path: root/doc/exim.8

.TH EXIM 8
.SH NAME
exim \- a Mail Transfer Agent
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.B exim [options] arguments ...
.B mailq [options] arguments ...
.B rsmtp [options] arguments ...
.B rmail [options] arguments ...
.B runq [options] arguments ...
.B newaliases [options] arguments ...
.fi
.
.SH DESCRIPTION
.rs
.sp
Exim is a mail transfer agent (MTA) developed at the University of Cambridge.
It is a large program with very many facilities. For a full specification, see
the reference manual. This man page contains only a description of the command
line options. It has been automatically generated from the reference manual
source, hopefully without too much mangling.
.P
Like other MTAs, Exim replaces Sendmail, and is normally called by user agents
(MUAs) using the path \fI/usr/sbin/sendmail\fP when they submit messages for
delivery (some operating systems use \fI/usr/lib/sendmail\fP). This path is
normally set up as a symbolic link to the Exim binary. It may also be used by
boot scripts to start the Exim daemon. Many of Exim's command line options are
compatible with Sendmail so that it can act as a drop-in replacement.
.
.SH "DEFAULT ACTION"
.rs
.sp
If no options are present that require a specific action (such as starting the
daemon or a queue runner, testing an address, receiving a message in a specific
format, or listing the queue), and there are no arguments on the command line,
Exim outputs a brief message about itself and exits.
.sp
However, if there is at least one command line argument, \fB-bm\fR (accept a
local message on the standard input, with the arguments specifying the
recipients) is assumed. Thus, for example, if Exim is installed in
\fI/usr/sbin\fP, you can send a message from the command line like this:
.sp
  /usr/sbin/exim -i <recipient-address(es)>
  <message content, including all the header lines>
  CTRL-D
.sp
The \fB-i\fP option prevents a line containing just a dot from terminating
the message. Only an end-of-file (generated by typing CTRL-D if the input is
from a terminal) does so.
.
.SH "SETTING OPTIONS BY PROGRAM NAME"
.rs
.sp
If an Exim binary is called using one of the names listed in this section
(typically via a symbolic link), certain options are assumed.
.TP
\fBmailq\fR
Behave as if the option \fB\-bp\fP were present before any other options.
The \fB\-bp\fP option requests a listing of the contents of the mail queue
on the standard output.
.TP
\fBrsmtp\fR
Behaves as if the option \fB\-bS\fP were present before any other options,
for compatibility with Smail. The \fB\-bS\fP option is used for reading in a
number of messages in batched SMTP format.
.TP
\fBrmail\fR
Behave as if the \fB\-i\fP and \fB\-oee\fP options were present before
any other options, for compatibility with Smail. The name \fBrmail\fR is used
as an interface by some UUCP systems. The \fB\-i\fP option specifies that a
dot on a line by itself does not terminate a non\-SMTP message; \fB\-oee\fP
requests that errors detected in non\-SMTP messages be reported by emailing
the sender.
.TP
\fBrunq\fR
Behave as if the option \fB\-q\fP were present before any other options, for
compatibility with Smail. The \fB\-q\fP option causes a single queue runner
process to be started. It processes the queue once, then exits.
.TP
\fBnewaliases\fR
Behave as if the option \fB\-bi\fP were present before any other options,
for compatibility with Sendmail. This option is used for rebuilding Sendmail's
alias file. Exim does not have the concept of a single alias file, but can be
configured to run a specified command if called with the \fB\-bi\fP option.
.
.SH "OPTIONS"
.rs
.TP 10
\fB\-\-\fP
This is a pseudo\-option whose only purpose is to terminate the options and
therefore to cause subsequent command line items to be treated as arguments
rather than options, even if they begin with hyphens.
.TP 10
\fB\-\-help\fP
This option causes Exim to output a few sentences stating what it is.
The same output is generated if the Exim binary is called with no options and
no arguments.
.TP 10
\fB\-\-version\fP
This option is an alias for \fB\-bV\fP and causes version information to be
displayed.
.TP 10
\fB\-Ac\fP
\fB\-Am\fP
These options are used by Sendmail for selecting configuration files and are
ignored by Exim.
.TP 10
\fB\-B\fP<\fItype\fP>
This is a Sendmail option for selecting 7 or 8 bit processing. Exim is 8\-bit
clean; it ignores this option.
.TP 10
\fB\-bd\fP
This option runs Exim as a daemon, awaiting incoming SMTP connections. Usually
the \fB\-bd\fP option is combined with the \fB\-q\fP<\fItime\fP> option, to specify
that the daemon should also initiate periodic queue runs.
.sp
The \fB\-bd\fP option can be used only by an admin user. If either of the \fB\-d\fP
(debugging) or \fB\-v\fP (verifying) options are set, the daemon does not
disconnect from the controlling terminal. When running this way, it can be
stopped by pressing ctrl\-C.
.sp
By default, Exim listens for incoming connections to the standard SMTP port on
all the host's running interfaces. However, it is possible to listen on other
ports, on multiple ports, and only on specific interfaces.
.sp
When a listening daemon
is started without the use of \fB\-oX\fP (that is, without overriding the normal
configuration), it writes its process id to a file called exim\-daemon.pid
in Exim's spool directory. This location can be overridden by setting
PID_FILE_PATH in Local/Makefile. The file is written while Exim is still
running as root.
.sp
When \fB\-oX\fP is used on the command line to start a listening daemon, the
process id is not written to the normal pid file path. However, \fB\-oP\fP can be
used to specify a path on the command line if a pid file is required.
.sp
The SIGHUP signal
can be used to cause the daemon to re\-execute itself. This should be done
whenever Exim's configuration file, or any file that is incorporated into it by
means of the \fB.include\fP facility, is changed, and also whenever a new version
of Exim is installed. It is not necessary to do this when other files that are
referenced from the configuration (for example, alias files) are changed,
because these are reread each time they are used.
.TP 10
\fB\-bdf\fP
This option has the same effect as \fB\-bd\fP except that it never disconnects
from the controlling terminal, even when no debugging is specified.
.TP 10
\fB\-be\fP
Run Exim in expansion testing mode. Exim discards its root privilege, to
prevent ordinary users from using this mode to read otherwise inaccessible
files. If no arguments are given, Exim runs interactively, prompting for lines
of data. Otherwise, it processes each argument in turn.
.sp
If Exim was built with USE_READLINE=yes in Local/Makefile, it tries
to load the \fBlibreadline\fP library dynamically whenever the \fB\-be\fP option is
used without command line arguments. If successful, it uses the readline()
function, which provides extensive line\-editing facilities, for reading the
test data. A line history is supported.
.sp
Long expansion expressions can be split over several lines by using backslash
continuations. As in Exim's runtime configuration, white space at the start of
continuation lines is ignored. Each argument or data line is passed through the
string expansion mechanism, and the result is output. Variable values from the
configuration file (for example, \fI$qualify_domain\fP) are available, but no
message\-specific values (such as \fI$message_exim_id\fP) are set, because no message
is being processed (but see \fB\-bem\fP and \fB\-Mset\fP).
.sp
\fBNote\fP: If you use this mechanism to test lookups, and you change the data
files or databases you are using, you must exit and restart Exim before trying
the same lookup again. Otherwise, because each Exim process caches the results
of lookups, you will just get the same result as before.
.sp
Macro processing is done on lines before string\-expansion: new macros can be
defined and macros will be expanded.
Because macros in the config file are often used for secrets, those are only
available to admin users.
.TP 10
\fB\-bem\fP <\fIfilename\fP>
This option operates like \fB\-be\fP except that it must be followed by the name
of a file. For example:
.sp
  exim \-bem /tmp/testmessage
.sp
The file is read as a message (as if receiving a locally\-submitted non\-SMTP
message) before any of the test expansions are done. Thus, message\-specific
variables such as \fI$message_size\fP and \fI$header_from:\fP are available. However,
no \fIReceived:\fP header is added to the message. If the \fB\-t\fP option is set,
recipients are read from the headers in the normal way, and are shown in the
\fI$recipients\fP variable. Note that recipients cannot be given on the command
line, because further arguments are taken as strings to expand (just like
\fB\-be\fP).
.TP 10
\fB\-bF\fP <\fIfilename\fP>
This option is the same as \fB\-bf\fP except that it assumes that the filter being
tested is a system filter. The additional commands that are available only in
system filters are recognized.
.TP 10
\fB\-bf\fP <\fIfilename\fP>
This option runs Exim in user filter testing mode; the file is the filter file
to be tested, and a test message must be supplied on the standard input. If
there are no message\-dependent tests in the filter, an empty file can be
supplied.
.sp
If you want to test a system filter file, use \fB\-bF\fP instead of \fB\-bf\fP. You
can use both \fB\-bF\fP and \fB\-bf\fP on the same command, in order to test a system
filter and a user filter in the same run. For example:
.sp
  exim \-bF /system/filter \-bf /user/filter </test/message
.sp
This is helpful when the system filter adds header lines or sets filter
variables that are used by the user filter.
.sp
If the test filter file does not begin with one of the special lines
.sp
  # Exim filter
  # Sieve filter
.sp
it is taken to be a normal .forward file, and is tested for validity under
that interpretation.
.sp
The result of an Exim command that uses \fB\-bf\fP, provided no errors are
detected, is a list of the actions that Exim would try to take if presented
with the message for real. More details of filter testing are given in the
separate document entitled \fIExim's interfaces to mail filtering\fP.
.sp
When testing a filter file,
the envelope sender can be set by the \fB\-f\fP option,
or by a "From " line at the start of the test message. Various parameters
that would normally be taken from the envelope recipient address of the message
can be set by means of additional command line options (see the next four
options).
