-. $Cambridge: exim/doc/doc-docbook/spec.xfpt,v 1.27 2007/12/01 15:53:55 nm4 Exp $
+. $Cambridge: exim/doc/doc-docbook/spec.xfpt,v 1.62 2009/10/26 13:10:23 nm4 Exp $
.
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
. This is the primary source of the Exim Manual. It is an xfpt document that is
. the <bookinfo> element must also be updated for each new edition.
. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-.set previousversion "4.68"
-.set version "4.69"
+.set previousversion "4.69"
+.set version "4.70"
.set ACL "access control lists (ACLs)"
.set I " "
<bookinfo>
<title>Specification of the Exim Mail Transfer Agent</title>
<titleabbrev>The Exim MTA</titleabbrev>
-<date>23 August 2007</date>
+<date>09 June 2009</date>
<author><firstname>Philip</firstname><surname>Hazel</surname></author>
<authorinitials>PH</authorinitials>
<affiliation><orgname>University of Cambridge Computing Service</orgname></affiliation>
<address>New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England</address>
<revhistory><revision>
- <revnumber>4.68</revnumber>
- <date>23 August 2007</date>
+ <revnumber>4.70</revnumber>
+ <date>10 June 2009</date>
<authorinitials>PH</authorinitials>
</revision></revhistory>
-<copyright><year>2007</year><holder>University of Cambridge</holder></copyright>
+<copyright><year>2009</year><holder>University of Cambridge</holder></copyright>
</bookinfo>
.literal off
.section "Exim documentation" "SECID1"
+. Keep this example change bar when updating the documentation!
.new
.cindex "documentation"
This edition of the Exim specification applies to version &version; of Exim.
.row &_exim.8_& "a man page of Exim's command line options"
.row &_experimental.txt_& "documentation of experimental features"
.row &_filter.txt_& "specification of the filter language"
-.row &_pcrepattern.txt_& "specification of PCRE regular expressions"
-.row &_pcretest.txt_& "specification of the PCRE testing program"
.row &_Exim3.upgrade_& "upgrade notes from release 2 to release 3"
.row &_Exim4.upgrade_& "upgrade notes from release 3 to release 4"
.endtable
.cindex "FAQ"
As well as Exim distribution tar files, the Exim web site contains a number of
differently formatted versions of the documentation. A recent addition to the
-online information is the Exim wiki &new("(&url(http://wiki.exim.org))"),
+online information is the Exim wiki (&url(http://wiki.exim.org)),
which contains what used to be a separate FAQ, as well as various other
examples, tips, and know-how that have been contributed by Exim users.
.cindex Bugzilla
-An Exim Bugzilla exists at &new("&url(http://bugs.exim.org)"). You can use
+An Exim Bugzilla exists at &url(http://bugs.exim.org). You can use
this to report bugs, and also to add items to the wish list. Please search
first to check that you are not duplicating a previous entry.
.section "Bug reports" "SECID5"
.cindex "bug reports"
.cindex "reporting bugs"
-Reports of obvious bugs &new("can be emailed to &'bugs@exim.org'& or reported
-via the Bugzilla (&url(http://bugs.exim.org)).") However, if you are unsure
+Reports of obvious bugs can be emailed to &'bugs@exim.org'& or reported
+via the Bugzilla (&url(http://bugs.exim.org)). However, if you are unsure
whether some behaviour is a bug or not, the best thing to do is to post a
message to the &'exim-dev'& mailing list and have it discussed.
.cindex "distribution" "signing details"
.cindex "distribution" "public key"
.cindex "public key for signed distribution"
-The distributions are currently signed with Philip Hazel's GPG key. The
+The distributions are currently signed with Nigel Metheringham's GPG key. The
corresponding public key is available from a number of keyservers, and there is
-also a copy in the file &_Public-Key_&. The signatures for the tar bundles are
+also a copy in the file &_nigel-pubkey.asc_&. The signatures for the tar bundles are
in:
.display
-&_exim-n.nn.tar.gz.sig_&
-&_exim-n.nn.tar.bz2.sig_&
+&_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
separate file in the directory &_ChangeLogs_& so that it is possible to
A number of pieces of external code are included in the Exim distribution.
.ilist
-Regular expressions are supported in the main Exim program and in the Exim
-monitor using the freely-distributable PCRE library, copyright ©
-University of Cambridge. The source is distributed in the directory
-&_src/pcre_&. However, this is a cut-down version of PCRE. If you want to use
-the PCRE library in other programs, you should obtain and install the full
-version of the library from
+Regular expressions are supported in the main Exim program and in the
+Exim monitor using the freely-distributable PCRE library, copyright
+© University of Cambridge. The source to PCRE is no longer shipped with
+Exim, so you will need to use the version of PCRE shipped with your system,
+or obtain and install the full version of the library from
&url(ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/programming/pcre).
.next
.cindex "cdb" "acknowledgment"
overridden if necessary.
+.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
+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 set the PCRE_LIBS
+and INCLUDE directives appropriately. If your operating system has no
+PCRE support then you will need to obtain and build the current PCRE
+from &url(ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/programming/pcre/).
+
.section "DBM libraries" "SECTdb"
.cindex "DBM libraries" "discussion of"
.cindex "hints database" "DBM files used for"
.cindex "installing Exim" "what is not installed"
Running &'make install'& does not copy the Exim 4 conversion script
-&'convert4r4'&, or the &'pcretest'& test program. You will probably run the
-first of these only once (if you are upgrading from Exim 3), and the second
-isn't really part of Exim. None of the documentation files in the &_doc_&
+&'convert4r4'&. You will probably run this only once if you are
+upgrading from Exim 3. None of the documentation files in the &_doc_&
directory are copied, except for the info files when you have set
INFO_DIRECTORY, as described in section &<<SECTinsinfdoc>>& below.
