. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
. 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
+. converted into DocBook XML for subsequent conversion into printable and online
. formats. The markup used herein is "standard" xfpt markup, with some extras.
. The markup is summarized in a file called Markup.txt.
.
.literal off
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-. This generate the outermost <book> element that wraps then entire document.
+. This generates the outermost <book> element that wraps the entire document.
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
.book
. provided in the xfpt library.
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-. --- Override the &$ flag to automatically insert a $ with the variable name
+. --- Override the &$ flag to automatically insert a $ with the variable name.
.flag &$ $& "<varname>$" "</varname>"
. --- Short flags for daggers in option headings. They will always be inside
-. --- an italic string, but we want the daggers to be roman.
+. --- an italic string, but we want the daggers to be in Roman.
.flag &!! "</emphasis>†<emphasis>"
.flag &!? "</emphasis>‡<emphasis>"
. --- A macro for the common 2-column tables. The width of the first column
. --- is suitable for the many tables at the start of the main options chapter;
-. --- the small number of other 2-column tables override it.
+. --- a small number of other 2-column tables override it.
.macro table2 196pt 254pt
.itable none 0 0 2 $1 left $2 left
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-. The <bookinfo> element is removed from the XML before processing for Ascii
+. The <bookinfo> element is removed from the XML before processing for ASCII
. output formats.
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
BSD/OS (aka BSDI), Darwin (Mac OS X), DGUX, Dragonfly, FreeBSD, GNU/Hurd,
GNU/Linux, HI-OSF (Hitachi), HI-UX, HP-UX, IRIX, MIPS RISCOS, NetBSD, OpenBSD,
OpenUNIX, QNX, SCO, SCO SVR4.2 (aka UNIX-SV), Solaris (aka SunOS5), SunOS4,
-Tru64-Unix (formerly Digital UNIX, formerly DEC-OSF1), Ultrix, and Unixware.
+Tru64-Unix (formerly Digital UNIX, formerly DEC-OSF1), Ultrix, and UnixWare.
Some of these operating systems are no longer current and cannot easily be
tested, so the configuration files may no longer work in practice.
the file &_NOTICE_&. Exim is distributed under the terms of the GNU General
Public Licence, a copy of which may be found in the file &_LICENCE_&.
-The use, supply or promotion of Exim for the purpose of sending bulk,
-unsolicited electronic mail is incompatible with the basic aims of the program,
+The use, supply, or promotion of Exim for the purpose of sending bulk,
+unsolicited electronic mail is incompatible with the basic aims of Exim,
which revolve around the free provision of a service that enhances the quality
of personal communications. The author of Exim regards indiscriminate
mass-mailing as an antisocial, irresponsible abuse of the Internet.
.cindex "documentation"
This edition of the Exim specification applies to version &version() of Exim.
Substantive changes from the &previousversion; edition are marked in some
-renditions of the document; this paragraph is so marked if the rendition is
+renditions of this document; this paragraph is so marked if the rendition is
capable of showing a change indicator.
.wen
with general Unix system administration. Although there are some discussions
and examples in places, the information is mostly organized in a way that makes
it easy to look up, rather than in a natural order for sequential reading.
-Furthermore, the manual aims to cover every aspect of Exim in detail, including
+Furthermore, this manual aims to cover every aspect of Exim in detail, including
a number of rarely-used, special-purpose features that are unlikely to be of
very wide interest.
SMTP Mail Server'& (second edition, 2007), published by UIT Cambridge
(&url(https://www.uit.co.uk/exim-book/)).
-This book also contains a chapter that gives a general introduction to SMTP and
+The 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
with the latest release of Exim. (Note that the earlier book about Exim,
published by O'Reilly, covers Exim 3, and many things have changed in Exim 4.)
.cindex "&_doc/NewStuff_&"
.cindex "&_doc/ChangeLog_&"
.cindex "change log"
-As the program develops, there may be features in newer versions that have not
+As Exim develops, there may be features in newer versions that have not
yet made it into this document, which is updated only when the most significant
digit of the fractional part of the version number changes. Specifications of
new features that are not yet in this manual are placed in the file
they are not documented in this manual. Information about experimental features
can be found in the file &_doc/experimental.txt_&.
-All changes to the program (whether new features, bug fixes, or other kinds of
+All changes to Exim (whether new features, bug fixes, or other kinds of
change) are noted briefly in the file called &_doc/ChangeLog_&.
.cindex "&_doc/spec.txt_&"
-.section "FTP and web sites" "SECID2"
-.cindex "web site"
+.section "FTP site and websites" "SECID2"
+.cindex "website"
.cindex "FTP site"
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%&
.cindex "wiki"
.cindex "FAQ"
-As well as Exim distribution tar files, the Exim web site contains a number of
+As well as Exim distribution tar files, the Exim website contains a number of
differently formatted versions of the documentation. A recent addition to the
online information is the Exim wiki (&url(https://wiki.exim.org)),
which contains what used to be a separate FAQ, as well as various other
.display
&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
+Please ask Debian-specific questions on that list and not on the general Exim
lists.
.section "Bug reports" "SECID5"
.section "Where to find the Exim distribution" "SECTavail"
.cindex "FTP site"
.cindex "HTTPS download site"
-.cindex "distribution" "ftp site"
+.cindex "distribution" "FTP site"
.cindex "distribution" "https site"
The master distribution site for the Exim distribution is
.display
Coordinator. This key will have a uid containing an email address in the
&'exim.org'& domain and will have signatures from other people, including
other Exim maintainers. We expect that the key will be in the "strong set" of
-PGP keys. There should be a trust path to that key from Nigel Metheringham's
-PGP key, a version of which can be found in the release directory in the file
-&_nigel-pubkey.asc_&. All keys used will be available in public keyserver pools,
+PGP keys. There should be a trust path to that key from the Exim Maintainer's
+PGP keys, a version of which can be found in the release directory in the file
+&_Exim-Maintainers-Keyring.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 Jeremy Harris and signed
+At the time of the 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'&.
&_exim-n.nn.tar.gz.asc_&
&_exim-n.nn.tar.bz2.asc_&
.endd
-For each released version, the log of changes is made separately available in a
+For each released version, the log of changes is made available in a
separate file in the directory &_ChangeLogs_& so that it is possible to
find out what has changed without having to download the entire distribution.
.endlist
-.section "Run time configuration" "SECID7"
-Exim's run time configuration is held in a single text file that is divided
+.section "Runtime configuration" "SECID7"
+Exim's runtime configuration is held in a single text file that is divided
into a number of sections. The entries in this file consist of keywords and
values, in the style of Smail 3 configuration files. A default configuration
file which is suitable for simple online installations is provided in the
&_/usr/sbin/sendmail_& when sending mail, but you do not need to know anything
about Sendmail in order to run Exim. For actions other than sending messages,
Sendmail-compatible options also exist, but those that produce output (for
-example, &%-bp%&, which lists the messages on the queue) do so in Exim's own
+example, &%-bp%&, which lists the messages in the queue) do so in Exim's own
format. There are also some additional options that are compatible with Smail
3, and some further options that are new to Exim. Chapter &<<CHAPcommandline>>&
documents all Exim's command line options. This information is automatically
made into the man page that forms part of the Exim distribution.
-Control of messages on the queue can be done via certain privileged command
+Control of messages in the queue can be done via certain privileged command
line options. There is also an optional monitor program called &'eximon'&,
which displays current information in an X window, and which contains a menu
interface to Exim's command line administration options.
.cindex "terminology definitions"
.cindex "body of message" "definition of"
The &'body'& of a message is the actual data that the sender wants to transmit.
-It is the last part of a message, and is separated from the &'header'& (see
+It is the last part of a message and is separated from the &'header'& (see
below) by a blank line.
.cindex "bounce message" "definition of"
.cindex "local part" "definition of"
.cindex "domain" "definition of"
-The term &'local part'&, which is taken from RFC 2822, is used to refer to that
+The term &'local part'&, which is taken from RFC 2822, is used to refer to the
part of an email address that precedes the @ sign. The part that follows the
@ sign is called the &'domain'& or &'mail domain'&.
message's envelope.
.cindex "queue" "definition of"
-The term &'queue'& is used to refer to the set of messages awaiting delivery,
+The term &'queue'& is used to refer to the set of messages awaiting delivery
because this term is in widespread use in the context of MTAs. However, in
-Exim's case the reality is more like a pool than a queue, because there is
+Exim's case, the reality is more like a pool than a queue, because there is
normally no ordering of waiting messages.
.cindex "queue runner" "definition of"
The term &'queue runner'& is used to describe a process that scans the queue
and attempts to deliver those messages whose retry times have come. This term
-is used by other MTAs, and also relates to the command &%runq%&, but in Exim
+is used by other MTAs and also relates to the command &%runq%&, but in Exim
the waiting messages are normally processed in an unpredictable order.
.cindex "spool directory" "definition of"
The term &'spool directory'& is used for a directory in which Exim keeps the
-messages on its queue &-- that is, those that it is in the process of
+messages in its queue &-- that is, those that it is in the process of
delivering. This should not be confused with the directory in which local
mailboxes are stored, which is called a &"spool directory"& by some people. In
the Exim documentation, &"spool"& is always used in the first sense.
