running, however, header lines added by earlier ACLs are visible.
Upper case and lower case letters are synonymous in header names. If the
following character is white space, the terminating colon may be omitted, but
.code
${length_<n>:<string>}
.endd
-The result of this item is either the first <&'n'&> characters or the whole
+The result of this item is either the first <&'n'&> bytes or the whole
of <&'string2'&>, whichever is the shorter. Do not confuse &%length%& with
&%strlen%&, which gives the length of a string.
+All measurement is done in bytes and is not UTF-8 aware.
.vitem "&*${listextract{*&<&'number'&>&*}&&&
.vitem "&*${readsocket{*&<&'name'&>&*}{*&<&'request'&>&*}&&&
- {*&<&'timeout'&>&*}{*&<&'eol&~string'&>&*}{*&<&'fail&~string'&>&*}}*&"
+ {*&<&'options'&>&*}{*&<&'eol&~string'&>&*}{*&<&'fail&~string'&>&*}}*&"
.cindex "expansion" "inserting from a socket"
.cindex "socket, use of in expansion"
.cindex "&%readsocket%& expansion item"
.code
${readsocket{/socket/name}{request string}{3s}}
.endd
+
+The third argument is a list of options, of which the first element is the timeout
+and must be present if the argument is given.
+Further elements are options of form &'name=value'&.
+Two option types is currently recognised: shutdown and tls.
+The first defines whether (the default)
+or not a shutdown is done on the connection after sending the request.
+Example, to not do so (preferred, eg. by some webservers):
+.code
+${readsocket{/socket/name}{request string}{3s:shutdown=no}}
+.endd
+.new
+The second, tls, controls the use of TLS on the connection. Example:
+.code
+${readsocket{/socket/name}{request string}{3s:tls=yes}}
+.endd
+The default is to not use TLS.
+If it is enabled, a shutdown as descripbed above is never done.
+.wen
+
A fourth argument allows you to change any newlines that are in the data
that is read, in the same way as for &%readfile%& (see above). This example
turns them into spaces:
.vitem &*$rheader_*&<&'header&~name'&>&*:*&&~or&~&*$rh_*&<&'header&~name'&>&*:*&
This item inserts &"raw"& header lines. It is described with the &%header%&
-expansion item above.
+expansion item in section &<<SECTexpansionitems>>& above.
.vitem "&*${run{*&<&'command'&>&*&~*&<&'args'&>&*}{*&<&'string1'&>&*}&&&
{*&<&'string2'&>&*}}*&"
${sg{abcdefabcdef}{abc}{xyz}}
.endd
yields &"xyzdefxyzdef"&. Because all three arguments are expanded before use,
-if any $ or \ characters are required in the regular expression or in the
+if any $, } or \ characters are required in the regular expression or in the
substitution string, they have to be escaped. For example:
.code
${sg{abcdef}{^(...)(...)\$}{\$2\$1}}
yields &"K1=A K4=D K3=C"&. Note the use of &`\N`& to protect the contents of
the regular expression from string expansion.
+The regular expression is compiled in 8-bit mode, working against bytes
+rather than any Unicode-aware character handling.
.vitem &*${sort{*&<&'string'&>&*}{*&<&'comparator'&>&*}{*&<&'extractor'&>&*}}*&
If the starting offset is greater than the string length the result is the
null string; if the length plus starting offset is greater than the string
length, the result is the right-hand part of the string, starting from the
-given offset. The first character in the string has offset zero.
+given offset. The first byte (character) in the string has offset zero.
The &%substr%& expansion item can take negative offset values to count
-from the right-hand end of its operand. The last character is offset -1, the
-second-last is offset -2, and so on. Thus, for example,
+from the right-hand end of its operand. The last byte (character) is offset -1,
+the second-last is offset -2, and so on. Thus, for example,
.code
${substr{-5}{2}{1234567}}
.endd
yields &"1"&.
When the second number is omitted from &%substr%&, the remainder of the string
-is taken if the offset is positive. If it is negative, all characters in the
+is taken if the offset is positive. If it is negative, all bytes (characters) in the
string preceding the offset point are taken. For example, an offset of -1 and
no length, as in these semantically identical examples:
.code
.endd
yields all but the last character of the string, that is, &"abcd"&.
+All measurement is done in bytes and is not UTF-8 aware.
+
.vitem "&*${tr{*&<&'subject'&>&*}{*&<&'characters'&>&*}&&&
{*&<&'replacements'&>&*}}*&"
.cindex "expansion" "character translation"
.cindex "&%tr%& expansion item"
-This item does single-character translation on its subject string. The second
+This item does single-character (in bytes) translation on its subject string. The second
argument is a list of characters to be translated in the subject string. Each
matching character is replaced by the corresponding character from the
replacement list. For example
last occurrence is used. If the third string is shorter than the second, its
last character is replicated. However, if it is empty, no translation takes
place.
+
+All character handling is done in bytes and is not UTF-8 aware.
+
.endlist
header line, and the effective address is extracted from it. If the string does
not parse successfully, the result is empty.
+The parsing correctly handles SMTPUTF8 Unicode in the string.
+
.vitem &*${addresses:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "expansion" "RFC 2822 address handling"
.code
${addresses:>& Chief <ceo@up.stairs>, sec@base.ment (dogsbody)}
.endd
-expands to &`ceo@up.stairs&&sec@base.ment`&. Compare the &*address*& (singular)
+expands to &`ceo@up.stairs&&sec@base.ment`&. The string is expanded
+first, so if the expanded string starts with >, it may change the output
+separator unintentionally. This can be avoided by setting the output
+separator explicitly:
+.code
+${addresses:>:$h_from:}
+.endd
+
+Compare the &*address*& (singular)
expansion item, which extracts the working address from a single RFC2822
address. See the &*filter*&, &*map*&, and &*reduce*& items for ways of
processing lists.
example below is passed the contents of &`$header_from:`&, meaning it gets
de-mimed. Exim sees the decoded "," so it treats it as &*two*& email addresses.
The third example shows that the presence of a comma is skipped when it is
-quoted.
+quoted. The fourth example shows SMTPUTF8 handling.
.code
# exim -be '${addresses:From: \
=?iso-8859-2?Q?Last=2C_First?= <user@example.com>}'
Last:user@example.com
# exim -be '${addresses:From: "Last, First" <user@example.com>}'
user@example.com
+# exim -be '${addresses:フィル <フィリップ@example.jp>}'
+フィリップ@example.jp
.endd
-.new
.vitem &*${base32:*&<&'digits'&>&*}*&
.cindex "&%base32%& expansion item"
.cindex "expansion" "conversion to base 32"
.cindex "expansion" "conversion to base 32"
The string must consist entirely of base-32 digits.
The number is converted to decimal and output as a string.
-.wen
.vitem &*${base62:*&<&'digits'&>&*}*&
.cindex "&%base62%& expansion item"
significant bit set (so-called &"8-bit characters"&) count as printing or not
is controlled by the &%print_topbitchars%& option.
-.new
.vitem &*${escape8bit:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "expansion" "escaping 8-bit characters"
.cindex "&%escape8bit%& expansion item"
If the string contains and characters with the most significant bit set,
they are converted to escape sequences starting with a backslash.
Backslashes and DEL characters are also converted.
-.wen
.vitem &*${eval:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&&~and&~&*${eval10:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "expansion" "hex to base64"
.cindex "&%hex2b64%& expansion item"
This operator converts a hex string into one that is base64 encoded. This can
-be useful for processing the output of the MD5 and SHA-1 hashing functions.
+be useful for processing the output of the various hashing functions.
.code
${lc:$local_part}
.endd
+Case is defined per the system C locale.
.vitem &*${length_*&<&'number'&>&*:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "expansion" "string truncation"
See the description of the general &%length%& item above for details. Note that
&%length%& is not the same as &%strlen%&. The abbreviation &%l%& can be used
when &%length%& is used as an operator.
+All measurement is done in bytes and is not UTF-8 aware.
.vitem &*${listcount:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
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 parsing correctly handles SMTPUTF8 Unicode in the string.
.vitem &*${mask:*&<&'IP&~address'&>&*/*&<&'bit&~count'&>&*}*&
If you are creating a new email address from the contents of &$local_part$&
(or any other unknown data), you should always use this operator.
+This quoting determination is not SMTPUTF8-aware, thus quoting non-ASCII data
+will likely use the quoting form.
+Thus &'${quote_local_part:フィル}'& will always become &'"フィル"'&.
+
.vitem &*${quote_*&<&'lookup-type'&>&*:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "quoting" "lookup-specific"
.cindex certificate fingerprint
.cindex "expansion" "SHA-256 hashing"
.cindex "&%sha256%& expansion item"
-.new
The &%sha256%& operator computes the SHA-256 hash value of the string
and returns
it as a 64-digit hexadecimal number, in which any letters are in upper case.
-.wen
If the string is a single variable of type certificate,
returns the SHA-256 hash fingerprint of the certificate.
-.new
.vitem &*${sha3:*&<&'string'&>&*}*& &&&
&*${sha3_<n>:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "SHA3 hash"
with 256 being the default.
The &%sha3%& expansion item is only supported if Exim has been
-compiled with GnuTLS 3.5.0 or later.
-.wen
+compiled with GnuTLS 3.5.0 or later,
+or OpenSSL 1.1.1 or later.
+The macro "_CRYPTO_HASH_SHA3" will be defined if it is supported.
.vitem &*${stat:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "&%strlen%& expansion item"
The item is replace by the length of the expanded string, expressed as a
decimal number. &*Note*&: Do not confuse &%strlen%& with &%length%&.
+All measurement is done in bytes and is not UTF-8 aware.
.vitem &*${substr_*&<&'start'&>&*_*&<&'length'&>&*:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.endd
See the description of the general &%substr%& item above for details. The
abbreviation &%s%& can be used when &%substr%& is used as an operator.
+All measurement is done in bytes and is not UTF-8 aware.
.vitem &*${time_eval:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "&%time_eval%& expansion item"
.cindex "expansion" "case forcing"
.cindex "&%uc%& expansion item"
This forces the letters in the string into upper-case.
+Case is defined per the system C locale.
.vitem &*${utf8clean:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "correction of invalid utf-8 sequences in strings"
.cindex "expansion" "utf-8 forcing"
.cindex "&%utf8clean%& expansion item"
This replaces any invalid utf-8 sequence in the string by the character &`?`&.
+.new
+In versions of Exim before 4.92, this did not correctly do so for a truncated
+final codepoint's encoding, and the character would be silently dropped.
+If you must handle detection of this scenario across both sets of Exim behavior,
+the complexity will depend upon the task.
+For instance, to detect if the first character is multibyte and a 1-byte
+extraction can be successfully used as a path component (as is common for
+dividing up delivery folders), you might use:
+.code
+condition = ${if inlist{${utf8clean:${length_1:$local_part}}}{:?}{yes}{no}}
+.endd
+(which will false-positive if the first character of the local part is a
+literal question mark).
+.wen
.vitem "&*${utf8_domain_to_alabel:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&" &&&
"&*${utf8_domain_from_alabel:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&" &&&
.cindex "&%eqi%& expansion condition"
The two substrings are first expanded. The condition is true if the two
resulting strings are identical. For &%eq%& the comparison includes the case of
-letters, whereas for &%eqi%& the comparison is case-independent.
+letters, whereas for &%eqi%& the comparison is case-independent, where
+case is defined per the system C locale.
.vitem &*exists&~{*&<&'file&~name'&>&*}*&
.cindex "expansion" "file existence test"
To scan a named list, expand it with the &*listnamed*& operator.
+.new
+.vitem "&*forall_json{*&<&'a JSON array'&>&*}{*&<&'a condition'&>&*}*&" &&&
+ "&*forany_json{*&<&'a JSON array'&>&*}{*&<&'a condition'&>&*}*&" &&&
+ "&*forall_jsons{*&<&'a JSON array'&>&*}{*&<&'a condition'&>&*}*&" &&&
+ "&*forany_jsons{*&<&'a JSON array'&>&*}{*&<&'a condition'&>&*}*&"
+.cindex JSON "iterative conditions"
+.cindex JSON expansions
+.cindex expansion "&*forall_json*& condition"
+.cindex expansion "&*forany_json*& condition"
+.cindex expansion "&*forall_jsons*& condition"
+.cindex expansion "&*forany_jsons*& condition"
+As for the above, except that the first argument must, after expansion,
+be a JSON array.
+The array separator is not changeable.
+For the &"jsons"& variants the elements are expected to be JSON strings
+and have their quotes removed before the evaluation of the condition.
+.wen
+
+
.vitem &*ge&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*& &&&
&*gei&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*&
string is lexically greater than or equal to the second string. For &%ge%& the
comparison includes the case of letters, whereas for &%gei%& the comparison is
case-independent.
+Case and collation order are defined per the system C locale.
.vitem &*gt&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*& &&&
&*gti&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*&
string is lexically greater than the second string. For &%gt%& the comparison
includes the case of letters, whereas for &%gti%& the comparison is
case-independent.
+Case and collation order are defined per the system C locale.
.vitem &*inlist&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*& &&&
&*inlisti&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*&
Both strings are expanded; the second string is treated as a list of simple
strings; if the first string is a member of the second, then the condition
is true.
+For the case-independent &%inlisti%& condition, case is defined per the system C locale.
These are simpler to use versions of the more powerful &*forany*& condition.
Examples, and the &*forany*& equivalents:
hexadecimal digits. There may be fewer than eight components if an empty
component (adjacent colons) is present. Only one empty component is permitted.
-&*Note*&: The checks are just on the form of the address; actual numerical
-values are not considered. Thus, for example, 999.999.999.999 passes the IPv4
-check. The main use of these tests is to distinguish between IP addresses and
+&*Note*&: The checks used to be just on the form of the address; actual numerical
+values were not considered. Thus, for example, 999.999.999.999 passed the IPv4
+check.
+This is no longer the case.
+
+The main use of these tests is to distinguish between IP addresses and
host names, or between IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. For example, you could use
.code
${if isip4{$sender_host_address}...
string is lexically less than or equal to the second string. For &%le%& the
comparison includes the case of letters, whereas for &%lei%& the comparison is
case-independent.
+Case and collation order are defined per the system C locale.
.vitem &*lt&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*& &&&
&*lti&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*&
string is lexically less than the second string. For &%lt%& the comparison
includes the case of letters, whereas for &%lti%& the comparison is
case-independent.
+Case and collation order are defined per the system C locale.
.vitem &*match&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*&
and it may match anywhere in the subject, not just at the start. If you want
the pattern to match at the end of the subject, you must include the &`$`&
metacharacter at an appropriate point.
+All character handling is done in bytes and is not UTF-8 aware,
+but we might change this in a future Exim release.
.cindex "numerical variables (&$1$& &$2$& etc)" "in &%if%& expansion"
At the start of an &%if%& expansion the values of the numeric variable
${if match_domain{a.b.c}{x.y.z:a.b.c:p.q.r}{yes}{no}}
.endd
In each case, the second argument may contain any of the allowable items for a
-list of the appropriate type. Also, because the second argument (after
-expansion) is a standard form of list, it is possible to refer to a named list.
+list of the appropriate type. Also, because the second argument
+is a standard form of list, it is possible to refer to a named list.
Thus, you can use conditions like this:
.code
${if match_domain{$domain}{+local_domains}{...
.cindex "expansion" "PAM authentication test"
.cindex "&%pam%& expansion condition"
&'Pluggable Authentication Modules'&
-(&url(http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam/)) are a facility that is
+(&url(https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam/)) are a facility that is
available in the latest releases of Solaris and in some GNU/Linux
distributions. The Exim support, which is intended for use in conjunction with
the SMTP AUTH command, is available only if Exim is compiled with
In some operating systems, PAM authentication can be done only from a process
running as root. Since Exim is running as the Exim user when receiving
messages, this means that PAM cannot be used directly in those systems.
-A patched version of the &'pam_unix'& module that comes with the
-Linux PAM package is available from &url(http://www.e-admin.de/pam_exim/).
-The patched module allows one special uid/gid combination, in addition to root,
-to authenticate. If you build the patched module to allow the Exim user and
-group, PAM can then be used from an Exim authenticator.
+. --- 2018-09-07: the pam_exim modified variant has gone, removed claims re using Exim via that
.vitem &*pwcheck&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*:*&<&'string2'&>&*}*&
user/password authenticator configuration might preserve the user name for use
in the routers. Note that this is not the same information that is saved in
&$sender_host_authenticated$&.
+
When a message is submitted locally (that is, not over a TCP connection)
the value of &$authenticated_id$& is normally the login name of the calling
process. However, a trusted user can override this by means of the &%-oMai%&
command line option.
+This second case also sets up information used by the
+&$authresults$& expansion item.
.vitem &$authenticated_fail_id$&
.cindex "authentication" "fail" "id"
.vindex "&$config_file$&"
The name of the main configuration file Exim is using.
+.vitem &$dkim_verify_status$&
+Results of DKIM verification.
+For details see section &<<SECDKIMVFY>>&.
+
.vitem &$dkim_cur_signer$& &&&
- &$dkim_verify_status$& &&&
&$dkim_verify_reason$& &&&
&$dkim_domain$& &&&
&$dkim_identity$& &&&
&$dkim_key_notes$& &&&
&$dkim_key_length$&
These variables are only available within the DKIM ACL.
-For details see chapter &<<CHAPdkim>>&.
+For details see section &<<SECDKIMVFY>>&.
.vitem &$dkim_signers$&
.vindex &$dkim_signers$&
When a message has been received this variable contains
a colon-separated list of signer domains and identities for the message.
-For details see chapter &<<CHAPdkim>>&.