.cindex "options" "router &-- extracting"
.cindex "options" "transport &-- extracting"
+.cindex "options" "authenticator &-- extracting"
If one of the words &%router%&, &%transport%&, or &%authenticator%& is given,
followed by the name of an appropriate driver instance, the option settings for
that driver are output. For example:
settings can be obtained by using &%routers%&, &%transports%&, or
&%authenticators%&.
+.cindex "options" "macro &-- extracting"
+If invoked by an admin user, then &%macro%&, &%macro_list%& and &%macros%&
+are available, similarly to the drivers. Because macros are sometimes used
+for storing passwords, this option is restricted.
+The output format is one item per line.
.vitem &%-bp%&
.oindex "&%-bp%&"
strings such as SQL statements are defined separately as macros, for example:
.code
ALIAS_QUERY = select mailbox from user where \
- login=${quote_mysql:$local_part};
+ login='${quote_mysql:$local_part}';
.endd
This can then be used in a &(redirect)& router setting like this:
.code
To make the authenticators work, you can use a string expansion
expression like one of the examples in &<<CHAPplaintext>>&.
+Beware that the sequence of the parameters to PLAIN and LOGIN differ; the
+usercode and password are in different positions. &<<CHAPplaintext>>&
+covers both.
+
.ecindex IIDconfiwal
O'Reilly (see &url(http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/regex2/)).
The documentation for the syntax and semantics of the regular expressions that
-are supported by PCRE is included in plain text in the file
-&_doc/pcrepattern.txt_& in the Exim distribution, and also in the HTML
-tarbundle of Exim documentation. It describes in detail the features of the
-regular expressions that PCRE supports, so no further description is included
-here. The PCRE functions are called from Exim using the default option settings
-(that is, with no PCRE options set), except that the PCRE_CASELESS option is
-set when the matching is required to be case-insensitive.
+are supported by PCRE is included in the PCRE distribution, and no further
+description is included here. The PCRE functions are called from Exim using
+the default option settings (that is, with no PCRE options set), except that
+the PCRE_CASELESS option is set when the matching is required to be
+case-insensitive.
In most cases, when a regular expression is required in an Exim configuration,
it has to start with a circumflex, in order to distinguish it from plain text
-.section "Testing regular expressions" "SECID59"
-.cindex "testing" "regular expressions"
-.cindex "regular expressions" "testing"
-.cindex "&'pcretest'&"
-A program called &'pcretest'& forms part of the PCRE distribution and is built
-with PCRE during the process of building Exim. It is primarily intended for
-testing PCRE itself, but it can also be used for experimenting with regular
-expressions. After building Exim, the binary can be found in the build
-directory (it is not installed anywhere automatically). There is documentation
-of various options in &_doc/pcretest.txt_&, but for simple testing, none are
-needed. This is the output of a sample run of &'pcretest'&:
-.display
-&` re> `&&*&`/^([@]+)@.+\.(ac|edu)\.(?!kr)[a-z]{2}$/`&*&
-&`data> `&&*&`x@y.ac.uk`&*&
-&` 0: x@y.ac.uk`&
-&` 1: x`&
-&` 2: ac`&
-&`data> `&&*&`x@y.ac.kr`&*&
-&`No match`&
-&`data> `&&*&`x@y.edu.com`&*&
-&`No match`&
-&`data> `&&*&`x@y.edu.co`&*&
-&` 0: x@y.edu.co`&
-&` 1: x`&
-&` 2: edu`&
-.endd
-Input typed by the user is shown in bold face. After the &"re>"& prompt, a
-regular expression enclosed in delimiters is expected. If this compiles without
-error, &"data>"& prompts are given for strings against which the expression is
-matched. An empty data line causes a new regular expression to be read. If the
-match is successful, the captured substring values (that is, what would be in
-the variables &$0$&, &$1$&, &$2$&, etc.) are shown. The above example tests for
-an email address whose domain ends with either &"ac"& or &"edu"& followed by a
-two-character top-level domain that is not &"kr"&. The local part is captured
-in &$1$& and the &"ac"& or &"edu"& in &$2$&.
-
-
-
-
-
-
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
being interpreted as a key terminator. For example:
.code
1.2.3.4: data for 1.2.3.4
-192.168.0.0/16 data for 192.168.0.0/16
+192.168.0.0/16: data for 192.168.0.0/16
"abcd::cdab": data for abcd::cdab
"abcd:abcd::/32" data for abcd:abcd::/32
.endd
&%mysql_servers%&, &%pgsql_servers%&, &%oracle_servers%&, or &%ibase_servers%&
option (as appropriate) must be set to a colon-separated list of server
information.
-&new("(For MySQL and PostgreSQL only, the global option need not be set if all
+(For MySQL and PostgreSQL only, the global option need not be set if all
queries contain their own server information &-- see section
-&<<SECTspeserque>>&.)") Each item in the list is a slash-separated list of four
+&<<SECTspeserque>>&.) Each item in the list is a slash-separated list of four
items: host name, database name, user name, and password. In the case of
Oracle, the host name field is used for the &"service name"&, and the database
name field is not used and should be empty. For example:
.endd
In an updating lookup, you could then write:
.code
-${lookup mysql{servers=master; UPDATE ...}
+${lookup mysql{servers=master; UPDATE ...} }
.endd
That query would then be sent only to the master server. If, on the other hand,
the master is not to be used for reading, and so is not present in the global
option, you can still update it by a query of this form:
.code
-${lookup pgsql{servers=master/db/name/pw; UPDATE ...}
+${lookup pgsql{servers=master/db/name/pw; UPDATE ...} }
.endd
As a special case, the numerical value of an empty string is taken as
zero.
+.vitem &*bool&~{*&<&'string'&>&*}*&
+.cindex "expansion" "boolean parsing"
+.cindex "&%bool%& expansion condition"
+This condition turns a string holding a true or false representation into
+a boolean state. It parses &"true"&, &"false"&, &"yes"& and &"no"&
+(case-insensitively); also positive integer numbers map to true if non-zero,
+false if zero. Leading whitespace is ignored.
