-. $Cambridge: exim/doc/doc-docbook/spec.xfpt,v 1.88 2010/06/14 18:51:09 pdp Exp $
-.
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
. This is the primary source of the Exim Manual. It is an xfpt document that is
. converted into DocBook XML for subsequent conversion into printing and online
. the <bookinfo> element must also be updated for each new edition.
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-.set previousversion "4.72"
-.set version "4.73"
+.set previousversion "4.75"
+.set version "4.77"
.set ACL "access control lists (ACLs)"
.set I " "
<bookinfo>
<title>Specification of the Exim Mail Transfer Agent</title>
<titleabbrev>The Exim MTA</titleabbrev>
-<date>29 May 2010</date>
+<date>06 May 2011</date>
<author><firstname>Exim</firstname><surname>Maintainers</surname></author>
<authorinitials>EM</authorinitials>
<revhistory><revision>
- <revnumber>4.73</revnumber>
- <date>19 Nov 2010</date>
+ <revnumber>4.77</revnumber>
+ <date>10 Oct 2011</date>
<authorinitials>EM</authorinitials>
</revision></revhistory>
-<copyright><year>2009</year><holder>University of Cambridge</holder></copyright>
+<copyright><year>2011</year><holder>University of Cambridge</holder></copyright>
</bookinfo>
.literal off
.section "Exim documentation" "SECID1"
. Keep this example change bar when updating the documentation!
+
.new
.cindex "documentation"
This edition of the Exim specification applies to version &version; of Exim.
The following Exim mailing lists exist:
.table2 140pt
+.row &'exim-announce@exim.org'& "Moderated, low volume announcements list"
.row &'exim-users@exim.org'& "General discussion list"
.row &'exim-dev@exim.org'& "Discussion of bugs, enhancements, etc."
-.row &'exim-announce@exim.org'& "Moderated, low volume announcements list"
-.row &'exim-future@exim.org'& "Discussion of long-term development"
+.row &'exim-cvs@exim.org'& "Automated commit messages from the VCS"
.endtable
You can subscribe to these lists, change your existing subscriptions, and view
-
.section "Permanent delivery failure" "SECID21"
.cindex "delivery" "permanent failure"
.cindex "bounce message" "when generated"
.section "Use of tcpwrappers" "SECID27"
-.new
+
.cindex "tcpwrappers, building Exim to support"
.cindex "USE_TCP_WRAPPERS"
.cindex "TCP_WRAPPERS_DAEMON_NAME"
in &_Local/Makefile_&, or by setting tcp_wrappers_daemon_name in the
configure file. Consult the &'tcpwrappers'& documentation for
further details.
-.wen
.section "Including support for IPv6" "SECID28"
The same output is generated if the Exim binary is called with no options and
no arguments.
-.new
.vitem &%--version%&
.oindex "&%--version%&"
This option is an alias for &%-bV%& and causes version information to be
displayed.
-.wen
.vitem &%-B%&<&'type'&>
.oindex "&%-B%&"
Exim behaves in exactly the same way as it does when receiving a message via
the listening daemon.
-.new
.vitem &%-bmalware%&&~<&'filename'&>
.oindex "&%-bmalware%&"
.cindex "testing", "malware"
The &%-bmalware%& option will not be extended to be more generally useful,
there are better tools for file-scanning. This option exists to help
administrators verify their Exim and AV scanner configuration.
-.wen
.vitem &%-bt%&
.oindex "&%-bt%&"
than a recipient address. This affects any rewriting and qualification that
might happen.
-.new
.vitem &%-C%&&~<&'filelist'&>
.oindex "&%-C%&"
.cindex "configuration file" "alternate"
caller is privileged, or unless it is an exotic configuration that does not
require privilege. No check is made on the owner or group of the files
specified by this option.
-.wen
-.new
+
.vitem &%-D%&<&'macro'&>=<&'value'&>
.oindex "&%-D%&"
.cindex "macro" "setting on command line"
exim '-D ABC = something' ...
.endd
&%-D%& may be repeated up to 10 times on a command line.
-.wen
+
.vitem &%-d%&<&'debug&~options'&>
.oindex "&%-d%&"
give a colon-separated list of file names, in which case Exim uses the first
existing file in the list.
-.new
.cindex "EXIM_USER"
.cindex "EXIM_GROUP"
.cindex "CONFIGURE_OWNER"
CONFIGURE_FILE is a list, no default is automatically installed. Chapter
&<<CHAPdefconfil>>& is a &"walk-through"& discussion of the default
configuration.
-.wen
+
.section "Using a different configuration file" "SECID40"
If DISABLE_D_OPTION is defined in &_Local/Makefile_&, the use of &%-D%& is
completely disabled, and its use causes an immediate error exit.
-.new
The WHITELIST_D_MACROS option in &_Local/Makefile_& permits the binary builder
to declare certain macro names trusted, such that root privilege will not
necessarily be discarded.
is root, the Exim run-time user, or the CONFIGURE_OWNER, if set. This is a
transition mechanism and is expected to be removed in the future. Acceptable
values for the macros satisfy the regexp: &`^[A-Za-z0-9_/.-]*$`&
-.wen
Some sites may wish to use the same Exim binary on different machines that
share a file system, but to use different configuration files on each machine.
secure (encrypted) LDAP connections. The second of these ensures that an
encrypted TLS connection is used.
