1 From time to time, experimental features may be added to Exim.
2 While a feature is experimental, there will be a build-time
3 option whose name starts "EXPERIMENTAL_" that must be set in
4 order to include the feature. This file contains information
5 about experimental features, all of which are unstable and
6 liable to incompatible change.
10 --------------------------------------------------------------
12 X.509 PKI certificates expire and can be revoked; to handle this, the
13 clients need some way to determine if a particular certificate, from a
14 particular Certificate Authority (CA), is still valid. There are three
17 The simplest way is to serve up a Certificate Revocation List (CRL) with
18 an ordinary web-server, regenerating the CRL before it expires. The
19 downside is that clients have to periodically re-download a potentially
20 huge file from every certificate authority it knows of.
22 The way with most moving parts at query time is Online Certificate
23 Status Protocol (OCSP), where the client verifies the certificate
24 against an OCSP server run by the CA. This lets the CA track all
25 usage of the certs. This requires running software with access to the
26 private key of the CA, to sign the responses to the OCSP queries. OCSP
27 is based on HTTP and can be proxied accordingly.
29 The only widespread OCSP server implementation (known to this writer)
30 comes as part of OpenSSL and aborts on an invalid request, such as
31 connecting to the port and then disconnecting. This requires
32 re-entering the passphrase each time some random client does this.
34 The third way is OCSP Stapling; in this, the server using a certificate
35 issued by the CA periodically requests an OCSP proof of validity from
36 the OCSP server, then serves it up inline as part of the TLS
37 negotiation. This approach adds no extra round trips, does not let the
38 CA track users, scales well with number of certs issued by the CA and is
39 resilient to temporary OCSP server failures, as long as the server
40 starts retrying to fetch an OCSP proof some time before its current
41 proof expires. The downside is that it requires server support.
43 If Exim is built with EXPERIMENTAL_OCSP and it was built with OpenSSL,
44 or with GnuTLS 3.1.3 or later, then it gains a new global option:
47 The file specified therein is expected to be in DER format, and contain
48 an OCSP proof. Exim will serve it as part of the TLS handshake. This
49 option will be re-expanded for SNI, if the tls_certificate option
50 contains $tls_sni, as per other TLS options.
52 Exim does not at this time implement any support for fetching a new OCSP
53 proof. The burden is on the administrator to handle this, outside of
54 Exim. The file specified should be replaced atomically, so that the
55 contents are always valid. Exim will expand the "tls_ocsp_file" option
56 on each connection, so a new file will be handled transparently on the
59 Under OpenSSL Exim will check for a valid next update timestamp in the
60 OCSP proof; if not present, or if the proof has expired, it will be
63 Also, given EXPERIMENTAL_OCSP, the smtp transport gains two options:
64 - "hosts_require_ocsp"; a host-list for which an OCSP Stapling
65 is requested and required for the connection to proceed. The default
67 - "hosts_request_ocsp"; a host-list for which (additionally) an OCSP
68 Stapling is requested (but not necessarily verified). The default
69 value is "*" meaning that requests are made unless configured
72 The host(s) should also be in "hosts_require_tls", and
73 "tls_verify_certificates" configured for the transport.
75 For the client to be able to verify the stapled OCSP the server must
76 also supply, in its stapled information, any intermediate
77 certificates for the chain leading to the OCSP proof from the signer
78 of the server certificate. There may be zero or one such. These
79 intermediate certificates should be added to the server OCSP stapling
80 file (named by tls_ocsp_file).
82 Note that the proof only covers the terminal server certificate,
83 not any of the chain from CA to it.
85 At this point in time, we're gathering feedback on use, to determine if
86 it's worth adding complexity to the Exim daemon to periodically re-fetch
87 OCSP files and somehow handling multiple files.
89 A helper script "ocsp_fetch.pl" for fetching a proof from a CA
90 OCSP server is supplied. The server URL may be included in the
91 server certificate, if the CA is helpful.
93 One failure mode seen was the OCSP Signer cert expiring before the end
94 of validity of the OCSP proof. The checking done by Exim/OpenSSL
95 noted this as invalid overall, but the re-fetch script did not.
100 Brightmail AntiSpam (BMI) suppport
101 --------------------------------------------------------------
103 Brightmail AntiSpam is a commercial package. Please see
104 http://www.brightmail.com for more information on
105 the product. For the sake of clarity, we'll refer to it as
109 0) BMI concept and implementation overview
111 In contrast to how spam-scanning with SpamAssassin is
112 implemented in exiscan-acl, BMI is more suited for per
113 -recipient scanning of messages. However, each messages is
114 scanned only once, but multiple "verdicts" for multiple
115 recipients can be returned from the BMI server. The exiscan
116 implementation passes the message to the BMI server just
117 before accepting it. It then adds the retrieved verdicts to
118 the messages header file in the spool. These verdicts can then
119 be queried in routers, where operation is per-recipient
120 instead of per-message. To use BMI, you need to take the
123 1) Compile Exim with BMI support
124 2) Set up main BMI options (top section of Exim config file)
125 3) Set up ACL control statement (ACL section of the config
127 4) Set up your routers to use BMI verdicts (routers section
129 5) (Optional) Set up per-recipient opt-in information.