+All other string values will result in expansion failure.
+
+When combined with ACL variables, this expansion condition will let you
+make decisions in one place and act on those decisions in another place.
+For example,
+.code
+${if bool{$acl_m_privileged_sender} ...
+.endd
+
.vitem &*crypteq&~{*&<&'string1'&>&*}{*&<&'string2'&>&*}*&
.cindex "expansion" "encrypted comparison"
.cindex "encrypted strings, comparing"
.code
server_condition = ${if pwcheck{$auth1:$auth2}}
.endd
+Again, for a PLAIN authenticator configuration, this would be:
+.code
+server_condition = ${if pwcheck{$auth2:$auth3}}
+.endd
.vitem &*queue_running*&
.cindex "queue runner" "detecting when delivering from"
.cindex "expansion" "queue runner test"
.vitem &$item$&
.vindex "&$item$&"
This variable is used during the expansion of &*forall*& and &*forany*&
-conditions (see section &<<SECTexpcond>>&), and &*filter*&, &*man*&, and
+conditions (see section &<<SECTexpcond>>&), and &*filter*&, &*map*&, and
&*reduce*& items (see section &<<SECTexpcond>>&). In other circumstances, it is
empty.
&$message_body_size$&, &$body_linecount$&, and &$body_zerocount$&.
.cindex "RCPT" "value of &$message_size$&"
-While running an ACL at the time of an SMTP RCPT command, &$message_size$&
+While running a per message ACL (mail/rcpt/predata), &$message_size$&
contains the size supplied on the MAIL command, or -1 if no size was given. The
value may not, of course, be truthful.
When a message is received from a remote host over an encrypted SMTP
connection, and Exim is configured to request a certificate from the client,
the value of the Distinguished Name of the certificate is made available in the
-&$tls_peerdn$& during subsequent processing. &new("Like &$tls_cipher$&, the
+&$tls_peerdn$& during subsequent processing. Like &$tls_cipher$&, the
value is retained during message delivery, except during outbound SMTP
-deliveries.")
+deliveries.
.vitem &$tod_bsdinbox$&
.vindex "&$tod_bsdinbox$&"
.row &%disable_ipv6%& "do no IPv6 processing"
.row &%keep_malformed%& "for broken files &-- should not happen"
.row &%localhost_number%& "for unique message ids in clusters"
-.row &new(&%message_body_newlines%&) "retain newlines in &$message_body$&"
+.row &%message_body_newlines%& "retain newlines in &$message_body$&"
.row &%message_body_visible%& "how much to show in &$message_body$&"
.row &%mua_wrapper%& "run in &""MUA wrapper""& mode"
.row &%print_topbitchars%& "top-bit characters are printing"
.section "Data lookups" "SECID101"
.table2
-.row &new(&%ibase_servers%&) "InterBase servers"
+.row &%ibase_servers%& "InterBase servers"
.row &%ldap_default_servers%& "used if no server in query"
.row &%ldap_version%& "set protocol version"
.row &%lookup_open_max%& "lookup files held open"
-.row &new(&%mysql_servers%&) "default MySQL servers"
-.row &new(&%oracle_servers%&) "Oracle servers"
-.row &new(&%pgsql_servers%&) "default PostgreSQL servers"
+.row &%mysql_servers%& "default MySQL servers"
+.row &%oracle_servers%& "Oracle servers"
+.row &%pgsql_servers%& "default PostgreSQL servers"
.row &%sqlite_lock_timeout%& "as it says"
.endtable
.row &%check_spool_space%& "before accepting a message"
.row &%deliver_queue_load_max%& "no queue deliveries if load high"
.row &%queue_only_load%& "queue incoming if load high"
-.row &new(&%queue_only_load_latch%&) "don't re-evaluate load for each message"
+.row &%queue_only_load_latch%& "don't re-evaluate load for each message"
.row &%queue_run_max%& "maximum simultaneous queue runners"
.row &%remote_max_parallel%& "parallel SMTP delivery per message"
.row &%smtp_accept_max%& "simultaneous incoming connections"
.row &%gnutls_require_kx%& "control GnuTLS key exchanges"
.row &%gnutls_require_mac%& "control GnuTLS MAC algorithms"
.row &%gnutls_require_protocols%& "control GnuTLS protocols"
+.row &%gnutls_compat_mode%& "use GnuTLS compatibility mode"
.row &%tls_advertise_hosts%& "advertise TLS to these hosts"
.row &%tls_certificate%& "location of server certificate"
.row &%tls_crl%& "certificate revocation list"
.row &%queue_only%& "no immediate delivery at all"
.row &%queue_only_file%& "no immediate delivery if file exists"
.row &%queue_only_load%& "no immediate delivery if load is high"
-.row &new(&%queue_only_load_latch%&) "don't re-evaluate load for each message"
+.row &%queue_only_load_latch%& "don't re-evaluate load for each message"
.row &%queue_only_override%& "allow command line to override"
.row &%queue_run_in_order%& "order of arrival"
.row &%queue_run_max%& "of simultaneous queue runners"
(?i)^(?>(?(1)\.|())[^\W_](?>[a-z0-9/-]*[^\W_])?)+$
.endd
which permits only letters, digits, slashes, and hyphens in components, but
-they must start and end with a letter or digit. &new(Slashes) are not, in fact,
+they must start and end with a letter or digit. Slashes are not, in fact,
permitted in host names, but they are found in certain NS records (which can be
accessed in Exim by using a &%dnsdb%& lookup). If you set
&%allow_utf8_domains%&, you must modify this pattern, or set the option to an
This option controls the protocols when GnuTLS is used in an Exim
server. For details, see section &<<SECTreqciphgnu>>&.
+.option gnutls_compat_mode main boolean unset
+This option controls whether GnuTLS is used in compatibility mode in an Exim
+server. This reduces security slightly, but improves interworking with older
+implementations of TLS.
