postlog - Postfix-compatible logging utility
postlog [-iv] [-c config_dir] [-p
priority] [-t tag] [text...]
The postlog(1) command implements a Postfix-compatible
logging interface for use in, for example, shell scripts.
By default, postlog(1) logs the text given on the
command line as one record. If no text is specified on the command
line, postlog(1) reads from standard input and logs each input line
as one record.
Logging is sent to syslogd(8) or postlogd(8), and to
the standard error stream (with Postfix < 3.8, postlog(1) writes
to the standard error stream only if that stream is connected to a
terminal).
The following options are implemented:
- -c config_dir
- Read the main.cf configuration file in the named directory instead
of the default configuration directory.
- -i (obsolete)
- Include the process ID in the logging tag. This flag is ignored as of
Postfix 3.4, where the PID is always included.
- -p priority (default:
info)
- Specifies the logging severity: info, warn, error,
fatal, or panic. With Postfix 3.1 and later, the program
will pause for 1 second after reporting a fatal or panic
condition, just like other Postfix programs.
- -t tag
- Specifies the logging tag, that is, the identifying name that appears at
the beginning of each logging record. A default tag is used when none is
specified.
- -v
- Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Multiple -v options
make the software increasingly verbose.
The postlog(1) command is designed to run with set-groupid
privileges, so that it can connect to the postlogd(8) daemon process
(Postfix 3.7 and later; earlier implementations of this command must not
have set-groupid or set-userid permissions).
The following main.cf parameters are especially relevant to
this program.
The text below provides only a parameter summary. See
postconf(5) for more details including examples.
- config_directory
(see 'postconf -d' output)
- The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf configuration
files.
- import_environment
(see 'postconf -d' output)
- The list of environment variables that a privileged Postfix process will
import from a non-Postfix parent process, or name=value environment
overrides.
- syslog_facility
(mail)
- The syslog facility of Postfix logging.
- syslog_name
(see 'postconf -d' output)
- A prefix that is prepended to the process name in syslog records, so that,
for example, "smtpd" becomes "prefix/smtpd".
Available in Postfix 3.4 and later:
- maillog_file
(empty)
- The name of an optional logfile that is written by the Postfix
postlogd(8) service.
- postlog_service_name
(postlog)
- The name of the postlogd(8) service entry in master.cf.
Available in Postfix 3.9 and later:
- maillog_file_permissions
(0600)
- The file access permissions that will be set when the file $maillog_file
is created for the first time, or when the file is created after an
existing file is rotated.
postconf(5), configuration parameters
postlogd(8), Postfix logging
syslogd(8), system logging
The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this
software.
The postlog(1) command was introduced with Postfix version
3.4.
Wietse Venema
IBM T.J. Watson Research
P.O. Box 704
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
Wietse Venema
Google, Inc.
111 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10011, USA