Purpose of this document
========================
This document provides a road map of the Postfix mail system source
code distribution. I suggest that you
- take a few minutes to read this file,
- review the RELEASE_NOTES file for incompatible changes,
- and then proceed with the INSTALL instructions.
Introduction
============
This is the public release of the Postfix mail system. Thank you
for your interest in this project. Send me a postcard if you like
it. My postal address is below.
You must read the LICENSE file, if you didn't do so already. A copy
of the LICENSE must be distributed with every original, modified,
complete, source, or binary copy of this software or parts thereof.
I suggest that you keep a copy of the file in /etc/postfix/LICENSE.
Purpose of the Postfix mail system
==================================
Postfix aims to be an alternative to the widely-used sendmail
program.
Although IBM supported the Postfix development, it abstains from
control over its evolution. The goal is to have Postfix installed
on as many systems as possible. To this end, the software is given
away with no strings attached to it, so that it can evolve with
input from and under control by its users.
In other words, IBM releases Postfix only once. I will be around
to guide its development for a limited time.
On-line resources devoted to the Postfix mail system
====================================================
Web sites:
http://www.postfix.org/ current release information
Mail addresses (PLEASE send questions to the mailing list)
postfix-users@postfix.org Postfix users mailing list
In order to subscribe to the mailing list, see http://www.postfix.org/.
Acknowledgments
===============
This release could not have happened without the input from a team
of competent alpha testers. Their names appear in numerous places
in the HISTORY file. I appreciate the input from my colleagues at
the IBM Global Security Analysis Laboratory: Paul Karger, Dave
Safford, Douglas Schales, and Leendert van Doorn. I also appreciate
the support by Charles Palmer under whose leadership I began this
project, and who had the privilege to name the software, twice.
If you wish to express your appreciation for the Postfix software,
you are welcome to send a postcard to:
Wietse Venema
IBM T.J Watson Research Center
P.O. Box 704,
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
USA
Roadmap of the Postfix source distribution
==========================================
The RELEASE_NOTES file describes new features, and lists incompatible
changes with respect to previous Postfix versions.
The INSTALL file provides a step-by-step guide for building and
installing Postfix on many popular UNIX platforms.
The COMPATIBILITY file lists features that Postfix does or does
not yet implement, and how well it works with other software.
The HISTORY file gives a detailed log of changes to the software.
Point your browser at html/index.html for Postfix documentation
and for hyperlinked versions of Postfix manual pages. Expect
to see updated versions on-line at http://www.postfix.org/
Point your MANPATH environment variable at the `man' directory (use
an absolute path) for UNIX-style on-line manual pages. These pages
are also available through the HTML interface, which allows you to
navigate faster.
The PORTING file discusses how to go about porting Postfix to other
UNIX platforms.
Documentation:
README_FILES/ Instructions for specific Postfix features
html/ HTML format
man/ UNIX on-line manual page format
Example files:
conf/ configuration files, run-time scripts
examples/ chroot environments, virtual domains
Library routines:
src/dns/ DNS client library
src/global/ Postfix-specific support routines
src/milter/ Postfix Milter (mail filter) client
src/tls/ TLS client and server support
src/util/ General-purpose support routines
src/xsasl/ SASL plug-in API
Command-line utilities:
src/postalias/ Alias database management
src/postcat/ List Postfix queue file
src/postconf/ Configuration utility
src/postdrop/ Postfix mail submission program
src/postfix/ Postfix administrative interface
src/postkick/ Postfix IPC for shell scripts
src/postlock/ Postfix locking for shell scripts
src/postlog/ Postfix logging for shell scripts
src/postmap/ Postfix lookup table management
src/postmulti/ Postfix multi-instance manager
src/postqueue/ Postfix queue control program
src/postsuper/ Postfix house keeping program
src/sendmail/ Sendmail compatibility interface
Postfix daemons:
src/anvil/ Connection count/rate limiter
src/bounce/ Bounce or defer mail
src/cleanup/ Canonicalize and enqueue mail
src/discard/ Trivial discard mailer
src/dnsblog/ DNS agent for postscreen
src/error/ Trivial error mailer
src/flush/ Support for ETRN, sendmail -qI, sendmail -qR
src/local/ Local delivery
src/master/ Postfix resident superserver
src/oqmgr/ Old queue manager
src/pickup/ Local pickup
src/pipe/ Pipe delivery
src/postscreen/ Zombie blocker
src/proxymap/ Table lookup proxy agent
src/qmgr/ Queue manager
src/qmqpd/ QMQPD server
src/scache/ Postfix SMTP session cache
src/showq/ List Postfix queue status
src/smtp/ SMTP and LMTP client
src/smtpd/ SMTP server
src/spawn/ Run non-Postfix server
src/tlsmgr/ TLS session keys and random pool
src/tlsproxy/ TLS proxy for postscreen
src/trivial-rewrite/ Address rewriting and resolving
src/verify/ address verification service
src/virtual/ virtual mailbox-only delivery agent
Test programs:
src/fsstone/ Measure file system overhead
src/posttls-finger/ Postfix SMTP/LMTP TLS probe utility
src/smtpstone/ SMTP and QMQP server torture test
Miscellaneous:
auxiliary/ Auxiliary software etc.
bin/ Postfix command executables
conf/ Configuration files, run-time scripts
include/ Include files
implementation-notes/ Background information
lib/ Object libraries
libexec/ Postfix daemon executables
mantools/ Documentation utilities
proto/ Documentation source