131 These four steps are explained in more details below.
133 1) Adding support for BMI at compile time
135 To compile with BMI support, you need to link Exim against
136 the Brighmail client SDK, consisting of a library
137 (libbmiclient_single.so) and a header file (bmi_api.h).
138 You'll also need to explicitly set a flag in the Makefile to
139 include BMI support in the Exim binary. Both can be achieved
140 with these lines in Local/Makefile:
142 EXPERIMENTAL_BRIGHTMAIL=yes
143 CFLAGS=-I/path/to/the/dir/with/the/includefile
144 EXTRALIBS_EXIM=-L/path/to/the/dir/with/the/library -lbmiclient_single
146 If you use other CFLAGS or EXTRALIBS_EXIM settings then
147 merge the content of these lines with them.
149 Note for BMI6.x users: You'll also have to add -lxml2_single
150 to the EXTRALIBS_EXIM line. Users of 5.5x do not need to do
153 You should also include the location of
154 libbmiclient_single.so in your dynamic linker configuration
155 file (usually /etc/ld.so.conf) and run "ldconfig"
156 afterwards, or else the produced Exim binary will not be
157 able to find the library file.
160 2) Setting up BMI support in the Exim main configuration
162 To enable BMI support in the main Exim configuration, you
163 should set the path to the main BMI configuration file with
164 the "bmi_config_file" option, like this:
166 bmi_config_file = /opt/brightmail/etc/brightmail.cfg
168 This must go into section 1 of Exim's configuration file (You
169 can put it right on top). If you omit this option, it
170 defaults to /opt/brightmail/etc/brightmail.cfg.
172 Note for BMI6.x users: This file is in XML format in V6.xx
173 and its name is /opt/brightmail/etc/bmiconfig.xml. So BMI
174 6.x users MUST set the bmi_config_file option.
177 3) Set up ACL control statement
179 To optimize performance, it makes sense only to process
180 messages coming from remote, untrusted sources with the BMI
181 server. To set up a messages for processing by the BMI
182 server, you MUST set the "bmi_run" control statement in any
183 ACL for an incoming message. You will typically do this in
184 an "accept" block in the "acl_check_rcpt" ACL. You should
185 use the "accept" block(s) that accept messages from remote
186 servers for your own domain(s). Here is an example that uses
187 the "accept" blocks from Exim's default configuration file:
190 accept domains = +local_domains
195 accept domains = +relay_to_domains
200 If bmi_run is not set in any ACL during reception of the
201 message, it will NOT be passed to the BMI server.
204 4) Setting up routers to use BMI verdicts
206 When a message has been run through the BMI server, one or
207 more "verdicts" are present. Different recipients can have
208 different verdicts. Each recipient is treated individually
209 during routing, so you can query the verdicts by recipient
210 at that stage. From Exim's view, a verdict can have the
213 o deliver the message normally
214 o deliver the message to an alternate location
215 o do not deliver the message
217 To query the verdict for a recipient, the implementation
218 offers the following tools:
221 - Boolean router preconditions. These can be used in any
222 router. For a simple implementation of BMI, these may be
223 all that you need. The following preconditions are
226 o bmi_deliver_default
228 This precondition is TRUE if the verdict for the
229 recipient is to deliver the message normally. If the
230 message has not been processed by the BMI server, this
231 variable defaults to TRUE.
233 o bmi_deliver_alternate
235 This precondition is TRUE if the verdict for the
236 recipient is to deliver the message to an alternate
237 location. You can get the location string from the
238 $bmi_alt_location expansion variable if you need it. See
239 further below. If the message has not been processed by
240 the BMI server, this variable defaults to FALSE.
244 This precondition is TRUE if the verdict for the
245 recipient is NOT to deliver the message to the
246 recipient. You will typically use this precondition in a
247 top-level blackhole router, like this:
249 # don't deliver messages handled by the BMI server
255 This router should be on top of all others, so messages
256 that should not be delivered do not reach other routers
257 at all. If the message has not been processed by
258 the BMI server, this variable defaults to FALSE.
261 - A list router precondition to query if rules "fired" on
262 the message for the recipient. Its name is "bmi_rule". You
263 use it by passing it a colon-separated list of rule
264 numbers. You can use this condition to route messages that
265 matched specific rules. Here is an example:
267 # special router for BMI rule #5, #8 and #11
271 data = postmaster@mydomain.com
274 - Expansion variables. Several expansion variables are set
275 during routing. You can use them in custom router
276 conditions, for example. The following variables are
279 o $bmi_base64_verdict
281 This variable will contain the BASE64 encoded verdict
282 for the recipient being routed. You can use it to add a
283 header to messages for tracking purposes, for example:
288 headers_add = X-Brightmail-Verdict: $bmi_base64_verdict
289 transport = local_delivery
291 If there is no verdict available for the recipient being
292 routed, this variable contains the empty string.