+
.option headers_charset main string "see below"
This option sets a default character set for translating from encoded MIME
By default, Exim just checks the syntax of HELO and EHLO commands (see
&%helo_accept_junk_hosts%& and &%helo_allow_chars%&). However, some sites like
to do more extensive checking of the data supplied by these commands. The ACL
-condition &`verify`& &`=`& &`helo`& is provided to make this possible.
+condition &`verify = helo`& is provided to make this possible.
Formerly, it was necessary also to set this option (&%helo_try_verify_hosts%&)
to force the check to occur. From release 4.53 onwards, this is no longer
necessary. If the check has not been done before &`verify`& &`=`& &`helo`& is
:defer:
:fail:
.endd
-respectively. When a redirection list contains such an item, it applies to the
-entire redirection; any other items in the list are ignored (&':blackhole:'& is
-different). Any text following &':fail:'& or &':defer:'& is placed in the error
-text associated with the failure. For example, an alias file might contain:
+respectively. When a redirection list contains such an item, it applies
+to the entire redirection; any other items in the list are ignored. Any
+text following &':fail:'& or &':defer:'& is placed in the error text
+associated with the failure. For example, an alias file might contain:
.code
X.Employee: :fail: Gone away, no forwarding address
.endd
are all run in parallel, like a shell pipeline.
The filter can perform any transformations it likes, but of course should take
-care not to break RFC 2822 syntax. A demonstration Perl script is provided in
-&_util/transport-filter.pl_&; this makes a few arbitrary modifications just to
-show the possibilities. Exim does not check the result, except to test for a
-final newline when SMTP is in use. All messages transmitted over SMTP must end
-with a newline, so Exim supplies one if it is missing.
+care not to break RFC 2822 syntax. Exim does not check the result, except to
+test for a final newline when SMTP is in use. All messages transmitted over
+SMTP must end with a newline, so Exim supplies one if it is missing.
.cindex "content scanning" "per user"
A transport filter can be used to provide content-scanning on a per-user basis
.option timeout lmtp time 5m
The transport is aborted if the created process or Unix domain socket does not
-respond to LMTP commands or message input within this timeout. &new("Delivery
-is deferred, and will be tried again later.") Here is an example of a typical
+respond to LMTP commands or message input within this timeout. Delivery
+is deferred, and will be tried again later. Here is an example of a typical
LMTP transport:
.code
lmtp:
This option controls the protocols when GnuTLS is used in an Exim
client. For details, see section &<<SECTreqciphgnu>>&.
+.option gnutls_compat_mode main boolean unset
+This option controls whether GnuTLS is used in compatibility mode in an Exim
+server. This reduces security slightly, but improves interworking with older
+implementations of TLS.
+
.option helo_data smtp string&!! "see below"
.cindex "HELO" "argument, setting"
.cindex "EHLO" "argument, setting"
.vindex "&$host$&"
.vindex "&$host_address$&"
This option specifies which interface to bind to when making an outgoing SMTP
-call. &new("The value is an IP address, not an interface name such as
-&`eth0`&.") Do not confuse this with the interface address that was used when a
+call. The value is an IP address, not an interface name such as
+&`eth0`&. Do not confuse this with the interface address that was used when a
message was received, which is in &$received_ip_address$&, formerly known as
&$interface_address$&. The name was changed to minimize confusion with the
outgoing interface address. There is no variable that contains an outgoing
&`s`& rewrite the &'Sender:'& header
&`t`& rewrite the &'To:'& header
.endd
-.new
"All headers" means all of the headers listed above that can be selected
individually, plus their &'Resent-'& versions. It does not include
other headers such as &'Subject:'& etc.
-.wen
You should be particularly careful about rewriting &'Sender:'& headers, and
restrict this to special known cases in your own domains.
driver = plaintext
public_name = LOGIN
server_prompts = Username:: : Password::
- server_condition = ${if ldapauth \
- {user="cn=${quote_ldap_dn:$auth1},ou=people,o=example.org" \
- pass=${quote:$auth2} \
- ldap://ldap.example.org/}}
+ server_condition = ${if and{{
+ !eq{}{$auth1} }{ \
+ ldapauth{user="cn=${quote_ldap_dn:$auth1},ou=people,o=example.org" \
+ pass=${quote:$auth2} \
+ ldap://ldap.example.org/} }} }
server_set_id = uid=$auth1,ou=people,o=example.org
.endd
-Note the use of the &%quote_ldap_dn%& operator to correctly quote the DN for
-authentication. However, the basic &%quote%& operator, rather than any of the
-LDAP quoting operators, is the correct one to use for the password, because
-quoting is needed only to make the password conform to the Exim syntax. At the
-LDAP level, the password is an uninterpreted string.
+We have to check that the username is not empty before using it, because LDAP
+does not permit empty DN components. We must also use the &%quote_ldap_dn%&
+operator to correctly quote the DN for authentication. However, the basic
+&%quote%& operator, rather than any of the LDAP quoting operators, is the
+correct one to use for the password, because quoting is needed only to make
+the password conform to the Exim syntax. At the LDAP level, the password is an
+uninterpreted string.
sasl_plain:
driver = cyrus_sasl
public_name = PLAIN
- server_set_id = $auth1
+ server_set_id = $auth2
.endd
Cyrus SASL does implement the LOGIN authentication method, even though it is
not a standard method. It is disabled by default in the source distribution,
driver = dovecot
public_name = PLAIN
server_socket = /var/run/dovecot/auth-client
- server_set_id = $auth1
+ server_set_id = $auth2
dovecot_ntlm:
driver = dovecot
.section "GnuTLS parameter computation" "SECID181"
-GnuTLS uses RSA and D-H parameters that may take a substantial amount of time
+GnuTLS uses D-H parameters that may take a substantial amount of time
to compute. It is unreasonable to re-compute them for every TLS session.