+With sufficiently modern LDAP libraries, Exim supports forcing TLS over regular
+LDAP connections, rather than the SSL-on-connect &`ldaps`&.
+See the &%ldap_start_tls%& option.
+
.section "LDAP quoting" "SECID68"
.cindex "LDAP" "quoting"
chapter &<<CHAPfdlookup>>&. For example:
.code
hold_domains = mysql;select domain from holdlist \
- where domain = '$domain';
+ where domain = '${quote_mysql:$domain}';
.endd
In most cases, the data that is looked up is not used (so for an SQL query, for
example, it doesn't matter what field you select). Exim is interested only in
random().
-.new
.vitem &*${reverse_ip:*&<&'ipaddr'&>&*}*&
.cindex "expansion" "IP address"
This operator reverses an IP address; for IPv4 addresses, the result is in
.code
4.2.0.192 and 3.0.2.0.0.0.0.c.d.c.b.a.1.0.0.0.9.0.0.0.2.4.c.0.8.b.d.0.1.0.0.2
.endd
-.wen
.vitem &*${rfc2047:*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
zero.
-.new
.vitem &*bool&~{*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.cindex "expansion" "boolean parsing"
.cindex "&%bool%& expansion condition"
.code
${if bool{$acl_m_privileged_sender} ...
.endd
-.wen
.vitem &*bool_lax&~{*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
includes the case of letters, whereas for &%gti%& the comparison is
case-independent.
+.new
+.vitem &*inlist&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*& &&&
+ &*inlisti&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*&
+.cindex "string" "comparison"
+.cindex "list" "iterative conditions"
+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.
+
+These are simpler to use versions of the more powerful &*forany*& condition.
+Examples, and the &*forany*& equivalents:
+.code
+${if inlist{needle}{foo:needle:bar}}
+ ${if forany{foo:needle:bar}{eq{$item}{needle}}}
+${if inlisti{Needle}{fOo:NeeDLE:bAr}}
+ ${if forany{fOo:NeeDLE:bAr}{eqi{$item}{Needle}}}
+.endd
+.wen
+
.vitem &*isip&~{*&<&'string'&>&*}*& &&&
&*isip4&~{*&<&'string'&>&*}*& &&&
&*isip6&~{*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
.vitem &*match_ip&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*&
.cindex "&%match_ip%& expansion condition"
+.new
This condition matches an IP address to a list of IP address patterns. It must
be followed by two argument strings. The first (after expansion) must be an IP
-address or an empty string. The second (after expansion) is a restricted host
+address or an empty string. The second (not expanded) is a restricted host
list that can match only an IP address, not a host name. For example:
+.wen
.code
${if match_ip{$sender_host_address}{1.2.3.4:5.6.7.8}{...}{...}}
.endd
.endd
.endlist ilist
+.new
+Note that <&'string2'&> is not itself subject to string expansion, unless
+Exim was built with the EXPAND_LISTMATCH_RHS option.
+.wen
+
Consult section &<<SECThoslispatip>>& for further details of these patterns.
.vitem &*match_local_part&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*&
have their local parts matched casefully. Domains are always matched
caselessly.
+.new
+Note that <&'string2'&> is not itself subject to string expansion, unless
+Exim was built with the EXPAND_LISTMATCH_RHS option.
+.wen
+
&*Note*&: Host lists are &'not'& supported in this way. This is because
hosts have two identities: a name and an IP address, and it is not clear
how to specify cleanly how such a test would work. However, IP addresses can be
negative response to an AUTH command, including (for example) an attempt to use
an undefined mechanism.
+.new
+.vitem &$av_failed$&
+.cindex "content scanning" "AV scanner failure"
+This variable is available when Exim is compiled with the content-scanning
+extension. It is set to &"0"& by default, but will be set to &"1"& if any
+problem occurs with the virus scanner (specified by &%av_scanner%&) during
+the ACL malware condition.
+.wen
+
.vitem &$body_linecount$&
.cindex "message body" "line count"
.cindex "body of message" "line count"
.cindex "binary zero" "in message body"
.vindex "&$body_zerocount$&"
When a message is being received or delivered, this variable contains the
-number of binary zero bytes in the message's body.
+number of binary zero bytes (ASCII NULs) in the message's body.
.vitem &$bounce_recipient$&
.vindex "&$bounce_recipient$&"
routers, and transports run) the count is increased to include the
&'Received:'& header line that Exim standardly adds, and also any other header
lines that are added by ACLs. The blank line that separates the message header
-from the body is not counted. Here is an example of the use of this variable in
-a DATA ACL:
+from the body is not counted.
+
+As with the special case of &$message_size$&, during the expansion of the
+appendfile transport's maildir_tag option in maildir format, the value of
+&$message_linecount$& is the precise size of the number of newlines in the
+file that has been written (minus one for the blank line between the
+header and the body).