294 o $bmi_base64_tracker_verdict
296 This variable will contain a BASE64 encoded subset of
297 the verdict information concerning the "rules" that
298 fired on the message. You can add this string to a
299 header, commonly named "X-Brightmail-Tracker". Example:
304 headers_add = X-Brightmail-Tracker: $bmi_base64_tracker_verdict
305 transport = local_delivery
307 If there is no verdict available for the recipient being
308 routed, this variable contains the empty string.
312 If the verdict is to redirect the message to an
313 alternate location, this variable will contain the
314 alternate location string returned by the BMI server. In
315 its default configuration, this is a header-like string
316 that can be added to the message with "headers_add". If
317 there is no verdict available for the recipient being
318 routed, or if the message is to be delivered normally,
319 this variable contains the empty string.
323 This is an additional integer variable that can be used
324 to query if the message should be delivered at all. You
325 should use router preconditions instead if possible.
327 $bmi_deliver is '0': the message should NOT be delivered.
328 $bmi_deliver is '1': the message should be delivered.
331 IMPORTANT NOTE: Verdict inheritance.
332 The message is passed to the BMI server during message
333 reception, using the target addresses from the RCPT TO:
334 commands in the SMTP transaction. If recipients get expanded
335 or re-written (for example by aliasing), the new address(es)
336 inherit the verdict from the original address. This means
337 that verdicts also apply to all "child" addresses generated
338 from top-level addresses that were sent to the BMI server.
341 5) Using per-recipient opt-in information (Optional)
343 The BMI server features multiple scanning "profiles" for
344 individual recipients. These are usually stored in a LDAP
345 server and are queried by the BMI server itself. However,
346 you can also pass opt-in data for each recipient from the
347 MTA to the BMI server. This is particularly useful if you
348 already look up recipient data in Exim anyway (which can
349 also be stored in a SQL database or other source). This
350 implementation enables you to pass opt-in data to the BMI
351 server in the RCPT ACL. This works by setting the
352 'bmi_optin' modifier in a block of that ACL. If should be
353 set to a list of comma-separated strings that identify the
354 features which the BMI server should use for that particular
355 recipient. Ideally, you would use the 'bmi_optin' modifier
356 in the same ACL block where you set the 'bmi_run' control
357 flag. Here is an example that will pull opt-in data for each
358 recipient from a flat file called
359 '/etc/exim/bmi_optin_data'.
363 user1@mydomain.com: <OPTIN STRING1>:<OPTIN STRING2>
364 user2@thatdomain.com: <OPTIN STRING3>
369 accept domains = +relay_to_domains
372 bmi_optin = ${lookup{$local_part@$domain}lsearch{/etc/exim/bmi_optin_data}}
375 Of course, you can also use any other lookup method that
376 Exim supports, including LDAP, Postgres, MySQL, Oracle etc.,
377 as long as the result is a list of colon-separated opt-in
380 For a list of available opt-in strings, please contact your
381 Brightmail representative.
386 Sender Policy Framework (SPF) support
387 --------------------------------------------------------------
389 To learn more about SPF, visit http://www.openspf.org. This
390 document does not explain the SPF fundamentals, you should
391 read and understand the implications of deploying SPF on your
392 system before doing so.
394 SPF support is added via the libspf2 library. Visit
396 http://www.libspf2.org/
398 to obtain a copy, then compile and install it. By default,
399 this will put headers in /usr/local/include and the static
400 library in /usr/local/lib.
402 To compile Exim with SPF support, set these additional flags in
406 CFLAGS=-DSPF -I/usr/local/include
407 EXTRALIBS_EXIM=-L/usr/local/lib -lspf2
409 This assumes that the libspf2 files are installed in
410 their default locations.
412 You can now run SPF checks in incoming SMTP by using the "spf"
413 ACL condition in either the MAIL, RCPT or DATA ACLs. When
414 using it in the RCPT ACL, you can make the checks dependent on
415 the RCPT address (or domain), so you can check SPF records
416 only for certain target domains. This gives you the
417 possibility to opt-out certain customers that do not want
418 their mail to be subject to SPF checking.
420 The spf condition takes a list of strings on its right-hand
421 side. These strings describe the outcome of the SPF check for
422 which the spf condition should succeed. Valid strings are:
424 o pass The SPF check passed, the sending host
425 is positively verified by SPF.
426 o fail The SPF check failed, the sending host
427 is NOT allowed to send mail for the domain
428 in the envelope-from address.
429 o softfail The SPF check failed, but the queried
430 domain can't absolutely confirm that this
432 o none The queried domain does not publish SPF
434 o neutral The SPF check returned a "neutral" state.
435 This means the queried domain has published
436 a SPF record, but wants to allow outside
437 servers to send mail under its domain as well.
438 This should be treated like "none".
439 o permerror This indicates a syntax error in the SPF
440 record of the queried domain. You may deny
441 messages when this occurs. (Changed in 4.83)
442 o temperror This indicates a temporary error during all
443 processing, including Exim's SPF processing.