+For details see section &<<SECDKIMVFY>>&.
.vitem &$dnslist_domain$& &&&
&$dnslist_matched$& &&&
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
characters. Note also that braces must &'not'& be used.
+See the full description in section &<<SECTexpansionitems>>& above.
.vitem &$headers_added$&
.vindex "&$headers_added$&"
the result, the name is not accepted, and &$host_lookup_deferred$& is set to
&"1"&. See also &$sender_host_name$&.
+.cindex authentication "expansion item"
+Performing these checks sets up information used by the
+&$authresults$& expansion item.
+
+
.vitem &$host_lookup_failed$&
.vindex "&$host_lookup_failed$&"
See &$host_lookup_deferred$&.
.vindex "&$local_part_prefix$&"
.vindex "&$local_part_suffix$&"
+.cindex affix variables
If a local part prefix or suffix has been recognized, it is not included in the
value of &$local_part$& during routing and subsequent delivery. The values of
any prefix or suffix are in &$local_part_prefix$& and
.vitem &$local_part_prefix$&
.vindex "&$local_part_prefix$&"
+.cindex affix variables
When an address is being routed or delivered, and a
specific prefix for the local part was recognized, it is available in this
variable, having been removed from &$local_part$&.
This variable contains the number of bytes in the longest line that was
received as part of the message, not counting the line termination
character(s).
+It is not valid if the &%spool_files_wireformat%& option is used.
.vitem &$message_age$&
.cindex "message" "age of"
separates the body from the header. Newlines are included in the count. See
also &$message_size$&, &$body_linecount$&, and &$body_zerocount$&.
+If the spool file is wireformat
+(see the &%spool_files_wireformat%& main option)
+the CRLF line-terminators are included in the count.
+
.vitem &$message_exim_id$&
.vindex "&$message_exim_id$&"
When a message is being received or delivered, this variable contains the
In the MAIL and RCPT ACLs, the value is zero because at that stage the
message has not yet been received.
+This variable is not valid if the &%spool_files_wireformat%& option is used.
+
.vitem &$message_size$&
.cindex "size" "of message"
.cindex "message" "size"
.cindex "uid (user id)" "of originating user"
.cindex "sender" "uid"
.vindex "&$caller_uid$&"
-.vindex "&$originaltor_uid$&"
+.vindex "&$originator_uid$&"
The value of &$caller_uid$& that was set when the message was received. For
messages received via the command line, this is the uid of the sending user.
For messages received by SMTP over TCP/IP, this is normally the uid of the Exim
qualified host name. See also &$smtp_active_hostname$&.
-.new
.vitem &$proxy_external_address$& &&&
&$proxy_external_port$& &&&
&$proxy_local_address$& &&&
&$proxy_local_port$& &&&
&$proxy_session$&
These variables are only available when built with Proxy Protocol
-or Socks5 support
+or SOCKS5 support.
For details see chapter &<<SECTproxyInbound>>&.
-.wen
.vitem &$prdr_requested$&
.cindex "PRDR" "variable for"
The value set for the &%qualify_recipient%& option in the configuration file,
or if not set, the value of &$qualify_domain$&.
-.new
.vitem &$queue_name$&
.vindex &$queue_name$&
.cindex "named queues"
.cindex queues named
The name of the spool queue in use; empty for the default queue.
-.wen
.vitem &$rcpt_count$&
.vindex "&$rcpt_count$&"
If you have changed &%host_lookup_order%& so that &`bydns`& is not the first
mechanism in the list, then this variable will be false.
+This requires that your system resolver library support EDNS0 (and that
+DNSSEC flags exist in the system headers). If the resolver silently drops
+all EDNS0 options, then this will have no effect. OpenBSD's asr resolver
+is known to currently ignore EDNS0, documented in CAVEATS of asr_run(3).
+
.vitem &$sender_host_name$&
.vindex "&$sender_host_name$&"
space removed. Following the introduction of &$smtp_command$&, this variable is
somewhat redundant, but is retained for backwards compatibility.
+.vitem &$smtp_command_history$&
+.cindex SMTP "command history"
+.vindex "&$smtp_command_history$&"
+A comma-separated list (with no whitespace) of the most-recent SMTP commands
+received, in time-order left to right. Only a limited number of commands
+are remembered.
+
.vitem &$smtp_count_at_connection_start$&
.vindex "&$smtp_count_at_connection_start$&"
This variable is set greater than zero only in processes spawned by the Exim
is compiled with the content-scanning extension. For details, see section
&<<SECTscanspamass>>&.
+.vitem &$spf_header_comment$& &&&
+ &$spf_received$& &&&
+ &$spf_result$& &&&
+ &$spf_result_guessed$& &&&
+ &$spf_smtp_comment$&
+These variables are only available if Exim is built with SPF support.
+For details see section &<<SECSPF>>&.
.vitem &$spool_directory$&
.vindex "&$spool_directory$&"
.vitem &$tls_in_ourcert$&
.vindex "&$tls_in_ourcert$&"
-.cindex certificate veriables
+.cindex certificate variables
This variable refers to the certificate presented to the peer of an
inbound connection when the message was received.
It is only useful as the argument of a
&%certextract%& expansion item, &%md5%&, &%sha1%& or &%sha256%& operator,
or a &%def%& condition.
+&*Note*&: Under versions of OpenSSL preceding 1.1.1,
+when a list of more than one
+file is used for &%tls_certificate%&, this variable is not reliable.
+
.vitem &$tls_in_peercert$&
.vindex "&$tls_in_peercert$&"
This variable refers to the certificate presented by the peer of an
&<<CHAPTLS>>& for details of TLS support and chapter &<<CHAPsmtptrans>>& for
details of the &(smtp)& transport.
+.vitem &$tls_out_dane$&
+.vindex &$tls_out_dane$&
+DANE active status. See section &<<SECDANE>>&.
+
.vitem &$tls_in_ocsp$&
.vindex "&$tls_in_ocsp$&"
When a message is received from a remote client connection
SMTP deliveries, this variable reflects the value of the &%tls_sni%& option on
the transport.
+.vitem &$tls_out_tlsa_usage$&
+.vindex &$tls_out_tlsa_usage$&
+Bitfield of TLSA record types found. See section &<<SECDANE>>&.
+
.vitem &$tod_bsdinbox$&
.vindex "&$tod_bsdinbox$&"
The time of day and the date, in the format required for BSD-style mailbox
There is also a command line option &%-pd%& (for delay) which suppresses the
initial startup, even if &%perl_at_start%& is set.
-.new
.ilist
.oindex "&%perl_taintmode%&"
.cindex "Perl" "taintmode"
To provide more security executing Perl code via the embedded Perl
-interpeter, the &%perl_taintmode%& option can be set. This enables the
+interpreter, the &%perl_taintmode%& option can be set. This enables the
taint mode of the Perl interpreter. You are encouraged to set this
option to a true value. To avoid breaking existing installations, it
defaults to false.
-.wen
.section "Calling Perl subroutines" "SECID86"
-.section "Support for the obsolete SSMTP (or SMTPS) protocol" "SECTsupobssmt"
+.section "Support for the submissions (aka SSMTP or SMTPS) protocol" "SECTsupobssmt"
+.cindex "submissions protocol"
.cindex "ssmtp protocol"
.cindex "smtps protocol"
.cindex "SMTP" "ssmtp protocol"
.cindex "SMTP" "smtps protocol"
-Exim supports the obsolete SSMTP protocol (also known as SMTPS) that was used
-before the STARTTLS command was standardized for SMTP. Some legacy clients
-still use this protocol. If the &%tls_on_connect_ports%& option is set to a
-list of port numbers or service names,
-connections to those ports must use SSMTP. The most
-common use of this option is expected to be
+Exim supports the use of TLS-on-connect, used by mail clients in the
+&"submissions"& protocol, historically also known as SMTPS or SSMTP.
+For some years, IETF Standards Track documents only blessed the
+STARTTLS-based Submission service (port 587) while common practice was to support
+the same feature set on port 465, but using TLS-on-connect.
+If your installation needs to provide service to mail clients
+(Mail User Agents, MUAs) then you should provide service on both the 587 and
+the 465 TCP ports.
+
+If the &%tls_on_connect_ports%& option is set to a list of port numbers or
+service names, connections to those ports must first establish TLS, before
+proceeding to the application layer use of the SMTP protocol.
+
+The common use of this option is expected to be
.code
tls_on_connect_ports = 465
.endd
-because 465 is the usual port number used by the legacy clients. There is also
-a command line option &%-tls-on-connect%&, which forces all ports to behave in
-this way when a daemon is started.
+per 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.
&*Warning*&: Setting &%tls_on_connect_ports%& does not of itself cause the
daemon to listen on those ports. You must still specify them in
.section "Miscellaneous" "SECID96"
.table2
.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 &%keep_malformed%& "for broken files &-- should not happen"
.row &%localhost_number%& "for unique message ids in clusters"
.row &%message_body_visible%& "how much to show in &$message_body$&"
.row &%mua_wrapper%& "run in &""MUA wrapper""& mode"
.row &%print_topbitchars%& "top-bit characters are printing"
+.row &%spool_wireformat%& "use wire-format spool data files when possible"
.row &%timezone%& "force time zone"
.endtable
.section "Privilege controls" "SECID98"
.table2
.row &%admin_groups%& "groups that are Exim admin users"
+.row &%commandline_checks_require_admin%& "require admin for various checks"
.row &%deliver_drop_privilege%& "drop root for delivery processes"
.row &%local_from_check%& "insert &'Sender:'& if necessary"
.row &%local_from_prefix%& "for testing &'From:'& for local sender"
.row &%av_scanner%& "specify virus scanner"
.row &%check_rfc2047_length%& "check length of RFC 2047 &""encoded &&&
words""&"
+.row &%dns_cname_loops%& "follow CNAMEs returned by resolver"
.row &%dns_csa_search_limit%& "control CSA parent search depth"
.row &%dns_csa_use_reverse%& "en/disable CSA IP reverse search"
.row &%header_maxsize%& "total size of message header"
It now defaults to true.
A more detailed analysis of the issues is provided by Dan Bernstein:
.display
-&url(http://cr.yp.to/smtp/8bitmime.html)
+&url(https://cr.yp.to/smtp/8bitmime.html)
.endd
To log received 8BITMIME status use
.option acl_smtp_dkim main string&!! unset
.cindex DKIM "ACL for"
This option defines the ACL that is run for each DKIM signature
+(by default, or as specified in the dkim_verify_signers option)
of a received message.
-See chapter &<<CHAPdkim>>& for further details.
+See section &<<SECDKIMVFY>>& for further details.
.option acl_smtp_etrn main string&!! unset
.cindex "ETRN" "ACL for"
See section &<<CALLaddparcall>>& for details of how this value is used.
-.new
.option check_log_inodes main integer 100
-.wen
See &%check_spool_space%& below.
-.new
.option check_log_space main integer 10M
-.wen
See &%check_spool_space%& below.
.oindex "&%check_rfc2047_length%&"
set false, Exim recognizes encoded words of any length.
-.new
.option check_spool_inodes main integer 100
-.wen
See &%check_spool_space%& below.
-.new
.option check_spool_space main integer 10M
-.wen
.cindex "checking disk space"
.cindex "disk space, checking"
.cindex "spool directory" "checking space"
failure a message is written to stderr and Exim exits with a non-zero code, as
it obviously cannot send an error message of any kind.
-.new
There is a slight performance penalty for these checks.
Versions of Exim preceding 4.88 had these disabled by default;
-high-rate intallations confident they will never run out of resources
+high-rate installations confident they will never run out of resources
may wish to deliberately disable them.
-.wen
-.new
.option chunking_advertise_hosts main "host list&!!" *
.cindex CHUNKING advertisement
.cindex "RFC 3030" "CHUNKING"
The CHUNKING extension (RFC3030) will be advertised in the EHLO message to
these hosts.
Hosts may use the BDAT command as an alternate to DATA.
-.wen
+
+.option commandline_checks_require_admin main boolean &`false`&
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+This option restricts various basic checking features to require an
+administrative user.
+This affects most of the &%-b*%& options, such as &%-be%&.
+
+.option debug_store main boolean &`false`&
+.cindex debugging "memory corruption"
+.cindex memory debugging
+This option, when true, enables extra checking in Exim's internal memory
+management. For use when a memory corruption issue is being investigated,
+it should normally be left as default.
.option daemon_smtp_ports main string &`smtp`&
.cindex "port" "for daemon"
This option gives a list of DKIM domains for which the DKIM ACL is run.
It is expanded after the message is received; by default it runs
the ACL once for each signature in the message.
-See chapter &<<CHAPdkim>>&.
+See section &<<SECDKIMVFY>>&.
.option dns_again_means_nonexist main "domain list&!!" unset
reversed and looked up in the reverse DNS, as described in more detail in
section &<<SECTverifyCSA>>&.
+.new
+.option dns_cname_loops main integer 1
+.cindex DNS "CNAME following"
+This option controls the following of CNAME chains, needed if the resolver does
+not do it internally.
+As of 2018 most should, and the default can be left.
+If you have an ancient one, a value of 10 is likely needed.
+
+The default value of one CNAME-follow is needed
+thanks to the observed return for an MX request,
+given no MX presence but a CNAME to an A, of the CNAME.
+.wen
+
.option dns_dnssec_ok main integer -1
.cindex "DNS" "resolver options"
.option dns_ipv4_lookup main "domain list&!!" unset
.cindex "IPv6" "DNS lookup for AAAA records"
.cindex "DNS" "IPv6 lookup for AAAA records"
+.cindex DNS "IPv6 disabling"
When Exim is compiled with IPv6 support and &%disable_ipv6%& is not set, it
looks for IPv6 address records (AAAA records) as well as IPv4 address records
(A records) when trying to find IP addresses for hosts, unless the host's
.option dns_use_edns0 main integer -1
.cindex "DNS" "resolver options"
.cindex "DNS" "EDNS0"
+.cindex "DNS" "OpenBSD
If this option is set to a non-negative number then Exim will initialise the
DNS resolver library to either use or not use EDNS0 extensions, overriding
the system default. A value of 0 coerces EDNS0 off, a value of 1 coerces EDNS0
If the resolver library does not support EDNS0 then this option has no effect.
+OpenBSD's asr resolver routines are known to ignore the EDNS0 option; this
+means that DNSSEC will not work with Exim on that platform either, unless Exim
+is linked against an alternative DNS client library.
+
.option drop_cr main boolean false
This is an obsolete option that is now a no-op. It used to affect the way Exim
.option event_action main string&!! unset
.cindex events
This option declares a string to be expanded for Exim's events mechanism.
-For details see &<<CHAPevents>>&.
+For details see chapter &<<CHAPevents>>&.
.option exim_group main string "compile-time configured"
implementations of TLS.
-option gnutls_allow_auto_pkcs11 main boolean unset
+.option gnutls_allow_auto_pkcs11 main boolean unset
This option will let GnuTLS (2.12.0 or later) autoload PKCS11 modules with
the p11-kit configuration files in &_/etc/pkcs11/modules/_&.
See
-&url(http://www.gnutls.org/manual/gnutls.html#Smart-cards-and-HSMs)
+&url(https://www.gnutls.org/manual/gnutls.html#Smart-cards-and-HSMs)
for documentation.
.option hosts_proxy main "host list&!!" unset
.cindex proxy "proxy protocol"
This option enables use of Proxy Protocol proxies for incoming
-connections. For details see &<<SECTproxyInbound>>&.
+connections. For details see section &<<SECTproxyInbound>>&.
.option hosts_treat_as_local main "domain list&!!" unset
of SSL-on-connect.
In the event of failure to negotiate TLS, the action taken is controlled
by &%ldap_require_cert%&.
+This option is ignored for &`ldapi`& connections.
.option ldap_version main integer unset
transport driver.
-.option openssl_options main "string list" "+no_sslv2 +single_dh_use"
+.option openssl_options main "string list" "+no_sslv2 +single_dh_use +no_ticket"
.cindex "OpenSSL "compatibility options"
This option allows an administrator to adjust the SSL options applied
by OpenSSL to connections. It is given as a space-separated list of items,
.option prod_requires_admin main boolean true
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
.oindex "&%-M%&"
.oindex "&%-R%&"
.oindex "&%-q%&"
The &%-M%&, &%-R%&, and &%-q%& command-line options require the caller to be an
admin user unless &%prod_requires_admin%& is set false. See also
-&%queue_list_requires_admin%&.
+&%queue_list_requires_admin%& and &%commandline_checks_require_admin%&.
.option qualify_domain main string "see below"
.option queue_list_requires_admin main boolean true
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
.oindex "&%-bp%&"
The &%-bp%& command-line option, which lists the messages that are on the
queue, requires the caller to be an admin user unless
-&%queue_list_requires_admin%& is set false. See also &%prod_requires_admin%&.
+&%queue_list_requires_admin%& is set false.
+See also &%prod_requires_admin%& and &%commandline_checks_require_admin%&.
.option queue_only main boolean false
run. If you do not want queue runs to occur, omit the &%-q%&&'xx'& setting on
the daemon's command line.
-.new
.cindex queues named
.cindex "named queues"
To set limits for different named queues use
an expansion depending on the &$queue_name$& variable.
-.wen
.option queue_smtp_domains main "domain list&!!" unset
.cindex "queueing incoming messages"
.option smtputf8_advertise_hosts main "host list&!!" *
.cindex "SMTPUTF8" "advertising"
When Exim is built with support for internationalised mail names,
-the availability therof is advertised in
+the availability thereof is advertised in
response to EHLO only to those client hosts that match this option. See
chapter &<<CHAPi18n>>& for details of Exim's support for internationalisation.