.TP 10
\fB\-bfd\fP <\fIdomain\fP>
This sets the domain of the recipient address when a filter file is being
tested by means of the \fB\-bf\fP option. The default is the value of
\fI$qualify_domain\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-bfl\fP <\fIlocal part\fP>
This sets the local part of the recipient address when a filter file is being
tested by means of the \fB\-bf\fP option. The default is the username of the
process that calls Exim. A local part should be specified with any prefix or
suffix stripped, because that is how it appears to the filter when a message is
actually being delivered.
.TP 10
\fB\-bfp\fP <\fIprefix\fP>
This sets the prefix of the local part of the recipient address when a filter
file is being tested by means of the \fB\-bf\fP option. The default is an empty
prefix.
.TP 10
\fB\-bfs\fP <\fIsuffix\fP>
This sets the suffix of the local part of the recipient address when a filter
file is being tested by means of the \fB\-bf\fP option. The default is an empty
suffix.
.TP 10
\fB\-bh\fP <\fIIP address\fP>
This option runs a fake SMTP session as if from the given IP address, using the
standard input and output. The IP address may include a port number at the end,
after a full stop. For example:
.sp
  exim \-bh 10.9.8.7.1234
  exim \-bh fe80::a00:20ff:fe86:a061.5678
.sp
When an IPv6 address is given, it is converted into canonical form. In the case
of the second example above, the value of \fI$sender_host_address\fP after
conversion to the canonical form is
fe80:0000:0000:0a00:20ff:fe86:a061.5678.
.sp
Comments as to what is going on are written to the standard error file. These
include lines beginning with "LOG" for anything that would have been logged.
This facility is provided for testing configuration options for incoming
messages, to make sure they implement the required policy. For example, you can
test your relay controls using \fB\-bh\fP.
.sp
\fBWarning 1\fP:
You can test features of the configuration that rely on ident (RFC 1413)
information by using the \fB\-oMt\fP option. However, Exim cannot actually perform
an ident callout when testing using \fB\-bh\fP because there is no incoming SMTP
connection.
.sp
\fBWarning 2\fP: Address verification callouts
are also skipped when testing using \fB\-bh\fP. If you want these callouts to
occur, use \fB\-bhc\fP instead.
.sp
Messages supplied during the testing session are discarded, and nothing is
written to any of the real log files. There may be pauses when DNS (and other)
lookups are taking place, and of course these may time out. The \fB\-oMi\fP option
can be used to specify a specific IP interface and port if this is important,
and \fB\-oMaa\fP and \fB\-oMai\fP can be used to set parameters as if the SMTP
session were authenticated.
.sp
The \fIexim_checkaccess\fP utility is a "packaged" version of \fB\-bh\fP whose
output just states whether a given recipient address from a given host is
acceptable or not.
.sp
Features such as authentication and encryption, where the client input is not
plain text, cannot easily be tested with \fB\-bh\fP. Instead, you should use a
specialized SMTP test program such as
\fBswaks\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-bhc\fP <\fIIP address\fP>
This option operates in the same way as \fB\-bh\fP, except that address
verification callouts are performed if required. This includes consulting and
updating the callout cache database.
.TP 10
\fB\-bi\fP
Sendmail interprets the \fB\-bi\fP option as a request to rebuild its alias file.
Exim does not have the concept of a single alias file, and so it cannot mimic
this behaviour. However, calls to /usr/lib/sendmail with the \fB\-bi\fP option
tend to appear in various scripts such as NIS make files, so the option must be
recognized.
.sp
If \fB\-bi\fP is encountered, the command specified by the \fBbi_command\fP
configuration option is run, under the uid and gid of the caller of Exim. If
the \fB\-oA\fP option is used, its value is passed to the command as an argument.
The command set by \fBbi_command\fP may not contain arguments. The command can
use the \fIexim_dbmbuild\fP utility, or some other means, to rebuild alias files
if this is required. If the \fBbi_command\fP option is not set, calling Exim with
\fB\-bi\fP is a no\-op.
.TP 10
\fB\-bI:help\fP
We shall provide various options starting \-bI: for querying Exim for
information.  The output of many of these will be intended for machine
consumption.  This one is not.  The \fB\-bI:help\fP option asks Exim for a
synopsis of supported options beginning \-bI:.  Use of any of these
options shall cause Exim to exit after producing the requested output.
.TP 10
\fB\-bI:dscp\fP
This option causes Exim to emit an alphabetically sorted list of all
recognised DSCP names.
.TP 10
\fB\-bI:sieve\fP
This option causes Exim to emit an alphabetically sorted list of all supported
Sieve protocol extensions on stdout, one per line.  This is anticipated to be
useful for ManageSieve (RFC 5804) implementations, in providing that protocol's
SIEVE capability response line.  As the precise list may depend upon
compile\-time build options, which this option will adapt to, this is the only
way to guarantee a correct response.
.TP 10
\fB\-bm\fP
This option runs an Exim receiving process that accepts an incoming,
locally\-generated message on the standard input. The recipients are given as the
command arguments (except when \fB\-t\fP is also present \- see below). Each
argument can be a comma\-separated list of RFC 2822 addresses. This is the
default option for selecting the overall action of an Exim call; it is assumed
if no other conflicting option is present.
.sp
If any addresses in the message are unqualified (have no domain), they are
qualified by the values of the \fBqualify_domain\fP or \fBqualify_recipient\fP
options, as appropriate. The \fB\-bnq\fP option (see below) provides a way of
suppressing this for special cases.
.sp
Policy checks on the contents of local messages can be enforced by means of
the non\-SMTP ACL.
.sp
The return code is zero if the message is successfully accepted. Otherwise, the
action is controlled by the \fB\-oe\fP\fIx\fP option setting \- see below.
.sp
The format
of the message must be as defined in RFC 2822, except that, for
compatibility with Sendmail and Smail, a line in one of the forms
.sp
  From sender Fri Jan  5 12:55 GMT 1997
  From sender Fri, 5 Jan 97 12:55:01
.sp
(with the weekday optional, and possibly with additional text after the date)
is permitted to appear at the start of the message. There appears to be no
authoritative specification of the format of this line. Exim recognizes it by
matching against the regular expression defined by the \fBuucp_from_pattern\fP
option, which can be changed if necessary.
.sp
The specified sender is treated as if it were given as the argument to the
\fB\-f\fP option, but if a \fB\-f\fP option is also present, its argument is used in
preference to the address taken from the message. The caller of Exim must be a
trusted user for the sender of a message to be set in this way.
.TP 10
\fB\-bmalware\fP <\fIfilename\fP>
This debugging option causes Exim to scan the given file or directory
(depending on the used scanner interface),
using the malware scanning framework.  The option of \fBav_scanner\fP influences
this option, so if \fBav_scanner\fP's value is dependent upon an expansion then
the expansion should have defaults which apply to this invocation.  ACLs are
not invoked, so if \fBav_scanner\fP references an ACL variable then that variable
will never be populated and \fB\-bmalware\fP will fail.
.sp
Exim will have changed working directory before resolving the filename, so
using fully qualified pathnames is advisable.  Exim will be running as the Exim
user when it tries to open the file, rather than as the invoking user.
This option requires admin privileges.
.sp
The \fB\-bmalware\fP option will not be extended to be more generally useful,
there are better tools for file\-scanning.  This option exists to help
administrators verify their Exim and AV scanner configuration.
.TP 10
\fB\-bnq\fP
By default, Exim automatically qualifies unqualified addresses (those
without domains) that appear in messages that are submitted locally (that
is, not over TCP/IP). This qualification applies both to addresses in
envelopes, and addresses in header lines. Sender addresses are qualified using
\fBqualify_domain\fP, and recipient addresses using \fBqualify_recipient\fP (which
defaults to the value of \fBqualify_domain\fP).
.sp
Sometimes, qualification is not wanted. For example, if \fB\-bS\fP (batch SMTP) is
being used to re\-submit messages that originally came from remote hosts after
content scanning, you probably do not want to qualify unqualified addresses in
header lines. (Such lines will be present only if you have not enabled a header
syntax check in the appropriate ACL.)
.sp
The \fB\-bnq\fP option suppresses all qualification of unqualified addresses in
messages that originate on the local host. When this is used, unqualified
addresses in the envelope provoke errors (causing message rejection) and
unqualified addresses in header lines are left alone.
.TP 10
\fB\-bP\fP
If this option is given with no arguments, it causes the values of all Exim's
main configuration options to be written to the standard output. The values
of one or more specific options can be requested by giving their names as
arguments, for example:
.sp
  exim \-bP qualify_domain hold_domains
.sp
However, any option setting that is preceded by the word "hide" in the
configuration file is not shown in full, except to an admin user. For other
users, the output is as in this example:
.sp
  mysql_servers = <value not displayable>
.sp
If \fBconfig\fP is given as an argument, the config is
output, as it was parsed, any include file resolved, any comment removed.
.sp
If \fBconfig_file\fP is given as an argument, the name of the runtime
configuration file is output. (\fBconfigure_file\fP works too, for
backward compatibility.)
If a list of configuration files was supplied, the value that is output here
is the name of the file that was actually used.
.sp
If the \fB\-n\fP flag is given, then for most modes of \fB\-bP\fP operation the
name will not be output.
.sp
If \fBlog_file_path\fP or \fBpid_file_path\fP are given, the names of the
directories where log files and daemon pid files are written are output,
respectively. If these values are unset, log files are written in a
sub\-directory of the spool directory called \fBlog\fP, and the pid file is
written directly into the spool directory.
.sp
If \fB\-bP\fP is followed by a name preceded by +, for example,
.sp
  exim \-bP +local_domains
.sp
it searches for a matching named list of any type (domain, host, address, or
local part) and outputs what it finds.