Therefore, Exim keeps this data in a file in its spool directory, called
&_gnutls-params_&. The file is owned by the Exim user and is readable only by
-its owner. Every Exim process that start up GnuTLS reads the RSA and D-H
+its owner. Every Exim process that start up GnuTLS reads the D-H
parameters from this file. If the file does not exist, the first Exim process
that needs it computes the data and writes it to a temporary file which is
renamed once it is complete. It does not matter if several Exim processes do
also included in the log line that records a message's arrival, keyed by
&"X="&, unless the &%tls_cipher%& log selector is turned off. The &%encrypted%&
condition can be used to test for specific cipher suites in ACLs.
-&new("(For outgoing SMTP deliveries, &$tls_cipher$& is reset &-- see section
-&<<SECID185>>&.)")
+(For outgoing SMTP deliveries, &$tls_cipher$& is reset &-- see section
+&<<SECID185>>&.)
Once TLS has been established, the ACLs that run for subsequent SMTP commands
can check the name of the cipher suite and vary their actions accordingly. The
.irow &%acl_smtp_mail%& "ACL for MAIL"
.irow &%acl_smtp_mailauth%& "ACL for the AUTH parameter of MAIL"
.irow &%acl_smtp_mime%& "ACL for content-scanning MIME parts"
-.irow &new(&%acl_smtp_notquit%&) "ACL for non-QUIT terminations"
+.irow &%acl_smtp_notquit%& "ACL for non-QUIT terminations"
.irow &%acl_smtp_predata%& "ACL at start of DATA command"
.irow &%acl_smtp_quit%& "ACL for QUIT"
.irow &%acl_smtp_rcpt%& "ACL for RCPT"
.section "The not-QUIT ACL" "SECTNOTQUITACL"
-The not-QUIT ACL, specified by &%smtp_notquit_acl%&, is run in most cases when
+.vindex &$acl_smtp_notquit$&
+The not-QUIT ACL, specified by &%acl_smtp_notquit%&, is run in most cases when
an SMTP session ends without sending QUIT. However, when Exim itself is is bad
trouble, such as being unable to write to its log files, this ACL is not run,
because it might try to do things (such as write to log files) that make the
recipients to be discarded. If it is used in an ACL for RCPT, just the one
recipient is discarded; if used for MAIL, DATA or in the non-SMTP ACL, all the
message's recipients are discarded. Recipients that are discarded before DATA
-do not appear in the log line when the &%log_recipients%& log selector is set.
+do not appear in the log line when the &%received_recipients%& log selector is set.
If the &%log_message%& modifier is set when &%discard%& operates,
its contents are added to the line that is automatically written to the log.
&` log_reject_target =`&
.endd
This modifier can be used in SMTP and non-SMTP ACLs. It applies to both
-permanent and temporary rejections.
+permanent and temporary rejections. Its effect lasts for the rest of the
+current ACL.
.vitem &*logwrite*&&~=&~<&'text'&>
.cindex "&ACL;" "testing a DNS list"
In its simplest form, the &%dnslists%& condition tests whether the calling host
is on at least one of a number of DNS lists by looking up the inverted IP
-address in one or more DNS domains. For example, if the calling host's IP
+address in one or more DNS domains. (Note that DNS list domains are not mail
+domains, so the &`+`& syntax for named lists doesn't work - it is used for
+special options instead.) For example, if the calling host's IP
address is 192.168.62.43, and the ACL statement is
.code
deny dnslists = blackholes.mail-abuse.org : \
send in each time interval. It also specifies the number of messages permitted
in a fast burst. By increasing both &'m'& and &'p'& but keeping &'m/p'&
constant, you can allow a client to send more messages in a burst without
-changing its overall sending rate limit. Conversely, if &'m'& and &'p'& are
+changing its long-term sending rate limit. Conversely, if &'m'& and &'p'& are
both small, messages must be sent at an even rate.
There is a script in &_util/ratelimit.pl_& which extracts sending rates from
instructions when it is run with no arguments.
The key is used to look up the data for calculating the client's average
-sending rate. This data is stored in a database maintained by Exim in its spool
-directory, alongside the retry and other hints databases. The default key is
-&$sender_host_address$&, which applies the limit to each client host IP address.
+sending rate. This data is stored in Exim's spool directory, alongside the
+retry and other hints databases. The default key is &$sender_host_address$&,
+which means Exim computes the sending rate of each client host IP address.
By changing the key you can change how Exim identifies clients for the purpose
of ratelimiting. For example, to limit the sending rate of each authenticated
user, independent of the computer they are sending from, set the key to
&$authenticated_id$&. You must ensure that the lookup key is meaningful; for
example, &$authenticated_id$& is only meaningful if the client has
-authenticated, and you can check with the &%authenticated%& ACL condition.
+authenticated (which you can check with the &%authenticated%& ACL condition).
-If you want to limit the rate at which a recipient receives messages, you can
-use the key &`$local_part@$domain`& with the &%per_rcpt%& option (see below) in
-a RCPT ACL.
+The lookup key does not have to identify clients: If you want to limit the
+rate at which a recipient receives messages, you can use the key
+&`$local_part@$domain`& with the &%per_rcpt%& option (see below) in a RCPT
+ACL.
-Internally, Exim includes the smoothing constant &'p'& and the options in the
+Internally, Exim appends the smoothing constant &'p'& and the options onto the
lookup key because they alter the meaning of the stored data. This is not true
for the limit &'m'&, so you can alter the configured maximum rate and Exim will
still remember clients' past behaviour, but if you alter the other ratelimit
The &%per_byte%& option limits the sender's email bandwidth. Note that it is
best to use this option in the DATA ACL; if it is used in an earlier ACL it
-relies on the SIZE parameter on the MAIL command, which may be inaccurate or
-completely missing. You can follow the limit &'m'& in the configuration with K,
-M, or G to specify limits in kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes, respectively.