-.option spamd_address main string "see below"
+.option spamd_address main string "127.0.0.1 783"
This option is available when Exim is compiled with the content-scanning
extension. It specifies how Exim connects to SpamAssassin's &%spamd%& daemon.
-The default value is
-.code
-127.0.0.1 783
-.endd
See section &<<SECTscanspamass>>& for more details.
+.option spf_guess main string "v=spf1 a/24 mx/24 ptr ?all"
+This option is available when Exim is compiled with SPF support.
+See section &<<SECSPF>>& for more details.
+
+
+
.option split_spool_directory main boolean false
.cindex "multiple spool directories"
.cindex "spool directory" "split"
By using this option to override the compiled-in path, it is possible to run
tests of Exim without using the standard spool.
+.option spool_wireformat main boolean false
+.cindex "spool directory" "file formats"
+If this option is set, Exim may for some messages use an alternative format
+for data-files in the spool which matches the wire format.
+Doing this permits more efficient message reception and transmission.
+Currently it is only done for messages received using the ESMTP CHUNKING
+option.
+
+The following variables will not have useful values:
+.code
+$max_received_linelength
+$body_linecount
+$body_zerocount
+.endd
+
+Users of the local_scan() API (see &<<CHAPlocalscan>>&),
+and any external programs which are passed a reference to a message data file
+(except via the &"regex"&, &"malware"& or &"spam"&) ACL conditions)
+will need to be aware of the different formats potentially available.
+
+Using any of the ACL conditions noted will negate the reception benefit
+(as a Unix-mbox-format file is constructed for them).
+The transmission benefit is maintained.
+
.option sqlite_lock_timeout main time 5s
.cindex "sqlite lookup type" "lock timeout"
This option controls the timeout that the &(sqlite)& lookup uses when trying to
appropriate &%system_filter_..._transport%& option(s) must be set, to define
which transports are to be used. Details of this facility are given in chapter
&<<CHAPsystemfilter>>&.
+A forced expansion failure results in no filter operation.
.option system_filter_directory_transport main string&!! unset
is not required the &%tls_advertise_hosts%& option should be set empty.
-.option tls_certificate main string&!! unset
+.option tls_certificate main string list&!! unset
.cindex "TLS" "server certificate; location of"
.cindex "certificate" "server, location of"
-The value of this option is expanded, and must then be the absolute path to a
-file which contains the server's certificates. The server's private key is also
+The value of this option is expanded, and must then be a list of absolute paths to
+files which contains the server's certificates. Commonly only one file is
+needed.
+The server's private key is also
assumed to be in this file if &%tls_privatekey%& is unset. See chapter
&<<CHAPTLS>>& for further details.
use when sending messages as a client, you must set the &%tls_certificate%&
option in the relevant &(smtp)& transport.
+&*Note*&: If you use filenames based on IP addresses, change the list
+separator in the usual way to avoid confusion under IPv6.
+
+&*Note*&: Under versions of OpenSSL preceding 1.1.1,
+when a list of more than one
+file is used, the &$tls_in_ourcert$& variable is unreliable.
+
+&*Note*&: OCSP stapling is not usable under OpenSSL
+when a list of more than one file is used.
+
If the option contains &$tls_out_sni$& and Exim is built against OpenSSL, then
if the OpenSSL build supports TLS extensions and the TLS client sends the
Server Name Indication extension, then this option and others documented in
&<<SECTtlssni>>& will be re-expanded.
-.new
If this option is unset or empty a fresh self-signed certificate will be
generated for every connection.
-.wen
.option tls_crl main string&!! unset
.cindex "TLS" "server certificate revocation list"
.cindex "certificate" "revocation list for server"
This option specifies a certificate revocation list. The expanded value must
-be the name of a file that contains a CRL in PEM format.
+be the name of a file that contains CRLs in PEM format.
+
+Under OpenSSL the option can specify a directory with CRL files.
+
+&*Note:*& Under OpenSSL the option must, if given, supply a CRL
+for each signing element of the certificate chain (i.e. all but the leaf).
+For the file variant this can be multiple PEM blocks in the one file.
See &<<SECTtlssni>>& for discussion of when this option might be re-expanded.
The value of this option is expanded and indicates the source of DH parameters
to be used by Exim.
-.new
&*Note: The Exim Maintainers strongly recommend using a filename with site-generated
local DH parameters*&, which has been supported across all versions of Exim. The
other specific constants available are a fallback so that even when
"unconfigured", Exim can offer Perfect Forward Secrecy in older ciphersuites in TLS.
-.wen
If &%tls_dhparam%& is a filename starting with a &`/`&,
then it names a file from which DH
does not exist, Exim will attempt to create it.
See section &<<SECTgnutlsparam>>& for further details.
-.new
If Exim is using OpenSSL and this option is empty or unset, then Exim will load
a default DH prime; the default is Exim-specific but lacks verifiable provenance.
At this point, all of the "ike" values should be considered obsolete;
they're still in Exim to avoid breaking unusual configurations, but are
candidates for removal the next time we have backwards-incompatible changes.
-.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&!! prime256v1
+.option tls_eccurve main string&!! &`auto`&
.cindex TLS "EC cryptography"
-If built with a recent-enough version of OpenSSL,
-this option selects a EC curve for use by Exim.
+This option selects a EC curve for use by Exim when used with OpenSSL.
+It has no effect when Exim is used with GnuTLS.
+
+After expansion it must contain a valid EC curve parameter, such as
+&`prime256v1`&, &`secp384r1`&, or &`P-512`&. Consult your OpenSSL manual
+for valid selections.
-Curve names of the form &'prime256v1'& are accepted.
-For even more-recent library versions, names of the form &'P-512'&
-are also accepted, plus the special value &'auto'&
-which tells the library to choose.
+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 is set to an empty string, no EC curves will be enabled.
+If the option expands to an empty string, no EC curves will be enabled.
.option tls_ocsp_file main string&!! unset
Usable for GnuTLS 3.4.4 or 3.3.17 or OpenSSL 1.1.0 (or later).
+For GnuTLS 3.5.6 or later the expanded value of this option can be a list
+of files, to match a list given for the &%tls_certificate%& option.
+The ordering of the two lists must match.
+
.option tls_on_connect_ports main "string list" unset
.cindex SSMTP
.cindex SMTPS
This option specifies a list of incoming SSMTP (aka SMTPS) ports that should
-operate the obsolete SSMTP (SMTPS) protocol, where a TLS session is immediately
+operate the SSMTP (SMTPS) protocol, where a TLS session is immediately
set up without waiting for the client to issue a STARTTLS command. For
further details, see section &<<SECTsupobssmt>>&.
-.option tls_privatekey main string&!! unset
+.option tls_privatekey main string list&!! unset
.cindex "TLS" "server private key; location of"
-The value of this option is expanded, and must then be the absolute path to a
-file which contains the server's private key. If this option is unset, or if
+The value of this option is expanded, and must then be a list of absolute paths to
+files which contains the server's private keys.
+If this option is unset, or if
the expansion is forced to fail, or the result is an empty string, the private
key is assumed to be in the same file as the server's certificates. See chapter
&<<CHAPTLS>>& for further details.
.option local_part_prefix routers&!? "string list" unset
+.cindex affix "router precondition"
.cindex "router" "prefix for local part"
.cindex "prefix" "for local part, used in router"
If this option is set, the router is skipped unless the local part starts with
MX records of equal priority are sorted by Exim into a random order. Exim then
looks for address records for the host names obtained from MX or SRV records.
When a host has more than one IP address, they are sorted into a random order,
-except that IPv6 addresses are always sorted before IPv4 addresses. If all the
+except that IPv6 addresses are sorted before IPv4 addresses. If all the
IP addresses found are discarded by a setting of the &%ignore_target_hosts%&
generic option, the router declines.
also being queued.
+.option ipv4_only "string&!!" unset
+.cindex IPv6 disabling
+.cindex DNS "IPv6 disabling"
+The string is expanded, and if the result is anything but a forced failure,
+or an empty string, or one of the strings “0” or “no” or “false”
+(checked without regard to the case of the letters),
+only A records are used.
+
+.option ipv4_prefer "string&!!" unset
+.cindex IPv4 preference
+.cindex DNS "IPv4 preference"
+The string is expanded, and if the result is anything but a forced failure,
+or an empty string, or one of the strings “0” or “no” or “false”
+(checked without regard to the case of the letters),
+A records are sorted before AAAA records (inverting the default).
+
.option mx_domains dnslookup "domain list&!!" unset
.cindex "MX record" "required to exist"
.cindex "SRV record" "required to exist"
A list of hosts, whether obtained via &%route_data%& or &%route_list%&, is
always separately expanded before use. If the expansion fails, the router
declines. The result of the expansion must be a colon-separated list of names
-and/or IP addresses, optionally also including ports. The format of each item
+and/or IP addresses, optionally also including ports.
+If the list is written with spaces, it must be protected with quotes.
+The format of each item
in the list is described in the next section. The list separator can be changed
as described in section &<<SECTlistconstruct>>&.
.section "How the options are used" "SECThowoptused"
-The options are a sequence of words; in practice no more than three are ever
-present. One of the words can be the name of a transport; this overrides the
+The options are a sequence of words, space-separated.
+One of the words can be the name of a transport; this overrides the
&%transport%& option on the router for this particular routing rule only. The
other words (if present) control randomization of the list of hosts on a
per-rule basis, and how the IP addresses of the hosts are to be found when
&%bydns%&: look up address records for the hosts directly in the DNS; fail if
no address records are found. If there is a temporary DNS error (such as a
timeout), delivery is deferred.
+.next
+&%ipv4_only%&: in direct DNS lookups, look up only A records.
+.next
+&%ipv4_prefer%&: in direct DNS lookups, sort A records before AAAA records.
.endlist
For example:
lookup first. Only if that gives a definite &"no such host"& is the local
function called.
+&*Compatibility*&: From Exim 4.85 until fixed for 4.90, there was an
+inadvertent constraint that a transport name as an option had to be the last
+option specified.
+
If no IP address for a host can be found, what happens is controlled by the
.option forbid_blackhole redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
If this option is true, the &':blackhole:'& item may not appear in a
redirection list.
.option forbid_exim_filter redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
If this option is set true, only Sieve filters are permitted when
&%allow_filter%& is true.
.option forbid_file redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
.cindex "delivery" "to file; forbidding"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
.cindex "Sieve filter" "forbidding delivery to a file"
.cindex "Sieve filter" "&""keep""& facility; disabling"
If this option is true, this router may not generate a new address that
.option forbid_filter_dlfunc redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
If this option is true, string expansions in Exim filters are not allowed to
make use of the &%dlfunc%& expansion facility to run dynamically loaded
functions.
.option forbid_filter_existstest redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
.cindex "expansion" "statting a file"
If this option is true, string expansions in Exim filters are not allowed to
make use of the &%exists%& condition or the &%stat%& expansion item.
.option forbid_filter_logwrite redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
If this option is true, use of the logging facility in Exim filters is not
permitted. Logging is in any case available only if the filter is being run
under some unprivileged uid (which is normally the case for ordinary users'
.option forbid_filter_lookup redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
If this option is true, string expansions in Exim filter files are not allowed
to make use of &%lookup%& items.
.option forbid_filter_perl redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
This option has an effect only if Exim is built with embedded Perl support. If
it is true, string expansions in Exim filter files are not allowed to make use
of the embedded Perl support.
.option forbid_filter_readfile redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
If this option is true, string expansions in Exim filter files are not allowed
to make use of &%readfile%& items.
.option forbid_filter_readsocket redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
If this option is true, string expansions in Exim filter files are not allowed
to make use of &%readsocket%& items.
.option forbid_filter_reply redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
If this option is true, this router may not generate an automatic reply
message. Automatic replies can be generated only from Exim or Sieve filter
files, not from traditional forward files. This option is forced to be true if
.option forbid_filter_run redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
If this option is true, string expansions in Exim filter files are not allowed
to make use of &%run%& items.
.option forbid_include redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
If this option is true, items of the form
.code
:include:<path name>
.option forbid_pipe redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
.cindex "delivery" "to pipe; forbidding"
If this option is true, this router may not generate a new address which
specifies delivery to a pipe, either from an Exim filter or from a conventional
.option forbid_sieve_filter redirect boolean false
+.cindex "restricting access to features"
+.cindex "filter" "locking out certain features"
If this option is set true, only Exim filters are permitted when
&%allow_filter%& is true.
.option event_action transports string&!! unset
.cindex events
This option declares a string to be expanded for Exim's events mechanism.
-For details see &<<CHAPevents>>&.
+For details see chapter &<<CHAPevents>>&.
.option group transports string&!! "Exim group"
.cindex "hints database" "transport concurrency control"
Exim implements this control by means of a hints database in which a record is
-incremented whenever a transport process is beaing created. The record
+incremented whenever a transport process is being created. The record
is decremented and possibly removed when the process terminates.
Obviously there is scope for
records to get left lying around if there is a system or program crash. To
The value of the option is expanded, and must then be a numerical value
(decimal point allowed), optionally followed by one of the letters K, M, or G,
-for kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. If Exim is running on a system with
+for kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes, optionally followed by a slash
+and further option modifiers. If Exim is running on a system with
large file support (Linux and FreeBSD have this), mailboxes larger than 2G can
be handled.
+The option modifier &%no_check%& can be used to force delivery even if the over
+quota condition is met. The quota gets updated as usual.
+
&*Note*&: A value of zero is interpreted as &"no quota"&.
The expansion happens while Exim is running as root, before it changes uid for
failure causes delivery to be deferred. A value of zero is interpreted as
&"no quota"&.
+The option modifier &%no_check%& can be used to force delivery even if the over
+quota condition is met. The quota gets updated as usual.
.option quota_is_inclusive appendfile boolean true
See &%quota%& above.
&`\n`& to &`\r\n`& in &%message_suffix%&.
-.option path pipe string "see below"
-This option specifies the string that is set up in the PATH environment
-variable of the subprocess. The default is:
-.code
-/bin:/usr/bin
-.endd
+.option path pipe string&!! "/bin:/usr/bin"
+This option is expanded and
+specifies the string that is set up in the PATH environment
+variable of the subprocess.
If the &%command%& option does not yield an absolute path name, the command is
sought in the PATH directories, in the usual way. &*Warning*&: This does not
apply to a command specified as a transport filter.
option.
+.option dane_require_tls_ciphers smtp string&!! unset
+.cindex "TLS" "requiring specific ciphers for DANE"
+.cindex "cipher" "requiring specific"
+.cindex DANE "TLS ciphers"
+This option may be used to override &%tls_require_ciphers%& for connections
+where DANE has been determined to be in effect.
+If not set, then &%tls_require_ciphers%& will be used.
+Normal SMTP delivery is not able to make strong demands of TLS cipher
+configuration, because delivery will fall back to plaintext. Once DANE has
+been determined to be in effect, there is no plaintext fallback and making the
+TLS cipherlist configuration stronger will increase security, rather than
+counter-intuitively decreasing it.
+If the option expands to be empty or is forced to fail, then it will
+be treated as unset and &%tls_require_ciphers%& will be used instead.
+
+
.option data_timeout smtp time 5m
This sets a timeout for the transmission of each block in the data portion of
the message. As a result, the overall timeout for a message depends on the size
of the message. Its value must not be zero. See also &%final_timeout%&.
-.option dkim_domain smtp string&!! unset
-.option dkim_selector smtp string&!! unset
-.option dkim_private_key smtp string&!! unset
.option dkim_canon smtp string&!! unset
+.option dkim_domain smtp string list&!! unset
+.option dkim_hash smtp string&!! sha256
+.option dkim_identity smtp string&!! unset
+.option dkim_private_key smtp string&!! unset
+.option dkim_selector smtp string&!! unset
.option dkim_strict smtp string&!! unset
-.option dkim_sign_headers smtp string&!! unset
-DKIM signing options. For details see &<<SECDKIMSIGN>>&.
+.option dkim_sign_headers smtp string&!! "per RFC"
+.option dkim_timestamps smtp string&!! unset
+DKIM signing options. For details see section &<<SECDKIMSIGN>>&.
.option delay_after_cutoff smtp boolean true
+.cindex "final cutoff" "retries, controlling"
+.cindex retry "final cutoff"
This option controls what happens when all remote IP addresses for a given
domain have been inaccessible for so long that they have passed their retry
cutoff times.
message on the same connection. See section &<<SECTmulmessam>>& for an
explanation of when this might be needed.
+.option hosts_noproxy_tls smtp "host list&!!" *
+.cindex "TLS" "passing connection"
+.cindex "multiple SMTP deliveries"
+.cindex "TLS" "multiple message deliveries"
+For any host that matches this list, a TLS session which has
+been started will not be passed to a new delivery process for sending another
+message on the same session.
+
+The traditional implementation closes down TLS and re-starts it in the new
+process, on the same open TCP connection, for each successive message
+sent. If permitted by this option a pipe to to the new process is set up
+instead, and the original process maintains the TLS connection and proxies
+the SMTP connection from and to the new process and any subsequents.
+The new process has no access to TLS information, so cannot include it in
+logging.
+
+
.option hosts_override smtp boolean false
If this option is set and the &%hosts%& option is also set, any hosts that are
TLS session for any host that matches this list.
&%tls_verify_certificates%& should also be set for the transport.
+.option hosts_require_dane smtp "host list&!!" unset
+.cindex DANE "transport options"
+.cindex DANE "requiring for certain servers"
+If built with DANE support, Exim will require that a DNSSEC-validated
+TLSA record is present for any host matching the list,
+and that a DANE-verified TLS connection is made.
+There will be no fallback to in-clear communication.