444 You may defer messages when this occurs.
446 o err_temp Same as permerror, deprecated in 4.83, will be
447 removed in a future release.
448 o err_perm Same as temperror, deprecated in 4.83, will be
449 removed in a future release.
451 You can prefix each string with an exclamation mark to invert
452 its meaning, for example "!fail" will match all results but
453 "fail". The string list is evaluated left-to-right, in a
454 short-circuit fashion. When a string matches the outcome of
455 the SPF check, the condition succeeds. If none of the listed
456 strings matches the outcome of the SPF check, the condition
459 Here is an example to fail forgery attempts from domains that
463 deny message = $sender_host_address is not allowed to send mail from ${if def:sender_address_domain {$sender_address_domain}{$sender_helo_name}}. \
464 Please see http://www.openspf.org/Why?scope=${if def:sender_address_domain {mfrom}{helo}};identity=${if def:sender_address_domain {$sender_address}{$sender_helo_name}};ip=$sender_host_address
466 --------------------- */
468 You can also give special treatment to specific domains:
471 deny message = AOL sender, but not from AOL-approved relay.
472 sender_domains = aol.com
474 --------------------- */
476 Explanation: AOL publishes SPF records, but is liberal and
477 still allows non-approved relays to send mail from aol.com.
478 This will result in a "neutral" state, while mail from genuine
479 AOL servers will result in "pass". The example above takes
480 this into account and treats "neutral" like "fail", but only
481 for aol.com. Please note that this violates the SPF draft.
483 When the spf condition has run, it sets up several expansion
487 This contains a human-readable string describing the outcome
488 of the SPF check. You can add it to a custom header or use
489 it for logging purposes.
492 This contains a complete Received-SPF: header that can be
493 added to the message. Please note that according to the SPF
494 draft, this header must be added at the top of the header
495 list. Please see section 10 on how you can do this.
497 Note: in case of "Best-guess" (see below), the convention is
498 to put this string in a header called X-SPF-Guess: instead.
501 This contains the outcome of the SPF check in string form,
502 one of pass, fail, softfail, none, neutral, permerror or
506 This contains a string that can be used in a SMTP response
507 to the calling party. Useful for "fail".
509 In addition to SPF, you can also perform checks for so-called
510 "Best-guess". Strictly speaking, "Best-guess" is not standard
511 SPF, but it is supported by the same framework that enables SPF
512 capability. Refer to http://www.openspf.org/FAQ/Best_guess_record
513 for a description of what it means.
515 To access this feature, simply use the spf_guess condition in place
516 of the spf one. For example:
519 deny message = $sender_host_address doesn't look trustworthy to me
521 --------------------- */
523 In case you decide to reject messages based on this check, you
524 should note that although it uses the same framework, "Best-guess"
525 is NOT SPF, and therefore you should not mention SPF at all in your
528 When the spf_guess condition has run, it sets up the same expansion
529 variables as when spf condition is run, described above.
531 Additionally, since Best-guess is not standardized, you may redefine
532 what "Best-guess" means to you by redefining spf_guess variable in
533 global config. For example, the following:
536 spf_guess = v=spf1 a/16 mx/16 ptr ?all
537 --------------------- */
539 would relax host matching rules to a broader network range.
542 SRS (Sender Rewriting Scheme) Support
543 --------------------------------------------------------------
545 Exiscan currently includes SRS support via Miles Wilton's
546 libsrs_alt library. The current version of the supported
549 In order to use SRS, you must get a copy of libsrs_alt from
551 http://srs.mirtol.com/
553 Unpack the tarball, then refer to MTAs/README.EXIM
554 to proceed. You need to set
558 in your Local/Makefile.
562 --------------------------------------------------------------
566 In order to build exim with DCC support add
570 to your Makefile. (Re-)build/install exim. exim -d should show
571 EXPERIMENTAL_DCC under "Support for".
576 In the main section of exim.cf add at least
577 dccifd_address = /usr/local/dcc/var/dccifd
579 dccifd_address = <ip> <port>
581 In the DATA ACL you can use the new condition
584 After that "$dcc_header" contains the X-DCC-Header.
587 fail for overall "R", "G" from dccifd
588 defer for overall "T" from dccifd
589 accept for overall "A", "S" from dccifd
591 dcc = */defer_ok works as for spamd.
593 The "$dcc_result" variable contains the overall result from DCC
594 answer. There will an X-DCC: header added to the mail.
598 to greylist with DCC.
600 If you set, in the main section,
601 dcc_direct_add_header = true
602 then the dcc header will be added "in deep" and if the spool
603 file was already written it gets removed. This forces Exim to
604 write it again if needed. This helps to get the DCC Header
605 through to eg. SpamAssassin.
607 If you want to pass even more headers in the middle of the
608 DATA stage you can set
609 $acl_m_dcc_add_header
610 to tell the DCC routines to add more information; eg, you might set
611 this to some results from ClamAV. Be careful. Header syntax is
612 not checked and is added "as is".