.next
Many people have contributed code fragments, some large, some small, that were
-not covered by any specific licence requirements. It is assumed that the
+not covered by any specific license requirements. It is assumed that the
contributors are happy to see their code incorporated into Exim under the GPL.
.endlist
.section "Policy control" "SECID11"
.cindex "policy control" "overview"
Policy controls are now an important feature of MTAs that are connected to the
-Internet. Perhaps their most important job is to stop MTAs being abused as
+Internet. Perhaps their most important job is to stop MTAs from being abused as
&"open relays"& by misguided individuals who send out vast amounts of
-unsolicited junk, and want to disguise its source. Exim provides flexible
+unsolicited junk and want to disguise its source. Exim provides flexible
facilities for specifying policy controls on incoming mail:
.ilist
normally encoding numbers in base 62. However, in the Darwin operating
system (Mac OS X) and when Exim is compiled to run under Cygwin, base 36
(avoiding the use of lower case letters) is used instead, because the message
-id is used to construct file names, and the names of files in those systems are
+id is used to construct filenames, and the names of files in those systems are
not always case-sensitive.
.cindex "pid (process id)" "re-use of"
If the process runs Exim with the &%-bS%& option, the message is also read
non-interactively, but in this case the recipients are listed at the start of
the message in a series of SMTP RCPT commands, terminated by a DATA
-command. This is so-called &"batch SMTP"& format,
+command. This is called &"batch SMTP"& format,
but it isn't really SMTP. The SMTP commands are just another way of passing
envelope addresses in a non-interactive submission.
.next
qualification domain (which can be set by the &%qualify_domain%& configuration
option). For local or batch SMTP, a sender address that is passed using the
SMTP MAIL command is ignored. However, the system administrator may allow
-certain users (&"trusted users"&) to specify a different sender address
+certain users (&"trusted users"&) to specify a different sender addresses
unconditionally, or all users to specify certain forms of different sender
address. The &%-f%& option or the SMTP MAIL command is used to specify these
different addresses. See section &<<SECTtrustedadmin>>& for details of trusted
users to change sender addresses.
Messages received by either of the non-interactive mechanisms are subject to
-checking by the non-SMTP ACL, if one is defined. Messages received using SMTP
-(either over TCP/IP, or interacting with a local process) can be checked by a
+checking by the non-SMTP ACL if one is defined. Messages received using SMTP
+(either over TCP/IP or interacting with a local process) can be checked by a
number of ACLs that operate at different times during the SMTP session. Either
-individual recipients, or the entire message, can be rejected if local policy
+individual recipients or the entire message can be rejected if local policy
requirements are not met. The &[local_scan()]& function (see chapter
&<<CHAPlocalscan>>&) is run for all incoming messages.
file containing the envelope and header, and &`-D`& for the data file.
.cindex "spool directory" "&_input_& sub-directory"
-By default all these message files are held in a single directory called
+By default, all these message files are held in a single directory called
&_input_& inside the general Exim spool directory. Some operating systems do
not perform very well if the number of files in a directory gets large; to
improve performance in such cases, the &%split_spool_directory%& option can be
A message remains in the spool directory until it is completely delivered to
its recipients or to an error address, or until it is deleted by an
administrator or by the user who originally created it. In cases when delivery
-cannot proceed &-- for example, when a message can neither be delivered to its
+cannot proceed &-- for example when a message can neither be delivered to its
recipients nor returned to its sender, the message is marked &"frozen"& on the
spool, and no more deliveries are attempted.
.oindex "&%ignore_bounce_errors_after%&"
There are options called &%ignore_bounce_errors_after%& and
&%timeout_frozen_after%&, which discard frozen messages after a certain time.
-The first applies only to frozen bounces, the second to any frozen messages.
+The first applies only to frozen bounces, the second to all frozen messages.
.cindex "message" "log file for"
.cindex "log" "file for each message"
attempt to its main log file. This includes successful, unsuccessful, and
delayed deliveries for each recipient (see chapter &<<CHAPlog>>&). The log
lines are also written to a separate &'message log'& file for each message.
-These logs are solely for the benefit of the administrator, and are normally
+These logs are solely for the benefit of the administrator and are normally
deleted along with the spool files when processing of a message is complete.
The use of individual message logs can be disabled by setting
&%no_message_logs%&; this might give an improvement in performance on very busy
Updating the spool file is done by writing a new file and renaming it, to
minimize the possibility of data loss.
-Should the system or the program crash after a successful delivery but before
+Should the system or Exim crash after a successful delivery but before
the spool file has been updated, the journal is left lying around. The next
time Exim attempts to deliver the message, it reads the journal file and
updates the spool file before proceeding. This minimizes the chances of double
The main delivery processing elements of Exim are called &'routers'& and
&'transports'&, and collectively these are known as &'drivers'&. Code for a
number of them is provided in the source distribution, and compile-time options
-specify which ones are included in the binary. Run time options specify which
+specify which ones are included in the binary. Runtime options specify which
ones are actually used for delivering messages.
.cindex "drivers" "instance definition"
-Each driver that is specified in the run time configuration is an &'instance'&
+Each driver that is specified in the runtime configuration is an &'instance'&
of that particular driver type. Multiple instances are allowed; for example,
you can set up several different &(smtp)& transports, each with different
option values that might specify different ports or different timeouts. Each
configuration.
The first router that is specified in a configuration is often one that handles
-addresses in domains that are not recognized specially by the local host. These
-are typically addresses for arbitrary domains on the Internet. A precondition
+addresses in domains that are not recognized specifically by the local host.
+Typically these are addresses for arbitrary domains on the Internet. A precondition
is set up which looks for the special domains known to the host (for example,
its own domain name), and the router is run for addresses that do &'not'&
match. Typically, this is a router that looks up domains in the DNS in order to
does not affect the way the routers work, but it is a state that can be
detected. By this means, a router can be skipped or made to behave differently
when verifying. A common example is a configuration in which the first router
-sends all messages to a message-scanning program, unless they have been
+sends all messages to a message-scanning program unless they have been
previously scanned. Thus, the first router accepts all addresses without any
checking, making it useless for verifying. Normally, the &%no_verify%& option
would be set for such a router, causing it to be skipped in verify mode.
.ilist
&'accept'&: The router accepts the address, and either assigns it to a
-transport, or generates one or more &"child"& addresses. Processing the
-original address ceases,
+transport or generates one or more &"child"& addresses. Processing the
+original address ceases
.oindex "&%unseen%&"
unless the &%unseen%& option is set on the router. This option
can be used to set up multiple deliveries with different routing (for example,
&%redirect_router%& may be anywhere in the router configuration.
.next
&'pass'&: The router recognizes the address, but cannot handle it itself. It
-requests that the address be passed to another router. By default the address
+requests that the address be passed to another router. By default, the address
is passed to the next router, but this can be changed by setting the
&%pass_router%& option. However, (unlike &%redirect_router%&) the named router
must be below the current router (to avoid loops).
.cindex "address duplicate, discarding"
.cindex "duplicate addresses"
Once routing is complete, Exim scans the addresses that are assigned to local
-and remote transports, and discards any duplicates that it finds. During this
-check, local parts are treated as case-sensitive. This happens only when
+and remote transports and discards any duplicates that it finds. During this
+check, local parts are treated case-sensitively. This happens only when
actually delivering a message; when testing routers with &%-bt%&, all the
routed addresses are shown.
condition &%first_delivery%& can be used to detect the first run of the system
filter.
.next
-Each recipient address is offered to each configured router in turn, subject to
+Each recipient address is offered to each configured router, in turn, subject to
its preconditions, until one is able to handle it. If no router can handle the
address, that is, if they all decline, the address is failed. Because routers
can be targeted at particular domains, several locally handled domains can be
Exim's mechanism for retrying messages that fail to get delivered at the first
attempt is the queue runner process. You must either run an Exim daemon that
uses the &%-q%& option with a time interval to start queue runners at regular
-intervals, or use some other means (such as &'cron'&) to start them. If you do
+intervals or use some other means (such as &'cron'&) to start them. If you do
not arrange for queue runners to be run, messages that fail temporarily at the
-first attempt will remain on your queue for ever. A queue runner process works
+first attempt will remain in your queue forever. A queue runner process works
its way through the queue, one message at a time, trying each delivery that has
passed its retry time.
You can run several queue runners at once.
.section "Failures to deliver bounce messages" "SECID22"
.cindex "bounce message" "failure to deliver"
If a bounce message (either locally generated or received from a remote host)
-itself suffers a permanent delivery failure, the message is left on the queue,
+itself suffers a permanent delivery failure, the message is left in the queue,
but it is frozen, awaiting the attention of an administrator. There are options
that can be used to make Exim discard such failed messages, or to keep them
for only a short time (see &%timeout_frozen_after%& and
.irow &_util_& "independent utilities"
.endtable
-The main utility programs are contained in the &_src_& directory, and are built
+The main utility programs are contained in the &_src_& directory and are built
with the Exim binary. The &_util_& directory contains a few optional scripts
that may be useful to some sites.