+relies on the SIZE parameter specified by the client in its MAIL command,
+which may be inaccurate or completely missing. You can follow the limit &'m'&
+in the configuration with K, M, or G to specify limits in kilobytes,
+megabytes, or gigabytes, respectively.
-.new
The &%per_rcpt%& option causes Exim to limit the rate at which
recipients are accepted. To be effective, it would need to be used in
either the &%acl_smtp_rcpt%& or the &%acl_not_smtp%& ACL. In the
&%acl_smtp_rcpt%& ACL, the number of recipients is incremented by one.
In the case of a locally submitted message in the &%acl_not_smtp%& ACL,
-the number of recipients incremented is equal to &%$recipients_count%&
+the number of recipients is incremented by the &%$recipients_count%&
for the entire message. Note that in either case the rate limiting
engine will see a message with many recipients as a large high-speed
burst.
This command is essentially an alias of &%per_rcpt%& to make it clear
that the effect is to limit the rate at which individual commands,
rather than recipients, are accepted.
-.wen
.section "Ratelimit options for handling fast clients" "ratophanfas"
If a client's average rate is greater than the maximum, the rate limiting
rest of the ACL. The default mode is leaky, which avoids a sender's
over-aggressive retry rate preventing it from getting any email through.
-The &%strict%& option means that the client's recorded rate is always updated.
-The effect of this is that Exim measures the client's average rate of attempts
-to send email, which can be much higher than the maximum &new("it is actually
-allowed. If the client is over the limit it may be subjected to
-counter-measures in the ACL until it slows down below the maximum rate.") The
-smoothing period determines the time it takes for a high sending rate to decay
-exponentially to 37% of its peak value, which means that you can work out the
-time (the number of smoothing periods) that a client is subjected to
-counter-measures after an over-limit burst with this formula:
+The &%strict%& option means that the client's recorded rate is always
+updated. The effect of this is that Exim measures the client's average rate
+of attempts to send email, which can be much higher than the maximum it is
+actually allowed. If the client is over the limit it may be subjected to
+counter-measures by the ACL until it slows down below the maximum rate. If
+the client stops attempting to send email for the time specified in the &'p'&
+parameter then its computed rate will decay exponentially to 37% of its peak
+value. You can work out the time (the number of smoothing periods) that a
+client is subjected to counter-measures after an over-limit burst with this
+formula:
.code
-ln(peakrate/maxrate)
+ ln(peakrate/maxrate)
.endd
The &%leaky%& (default) option means that the client's recorded rate is not
updated if it is above the limit. The effect of this is that Exim measures the
For example:
.code
acl_check_connect:
- deny ratelimit = 100 / 5m / strict / noupdate
+ deny ratelimit = 100 / 5m / strict / per_cmd / noupdate
log_message = RATE: $sender_rate/$sender_rate_period \
(max $sender_rate_limit)
.endd
timeout checks succeed. The &$prvscheck_result$& variable contains the result
of the checks (empty for failure, &"1"& for success).
-There are two more issues you must consider when implementing prvs-signing.
-Firstly, you need to ensure that prvs-signed addresses are not blocked by your
-ACLs. A prvs-signed address contains a slash character, but the default Exim
-configuration contains this statement in the RCPT ACL:
-.code
-deny message = Restricted characters in address
- domains = +local_domains
- local_parts = ^[.] : ^.*[@%!/|]
-.endd
-This is a conservative rule that blocks local parts that contain slashes. You
-should remove the slash in the last line.
-
-Secondly, you have to ensure that the routers accept prvs-signed addresses and
+There is one more issue you must consider when implementing prvs-signing:
+you have to ensure that the routers accept prvs-signed addresses and
deliver them correctly. The easiest way to handle this is to use a &(redirect)&
router to remove the signature with a configuration along these lines:
.code
&*Warning*&: It is not possible to use the UNIX socket connection method with
multiple &%spamd%& servers.
+The &%spamd_address%& variable is expanded before use if it starts with
+a dollar sign. In this case, the expansion may return a string that is
+used as the list so that multiple spamd servers can be the result of an
+expansion.
.section "Calling SpamAssassin from an Exim ACL" "SECID206"
Here is a simple example of the use of the &%spam%& condition in a DATA ACL:
.vitem &$spam_score_int$&
The spam score of the message, multiplied by ten, as an integer value. For
-example &"34"& or &"305"&. This is useful for numeric comparisons in
+example &"34"& or &"305"&. It may appear to disagree with &$spam_score$&
+because &$spam_score$& is rounded and &$spam_score_int$& is truncated.
+The integer value is useful for numeric comparisons in
conditions. This variable is special; its value is saved with the message, and
written to Exim's spool file. This means that it can be used during the whole
life of the message on your Exim system, in particular, in routers or
message. Useful for inclusion in headers or reject messages.
.endlist
-The &%spam%& condition caches its results. If you call it again with the same
-user name, it does not scan again, but rather returns the same values as
-before.
+The &%spam%& condition caches its results unless expansion in
+spamd_address was used. If you call it again with the same user name, it
+does not scan again, but rather returns the same values as before.
-The &%spam%& condition returns DEFER if there is any error while running the
-message through SpamAssassin. If you want to treat DEFER as FAIL (to pass on to
-the next ACL statement block), append &`/defer_ok`& to the right-hand side of
-the spam condition, like this:
+The &%spam%& condition returns DEFER if there is any error while running
+the message through SpamAssassin or if the expansion of spamd_address
+failed. If you want to treat DEFER as FAIL (to pass on to the next ACL
+statement block), append &`/defer_ok`& to the right-hand side of the
+spam condition, like this:
.code
deny message = This message was classified as SPAM
spam = joe/defer_ok
These ACLs are called (possibly many times) just before the &%acl_smtp_data%&
ACL in the case of an SMTP message, or just before the &%acl_not_smtp%& ACL in
the case of a non-SMTP message. However, a MIME ACL is called only if the
-message contains a &new(&'Content-Type:'&) header line. When a call to a MIME
+message contains a &'Content-Type:'& header line. When a call to a MIME
ACL does not yield &"accept"&, ACL processing is aborted and the appropriate
result code is sent to the client. In the case of an SMTP message, the
&%acl_smtp_data%& ACL is not called when this happens.