614 In case you've troubles with sites sending the same queue items from several
615 hosts and fail to get through greylisting you can use
616 $acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip
618 Setting $acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip to an IP address overrides the default
619 of $sender_host_address. eg. use the following ACL in DATA stage:
621 warn set acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip = \
622 ${lookup{$sender_helo_name}nwildlsearch{/etc/mail/multipleip_sites}{$value}{}}
623 condition = ${if def:acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip}
624 log_message = dbg: acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip set to \
625 $acl_m_dcc_override_client_ip
627 Then set something like
628 # cat /etc/mail/multipleip_sites
629 mout-xforward.gmx.net 82.165.159.12
630 mout.gmx.net 212.227.15.16
632 Use a reasonable IP. eg. one the sending cluster acutally uses.
635 --------------------------------------------------------------
637 DMARC combines feedback from SPF, DKIM, and header From: in order
638 to attempt to provide better indicators of the authenticity of an
639 email. This document does not explain the fundamentals, you
640 should read and understand how it works by visiting the website at
641 http://www.dmarc.org/.
643 DMARC support is added via the libopendmarc library. Visit:
645 http://sourceforge.net/projects/opendmarc/
647 to obtain a copy, or find it in your favorite rpm package
648 repository. If building from source, this description assumes
649 that headers will be in /usr/local/include, and that the libraries
650 are in /usr/local/lib.
652 1. To compile Exim with DMARC support, you must first enable SPF.
653 Please read the above section on enabling the EXPERIMENTAL_SPF
654 feature. You must also have DKIM support, so you cannot set the
655 DISABLE_DKIM feature. Once both of those conditions have been met
656 you can enable DMARC in Local/Makefile:
658 EXPERIMENTAL_DMARC=yes
659 LDFLAGS += -lopendmarc
660 # CFLAGS += -I/usr/local/include
661 # LDFLAGS += -L/usr/local/lib
663 The first line sets the feature to include the correct code, and
664 the second line says to link the libopendmarc libraries into the
665 exim binary. The commented out lines should be uncommented if you
666 built opendmarc from source and installed in the default location.
667 Adjust the paths if you installed them elsewhere, but you do not
668 need to uncomment them if an rpm (or you) installed them in the
669 package controlled locations (/usr/include and /usr/lib).
672 2. Use the following global settings to configure DMARC:
675 dmarc_tld_file Defines the location of a text file of valid
676 top level domains the opendmarc library uses
677 during domain parsing. Maintained by Mozilla,
678 the most current version can be downloaded
679 from a link at http://publicsuffix.org/list/.
682 dmarc_history_file Defines the location of a file to log results
683 of dmarc verification on inbound emails. The
684 contents are importable by the opendmarc tools
685 which will manage the data, send out DMARC
686 reports, and expire the data. Make sure the
687 directory of this file is writable by the user
690 dmarc_forensic_sender The email address to use when sending a
691 forensic report detailing alignment failures
692 if a sender domain's dmarc record specifies it
693 and you have configured Exim to send them.
694 Default: do-not-reply@$default_hostname
697 3. By default, the DMARC processing will run for any remote,
698 non-authenticated user. It makes sense to only verify DMARC
699 status of messages coming from remote, untrusted sources. You can
700 use standard conditions such as hosts, senders, etc, to decide that
701 DMARC verification should *not* be performed for them and disable
702 DMARC with a control setting:
704 control = dmarc_disable_verify
706 A DMARC record can also specify a "forensic address", which gives
707 exim an email address to submit reports about failed alignment.
708 Exim does not do this by default because in certain conditions it
709 results in unintended information leakage (what lists a user might
710 be subscribed to, etc). You must configure exim to submit forensic
711 reports to the owner of the domain. If the DMARC record contains a
712 forensic address and you specify the control statement below, then
713 exim will send these forensic emails. It's also advised that you
714 configure a dmarc_forensic_sender because the default sender address
715 construction might be inadequate.
717 control = dmarc_forensic_enable
719 (AGAIN: You can choose not to send these forensic reports by simply
720 not putting the dmarc_forensic_enable control line at any point in
721 your exim config. If you don't tell it to send them, it will not
724 There are no options to either control. Both must appear before
728 4. You can now run DMARC checks in incoming SMTP by using the
729 "dmarc_status" ACL condition in the DATA ACL. You are required to
730 call the spf condition first in the ACLs, then the "dmarc_status"
731 condition. Putting this condition in the ACLs is required in order
732 for a DMARC check to actually occur. All of the variables are set
733 up before the DATA ACL, but there is no actual DMARC check that
734 occurs until a "dmarc_status" condition is encountered in the ACLs.
736 The dmarc_status condition takes a list of strings on its
737 right-hand side. These strings describe recommended action based
738 on the DMARC check. To understand what the policy recommendations
739 mean, refer to the DMARC website above. Valid strings are:
741 o accept The DMARC check passed and the library recommends
743 o reject The DMARC check failed and the library recommends
745 o quarantine The DMARC check failed and the library recommends
746 keeping it for further inspection.