+See section &<<SECDANE>>&.
+
.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
unauthenticated. See also &%hosts_require_auth%&, and chapter
&<<CHAPSMTPAUTH>>& for details of authentication.
-.new
.option hosts_try_chunking smtp "host list&!!" *
.cindex CHUNKING "enabling, in client"
.cindex BDAT "SMTP command"
.cindex "RFC 3030" "CHUNKING"
This option provides a list of servers to which, provided they announce
CHUNKING support, Exim will attempt to use BDAT commands rather than DATA.
-BDAT will not be used in conjuction with a transport filter.
-.wen
-
-.new
-.option hosts_try_fastopen smtp "host list!!" unset
-.option "fast open, TCP" "enabling, in client"
-.option "TCP Fast Open" "enabling, in client"
-.option "RFC 7413" "TCP Fast Open"
+BDAT will not be used in conjunction with a transport filter.
+
+.option hosts_try_dane smtp "host list&!!" unset
+.cindex DANE "transport options"
+.cindex DANE "attempting for certain servers"
+If built with DANE support, Exim will lookup a
+TLSA record for any host matching the list.
+If found and verified by DNSSEC,
+a DANE-verified TLS connection is made to that host;
+there will be no fallback to in-clear communication.
+See section &<<SECDANE>>&.
+
+.option hosts_try_fastopen smtp "host list&!!" unset
+.cindex "fast open, TCP" "enabling, in client"
+.cindex "TCP Fast Open" "enabling, in client"
+.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.
On (at least some) current Linux distributions the facility must be enabled
in the kernel by the sysadmin before the support is usable.
-.wen
+There is no option for control of the server side; if the system supports
+it it is always enabled. Note that lengthy operations in the connect ACL,
+such as DNSBL lookups, will still delay the emission of the SMTP banner.
.option hosts_try_prdr smtp "host list&!!" *
.cindex "PRDR" "enabling, optional in client"
If the value of this option begins with a digit it is taken as a port number;
otherwise it is looked up using &[getservbyname()]&. The default value is
-normally &"smtp"&, but if &%protocol%& is set to &"lmtp"&, the default is
-&"lmtp"&. If the expansion fails, or if a port number cannot be found, delivery
+normally &"smtp"&,
+but if &%protocol%& is set to &"lmtp"& the default is &"lmtp"&
+and if &%protocol%& is set to &"smtps"& the default is &"smtps"&.
+If the expansion fails, or if a port number cannot be found, delivery
is deferred.
+.new
+Note that at least one Linux distribution has been seen failing
+to put &"smtps"& in its &"/etc/services"& file, resulting is such deferrals.
+.wen
+
.option protocol smtp string smtp
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 strongly discourage use of this mode.
+.new
+The Internet standards bodies used to strongly discourage use of this mode,
+but as of RFC 8314 it is perferred over STARTTLS for message submission
+(as distinct from MTA-MTA communication).
+.wen
.option retry_include_ip_address smtp boolean&!! true
.option socks_proxy smtp string&!! unset
.cindex proxy SOCKS
This option enables use of SOCKS proxies for connections made by the
-transport. For details see &<<SECTproxySOCKS>>&.
+transport. For details see section &<<SECTproxySOCKS>>&.
.option tls_certificate smtp string&!! unset
If both this option and &%tls_try_verify_hosts%& are unset
operation is as if this option selected all hosts.
+.new
+.option utf8_downconvert smtp integer!! unset
+.cindex utf8 "address downconversion"
+.cindex i18n "utf8 address downconversion"
+If built with internationalization support,
+this option controls conversion of UTF-8 in message addresses
+to a-label form.
+For details see section &<<SECTi18nMTA>>&.
+.wen
+
messages. If this delivery fails, the address fails immediately. The
post-cutoff retry time is not used.
+.cindex "final cutoff" "retries, controlling"
+.cindex retry "final cutoff"
If the delivery is remote, there are two possibilities, controlled by the
.oindex "&%delay_after_cutoff%&"
&%delay_after_cutoff%& option of the &(smtp)& transport. The option is true by
-default. Until the post-cutoff retry time for one of the IP addresses is
+default. Until the post-cutoff retry time for one of the IP addresses,
+as set by the &%retry_data_expire%& option, is
reached, the failing email address is bounced immediately, without a delivery
attempt taking place. After that time, one new delivery attempt is made to
those IP addresses that are past their retry times, and if that still fails,
AUTH_CRAM_MD5=yes
AUTH_CYRUS_SASL=yes
AUTH_DOVECOT=yes
+AUTH_EXTERNAL=yes
AUTH_GSASL=yes
AUTH_HEIMDAL_GSSAPI=yes
AUTH_PLAINTEXT=yes
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 an interface to the GNU SASL authentication library, which
+.new
+The fourth provides for negotiation of authentication done via non-SMTP means,
+as defined by RFC 4422 Appendix A.
+.wen
+The fifth provides an interface to the GNU SASL authentication library, which
provides mechanisms but typically not data sources.
-The fifth provides direct access to Heimdal GSSAPI, geared for Kerberos, but
+The sixth provides direct access to Heimdal GSSAPI, geared for Kerberos, but
supporting setting a server keytab.
-The sixth can be configured to support
+The seventh can be configured to support
the PLAIN authentication mechanism (RFC 2595) or the LOGIN mechanism, which is
-not formally documented, but used by several MUAs. The seventh authenticator
+not formally documented, but used by several MUAs.
+The eighth authenticator
supports Microsoft's &'Secure Password Authentication'& mechanism.
-The eighth is an Exim authenticator but not an SMTP one;
+The last is an Exim authenticator but not an SMTP one;
instead it can use information from a TLS negotiation.
The authenticators are configured using the same syntax as other drivers (see
.option server_set_id authenticators string&!! unset
.vindex "&$authenticated_id$&"
+.vindex "&$authenticated_fail_id$&"
When an Exim server successfully authenticates a client, this string is
expanded using data from the authentication, and preserved for any incoming
messages in the variable &$authenticated_id$&. It is also included in the log
lines for incoming messages. For example, a user/password authenticator
configuration might preserve the user name that was used to authenticate, and
refer to it subsequently during delivery of the message.
+On a failing authentication the expansion result is instead saved in
+the &$authenticated_fail_id$& variable.
If expansion fails, the option is ignored.
client from which the message was received. This variable is empty if there was
no successful authentication.
+.cindex authentication "expansion item"
+Successful authentication sets up information used by the
+&$authresults$& expansion item.
+
deliver the message unauthenticated.
.endlist
+Note that the hostlist test for whether to do authentication can be
+confused if name-IP lookups change between the time the peer is decided
+upon and the time that the transport runs. For example, with a manualroute
+router given a host name, and with DNS "round-robin" used by that name: if
+the local resolver cache times out between the router and the transport
+running, the transport may get an IP for the name for its authentication
+check which does not match the connection peer IP.
+No authentication will then be done, despite the names being identical.
+
+For such cases use a separate transport which always authenticates.
+
.cindex "AUTH" "on MAIL command"
When Exim has authenticated itself to a remote server, it adds the AUTH
parameter to the MAIL commands it sends, if it has an authenticated sender for
expansion is &"1"&, &"yes"&, or &"true"&, authentication succeeds and the
generic &%server_set_id%& option is expanded and saved in &$authenticated_id$&.
For any other result, a temporary error code is returned, with the expanded
-string as the error text
+string as the error text.
&*Warning*&: If you use a lookup in the expansion to find the user's
password, be sure to make the authentication fail if the user is unknown.
.scindex IIDcyrauth2 "authenticators" "&(cyrus_sasl)&"
.cindex "Cyrus" "SASL library"
.cindex "Kerberos"
-The code for this authenticator was provided by Matthew Byng-Maddick of A L
-Digital Ltd (&url(http://www.aldigital.co.uk)).
+The code for this authenticator was provided by Matthew Byng-Maddick while
+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
.option server_socket dovecot string unset
-This option must specify the socket that is the interface to Dovecot
+This option must specify the UNIX socket that is the interface to Dovecot
authentication. The &%public_name%& option must specify an authentication
mechanism that Dovecot is configured to support. You can have several
authenticators for different mechanisms. For example:
.option server_channelbinding gsasl boolean false
+Do not set this true without consulting a cryptographic engineer.
+
Some authentication mechanisms are able to use external context at both ends
of the session to bind the authentication to that context, and fail the
authentication process if that context differs. Specifically, some TLS
ciphersuites can provide identifying information about the cryptographic
context.
-This means that certificate identity and verification becomes a non-issue,
-as a man-in-the-middle attack will cause the correct client and server to
-see different identifiers and authentication will fail.
+This should have meant that certificate identity and verification becomes a
+non-issue, as a man-in-the-middle attack will cause the correct client and
+server to see different identifiers and authentication will fail.
This is currently only supported when using the GnuTLS library. This is
only usable by mechanisms which support "channel binding"; at time of
This defaults off to ensure smooth upgrade across Exim releases, in case
this option causes some clients to start failing. Some future release
-of Exim may switch the default to be true.
+of Exim might have switched the default to be true.
+
+However, Channel Binding in TLS has proven to be broken in current versions.
+Do not plan to rely upon this feature for security, ever, without consulting
+with a subject matter expert (a cryptographic engineer).
.option server_hostname gsasl string&!! "see below"
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(http://www.samba.org)). The code for the
+taken from the Samba project (&url(https://www.samba.org/)). The code for the
server side was subsequently contributed by Tom Kistner. The mechanism works as
follows:
+. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+.chapter "The external authenticator" "CHAPexternauth"
+.scindex IIDexternauth1 "&(external)& authenticator"
+.scindex IIDexternauth2 "authenticators" "&(external)&"
+.cindex "authentication" "Client Certificate"
+.cindex "authentication" "X509"
+.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)).
+It is only a transport and negotiation mechanism;
+the process of authentication is entirely controlled
+by the server configuration.
+
+The client presents an identity in-clear.
+It is probably wise for a server to only advertise,
+and for clients to only attempt,
+this authentication method on a secure (eg. under TLS) connection.
+
+One possible use, compatible with the
+K-9 Mail Andoid client (&url(https://k9mail.github.io/)),
+is for using X509 client certificates.
+
+It thus overlaps in function with the TLS authenticator
+(see &<<CHAPtlsauth>>&)
+but is a full SMTP SASL authenticator
+rather than being implicit for TLS-connection carried
+client certificates only.
+
+The examples and discussion in this chapter assume that
+client-certificate authentication is being done.
+
+The client must present a certificate,
+for which it must have been requested via the
+&%tls_verify_hosts%& or &%tls_try_verify_hosts%& main options
+(see &<<CHAPTLS>>&).
+For authentication to be effective the certificate should be
+verifiable against a trust-anchor certificate known to the server.
+
+.section "External options" "SECTexternsoptions"
+.cindex "options" "&(external)& authenticator (server)"
+The &(external)& authenticator has two server options:
+
+.option server_param2 external string&!! unset
+.option server_param3 external string&!! unset
+.cindex "variables (&$auth1$& &$auth2$& etc)" "in &(external)& authenticator"
+These options are expanded before the &%server_condition%& option
+and the result are placed in &$auth2$& and &$auth3$& resectively.
+If the expansion is forced to fail, authentication fails. Any other expansion
+failure causes a temporary error code to be returned.
+
+They can be used to clarify the coding of a complex &%server_condition%&.
+
+.section "Using external in a server" "SECTexternserver"
+.cindex "AUTH" "in &(external)& authenticator"
+.cindex "numerical variables (&$1$& &$2$& etc)" &&&
+ "in &(external)& authenticator"
+.vindex "&$auth1$&, &$auth2$&, etc"
+.cindex "base64 encoding" "in &(external)& authenticator"
+
+When running as a server, &(external)& performs the authentication test by
+expanding a string. The data sent by the client with the AUTH command, or in
+response to subsequent prompts, is base64 encoded, and so may contain any byte
+values when decoded. The decoded value is treated as
+an identity for authentication and
+placed in the expansion variable &$auth1$&.
+
+For compatibility with previous releases of Exim, the value is also placed in
+the expansion variable &$1$&. However, the use of this
+variable for this purpose is now deprecated, as it can lead to confusion in
+string expansions that also use them for other things.
+
+.vindex "&$authenticated_id$&"
+Once an identity has been received,
+&%server_condition%& is expanded. If the expansion is forced to fail,
+authentication fails. Any other expansion failure causes a temporary error code
+to be returned. If the result of a successful expansion is an empty string,
+&"0"&, &"no"&, or &"false"&, authentication fails. If the result of the
+expansion is &"1"&, &"yes"&, or &"true"&, authentication succeeds and the
+generic &%server_set_id%& option is expanded and saved in &$authenticated_id$&.
+For any other result, a temporary error code is returned, with the expanded
+string as the error text.
+
+Example:
+.code
+ext_ccert_san_mail:
+ driver = external
+ public_name = EXTERNAL
+
+ server_advertise_condition = $tls_in_certificate_verified
+ server_param2 = ${certextract {subj_altname,mail,>:} \
+ {$tls_in_peercert}}
+ server_condition = ${if forany {$auth2} \
+ {eq {$item}{$auth1}}}
+ server_set_id = $auth1
+.endd
+This accepts a client certificate that is verifiable against any
+of your configured trust-anchors
+(which usually means the full set of public CAs)
+and which has a mail-SAN matching the claimed identity sent by the client.
+
+Note that, up to TLS1.2, the client cert is on the wire in-clear, including the SAN,
+The account name is therefore guessable by an opponent.
+TLS 1.3 protects both server and client certificates, and is not vulnerable
+in this way.
+Likewise, a traditional plaintext SMTP AUTH done inside TLS is not.
+
+
+.section "Using external in a client" "SECTexternclient"
+.cindex "options" "&(external)& authenticator (client)"
+The &(external)& authenticator has one client option:
+
+.option client_send external string&!! unset
+This option is expanded and sent with the AUTH command as the
+identity being asserted.
+
+Example:
+.code
+ext_ccert:
+ driver = external
+ public_name = EXTERNAL
+
+ client_condition = ${if !eq{$tls_out_cipher}{}}
+ client_send = myaccount@smarthost.example.net
+.endd
+
+
+.ecindex IIDexternauth1
+.ecindex IIDexternauth2
+
+
+
+
+
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
driver = tls
server_param1 = ${certextract {subj_altname,mail,>:} \
{$tls_in_peercert}}
- server_condition = ${if forany {$auth1} \
+ server_condition = ${if and { {eq{$tls_in_certificate_verified}{1}} \
+ {forany {$auth1} \
{!= {0} \
{${lookup ldap{ldap:///\
mailname=${quote_ldap_dn:${lc:$item}},\
ou=users,LDAP_DC?mailid} {$value}{0} \
- } } } }
+ } } } }}}
server_set_id = ${if = {1}{${listcount:$auth1}} {$auth1}{}}
.endd
This accepts a client certificate that is verifiable against any
of your configured trust-anchors
-which usually means the full set of public CAs)
+(which usually means the full set of public CAs)
and which has a SAN with a good account name.
-Note that the client cert is on the wire in-clear, including the SAN,
-whereas a plaintext SMTP AUTH done inside TLS is not.
+
+Note that, up to TLS1.2, the client cert is on the wire in-clear, including the SAN,
+The account name is therefore guessable by an opponent.
+TLS 1.3 protects both server and client certificates, and is not vulnerable
+in this way.
+Likewise, a traditional plaintext SMTP AUTH done inside TLS is not.
. An alternative might use
. .code
-.section "Support for the legacy &""ssmtp""& (aka &""smtps""&) protocol" &&&
+.section "Support for the &""submissions""& (aka &""ssmtp""& and &""smtps""&) protocol" &&&
"SECID284"
+.cindex "submissions protocol"
.cindex "ssmtp protocol"
.cindex "smtps protocol"
+.cindex "SMTP" "submissions protocol"
.cindex "SMTP" "ssmtp protocol"
.cindex "SMTP" "smtps protocol"
-Early implementations of encrypted SMTP used a different TCP port from normal
-SMTP, and expected an encryption negotiation to start immediately, instead of
-waiting for a STARTTLS command from the client using the standard SMTP
-port. The protocol was called &"ssmtp"& or &"smtps"&, and port 465 was
-allocated for this purpose.
-
-This approach was abandoned when encrypted SMTP was standardized, but there are
-still some legacy clients that use it. Exim supports these clients by means of
-the &%tls_on_connect_ports%& global option. Its value must be a list of port
-numbers; the most common use is expected to be:
+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
+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.
+
+The name originally assigned to the port was &"ssmtp"& or &"smtps"&, but as
+clarity emerged over the dual roles of SMTP, for MX delivery and Email
+Submission, nomenclature has shifted. The modern name is now &"submissions"&.
+
+This approach was, for a while, officially abandoned when encrypted SMTP was
+standardized, but many clients kept using it, even as the TCP port number was
+reassigned for other use.
+Thus you may encounter guidance claiming that you shouldn't enable use of
+this port.
+In practice, a number of mail-clients have only ever supported submissions,
+not submission with STARTTLS upgrade.
+Ideally, offer both submission (587) and submissions (465) service.
+
+Exim supports TLS-on-connect by means of the &%tls_on_connect_ports%&
+global option. Its value must be a list of port numbers;
+the most common use is expected to be:
.code
tls_on_connect_ports = 465
.endd
defined elsewhere.
There is also a &%-tls-on-connect%& command line option. This overrides
-&%tls_on_connect_ports%&; it forces the legacy behaviour for all ports.
+&%tls_on_connect_ports%&; it forces the TLS-only behaviour for all ports.
(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.