.section "PCRE library" "SECTpcre"
.cindex "PCRE library"
Exim no longer has an embedded PCRE library as the vast majority of
-modern systems include PCRE as a system library, although you may need
-to install the PCRE or PCRE development package for your operating
+modern systems include PCRE as a system library, although you may need to
+install the PCRE package or the PCRE development package for your operating
system. If your system has a normal PCRE installation the Exim build
process will need no further configuration. If the library or the
headers are in an unusual location you will need to either set the PCRE_LIBS
The GNU library, &'gdbm'&, operates on a single file. If used via its &'ndbm'&
compatibility interface it makes two different hard links to it with names
&_dbmfile.dir_& and &_dbmfile.pag_&, but if used via its native interface, the
-file name is used unmodified.
+filename is used unmodified.
.next
.cindex "Berkeley DB library"
The Berkeley DB package, if called via its &'ndbm'& compatibility interface,
&_src/EDITME_& to &_Local/Makefile_&, then read it and edit it appropriately.
There are three settings that you must supply, because Exim will not build
-without them. They are the location of the run time configuration file
+without them. They are the location of the runtime configuration file
(CONFIGURE_FILE), the directory in which Exim binaries will be installed
(BIN_DIRECTORY), and the identity of the Exim user (EXIM_USER and
maybe EXIM_GROUP as well). The value of CONFIGURE_FILE can in fact be
-a colon-separated list of file names; Exim uses the first of them that exists.
+a colon-separated list of filenames; Exim uses the first of them that exists.
There are a few other parameters that can be specified either at build time or
-at run time, to enable the same binary to be used on a number of different
+at runtime, to enable the same binary to be used on a number of different
machines. However, if the locations of Exim's spool directory and log file
directory (if not within the spool directory) are fixed, it is recommended that
-you specify them in &_Local/Makefile_& instead of at run time, so that errors
+you specify them in &_Local/Makefile_& instead of at runtime, so that errors
detected early in Exim's execution (such as a malformed configuration file) can
be logged.
This is all the configuration that is needed in straightforward cases for known
operating systems. However, the building process is set up so that it is easy
to override options that are set by default or by operating-system-specific
-configuration files, for example to change the name of the C compiler, which
+configuration files, for example, to change the C compiler, which
defaults to &%gcc%&. See section &<<SECToverride>>& below for details of how to
do this.
However, there are some optional lookup types (such as cdb) for which
the code is entirely contained within Exim, and no external include
files or libraries are required. When a lookup type is not included in the
-binary, attempts to configure Exim to use it cause run time configuration
+binary, attempts to configure Exim to use it cause runtime configuration
errors.
.cindex "pkg-config" "lookups"
&_OS/eximon.conf-Default_& can be overridden dynamically by setting environment
variables of the same name, preceded by EXIMON_. For example, setting
EXIMON_LOG_DEPTH in the environment overrides the value of
-LOG_DEPTH at run time.
+LOG_DEPTH at runtime.
.ecindex IIDbuex
chapter &<<CHAPsecurity>>& for details).
.cindex "CONFIGURE_FILE"
-Exim's run time configuration file is named by the CONFIGURE_FILE setting
+Exim's runtime configuration file is named by the CONFIGURE_FILE setting
in &_Local/Makefile_&. If this names a single file, and the file does not
exist, the default configuration file &_src/configure.default_& is copied there
-by the installation script. If a run time configuration file already exists, it
+by the installation script. If a runtime configuration file already exists, it
is left alone. If CONFIGURE_FILE is a colon-separated list, naming several
alternative files, no default is installed.
For the utility programs, old versions are renamed by adding the suffix &_.O_&
to their names. The Exim binary itself, however, is handled differently. It is
installed under a name that includes the version number and the compile number,
-for example &_exim-&version()-1_&. The script then arranges for a symbolic link
+for example, &_exim-&version()-1_&. The script then arranges for a symbolic link
called &_exim_& to point to the binary. If you are updating a previous version
of Exim, the script takes care to ensure that the name &_exim_& is never absent
from the directory (as seen by other processes).
.cindex "installing Exim" "&'info'& documentation"
Not all systems use the GNU &'info'& system for documentation, and for this
reason, the Texinfo source of Exim's documentation is not included in the main
-distribution. Instead it is available separately from the ftp site (see section
+distribution. Instead it is available separately from the FTP site (see section
&<<SECTavail>>&).
If you have defined INFO_DIRECTORY in &_Local/Makefile_& and the Texinfo
.section "Testing" "SECID34"
.cindex "testing" "installation"
-Having installed Exim, you can check that the run time configuration file is
+Having installed Exim, you can check that the runtime configuration file is
syntactically valid by running the following command, which assumes that the
Exim binary directory is within your PATH environment variable:
.code
Testing a new version on a system that is already running Exim can most easily
be done by building a binary with a different CONFIGURE_FILE setting. From
-within the run time configuration, all other file and directory names
+within the runtime configuration, all other file and directory names
that Exim uses can be altered, in order to keep it entirely clear of the
production version.
test data. A line history is supported.
Long expansion expressions can be split over several lines by using backslash
-continuations. As in Exim's run time configuration, white space at the start of
+continuations. As in Exim's runtime configuration, white space at the start of
continuation lines is ignored. Each argument or data line is passed through the
string expansion mechanism, and the result is output. Variable values from the
configuration file (for example, &$qualify_domain$&) are available, but no
If &%config%& is given as an argument, the config is
output, as it was parsed, any include file resolved, any comment removed.
-If &%config_file%& is given as an argument, the name of the run time
+If &%config_file%& is given as an argument, the name of the runtime
configuration file is output. (&%configure_file%& works too, for
backward compatibility.)
If a list of configuration files was supplied, the value that is output here
.vitem &%-bp%&
.oindex "&%-bp%&"
-.cindex "queue" "listing messages on"
-.cindex "listing" "messages on the queue"
+.cindex "queue" "listing messages in"
+.cindex "listing" "messages in the queue"
This option requests a listing of the contents of the mail queue on the
standard output. If the &%-bp%& option is followed by a list of message ids,
just those messages are listed. By default, this option can be used only by an
admin user. However, the &%queue_list_requires_admin%& option can be set false
to allow any user to see the queue.
-Each message on the queue is displayed as in the following example:
+Each message in the queue is displayed as in the following example:
.code
25m 2.9K 0t5C6f-0000c8-00 <alice@wonderland.fict.example>
red.king@looking-glass.fict.example
.endd
.cindex "message" "size in queue listing"
.cindex "size" "of message"
-The first line contains the length of time the message has been on the queue
+The first line contains the length of time the message has been in the queue
(in this case 25 minutes), the size of the message (2.9K), the unique local
identifier for the message, and the message sender, as contained in the
envelope. For bounce messages, the sender address is empty, and appears as
.vitem &%-bpc%&
.oindex "&%-bpc%&"
.cindex "queue" "count of messages on"
-This option counts the number of messages on the queue, and writes the total
+This option counts the number of messages in the queue, and writes the total
to the standard output. It is restricted to admin users, unless
&%queue_list_requires_admin%& is set false.
.oindex "&%-bpr%&"
This option operates like &%-bp%&, but the output is not sorted into
chronological order of message arrival. This can speed it up when there are
-lots of messages on the queue, and is particularly useful if the output is
+lots of messages in the queue, and is particularly useful if the output is
going to be post-processed in a way that doesn't need the sorting.
.vitem &%-bpra%&
number, and compilation date of the &'exim'& binary to the standard output.
It also lists the DBM library that is being used, the optional modules (such as
specific lookup types), the drivers that are included in the binary, and the
-name of the run time configuration file that is in use.
+name of the runtime configuration file that is in use.
As part of its operation, &%-bV%& causes Exim to read and syntax check its
configuration file. However, this is a static check only. It cannot check
.cindex "configuration file" "alternate"
.cindex "CONFIGURE_FILE"
.cindex "alternate configuration file"
-This option causes Exim to find the run time configuration file from the given
+This option causes Exim to find the runtime configuration file from the given
list instead of from the list specified by the CONFIGURE_FILE
-compile-time setting. Usually, the list will consist of just a single file
-name, but it can be a colon-separated list of names. In this case, the first
+compile-time setting. Usually, the list will consist of just a single filename,
+but it can be a colon-separated list of names. In this case, the first
file that exists is used. Failure to open an existing file stops Exim from
proceeding any further along the list, and an error is generated.
running as the Exim user, so when it re-executes 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 (one to put a message
-on the queue, using &%-odq%&, and another to do the delivery, using &%-M%&).
+in the queue, using &%-odq%&, and another to do the delivery, using &%-M%&).
If ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX is defined &_in Local/Makefile_&, it specifies a
prefix string with which any file named in a &%-C%& command line option
-must start. In addition, the file name must not contain the sequence &`/../`&.
+must start. In addition, the filename must not contain the sequence &`/../`&.
However, if the value of the &%-C%& option is identical to the value of
CONFIGURE_FILE in &_Local/Makefile_&, Exim ignores &%-C%& and proceeds as
usual. There is no default setting for ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX; when it is
-unset, any file name can be used with &%-C%&.