.sp
If one of the words \fBrouter\fP, \fBtransport\fP, or \fBauthenticator\fP is given,
followed by the name of an appropriate driver instance, the option settings for
that driver are output. For example:
.sp
  exim \-bP transport local_delivery
.sp
The generic driver options are output first, followed by the driver's private
options. A list of the names of drivers of a particular type can be obtained by
using one of the words \fBrouter_list\fP, \fBtransport_list\fP, or
\fBauthenticator_list\fP, and a complete list of all drivers with their option
settings can be obtained by using \fBrouters\fP, \fBtransports\fP, or
\fBauthenticators\fP.
.sp
If \fBenvironment\fP is given as an argument, the set of environment
variables is output, line by line. Using the \fB\-n\fP flag suppresses the value of the
variables.
.sp
If invoked by an admin user, then \fBmacro\fP, \fBmacro_list\fP and \fBmacros\fP
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.
For the "\-bP macro <name>" form, if no such macro is found
the exit status will be nonzero.
.TP 10
\fB\-bp\fP
This option requests a listing of the contents of the mail queue on the
standard output. If the \fB\-bp\fP option is followed by a list of message ids,
just those messages are listed. By default, this option can be used only by an
admin user. However, the \fBqueue_list_requires_admin\fP option can be set false
to allow any user to see the queue.
.sp
Each message in the queue is displayed as in the following example:
.sp
  25m  2.9K 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00 <alice@wonderland.fict.example>
            red.king@looking\-glass.fict.example
            <other addresses>
.sp
The first line contains the length of time the message has been in the queue
(in this case 25 minutes), the size of the message (2.9K), the unique local
identifier for the message, and the message sender, as contained in the
envelope. For bounce messages, the sender address is empty, and appears as
"<>". If the message was submitted locally by an untrusted user who overrode
the default sender address, the user's login name is shown in parentheses
before the sender address.
.sp
If the message is frozen (attempts to deliver it are suspended) then the text
"*** frozen ***" is displayed at the end of this line.
.sp
The recipients of the message (taken from the envelope, not the headers) are
displayed on subsequent lines. Those addresses to which the message has already
been delivered are marked with the letter D. If an original address gets
expanded into several addresses via an alias or forward file, the original is
displayed with a D only when deliveries for all of its child addresses are
complete.
.TP 10
\fB\-bpa\fP
This option operates like \fB\-bp\fP, but in addition it shows delivered addresses
that were generated from the original top level address(es) in each message by
alias or forwarding operations. These addresses are flagged with "+D" instead
of just "D".
.TP 10
\fB\-bpc\fP
This option counts the number of messages in the queue, and writes the total
to the standard output. It is restricted to admin users, unless
\fBqueue_list_requires_admin\fP is set false.
.TP 10
\fB\-bpr\fP
This option operates like \fB\-bp\fP, but the output is not sorted into
chronological order of message arrival. This can speed it up when there are
lots of messages in the queue, and is particularly useful if the output is
going to be post\-processed in a way that doesn't need the sorting.
.TP 10
\fB\-bpra\fP
This option is a combination of \fB\-bpr\fP and \fB\-bpa\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-bpru\fP
This option is a combination of \fB\-bpr\fP and \fB\-bpu\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-bpu\fP
This option operates like \fB\-bp\fP but shows only undelivered top\-level
addresses for each message displayed. Addresses generated by aliasing or
forwarding are not shown, unless the message was deferred after processing by a
router with the \fBone_time\fP option set.
.TP 10
\fB\-brt\fP
This option is for testing retry rules, and it must be followed by up to three
arguments. It causes Exim to look for a retry rule that matches the values
and to write it to the standard output. For example:
.sp
  exim \-brt bach.comp.mus.example
  Retry rule: *.comp.mus.example  F,2h,15m; F,4d,30m;
.sp
 The first
argument, which is required, can be a complete address in the form
\fIlocal_part@domain\fP, or it can be just a domain name. If the second argument
contains a dot, it is interpreted as an optional second domain name; if no
retry rule is found for the first argument, the second is tried. This ties in
with Exim's behaviour when looking for retry rules for remote hosts \- if no
rule is found that matches the host, one that matches the mail domain is
sought. Finally, an argument that is the name of a specific delivery error, as
used in setting up retry rules, can be given. For example:
.sp
  exim \-brt haydn.comp.mus.example quota_3d
  Retry rule: *@haydn.comp.mus.example quota_3d  F,1h,15m
.TP 10
\fB\-brw\fP
This option is for testing address rewriting rules, and it must be followed by
a single argument, consisting of either a local part without a domain, or a
complete address with a fully qualified domain. Exim outputs how this address
would be rewritten for each possible place it might appear.
.TP 10
\fB\-bS\fP
This option is used for batched SMTP input, which is an alternative interface
for non\-interactive local message submission. A number of messages can be
submitted in a single run. However, despite its name, this is not really SMTP
input. Exim reads each message's envelope from SMTP commands on the standard
input, but generates no responses. If the caller is trusted, or
\fBuntrusted_set_sender\fP is set, the senders in the SMTP MAIL commands are
believed; otherwise the sender is always the caller of Exim.
.sp
The message itself is read from the standard input, in SMTP format (leading
dots doubled), terminated by a line containing just a single dot. An error is
provoked if the terminating dot is missing. A further message may then follow.
.sp
As for other local message submissions, the contents of incoming batch SMTP
messages can be checked using the non\-SMTP ACL.
Unqualified addresses are automatically qualified using \fBqualify_domain\fP and
\fBqualify_recipient\fP, as appropriate, unless the \fB\-bnq\fP option is used.
.sp
Some other SMTP commands are recognized in the input. HELO and EHLO act
as RSET; VRFY, EXPN, ETRN, and HELP act as NOOP;
QUIT quits, ignoring the rest of the standard input.
.sp
If any error is encountered, reports are written to the standard output and
error streams, and Exim gives up immediately. The return code is 0 if no error
was detected; it is 1 if one or more messages were accepted before the error
was detected; otherwise it is 2.
.sp
.TP 10
\fB\-bs\fP
This option causes Exim to accept one or more messages by reading SMTP commands
on the standard input, and producing SMTP replies on the standard output. SMTP
policy controls, as defined in ACLs are applied.
Some user agents use this interface as a way of passing locally\-generated
messages to the MTA.
.sp
In
this usage, if the caller of Exim is trusted, or \fBuntrusted_set_sender\fP is
set, the senders of messages are taken from the SMTP MAIL commands.
Otherwise the content of these commands is ignored and the sender is set up as
the calling user. Unqualified addresses are automatically qualified using
\fBqualify_domain\fP and \fBqualify_recipient\fP, as appropriate, unless the
\fB\-bnq\fP option is used.
.sp
The
\fB\-bs\fP option is also used to run Exim from \fIinetd\fP, as an alternative to
using a listening daemon. Exim can distinguish the two cases by checking
whether the standard input is a TCP/IP socket. When Exim is called from
\fIinetd\fP, the source of the mail is assumed to be remote, and the comments
above concerning senders and qualification do not apply. In this situation,
Exim behaves in exactly the same way as it does when receiving a message via
the listening daemon.
.TP 10
\fB\-bt\fP
This option runs Exim in address testing mode, in which each argument is taken
as a recipient address to be tested for deliverability. The results are
written to the standard output. If a test fails, and the caller is not an admin
user, no details of the failure are output, because these might contain
sensitive information such as usernames and passwords for database lookups.
.sp
If no arguments are given, Exim runs in an interactive manner, prompting with a
right angle bracket for addresses to be tested.
.sp
Unlike the \fB\-be\fP test option, you cannot arrange for Exim to use the
readline() function, because it is running as \fIroot\fP and there are
security issues.
.sp
Each address is handled as if it were the recipient address of a message
(compare the \fB\-bv\fP option). It is passed to the routers and the result is
written to the standard output. However, any router that has
\fBno_address_test\fP set is bypassed. This can make \fB\-bt\fP easier to use for
genuine routing tests if your first router passes everything to a scanner
program.
.sp
The return code is 2 if any address failed outright; it is 1 if no address
failed outright but at least one could not be resolved for some reason. Return
code 0 is given only when all addresses succeed.
.sp
\fBNote\fP: When actually delivering a message, Exim removes duplicate recipient
addresses after routing is complete, so that only one delivery takes place.
This does not happen when testing with \fB\-bt\fP; the full results of routing are
always shown.
.sp
\fBWarning\fP: \fB\-bt\fP can only do relatively simple testing. If any of the
routers in the configuration makes any tests on the sender address of a
message,
you can use the \fB\-f\fP option to set an appropriate sender when running
\fB\-bt\fP tests. Without it, the sender is assumed to be the calling user at the
default qualifying domain. However, if you have set up (for example) routers
whose behaviour depends on the contents of an incoming message, you cannot test
those conditions using \fB\-bt\fP. The \fB\-N\fP option provides a possible way of
doing such tests.
.TP 10
\fB\-bV\fP
This option causes Exim to write the current version number, compilation
number, and compilation date of the \fIexim\fP binary to the standard output.
It also lists the DBM library that is being used, the optional modules (such as
specific lookup types), the drivers that are included in the binary, and the
name of the runtime configuration file that is in use.
.sp
As part of its operation, \fB\-bV\fP causes Exim to read and syntax check its
configuration file. However, this is a static check only. It cannot check
values that are to be expanded. For example, although a misspelt ACL verb is
detected, an error in the verb's arguments is not. You cannot rely on \fB\-bV\fP
alone to discover (for example) all the typos in the configuration; some
realistic testing is needed. The \fB\-bh\fP and \fB\-N\fP options provide more
dynamic testing facilities.