+.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
explicitly state that the feature is infeasible in the other TLS
.oindex "&%tls_require_ciphers%&" "OpenSSL"
There is a function in the OpenSSL library that can be passed a list of cipher
suites before the cipher negotiation takes place. This specifies which ciphers
-are acceptable. The list is colon separated and may contain names like
+.new
+are acceptable for TLS versions prior to 1.3.
+.wen
+The list is colon separated and may contain names like
DES-CBC3-SHA. Exim passes the expanded value of &%tls_require_ciphers%&
directly to this function call.
Many systems will install the OpenSSL manual-pages, so you may have
{HIGH:!MD5:!SHA1}}
.endd
+This example will prefer ECDSA-authenticated ciphers over RSA ones:
+.code
+tls_require_ciphers = ECDSA:RSA:!COMPLEMENTOFDEFAULT
+.endd
+
+.new
+For TLS version 1.3 the control available is less fine-grained
+and Exim does not provide access to it at present.
+The value of the &%tls_require_ciphers%& option is ignored when
+TLS version 1.3 is negotiated.
+
+As of writing the library default cipher suite list for TLSv1.3 is
+.code
+TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256:TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
+.endd
+.wen
.section "Requiring specific ciphers or other parameters in GnuTLS" &&&
Documentation of the strings accepted may be found in the GnuTLS manual, under
"Priority strings". This is online as
-&url(http://www.gnutls.org/manual/html_node/Priority-Strings.html),
+&url(https://www.gnutls.org/manual/html_node/Priority-Strings.html),
but beware that this relates to GnuTLS 3, which may be newer than the version
installed on your system. If you are using GnuTLS 3,
then the example code
-&url(http://www.gnutls.org/manual/gnutls.html#Listing-the-ciphersuites-in-a-priority-string)
+&url(https://www.gnutls.org/manual/gnutls.html#Listing-the-ciphersuites-in-a-priority-string)
on that site can be used to test a given string.
For example:
.cindex "TLS" "configuring an Exim server"
When Exim has been built with TLS support, it advertises the availability of
the STARTTLS command to client hosts that match &%tls_advertise_hosts%&,
-but not to any others. The default value of this option is unset, which means
-that STARTTLS is not advertised at all. This default is chosen because you
-need to set some other options in order to make TLS available, and also it is
-sensible for systems that want to use TLS only as a client.
+but not to any others. The default value of this option is *, which means
+that STARTTLS is always advertised. Set it to blank to never advertise;
+this is reasonable for systems that want to use TLS only as a client.
+
+If STARTTLS is to be used you
+need to set some other options in order to make TLS available.
If a client issues a STARTTLS command and there is some configuration
problem in the server, the command is rejected with a 454 error. If the client
To enable TLS operations on a server, the &%tls_advertise_hosts%& option
must be set to match some hosts. The default is * which matches all hosts.
-.new
If this is all you do, TLS encryption will be enabled but not authentication -
meaning that the peer has no assurance it is actually you he is talking to.
You gain protection from a passive sniffer listening on the wire but not
from someone able to intercept the communication.
-.wen
Further protection requires some further configuration at the server end.
-It is rumoured that all existing clients that support TLS/SSL use RSA
-encryption. To make this work you need to set, in the server,
+To make TLS work you need to set, in the server,
.code
tls_certificate = /some/file/name
tls_privatekey = /some/file/name
certificates that need to be sent to the client to enable it to authenticate
the server's certificate.
+For dual-stack (eg. RSA and ECDSA) configurations, these options can be
+colon-separated lists of file paths. Ciphers using given authentication
+algorithms require the presence of a suitable certificate to supply the
+public-key. The server selects among the certificates to present to the
+client depending on the selected cipher, hence the priority ordering for
+ciphers will affect which certificate is used.
+
If you do not understand about certificates and keys, please try to find a
source of this background information, which is not Exim-specific. (There are a
few comments below in section &<<SECTcerandall>>&.)
apply to all TLS connections. For any host that matches one of these options,
Exim requests a certificate as part of the setup of the TLS session. The
contents of the certificate are verified by comparing it with a list of
-expected certificates.
+expected trust-anchors or certificates.
These may be the system default set (depending on library version),
an explicit file or,
depending on library version, a directory, identified by
.endd
where &_/cert/file_& contains a single certificate.
+There is no checking of names of the client against the certificate
+Subject Name or Subject Alternate Names.
+
The difference between &%tls_verify_hosts%& and &%tls_try_verify_hosts%& is
what happens if the client does not supply a certificate, or if the certificate
does not match any of the certificates in the collection named by
If the &%tls_verify_certificates%& option is set on the &(smtp)& transport, it
specifies a collection of expected server certificates.
-These may be the system default set (depending on library version),
-a file or,
-depending on library version, a directory,
-must name a file or,
-for OpenSSL only (not GnuTLS), a directory.
+These may be
+the system default set (depending on library version),
+a file,
+or (depending on library version) a directory.
The client verifies the server's certificate
against this collection, taking into account any revoked certificates that are
in the list defined by &%tls_crl%&.
certificate verification to the listed servers. Verification either must
or need not succeed respectively.
+The &%tls_verify_cert_hostnames%& option lists hosts for which additional
+checks are made: that the host name (the one in the DNS A record)
+is valid for the certificate.
+The option defaults to always checking.
+
+.new
+Do not use a client certificate that contains an "OCSP Must-Staple" extension.
+TLS 1.2 and below does not support client-side OCSP stapling, and
+(as of writing) the TLS libraries do not provide for it even with
+TLS 1.3.
+Be careful when using the same certificate for server- and
+client-certificate for this reason.
+.wen
+
The &(smtp)& transport has two OCSP-related options:
&%hosts_require_ocsp%&; a host-list for which a Certificate Status
is requested and required for the connection to proceed. The default
during TLS session handshake, to permit alternative values to be chosen:
.ilist
-.vindex "&%tls_certificate%&"
&%tls_certificate%&
.next
-.vindex "&%tls_crl%&"
&%tls_crl%&
.next
-.vindex "&%tls_privatekey%&"
&%tls_privatekey%&
.next
-.vindex "&%tls_verify_certificates%&"
&%tls_verify_certificates%&
.next
-.vindex "&%tls_ocsp_file%&"
&%tls_ocsp_file%&
.endlist
attacks in the string (&`../`& or SQL), and ensuring that a valid filename
can always be referenced; it is important to remember that &$tls_in_sni$& is
arbitrary unverified data provided prior to authentication.
-.new
-Further, the initial cerificate is loaded before SNI is arrived, so
+Further, the initial certificate is loaded before SNI is arrived, so
an expansion for &%tls_certificate%& must have a default which is used
when &$tls_in_sni$& is empty.
-.wen
The Exim developers are proceeding cautiously and so far no other TLS options
are re-expanded.
one process to the next. This implementation does not fit well with the use
of TLS, because there is quite a lot of state information associated with a TLS
connection, not just a socket identification. Passing all the state information
-to a new process is not feasible. Consequently, Exim shuts down an existing TLS
-session before passing the socket to a new process. The new process may then
+to a new process is not feasible. Consequently, for sending using TLS Exim
+starts an additional proxy process for handling the encryption, piping the
+unencrypted data stream from and to the delivery processes.
+
+An older mode of operation can be enabled on a per-host basis by the
+&%hosts_noproxy_tls%& option on the &(smtp)& transport. If the host matches
+this list the proxy process described above is not used; instead Exim
+shuts down an existing TLS session being run by the delivery process
+before passing the socket to a new process. The new process may then
try to start a new TLS session, and if successful, may try to re-authenticate
if AUTH is in use, before sending the next message.
.section "Certificates and all that" "SECTcerandall"
.cindex "certificate" "references to discussion"
In order to understand fully how TLS works, you need to know about
-certificates, certificate signing, and certificate authorities. This is not the
-place to give a tutorial, especially as I do not know very much about it
-myself. Some helpful introduction can be found in the FAQ for the SSL addition
-to Apache, currently at
+certificates, certificate signing, and certificate authorities.
+This is a large topic and an introductory guide is unsuitable for the Exim
+reference manual, so instead we provide pointers to existing documentation.
+
+The Apache web-server was for a long time the canonical guide, so their
+documentation is a good place to start; their SSL module's Introduction
+document is currently at
.display
-&url(http://www.modssl.org/docs/2.7/ssl_faq.html#ToC24)
+&url(https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/ssl/ssl_intro.html)
.endd
-Other parts of the &'modssl'& documentation are also helpful, and have
-links to further files.
-Eric Rescorla's book, &'SSL and TLS'&, published by Addison-Wesley (ISBN
-0-201-61598-3), contains both introductory and more in-depth descriptions.
-Some sample programs taken from the book are available from
+and their FAQ is at
.display
-&url(http://www.rtfm.com/openssl-examples/)
+&url(https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/ssl/ssl_faq.html)
.endd
+Eric Rescorla's book, &'SSL and TLS'&, published by Addison-Wesley (ISBN
+0-201-61598-3) in 2001, contains both introductory and more in-depth
+descriptions.
+More recently Ivan Ristić's book &'Bulletproof SSL and TLS'&,
+published by Feisty Duck (ISBN 978-1907117046) in 2013 is good.
+Ivan is the author of the popular TLS testing tools at
+&url(https://www.ssllabs.com/).
+
.section "Certificate chains" "SECID186"
The file named by &%tls_certificate%& may contain more than one
For information on creating self-signed CA certificates and using them to sign
user certificates, see the &'General implementation overview'& chapter of the
Open-source PKI book, available online at
-&url(http://ospkibook.sourceforge.net/).
+&url(https://sourceforge.net/projects/ospkibook/).
.ecindex IIDencsmtp1
.ecindex IIDencsmtp2
+.section DANE "SECDANE"
+.cindex DANE
+DNS-based Authentication of Named Entities, as applied to SMTP over TLS, provides assurance to a client that
+it is actually talking to the server it wants to rather than some attacker operating a Man In The Middle (MITM)
+operation. The latter can terminate the TLS connection you make, and make another one to the server (so both
+you and the server still think you have an encrypted connection) and, if one of the "well known" set of
+Certificate Authorities has been suborned - something which *has* been seen already (2014), a verifiable
+certificate (if you're using normal root CAs, eg. the Mozilla set, as your trust anchors).
+
+What DANE does is replace the CAs with the DNS as the trust anchor. The assurance is limited to a) the possibility
+that the DNS has been suborned, b) mistakes made by the admins of the target server. The attack surface presented
+by (a) is thought to be smaller than that of the set of root CAs.
+
+It also allows the server to declare (implicitly) that connections to it should use TLS. An MITM could simply
+fail to pass on a server's STARTTLS.
+
+DANE scales better than having to maintain (and side-channel communicate) copies of server certificates
+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
+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.
+
+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.
+
+The TLSA record for the server may have "certificate usage" of DANE-TA(2) or DANE-EE(3).
+These are the "Trust Anchor" and "End Entity" variants.
+The latter specifies the End Entity directly, i.e. the certificate involved is that of the server
+(and if only DANE-EE is used then it should be the sole one transmitted during the TLS handshake);
+this is appropriate for a single system, using a self-signed certificate.
+DANE-TA usage is effectively declaring a specific CA to be used; this might be a private CA or a public,
+well-known one.
+A private CA at simplest is just a self-signed certificate (with certain
+attributes) which is used to sign server certificates, but running one securely
+does require careful arrangement.
+With DANE-TA, as implemented in Exim and commonly in other MTAs,
+the server TLS handshake must transmit the entire certificate chain from CA to server-certificate.
+DANE-TA is commonly used for several services and/or servers, each having a TLSA query-domain CNAME record,
+all of which point to a single TLSA record.
+DANE-TA and DANE-EE can both be used together.
+
+.new
+Our recommendation is to use DANE with a certificate from a public CA,
+because this enables a variety of strategies for remote clients to verify
+your certificate.
+You can then publish information both via DANE and another technology,
+"MTA-STS", described below.
+
+When you use DANE-TA to publish trust anchor information, you ask entities
+outside your administrative control to trust the Certificate Authority for
+connections to you.
+If using a private CA then you should expect others to still apply the
+technical criteria they'd use for a public CA to your certificates.
+In particular, you should probably try to follow current best practices for CA
+operation around hash algorithms and key sizes.
+Do not expect other organizations to lower their security expectations just
+because a particular profile might be reasonable for your own internal use.
+
+When this text was last updated, this in practice means to avoid use of SHA-1
+and MD5; if using RSA to use key sizes of at least 2048 bits (and no larger
+than 4096, for interoperability); to use keyUsage fields correctly; to use
+random serial numbers.
+The list of requirements is subject to change as best practices evolve.
+If you're not already using a private CA, or it doesn't meet these
+requirements, then we encourage you to avoid all these issues and use a public
+CA such as &url(https://letsencrypt.org/,Let's Encrypt) instead.
+.wen
+
+The TLSA record should have a Selector field of SPKI(1) and a Matching Type field of SHA2-512(2).
+
+At the time of writing, &url(https://www.huque.com/bin/gen_tlsa)
+is useful for quickly generating TLSA records; and commands like
+
+.code
+ openssl x509 -in -pubkey -noout <certificate.pem \
+ | openssl rsa -outform der -pubin 2>/dev/null \
+ | openssl sha512 \
+ | awk '{print $2}'
+.endd
+
+are workable for 4th-field hashes.
+
+For use with the DANE-TA model, server certificates must have a correct name (SubjectName or SubjectAltName).
+
+.new
+The Certificate issued by the CA published in the DANE-TA model should be
+issued using a strong hash algorithm.
+Exim, and importantly various other MTAs sending to you, will not
+re-enable hash algorithms which have been disabled by default in TLS
+libraries.
+This means no MD5 and no SHA-1. SHA2-256 is the minimum for reliable
+interoperability (and probably the maximum too, in 2018).
+.wen
+
+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:
+
+.code
+ hosts_request_ocsp = ${if or { {= {0}{$tls_out_tlsa_usage}} \
+ {= {4}{$tls_out_tlsa_usage}} } \
+ {*}{}}
+.endd
+
+The (new) variable &$tls_out_tlsa_usage$& is a bitfield with numbered bits set for TLSA record usage codes.
+The zero above means DANE was not in use, the four means that only DANE-TA usage TLSA records were
+found. If the definition of &%hosts_request_ocsp%& includes the
+string "tls_out_tlsa_usage", they are re-expanded in time to
+control the OCSP request.
+
+This modification of hosts_request_ocsp is only done if it has the default value of "*". Admins who change it, and
+those who use &%hosts_require_ocsp%&, should consider the interaction with DANE in their OCSP settings.
+
+
+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 DNSSEC-secured.
+
+DANE will only be usable if the target host has DNSSEC-secured MX, A and TLSA records.
+
+A TLSA lookup will be done if either of the above options match and the host-lookup succeeded using dnssec.
+If a TLSA lookup is done and succeeds, a DANE-verified TLS connection
+will be required for the host. If it does not, the host will not
+be used; there is no fallback to non-DANE or non-TLS.
+
+If DANE is requested and usable, then the TLS cipher list configuration
+prefers to use the option &%dane_require_tls_ciphers%& and falls
+back to &%tls_require_ciphers%& only if that is unset.
+This lets you configure "decent crypto" for DANE and "better than nothing
+crypto" as the default. Note though that while GnuTLS lets the string control
+which versions of TLS/SSL will be negotiated, OpenSSL does not and you're
+limited to ciphersuite constraints.
+
+If DANE is requested and useable (see above) the following transport options are ignored:
+.code
+ hosts_require_tls
+ tls_verify_hosts
+ tls_try_verify_hosts
+ tls_verify_certificates
+ tls_crl
+ tls_verify_cert_hostnames
+.endd
+
+If DANE is not usable, whether requested or not, and CA-anchored
+verification evaluation is wanted, the above variables should be set appropriately.
+
+Currently the &%dnssec_request_domains%& must be active and &%dnssec_require_domains%& is ignored.
+
+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$& which will have "yes" if
+verification succeeded using DANE and "no" otherwise (only useful
+in combination with events; see &<<CHAPevents>>&),
+and a new variable &$tls_out_tlsa_usage$& (detailed above).
+
+.cindex DANE reporting
+An event (see &<<CHAPevents>>&) of type "dane:fail" will be raised on failures
+to achieve DANE-verified connection, if one was either requested and offered, or
+required. This is intended to support TLS-reporting as defined in
+&url(https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-uta-smtp-tlsrpt-17).
+The &$event_data$& will be one of the Result Types defined in
+Section 4.3 of that document.
+
+Under GnuTLS, DANE is only supported from version 3.0.0 onwards.
+
+DANE is specified in published RFCs and 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.
+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
+information.
+
+The MTA-STS design requires a certificate from a public Certificate Authority
+which is recognized by clients sending to you.
+That selection of which CAs are trusted by others is outside your control.
+
+The most interoperable course of action is probably to use
+&url(https://letsencrypt.org/,Let's Encrypt), with automated certificate
+renewal; to publish the anchor information in DNSSEC-secured DNS via TLSA
+records for DANE clients (such as Exim and Postfix) and to publish anchor
+information for MTA-STS as well. This is what is done for the &'exim.org'&
+domain itself (with caveats around occasionally broken MTA-STS because of
+incompatible specification changes prior to reaching RFC status).
+
+
+
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
the ACL specified by &%acl_smtp_data%&, which is the second ACL that is
associated with the DATA command.
-.new
.cindex CHUNKING "BDAT command"
.cindex BDAT "SMTP command"
.cindex "RFC 3030" CHUNKING
. XXX why not? It should be possible, for the first BDAT.
The &%acl_smtp_data%& is run after the last BDAT command and all of
the data specified is received.