+unset, any filename can be used with &%-C%&.
ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX can be used to confine alternative configuration files
to a directory to which only root has access. This prevents someone who has
.oindex "&%-Mc%&"
.cindex "hints database" "not overridden by &%-Mc%&"
.cindex "delivery" "manually started &-- not forced"
-This option requests Exim to run a delivery attempt on each message in turn,
+This option requests Exim to run a delivery attempt on each message, in turn,
but unlike the &%-M%& option, it does check for retry hints, and respects any
that are found. This option is not very useful to external callers. It is
provided mainly for internal use by Exim when it needs to re-invoke itself in
bounce messages are sent; each message is simply forgotten. However, if any of
the messages are active, their status is not altered. This option can be used
only by an admin user or by the user who originally caused the message to be
-placed on the queue.
+placed in the queue.
. .new
. .vitem &%-MS%&
.oindex "&%-oA%&"
.cindex "Sendmail compatibility" "&%-oA%& option"
This option is used by Sendmail in conjunction with &%-bi%& to specify an
-alternative alias file name. Exim handles &%-bi%& differently; see the
+alternative alias filename. Exim handles &%-bi%& differently; see the
description above.
.vitem &%-oB%&&~<&'n'&>
false and one of the queueing options in the configuration file is in effect.
If there is a temporary delivery error during foreground delivery, the
-message is left on the queue for later delivery, and the original reception
+message is left in the queue for later delivery, and the original reception
process exits. See chapter &<<CHAPnonqueueing>>& for a way of setting up a
restricted configuration that never queues messages.
This option applies to all modes in which Exim accepts incoming messages,
including the listening daemon. It specifies that the accepting process should
not automatically start a delivery process for each message received. Messages
-are placed on the queue, and remain there until a subsequent queue runner
+are placed in the queue, and remain there until a subsequent queue runner
process encounters them. There are several configuration options (such as
&%queue_only%&) that can be used to queue incoming messages under certain
conditions. This option overrides all of them and also &%-odqs%&. It always
message, in the background by default, but in the foreground if &%-odi%& is
also present. The recipient addresses are routed, and local deliveries are done
in the normal way. However, if any SMTP deliveries are required, they are not
-done at this time, so the message remains on the queue until a subsequent queue
+done at this time, so the message remains in the queue until a subsequent queue
runner process encounters it. Because routing was done, Exim knows which
messages are waiting for which hosts, and so a number of messages for the same
host can be sent in a single SMTP connection. The &%queue_smtp_domains%&
is also given. It controls which ports and interfaces the daemon uses. Details
of the syntax, and how it interacts with configuration file options, are given
in chapter &<<CHAPinterfaces>>&. When &%-oX%& is used to start a daemon, no pid
-file is written unless &%-oP%& is also present to specify a pid file name.
+file is written unless &%-oP%& is also present to specify a pid filename.
.vitem &%-pd%&
.oindex "&%-pd%&"
.cindex "queue" "initial delivery"
If the &'i'& flag is present, the queue runner runs delivery processes only for
those messages that haven't previously been tried. (&'i'& stands for &"initial
-delivery"&.) This can be helpful if you are putting messages on the queue using
+delivery"&.) This can be helpful if you are putting messages in the queue using
&%-odq%& and want a queue runner just to process the new messages.
.vitem &%-q[q][i]f...%&
.oindex "&%-ql%&"
.cindex "queue" "local deliveries only"
The &'l'& (the letter &"ell"&) flag specifies that only local deliveries are to
-be done. If a message requires any remote deliveries, it remains on the queue
+be done. If a message requires any remote deliveries, it remains in the queue
for later delivery.
.vitem &%-q[q][i][f[f]][l][G<name>[/<time>]]]%&
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-.chapter "The Exim run time configuration file" "CHAPconf" &&&
+.chapter "The Exim runtime configuration file" "CHAPconf" &&&
"The runtime configuration file"
-.cindex "run time configuration"
+.cindex "runtime configuration"
.cindex "configuration file" "general description"
.cindex "CONFIGURE_FILE"
.cindex "configuration file" "errors in"
.cindex "error" "in configuration file"
.cindex "return code" "for bad configuration"
-Exim uses a single run time configuration file that is read whenever an Exim
+Exim uses a single runtime configuration file that is read whenever an Exim
binary is executed. Note that in normal operation, this happens frequently,
because Exim is designed to operate in a distributed manner, without central
control.
The name of the configuration file is compiled into the binary for security
reasons, and is specified by the CONFIGURE_FILE compilation option. In
most configurations, this specifies a single file. However, it is permitted to
-give a colon-separated list of file names, in which case Exim uses the first
+give a colon-separated list of filenames, in which case Exim uses the first
existing file in the list.
.cindex "EXIM_USER"
.cindex "CONFIGURE_GROUP"
.cindex "configuration file" "ownership"
.cindex "ownership" "configuration file"
-The run time configuration file must be owned by root or by the user that is
+The runtime configuration file must be owned by root or by the user that is
specified at compile time by the CONFIGURE_OWNER option (if set). The
configuration file must not be world-writeable, or group-writeable unless its
group is the root group or the one specified at compile time by the
CONFIGURE_GROUP option.
&*Warning*&: In a conventional configuration, where the Exim binary is setuid
-to root, anybody who is able to edit the run time configuration file has an
+to root, anybody who is able to edit the runtime configuration file has an
easy way to run commands as root. If you specify a user or group in the
CONFIGURE_OWNER or CONFIGURE_GROUP options, then that user and/or any users
who are members of that group will trivially be able to obtain root privileges.
-Up to Exim version 4.72, the run time configuration file was also permitted to
+Up to Exim version 4.72, the runtime configuration file was also permitted to
be writeable by the Exim user and/or group. That has been changed in Exim 4.73
since it offered a simple privilege escalation for any attacker who managed to
compromise the Exim user account.
A default configuration file, which will work correctly in simple situations,
is provided in the file &_src/configure.default_&. If CONFIGURE_FILE
-defines just one file name, the installation process copies the default
+defines just one filename, the installation process copies the default
configuration to a new file of that name if it did not previously exist. If
CONFIGURE_FILE is a list, no default is automatically installed. Chapter
&<<CHAPdefconfil>>& is a &"walk-through"& discussion of the default
Exim is running as the Exim user, so when 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 (one to put a
-message on the queue, using &%-odq%&, and another to do the delivery, using
+message in the queue, using &%-odq%&, and another to do the delivery, using
&%-M%&).
If ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX is defined &_in Local/Makefile_&, it specifies a
prefix string with which any file named in a &%-C%& command line option must
-start. In addition, the file name must not contain the sequence &"&`/../`&"&.
-There is no default setting for ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX; when it is unset, any file
-name can be used with &%-C%&.
+start. In addition, the filename must not contain the sequence &"&`/../`&"&.
+There is no default setting for ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX; when it is unset, any
+filename can be used with &%-C%&.
One-off changes to a configuration can be specified by the &%-D%& command line
option, which defines and overrides values for macros used inside the
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.
If CONFIGURE_FILE_USE_NODE is defined in &_Local/Makefile_&, Exim first
-looks for a file whose name is the configuration file name followed by a dot
+looks for a file whose name is the configuration filename followed by a dot
and the machine's node name, as obtained from the &[uname()]& function. If this
file does not exist, the standard name is tried. This processing occurs for
-each file name in the list given by CONFIGURE_FILE or &%-C%&.
+each filename in the list given by CONFIGURE_FILE or &%-C%&.
In some esoteric situations different versions of Exim may be run under
different effective uids and the CONFIGURE_FILE_USE_EUID is defined to
.cindex "configuration file" "including other files"
.cindex "&`.include`& in configuration file"
.cindex "&`.include_if_exists`& in configuration file"
-You can include other files inside Exim's run time configuration file by
+You can include other files inside Exim's runtime configuration file by
using this syntax:
.display
-&`.include`& <&'file name'&>
-&`.include_if_exists`& <&'file name'&>
+&`.include`& <&'filename'&>
+&`.include_if_exists`& <&'filename'&>
.endd
-on a line by itself. Double quotes round the file name are optional. If you use
+on a line by itself. Double quotes round the filename 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.
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.
+the directory of the including file. For the second form an absolute filename
+is required.
Includes may be nested to any depth, but remember that Exim reads its
configuration file often, so it is a good idea to keep them to a minimum.
.section "Macro substitution" "SECID42"
Once a macro is defined, all subsequent lines in the file (and any included
files) are scanned for the macro name; if there are several macros, the line is
-scanned for each in turn, in the order in which the macros are defined. The
+scanned for each, in turn, in the order in which the macros are defined. The
replacement text is not re-scanned for the current macro, though it is scanned
for subsequently defined macros. For this reason, a macro name may not contain
the name of a previously defined macro as a substring. You could, for example,
These are example settings that can be used when Exim is compiled with
support for TLS (aka SSL) as described in section &<<SECTinctlsssl>>&. The
first one specifies the list of clients that are allowed to use TLS when
-connecting to this server; in this case the wildcard means all clients. The
+connecting to this server; in this case, the wildcard means all clients. The
other options specify where Exim should find its TLS certificate and private
key, which together prove the server's identity to any clients that connect.