+
+Here is an example of the use of this variable in a DATA ACL:
.code
deny message = Too many lines in message header
condition = \
.section "Data lookups" "SECID101"
.table2
.row &%ibase_servers%& "InterBase servers"
+.row &%ldap_ca_cert_dir%& "dir of CA certs to verify LDAP server's"
+.row &%ldap_ca_cert_file%& "file of CA certs to verify LDAP server's"
+.row &%ldap_cert_file%& "client cert file for LDAP"
+.row &%ldap_cert_key%& "client key file for LDAP"
+.row &%ldap_cipher_suite%& "TLS negotiation preference control"
.row &%ldap_default_servers%& "used if no server in query"
+.row &%ldap_require_cert%& "action to take without LDAP server cert"
+.row &%ldap_start_tls%& "require TLS within LDAP"
.row &%ldap_version%& "set protocol version"
.row &%lookup_open_max%& "lookup files held open"
.row &%mysql_servers%& "default MySQL servers"
.row &%dns_ipv4_lookup%& "only v4 lookup for these domains"
.row &%dns_retrans%& "parameter for resolver"
.row &%dns_retry%& "parameter for resolver"
+.row &%dns_use_edns0%& "parameter for resolver"
.row &%hold_domains%& "hold delivery for these domains"
.row &%local_interfaces%& "for routing checks"
.row &%queue_domains%& "no immediate delivery for these"
&%ignore_bounce_errors_after%&. It is retained for compatibility, but it is not
thought to be very useful any more, and its use should probably be avoided.
+
.option av_scanner main string "see below"
This option is available if Exim is built with the content-scanning extension.
It specifies which anti-virus scanner to use. The default value is:
before use. See section &<<SECTscanvirus>>& for further details.
-
.option bi_command main string unset
.oindex "&%-bi%&"
This option supplies the name of a command that is run when Exim is called with
See &%dns_retrans%& above.
+.new
+.option dns_use_edns0 main integer -1
+.cindex "DNS" "resolver options"
+.cindex "DNS" "EDNS0"
+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
+on.
+
+If the resolver library does not support EDNS0 then this option has no effect.
+.wen
+
+
.option drop_cr main boolean false
This is an obsolete option that is now a no-op. It used to affect the way Exim
handled CR and LF characters in incoming messages. What happens now is
logged.
+.option ldap_ca_cert_dir main string unset
+.cindex "LDAP", "TLS CA certificate directory"
+This option indicates which directory contains CA certificates for verifying
+a TLS certificate presented by an LDAP server.
+While Exim does not provide a default value, your SSL library may.
+Analogous to &%tls_verify_certificates%& but as a client-side option for LDAP
+and constrained to be a directory.
+
+
+.option ldap_ca_cert_file main string unset
+.cindex "LDAP", "TLS CA certificate file"
+This option indicates which file contains CA certificates for verifying
+a TLS certificate presented by an LDAP server.
+While Exim does not provide a default value, your SSL library may.
+Analogous to &%tls_verify_certificates%& but as a client-side option for LDAP
+and constrained to be a file.
+
+
+.option ldap_cert_file main string unset
+.cindex "LDAP" "TLS client certificate file"
+This option indicates which file contains an TLS client certificate which
+Exim should present to the LDAP server during TLS negotiation.
+Should be used together with &%ldap_cert_key%&.
+
+
+.option ldap_cert_key main string unset
+.cindex "LDAP" "TLS client key file"
+This option indicates which file contains the secret/private key to use
+to prove identity to the LDAP server during TLS negotiation.
+Should be used together with &%ldap_cert_file%&, which contains the
+identity to be proven.
+
+
+.option ldap_cipher_suite main string unset
+.cindex "LDAP" "TLS cipher suite"
+This controls the TLS cipher-suite negotiation during TLS negotiation with
+the LDAP server. See &<<SECTreqciphssl>>& for more details of the format of
+cipher-suite options with OpenSSL (as used by LDAP client libraries).
+
+
.option ldap_default_servers main "string list" unset
.cindex "LDAP" "default servers"
This option provides a list of LDAP servers which are tried in turn when an
with LDAP support.
+.option ldap_require_cert main string unset.
+.cindex "LDAP" "policy for LDAP server TLS cert presentation"
+This should be one of the values "hard", "demand", "allow", "try" or "never".
+A value other than one of these is interpreted as "never".
+See the entry "TLS_REQCERT" in your system man page for ldap.conf(5).
+Although Exim does not set a default, the LDAP library probably defaults
+to hard/demand.
+
+
+.option ldap_start_tls main boolean false
+.cindex "LDAP" "whether or not to negotiate TLS"
+If set, Exim will attempt to negotiate TLS with the LDAP server when
+connecting on a regular LDAP port. This is the LDAP equivalent of SMTP's
+"STARTTLS". This is distinct from using "ldaps", which is the LDAP form
+of SSL-on-connect.
+In the event of failure to negotiate TLS, the action taken is controlled
+by &%ldap_require_cert%&.
+
+
.option ldap_version main integer unset
.cindex "LDAP" "protocol version, forcing"
This option can be used to force Exim to set a specific protocol version for
the generic transport option &%message_size_limit%&, which limits the size of
message that an individual transport can process.