747 o none The DMARC check passed and the library recommends
748 no specific action, neutral.
749 o norecord No policy section in the DMARC record for this
751 o nofrom Unable to determine the domain of the sender.
752 o temperror Library error or dns error.
753 o off The DMARC check was disabled for this email.
755 You can prefix each string with an exclamation mark to invert its
756 meaning, for example "!accept" will match all results but
757 "accept". The string list is evaluated left-to-right in a
758 short-circuit fashion. When a string matches the outcome of the
759 DMARC check, the condition succeeds. If none of the listed
760 strings matches the outcome of the DMARC check, the condition
763 Of course, you can also use any other lookup method that Exim
764 supports, including LDAP, Postgres, MySQL, etc, as long as the
765 result is a list of colon-separated strings.
767 Several expansion variables are set before the DATA ACL is
768 processed, and you can use them in this ACL. The following
769 expansion variables are available:
772 This is a one word status indicating what the DMARC library
773 thinks of the email. It is a combination of the results of
774 DMARC record lookup and the SPF/DKIM/DMARC processing results
775 (if a DMARC record was found). The actual policy declared
776 in the DMARC record is in a separate expansion variable.
779 This is a slightly longer, human readable status.
782 This is the domain which DMARC used to look up the DMARC
785 o $dmarc_domain_policy
786 This is the policy declared in the DMARC record. Valid values
787 are "none", "reject" and "quarantine". It is blank when there
788 is any error, including no DMARC record.
791 This is the entire Authentication-Results header which you can
792 add using an add_header modifier.
795 5. How to enable DMARC advanced operation:
796 By default, Exim's DMARC configuration is intended to be
797 non-intrusive and conservative. To facilitate this, Exim will not
798 create any type of logging files without explicit configuration by
799 you, the admin. Nor will Exim send out any emails/reports about
800 DMARC issues without explicit configuration by you, the admin (other
801 than typical bounce messages that may come about due to ACL
802 processing or failure delivery issues).
804 In order to log statistics suitable to be imported by the opendmarc
806 a. Configure the global setting dmarc_history_file.
807 b. Configure cron jobs to call the appropriate opendmarc history
808 import scripts and truncating the dmarc_history_file.
810 In order to send forensic reports, you need to:
811 a. Configure the global setting dmarc_forensic_sender.
812 b. Configure, somewhere before the DATA ACL, the control option to
813 enable sending DMARC forensic reports.
818 warn domains = +local_domains
820 control = dmarc_disable_verify
822 warn !domains = +screwed_up_dmarc_records
823 control = dmarc_enable_forensic
825 warn condition = (lookup if destined to mailing list)
826 set acl_m_mailing_list = 1
829 warn dmarc_status = accept : none : off
831 log_message = DMARC DEBUG: $dmarc_status $dmarc_used_domain
832 add_header = $dmarc_ar_header
834 warn dmarc_status = !accept
836 log_message = DMARC DEBUG: '$dmarc_status' for $dmarc_used_domain
838 warn dmarc_status = quarantine
840 set $acl_m_quarantine = 1
841 # Do something in a transport with this flag variable
843 deny condition = ${if eq{$dmarc_domain_policy}{reject}}
844 condition = ${if eq{$acl_m_mailing_list}{1}}
845 message = Messages from $dmarc_used_domain break mailing lists
847 deny dmarc_status = reject
849 message = Message from $domain_used_domain failed sender's DMARC policy, REJECT
853 Transport post-delivery actions
854 --------------------------------------------------------------
856 An arbitrary per-transport string can be expanded on successful delivery,
857 and (for SMTP transports) a second string on deferrals caused by a host error.
858 This feature may be used, for example, to write exim internal log information
859 (not available otherwise) into a database.
861 In order to use the feature, you must set
863 EXPERIMENTAL_TPDA=yes
865 in your Local/Makefile
867 and define the expandable strings in the runtime config file, to
868 be executed at end of delivery.
870 Additionally, there are 6 more variables, available at end of
873 tpda_delivery_ip IP of host, which has accepted delivery
874 tpda_delivery_port Port of remote host which has accepted delivery
875 tpda_delivery_fqdn FQDN of host, which has accepted delivery
876 tpda_delivery_local_part local part of address being delivered
877 tpda_delivery_domain domain part of address being delivered
878 tpda_delivery_confirmation SMTP confirmation message
880 In case of a deferral caused by a host-error:
881 tpda_defer_errno Error number
882 tpda_defer_errstr Error string possibly containing more details
884 The $router_name and $transport_name variables are also usable.
887 To take action after successful deliveries, set the following option
888 on any transport of interest.