More details are given in chapter &<<CHAPTLS>>&.
timeout_frozen_after = 7d
.endd
The first of these options specifies that failing bounce messages are to be
-discarded after 2 days on the queue. The second specifies that any frozen
+discarded after 2 days in the queue. The second specifies that any frozen
message (whether a bounce message or not) is to be timed out (and discarded)
after a week. In this configuration, the first setting ensures that no failing
bounce message ever lasts a week.
&"&'first-initial.second-initial.family-name'&"& when applied to someone like
the author of Exim, who has no second initial.) However, a local part starting
with a dot or containing &"/../"& can cause trouble if it is used as part of a
-file name (for example, for a mailing list). This is also true for local parts
+filename (for example, for a mailing list). This is also true for local parts
that contain slashes. A pipe symbol can also be troublesome if the local part
is incorporated unthinkingly into a shell command line.
begin routers
.endd
Routers are the modules in Exim that make decisions about where to send
-messages. An address is passed to each router in turn, until it is either
+messages. An address is passed to each router, in turn, until it is either
accepted, or failed. This means that the order in which you define the routers
matters. Each router is fully described in its own chapter later in this
manual. Here we give only brief overviews.
.next
.cindex "sqlite lookup type"
.cindex "lookup" "sqlite"
-&(sqlite)&: The format of the query is a file name followed by an SQL statement
+&(sqlite)&: The format of the query is a filename followed by an SQL statement
that is passed to an SQLite database. See section &<<SECTsqlite>>&.
.next
.section "More about SQLite" "SECTsqlite"
.cindex "lookup" "SQLite"
.cindex "sqlite lookup type"
-SQLite is different to the other SQL lookups because a file name is required in
+SQLite is different to the other SQL lookups because a filename is required in
addition to the SQL query. An SQLite database is a single file, and there is no
daemon as in the other SQL databases. The interface to Exim requires the name
of the file, as an absolute path, to be given at the start of the query. It is
.section "File names in lists" "SECTfilnamlis"
-.cindex "list" "file name in"
-If an item in a domain, host, address, or local part list is an absolute file
-name (beginning with a slash character), each line of the file is read and
+.cindex "list" "filename in"
+If an item in a domain, host, address, or local part list is an absolute
+filename (beginning with a slash character), each line of the file is read and
processed as if it were an independent item in the list, except that further
-file names are not allowed,
+filenames are not allowed,
and no expansion of the data from the file takes place.
Empty lines in the file are ignored, and the file may also contain comment
lines:
.endd
.endlist
-Putting a file name in a list has the same effect as inserting each line of the
+Putting a filename in a list has the same effect as inserting each line of the
file as an item in the list (blank lines and comments excepted). However, there
is one important difference: the file is read each time the list is processed,
so if its contents vary over time, Exim's behaviour changes.
-If a file name is preceded by an exclamation mark, the sense of any match
+If a filename is preceded by an exclamation mark, the sense of any match
within the file is inverted. For example, if
.code
hold_domains = !/etc/nohold-domains
always fixed strings, just as for any other single-key lookup type.
If you want to use a file to contain wild-card patterns that form part of a
-list, just give the file name on its own, without a search type, as described
+list, just give the filename on its own, without a search type, as described
in the previous section. You could also use the &(wildlsearch)& or
&(nwildlsearch)&, but there is no advantage in doing this.
.cindex "domain list" "matching by lookup"
If a pattern starts with the name of a single-key lookup type followed by a
semicolon (for example, &"dbm;"& or &"lsearch;"&), the remainder of the pattern
-must be a file name in a suitable format for the lookup type. For example, for
+must be a filename in a suitable format for the lookup type. For example, for
&"cdb;"& it must be an absolute path:
.code
domains = cdb;/etc/mail/local_domains.cdb
The domain portion of an address is always lowercased before matching it to an
address list. The local part is lowercased by default, and any string
comparisons that take place are done caselessly. This means that the data in
-the address list itself, in files included as plain file names, and in any file
+the address list itself, in files included as plain filenames, and in any file
that is looked up using the &"@@"& mechanism, can be in any case. However, the
keys in files that are looked up by a search type other than &(lsearch)& (which
works caselessly) must be in lower case, because these lookups are not
.chapter "String expansions" "CHAPexpand"
.scindex IIDstrexp "expansion" "of strings"
-Many strings in Exim's run time configuration are expanded before use. Some of
+Many strings in Exim's runtime configuration are expanded before use. Some of
them are expanded every time they are used; others are expanded only once.
When a string is being expanded it is copied verbatim from left to right except
.oindex "&%-bem%&"
If you want to test expansions that include variables whose values are taken
from a message, there are two other options that can be used. The &%-bem%&
-option is like &%-be%& except that it is followed by a file name. The file is
+option is like &%-be%& except that it is followed by a filename. The file is
read as a message before doing the test expansions. For example:
.code
exim -bem /tmp/test.message '$h_subject:'
&'X-Spam-Scanned:'& header line. If you know the secret, you can check that
this header line is authentic by recomputing the authentication code from the
host name, message ID and the &'Message-id:'& header line. This can be done
-using Exim's &%-be%& option, or by other means, for example by using the
+using Exim's &%-be%& option, or by other means, for example, by using the
&'hmac_md5_hex()'& function in Perl.
.cindex "expansion" "inserting an entire file"
.cindex "file" "inserting into expansion"
.cindex "&%readfile%& expansion item"
-The file name and end-of-line string are first expanded separately. The file is
+The filename and end-of-line string are first expanded separately. The file is
then read, and its contents replace the entire item. All newline characters in
the file are replaced by the end-of-line string if it is present. Otherwise,
newlines are left in the string.
<&'string1'&> is interpreted as a list, colon-separated by default, but the
separator can be changed in the usual way. Then <&'string2'&> is expanded and
assigned to the &$value$& variable. After this, each item in the <&'string1'&>
-list is assigned to &$item$& in turn, and <&'string3'&> is expanded for each of
+list is assigned to &$item$&, in turn, and <&'string3'&> is expanded for each of
them. The result of that expansion is assigned to &$value$& before the next
iteration. When the end of the list is reached, the final value of &$value$& is
added to the expansion output. The &*reduce*& expansion item can be used in a
The string must consist entirely of decimal digits. The number is converted to
base 62 and output as a string of six characters, including leading zeros. In
the few operating environments where Exim uses base 36 instead of base 62 for
-its message identifiers (because those systems do not have case-sensitive file
-names), base 36 is used by this operator, despite its name. &*Note*&: Just to
-be absolutely clear: this is &'not'& base64 encoding.
+its message identifiers (because those systems do not have case-sensitive
+filenames), base 36 is used by this operator, despite its name. &*Note*&: Just
+to be absolutely clear: this is &'not'& base64 encoding.
.vitem &*${base62d:*&<&'base-62&~digits'&>&*}*&
.cindex "&%base62d%& expansion item"
.cindex "&%hexquote%& expansion item"
This operator converts non-printable characters in a string into a hex
escape form. Byte values between 33 (!) and 126 (~) inclusive are left
-as is, and other byte values are converted to &`\xNN`&, for example a
+as is, and other byte values are converted to &`\xNN`&, for example, a
byte value 127 is converted to &`\x7f`&.
.vindex "&$compile_number$&"
The building process for Exim keeps a count of the number
of times it has been compiled. This serves to distinguish different
-compilations of the same version of the program.
+compilations of the same version of Exim.
.vitem &$config_dir$&
.vindex "&$config_dir$&"
When a message is being delivered to a file, pipe, or autoreply transport as a
result of aliasing or forwarding, &$local_part$& is set to the local part of
-the parent address, not to the file name or command (see &$address_file$& and
+the parent address, not to the filename or command (see &$address_file$& and
&$address_pipe$&).
When an ACL is running for a RCPT command, &$local_part$& contains the
option.
As well as being useful in ACLs (including the &"connect"& ACL), these variable
-could be used, for example, to make the file name for a TLS certificate depend
+could be used, for example, to make the filename for a TLS certificate depend
on which interface and/or port is being used for the incoming connection. The
values of &$received_ip_address$& and &$received_port$& are saved with any
messages that are received, thus making these variables available at delivery
.chapter "Main configuration" "CHAPmainconfig"
.scindex IIDconfima "configuration file" "main section"
.scindex IIDmaiconf "main configuration"
-The first part of the run time configuration file contains three types of item:
+The first part of the runtime configuration file contains three types of item:
.ilist
Macro definitions: These lines start with an upper case letter. See section
intervals specified by this option. The data is a colon-separated list of times
after which to send warning messages. If the value of the option is an empty
string or a zero time, no warnings are sent. Up to 10 times may be given. If a
-message has been on the queue for longer than the last time, the last interval
+message has been in the queue for longer than the last time, the last interval
between the times is used to compute subsequent warning times. For example,
with
.code
.option hold_domains main "domain list&!!" unset
.cindex "domain" "delaying delivery"
.cindex "delivery" "delaying certain domains"
-This option allows mail for particular domains to be held on the queue
+This option allows mail for particular domains to be held in the queue
manually. The option is overridden if a message delivery is forced with the
&%-M%&, &%-qf%&, &%-Rf%& or &%-Sf%& options, and also while testing or
verifying addresses using &%-bt%& or &%-bv%&. Otherwise, if a domain matches an
After a permanent delivery failure, bounce messages are frozen,
because there is no sender to whom they can be returned. When a frozen bounce
-message has been on the queue for more than the given time, it is unfrozen at
+message has been in the queue for more than the given time, it is unfrozen at
the next queue run, and a further delivery is attempted. If delivery fails
again, the bounce message is discarded. This makes it possible to keep failed
bounce messages around for a shorter time than the normal maximum retry time
This option sets the path which is used to determine the names of Exim's log
files, or indicates that logging is to be to syslog, or both. It is expanded
when Exim is entered, so it can, for example, contain a reference to the host
-name. If no specific path is set for the log files at compile or run time,
-or if the option is unset at run time (i.e. &`log_file_path = `&)
+name. If no specific path is set for the log files at compile or runtime,
+or if the option is unset at runtime (i.e. &`log_file_path = `&)
they are written in a sub-directory called &_log_& in Exim's spool directory.