-.wen
For both of these ACLs, it is not possible to reject individual recipients. An
error response rejects the entire message. Unfortunately, it is known that some
This ACL is evaluated before &%acl_smtp_mime%& and &%acl_smtp_data%&.
-For details on the operation of DKIM, see chapter &<<CHAPdkim>>&.
+For details on the operation of DKIM, see section &<<SECDKIM>>&.
.section "The SMTP MIME ACL" "SECID194"
{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 a
-non-standard &"smtps"& service on port 465. You can use a string
+providing an RFC 4409 message &"submission"& service on port 587 and
+an 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.
remaining recipients. The &"discard"& return is not permitted for the
&%acl_smtp_predata%& ACL.
+If the ACL for VRFY returns &"accept"&, a recipient verify (without callout)
+is done on the address and the result determines the SMTP response.
+
.cindex "&[local_scan()]& function" "when all recipients discarded"
The &[local_scan()]& function is always run, even if there are no remaining
effect.
-.new
.vitem &*queue*&&~=&~<&'text'&>
+.cindex "&%queue%& ACL modifier"
+.cindex "named queues" "selecting in ACL"
This modifier specifies the use of a named queue for spool files
for the message.
It can only be used before the message is received (i.e. not in
of traffic, or for quarantine of messages.
Separate queue-runner processes will be needed for named queues.
If the text after expansion is empty, the default queue is used.
-.wen
.vitem &*remove_header*&&~=&~<&'text'&>
.vitem &*udpsend*&&~=&~<&'parameters'&>
+.cindex "UDP communications"
This modifier sends a UDP packet, for purposes such as statistics
collection or behaviour monitoring. The parameters are expanded, and
the result of the expansion must be a colon-separated list consisting
Note also that headers cannot be
modified by any of the post-data ACLs (DATA, MIME and DKIM).
Headers may be modified by routers (subject to the above) and transports.
+The &'Received-By:'& header is generated as soon as the body reception starts,
+rather than the traditional time after the full message is received;
+this will affect the timestamp.
All the usual ACLs are called; if one results in the message being
rejected, all effort spent in delivery (including the costs on
Cutthrough delivery is not supported via transport-filters or when DKIM signing
of outgoing messages is done, because it sends data to the ultimate destination
before the entire message has been received from the source.
-It is not supported for messages received with the SMTP PRDR option in use.
+It is not supported for messages received with the SMTP PRDR
+or CHUNKING
+options in use.
Should the ultimate destination system positively accept or reject the mail,
a corresponding indication is given to the source system and nothing is queued.
the delivery log lines are tagged with ">>" rather than "=>" and appear
before the acceptance "<=" line.
-.new
If there is a temporary error the item is queued for later delivery in the
usual fashion.
This behaviour can be adjusted by appending the option &*defer=*&<&'value'&>
to the control; the default value is &"spool"& and the alternate value
&"pass"& copies an SMTP defer response from the target back to the initiator
and does not queue the message.
-Note that this is independent of any receipient verify conditions in the ACL.
-.wen
+Note that this is independent of any recipient verify conditions in the ACL.
Delivery in this mode avoids the generation of a bounce mail to a
(possibly faked)
.cindex "&ACL;" "enabling debug logging"
.cindex "debugging" "enabling from an ACL"
This control turns on debug logging, almost as though Exim had been invoked
-with &`-d`&, with the output going to a new logfile, by default called
-&'debuglog'&. The filename can be adjusted with the &'tag'& option, which
+with &`-d`&, with the output going to a new logfile in the usual logs directory,
+by default called &'debuglog'&.
+The filename can be adjusted with the &'tag'& option, which
may access any variables already defined. The logging may be adjusted with
the &'opts'& option, which takes the same values as the &`-d`& command-line
option.
-.new
-Logging may be stopped, and the file removed, with the &'kill'& option.
-.wen
+Logging started this way may be stopped, and the file removed,
+with the &'kill'& option.
Some examples (which depend on variables that don't exist in all
contexts):
.code
.cindex "disable DKIM verify"
.cindex "DKIM" "disable verify"
This control turns off DKIM verification processing entirely. For details on
-the operation and configuration of DKIM, see chapter &<<CHAPdkim>>&.
+the operation and configuration of DKIM, see section &<<SECDKIM>>&.
.vitem &*control&~=&~dscp/*&<&'value'&>
.vitem &*control&~=&~utf8_downconvert*&
This control enables conversion of UTF-8 in message addresses
to a-label form.
-For details see &<<SECTi18nMTA>>&.
+For details see section &<<SECTi18nMTA>>&.
.endlist vlist
warn message = Remove internal headers
remove_header = $acl_c_ihdrs
.endd
-Removed header lines are accumulated during the MAIL, RCPT, and predata ACLs.
-They are removed from the message before processing the DATA and MIME ACLs.
-There is no harm in attempting to remove the same header twice nor is removing
+Header names for removal are accumulated during the MAIL, RCPT, and predata ACLs.
+Matching header lines are removed from the message before processing the DATA and MIME ACLs.
+If multiple header lines match, all are removed.
+There is no harm in attempting to remove the same header twice nor in removing
a non-existent header. Further header lines to be removed may be accumulated
during the DATA and MIME ACLs, after which they are removed from the message,
if present. In the case of non-SMTP messages, headers to be removed are
.cindex "&%verify%& ACL condition"
This is a variation of the previous option, in which a modified address is
verified as a sender.
+
+Note that '/' is legal in local-parts; if the address may have such
+(eg. is generated from the received message)
+they must be protected from the options parsing by doubling:
+.code
+verify = sender=${sg{${address:$h_sender:}}{/}{//}}
+.endd
.endlist
warn message = X-Warn: sending host is on dialups list
dnslists = dialups.mail-abuse.org
.endd
-.cindex cacheing "of dns lookup"
+.cindex caching "of dns lookup"
.cindex DNS TTL
DNS list lookups are cached by Exim for the duration of the SMTP session
(but limited by the DNS return TTL value),
Exim does not share information between multiple incoming
connections (but your local name server cache should be active).
+There are a number of DNS lists to choose from, some commercial, some free,
+or free for small deployments. An overview can be found at
+&url(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_DNS_blacklists).
+
.section "Specifying the IP address for a DNS list lookup" "SECID201"
.section "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 for example the &'domain based zones'& link at
-&url(http://www.rfc-ignorant.org/)). No reversing of components is used
+addresses. No reversing of components is used
with these lists. You can change the name that is looked up in a DNS list by
listing it after the domain name, introduced by a slash. For example,
.code
and the outer dnsdb lookup finds the IP addresses for these hosts. The result
of expanding the condition might be something like this:
.code
-dnslists = sbl.spahmaus.org/<|192.168.2.3|192.168.5.6|...
+dnslists = sbl.spamhaus.org/<|192.168.2.3|192.168.5.6|...
.endd
Thus, this example checks whether or not the IP addresses of the sender
domain's mail servers are on the Spamhaus black list.
a check that the IP being tested is indeed on the first list. The first
domain is the one that is put in &$dnslist_domain$&. For example:
.code
-reject message = \
+deny message = \
rejected because $sender_host_address is blacklisted \
at $dnslist_domain\n$dnslist_text
dnslists = \
given several times, but because the results of the DNS lookups are cached,
the DNS calls themselves are not repeated. For example:
.code
-reject dnslists = \
+deny dnslists = \
http.dnsbl.sorbs.net,dnsbl.sorbs.net=127.0.0.2 : \
socks.dnsbl.sorbs.net,dnsbl.sorbs.net=127.0.0.3 : \
misc.dnsbl.sorbs.net,dnsbl.sorbs.net=127.0.0.4 : \
The &%leaky%& (default) option means that the client's recorded rate is not
updated if it is above the limit. The effect of this is that Exim measures the
-client's average rate of successfully sent email, which cannot be greater than
-the maximum allowed. If the client is over the limit it may suffer some
-counter-measures (as specified in the ACL), but it will still be able to send
-email at the configured maximum rate, whatever the rate of its attempts. This
+client's average rate of successfully sent email,
+.new
+up to the given limit.
+This is appropriate if the countermeasure when the condition is true
+consists of refusing the message, and
is generally the better choice if you have clients that retry automatically.
-For example, it does not prevent a sender with an over-aggressive retry rate
-from getting any email through.
+If the action when true is anything more complex then this option is
+likely not what is wanted.
+.wen
The &%strict%& option means that the client's recorded rate is always
updated. The effect of this is that Exim measures the client's average rate
The main use of these variables is expected to be to distinguish between
rejections of MAIL and rejections of RCPT in callouts.
+.new
+The above variables may also be set after a &*successful*&
+address verification to:
+
+.ilist
+&%random%&: A random local-part callout succeeded
+.endlist
+.wen
+
need to use this option unless you know that the called hosts make use of the
sender when checking recipients. If used indiscriminately, it reduces the
usefulness of callout caching.
+
+.vitem &*hold*&
+This option applies to recipient callouts only. For example:
+.code
+require verify = recipient/callout=use_sender,hold
+.endd
+It causes the connection to be held open and used for any further recipients
+and for eventual delivery (should that be done quickly).
+Doing this saves on TCP and SMTP startup costs, and TLS costs also
+when that is used for the connections.
+The advantage is only gained if there are no callout cache hits
+(which could be enforced by the no_cache option),
+if the use_sender option is used,
+if neither the random nor the use_postmaster option is used,
+and if no other callouts intervene.
.endlist
If you use any of the parameters that set a non-empty sender for the MAIL
item creates a signed address, and the &%prvscheck%& expansion item checks one.
The syntax of these expansion items is described in section
&<<SECTexpansionitems>>&.
+The validity period on signed addresses is seven days.
As an example, suppose the secret per-address keys are stored in an MySQL
database. A query to look up the key for an address could be defined as a macro
If the value of &%av_scanner%& starts with a dollar character, it is expanded
before use.
The usual list-parsing of the content (see &<<SECTlistconstruct>>&) applies.
-The following scanner types are supported in this release:
+The following scanner types are supported in this release,
+though individual ones can be included or not at build time:
.vlist
.vitem &%avast%&
.cindex "virus scanners" "avast"
This is the scanner daemon of Avast. It has been tested with Avast Core
-Security (currently at version 1.1.7).
-You can get a trial version at &url(http://www.avast.com) or for Linux
-at &url(http://www.avast.com/linux-server-antivirus).
+Security (currently at version 2.2.0).
+You can get a trial version at &url(https://www.avast.com) or for Linux
+at &url(https://www.avast.com/linux-server-antivirus).
This scanner type takes one option,
which can be either a full path to a UNIX socket,
or host and port specifiers separated by white space.
The host may be a name or an IP address; the port is either a
single number or a pair of numbers with a dash between.
-Any further options are given, on separate lines,
-to the daemon as options before the main scan command.
+A list of options may follow. These options are interpreted on the
+Exim's side of the malware scanner, or are given on separate lines to
+the daemon as options before the main scan command.
+
+.cindex &`pass_unscanned`& "avast"
+If &`pass_unscanned`&
+is set, any files the Avast scanner can't scan (e.g.
+decompression bombs, or invalid archives) are considered clean. Use with
+care.
+
For example:
.code
av_scanner = avast:/var/run/avast/scan.sock:FLAGS -fullfiles:SENSITIVITY -pup
+av_scanner = avast:/var/run/avast/scan.sock:pass_unscanned:FLAGS -fullfiles:SENSITIVITY -pup
av_scanner = avast:192.168.2.22 5036
.endd
If you omit the argument, the default path
PACK
.endd
+If the scanner returns a temporary failure (e.g. license issues, or
+permission problems), the message is deferred and a paniclog entry is
+written. The usual &`defer_ok`& option is available.
.vitem &%aveserver%&
.cindex "virus scanners" "Kaspersky"
This is the scanner daemon of Kaspersky Version 5. You can get a trial version
-at &url(http://www.kaspersky.com). This scanner type takes one option,
+at &url(https://www.kaspersky.com/). This scanner type takes one option,
which is the path to the daemon's UNIX socket. The default is shown in this
example:
.code
.vitem &%clamd%&
.cindex "virus scanners" "clamd"
This daemon-type scanner is GPL and free. You can get it at
-&url(http://www.clamav.net/). Some older versions of clamd do not seem to
+&url(https://www.clamav.net/). Some older versions of clamd do not seem to
unpack MIME containers, so it used to be recommended to unpack MIME attachments
in the MIME ACL. This is no longer believed to be necessary.
If the value of av_scanner points to a UNIX socket file or contains the
&`local`&
option, then the ClamAV interface will pass a filename containing the data
-to be scanned, which will should normally result in less I/O happening and be
+to be scanned, which should normally result in less I/O happening and be
more efficient. Normally in the TCP case, the data is streamed to ClamAV as
Exim does not assume that there is a common filesystem with the remote host.
-There is an option WITH_OLD_CLAMAV_STREAM in &_src/EDITME_& available, should
-you be running a version of ClamAV prior to 0.95.
The final example shows that multiple TCP targets can be specified. Exim will
randomly use one for each incoming email (i.e. it load balances them). Note
.endd
.vitem &%drweb%&
.cindex "virus scanners" "DrWeb"
-The DrWeb daemon scanner (&url(http://www.sald.com/)) interface
+The DrWeb daemon scanner (&url(https://www.sald.ru/)) interface
takes one option,
either a full path to a UNIX socket,
or host and port specifiers separated by white space.
.code
av_scanner = f-protd:localhost 10200-10204
.endd
+If you omit the argument, the default values shown above are used.
+
+.vitem &%f-prot6d%&
+.cindex "virus scanners" "f-prot6d"
+The f-prot6d scanner is accessed using the FPSCAND protocol over TCP.
+One argument is taken, being a space-separated hostname and port number.
+For example:
+.code
+av_scanner = f-prot6d:localhost 10200
+.endd
If you omit the argument, the default values show above are used.
.vitem &%fsecure%&
.cindex "virus scanners" "F-Secure"
-The F-Secure daemon scanner (&url(http://www.f-secure.com)) takes one
+The F-Secure daemon scanner (&url(https://www.f-secure.com/)) takes one
argument which is the path to a UNIX socket. For example:
.code
av_scanner = fsecure:/path/to/.fsav
.vitem &%mksd%&
.cindex "virus scanners" "mksd"
-This is a daemon type scanner that is aimed mainly at Polish users, though some
-parts of documentation are now available in English. You can get it at
-&url(http://linux.mks.com.pl/). The only option for this scanner type is
+This was a daemon type scanner that is aimed mainly at Polish users,
+though some documentation was available in English.
+The history can be shown at &url(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mks_vir)
+and this appears to be a candidate for removal from Exim, unless
+we are informed of other virus scanners which use the same protocol
+to integrate.
+The only option for this scanner type is
the maximum number of processes used simultaneously to scan the attachments,
provided that mksd has
been run with at least the same number of child processes. For example:
a commandline to send (may include a single %s which will be replaced with
the path to the mail file to be scanned),
an RE to trigger on from the returned data,
-an RE to extract malware_name from the returned data.
+and an RE to extract malware_name from the returned data.
For example:
.code
-av_scanner = sock:127.0.0.1 6001:%s:(SPAM|VIRUS):(.*)\$
+av_scanner = sock:127.0.0.1 6001:%s:(SPAM|VIRUS):(.*)$
.endd
-Default for the socket specifier is &_/tmp/malware.sock_&.
-Default for the commandline is &_%s\n_&.
-Both regular-expressions are required.
+Note that surrounding whitespace is stripped from each option, meaning
+there is no way to specify a trailing newline.
+The socket specifier and both regular-expressions are required.
+Default for the commandline is &_%s\n_& (note this does have a trailing newline);
+specify an empty element to get this.
.vitem &%sophie%&
.cindex "virus scanners" "Sophos and Sophie"
Sophie is a daemon that uses Sophos' &%libsavi%& library to scan for viruses.
-You can get Sophie at &url(http://www.clanfield.info/sophie/). The only option
+You can get Sophie at &url(http://sophie.sourceforge.net/). The only option
for this scanner type is the path to the UNIX socket that Sophie uses for
client communication. For example:
.code
For more information about installation and configuration of SpamAssassin or
Rspamd refer to their respective websites at
-&url(http://spamassassin.apache.org) and &url(http://www.rspamd.com)
+&url(https://spamassassin.apache.org/) and &url(https://www.rspamd.com/)
SpamAssassin can be installed with CPAN by running:
.code
.code
spamd_address = 192.168.99.45 387
.endd
+The SpamAssassin protocol relies on a TCP half-close from the client.
+If your SpamAssassin client side is running a Linux system with an
+iptables firewall, consider setting
+&%net.netfilter.nf_conntrack_tcp_timeout_close_wait%& to at least the
+timeout, Exim uses when waiting for a response from the SpamAssassin
+server (currently defaulting to 120s). With a lower value the Linux
+connection tracking may consider your half-closed connection as dead too
+soon.
+
To use Rspamd (which by default listens on all local addresses
on TCP port 11333)
A multiline text table, containing the full SpamAssassin report for the
message. Useful for inclusion in headers or reject messages.
This variable is only usable in a DATA-time ACL.
-.new
Beware that SpamAssassin may return non-ASCII characters, especially
when running in country-specific locales, which are not legal
unencoded in headers.