.ecindex IIDforspo2
.ecindex IIDforspo3
+. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+.chapter "Support for DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) - RFC4871" "CHID12" &&&
+ "DKIM Support"
+.cindex "DKIM"
+
+Since version 4.70, DKIM support is compiled into Exim by default. It can be
+disabled by setting DISABLE_DKIM=yes in Local/Makefile.
+
+Exim's DKIM implementation allows to
+.olist
+Sign outgoing messages: This function is implemented in the SMTP transport.
+It can co-exist with all other Exim features, including transport filters.
+.next
+Verify signatures in incoming messages: This is implemented by an additional
+ACL (acl_smtp_dkim), which can be called several times per message, with
+different signature context.
+.endlist
+
+In typical Exim style, the verification implementation does not include any
+default "policy". Instead it enables you to build your own policy using
+Exim's standard controls.
+
+Please note that verification of DKIM signatures in incoming mail is turned
+on by default for logging purposes. For each signature in incoming email,
+exim will log a line displaying the most important signature details, and the
+signature status. Here is an example:
+.code
+2009-09-09 10:22:28 1MlIRf-0003LU-U3 DKIM: d=facebookmail.com s=q1-2009b c=relaxed/relaxed a=rsa-sha1 i=@facebookmail.com t=1252484542 [verification succeeded]
+.endd
+You might want to turn off DKIM verification processing entirely for internal
+or relay mail sources. To do that, set the &%dkim_disable_verify%& ACL
+control modifier. This should typically be done in the RCPT ACL, at points
+where you accept mail from relay sources (internal hosts or authenticated
+senders).
+
+
+.section "Signing outgoing messages" "SECID513"
+.cindex "DKIM" "signing"
+
+Signing is implemented by setting private options on the SMTP transport.
+These options take (expandable) strings as arguments.
+.option dkim_domain smtp string&!! unset
+MANDATORY
+The domain you want to sign with. The result of this expanded
+option is put into the &%$dkim_domain%& expansion variable.
+
+.option dkim_selector smtp string&!! unset
+MANDATORY
+This sets the key selector string. You can use the &%$dkim_domain%& expansion
+variable to look up a matching selector. The result is put in the expansion
+variable &%$dkim_selector%& which should be used in the &%dkim_private_key%&
+option along with &%$dkim_domain%&.
+
+.option dkim_private_key smtp string&!! unset
+MANDATORY
+This sets the private key to use. You can use the &%$dkim_domain%& and
+&%$dkim_selector%& expansion variables to determine the private key to use.
+The result can either
+.ilist
+be a valid RSA private key in ASCII armor, including line breaks.
+.next
+start with a slash, in which case it is treated as a file that contains
+the private key.
+.next
+be "0", "false" or the empty string, in which case the message will not
+be signed. This case will not result in an error, even if &%dkim_strict%&
+is set.
+.endlist
+
+.option dkim_canon smtp string&!! unset
+OPTIONAL
+This option sets the canonicalization method used when signing a message.
+The DKIM RFC currently supports two methods: "simple" and "relaxed".
+The option defaults to "relaxed" when unset. Note: the current implementation
+only supports using the same canonicalization method for both headers and body.
+
+.option dkim_strict smtp string&!! unset
+OPTIONAL
+This option defines how Exim behaves when signing a message that
+should be signed fails for some reason. When the expansion evaluates to
+either "1" or "true", Exim will defer. Otherwise Exim will send the message
+unsigned. You can use the &%$dkim_domain%& and &%$dkim_selector%& expansion
+variables here.
+
+.option dkim_sign_headers smtp string&!! unset
+OPTIONAL
+When set, this option must expand to (or be specified as) a colon-separated
+list of header names. Headers with these names will be included in the message
+signature. When unspecified, the header names recommended in RFC4871 will be
+used.
+
+
+.section "Verifying DKIM signatures in incoming mail" "SECID514"
+.cindex "DKIM" "verification"
+
+Verification of DKIM signatures in incoming email is implemented via the
+&%acl_smtp_dkim%& ACL. By default, this ACL is called once for each
+syntactically(!) correct signature in the incoming message.
+
+To evaluate the signature in the ACL a large number of expansion variables
+containing the signature status and its details are set up during the
+runtime of the ACL.
+
+Calling the ACL only for existing signatures is not sufficient to build
+more advanced policies. For that reason, the global option
+&%dkim_verify_signers%&, and a global expansion variable
+&%$dkim_signers%& exist.
+
+The global option &%dkim_verify_signers%& can be set to a colon-separated
+list of DKIM domains or identities for which the ACL &%acl_smtp_dkim%& is
+called. It is expanded when the message has been received. At this point,
+the expansion variable &%$dkim_signers%& already contains a colon-
+separated list of signer domains and identities for the message. When
+&%dkim_verify_signers%& is not specified in the main configuration,
+it defaults as:
+.code
+dkim_verify_signers = $dkim_signers
+.endd
+This leads to the default behaviour of calling &%acl_smtp_dkim%& for each
+DKIM signature in the message. Current DKIM verifiers may want to explicitly
+call the ACL for known domains or identities. This would be achieved as follows:
+.code
+dkim_verify_signers = paypal.com:ebay.com:$dkim_signers
+.endd
+This would result in &%acl_smtp_dkim%& always being called for "paypal.com"
+and "ebay.com", plus all domains and identities that have signatures in the message.