Chapter &<<CHAPlog>>& contains further details about Exim's logging, and
section &<<SECTwhelogwri>>& describes how the contents of &%log_file_path%& are
.cindex "queueing incoming messages"
.cindex "message" "queueing unconditionally"
If &%queue_only%& is set, a delivery process is not automatically started
-whenever a message is received. Instead, the message waits on the queue for the
+whenever a message is received. Instead, the message waits in the queue for the
next queue run. Even if &%queue_only%& is false, incoming messages may not get
delivered immediately when certain conditions (such as heavy load) occur.
received, routing is performed, and local deliveries take place.
However, if any SMTP deliveries are required for domains that match
&%queue_smtp_domains%&, they are not immediately delivered, but instead the
-message waits on the queue for the next queue run. Since routing of the message
+message waits in the queue for the next queue run. Since routing of the message
has taken place, Exim knows to which remote hosts it must be delivered, and so
when the queue run happens, multiple messages for the same host are delivered
over a single SMTP connection. The &%-odqs%& command line option causes all
.cindex "timeout" "for non-SMTP input"
This option sets the timeout for accepting a non-SMTP message, that is, the
maximum time that Exim waits when reading a message on the standard input. If
-the value is zero, it will wait for ever. This setting is overridden by the
+the value is zero, it will wait forever. This setting is overridden by the
&%-or%& command line option. The timeout for incoming SMTP messages is
controlled by &%smtp_receive_timeout%&.
.cindex "message" "queueing by SMTP connection count"
If the number of simultaneous incoming SMTP connections being handled via the
listening daemon exceeds this value, messages received by SMTP are just placed
-on the queue; no delivery processes are started automatically. The count is
+in the queue; no delivery processes are started automatically. The count is
fixed at the start of an SMTP connection. It cannot be updated in the
subprocess that receives messages, and so the queueing or not queueing applies
to all messages received in the same connection.
automatically when receiving messages via SMTP, whether via the daemon or by
the use of &%-bs%& or &%-bS%&. If the value of the option is greater than zero,
and the number of messages received in a single SMTP session exceeds this
-number, subsequent messages are placed on the queue, but no delivery processes
+number, subsequent messages are placed in the queue, but no delivery processes
are started. This helps to limit the number of Exim processes when a server
restarts after downtime and there is a lot of mail waiting for it on other
systems. On large systems, the default should probably be increased, and on
When &%split_spool_directory%& is set, the behaviour of queue runner processes
changes. Instead of creating a list of all messages in the queue, and then
-trying to deliver each one in turn, it constructs a list of those in one
+trying to deliver each one, in turn, it constructs a list of those in one
sub-directory and tries to deliver them, before moving on to the next
sub-directory. The sub-directories are processed in a random order. This
spreads out the scanning of the input directories, and uses less memory. It is
-particularly beneficial when there are lots of messages on the queue. However,
+particularly beneficial when there are lots of messages in the queue. However,
if &%queue_run_in_order%& is set, none of this new processing happens. The
entire queue has to be scanned and sorted before any deliveries can start.
.cindex "frozen messages" "timing out"
.cindex "timeout" "frozen messages"
If &%timeout_frozen_after%& is set to a time greater than zero, a frozen
-message of any kind that has been on the queue for longer than the given time
+message of any kind that has been in the queue for longer than the given time
is automatically cancelled at the next queue run. If the frozen message is a
bounce message, it is just discarded; otherwise, a bounce is sent to the
sender, in a similar manner to cancellation by the &%-Mg%& command line option.
frozen message, see &%ignore_bounce_errors_after%&.
&*Note:*& the default value of zero means no timeouts; with this setting,
-frozen messages remain on the queue forever (except for any frozen bounce
+frozen messages remain in the queue forever (except for any frozen bounce
messages that are released by &%ignore_bounce_errors_after%&).
.cindex "customizing" "warning message"
This option defines a template file containing paragraphs of text to be used
for constructing the warning message which is sent by Exim when a message has
-been on the queue for a specified amount of time, as specified by
+been in the queue for a specified amount of time, as specified by
&%delay_warning%&. Details of the file's contents are given in chapter
&<<CHAPemsgcust>>&. See also &%bounce_message_file%&.
these options are all expanded, you can use the &%exists%& expansion condition
to make such tests. The &%require_files%& option is intended for checking files
that the router may be going to use internally, or which are needed by a
-transport (for example &_.procmailrc_&).
+transport (e.g., &_.procmailrc_&).
During delivery, the &[stat()]& function is run as root, but there is a
facility for some checking of the accessibility of a file by another user.
be caused by a configuration error, and routing is deferred because the
existence or non-existence of the file cannot be determined. However, in some
circumstances it may be desirable to treat this condition as if the file did
-not exist. If the file name (or the exclamation mark that precedes the file
-name for non-existence) is preceded by a plus sign, the EACCES error is treated
+not exist. If the filename (or the exclamation mark that precedes the filename
+for non-existence) is preceded by a plus sign, the EACCES error is treated
as if the file did not exist. For example:
.code
require_files = +/some/file
described in the next section.
.endlist
-When a message is redirected to a file (a &"mail folder"&), the file name given
+When a message is redirected to a file (a &"mail folder"&), the filename given
in a non-filter redirection list must always be an absolute path. A filter may
generate a relative path &-- how this is handled depends on the transport's
configuration. See section &<<SECTfildiropt>>& for a discussion of this issue
.cindex "address redirection" "non-filter list items"
When the redirection data is not an Exim or Sieve filter, for example, if it
comes from a conventional alias or forward file, it consists of a list of
-addresses, file names, pipe commands, or certain special items (see section
+addresses, filenames, pipe commands, or certain special items (see section
&<<SECTspecitredli>>& below). The special items can be individually enabled or
disabled by means of options whose names begin with &%allow_%& or &%forbid_%&,
depending on their default values. The items in the list are separated by
.code
/home/world/minbari
.endd
-is treated as a file name, but
+is treated as a filename, but
.code
/s=molari/o=babylon/@x400gate.way
.endd
-is treated as an address. For a file name, a transport must be specified using
+is treated as an address. For a filename, a transport must be specified using
the &%file_transport%& option. However, if the generated path name ends with a
forward slash character, it is interpreted as a directory name rather than a
-file name, and &%directory_transport%& is used instead.
+filename, and &%directory_transport%& is used instead.
Normally, either the router or the transport specifies a user and a group under
which to run the delivery. The default is to use the Exim user and group.
During routing for message delivery (as opposed to verification), a redirection
containing &':fail:'& causes an immediate failure of the incoming address,
-whereas &':defer:'& causes the message to remain on the queue so that a
+whereas &':defer:'& causes the message to remain in the queue so that a
subsequent delivery attempt can happen at a later time. If an address is
deferred for too long, it will ultimately fail, because the normal retry
rules still apply.
ending in a slash is specified as a new &"address"&. The transport used is
specified by this option, which, after expansion, must be the name of a
configured transport. This should normally be an &(appendfile)& transport. When
-it is running, the file name is in &$address_file$&.
+it is running, the filename is in &$address_file$&.
.option filter_prepend_home redirect boolean true
fileinto "folder23";
.endd
In this situation, the expansion of &%file%& or &%directory%& in the transport
-must transform the relative path into an appropriate absolute file name. In the
+must transform the relative path into an appropriate absolute filename. In the
case of Sieve filters, the name &'inbox'& must be handled. It is the name that
is used as a result of a &"keep"& action in the filter. This example shows one
way of handling this requirement:
The option must be set to one of the words &"anywhere"&, &"inhome"&, or
&"belowhome"&. In the second and third cases, a home directory must have been
-set for the transport. This option is not useful when an explicit file name is
-given for normal mailbox deliveries. It is intended for the case when file
-names are generated from users' &_.forward_& files. These are usually handled
+set for the transport. This option is not useful when an explicit filename is
+given for normal mailbox deliveries. It is intended for the case when filenames
+are generated from users' &_.forward_& files. These are usually handled
by an &(appendfile)& transport called &%address_file%&. See also
&%file_must_exist%&.