-.wen
.vitem &$spam_action$&
For SpamAssassin either 'reject' or 'no action' depending on the
As an example, the following will ban &"HTML mail"& (including that sent with
alternative plain text), while allowing HTML files to be attached. HTML
-coverletter mail attached to non-HMTL coverletter mail will also be allowed:
+coverletter mail attached to non-HTML coverletter mail will also be allowed:
.code
deny message = HTML mail is not accepted here
!condition = $mime_is_rfc822
.section "Building Exim to use a local scan function" "SECID207"
.cindex "&[local_scan()]& function" "building Exim to use"
To make use of the local scan function feature, you must tell Exim where your
-function is before building Exim, by setting LOCAL_SCAN_SOURCE in your
+function is before building Exim, by setting
+.new
+both HAVE_LOCAL_SCAN and
+.wen
+LOCAL_SCAN_SOURCE in your
&_Local/Makefile_&. A recommended place to put it is in the &_Local_&
directory, so you might set
.code
+HAVE_LOCAL_SCAN=yes
LOCAL_SCAN_SOURCE=Local/local_scan.c
.endd
for example. The function must be called &[local_scan()]&. It is called by
.vlist
.vitem &*int&~body_linecount*&
This variable contains the number of lines in the message's body.
+It is not valid if the &%spool_files_wireformat%& option is used.
.vitem &*int&~body_zerocount*&
This variable contains the number of binary zero bytes in the message's body.
+It is not valid if the &%spool_files_wireformat%& option is used.
.vitem &*unsigned&~int&~debug_selector*&
This variable is set to zero when no debugging is taking place. Otherwise, it
.cindex "VERP"
.cindex "Variable Envelope Return Paths"
.cindex "envelope sender"
-Variable Envelope Return Paths &-- see &url(http://cr.yp.to/proto/verp.txt) &--
+Variable Envelope Return Paths &-- see &url(https://cr.yp.to/proto/verp.txt) &--
are a way of helping mailing list administrators discover which subscription
address is the cause of a particular delivery failure. The idea is to encode
the original recipient address in the outgoing envelope sender address, so that
flagged with &`->`& instead of &`=>`&. When two or more messages are delivered
down a single SMTP connection, an asterisk follows the IP address in the log
lines for the second and subsequent messages.
+When two or more messages are delivered down a single TLS connection, the
+DNS and some TLS-related information logged for the first message delivered
+will not be present in the log lines for the second and subsequent messages.
+TLS cipher information is still available.
.cindex "delivery" "cutthrough; logging"
.cindex "cutthrough" "logging"
&` `& command list for &"no mail in SMTP session"&
&`CV `& certificate verification status
&`D `& duration of &"no mail in SMTP session"&
+&`DKIM`& domain verified in incoming message
&`DN `& distinguished name from peer certificate
&`DS `& DNSSEC secured lookups
&`DT `& on &`=>`& lines: time taken for a delivery
&`F `& sender address (on delivery lines)
&`H `& host name and IP address
&`I `& local interface used
-&`K `& CHUNKING extension used
&`id `& message id for incoming message
+&`K `& CHUNKING extension used
+&`L `& on &`<=`& and &`=>`& lines: PIPELINING extension used
+&`M8S `& 8BITMIME status for incoming message
&`P `& on &`<=`& lines: protocol used
&` `& on &`=>`& and &`**`& lines: return path
&`PRDR`& PRDR extension used
&` `& on &"Completed"& lines: time spent on queue
&`R `& on &`<=`& lines: reference for local bounce
&` `& on &`=>`& &`>>`& &`**`& and &`==`& lines: router name
+&`RT `& on &`<=`& lines: time taken for reception
&`S `& size of message in bytes
&`SNI `& server name indication from TLS client hello
&`ST `& shadow transport name
&`T `& on &`<=`& lines: message subject (topic)
+&`TFO `& connection took advantage of TCP Fast Open
&` `& on &`=>`& &`**`& and &`==`& lines: transport name
&`U `& local user or RFC 1413 identity
&`X `& TLS cipher suite
.endd
failed. The delivery was discarded.
.endlist olist
+.next
+.cindex DKIM "log line"
+&'DKIM: d='&&~&~Verbose results of a DKIM verification attempt, if enabled for
+logging and the message has a DKIM signature header.
.endlist ilist
&`*delay_delivery `& immediate delivery delayed
&` deliver_time `& time taken to perform 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
&` 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
&` 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_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
.cindex "log" "delivery duration"
&%deliver_time%&: For each delivery, the amount of real time it has taken to
perform the actual delivery is logged as DT=<&'time'&>, for example, &`DT=1s`&.
+If millisecond logging is enabled, short times will be shown with greater
+precision, eg. &`DT=0.304s`&.
.next
.cindex "log" "message size on delivery"
.cindex "size" "of message"
&%delivery_size%&: For each delivery, the size of message delivered is added to
the &"=>"& line, tagged with S=.
.next
+.cindex log "DKIM verification"
+.cindex DKIM "verification logging"
+&%dkim%&: For message acceptance log lines, when an DKIM signature in the header
+verifies successfully a tag of DKIM is added, with one of the verified domains.
+.next
+.cindex log "DKIM verification"
+.cindex DKIM "verification logging"
+&%dkim_verbose%&: A log entry is written for each attempted DKIM verification.
+.next
.cindex "log" "dnslist defer"
.cindex "DNS list" "logging defer"
.cindex "black list (DNS)"
&%proxy%&: The internal (closest to the system running Exim) IP address
of the proxy, tagged by PRX=, on the &"<="& line for a message accepted
on a proxied connection
-or the &"=>"& line for a message delivered on a proxied connection..
+or the &"=>"& line for a message delivered on a proxied connection.
See &<<SECTproxyInbound>>& for more information.
.next
.cindex "log" "incoming remote port"
&%lost_incoming_connection%&: A log line is written when an incoming SMTP
connection is unexpectedly dropped.
.next
+.cindex "log" "millisecond timestamps"
+.cindex millisecond logging
+.cindex timestamps "millisecond, in logs"
+&%millisec%&: Timestamps have a period and three decimal places of finer granularity
+appended to the seconds value.
+.next
.cindex "log" "outgoing interface"
.cindex "log" "local interface"
.cindex "log" "local address and port"
off the &%outgoing_interface%& option.
.next
.cindex "log" "outgoing remote port"
-.cindex "port" "logging outgoint remote"
-.cindex "TCP/IP" "logging ougtoing remote port"
+.cindex "port" "logging outgoing remote"
+.cindex "TCP/IP" "logging outgoing remote port"
&%outgoing_port%&: The remote port number is added to delivery log lines (those
containing => tags) following the IP address.
The local port is also added if &%incoming_interface%& and
&%pid%&: The current process id is added to every log line, in square brackets,
immediately after the time and date.
.next
+.new
+.cindex log pipelining
+.cindex pipelining "logging outgoing"
+&%pipelining%&: A field is added to delivery and accept
+log lines when the ESMTP PIPELINING extension was used.
+The field is a single "L".
+
+On accept lines, where PIPELINING was offered but not used by the client,
+the field has a minus appended.
+.next
.cindex "log" "queue run"
.cindex "queue runner" "logging"
&%queue_run%&: The start and end of every queue run are logged.
This means that it may be longer than the difference between the arrival and
delivery log line times, because the arrival log line is not written until the
message has been successfully received.
+If millisecond logging is enabled, short times will be shown with greater
+precision, eg. &`QT=1.578s`&.
.next
&%queue_time_overall%&: The amount of time the message has been in the queue on
the local host is logged as QT=<&'time'&> on &"Completed"& lines, for
example, &`QT=3m45s`&. The clock starts when Exim starts to receive the
message, so it includes reception time as well as the total delivery time.
.next
+.cindex "log" "receive duration"
+&%receive_time%&: For each message, the amount of real time it has taken to
+perform the reception is logged as RT=<&'time'&>, for example, &`RT=1s`&.
+If millisecond logging is enabled, short times will be shown with greater
+precision, eg. &`RT=0.204s`&.
+.next
.cindex "log" "recipients"
&%received_recipients%&: The recipients of a message are listed in the main log
as soon as the message is received. The list appears at the end of the log line
unchanged, or whether they should be rendered as escape sequences.
.next
.cindex "log" "certificate verification"
+.cindex log DANE
+.cindex DANE logging
&%tls_certificate_verified%&: An extra item is added to <= and => log lines
when TLS is in use. The item is &`CV=yes`& if the peer's certificate was
-verified, and &`CV=no`& if not.
+verified
+using a CA trust anchor,
+&`CA=dane`& if using a DNS trust anchor,
+and &`CV=no`& if not.
.next
.cindex "log" "TLS cipher"
.cindex "TLS" "logging cipher"
Another utility that might be of use to sites with many MTAs is Tom Kistner's
&'exilog'&. It provides log visualizations across multiple Exim servers. See
-&url(http://duncanthrax.net/exilog/) for details.
+&url(https://duncanthrax.net/exilog/) for details.
.cindex "&'exipick'&"
John Jetmore's &'exipick'& utility is included in the Exim distribution. It
lists messages from the queue according to a variety of criteria. For details
-of &'exipick'&'s facilities, visit the web page at
-&url(http://www.exim.org/eximwiki/ToolExipickManPage) or run &'exipick'& with
+of &'exipick'&'s facilities, run &'exipick'& with
the &%--help%& option.
.cindex "&'eximstats'&"
A Perl script called &'eximstats'& is provided for extracting statistical
information from log files. The output is either plain text, or HTML.
-Exim log files are also supported by the &'Lire'& system produced by the
-LogReport Foundation &url(http://www.logreport.org).
+. --- 2018-09-07: LogReport's Lire appears to be dead; website is a Yahoo Japan
+. --- 404 error and everything else points to that.
The &'eximstats'& script has been hacked about quite a bit over time. The
latest version is the result of some extensive revision by Steve Campbell. A
unprivileged), Exim must be built to allow group read access to its spool
files.
+By default, regular users are trusted to perform basic testing and
+introspection commands, as themselves. This setting can be tightened by
+setting the &%commandline_checks_require_admin%& option.
+This affects most of the checking options,
+such as &%-be%& and anything else &%-b*%&.
.section "Spool files" "SECID275"
is insurance against disk crashes where the directory is lost but the files
themselves are recoverable.
+.new
+The file formats may be changed, or new formats added, at any release.
+Spool files are not intended as an interface to other programs
+and should not be used as such.
+.wen
+
Some people are tempted into editing -D files in order to modify messages. You
need to be extremely careful if you do this; it is not recommended and you are
on your own if you do it. Here are some of the pitfalls:
.next
.vindex "&$body_linecount$&"
If you change the number of lines in the file, the value of
-&$body_linecount$&, which is stored in the -H file, will be incorrect. At
-present, this value is not used by Exim, but there is no guarantee that this
-will always be the case.
+&$body_linecount$&, which is stored in the -H file, will be incorrect and can
+cause incomplete transmission of messages or undeliverable messages.
.next
If the message is in MIME format, you must take care not to break it.
.next
-J file and uses it to update the -H file before starting the next delivery
attempt.
+Files whose names end with -K or .eml may also be seen in the spool.
+These are temporaries used for DKIM or malware processing, when that is used.
+They should be tidied up by normal operations; any old ones are probably
+relics of crashes and can be removed.
+
.section "Format of the -H file" "SECID282"
.cindex "uid (user id)" "in spool file"
.cindex "gid (group id)" "in spool file"
&$authenticated_sender$& variable.
.vitem "&%-body_linecount%&&~<&'number'&>"
-This records the number of lines in the body of the message, and is always
-present.
+This records the number of lines in the body of the message, and is
+present unless &%-spool_file_wireformat%& is.
.vitem "&%-body_zerocount%&&~<&'number'&>"
This records the number of binary zero bytes in the body of the message, and is
If a message was scanned by SpamAssassin, this is present. It records the value
of &$spam_score_int$&.
+.vitem &%-spool_file_wireformat%&
+The -D file for this message is in wire-format (for ESMTP CHUNKING)
+rather than Unix-format.
+The line-ending is CRLF rather than newline.
+There is still, however, no leading-dot-stuffing.
+
.vitem &%-tls_certificate_verified%&
A TLS certificate was received from the client that sent this message, and the
certificate was verified by the server.
.ecindex IIDforspo2
.ecindex IIDforspo3
+.section "Format of the -D file" "SECID282a"
+The data file is traditionally in Unix-standard format: lines are ended with
+an ASCII newline character.
+However, when the &%spool_wireformat%& main option is used some -D files
+can have an alternate format.
+This is flagged by a &%-spool_file_wireformat%& line in the corresponding -H file.
+The -D file lines (not including the first name-component line) are
+suitable for direct copying to the wire when transmitting using the
+ESMTP CHUNKING option, meaning lower processing overhead.
+Lines are terminated with an ASCII CRLF pair.
+There is no dot-stuffing (and no dot-termination).
+
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-.chapter "Support for DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)" "CHAPdkim" &&&
- "DKIM Support"
+.chapter "DKIM and SPF" "CHAPdkim" &&&
+ "DKIM and SPF Support"
.cindex "DKIM"
+.section "DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)" SECDKIM
+
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 4871.
+DKIM is documented in 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
+any original DKIM signature.
DKIM support is compiled into Exim by default if TLS support is present.
It can be disabled by setting DISABLE_DKIM=yes in &_Local/Makefile_&.
Exim's standard controls.
Please note that verification of DKIM signatures in incoming mail is turned
-on by default for logging purposes. For each signature in incoming email,
+on by default for logging (in the <= line) purposes.
+
+Additional log detail can be enabled using the &%dkim_verbose%& log_selector.
+When set, for each signature in incoming email,
exim will log a line displaying the most important signature details, and the
signature status. Here is an example (with line-breaks added for clarity):
.code
c=relaxed/relaxed a=rsa-sha1
i=@facebookmail.com t=1252484542 [verification succeeded]
.endd
+
You might want to turn off DKIM verification processing entirely for internal
or relay mail sources. To do that, set the &%dkim_disable_verify%& ACL
control modifier. This should typically be done in the RCPT ACL, at points
.section "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 says:
+.code
+rsa-sha1 MUST NOT be used for signing or verifying.
+
+Signers MUST use RSA keys of at least 1024 bits for all keys.
+Signers SHOULD use RSA keys of at least 2048 bits.
+.endd
+
+Note also that the key content (the 'p=' field)
+in the DNS record is different between RSA and EC keys;
+for the former it is the base64 of the ASN.1 for the RSA public key
+(equivalent to the private-key .pem with the header/trailer stripped)
+but for EC keys it is the base64 of the pure key; no ASN.1 wrapping.
+
Signing is enabled by setting private options on the SMTP transport.
These options take (expandable) strings as arguments.
-.option dkim_domain smtp string&!! unset
-MANDATORY:
-The domain you want to sign with. The result of this expanded
-option is put into the &%$dkim_domain%& expansion variable.
-
-.option dkim_selector smtp string&!! unset
-MANDATORY:
-This sets the key selector string. You can use the &%$dkim_domain%& expansion
-variable to look up a matching selector. The result is put in the expansion
+.option dkim_domain smtp string list&!! unset
+The domain(s) you want to sign with.
+After expansion, this can be a list.
+Each element in turn is put into the &%$dkim_domain%& expansion variable
+while expanding the remaining signing options.
+If it is empty after expansion, DKIM signing is not done,
+and no error will result even if &%dkim_strict%& is set.
+
+.option dkim_selector smtp string list&!! unset
+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
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,
+and no error will result even if &%dkim_strict%& is set.
.option dkim_private_key smtp string&!! unset
-MANDATORY:
-This sets the private key to use. You can use the &%$dkim_domain%& and
+This sets the private key to use.
+You can use the &%$dkim_domain%& and
&%$dkim_selector%& expansion variables to determine the private key to use.
The result can either
.ilist
-be a valid RSA private key in ASCII armor, including line breaks.
+be a valid RSA private key in ASCII armor (.pem file), including line breaks
+.next
+with GnuTLS 3.6.0 or OpenSSL 1.1.1 or later,
+be a valid Ed25519 private key (same format as above)
.next
start with a slash, in which case it is treated as a file that contains
-the private key.
+the private key
.next
be "0", "false" or the empty string, in which case the message will not
be signed. This case will not result in an error, even if &%dkim_strict%&
is set.
.endlist
+To generate keys under OpenSSL:
+.code
+openssl genrsa -out dkim_rsa.private 2048
+openssl rsa -in dkim_rsa.private -out /dev/stdout -pubout -outform PEM
+.endd
+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.
+
+Under GnuTLS:
+.code
+certtool --generate-privkey --rsa --bits=2048 --password='' -8 --outfile=dkim_rsa.private
+certtool --load-privkey=dkim_rsa.private --pubkey-info
+.endd
+
+Note that 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
+
+Support for EC keys is being developed under
+&url(https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-dcrup-dkim-crypto/).
+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)
+for some transition period.
+The "_CRYPTO_SIGN_ED25519" macro will be defined if support is present
+for EC keys.
+
+OpenSSL 1.1.1 and GnuTLS 3.6.0 can create Ed25519 private keys:
+.code
+openssl genpkey -algorithm ed25519 -out dkim_ed25519.private
+certtool --generate-privkey --key-type=ed25519 --outfile=dkim_ed25519.private
+.endd
+
+To produce the required public key value for a DNS record:
+.code
+openssl pkey -outform DER -pubout -in dkim_ed25519.private | tail -c +13 | base64
+certtool --load_privkey=dkim_ed25519.private --pubkey_info --outder | tail -c +13 | base64
+.endd
+
+Note that the format
+of Ed25519 keys in DNS has not yet been decided; this release supports
+both of the leading candidates at this time, a future release will
+probably drop support for whichever proposal loses.
+
+.option dkim_hash smtp string&!! sha256
+Can be set to any one of the supported hash methods, which are:
+.ilist
+&`sha1`& &-- should not be used, is old and insecure
+.next
+&`sha256`& &-- the default
+.next
+&`sha512`& &-- possibly more secure but less well supported
+.endlist
+
+Note that RFC 8301 says:
+.code
+rsa-sha1 MUST NOT be used for signing or verifying.