-.new
If you use a virus-scanner and set this option to to a value larger than the
maximum size that your virus-scanner is configured to support, you may get
failures triggered by large mails. The right size to configure for the
probably safest to just set it to a little larger than this value. Eg, with a
default Exim message size of 50M and a default ClamAV StreamMaxLength of 10M,
some problems may result.
-.wen
+
+A value of 0 will disable size limit checking; Exim will still advertise the
+SIZE extension in an EHLO response, but without a limit, so as to permit
+SMTP clients to still indicate the message size along with the MAIL verb.
.option move_frozen_messages main boolean false
transport driver.
-.new
.option openssl_options main "string list" +dont_insert_empty_fragments
.cindex "OpenSSL "compatibility options"
This option allows an administrator to adjust the SSL options applied
.code
openssl_options = -all +microsoft_big_sslv3_buffer
.endd
-.wen
.option oracle_servers main "string list" unset
This specifies the transport driver that is to be used when a &%mail%& command
is used in a system filter.
-.new
+
.option system_filter_user main string unset
.cindex "uid (user id)" "system filter"
If this option is set to root, the system filter is run in the main Exim
If the system filter generates any pipe, file, or reply deliveries, the uid
under which the filter is run is used when transporting them, unless a
transport option overrides.
-.wen
.option tcp_nodelay main boolean true
If the result is any other value, the router is run (as this is the last
precondition to be evaluated, all the other preconditions must be true).
-.new
This option is unique in that multiple &%condition%& options may be present.
All &%condition%& options must succeed.
-.wen
The &%condition%& option provides a means of applying custom conditions to the
running of routers. Note that in the case of a simple conditional expansion,
.code
condition = ${if >{$message_age}{600}{true}{}}
.endd
-.new
+
A multiple condition example, which succeeds:
.code
condition = ${if >{$message_age}{600}}
condition = ${if !eq{${lc:$local_part}}{postmaster}}
condition = foobar
.endd
-.wen
+
If the expansion fails (other than forced failure) delivery is deferred. Some
of the other precondition options are common special cases that could in fact
be specified using &%condition%&.
-
.option debug_print routers string&!! unset
.cindex "testing" "variables in drivers"
If this option is set and debugging is enabled (see the &%-d%& command line
section &<<SECTmaildirdelivery>>& below.
-.option maildir_use_size_file appendfile boolean false
+.new
+.option maildir_use_size_file appendfile&!! boolean false
.cindex "maildir format" "&_maildirsize_& file"
-Setting this option true enables support for &_maildirsize_& files. Exim
+The result of string expansion for this option must be a valid boolean value.
+If it is true, it enables support for &_maildirsize_& files. Exim
creates a &_maildirsize_& file in a maildir if one does not exist, taking the
quota from the &%quota%& option of the transport. If &%quota%& is unset, the
value is zero. See &%maildir_quota_directory_regex%& above and section
&<<SECTmaildirdelivery>>& below for further details.
+.wen
.option maildirfolder_create_regex appendfile string unset
.cindex "maildir format" "&_maildirfolder_& file"
file name (even though &%maildir_tag%& puts it there) because maildir MUAs
sometimes add other information onto the ends of message file names.
+Section &<<SECID136>>& contains further information.
.option quota_warn_message appendfile string&!! "see below"
name to the point where the test &[stat()]& call fails with ENAMETOOLONG,
the tag is dropped and the maildir file is created with no tag.
+
.vindex "&$message_size$&"
Tags can be used to encode the size of files in their names; see
&%quota_size_regex%& above for an example. The expansion of &%maildir_tag%&
be deferred. The expanded tag may contain any printing characters except &"/"&.
Non-printing characters in the string are ignored; if the resulting string is
empty, it is ignored. If it starts with an alphanumeric character, a leading
-colon is inserted.
+colon is inserted; this default has not proven to be the path that popular
+maildir implementations have chosen (but changing it in Exim would break
+backwards compatibility).
+For one common implementation, you might set:
+.code
+maildir_tag = ,S=${message_size}
+.endd
+but you should check the documentation of the other software to be sure.
+
+It is advisable to also set &%quota_size_regex%& when setting &%maildir_tag%&
+as this allows Exim to extract the size from your tag, instead of having to
+&[stat()]& each message file.
.section "Using a maildirsize file" "SECID136"
logged, but are not included in the bounce message, which merely contains
&"local delivery failed"&.
+If the command exits on a signal and the &%freeze_signal%& option is set then
+the message will be frozen in the queue. If that option is not set, a bounce
+will be sent as normal.
+
If the return code is greater than 128 and the command being run is a shell
script, it normally means that the script was terminated by a signal whose
-value is the return code minus 128.
+value is the return code minus 128. The &%freeze_signal%& option does not
+apply in this case.
If Exim is unable to run the command (that is, if &[execve()]& fails), the
return code is set to 127. This is the value that a shell returns if it is
frozen, whatever the setting of &%ignore_status%&.
+.option freeze_signal pipe boolean false
+.cindex "signal exit"
+.cindex "&(pipe)& transport", "signal exit"
+Normally if the process run by a command in a pipe transport exits on a signal,
+a bounce message is sent. If &%freeze_signal%& is set, the message will be
+frozen in Exim's queue instead.