.TP 10
\fB\-bv\fP
This option runs Exim in address verification mode, in which each argument is
taken as a recipient address to be verified by the routers. (This does
not involve any verification callouts). During normal operation, verification
happens mostly as a consequence processing a \fBverify\fP condition in an ACL. If you want to test an entire ACL, possibly
including callouts, see the \fB\-bh\fP and \fB\-bhc\fP options.
.sp
If verification fails, and the caller is not an admin user, no details of the
failure are output, because these might contain sensitive information such as
usernames and passwords for database lookups.
.sp
If no arguments are given, Exim runs in an interactive manner, prompting with a
right angle bracket for addresses to be verified.
.sp
Unlike the \fB\-be\fP test option, you cannot arrange for Exim to use the
readline() function, because it is running as \fIexim\fP and there are
security issues.
.sp
Verification differs from address testing (the \fB\-bt\fP option) in that routers
that have \fBno_verify\fP set are skipped, and if the address is accepted by a
router that has \fBfail_verify\fP set, verification fails. The address is
verified as a recipient if \fB\-bv\fP is used; to test verification for a sender
address, \fB\-bvs\fP should be used.
.sp
If the \fB\-v\fP option is not set, the output consists of a single line for each
address, stating whether it was verified or not, and giving a reason in the
latter case. Without \fB\-v\fP, generating more than one address by redirection
causes verification to end successfully, without considering the generated
addresses. However, if just one address is generated, processing continues,
and the generated address must verify successfully for the overall verification
to succeed.
.sp
When \fB\-v\fP is set, more details are given of how the address has been handled,
and in the case of address redirection, all the generated addresses are also
considered. Verification may succeed for some and fail for others.
.sp
The
return code is 2 if any address failed outright; it is 1 if no address
failed outright but at least one could not be resolved for some reason. Return
code 0 is given only when all addresses succeed.
.sp
If any of the routers in the configuration makes any tests on the sender
address of a message, you should use the \fB\-f\fP option to set an appropriate
sender when running \fB\-bv\fP tests. Without it, the sender is assumed to be the
calling user at the default qualifying domain.
.TP 10
\fB\-bvs\fP
This option acts like \fB\-bv\fP, but verifies the address as a sender rather
than a recipient address. This affects any rewriting and qualification that
might happen.
.TP 10
\fB\-bw\fP
This option runs Exim as a daemon, awaiting incoming SMTP connections,
similarly to the \fB\-bd\fP option.  All port specifications on the command\-line
and in the configuration file are ignored.  Queue\-running may not be specified.
.sp
In this mode, Exim expects to be passed a socket as fd 0 (stdin) which is
listening for connections.  This permits the system to start up and have
inetd (or equivalent) listen on the SMTP ports, starting an Exim daemon for
each port only when the first connection is received.
.sp
If the option is given as \fB\-bw\fP<\fItime\fP> then the time is a timeout, after
which the daemon will exit, which should cause inetd to listen once more.
.TP 10
\fB\-C\fP <\fIfilelist\fP>
This option causes Exim to find the runtime configuration file from the given
list instead of from the list specified by the CONFIGURE_FILE
compile\-time setting. Usually, the list will consist of just a single filename,
but it can be a colon\-separated list of names. In this case, the first
file that exists is used. Failure to open an existing file stops Exim from
proceeding any further along the list, and an error is generated.
.sp
When this option is used by a caller other than root, and the list is different
from the compiled\-in list, Exim gives up its root privilege immediately, and
runs with the real and effective uid and gid set to those of the caller.
However, if a TRUSTED_CONFIG_LIST file is defined in Local/Makefile, that
file contains a list of full pathnames, one per line, for configuration files
which are trusted. Root privilege is retained for any configuration file so
listed, as long as the caller is the Exim user (or the user specified in the
CONFIGURE_OWNER option, if any), and as long as the configuration file is
not writeable by inappropriate users or groups.
.sp
Leaving TRUSTED_CONFIG_LIST unset precludes the possibility of testing a
configuration using \fB\-C\fP right through message reception and delivery,
even if the caller is root. The reception works, but by that time, Exim is
running as the Exim user, so when it re\-executes to regain privilege for the
delivery, the use of \fB\-C\fP causes privilege to be lost. However, root can
test reception and delivery using two separate commands (one to put a message
in the queue, using \fB\-odq\fP, and another to do the delivery, using \fB\-M\fP).
.sp
If ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX is defined in Local/Makefile, it specifies a
prefix string with which any file named in a \fB\-C\fP command line option
must start. In addition, the filename must not contain the sequence /../.
However, if the value of the \fB\-C\fP option is identical to the value of
CONFIGURE_FILE in Local/Makefile, Exim ignores \fB\-C\fP and proceeds as
usual. There is no default setting for ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX; when it is
unset, any filename can be used with \fB\-C\fP.
.sp
ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX can be used to confine alternative configuration files
to a directory to which only root has access. This prevents someone who has
broken into the Exim account from running a privileged Exim with an arbitrary
configuration file.
.sp
The \fB\-C\fP facility is useful for ensuring that configuration files are
syntactically correct, but cannot be used for test deliveries, unless the
caller is privileged, or unless it is an exotic configuration that does not
require privilege. No check is made on the owner or group of the files
specified by this option.
.TP 10
\fB\-D\fP<\fImacro\fP>=<\fIvalue\fP>
This option can be used to override macro definitions in the configuration file. However, like \fB\-C\fP, if it is used by an
unprivileged caller, it causes Exim to give up its root privilege.
If DISABLE_D_OPTION is defined in Local/Makefile, the use of \fB\-D\fP is
completely disabled, and its use causes an immediate error exit.
.sp
If WHITELIST_D_MACROS is defined in Local/Makefile then it should be a
colon\-separated list of macros which are considered safe and, if \fB\-D\fP only
supplies macros from this list, and the values are acceptable, then Exim will
not give up root privilege if the caller is root, the Exim run\-time user, or
the CONFIGURE_OWNER, if set.  This is a transition mechanism and is expected
to be removed in the future.  Acceptable values for the macros satisfy the
regexp: ^[A\-Za\-z0\-9_/.\-]*$
.sp
The entire option (including equals sign if present) must all be within one
command line item. \fB\-D\fP can be used to set the value of a macro to the empty
string, in which case the equals sign is optional. These two commands are
synonymous:
.sp
  exim \-DABC  ...
  exim \-DABC= ...
.sp
To include spaces in a macro definition item, quotes must be used. If you use
quotes, spaces are permitted around the macro name and the equals sign. For
example:
.sp
  exim '\-D ABC = something' ...
.sp
\fB\-D\fP may be repeated up to 10 times on a command line.
Only macro names up to 22 letters long can be set.
.TP 10
\fB\-d\fP<\fIdebug options\fP>
This option causes debugging information to be written to the standard
error stream. It is restricted to admin users because debugging output may show
database queries that contain password information. Also, the details of users'
filter files should be protected. If a non\-admin user uses \fB\-d\fP, Exim
writes an error message to the standard error stream and exits with a non\-zero
return code.
.sp
When \fB\-d\fP is used, \fB\-v\fP is assumed. If \fB\-d\fP is given on its own, a lot of
standard debugging data is output. This can be reduced, or increased to include
some more rarely needed information, by directly following \fB\-d\fP with a string
made up of names preceded by plus or minus characters. These add or remove sets
of debugging data, respectively. For example, \fB\-d+filter\fP adds filter
debugging, whereas \fB\-d\-all+filter\fP selects only filter debugging. Note that
no spaces are allowed in the debug setting. The available debugging categories
are:
    acl
ACL interpretation
    auth
authenticators
    deliver
general delivery logic
    dns
DNS lookups (see also resolver)
    dnsbl
DNS black list (aka RBL) code
    exec
arguments for execv() calls
    expand
detailed debugging for string expansions
    filter
filter handling
    hints_lookup
hints data lookups
    host_lookup
all types of name\-to\-IP address handling
    ident
ident lookup
    interface
lists of local interfaces
    lists
matching things in lists
    load
system load checks
    local_scan
can be used by local_scan()
    lookup
general lookup code and all lookups
    memory
memory handling
    noutf8
modifier: avoid UTF\-8 line\-drawing
    pid
modifier: add pid to debug output lines
    process_info
setting info for the process log
    queue_run
queue runs
    receive
general message reception logic
    resolver
turn on the DNS resolver's debugging output
    retry
retry handling
    rewrite
address rewriting"
    route
address routing
    timestamp
modifier: add timestamp to debug output lines
    tls
TLS logic
    transport
transports
    uid
changes of uid/gid and looking up uid/gid
    verify
address verification logic
    all
almost all of the above (see below), and also \fB\-v\fP
.sp
The all option excludes memory when used as +all, but includes it
for \-all. The reason for this is that +all is something that people
tend to use when generating debug output for Exim maintainers. If +memory
is included, an awful lot of output that is very rarely of interest is
generated, so it now has to be explicitly requested. However, \-all does
turn everything off.
.sp
The resolver option produces output only if the DNS resolver was compiled
with DEBUG enabled. This is not the case in some operating systems. Also,
unfortunately, debugging output from the DNS resolver is written to stdout
rather than stderr.
.sp
The default (\fB\-d\fP with no argument) omits expand, filter,
interface, load, memory, pid, resolver, and timestamp.
However, the pid selector is forced when debugging is turned on for a
daemon, which then passes it on to any re\-executed Exims. Exim also
automatically adds the pid to debug lines when several remote deliveries are
run in parallel.
.sp
The timestamp selector causes the current time to be inserted at the start
of all debug output lines. This can be useful when trying to track down delays
in processing.