892 An example might look like:
894 tpda_delivery_action = \
895 ${lookup pgsql {SELECT * FROM record_Delivery( \
896 '${quote_pgsql:$sender_address_domain}',\
897 '${quote_pgsql:${lc:$sender_address_local_part}}', \
898 '${quote_pgsql:$tpda_delivery_domain}', \
899 '${quote_pgsql:${lc:$tpda_delivery_local_part}}', \
900 '${quote_pgsql:$tpda_delivery_ip}', \
901 '${quote_pgsql:${lc:$tpda_delivery_fqdn}}', \
902 '${quote_pgsql:$message_exim_id}')}}
904 The string is expanded after the delivery completes and any
905 side-effects will happen. The result is then discarded.
906 Note that for complex operations an ACL expansion can be used.
909 In order to log host deferrals, add the following option to an SMTP
912 tpda_host_defer_action
914 This is a private option of the SMTP transport. It is intended to
915 log failures of remote hosts. It is executed only when exim has
916 attempted to deliver a message to a remote host and failed due to
917 an error which doesn't seem to be related to the individual
918 message, sender, or recipient address.
919 See section 47.2 of the exim documentation for more details on how
924 tpda_host_defer_action = \
925 ${lookup mysql {insert into delivlog set \
926 msgid = '${quote_mysql:$message_exim_id}', \
927 senderlp = '${quote_mysql:${lc:$sender_address_local_part}}', \
928 senderdom = '${quote_mysql:$sender_address_domain}', \
929 delivlp = '${quote_mysql:${lc:$tpda_delivery_local_part}}', \
930 delivdom = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_delivery_domain}', \
931 delivip = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_delivery_ip}', \
932 delivport = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_delivery_port}', \
933 delivfqdn = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_delivery_fqdn}', \
934 deliverrno = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_defer_errno}', \
935 deliverrstr = '${quote_mysql:$tpda_defer_errstr}' \
940 --------------------------------------------------------------
942 Redis is open source advanced key-value data store. This document
943 does not explain the fundamentals, you should read and understand how
944 it works by visiting the website at http://www.redis.io/.
946 Redis lookup support is added via the hiredis library. Visit:
948 https://github.com/redis/hiredis
950 to obtain a copy, or find it in your operating systems package repository.
951 If building from source, this description assumes that headers will be in
952 /usr/local/include, and that the libraries are in /usr/local/lib.
954 1. In order to build exim with Redis lookup support add
956 EXPERIMENTAL_REDIS=yes
958 to your Local/Makefile. (Re-)build/install exim. exim -d should show
959 Experimental_Redis in the line "Support for:".
961 EXPERIMENTAL_REDIS=yes
963 # CFLAGS += -I/usr/local/include
964 # LDFLAGS += -L/usr/local/lib
966 The first line sets the feature to include the correct code, and
967 the second line says to link the hiredis libraries into the
968 exim binary. The commented out lines should be uncommented if you
969 built hiredis from source and installed in the default location.
970 Adjust the paths if you installed them elsewhere, but you do not
971 need to uncomment them if an rpm (or you) installed them in the
972 package controlled locations (/usr/include and /usr/lib).
975 2. Use the following global settings to configure Redis lookup support:
978 redis_servers This option provides a list of Redis servers
979 and associated connection data, to be used in
980 conjunction with redis lookups. The option is
981 only available if Exim is configured with Redis
986 redis_servers = 127.0.0.1/10/ - using database 10 with no password
987 redis_servers = 127.0.0.1//password - to make use of the default database of 0 with a password
988 redis_servers = 127.0.0.1// - for default database of 0 with no password
990 3. Once you have the Redis servers defined you can then make use of the
991 experimental Redis lookup by specifying ${lookup redis{}} in a lookup query.
996 hostlist relay_from_ips = <\n ${lookup redis{SMEMBERS relay_from_ips}}
998 Where relay_from_ips is a Redis set which contains entries such as "192.168.0.0/24" "10.0.0.0/8" and so on.
999 The result set is returned as
1006 domainlist virtual_domains = ${lookup redis {HGET $domain domain}}
1008 Where $domain is a hash which includes the key 'domain' and the value '$domain'.
1010 (Adding or updating an existing key)
1011 set acl_c_spammer = ${if eq{${lookup redis{SPAMMER_SET}}}{OK}}
1013 Where SPAMMER_SET is a macro and it is defined as
1015 "SET SPAMMER <some_value>"
1017 (Getting a value from Redis)
1019 set acl_c_spam_host = ${lookup redis{GET...}}
1022 Proxy Protocol Support
1023 --------------------------------------------------------------
1025 Exim now has Experimental "Proxy Protocol" support. It was built on
1026 specifications from:
1027 http://haproxy.1wt.eu/download/1.5/doc/proxy-protocol.txt
1029 The purpose of this function is so that an application load balancer,
1030 such as HAProxy, can sit in front of several Exim servers and Exim
1031 will log the IP that is connecting to the proxy server instead of
1032 the IP of the proxy server when it connects to Exim. It resets the
1033 $sender_address_host and $sender_address_port to the IP:port of the
1034 connection to the proxy. It also re-queries the DNS information for
1035 this new IP address so that the original sender's hostname and IP
1036 get logged in the Exim logfile. There is no logging if a host passes or
1037 fails Proxy Protocol negotiation, but it can easily be determined and
1038 recorded in an ACL (example is below).