+
+
.option ignore_status pipe boolean false
If this option is true, the status returned by the subprocess that is set up to
run the command is ignored, and Exim behaves as if zero had been returned.
apply to a command specified as a transport filter.
-.new
.option permit_coredump pipe boolean false
Normally Exim inhibits core-dumps during delivery. If you have a need to get
a core-dump of a pipe command, enable this command. This enables core-dumps
resource consumption can be quite high. Note also that Exim is typically
installed as a setuid binary and most operating systems will inhibit coredumps
of these by default, so further OS-specific action may be required.
-.wen
.option pipe_as_creator pipe boolean false
.option protocol smtp string smtp
.cindex "LMTP" "over TCP/IP"
+.cindex "ssmtp protocol" "outbound"
+.cindex "TLS" "SSL-on-connect outbound"
+.vindex "&$port$&"
If this option is set to &"lmtp"& instead of &"smtp"&, the default value for
the &%port%& option changes to &"lmtp"&, and the transport operates the LMTP
protocol (RFC 2033) instead of SMTP. This protocol is sometimes used for local
deliveries into closed message stores. Exim also has support for running LMTP
over a pipe to a local process &-- see chapter &<<CHAPLMTP>>&.
+.new
+If this option is set to &"smtps"&, the default vaule 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.
+.wen
+
.option retry_include_ip_address smtp boolean true
Exim normally includes both the host name and the IP address in the key it
For &%gnutls_require_mac%&, the recognized names are SHA (synonym SHA1), and
MD5. The default list contains SHA, MD5.
-For &%gnutls_require_protocols%&, the recognized names are TLS1 and SSL3.
-The default list contains TLS1, SSL3.
+.new
+For &%gnutls_require_protocols%&, the recognized names are TLS1.2, TLS1.1,
+TLS1.0, (TLS1) and SSL3.
+The default list contains TLS1.2, TLS1.1, TLS1.0, SSL3.
+TLS1 is an alias for TLS1.0, for backwards compatibility.
+For sufficiently old versions of the GnuTLS library, TLS1.2 or TLS1.1 might
+not be supported and will not be recognised by Exim.
+.wen
In a server, the order of items in these lists is unimportant. The server
advertises the availability of all the relevant cipher suites. However, in a
your resources.
-.new
.section "The SMTP DKIM ACL" "SECTDKIMACL"
The &%acl_smtp_dkim%& ACL is available only when Exim is compiled with DKIM support
enabled (which is the default).
otherwise specified, the default action is to accept.
For details on the operation of DKIM, see chapter &<<CHID12>>&.
-.wen
.section "The SMTP MIME ACL" "SECID194"
Notice that we put back the lower cased version afterwards, assuming that
is what is wanted for subsequent tests.
-.new
+
.vitem &*control&~=&~debug/*&<&'options'&>
.cindex "&ACL;" "enabling debug logging"
.cindex "debugging" "enabling from an ACL"
control = debug/opts=+expand+acl
control = debug/tag=.$message_exim_id/opts=+expand
.endd
-.wen
+
.vitem &*control&~=&~enforce_sync*& &&&
&*control&~=&~no_enforce_sync*&
&`$local_part@$domain`& with the &%per_rcpt%& option (see below) in a RCPT
ACL.
-Internally, Exim appends the smoothing constant &'p'& and the options onto the
-lookup key because they alter the meaning of the stored data. This is not true
-for the limit &'m'&, so you can alter the configured maximum rate and Exim will
-still remember clients' past behaviour, but if you alter the other ratelimit
-parameters Exim forgets past behaviour.
+Each &%ratelimit%& condition can have up to four options. A &%per_*%& option
+specifies what Exim measures the rate of, for example messages or recipients
+or bytes. You can adjust the measurement using the &%unique=%& and/or
+&%count=%& options. You can also control when Exim updates the recorded rate
+using a &%strict%&, &%leaky%&, or &%readonly%& option. The options are
+separated by a slash, like the other parameters. They may appear in any order.
+
+Internally, Exim appends the smoothing constant &'p'& onto the lookup key with
+any options that alter the meaning of the stored data. The limit &'m'& is not
+stored, so you can alter the configured maximum rate and Exim will still
+remember clients' past behaviour. If you change the &%per_*%& mode or add or
+remove the &%unique=%& option, the lookup key changes so Exim will forget past
+behaviour. The lookup key is not affected by changes to the update mode and
+the &%count=%& option.
-Each &%ratelimit%& condition can have up to three options. One option
-specifies what Exim measures the rate of, and the second specifies how Exim
-handles excessively fast clients. The third option can be &`noupdate`&, to
-disable updating of the ratelimiting database (see section &<<rearatdat>>&).
-The options are separated by a slash, like the other parameters. They may
-appear in any order.
.section "Ratelimit options for what is being measured" "ratoptmea"
-The &%per_conn%& option limits the client's connection rate.
+.cindex "rate limiting" "per_* options"
+The &%per_conn%& option limits the client's connection rate. It is not
+normally used in the &%acl_not_smtp%&, &%acl_not_smtp_mime%&, or
+&%acl_not_smtp_start%& ACLs.
The &%per_mail%& option limits the client's rate of sending messages. This is
-the default if none of the &%per_*%& options is specified.