.sp
The noutf8 selector disables the use of
UTF\-8 line\-drawing characters to group related information.
When disabled. ascii\-art is used instead.
Using the +all option does not set this modifier,
.sp
If the \fBdebug_print\fP option is set in any driver, it produces output whenever
any debugging is selected, or if \fB\-v\fP is used.
.TP 10
\fB\-dd\fP<\fIdebug options\fP>
This option behaves exactly like \fB\-d\fP except when used on a command that
starts a daemon process. In that case, debugging is turned off for the
subprocesses that the daemon creates. Thus, it is useful for monitoring the
behaviour of the daemon without creating as much output as full debugging does.
.TP 10
\fB\-dropcr\fP
This is an obsolete option that is now a no\-op. It used to affect the way Exim
handled CR and LF characters in incoming messages.
.TP 10
\fB\-E\fP
This option specifies that an incoming message is a locally\-generated delivery
failure report. It is used internally by Exim when handling delivery failures
and is not intended for external use. Its only effect is to stop Exim
generating certain messages to the postmaster, as otherwise message cascades
could occur in some situations. As part of the same option, a message id may
follow the characters \fB\-E\fP. If it does, the log entry for the receipt of the
new message contains the id, following "R=", as a cross\-reference.
.TP 10
\fB\-e\fP\fIx\fP
There are a number of Sendmail options starting with \fB\-oe\fP which seem to be
called by various programs without the leading \fBo\fP in the option. For
example, the \fBvacation\fP program uses \fB\-eq\fP. Exim treats all options of the
form \fB\-e\fP\fIx\fP as synonymous with the corresponding \fB\-oe\fP\fIx\fP options.
.TP 10
\fB\-F\fP <\fIstring\fP>
This option sets the sender's full name for use when a locally\-generated
message is being accepted. In the absence of this option, the user's \fIgecos\fP
entry from the password data is used. As users are generally permitted to alter
their \fIgecos\fP entries, no security considerations are involved. White space
between \fB\-F\fP and the <\fIstring\fP> is optional.
.TP 10
\fB\-f\fP <\fIaddress\fP>
This option sets the address of the envelope sender of a locally\-generated
message (also known as the return path). The option can normally be used only
by a trusted user, but \fBuntrusted_set_sender\fP can be set to allow untrusted
users to use it.
.sp
Processes running as root or the Exim user are always trusted. Other
trusted users are defined by the \fBtrusted_users\fP or \fBtrusted_groups\fP
options. In the absence of \fB\-f\fP, or if the caller is not trusted, the sender
of a local message is set to the caller's login name at the default qualify
domain.
.sp
There is one exception to the restriction on the use of \fB\-f\fP: an empty sender
can be specified by any user, trusted or not, to create a message that can
never provoke a bounce. An empty sender can be specified either as an empty
string, or as a pair of angle brackets with nothing between them, as in these
examples of shell commands:
.sp
  exim \-f '<>' user@domain
  exim \-f "" user@domain
.sp
In addition, the use of \fB\-f\fP is not restricted when testing a filter file
with \fB\-bf\fP or when testing or verifying addresses using the \fB\-bt\fP or
\fB\-bv\fP options.
.sp
Allowing untrusted users to change the sender address does not of itself make
it possible to send anonymous mail. Exim still checks that the \fIFrom:\fP header
refers to the local user, and if it does not, it adds a \fISender:\fP header,
though this can be overridden by setting \fBno_local_from_check\fP.
.sp
White
space between \fB\-f\fP and the <\fIaddress\fP> is optional (that is, they can be
given as two arguments or one combined argument). The sender of a
locally\-generated message can also be set (when permitted) by an initial
"From " line in the message \- see the description of \fB\-bm\fP above \- but
if \fB\-f\fP is also present, it overrides "From ".
.TP 10
\fB\-G\fP
This option is equivalent to an ACL applying:
.sp
  control = suppress_local_fixups
.sp
for every message received.  Note that Sendmail will complain about such
bad formatting, where Exim silently just does not fix it up.  This may change
in future.
.sp
As this affects audit information, the caller must be a trusted user to use
this option.
.TP 10
\fB\-h\fP <\fInumber\fP>
This option is accepted for compatibility with Sendmail, but has no effect. (In
Sendmail it overrides the "hop count" obtained by counting \fIReceived:\fP
headers.)
.TP 10
\fB\-i\fP
This option, which has the same effect as \fB\-oi\fP, specifies that a dot on a
line by itself should not terminate an incoming, non\-SMTP message.
Solaris 2.4 (SunOS 5.4) Sendmail has a similar \fB\-i\fP processing option
\fBhttps://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19457\-01/801\-6680\-1M/801\-6680\-1M.pdf\fP,
p. 1M\-529), and therefore a \fB\-oi\fP command line option, which both are used
by its \fImailx\fP command.
.TP 10
\fB\-L\fP <\fItag\fP>
This option is equivalent to setting \fBsyslog_processname\fP in the config
file and setting \fBlog_file_path\fP to syslog.
Its use is restricted to administrators.  The configuration file has to be
read and parsed, to determine access rights, before this is set and takes
effect, so early configuration file errors will not honour this flag.
.sp
The tag should not be longer than 32 characters.
.TP 10
\fB\-M\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
This option requests Exim to run a delivery attempt on each message in turn. If
any of the messages are frozen, they are automatically thawed before the
delivery attempt. The settings of \fBqueue_domains\fP, \fBqueue_smtp_domains\fP,
and \fBhold_domains\fP are ignored.
.sp
Retry
hints for any of the addresses are overridden \- Exim tries to deliver even if
the normal retry time has not yet been reached. This option requires the caller
to be an admin user. However, there is an option called \fBprod_requires_admin\fP
which can be set false to relax this restriction (and also the same requirement
for the \fB\-q\fP, \fB\-R\fP, and \fB\-S\fP options).
.sp
The deliveries happen synchronously, that is, the original Exim process does
not terminate until all the delivery attempts have finished. No output is
produced unless there is a serious error. If you want to see what is happening,
use the \fB\-v\fP option as well, or inspect Exim's main log.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mar\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fIaddress\fP> <\fIaddress\fP> ...
This option requests Exim to add the addresses to the list of recipients of the
message ("ar" for "add recipients"). The first argument must be a message
id, and the remaining ones must be email addresses. However, if the message is
active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), it is not altered. This option
can be used only by an admin user.
.TP 10
\fB\-MC\fP <\fItransport\fP> <\fIhostname\fP> <\fIhost IP\fP> <\fIsequence number\fP> <\fImessage id\fP>
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim to invoke another instance of itself to deliver a waiting message using
an existing SMTP connection, which is passed as the standard input. This must be the final option, and the caller
must be root or the Exim user in order to use it.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCA\fP
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that the
connection to the remote host has been authenticated.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCD\fP
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that the
remote host supports the ESMTP DSN extension.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCd\fP
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-d\fP option
to pass on an information string on the purpose of the process.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCG\fP <\fIqueue name\fP>
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that an
alternate queue is used, named by the following argument.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCK\fP
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that a
remote host supports the ESMTP CHUNKING extension.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCL\fP
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that the server to
which Exim is connected advertised limits on numbers of mails, recipients or
recipient domains.
The limits are given by the following three arguments.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCP\fP
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that the server to
which Exim is connected supports pipelining.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCp\fP
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that the connection
t a remote server is via a SOCKS proxy, using addresses and ports given by
the following four arguments.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCQ\fP <\fIprocess id\fP> <\fIpipe fd\fP>
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option when the original delivery was
started by a queue runner. It passes on the process id of the queue runner,
together with the file descriptor number of an open pipe. Closure of the pipe
signals the final completion of the sequence of processes that are passing
messages through the same SMTP connection.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCq\fP <\fIrecipient address\fP> <\fIsize\fP>
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim to implement quota checking for local users.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCS\fP
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option, and passes on the fact that the
ESMTP SIZE option should be used on messages delivered down the existing
connection.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCT\fP
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option, and passes on the fact that the
host to which Exim is connected supports TLS encryption.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCr\fP <\fISNI\fP>
\fB\-MCs\fP <\fISNI\fP>
These options are not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MCt\fP option, and passes on the fact that
a TLS Server Name Indication was sent as part of the channel establishment.
The argument gives the SNI string.
The "r" variant indicates a DANE\-verified connection.
.TP 10
\fB\-MCt\fP <\fIIP address\fP> <\fIport\fP> <\fIcipher\fP>
This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option, and passes on the fact that the
connection is being proxied by a parent process for handling TLS encryption.
The arguments give the local address and port being proxied, and the TLS cipher.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mc\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
This option requests Exim to run a delivery attempt on each message, in turn,
but unlike the \fB\-M\fP option, it does check for retry hints, and respects any
that are found. This option is not very useful to external callers. It is
provided mainly for internal use by Exim when it needs to re\-invoke itself in
order to regain root privilege for a delivery.
However, \fB\-Mc\fP can be useful when testing, in order to run a delivery that
respects retry times and other options such as \fBhold_domains\fP that are
overridden when \fB\-M\fP is used. Such a delivery does not count as a queue run.
If you want to run a specific delivery as if in a queue run, you should use
\fB\-q\fP with a message id argument. A distinction between queue run deliveries
and other deliveries is made in one or two places.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mes\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fIaddress\fP>
This option requests Exim to change the sender address in the message to the
given address, which must be a fully qualified address or "<>" ("es" for
"edit sender"). There must be exactly two arguments. The first argument must
be a message id, and the second one an email address. However, if the message
is active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not altered.
This option can be used only by an admin user.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mf\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
This option requests Exim to mark each listed message as "frozen". This
prevents any delivery attempts taking place until the message is "thawed",
either manually or as a result of the \fBauto_thaw\fP configuration option.
