POSTQUEUE(1)                    General Commands Manual                    POSTQUEUE(1)

NAME
       postqueue - Postfix queue control

SYNOPSIS
   To flush the mail queue:

       postqueue [-v] [-c config_dir] -f

       postqueue [-v] [-c config_dir] -i queue_id

       postqueue [-v] [-c config_dir] -s site

   To list the mail queue:

       postqueue [-v] [-c config_dir] -j

       postqueue [-v] [-c config_dir] -p

DESCRIPTION
       The postqueue(1) command implements the Postfix user interface for queue manage‐
       ment. It implements operations that are traditionally available  via  the  send‐
       mail(1) command.  See the postsuper(1) command for queue operations that require
       super-user privileges such as deleting a message from the queue or changing  the
       status of a message.

       The following options are recognized:

       -c config_dir
              The  main.cf  configuration file is in the named directory instead of the
              default configuration directory. See  also  the  MAIL_CONFIG  environment
              setting below.

       -f     Flush the queue: attempt to deliver all queued mail.

              This option implements the traditional "sendmail -q" command, by contact‐
              ing the Postfix qmgr(8) daemon.

              Warning: flushing undeliverable  mail  frequently  will  result  in  poor
              delivery performance of all other mail.

       -i queue_id
              Schedule immediate delivery of deferred mail with the specified queue ID.

              This  option implements the traditional sendmail -qI command, by contact‐
              ing the flush(8) server.

              This feature is available with Postfix version 2.4 and later.

       -j     Produce a queue listing in JSON format, based on output from the showq(8)
              daemon.   The  result  is  a stream of zero or more JSON objects, one per
              queue file.  Each object is followed by a newline  character  to  support
              simple streaming parsers. See "JSON OBJECT FORMAT" below for details.

              This feature is available in Postfix 3.1 and later.

       -p     Produce  a  traditional sendmail-style queue listing.  This option imple‐
              ments the traditional mailq command, by contacting the  Postfix  showq(8)
              daemon.

              Each  queue  entry  shows  the queue file ID, message size, arrival time,
              sender, and the recipients that still need  to  be  delivered.   If  mail
              could  not  be delivered upon the last attempt, the reason for failure is
              shown. The queue ID string is followed by an optional status character:

              *      The message is in the active queue, i.e. the message  is  selected
                     for delivery.

              !      The message is in the hold queue, i.e. no further delivery attempt
                     will be made until the mail is taken off hold.

       -s site
              Schedule immediate delivery of all mail that  is  queued  for  the  named
              site. A numerical site must be specified as a valid RFC 5321 address lit‐
              eral enclosed in [], just like in email addresses.  The site must be eli‐
              gible  for  the  "fast flush" service.  See flush(8) for more information
              about the "fast flush" service.

              This option implements the traditional  "sendmail  -qRsite"  command,  by
              contacting the Postfix flush(8) daemon.

       -v     Enable  verbose  logging for debugging purposes. Multiple -v options make
              the software increasingly verbose. As of  Postfix  2.3,  this  option  is
              available for the super-user only.

JSON OBJECT FORMAT
       Each  JSON object represents one queue file; it is emitted as a single text line
       followed by a newline character.

       Object members have string values unless indicated otherwise.   Programs  should
       ignore  object members that are not listed here; the list of members is expected
       to grow over time.

       queue_name
              The name of the queue where the message was found.  Note  that  the  con‐
              tents  of  the  mail queue may change while it is being listed; some mes‐
              sages may appear more than once, and some messages may be missed.

       queue_id
              The queue file name. The queue_id may be reused within a Postfix instance
              unless  "enable_long_queue_ids = true" and time is monotonic.  Even then,
              the queue_id is not expected  to  be  unique  between  different  Postfix
              instances.   Management  tools  that require a unique name should combine
              the queue_id with the myhostname setting of the Postfix instance.

       arrival_time
              The number of seconds since the start of the UNIX epoch.

       message_size
              The number of bytes in the message header and body. This number does  not
              include  message  envelope  information. It is approximately equal to the
              number of bytes that would be transmitted via SMTP including the <CR><LF>
              line endings.

       sender The envelope sender address.

       recipients
              An array containing zero or more objects with members:

              address
                     One recipient address.

              delay_reason
                     If  present,  the reason for delayed delivery.  Delayed recipients
                     may have no delay  reason,  for  example,  while  delivery  is  in
                     progress,  or  after the system was stopped before it could record
                     the reason.

SECURITY
       This program is designed to run with set-group ID privileges,  so  that  it  can
       connect to Postfix daemon processes.

STANDARDS
       RFC 7159 (JSON notation)

DIAGNOSTICS
       Problems are logged to syslogd(8) and to the standard error stream.

ENVIRONMENT
       MAIL_CONFIG
              Directory  with  the  main.cf  file.  In  order  to avoid exploitation of
              set-group ID privileges, a non-standard directory is allowed only if:

              ·      The name is listed in the standard main.cf file  with  the  alter‐
                     nate_config_directories configuration parameter.

              ·      The command is invoked by the super-user.

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
       The  following  main.cf parameters are especially relevant to this program.  The
       text below provides only a parameter summary. See postconf(5) for  more  details
       including examples.

       alternate_config_directories (empty)
              A list of non-default Postfix configuration directories that may be spec‐
              ified with  "-c  config_directory"  on  the  command  line,  or  via  the
              MAIL_CONFIG environment parameter.

       config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The  default  location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf configuration
              files.

       command_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The location of all postfix administrative commands.

       fast_flush_domains ($relay_domains)
              Optional list of destinations that are eligible for per-destination  log‐
              files with mail that is queued to those destinations.

       import_environment (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The  list  of  environment  parameters that a Postfix process will import
              from a non-Postfix parent process.

       queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.

       syslog_facility (mail)
              The syslog facility of Postfix logging.

       syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The mail system name that is prepended to  the  process  name  in  syslog
              records, so that "smtpd" becomes, for example, "postfix/smtpd".

       trigger_timeout (10s)
              The  time  limit  for sending a trigger to a Postfix daemon (for example,
              the pickup(8) or qmgr(8) daemon).

       Available in Postfix version 2.2 and later:

       authorized_flush_users (static:anyone)
              List of users who are authorized to flush the queue.

       authorized_mailq_users (static:anyone)
              List of users who are authorized to view the queue.

FILES
       /var/spool/postfix, mail queue

SEE ALSO
       qmgr(8), queue manager
       showq(8), list mail queue
       flush(8), fast flush service
       sendmail(1), Sendmail-compatible user interface
       postsuper(1), privileged queue operations

README FILES
       Use "postconf readme_directory" or  "postconf  html_directory"  to  locate  this
       information.
       ETRN_README, Postfix ETRN howto

LICENSE
       The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.

HISTORY
       The postqueue command was introduced with Postfix version 1.1.

AUTHOR(S)
       Wietse Venema
       IBM T.J. Watson Research
       P.O. Box 704
       Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA

       Wietse Venema
       Google, Inc.
       111 8th Avenue
       New York, NY 10011, USA

                                                                           POSTQUEUE(1)

usage: postqueue -f | postqueue -i queueid | postqueue -j | postqueue -p | postqueue -s site