-
-The &%per_byte%& option limits the sender's email bandwidth. Note that it is
-best to use this option in the DATA ACL; if it is used in an earlier ACL it
-relies on the SIZE parameter specified by the client in its MAIL command,
-which may be inaccurate or completely missing. You can follow the limit &'m'&
-in the configuration with K, M, or G to specify limits in kilobytes,
-megabytes, or gigabytes, respectively.
-
-The &%per_rcpt%& option causes Exim to limit the rate at which
-recipients are accepted. To be effective, it would need to be used in
-either the &%acl_smtp_rcpt%& or the &%acl_not_smtp%& ACL. In the
-&%acl_smtp_rcpt%& ACL, the number of recipients is incremented by one.
-In the case of a locally submitted message in the &%acl_not_smtp%& ACL,
-the number of recipients is incremented by the &%$recipients_count%&
-for the entire message. Note that in either case the rate limiting
-engine will see a message with many recipients as a large high-speed
-burst.
+the default if none of the &%per_*%& options is specified. It can be used in
+&%acl_smtp_mail%&, &%acl_smtp_rcpt%&, &%acl_smtp_predata%&, &%acl_smtp_mime%&,
+&%acl_smtp_data%&, or &%acl_not_smtp%&.
+
+The &%per_byte%& option limits the sender's email bandwidth. It can be used in
+the same ACLs as the &%per_mail%& option, though it is best to use this option
+in the &%acl_smtp_mime%&, &%acl_smtp_data%& or &%acl_not_smtp%& ACLs; if it is
+used in an earlier ACL, Exim relies on the SIZE parameter given by the client
+in its MAIL command, which may be inaccurate or completely missing. You can
+follow the limit &'m'& in the configuration with K, M, or G to specify limits
+in kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes, respectively.
+
+The &%per_rcpt%& option causes Exim to limit the rate at which recipients are
+accepted. It can be used in the &%acl_smtp_rcpt%&, &%acl_smtp_predata%&,
+&%acl_smtp_mime%&, &%acl_smtp_data%&, or &%acl_smtp_rcpt%& ACLs. In
+&%acl_smtp_rcpt%& the rate is updated one recipient at a time; in the other
+ACLs the rate is updated with the total recipient count in one go. Note that
+in either case the rate limiting engine will see a message with many
+recipients as a large high-speed burst.
+
+The &%per_addr%& option is like the &%per_rcpt%& option, except it counts the
+number of different recipients that the client has sent messages to in the
+last time period. That is, if the client repeatedly sends messages to the same
+recipient, its measured rate is not increased. This option can only be used in
+&%acl_smtp_rcpt%&.
The &%per_cmd%& option causes Exim to recompute the rate every time the
-condition is processed. This can be used to limit the SMTP command rate.
-This command is essentially an alias of &%per_rcpt%& to make it clear
-that the effect is to limit the rate at which individual commands,
-rather than recipients, are accepted.
+condition is processed. This can be used to limit the rate of any SMTP
+command. If it is used in multiple ACLs it can limit the aggregate rate of
+multiple different commands.
+
+The &%count=%& option can be used to alter how much Exim adds to the client's
+measured rate. For example, the &%per_byte%& option is equivalent to
+&`per_mail/count=$message_size`&. If there is no &%count=%& option, Exim
+increases the measured rate by one (except for the &%per_rcpt%& option in ACLs
+other than &%acl_smtp_rcpt%&). The count does not have to be an integer.
+
+The &%unique=%& option is described in section &<<ratoptuniq>>& below.
-.section "Ratelimit options for handling fast clients" "ratophanfas"
+
+.section "Ratelimit update modes" "ratoptupd"
+.cindex "rate limiting" "reading data without updating"
+You can specify one of three options with the &%ratelimit%& condition to
+control when its database is updated. This section describes the &%readonly%&
+mode, and the next section describes the &%strict%& and &%leaky%& modes.
+
+If the &%ratelimit%& condition is used in &%readonly%& mode, Exim looks up a
+previously-computed rate to check against the limit.
+
+For example, you can test the client's sending rate and deny it access (when
+it is too fast) in the connect ACL. If the client passes this check then it
+can go on to send a message, in which case its recorded rate will be updated
+in the MAIL ACL. Subsequent connections from the same client will check this
+new rate.
+.code
+acl_check_connect:
+ deny ratelimit = 100 / 5m / readonly
+ log_message = RATE CHECK: $sender_rate/$sender_rate_period \
+ (max $sender_rate_limit)
+# ...
+acl_check_mail:
+ warn ratelimit = 100 / 5m / strict
+ log_message = RATE UPDATE: $sender_rate/$sender_rate_period \
+ (max $sender_rate_limit)
+.endd
+
+If Exim encounters multiple &%ratelimit%& conditions with the same key when
+processing a message then it may increase the client's measured rate more than
+it should. For example, this will happen if you check the &%per_rcpt%& option
+in both &%acl_smtp_rcpt%& and &%acl_smtp_data%&. However it's OK to check the
+same &%ratelimit%& condition multiple times in the same ACL. You can avoid any
+multiple update problems by using the &%readonly%& option on later ratelimit
+checks.