However, if any of the messages are active (in the middle of a delivery
attempt), their status is not altered. This option can be used only by an admin
user.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mg\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
This option requests Exim to give up trying to deliver the listed messages,
including any that are frozen. However, if any of the messages are active,
their status is not altered. For non\-bounce messages, a delivery error message
is sent to the sender, containing the text "cancelled by administrator".
Bounce messages are just discarded. This option can be used only by an admin
user.
.TP 10
\fB\-MG\fP <\fIqueue name\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
This option requests that each listed message be moved from its current
queue to the given named queue.
The destination queue name argument is required, but can be an empty
string to define the default queue.
If the messages are not currently located in the default queue,
a \fB\-qG<name>\fP option will be required to define the source queue.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mmad\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
This option requests Exim to mark all the recipient addresses in the messages
as already delivered ("mad" for "mark all delivered"). However, if any
message is active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not
altered. This option can be used only by an admin user.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mmd\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fIaddress\fP> <\fIaddress\fP> ...
This option requests Exim to mark the given addresses as already delivered
("md" for "mark delivered"). The first argument must be a message id, and
the remaining ones must be email addresses. These are matched to recipient
addresses in the message in a case\-sensitive manner. If the message is active
(in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not altered. This option
can be used only by an admin user.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mrm\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
This option requests Exim to remove the given messages from the queue. No
bounce messages are sent; each message is simply forgotten. However, if any of
the messages are active, their status is not altered. This option can be used
only by an admin user or by the user who originally caused the message to be
placed in the queue.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mset\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
This option is useful only in conjunction with \fB\-be\fP (that is, when testing
string expansions). Exim loads the given message from its spool before doing
the test expansions, thus setting message\-specific variables such as
\fI$message_size\fP and the header variables. The \fI$recipients\fP variable is made
available. This feature is provided to make it easier to test expansions that
make use of these variables. However, this option can be used only by an admin
user. See also \fB\-bem\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mt\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
This option requests Exim to "thaw" any of the listed messages that are
"frozen", so that delivery attempts can resume. However, if any of the
messages are active, their status is not altered. This option can be used only
by an admin user.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mvb\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
This option causes the contents of the message body (\-D) spool file to be
written to the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mvc\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
This option causes a copy of the complete message (header lines plus body) to
be written to the standard output in RFC 2822 format. This option can be used
only by an admin user.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mvh\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
This option causes the contents of the message headers (\-H) spool file to be
written to the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
.TP 10
\fB\-Mvl\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
This option causes the contents of the message log spool file to be written to
the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
.TP 10
\fB\-m\fP
This is a synonym for \fB\-om\fP that is accepted by Sendmail
(\fBhttps://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19457\-01/801\-6680\-1M/801\-6680\-1M.pdf\fP
p. 1M\-258), so Exim treats it that way too.
.TP 10
\fB\-N\fP
This is a debugging option that inhibits delivery of a message at the transport
level. It implies \fB\-v\fP. Exim goes through many of the motions of delivery \-
it just doesn't actually transport the message, but instead behaves as if it
had successfully done so. However, it does not make any updates to the retry
database, and the log entries for deliveries are flagged with "*>" rather
than "=>".
.sp
Because \fB\-N\fP discards any message to which it applies, only root or the Exim
user are allowed to use it with \fB\-bd\fP, \fB\-q\fP, \fB\-R\fP or \fB\-M\fP. In other
words, an ordinary user can use it only when supplying an incoming message to
which it will apply. Although transportation never fails when \fB\-N\fP is set, an
address may be deferred because of a configuration problem on a transport, or a
routing problem. Once \fB\-N\fP has been used for a delivery attempt, it sticks to
the message, and applies to any subsequent delivery attempts that may happen
for that message.
.TP 10
\fB\-n\fP
This option is interpreted by Sendmail to mean "no aliasing".
For normal modes of operation, it is ignored by Exim.
When combined with \fB\-bP\fP it makes the output more terse (suppresses
option names, environment values and config pretty printing).
.TP 10
\fB\-O\fP <\fIdata\fP>
This option is interpreted by Sendmail to mean set option. It is ignored by
Exim.
.TP 10
\fB\-oA\fP <\fIfile name\fP>
This option is used by Sendmail in conjunction with \fB\-bi\fP to specify an
alternative alias filename. Exim handles \fB\-bi\fP differently; see the
description above.
.TP 10
\fB\-oB\fP <\fIn\fP>
This is a debugging option which limits the maximum number of messages that can
be delivered down one SMTP connection, overriding the value set in any smtp
transport. If <\fIn\fP> is omitted, the limit is set to 1.
.TP 10
\fB\-odb\fP
This option applies to all modes in which Exim accepts incoming messages,
including the listening daemon. It requests "background" delivery of such
messages, which means that the accepting process automatically starts a
delivery process for each message received, but does not wait for the delivery
processes to finish.
.sp
When all the messages have been received, the reception process exits,
leaving the delivery processes to finish in their own time. The standard output
and error streams are closed at the start of each delivery process.
This is the default action if none of the \fB\-od\fP options are present.
.sp
If one of the queueing options in the configuration file
(\fBqueue_only\fP or \fBqueue_only_file\fP, for example) is in effect, \fB\-odb\fP
overrides it if \fBqueue_only_override\fP is set true, which is the default
setting. If \fBqueue_only_override\fP is set false, \fB\-odb\fP has no effect.
.TP 10
\fB\-odf\fP
This option requests "foreground" (synchronous) delivery when Exim has
accepted a locally\-generated message. (For the daemon it is exactly the same as
\fB\-odb\fP.) A delivery process is automatically started to deliver the message,
and Exim waits for it to complete before proceeding.
.sp
The original Exim reception process does not finish until the delivery
process for the final message has ended. The standard error stream is left open
during deliveries.
.sp
However, like \fB\-odb\fP, this option has no effect if \fBqueue_only_override\fP is
false and one of the queueing options in the configuration file is in effect.
.sp
If there is a temporary delivery error during foreground delivery, the
message is left in the queue for later delivery, and the original reception
process exits.
.TP 10
\fB\-odi\fP
This option is synonymous with \fB\-odf\fP. It is provided for compatibility with
Sendmail.
.TP 10
\fB\-odq\fP
This option applies to all modes in which Exim accepts incoming messages,
including the listening daemon. It specifies that the accepting process should
not automatically start a delivery process for each message received. Messages
are placed in the queue, and remain there until a subsequent queue runner
process encounters them. There are several configuration options (such as
\fBqueue_only\fP) that can be used to queue incoming messages under certain
conditions. This option overrides all of them and also \fB\-odqs\fP. It always
forces queueing.
.TP 10
\fB\-odqs\fP
This option is a hybrid between \fB\-odb\fP/\fB\-odi\fP and \fB\-odq\fP.
However, like \fB\-odb\fP and \fB\-odi\fP, this option has no effect if
\fBqueue_only_override\fP is false and one of the queueing options in the
configuration file is in effect.
.sp
When \fB\-odqs\fP does operate, a delivery process is started for each incoming
message, in the background by default, but in the foreground if \fB\-odi\fP is
also present. The recipient addresses are routed, and local deliveries are done
in the normal way. However, if any SMTP deliveries are required, they are not
done at this time, so the message remains in the queue until a subsequent queue
runner process encounters it. Because routing was done, Exim knows which
messages are waiting for which hosts, and so a number of messages for the same
host can be sent in a single SMTP connection. The \fBqueue_smtp_domains\fP
configuration option has the same effect for specific domains. See also the
\fB\-qq\fP option.
.TP 10
\fB\-oee\fP
If an error is detected while a non\-SMTP message is being received (for
example, a malformed address), the error is reported to the sender in a mail
message.
.sp
Provided
this error message is successfully sent, the Exim receiving process
exits with a return code of zero. If not, the return code is 2 if the problem
is that the original message has no recipients, or 1 for any other error.
This is the default \fB\-oe\fP\fIx\fP option if Exim is called as \fIrmail\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-oem\fP
This is the same as \fB\-oee\fP, except that Exim always exits with a non\-zero
return code, whether or not the error message was successfully sent.
This is the default \fB\-oe\fP\fIx\fP option, unless Exim is called as \fIrmail\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-oep\fP
If an error is detected while a non\-SMTP message is being received, the
error is reported by writing a message to the standard error file (stderr).
The return code is 1 for all errors.
.TP 10
\fB\-oeq\fP
This option is supported for compatibility with Sendmail, but has the same
effect as \fB\-oep\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-oew\fP
This option is supported for compatibility with Sendmail, but has the same
effect as \fB\-oem\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-oi\fP
This option, which has the same effect as \fB\-i\fP, specifies that a dot on a
line by itself should not terminate an incoming, non\-SMTP message. Otherwise, a
single dot does terminate, though Exim does no special processing for other
lines that start with a dot. This option is set by default if Exim is called as
\fIrmail\fP. See also \fB\-ti\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-oitrue\fP
This option is treated as synonymous with \fB\-oi\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-oMa\fP <\fIhost address\fP>
A number of options starting with \fB\-oM\fP can be used to set values associated
with remote hosts on locally\-submitted messages (that is, messages not received
over TCP/IP). These options can be used by any caller in conjunction with the
\fB\-bh\fP, \fB\-be\fP, \fB\-bf\fP, \fB\-bF\fP, \fB\-bt\fP, or \fB\-bv\fP testing options. In
other circumstances, they are ignored unless the caller is trusted.
