NAME

       error - Postfix error/retry mail delivery agent

SYNOPSIS

       error [generic Postfix daemon options]

DESCRIPTION

       The  Postfix  error(8)  delivery agent processes delivery requests from the queue manager.
       Each request specifies a queue  file,  a  sender  address,  the  reason  for  non-delivery
       (specified  as  the  next-hop  destination), and recipient information.  The reason may be
       prefixed with an RFC 3463-compatible detail code; if none is specified a default 4.0.0  or
       5.0.0  code  is  used  instead.  This program expects to be run from the master(8) process
       manager.

       Depending on the service name in master.cf, error or retry, the server bounces  or  defers
       all  recipients in the delivery request using the "next-hop" information as the reason for
       non-delivery. The retry service name is supported as of Postfix 2.4.

       Delivery status reports are  sent  to  the  bounce(8),  defer(8)  or  trace(8)  daemon  as
       appropriate.

SECURITY

       The error(8) mailer is not security-sensitive. It does not talk to the network, and can be
       run chrooted at fixed low privilege.

STANDARDS

       RFC 3463 (Enhanced Status Codes)

DIAGNOSTICS

       Problems and transactions are logged to syslogd(8).

       Depending on the setting of the notify_classes parameter, the postmaster  is  notified  of
       bounces and of other trouble.

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS

       Changes  to  main.cf  are  picked  up  automatically  as error(8) processes run for only a
       limited amount of time. Use the command "postfix reload" to speed up a change.

       The text below provides only  a  parameter  summary.  See  postconf(5)  for  more  details
       including examples.

       2bounce_notice_recipient (postmaster)
              The recipient of undeliverable mail that cannot be returned to the sender.

       bounce_notice_recipient (postmaster)
              The  recipient  of  postmaster  notifications with the message headers of mail that
              Postfix did not deliver and of SMTP conversation transcripts of mail  that  Postfix
              did not receive.

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

       daemon_timeout (18000s)
              How  much  time  a Postfix daemon process may take to handle a request before it is
              terminated by a built-in watchdog timer.

       delay_logging_resolution_limit (2)
              The maximal number of digits after the decimal point when logging sub-second  delay
              values.

       double_bounce_sender (double-bounce)
              The  sender  address  of  postmaster  notifications  that are generated by the mail
              system.

       ipc_timeout (3600s)
              The time limit for sending or receiving information over an internal  communication
              channel.

       max_idle (100s)
              The  maximum  amount  of  time  that  an  idle  Postfix daemon process waits for an
              incoming connection before terminating voluntarily.

       max_use (100)
              The maximal number of incoming connections  that  a  Postfix  daemon  process  will
              service before terminating voluntarily.

       notify_classes (resource, software)
              The list of error classes that are reported to the postmaster.

       process_id (read-only)
              The process ID of a Postfix command or daemon process.

       process_name (read-only)
              The process name of a Postfix command or daemon 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".

SEE ALSO

       qmgr(8), queue manager
       bounce(8), delivery status reports
       discard(8), Postfix discard delivery agent
       postconf(5), configuration parameters
       master(5), generic daemon options
       master(8), process manager
       syslogd(8), system logging

LICENSE

       The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.

AUTHOR(S)

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

                                                                                  ERROR(8postfix)