This option applies when one of the delivery modes that writes a separate file
for each message is being used. When Exim wants to find the size of one of
these files in order to test the quota, it first checks &%quota_size_regex%&.
-If this is set to a regular expression that matches the file name, and it
+If this is set to a regular expression that matches the filename, and it
captures one string, that string is interpreted as a representation of the
file's size. The value of &%quota_size_regex%& is not expanded.
This feature is useful only when users have no shell access to their mailboxes
&-- otherwise they could defeat the quota simply by renaming the files. This
facility can be used with maildir deliveries, by setting &%maildir_tag%& to add
-the file length to the file name. For example:
+the file length to the filename. For example:
.code
maildir_tag = ,S=$message_size
quota_size_regex = ,S=(\d+)
number of lines in the message.
The regular expression should not assume that the length is at the end of the
-file name (even though &%maildir_tag%& puts it there) because maildir MUAs
-sometimes add other information onto the ends of message file names.
+filename (even though &%maildir_tag%& puts it there) because maildir MUAs
+sometimes add other information onto the ends of message filenames.
Section &<<SECID136>>& contains further information.
current time, primary host name, and process id added, by opening for writing
as a new file. If this fails with an access error, delivery is deferred.
.next
-Close the hitching post file, and hard link it to the lock file name.
+Close the hitching post file, and hard link it to the lock filename.
.next
If the call to &[link()]& succeeds, creation of the lock file has succeeded.
Unlink the hitching post name.
directory"&). If the delivery is successful, the file is renamed into the
&_new_& subdirectory.
-In the file name, <&'stime'&> is the current time of day in seconds, and
+In the filename, <&'stime'&> is the current time of day in seconds, and
<&'mtime'&> is the microsecond fraction of the time. After a maildir delivery,
Exim checks that the time-of-day clock has moved on by at least one microsecond
before terminating the delivery process. This guarantees uniqueness for the
-file name. However, as a precaution, Exim calls &[stat()]& for the file before
+filename. However, as a precaution, Exim calls &[stat()]& for the file before
opening it. If any response other than ENOENT (does not exist) is given,
Exim waits 2 seconds and tries again, up to &%maildir_retries%& times.
This does not apply to &'Cc:'& or &'Bcc:'& recipients.
If &%once%& is unset, or is set to an empty string, the message is always sent.
-By default, if &%once%& is set to a non-empty file name, the message
+By default, if &%once%& is set to a non-empty filename, the message
is not sent if a potential recipient is already listed in the database.
However, if the &%once_repeat%& option specifies a time greater than zero, the
message is sent if that much time has elapsed since a message was last sent to
.section "Testing the rewriting rules that apply on input" "SECID149"
.cindex "rewriting" "testing"
.cindex "testing" "rewriting"
-Exim's input rewriting configuration appears in a part of the run time
+Exim's input rewriting configuration appears in a part of the runtime
configuration file headed by &"begin rewrite"&. It can be tested by the
&%-brw%& command line option. This takes an address (which can be a full RFC
2822 address) as its argument. The output is a list of how the address would be
its delivery when others to the same address get through. In this situation,
because some messages are successfully delivered, the &"retry clock"& for the
host or address keeps getting reset by the successful deliveries, and so
-failing messages remain on the queue for ever because the cutoff time is never
+failing messages remain in the queue for ever because the cutoff time is never
reached.
Two exceptional actions are applied to prevent this happening. The first
.chapter "SMTP authentication" "CHAPSMTPAUTH"
.scindex IIDauthconf1 "SMTP" "authentication configuration"
.scindex IIDauthconf2 "authentication"
-The &"authenticators"& section of Exim's run time configuration is concerned
+The &"authenticators"& section of Exim's runtime configuration is concerned
with SMTP authentication. This facility is an extension to the SMTP protocol,
described in RFC 2554, which allows a client SMTP host to authenticate itself
to a server. This is a common way for a server to recognize clients that are
then so can the &(cyrus_sasl)& authenticator. By default it uses the public
name of the driver to determine which mechanism to support.
-Where access to some kind of secret file is required, for example in GSSAPI
+Where access to some kind of secret file is required, for example, in GSSAPI
or CRAM-MD5, it is worth noting that the authenticator runs as the Exim
user, and that the Cyrus SASL library has no way of escalating privileges
by default. You may also find you need to set environment variables,
.cindex "control of incoming mail"
.cindex "message" "controlling incoming"
.cindex "policy control" "access control lists"
-Access Control Lists (ACLs) are defined in a separate section of the run time
+Access Control Lists (ACLs) are defined in a separate section of the runtime
configuration file, headed by &"begin acl"&. Each ACL definition starts with a
name, terminated by a colon. Here is a complete ACL section that contains just
one very small ACL:
is &"yes"&.
Any required difference in behaviour of the main DATA-time
ACL should however depend on the PRDR-time ACL having run, as Exim
-will avoid doing so in some situations (e.g. single-recipient mails).
+will avoid doing so in some situations (e.g. single-recipient mails).
See also the &%prdr_enable%& global option
and the &%hosts_try_prdr%& smtp transport option.
string, Exim searches for an ACL as follows:
.ilist
-If the string begins with a slash, Exim uses it as a file name, and reads its
+If the string begins with a slash, Exim uses it as a filename, and reads its
contents as an ACL. The lines are processed in the same way as lines in the
Exim configuration file. In particular, continuation lines are supported, blank
lines are ignored, as are lines whose first non-whitespace character is &"#"&.
.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. No reversing of components is used
+addresses (see, e.g., the &'domain based zones'& link at
+&url(http://www.rfc-ignorant.org/)). 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
ACL.
Each &%ratelimit%& condition can have up to four options. A &%per_*%& option
-specifies what Exim measures the rate of, for example messages or recipients
+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
As of version 2.60, &%SpamAssassin%& also supports communication over UNIX
sockets. If you want to us these, supply &%spamd_address%& with an absolute
-file name instead of an address/port pair:
+filename instead of an address/port pair:
.code
spamd_address = /var/run/spamd_socket
.endd
.vlist
.vitem &$spam_score$&
-The spam score of the message, for example &"3.4"& or &"30.5"&. This is useful
+The spam score of the message, for example, &"3.4"& or &"30.5"&. This is useful
for inclusion in log or reject messages.
.vitem &$spam_score_int$&
.next
The string &"default"&. In that case, the file is put in the temporary
&"default"& directory <&'spool_directory'&>&_/scan/_&<&'message_id'&>&_/_& with
-a sequential file name consisting of the message id and a sequence number. The
+a sequential filename consisting of the message id and a sequence number. The
full path and name is available in &$mime_decoded_filename$& after decoding.
.next
A full path name starting with a slash. If the full name is an existing
directory, it is used as a replacement for the default directory. The filename
is then sequentially assigned. If the path does not exist, it is used as
-the full path and file name.
+the full path and filename.
.next
If the string does not start with a slash, it is used as the
filename, and the default path is then used.
.vitem &$mime_decoded_filename$&
This variable is set only after the &%decode%& modifier (see above) has been
-successfully run. It contains the full path and file name of the file
+successfully run. It contains the full path and filename of the file
containing the decoded data.
.endlist
.endd
.vitem &$mime_is_multipart$&
This variable has the value 1 (true) when the current part has the main type
-&"multipart"&, for example &"multipart/alternative"& or &"multipart/mixed"&.
+&"multipart"&, for example, &"multipart/alternative"& or &"multipart/mixed"&.
Since multipart entities only serve as containers for other parts, you may not
want to carry out specific actions on them.
commented template function (that just accepts the message) in the file
_src/local_scan.c_.
-If you want to make use of Exim's run time configuration file to set options
+If you want to make use of Exim's runtime configuration file to set options
for your &[local_scan()]& function, you must also set
.code
LOCAL_SCAN_HAS_OPTIONS=yes
.chapter "Customizing bounce and warning messages" "CHAPemsgcust" &&&
"Customizing messages"
-When a message fails to be delivered, or remains on the queue for more than a
+When a message fails to be delivered, or remains in the queue for more than a
configured amount of time, Exim sends a message to the original sender, or
to an alternative configured address. The text of these messages is built into
the code of Exim, but it is possible to change it, either by adding a single
<$sender_address>
}}has not been delivered to all of its recipients after
-more than $warn_message_delay on the queue on $primary_hostname.
+more than $warn_message_delay in the queue on $primary_hostname.
The message identifier is: $message_exim_id
The subject of the message is: $h_subject
routers are tried, and so the whole delivery fails.
The &%forbid_pipe%& and &%forbid_file%& options prevent a local part from being
-expanded into a file name or a pipe delivery, which is usually inappropriate in
+expanded into a filename or a pipe delivery, which is usually inappropriate in
a mailing list.
.oindex "&%errors_to%&"
setting ensures that if the lookup fails (leading to &%data%& being an empty
string), Exim gives up on the address without trying any subsequent routers.