.sp
The \fB\-oMa\fP option sets the sender host address. This may include a port
number at the end, after a full stop (period). For example:
.sp
  exim \-bs \-oMa 10.9.8.7.1234
.sp
An alternative syntax is to enclose the IP address in square brackets,
followed by a colon and the port number:
.sp
  exim \-bs \-oMa [10.9.8.7]:1234
.sp
The IP address is placed in the \fI$sender_host_address\fP variable, and the
port, if present, in \fI$sender_host_port\fP. If both \fB\-oMa\fP and \fB\-bh\fP
are present on the command line, the sender host IP address is taken from
whichever one is last.
.TP 10
\fB\-oMaa\fP <\fIname\fP>
See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMaa\fP
option sets the value of \fI$sender_host_authenticated\fP (the authenticator
name).
This option can be used with \fB\-bh\fP and \fB\-bs\fP to set up an
authenticated SMTP session without actually using the SMTP AUTH command.
.TP 10
\fB\-oMai\fP <\fIstring\fP>
See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMai\fP
option sets the value of \fI$authenticated_id\fP (the id that was authenticated).
This overrides the default value (the caller's login id, except with \fB\-bh\fP,
where there is no default) for messages from local sources.
.TP 10
\fB\-oMas\fP <\fIaddress\fP>
See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMas\fP
option sets the authenticated sender value in \fI$authenticated_sender\fP. It
overrides the sender address that is created from the caller's login id for
messages from local sources, except when \fB\-bh\fP is used, when there is no
default. For both \fB\-bh\fP and \fB\-bs\fP, an authenticated sender that is
specified on a MAIL command overrides this value.
.TP 10
\fB\-oMi\fP <\fIinterface address\fP>
See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMi\fP
option sets the IP interface address value. A port number may be included,
using the same syntax as for \fB\-oMa\fP. The interface address is placed in
\fI$received_ip_address\fP and the port number, if present, in \fI$received_port\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-oMm\fP <\fImessage reference\fP>
See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMm\fP
option sets the message reference, e.g. message\-id, and is logged during
delivery. This is useful when some kind of audit trail is required to tie
messages together. The format of the message reference is checked and will
abort if the format is invalid. The option will only be accepted if exim is
running in trusted mode, not as any regular user.
.sp
The best example of a message reference is when Exim sends a bounce message.
The message reference is the message\-id of the original message for which Exim
is sending the bounce.
.TP 10
\fB\-oMr\fP <\fIprotocol name\fP>
See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMr\fP
option sets the received protocol value that is stored in
\fI$received_protocol\fP. However, it does not apply (and is ignored) when \fB\-bh\fP
or \fB\-bs\fP is used. For \fB\-bh\fP, the protocol is forced to one of the standard
SMTP protocol names. For \fB\-bs\fP, the protocol is always "local\-" followed by
one of those same names. For \fB\-bS\fP (batched SMTP) however, the protocol can
be set by \fB\-oMr\fP. Repeated use of this option is not supported.
.TP 10
\fB\-oMs\fP <\fIhost name\fP>
See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMs\fP
option sets the sender host name in \fI$sender_host_name\fP. When this option is
present, Exim does not attempt to look up a host name from an IP address; it
uses the name it is given.
.TP 10
\fB\-oMt\fP <\fIident string\fP>
See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMt\fP
option sets the sender ident value in \fI$sender_ident\fP. The default setting for
local callers is the login id of the calling process, except when \fB\-bh\fP is
used, when there is no default.
.TP 10
\fB\-om\fP
In Sendmail, this option means "me too", indicating that the sender of a
message should receive a copy of the message if the sender appears in an alias
expansion. Exim always does this, so the option does nothing.
.TP 10
\fB\-oo\fP
This option is ignored. In Sendmail it specifies "old style headers",
whatever that means.
.TP 10
\fB\-oP\fP <\fIpath\fP>
This option is useful only in conjunction with \fB\-bd\fP or \fB\-q\fP with a time
value. The option specifies the file to which the process id of the daemon is
written. When \fB\-oX\fP is used with \fB\-bd\fP, or when \fB\-q\fP with a time is used
without \fB\-bd\fP, this is the only way of causing Exim to write a pid file,
because in those cases, the normal pid file is not used.
.TP 10
\fB\-oPX\fP
This option is not intended for general use.
The daemon uses it when terminating due to a SIGTEM, possibly in
combination with \fB\-oP\fP <\fIpath\fP>.
It causes the pid file to be removed.
.TP 10
\fB\-or\fP <\fItime\fP>
This option sets a timeout value for incoming non\-SMTP messages. If it is not
set, Exim will wait forever for the standard input. The value can also be set
by the \fBreceive_timeout\fP option.
.TP 10
\fB\-os\fP <\fItime\fP>
This option sets a timeout value for incoming SMTP messages. The timeout
applies to each SMTP command and block of data. The value can also be set by
the \fBsmtp_receive_timeout\fP option; it defaults to 5 minutes.
.TP 10
\fB\-ov\fP
This option has exactly the same effect as \fB\-v\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-oX\fP <\fInumber or string\fP>
This option is relevant only when the \fB\-bd\fP (start listening daemon) option
is also given. It controls which ports and interfaces the daemon uses. When \fB\-oX\fP is used to start a daemon, no pid
file is written unless \fB\-oP\fP is also present to specify a pid filename.
.TP 10
\fB\-oY\fP
This option controls the creation of an inter\-process communications endpoint
by the Exim daemon.
It is only relevant when the \fB\-bd\fP (start listening daemon) option is also
given.
Normally the daemon creates this socket, unless a \fB\-oX\fP and \fBno\fP \fB\-oP\fP
option is also present.
If this option is given then the socket will not be created.  This could be
required if the system is running multiple daemons.
.sp
The socket is currently used for
.sp
fast ramp\-up of queue runner processes
.sp
obtaining a current queue size
.TP 10
\fB\-pd\fP
This option applies when an embedded Perl interpreter is linked with Exim. It overrides the setting of the \fBperl_at_start\fP
option, forcing the starting of the interpreter to be delayed until it is
needed.
.TP 10
\fB\-ps\fP
This option applies when an embedded Perl interpreter is linked with Exim. It overrides the setting of the \fBperl_at_start\fP
option, forcing the starting of the interpreter to occur as soon as Exim is
started.
.TP 10
\fB\-p\fP<\fIrval\fP>:<\fIsval\fP>
For compatibility with Sendmail, this option is equivalent to
.sp
  \-oMr <\fIrval\fP> \-oMs <\fIsval\fP>
.sp
It sets the incoming protocol and host name (for trusted callers). The
host name and its colon can be omitted when only the protocol is to be set.
Note the Exim already has two private options, \fB\-pd\fP and \fB\-ps\fP, that refer
to embedded Perl. It is therefore impossible to set a protocol value of d
or s using this option (but that does not seem a real limitation).
Repeated use of this option is not supported.
.TP 10
\fB\-q\fP
This option is normally restricted to admin users. However, there is a
configuration option called \fBprod_requires_admin\fP which can be set false to
relax this restriction (and also the same requirement for the \fB\-M\fP, \fB\-R\fP,
and \fB\-S\fP options).
.sp
If other commandline options do not specify an action,
the \fB\-q\fP option starts one queue runner process. This scans the queue of
waiting messages, and runs a delivery process for each one in turn. It waits
for each delivery process to finish before starting the next one. A delivery
process may not actually do any deliveries if the retry times for the addresses
have not been reached. Use \fB\-qf\fP (see below) if you want to override this.
.sp
If
the delivery process spawns other processes to deliver other messages down
passed SMTP connections, the queue runner waits for these to finish before
proceeding.
.sp
When all the queued messages have been considered, the original queue runner
process terminates. In other words, a single pass is made over the waiting
mail, one message at a time. Use \fB\-q\fP with a time (see below) if you want
this to be repeated periodically.
.sp
Exim processes the waiting messages in an unpredictable order. It isn't very
random, but it is likely to be different each time, which is all that matters.
If one particular message screws up a remote MTA, other messages to the same
MTA have a chance of getting through if they get tried first.
.sp
It is possible to cause the messages to be processed in lexical message id
order, which is essentially the order in which they arrived, by setting the
\fBqueue_run_in_order\fP option, but this is not recommended for normal use.
.TP 10
\fB\-q\fP<\fIqflags\fP>
The \fB\-q\fP option may be followed by one or more flag letters that change its
behaviour. They are all optional, but if more than one is present, they must
appear in the correct order. Each flag is described in a separate item below.
.TP 10
\fB\-qq...\fP
An option starting with \fB\-qq\fP requests a two\-stage queue run. In the first
stage, the queue is scanned as if the \fBqueue_smtp_domains\fP option matched
every domain. Addresses are routed, local deliveries happen, but no remote
transports are run.
.sp
Performance will be best if the \fBqueue_run_in_order\fP option is false.
If that is so and the \fBqueue_fast_ramp\fP option is true then
in the first phase of the run,
once a threshold number of messages are routed for a given host,
a delivery process is forked in parallel with the rest of the scan.
.sp
The hints database that remembers which messages are waiting for specific hosts
is updated, as if delivery to those hosts had been deferred. After this is
complete, a second, normal queue scan happens, with routing and delivery taking
place as normal. Messages that are routed to the same host should mostly be
delivered down a single SMTP
connection because of the hints that were set up during the first queue scan.
This option may be useful for hosts that are connected to the Internet
intermittently.
.TP 10
\fB\-q[q]i...\fP
If the \fIi\fP flag is present, the queue runner runs delivery processes only for
those messages that haven't previously been tried. (\fIi\fP stands for "initial
delivery".) This can be helpful if you are putting messages in the queue using
\fB\-odq\fP and want a queue runner just to process the new messages.