+.endd
+
+.option dkim_identity smtp string&!! unset
+If set after expansion, the value is used to set an "i=" tag in
+the signing header. The DKIM standards restrict the permissible
+syntax of this optional tag to a mail address, with possibly-empty
+local part, an @, and a domain identical to or subdomain of the "d="
+tag value. Note that Exim does not check the value.
+
.option dkim_canon smtp string&!! unset
-OPTIONAL:
This option sets the canonicalization method used when signing a message.
The DKIM RFC currently supports two methods: "simple" and "relaxed".
The option defaults to "relaxed" when unset. Note: the current implementation
-only supports using the same canonicalization method for both headers and body.
+only supports signing with the same canonicalization method for both headers and body.
.option dkim_strict smtp string&!! unset
-OPTIONAL:
This option defines how Exim behaves when signing a message that
should be signed fails for some reason. When the expansion evaluates to
either "1" or "true", Exim will defer. Otherwise Exim will send the message
unsigned. You can use the &%$dkim_domain%& and &%$dkim_selector%& expansion
variables here.
-.option dkim_sign_headers smtp string&!! unset
-OPTIONAL:
-When set, this option must expand to (or be specified as) a colon-separated
-list of header names. Headers with these names will be included in the message
-signature. When unspecified, the header names recommended in RFC4871 will be
-used.
+.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
+in the message signature.
+When unspecified, the header names listed in RFC4871 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".
+
+If a name is repeated, multiple headers by that name (or the absence thereof)
+will be signed. The textually later headers in the headers part of the
+message are signed first, if there are multiples.
+
+A name can be prefixed with either an '=' or a '+' character.
+If an '=' prefix is used, all headers that are present with this name
+will be signed.
+If a '+' prefix if used, all headers that are present with this name
+will be signed, and one signature added for a missing header with the
+name will be appended.
+.new
+.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.
+
+RFC 6376 lists these tags as RECOMMENDED.
+.wen
-.section "Verifying DKIM signatures in incoming mail" "SECID514"
+
+.section "Verifying DKIM signatures in incoming mail" "SECDKIMVFY"
.cindex "DKIM" "verification"
-Verification of DKIM signatures in SMTP incoming email is implemented via the
-&%acl_smtp_dkim%& ACL. By default, this ACL is called once for each
+.new
+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 authentication "expansion item"
+Performing verification sets up information used by the
+&$authresults$& expansion item.
+.wen
+
+.new The results of that verification are then made available to the
+&%acl_smtp_dkim%& ACL, &new(which can examine and modify them).
+By default, this ACL is called once for each
syntactically(!) correct signature in the incoming message.
A missing ACL definition defaults to accept.
If any ACL call does not accept, the message is not accepted.
-If a cutthrough delivery was in progress for the message it is
+If a cutthrough delivery was in progress for the message, that is
summarily dropped (having wasted the transmission effort).
-To evaluate the signature in the ACL a large number of expansion variables
+To evaluate the &new(verification result) in the ACL
+a large number of expansion variables
containing the signature status and its details are set up during the
runtime of the ACL.
If a domain or identity is listed several times in the (expanded) value of
&%dkim_verify_signers%&, the ACL is only called once for that domain or identity.
+If multiple signatures match a domain (or identity), the ACL is called once
+for each matching signature.
+
Inside the &%acl_smtp_dkim%&, the following expansion variables are
available (from most to least important):
&%dkim_verify_signers%& (see above).
.vitem &%$dkim_verify_status%&
-A string describing the general status of the signature. One of
+Within the DKIM ACL,
+a string describing the general status of the signature. One of
.ilist
&%none%&: There is no signature in the message for the current domain or
identity (as reflected by &%$dkim_cur_signer%&).
&%pass%&: The signature passed verification. It is valid.
.endlist
+This variable can be overwritten using an ACL 'set' modifier.
+This might, for instance, be done to enforce a policy restriction on
+hash-method or key-size:
+.code
+ warn condition = ${if eq {$dkim_verify_status}{pass}}
+ condition = ${if eq {${length_3:$dkim_algo}}{rsa}}
+ condition = ${if or {{eq {$dkim_algo}{rsa-sha1}} \
+ {< {$dkim_key_length}{1024}}}}
+ logwrite = NOTE: forcing DKIM verify fail (was pass)
+ set dkim_verify_status = fail
+ set dkim_verify_reason = hash too weak or key too short
+.endd
+
+So long as a DKIM ACL is defined (it need do no more than accept),
+after all the DKIM ACL runs have completed, the value becomes a
+colon-separated list of the values after each run.
+This is maintained for the mime, prdr and data ACLs.
+
.vitem &%$dkim_verify_reason%&
A string giving a little bit more detail when &%$dkim_verify_status%& is either
"fail" or "invalid". One of
DKIM verification. It may of course also mean that the signature is forged.
.endlist
+This variable can be overwritten, with any value, using an ACL 'set' modifier.
+
.vitem &%$dkim_domain%&
The signing domain. IMPORTANT: This variable is only populated if there is
an actual signature in the message for the current domain or identity (as
.vitem &%$dkim_algo%&
The algorithm used. One of 'rsa-sha1' or 'rsa-sha256'.
+If running under GnuTLS 3.6.0 or OpenSSL 1.1.1 or later,
+may also be 'ed25519-sha256'.
+The "_CRYPTO_SIGN_ED25519" macro will be defined if support is present
+for EC keys.
+
+Note that RFC 8301 says:
+.code
+rsa-sha1 MUST NOT be used for signing or verifying.
+
+DKIM signatures identified as having been signed with historic
+algorithms (currently, rsa-sha1) have permanently failed evaluation
+.endd
+
+To enforce this you must have a DKIM ACL which checks this variable
+and overwrites the &$dkim_verify_status$& variable as discussed above.
.vitem &%$dkim_canon_body%&
The body canonicalization method. One of 'relaxed' or 'simple'.
-.vitem &%dkim_canon_headers%&
+.vitem &%$dkim_canon_headers%&
The header canonicalization method. One of 'relaxed' or 'simple'.
.vitem &%$dkim_copiedheaders%&
A transcript of headers and their values which are included in the signature
(copied from the 'z=' tag of the signature).
-.new
Note that RFC6376 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.
-.wen
.vitem &%$dkim_bodylength%&
The number of signed body bytes. If zero ("0"), the body is unsigned. If no
limit was set by the signer, "9999999999999" is returned. This makes sure
that this variable always expands to an integer value.
+.new
+&*Note:*& The presence of the signature tag specifying a signing body length
+is one possible route to spoofing of valid DKIM signatures.
+A paranoid implementation might wish to regard signature where this variable
+shows less than the "no limit" return as being invalid.
+.wen
.vitem &%$dkim_created%&
UNIX timestamp reflecting the date and time when the signature was created.
signature to be treated as "expired". When this was not specified by the
signer, "9999999999999" is returned. This makes it possible to do useful
integer size comparisons against this value.
+Note that Exim does not check this value.
.vitem &%$dkim_headernames%&
A colon-separated list of names of headers included in the signature.
.vitem &%$dkim_key_length%&
Number of bits in the key.
+
+Note that RFC 8301 says:
+.code
+Verifiers MUST NOT consider signatures using RSA keys of
+less than 1024 bits as valid signatures.
+.endd
+
+To enforce this you must have a DKIM ACL which checks this variable
+and overwrites the &$dkim_verify_status$& variable as discussed above.
+As EC keys are much smaller, the check should only do this for RSA keys.
+
.endlist
In addition, two ACL conditions are provided:
dkim_status = none
.endd
-.new
Note that the above does not check for a total lack of DKIM signing;
for that check for empty &$h_DKIM-Signature:$& in the data ACL.
-.wen
.vitem &%dkim_status%&
ACL condition that checks a colon-separated list of possible DKIM verification
for more information of what they mean.
.endlist
+
+
+
+.section "SPF (Sender Policy Framework)" SECSPF
+.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.
+For more information on SPF see &url(http://www.openspf.org).
+. --- 2018-09-07: still not https
+
+Messages sent by a system not authorised will fail checking of such assertions.
+This includes retransmissions done by traditional forwarders.
+
+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/).
+There is no Exim involvement in the transmission of messages;
+publishing certain DNS records is all that is required.
+
+For verification, an ACL condition and an expansion lookup are provided.
+.cindex authentication "expansion item"
+Performing verification sets up information used by the
+&$authresults$& expansion item.
+
+
+.cindex SPF "ACL condition"
+.cindex ACL "spf condition"
+The ACL condition "spf" can be used at or after the MAIL ACL.
+It takes as an argument a list of strings giving the outcome of the SPF check,
+and will succeed for any matching outcome.
+Valid strings are:
+.vlist
+.vitem &%pass%&
+The SPF check passed, the sending host is positively verified by SPF.
+
+.vitem &%fail%&
+The SPF check failed, the sending host is NOT allowed to send mail for the
+domain in the envelope-from address.
+
+.vitem &%softfail%&
+The SPF check failed, but the queried domain can't absolutely confirm that this
+is a forgery.
+
+.vitem &%none%&
+The queried domain does not publish SPF records.
+
+.vitem &%neutral%&
+The SPF check returned a "neutral" state. This means the queried domain has
+published a SPF record, but wants to allow outside servers to send mail under
+its domain as well. This should be treated like "none".
+
+.vitem &%permerror%&
+This indicates a syntax error in the SPF record of the queried domain.
+You may deny messages when this occurs.
+
+.vitem &%temperror%&
+This indicates a temporary error during all processing, including Exim's
+SPF processing. You may defer messages when this occurs.
+.endlist
+
+You can prefix each string with an exclamation mark to invert
+its meaning, for example "!fail" will match all results but
+"fail". The string list is evaluated left-to-right, in a
+short-circuit fashion.
+
+Example:
+.code
+deny spf = fail
+ message = $sender_host_address is not allowed to send mail from \
+ ${if def:sender_address_domain \
+ {$sender_address_domain}{$sender_helo_name}}. \
+ Please see http://www.openspf.org/Why?scope=\
+ ${if def:sender_address_domain {mfrom}{helo}};\
+ identity=${if def:sender_address_domain \
+ {$sender_address}{$sender_helo_name}};\
+ ip=$sender_host_address
+.endd
+
+When the spf condition has run, it sets up several expansion
+variables:
+
+.cindex SPF "verification variables"
+.vlist
+.vitem &$spf_header_comment$&
+.vindex &$spf_header_comment$&
+ This contains a human-readable string describing the outcome
+ of the SPF check. You can add it to a custom header or use
+ it for logging purposes.
+
+.vitem &$spf_received$&
+.vindex &$spf_received$&
+ This contains a complete Received-SPF: header that can be
+ added to the message. Please note that according to the SPF
+ draft, this header must be added at the top of the header
+ list. Please see section 10 on how you can do this.
+
+ Note: in case of "Best-guess" (see below), the convention is
+ to put this string in a header called X-SPF-Guess: instead.
+
+.vitem &$spf_result$&
+.vindex &$spf_result$&
+ This contains the outcome of the SPF check in string form,
+ one of pass, fail, softfail, none, neutral, permerror or
+ temperror.
+
+.vitem &$spf_result_guessed$&
+.vindex &$spf_result_guessed$&
+ This boolean is true only if a best-guess operation was used
+ and required in order to obtain a result.
+
+.vitem &$spf_smtp_comment$&
+.vindex &$spf_smtp_comment$&
+ This contains a string that can be used in a SMTP response
+ to the calling party. Useful for "fail".
+.endlist
+
+
+.cindex SPF "ACL condition"
+.cindex ACL "spf_guess condition"
+.cindex SPF "best guess"
+In addition to SPF, you can also perform checks for so-called
+"Best-guess". Strictly speaking, "Best-guess" is not standard
+SPF, but it is supported by the same framework that enables SPF
+capability.
+Refer to &url(http://www.openspf.org/FAQ/Best_guess_record)
+for a description of what it means.
+. --- 2018-09-07: still not https:
+
+To access this feature, simply use the spf_guess condition in place
+of the spf one. For example:
+
+.code
+deny spf_guess = fail
+ message = $sender_host_address doesn't look trustworthy to me
+.endd
+
+In case you decide to reject messages based on this check, you
+should note that although it uses the same framework, "Best-guess"
+is not SPF, and therefore you should not mention SPF at all in your
+reject message.
+
+When the spf_guess condition has run, it sets up the same expansion
+variables as when spf condition is run, described above.
+
+Additionally, since Best-guess is not standardized, you may redefine
+what "Best-guess" means to you by redefining the main configuration
+&%spf_guess%& option.
+For example, the following:
+
+.code
+spf_guess = v=spf1 a/16 mx/16 ptr ?all
+.endd
+
+would relax host matching rules to a broader network range.
+
+
+.cindex SPF "lookup expansion"
+.cindex lookup spf
+A lookup expansion is also available. It takes an email
+address as the key and an IP address as the database:
+
+.code
+ ${lookup {username@domain} spf {ip.ip.ip.ip}}
+.endd
+
+The lookup will return the same result strings as can appear in
+&$spf_result$& (pass,fail,softfail,neutral,none,err_perm,err_temp).
+Currently, only IPv4 addresses are supported.
+
+
+
+
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
To include this support, include &"SUPPORT_PROXY=yes"&
in Local/Makefile.
-It was built on specifications from:
-http://haproxy.1wt.eu/download/1.5/doc/proxy-protocol.txt
-That URL was revised in May 2014 to version 2 spec:
-http://git.1wt.eu/web?p=haproxy.git;a=commitdiff;h=afb768340c9d7e50d8e
+It was built on the HAProxy specification, found at
+&url(https://www.haproxy.org/download/1.8/doc/proxy-protocol.txt).
The purpose of this facility is so that an application load balancer,
such as HAProxy, can sit in front of several Exim servers
Use of a proxy is enabled by setting the &%hosts_proxy%&
main configuration option to a hostlist; connections from these
hosts will use Proxy Protocol.
+Exim supports both version 1 and version 2 of the Proxy Protocol and
+automatically determines which version is in use.
+
+The Proxy Protocol header is the first data received on a TCP connection
+and is inserted before any TLS-on-connect handshake from the client; Exim
+negotiates TLS between Exim-as-server and the remote client, not between
+Exim and the proxy server.
-.new
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
+&'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
If &$proxy_session$& is set but &$proxy_external_address$& is empty
there was a protocol error.
-.wen
Since the real connections are all coming from the proxy, and the
per host connection tracking is done before Proxy Protocol is
.cindex internationalisation "email address"
.cindex EAI
.cindex i18n
-.cindex UTF-8 "mail name handling"
+.cindex utf8 "mail name handling"
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.
+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
+requirement, upon libidn2.
+
.section "MTA operations" SECTi18nMTA
.cindex SMTPUTF8 "ESMTP option"
The main configuration option &%smtputf8_advertise_hosts%& specifies
.cindex log protocol
.cindex SMTPUTF8 logging
+.cindex i18n logging
Log lines and Received-by: header lines will acquire a "utf8"
prefix on the protocol element, eg. utf8esmtp.
${utf8_localpart_from_alabel:str}
.endd
-ACLs may use the following modifier:
+.cindex utf8 "address downconversion"
+.cindex i18n "utf8 address downconversion"
+The RCPT ACL
+may use the following modifier:
.display
control = utf8_downconvert
control = utf8_downconvert/<value>
If mua_wrapper is set, the utf8_downconvert control
is initially set to -1.
+.new
+The smtp transport has an option &%utf8_downconvert%&.
+If set it must expand to one of the three values described above,
+and it overrides any previously set value.
+.wen
+
There is no explicit support for VRFY and EXPN.
Configurations supporting these should inspect
or &%headers_charset%& main configuration option (otherwise),
to the
modified UTF-7 encoding specified by RFC 2060,
-with the following exception: All occurences of <sep>
+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
<sep> and are not in the <specials> string are BASE64 encoded.
.cindex events
The events mechanism in Exim can be used to intercept processing at a number
-of points. It was originally invented to giave a way to do customised logging
+of points. It was originally invented to give a way to do customised logging
actions (for example, to a database) but can also be used to modify some
processing actions.
The current list of events is:
.display
+&`dane:fail after transport `& per connection
&`msg:complete after main `& per message
&`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 attempt
-&`msg:fail:delivery after main `& per recipient
+&`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
before or after the action is associates with. Those which fire before
can be used to affect that action (more on this below).
+The third column in the table above says what section of the configuration
+should define the event action.
+
An additional variable, &$event_data$&, is filled with information varying
with the event type:
.display
-&`msg:delivery `& smtp confirmation mssage
+&`dane:fail `& failure reason
+&`msg:delivery `& smtp confirmation message
+&`msg:fail:internal `& failure reason
+&`msg:fail:delivery `& smtp error message
&`msg:rcpt:host:defer `& error string
&`msg:rcpt:defer `& error string
&`msg:host:defer `& error string
The :defer events populate one extra variable: &$event_defer_errno$&.
For complex operations an ACL expansion can be used in &%event_action%&
-however due to the multiple contextx that Exim operates in during
+however due to the multiple contexts that Exim operates in during
the course of its processing:
.ilist
variables set in transport events will not be visible outside that
return an empty string. Should it return anything else the
following will be forced:
.display
-&`msg:delivery `& (ignored)
-&`msg:host:defer `& (ignored)
-&`msg:fail:delivery`& (ignored)
&`tcp:connect `& do not connect
-&`tcp:close `& (ignored)
&`tls:cert `& refuse verification
&`smtp:connect `& close connection
.endd
-No other use is made of the result string.
+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