-This one router can handle all the virtual domains because the alias file names
+This one router can handle all the virtual domains because the alias filenames
follow a fixed pattern. Permissions can be arranged so that appropriate people
can edit the different alias files. A successful aliasing operation results in
a new envelope recipient address, which is then routed from scratch.
.section "Exim on the upstream server host" "SECID247"
It is tempting to arrange for incoming mail for the intermittently connected
-host to remain on Exim's queue until the client connects. However, this
+host to remain in Exim's queue until the client connects. However, this
approach does not scale very well. Two different kinds of waiting message are
being mixed up in the same queue &-- those that cannot be delivered because of
some temporary problem, and those that are waiting for their destination host
Linux this has been seen to make syslog take 90% plus of CPU time.
The destination for Exim's logs is configured by setting LOG_FILE_PATH in
-&_Local/Makefile_& or by setting &%log_file_path%& in the run time
+&_Local/Makefile_& or by setting &%log_file_path%& in the runtime
configuration. This latter string is expanded, so it can contain, for example,
references to the host name:
.code
log_file_path = /var/log/$primary_hostname/exim_%slog
.endd
It is generally advisable, however, to set the string in &_Local/Makefile_&
-rather than at run time, because then the setting is available right from the
+rather than at runtime, because then the setting is available right from the
start of Exim's execution. Otherwise, if there's something it wants to log
before it has read the configuration file (for example, an error in the
configuration file) it will not use the path you want, and may not be able to
.code
log_file_path = $spool_directory/log/%slog
.endd
-If you do not specify anything at build time or run time,
-or if you unset the option at run time (i.e. &`log_file_path = `&),
+If you do not specify anything at build time or runtime,
+or if you unset the option at runtime (i.e. &`log_file_path = `&),
that is where the logs are written.
-A log file path may also contain &`%D`& or &`%M`& if datestamped log file names
+A log file path may also contain &`%D`& or &`%M`& if datestamped log filenames
are in use &-- see section &<<SECTdatlogfil>>& below.
Here are some examples of possible settings:
&%incoming_interface%&: The interface on which a message was received is added
to the &"<="& line as an IP address in square brackets, tagged by I= and
followed by a colon and the port number. The local interface and port are also
-added to other SMTP log lines, for example &"SMTP connection from"&, to
+added to other SMTP log lines, for example, &"SMTP connection from"&, to
rejection lines, and (despite the name) to outgoing &"=>"& and &"->"& lines.
The latter can be disabled by turning off the &%outgoing_interface%& option.
.next
.cindex "&'exiqsumm'&"
.cindex "queue" "summary"
The &'exiqsumm'& utility is a Perl script which reads the output of &`exim
--bp`& and produces a summary of the messages on the queue. Thus, you use it by
+-bp`& and produces a summary of the messages in the queue. Thus, you use it by
running a command such as
.code
exim -bp | exiqsumm
.display
&`exigrep [-t<`&&'n'&&`>] [-I] [-l] [-M] [-v] <`&&'pattern'&&`> [<`&&'log file'&&`>] ...`&
.endd
-If no log file names are given on the command line, the standard input is read.
+If no log filenames are given on the command line, the standard input is read.
The &%-t%& argument specifies a number of seconds. It adds an additional
condition for message selection. Messages that are complete are shown only if
-they spent more than <&'n'&> seconds on the queue.
+they spent more than <&'n'&> seconds in the queue.
By default, &'exigrep'& does case-insensitive matching. The &%-I%& option
makes it case-sensitive. This may give a performance improvement when searching
configuration.
.endlist
-Each time &'exicyclog'& is run the file names get &"shuffled down"& by one. If
-the main log file name is &_mainlog_& (the default) then when &'exicyclog'& is
+Each time &'exicyclog'& is run the filenames get &"shuffled down"& by one. If
+the main log filename is &_mainlog_& (the default) then when &'exicyclog'& is
run &_mainlog_& becomes &_mainlog.01_&, the previous &_mainlog.01_& becomes
&_mainlog.02_& and so on, up to the limit that is set in the script or by the
&%-k%& option. Log files whose numbers exceed the limit are discarded. Reject
The remainder of the output is in sections that can be independently disabled
or modified by various options. It consists of a summary of deliveries by
transport, histograms of messages received and delivered per time interval
-(default per hour), information about the time messages spent on the queue,
+(default per hour), information about the time messages spent in the queue,
a list of relayed messages, lists of the top fifty sending hosts, local
senders, destination hosts, and destination local users by count and by volume,
and a list of delivery errors that occurred.
.cindex "USE_DB"
If the native DB interface is in use (USE_DB is set in a compile-time
-configuration file &-- this is common in free versions of Unix) the two file
-names must be different, because in this mode the Berkeley DB functions create
-a single output file using exactly the name given. For example,
+configuration file &-- this is common in free versions of Unix) the two
+filenames must be different, because in this mode the Berkeley DB functions
+create a single output file using exactly the name given. For example,
.code
exim_dbmbuild /etc/aliases /etc/aliases.db
.endd
environment, the suffixes are added to the second argument of
&'exim_dbmbuild'&, so it can be the same as the first. This is also the case
when the Berkeley functions are used in compatibility mode (though this is not
-recommended), because in that case it adds a &_.db_& suffix to the file name.
+recommended), because in that case it adds a &_.db_& suffix to the filename.
If a duplicate key is encountered, the program outputs a warning, and when it
finishes, its return code is 1 rather than zero, unless the &%-noduperr%&
mailbox, which is the same as Exim's default. The use of &%-flock%& or
&%-fcntl%& requires that the file be writeable; the use of &%-lockfile%&
requires that the directory containing the file be writeable. Locking by lock
-file does not last for ever; Exim assumes that a lock file is expired if it is
+file does not last forever; Exim assumes that a lock file is expired if it is
more than 30 minutes old.
The &%-mbx%& option can be used with either or both of &%-fcntl%& or
End
.endd
.cindex "admin user"
-In order to see the contents of messages on the queue, and to operate on them,
+In order to see the contents of messages in the queue, and to operate on them,
&'eximon'& must either be run as root or by an admin user.
The command-line parameters of &'eximon'& are passed to &_eximon.bin_& and may
.section "The stripcharts" "SECID265"
.cindex "stripchart"
-The first stripchart is always a count of messages on the queue. Its name can
+The first stripchart is always a count of messages in the queue. Its name can
be configured by setting QUEUE_STRIPCHART_NAME in the
&_Local/eximon.conf_& file. The remaining stripcharts are defined in the
configuration script by regular expression matches on log file entries, making
.section "The queue display" "SECID268"
.cindex "queue" "display in monitor"
The bottom section of the monitor window contains a list of all messages that
-are on the queue, which includes those currently being received or delivered,
+are in the queue, which includes those currently being received or delivered,
as well as those awaiting delivery. The size of this subwindow is controlled by
parameters in the configuration file &_Local/eximon.conf_&, and the frequency
at which it is updated is controlled by another parameter in the same file &--
to force an update of the queue display at any time.
When a host is down for some time, a lot of pending mail can build up for it,
-and this can make it hard to deal with other messages on the queue. To help
+and this can make it hard to deal with other messages in the queue. To help
with this situation there is a button next to &"Update"& called &"Hide"&. If
pressed, a dialogue box called &"Hide addresses ending with"& is put up. If you
type anything in here and press &"Return"&, the text is added to a chain of
pressing the &"Hide"& button.
The queue display contains, for each unhidden queued message, the length of
-time it has been on the queue, the size of the message, the message id, the
+time it has been in the queue, the size of the message, the message id, the
message sender, and the first undelivered recipient, all on one line. If it is
a bounce message, the sender is shown as &"<>"&. If there is more than one
recipient to which the message has not yet been delivered, subsequent ones are
&'body'&: The contents of the spool file containing the body of the message are
displayed in a new text window. There is a default limit of 20,000 bytes to the
amount of data displayed. This can be changed by setting the BODY_MAX
-option at compile time, or the EXIMON_BODY_MAX option at run time.
+option at compile time, or the EXIMON_BODY_MAX option at runtime.
.next
&'deliver message'&: A call to Exim is made using the &%-M%& option to request
delivery of the message. This causes an automatic thaw if the message is
.ilist
ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX can be set to a string that is required to match the
-start of any file names used with the &%-C%& option. When it is set, these file
-names are also not allowed to contain the sequence &"/../"&. (However, if the
-value of the &%-C%& option is identical to the value of CONFIGURE_FILE in
+start of any filenames used with the &%-C%& option. When it is set, these
+filenames are also not allowed to contain the sequence &"/../"&. (However, if
+the value of the &%-C%& option is identical to the value of CONFIGURE_FILE in
&_Local/Makefile_&, Exim ignores &%-C%& and proceeds as usual.) There is no
default setting for &%ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX%&.
obviously more secure if Exim does not run as root except when necessary.
For this reason, a user and group for Exim to use must be defined in
&_Local/Makefile_&. These are known as &"the Exim user"& and &"the Exim
-group"&. Their values can be changed by the run time configuration, though this
+group"&. Their values can be changed by the runtime configuration, though this
is not recommended. Often a user called &'exim'& is used, but some sites use
&'mail'& or another user name altogether.
git://git.exim.org / exim.git / commitdiff