.TP 10
\fB\-q[q][i]f...\fP
If one \fIf\fP flag is present, a delivery attempt is forced for each non\-frozen
message, whereas without \fIf\fP only those non\-frozen addresses that have passed
their retry times are tried.
.TP 10
\fB\-q[q][i]ff...\fP
If \fIff\fP is present, a delivery attempt is forced for every message, whether
frozen or not.
.TP 10
\fB\-q[q][i][f[f]]l\fP
The \fIl\fP (the letter "ell") flag specifies that only local deliveries are to
be done. If a message requires any remote deliveries, it remains in the queue
for later delivery.
.TP 10
\fB\-q[q][i][f[f]][l][G<name>[/<time>]]]\fP
If the \fIG\fP flag and a name is present, the queue runner operates on the
queue with the given name rather than the default queue.
The name should not contain a \fI/\fP character.
For a periodic queue run (see below)
append to the name a slash and a time value.
.sp
If other commandline options specify an action, a \fI\-qG<name>\fP option
will specify a queue to operate on.
For example:
.sp
  exim \-bp \-qGquarantine
  mailq \-qGquarantine
  exim \-qGoffpeak \-Rf @special.domain.example
.TP 10
\fB\-q\fP<\fIqflags\fP> <\fIstart id\fP> <\fIend id\fP>
When scanning the queue, Exim can be made to skip over messages whose ids are
lexically less than a given value by following the \fB\-q\fP option with a
starting message id. For example:
.sp
  exim \-q 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00
.sp
Messages that arrived earlier than 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00 are not inspected. If a
second message id is given, messages whose ids are lexically greater than it
are also skipped. If the same id is given twice, for example,
.sp
  exim \-q 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00
.sp
just one delivery process is started, for that message. This differs from
\fB\-M\fP in that retry data is respected, and it also differs from \fB\-Mc\fP in
that it counts as a delivery from a queue run. Note that the selection
mechanism does not affect the order in which the messages are scanned. There
are also other ways of selecting specific sets of messages for delivery in a
queue run \- see \fB\-R\fP and \fB\-S\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-q\fP<\fIqflags\fP><\fItime\fP>
When a time value is present, the \fB\-q\fP option causes Exim to run as a daemon,
starting a queue runner process at intervals specified by the given time value. This form of the
\fB\-q\fP option is commonly combined with the \fB\-bd\fP option, in which case a
single daemon process handles both functions. A common way of starting up a
combined daemon at system boot time is to use a command such as
.sp
  /usr/exim/bin/exim \-bd \-q30m
.sp
Such a daemon listens for incoming SMTP calls, and also starts a queue runner
process every 30 minutes.
.sp
When a daemon is started by \fB\-q\fP with a time value, but without \fB\-bd\fP, no
pid file is written unless one is explicitly requested by the \fB\-oP\fP option.
.TP 10
\fB\-qR\fP<\fIrsflags\fP> <\fIstring\fP>
This option is synonymous with \fB\-R\fP. It is provided for Sendmail
compatibility.
.TP 10
\fB\-qS\fP<\fIrsflags\fP> <\fIstring\fP>
This option is synonymous with \fB\-S\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-R\fP<\fIrsflags\fP> <\fIstring\fP>
The <\fIrsflags\fP> may be empty, in which case the white space before the string
is optional, unless the string is \fIf\fP, \fIff\fP, \fIr\fP, \fIrf\fP, or \fIrff\fP,
which are the possible values for <\fIrsflags\fP>. White space is required if
<\fIrsflags\fP> is not empty.
.sp
This option is similar to \fB\-q\fP with no time value, that is, it causes Exim to
perform a single queue run, except that, when scanning the messages on the
queue, Exim processes only those that have at least one undelivered recipient
address containing the given string, which is checked in a case\-independent
way. If the <\fIrsflags\fP> start with \fIr\fP, <\fIstring\fP> is interpreted as a
regular expression; otherwise it is a literal string.
.sp
If you want to do periodic queue runs for messages with specific recipients,
you can combine \fB\-R\fP with \fB\-q\fP and a time value. For example:
.sp
  exim \-q25m \-R @special.domain.example
.sp
This example does a queue run for messages with recipients in the given domain
every 25 minutes. Any additional flags that are specified with \fB\-q\fP are
applied to each queue run.
.sp
Once a message is selected for delivery by this mechanism, all its addresses
are processed. For the first selected message, Exim overrides any retry
information and forces a delivery attempt for each undelivered address. This
means that if delivery of any address in the first message is successful, any
existing retry information is deleted, and so delivery attempts for that
address in subsequently selected messages (which are processed without forcing)
will run. However, if delivery of any address does not succeed, the retry
information is updated, and in subsequently selected messages, the failing
address will be skipped.
.sp
If the <\fIrsflags\fP> contain \fIf\fP or \fIff\fP, the delivery forcing applies to
all selected messages, not just the first; frozen messages are included when
\fIff\fP is present.
.sp
The \fB\-R\fP option makes it straightforward to initiate delivery of all messages
to a given domain after a host has been down for some time. When the SMTP
command ETRN is accepted by its ACL, its default
effect is to run Exim with the \fB\-R\fP option, but it can be configured to run
an arbitrary command instead.
.TP 10
\fB\-r\fP
This is a documented (for Sendmail) obsolete alternative name for \fB\-f\fP.
.TP 10
\fB\-S\fP<\fIrsflags\fP> <\fIstring\fP>
This option acts like \fB\-R\fP except that it checks the string against each
message's sender instead of against the recipients. If \fB\-R\fP is also set, both
conditions must be met for a message to be selected. If either of the options
has \fIf\fP or \fIff\fP in its flags, the associated action is taken.
.TP 10
\fB\-Tqt\fP <\fItimes\fP>
This is an option that is exclusively for use by the Exim testing suite. It is not
recognized when Exim is run normally. It allows for the setting up of explicit
"queue times" so that various warning/retry features can be tested.
.TP 10
\fB\-t\fP
When Exim is receiving a locally\-generated, non\-SMTP message on its standard
input, the \fB\-t\fP option causes the recipients of the message to be obtained
from the \fITo:\fP, \fICc:\fP, and \fIBcc:\fP header lines in the message instead of
from the command arguments. The addresses are extracted before any rewriting
takes place and the \fIBcc:\fP header line, if present, is then removed.
.sp
If the command has any arguments, they specify addresses to which the message
is \fInot\fP to be delivered. That is, the argument addresses are removed from
the recipients list obtained from the headers. This is compatible with Smail 3
and in accordance with the documented behaviour of several versions of
Sendmail, as described in man pages on a number of operating systems (e.g.
Solaris 8, IRIX 6.5, HP\-UX 11). However, some versions of Sendmail \fIadd\fP
argument addresses to those obtained from the headers, and the O'Reilly
Sendmail book documents it that way. Exim can be made to add argument addresses
instead of subtracting them by setting the option
\fBextract_addresses_remove_arguments\fP false.
.sp
If there are any \fBResent\-\fP header lines in the message, Exim extracts
recipients from all \fIResent\-To:\fP, \fIResent\-Cc:\fP, and \fIResent\-Bcc:\fP header
lines instead of from \fITo:\fP, \fICc:\fP, and \fIBcc:\fP. This is for compatibility
with Sendmail and other MTAs. (Prior to release 4.20, Exim gave an error if
\fB\-t\fP was used in conjunction with \fBResent\-\fP header lines.)
.sp
RFC 2822 talks about different sets of \fBResent\-\fP header lines (for when a
message is resent several times). The RFC also specifies that they should be
added at the front of the message, and separated by \fIReceived:\fP lines. It is
not at all clear how \fB\-t\fP should operate in the present of multiple sets,
nor indeed exactly what constitutes a "set".
In practice, it seems that MUAs do not follow the RFC. The \fBResent\-\fP lines
are often added at the end of the header, and if a message is resent more than
once, it is common for the original set of \fBResent\-\fP headers to be renamed as
\fBX\-Resent\-\fP when a new set is added. This removes any possible ambiguity.
.TP 10
\fB\-ti\fP
This option is exactly equivalent to \fB\-t\fP \fB\-i\fP. It is provided for
compatibility with Sendmail.
.TP 10
\fB\-tls\-on\-connect\fP
This option is available when Exim is compiled with TLS support. It forces all
incoming SMTP connections to behave as if the incoming port is listed in the
\fBtls_on_connect_ports\fP option.
.TP 10
\fB\-U\fP
Sendmail uses this option for "initial message submission", and its
documentation states that in future releases, it may complain about
syntactically invalid messages rather than fixing them when this flag is not
set. Exim ignores this option.
.TP 10
\fB\-v\fP
This option causes Exim to write information to the standard error stream,
describing what it is doing. In particular, it shows the log lines for
receiving and delivering a message, and if an SMTP connection is made, the SMTP
dialogue is shown. Some of the log lines shown may not actually be written to
the log if the setting of \fBlog_selector\fP discards them. Any relevant
selectors are shown with each log line. If none are shown, the logging is
unconditional.
.TP 10
\fB\-x\fP
AIX uses \fB\-x\fP for a private purpose ("mail from a local mail program has
National Language Support extended characters in the body of the mail item").
It sets \fB\-x\fP when calling the MTA from its \fBmail\fP command. Exim ignores
this option.
.TP 10
\fB\-X\fP <\fIlogfile\fP>
This option is interpreted by Sendmail to cause debug information to be sent
to the named file.  It is ignored by Exim.
.TP 10
\fB\-z\fP <\fIlog\-line\fP>
This option writes its argument to Exim's logfile.
Use is restricted to administrators; the intent is for operational notes.
Quotes should be used to maintain a multi\-word item as a single argument,
under most shells.
.sp
.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.rs
.sp
The full Exim specification, the Exim book, and the Exim wiki.