1040 1. To compile Exim with Proxy Protocol support, put this in
1043 EXPERIMENTAL_PROXY=yes
1045 2. Global configuration settings:
1047 proxy_required_hosts = HOSTLIST
1049 The proxy_required_hosts option will require any IP in that hostlist
1050 to use Proxy Protocol. The specification of Proxy Protocol is very
1051 strict, and if proxy negotiation fails, Exim will not allow any SMTP
1052 command other than QUIT. (See end of this section for an example.)
1053 The option is expanded when used, so it can be a hostlist as well as
1054 string of IP addresses. Since it is expanded, specifying an alternate
1055 separator is supported for ease of use with IPv6 addresses.
1057 To log the IP of the proxy in the incoming logline, add:
1058 log_selector = +proxy
1060 A default incoming logline (wrapped for appearance) will look like this:
1062 2013-11-04 09:25:06 1VdNti-0001OY-1V <= me@example.net
1063 H=mail.example.net [1.2.3.4] P=esmtp S=433
1065 With the log selector enabled, an email that was proxied through a
1066 Proxy Protocol server at 192.168.1.2 will look like this:
1068 2013-11-04 09:25:06 1VdNti-0001OY-1V <= me@example.net
1069 H=mail.example.net [1.2.3.4] P=esmtp PRX=192.168.1.2 S=433
1071 3. In the ACL's the following expansion variables are available.
1073 proxy_host_address The (internal) src IP of the proxy server
1074 making the connection to the Exim server.
1075 proxy_host_port The (internal) src port the proxy server is
1076 using to connect to the Exim server.
1077 proxy_target_address The dest (public) IP of the remote host to
1079 proxy_target_port The dest port the remote host is using to
1080 connect to the proxy server.
1081 proxy_session Boolean, yes/no, the connected host is required
1082 to use Proxy Protocol.
1084 There is no expansion for a failed proxy session, however you can detect
1085 it by checking if $proxy_session is true but $proxy_host is empty. As
1086 an example, in my connect ACL, I have:
1088 warn condition = ${if and{ {bool{$proxy_session}} \
1089 {eq{$proxy_host_address}{}} } }
1090 log_message = Failed required proxy protocol negotiation \
1091 from $sender_host_name [$sender_host_address]
1093 warn condition = ${if and{ {bool{$proxy_session}} \
1094 {!eq{$proxy_host_address}{}} } }
1095 # But don't log health probes from the proxy itself
1096 condition = ${if eq{$proxy_host_address}{$sender_host_address} \
1098 log_message = Successfully proxied from $sender_host_name \
1099 [$sender_host_address] through proxy protocol \
1100 host $proxy_host_address
1102 # Possibly more clear
1103 warn logwrite = Remote Source Address: $sender_host_address:$sender_host_port
1104 logwrite = Proxy Target Address: $proxy_target_address:$proxy_target_port
1105 logwrite = Proxy Internal Address: $proxy_host_address:$proxy_host_port
1106 logwrite = Internal Server Address: $received_ip_address:$received_port
1109 4. Runtime issues to be aware of:
1110 - Since the real connections are all coming from your proxy, and the
1111 per host connection tracking is done before Proxy Protocol is
1112 evaluated, smtp_accept_max_per_host must be set high enough to
1113 handle all of the parallel volume you expect per inbound proxy.
1114 - The proxy has 3 seconds (hard-coded in the source code) to send the
1115 required Proxy Protocol header after it connects. If it does not,
1116 the response to any commands will be:
1117 "503 Command refused, required Proxy negotiation failed"
1118 - If the incoming connection is configured in Exim to be a Proxy
1119 Protocol host, but the proxy is not sending the header, the banner
1120 does not get sent until the timeout occurs. If the sending host
1121 sent any input (before the banner), this causes a standard Exim
1122 synchronization error (i.e. trying to pipeline before PIPELINING
1124 - This is not advised, but is mentioned for completeness if you have
1125 a specific internal configuration that you want this: If the Exim
1126 server only has an internal IP address and no other machines in your
1127 organization will connect to it to try to send email, you may
1128 simply set the hostlist to "*", however, this will prevent local
1129 mail programs from working because that would require mail from
1130 localhost to use Proxy Protocol. Again, not advised!
1132 5. Example of a refused connection because the Proxy Protocol header was
1133 not sent from a host configured to use Proxy Protocol. In the example,
1134 the 3 second timeout occurred (when a Proxy Protocol banner should have
1135 been sent), the banner was displayed to the user, but all commands are
1136 rejected except for QUIT:
1138 # nc mail.example.net 25
1139 220-mail.example.net, ESMTP Exim 4.82+proxy, Mon, 04 Nov 2013 10:45:59
1140 220 -0800 RFC's enforced
1142 503 Command refused, required Proxy negotiation failed
1144 221 mail.example.net closing connection
1148 --------------------------------------------------------------
1150 --------------------------------------------------------------