+
+The &%per_*%& options described above do not make sense in some ACLs. If you
+use a &%per_*%& option in an ACL where it is not normally permitted then the
+update mode defaults to &%readonly%& and you cannot specify the &%strict%& or
+&%leaky%& modes. In other ACLs the default update mode is &%leaky%& (see the
+next section) so you must specify the &%readonly%& option explicitly.
+
+
+.section "Ratelimit options for handling fast clients" "ratoptfast"
+.cindex "rate limiting" "strict and leaky modes"
If a client's average rate is greater than the maximum, the rate limiting
engine can react in two possible ways, depending on the presence of the
-&%strict%& or &%leaky%& options. This is independent of the other
+&%strict%& or &%leaky%& update modes. This is independent of the other
counter-measures (such as rejecting the message) that may be specified by the
-rest of the ACL. The default mode is leaky, which avoids a sender's
-over-aggressive retry rate preventing it from getting any email through.
+rest of the ACL.
-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
-of attempts to send email, which can be much higher than the maximum it is
-actually allowed. If the client is over the limit it may be subjected to
-counter-measures by the ACL until it slows down below the maximum rate. If
-the client stops attempting to send email for the time specified in the &'p'&
-parameter then its computed rate will decay exponentially to 37% of its peak
-value. You can work out the time (the number of smoothing periods) that a
-client is subjected to counter-measures after an over-limit burst with this
-formula:
-.code
- ln(peakrate/maxrate)
-.endd
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
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
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.
+
+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
+of attempts to send email, which can be much higher than the maximum it is
+actually allowed. If the client is over the limit it may be subjected to
+counter-measures by the ACL. It must slow down and allow sufficient time to
+pass that its computed rate falls below the maximum before it can send email
+again. The time (the number of smoothing periods) it must wait and not
+attempt to send mail can be calculated with this formula:
+.code
+ ln(peakrate/maxrate)
+.endd
+
+
+.section "Limiting the rate of different events" "ratoptuniq"
+.cindex "rate limiting" "counting unique events"
+The &%ratelimit%& &%unique=%& option controls a mechanism for counting the
+rate of different events. For example, the &%per_addr%& option uses this
+mechanism to count the number of different recipients that the client has
+sent messages to in the last time period; it is equivalent to
+&`per_rcpt/unique=$local_part@$domain`&. You could use this feature to
+measure the rate that a client uses different sender addresses with the
+options &`per_mail/unique=$sender_address`&.
+
+For each &%ratelimit%& key Exim stores the set of &%unique=%& values that it
+has seen for that key. The whole set is thrown away when it is older than the
+rate smoothing period &'p'&, so each different event is counted at most once
+per period. In the &%leaky%& update mode, an event that causes the client to
+go over the limit is not added to the set, in the same way that the client's
+recorded rate is not updated in the same situation.
+
+When you combine the &%unique=%& and &%readonly%& options, the specific
+&%unique=%& value is ignored, and Exim just retrieves the client's stored
+rate.
+
+The &%unique=%& mechanism needs more space in the ratelimit database than the
+other &%ratelimit%& options in order to store the event set. The number of
+unique values is potentially as large as the rate limit, so the extra space
+required increases with larger limits.
+
+The uniqueification is not perfect: there is a small probability that Exim
+will think a new event has happened before. If the sender's rate is less than
+the limit, Exim should be more than 99.9% correct. However in &%strict%& mode
+the measured rate can go above the limit, in which case Exim may under-count
+events by a significant margin. Fortunately, if the rate is high enough (2.7
+times the limit) that the false positive rate goes above 9%, then Exim will
+throw away the over-full event set before the measured rate falls below the
+limit. Therefore the only harm should be that exceptionally high sending rates
+are logged incorrectly; any countermeasures you configure will be as effective
+as intended.
+
.section "Using rate limiting" "useratlim"
Exim's other ACL facilities are used to define what counter-measures are taken
hints, the callout cache, and ratelimit data).
-.section "Reading ratelimit data without updating" "rearatdat"
-.cindex "rate limitint" "reading data without updating"
-If the &%noupdate%& option is present on a &%ratelimit%& ACL condition, Exim
-computes the rate and checks the limit as normal, but it does not update the
-saved data. This means that, in relevant ACLs, it is possible to lookup the
-existence of a specified (or auto-generated) ratelimit key without incrementing
-the ratelimit counter for that key. In order for this to be useful, another ACL
-entry must set the rate for the same key (otherwise it will always be zero).
-For example:
-.code
-acl_check_connect:
- deny ratelimit = 100 / 5m / strict / per_cmd / noupdate
- log_message = RATE: $sender_rate/$sender_rate_period \
- (max $sender_rate_limit)
-.endd
-.display
-&'... some other logic and tests...'&
-.endd
-.code
-acl_check_mail:
- warn ratelimit = 100 / 5m / strict / per_cmd
- condition = ${if le{$sender_rate}{$sender_rate_limit}}
- logwrite = RATE UPDATE: $sender_rate/$sender_rate_period \
- (max $sender_rate_limit)
-.endd
-In this example, the rate is tested and used to deny access (when it is too
-high) in the connect ACL, but the actual computation of the remembered rate
-happens later, on a per-command basis, in another ACL.
