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.\" @(#)sendmail.8 8.2 (Berkeley) 7/11/93
.Nd send mail over the internet
sends a message to one or more
routing the message over whatever networks
does internetwork forwarding as necessary
to deliver the message to the correct place.
is not intended as a user interface routine;
other programs provide user-friendly
is used only to deliver pre-formatted messages.
or a line consisting only of a single dot
and sends a copy of the message found there
to all of the addresses listed.
It determines the network(s) to use
based on the syntax and contents of the addresses.
Local addresses are looked up in a file
and aliased appropriately.
Aliasing can be prevented by preceding the address
Normally the sender is not included in any alias
if `john' sends to `group',
and `group' includes `john' in the expansion,
then the letter will not be delivered to `john'.
All input lines must end with a CR-LF,
and all messages will be generated with a CR-LF at the end.
the ``From:'' and ``Sender:''
fields are examined for the name of the sender.
Run as a daemon. This requires Berkeley
will fork and run in background
listening on socket 25 for incoming
This is normally run from
Initialize the alias database.
Deliver mail in the usual way (default).
Print a listing of the queue.
on standard input and output.
This flag implies all the operations of the
flag that are compatible with
Run in address test mode.
This mode reads addresses and shows the steps in parsing;
it is used for debugging configuration tables.
Verify names only \- do not try to collect or deliver a message.
Verify mode is normally used for validating
Create the configuration freeze file.
Use alternate configuration file.
refuses to run as root if an alternate configuration file is specified.
The frozen configuration file is bypassed.
Set the full name of the sender.
Sets the name of the ``from'' person
(i.e., the sender of the mail).
or if the person you are trying to become
is the same as the person you are.
The hop count is incremented every time the mail is
the mail is returned with an error message,
the victim of an aliasing loop.
``Received:'' lines in the message are counted.
.It Fl o Ns Ar x Em value
Options are described below.
Set the name of the protocol used to receive the message.
This can be a simple protocol name such as ``UUCP''
or a protocol and hostname, such as ``UUCP:ucbvax''.
Processed saved messages in the queue at given intervals.
is given as a tagged number,
would both set the timeout to one hour thirty minutes.
This option can be used safely with
An alternate and obsolete form of the
Read message for recipients.
To:, Cc:, and Bcc: lines will be scanned for recipient addresses.
The Bcc: line will be deleted before transmission.
Any addresses in the argument list will be suppressed,
receive copies even if listed in the message header.
Alias expansions will be announced, etc.
Log all traffic in and out of mailers in the indicated log file.
This should only be used as a last resort
for debugging mailer bugs.
It will log a lot of data very quickly.
There are also a number of processing options that may be set.
Normally these will only be used by a system administrator.
Options may be set either on the command line
or in the configuration file.
for a complete list (and details), consult the
.%T "Sendmail Installation and Operation Guide" .
Use alternate alias file.
The minimum number of free blocks needed on the spool filesystem.
On mailers that are considered ``expensive'' to connect to,
don't initiate immediate connection.
Checkpoint the queue file after every
successful deliveries (default 10).
This avoids excessive duplicate deliveries
when sending to long mailing lists
interrupted by system crashes.
for interactive (synchronous) delivery,
for background (asynchronous) delivery,
actual delivery is done the next time the queue is run.
Try to automatically rebuild the alias database
Set error processing to mode
to mail back the error message,
to ``write'' back the error message
(or mail it back if the sender is not logged in),
to print the errors on the terminal
to throw away error messages
(only exit status is returned),
to do special processing for the BerkNet.
If the text of the message is not mailed back
and if the sender is local to this machine,
a copy of the message is appended to the file
in the sender's home directory.
From lines at the front of messages.
Match local mail names against the GECOS portion of the password file.
The default group id to use when calling mailers.
The maximum number of times a message is allowed to ``hop''
before we decide it is in a loop.
Do not take dots on a line by themselves
Send error messages in MIME format.
Set connection cache timeout.
Set connection cache size.
Pay attention to the Errors-To: header.
Send to ``me'' (the sender) also if I am in an alias expansion.
Validate the right hand side of aliases during a
If set, this message may have
this message is guaranteed to have new style headers
(i.e., commas instead of spaces between addresses).
If set, an adaptive algorithm is used that will correctly
determine the header format in most cases.
Select the directory in which to queue messages.
Save statistics in the named file.
Always instantiate the queue file,
even under circumstances where it is not strictly necessary.
This provides safety against system crashes during delivery.
Set the timeout on undelivered messages in the queue to the specified time.
After delivery has failed
(e.g., because of a host being down)
failed messages will be returned to the sender.
The default is three days.
.It Li t Ns Ar stz , Ar dtz
Set the name of the time zone.
.It Li U Ns Ar userdatabase
If set, a user database is consulted to get forwarding information.
You can consider this an adjunct to the aliasing mechanism,
except that the database is intended to be distributed;
aliases are local to a particular host.
This may not be available if your sendmail does not have the
Set the default user id for mailers.
Fork each job during queue runs.
May be convenient on memory-poor machines.
Strip incoming messages to seven bits.
the first character of a name may be
a vertical bar to cause interpretation of
the rest of the name as a command
It may be necessary to quote the name
from suppressing the blanks from between arguments.
For example, a common alias is:
.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
msgs: "|/usr/bin/msgs -s"
Aliases may also have the syntax
.Dq :include: Ns Ar filename
to read the named file for a list of recipients.
For example, an alias such as:
.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
poets: ":include:/usr/local/lib/poets.list"
.Pa /usr/local/lib/poets.list
for the list of addresses making up the group.
.Bl -tag -width EX_UNAVAILABLE -compact -offset indent
Successful completion on all addresses.
User name not recognized.
Catchall meaning necessary resources
Temporary operating system error,
Host name not recognized.
Message could not be sent immediately,
will rebuild the alias database.
will print the contents of the mail queue.
the following pathnames are all specified in
these values are only approximations.
.Bl -tag -width /usr/lib/sendmail.fc -compact
.It Pa /var/log/sendmail.st
.It Pa /var/spool/mqueue/*
.It Pa /var/run/sendmail.pid
The process id of the daemon
Internet Request For Comments
.%T "Sendmail \- An Internetwork Mail Router"
.%T "Sendmail Installation and Operation Guide"