+You can also be more creative in constructing your policy. Example:
+.code
+dkim_verify_signers = $sender_address_domain:$dkim_signers
+.endd
+
+If a domain or identity is listed several times in the (expanded) value of
+&%dkim_verify_signers%&, the ACL is only called once for that domain or identity.
+
+
+Inside the &%acl_smtp_dkim%&, the following expansion variables are
+available (from most to least important):
+
+.vlist
+.vitem &%$dkim_cur_signer%&
+The signer that is being evaluated in this ACL run. This can be domain or
+an identity. This is one of the list items from the expanded main option
+&%dkim_verify_signers%& (see above).
+.vitem &%$dkim_verify_status%&
+A string describing the general status of the signature. One of
+.ilist
+&%none%&: There is no signature in the message for the current domain or
+identity (as reflected by &%$dkim_cur_signer%&).
+.next
+&%invalid%&: The signature could not be verified due to a processing error.
+More detail is available in &%$dkim_verify_reason%&.
+.next
+&%fail%&: Verification of the signature failed. More detail is
+available in &%$dkim_verify_reason%&.
+.next
+&%pass%&: The signature passed verification. It is valid.
+.endlist
+.vitem &%$dkim_verify_reason%&
+A string giving a litte bit more detail when &%$dkim_verify_status%& is either
+"fail" or "invalid". One of
+.ilist
+&%pubkey_unavailable%& (when &%$dkim_verify_status%&="invalid"): The public
+key for the domain could not be retrieved. This may be a temporary problem.
+.next
+&%pubkey_syntax%& (when &%$dkim_verify_status%&="invalid"): The public key
+record for the domain is syntactically invalid.
+.next
+&%bodyhash_mismatch%& (when &%$dkim_verify_status%&="fail"): The calculated
+body hash does not match the one specified in the signature header. This
+means that the message body was modified in transit.
+.next
+&%signature_incorrect%& (when &%$dkim_verify_status%&="fail"): The signature
+could not be verified. This may mean that headers were modified,
+re-written or otherwise changed in a way which is incompatible with
+DKIM verification. It may of course also mean that the signature is forged.
+.endlist
+.vitem &%$dkim_domain%&
+The signing domain. IMPORTANT: This variable is only populated if there is
+an actual signature in the message for the current domain or identity (as
+reflected by &%$dkim_cur_signer%&).
+.vitem &%$dkim_identity%&
+The signing identity, if present. IMPORTANT: This variable is only populated
+if there is an actual signature in the message for the current domain or
+identity (as reflected by &%$dkim_cur_signer%&).
+.vitem &%$dkim_selector%&
+The key record selector string
+.vitem &%$dkim_algo%&
+The algorithm used. One of 'rsa-sha1' or 'rsa-sha256'.
+.vitem &%$dkim_canon_body%&
+The body canonicalization method. One of 'relaxed' or 'simple'.
+.vitem &%dkim_canon_headers%&
+The header canonicalization method. One of 'relaxed' or 'simple'.
+.vitem &%$dkim_copiedheaders%&
+A transcript of headers and their values which are included in the signature
+(copied from the 'z=' tag of the signature).
+.vitem &%$dkim_bodylength%&
+The number of signed body bytes. If zero ("0"), the body is unsigned. If no
+limit was set by the signer, "9999999999999" is returned. This makes sure
+that this variable always expands to an integer value.
+.vitem &%$dkim_created%&
+UNIX timestamp reflecting the date and time when the signature was created.
+When this was not specified by the signer, "0" is returned.
+.vitem &%$dkim_expires%&
+UNIX timestamp reflecting the date and time when the signer wants the
+signature to be treated as "expired". When this was not specified by the
+signer, "9999999999999" is returned. This makes it possible to do useful
+integer size comparisons against this value.
+.vitem &%$dkim_headernames%&
+A colon-separated list of names of headers included in the signature.
+.vitem &%$dkim_key_testing%&
+"1" if the key record has the "testing" flag set, "0" if not.
+.vitem &%$dkim_key_nosubdomaining%&
+"1" if the key record forbids subdomaining, "0" otherwise.
+.vitem &%$dkim_key_srvtype%&
+Service type (tag s=) from the key record. Defaults to "*" if not specified
+in the key record.
+.vitem &%$dkim_key_granularity%&
+Key granularity (tag g=) from the key record. Defaults to "*" if not specified
+in the key record.
+.vitem &%$dkim_key_notes%&
+Notes from the key record (tag n=)
+.endlist
+
+In addition, two ACL conditions are provided:
+
+.vlist
+.vitem &%dkim_signers%&
+ACL condition that checks a colon-separated list of domains or identities
+for a match against the domain or identity that the ACL is currently verifying
+(reflected by &%$dkim_cur_signer%&). This is typically used to restrict an ACL
+verb to a group of domains or identities, like:
+
+.code
+# Warn when message apparently from GMail has no signature at all
+warn log_message = GMail sender without DKIM signature
+ sender_domains = gmail.com
+ dkim_signers = gmail.com
+ dkim_status = none
+.endd
+
+.vitem &%dkim_status%&
+ACL condition that checks a colon-separated list of possible DKIM verification
+results agains the actual result of verification. This is typically used
+to restrict an ACL verb to a list of verification outcomes, like:
+
+.code
+deny message = Message from Paypal with invalid or missing signature
+ sender_domains = paypal.com:paypal.de
+ dkim_signers = paypal.com:paypal.de
+ dkim_status = none:invalid:fail
+.endd
+
+The possible status keywords are: 'none','invalid','fail' and 'pass'. Please
+see the documentation of the &%$dkim_verify_status%& expansion variable above
+for more information of what they mean.
+.endlist
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-.chapter "Adding new drivers or lookup types" "CHID12" &&&
+.chapter "Adding new drivers or lookup types" "CHID13" &&&
"Adding drivers or lookups"
.cindex "adding drivers"
.cindex "new drivers, adding"
git://git.exim.org / users / jgh / exim.git / blobdiff