-
-
.section "Address verification" "SECTaddressverification"
.cindex "verifying address" "options for"
specialized interfaces for &"daemon"& type virus scanners, which are resident
in memory and thus are much faster.
+
.oindex "&%av_scanner%&"
You can set the &%av_scanner%& option in first part of the Exim configuration
file to specify which scanner to use, together with any additional options that
av_scanner = aveserver:/var/run/aveserver
.endd
+
.vitem &%clamd%&
.cindex "virus scanners" "clamd"
This daemon-type scanner is GPL and free. You can get it at
use the &%demime%& condition (see section &<<SECTdemimecond>>&) before the
&%malware%& condition.
-.new
Beware the interaction of Exim's &%message_size_limit%& with any size limits
imposed by your anti-virus scanner.
-.wen
Here is a very simple scanning example:
.code
&%spam%& condition for its side effects (see the variables below), you can make
it always return &"true"& by appending &`:true`& to the username.
-.new
.cindex "spam scanning" "returned variables"
When the &%spam%& condition is run, it sets up a number of expansion
variables. These variables are saved with the received message, thus they are
available for use at delivery time.
-.wen
.vlist
.vitem &$spam_score$&
because &$spam_score$& is rounded and &$spam_score_int$& is truncated.
The integer value is useful for numeric comparisons in conditions.
-
.vitem &$spam_bar$&
A string consisting of a number of &"+"& or &"-"& characters, representing the
integer part of the spam score value. A spam score of 4.4 would have a
If you do not specify anything at build time or run time, that is where the
logs are written.
-A log file path may also contain &`%D`& if datestamped log file names are in
-use &-- see section &<<SECTdatlogfil>>& below.
+A log file path may also contain &`%D`& or &`%M`& if datestamped log file names
+are in use &-- see section &<<SECTdatlogfil>>& below.
Here are some examples of possible settings:
.display
.cindex "log" "datestamped files"
Instead of cycling the main and reject log files by renaming them
periodically, some sites like to use files whose names contain a datestamp,
-for example, &_mainlog-20031225_&. The datestamp is in the form &_yyyymmdd_&.
-Exim has support for this way of working. It is enabled by setting the
-&%log_file_path%& option to a path that includes &`%D`& at the point where the
-datestamp is required. For example:
+for example, &_mainlog-20031225_&. The datestamp is in the form &_yyyymmdd_& or
+&_yyyymm_&. Exim has support for this way of working. It is enabled by setting
+the &%log_file_path%& option to a path that includes &`%D`& or &`%M`& at the
+point where the datestamp is required. For example:
.code
log_file_path = /var/spool/exim/log/%slog-%D
log_file_path = /var/log/exim-%s-%D.log
log_file_path = /var/spool/exim/log/%D-%slog
+log_file_path = /var/log/exim/%s.%M
.endd
As before, &`%s`& is replaced by &"main"& or &"reject"&; the following are
examples of names generated by the above examples:
/var/spool/exim/log/mainlog-20021225
/var/log/exim-reject-20021225.log
/var/spool/exim/log/20021225-mainlog
+/var/log/exim/main.200212
.endd
When this form of log file is specified, Exim automatically switches to new
files at midnight. It does not make any attempt to compress old logs; you
The location of the panic log is also determined by &%log_file_path%&, but it
is not datestamped, because rotation of the panic log does not make sense.
-When generating the name of the panic log, &`%D`& is removed from the string.
-In addition, if it immediately follows a slash, a following non-alphanumeric
-character is removed; otherwise a preceding non-alphanumeric character is
-removed. Thus, the three examples above would give these panic log names:
+When generating the name of the panic log, &`%D`& or &`%M`& are removed from
+the string. In addition, if it immediately follows a slash, a following
+non-alphanumeric character is removed; otherwise a preceding non-alphanumeric
+character is removed. Thus, the four examples above would give these panic
+log names:
.code
/var/spool/exim/log/paniclog
/var/log/exim-panic.log
/var/spool/exim/log/paniclog
+/var/log/exim/panic
.endd
into the Exim account from running a privileged Exim with an arbitrary
configuration file, and using it to break into other accounts.
.next
-.new
+
If a non-trusted configuration file (i.e. not the default configuration file
or one which is trusted by virtue of being listed in the TRUSTED_CONFIG_LIST
file) is specified with &%-C%&, or if macros are given with &%-D%& (but see
it re-execs to regain privilege for the delivery, the use of &%-C%& causes
privilege to be lost. However, root can test reception and delivery using two
separate commands.
-.wen
+
.next
The WHITELIST_D_MACROS build option declares some macros to be safe to override
with &%-D%& if the real uid is one of root, the Exim run-time user or the
-
.section "Root privilege" "SECID270"
.cindex "setuid"
.cindex "root privilege"
loading it.
-
.section "Use of sprintf()" "SECID279"
.cindex "&[sprintf()]&"
A large number of occurrences of &"sprintf"& in the code are actually calls to
Inside the &%acl_smtp_dkim%&, the following expansion variables are
available (from most to least important):
+
.vlist
.vitem &%$dkim_cur_signer%&
The signer that is being evaluated in this ACL run. This can be a domain or
git://git.exim.org / exim.git / blobdiff