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<html> <head> </head> <body> <pre>
ALIASES(5)                                             ALIASES(5)

<b>NAME</b>
       aliases - format of the Postfix alias database

<b>SYNOPSIS</b>
       <b>newaliases</b>

<b>DESCRIPTION</b>
       The  <b>aliases</b>  table  provides  a  system-wide mechanism to
       redirect mail for local recipients. The  redirections  are
       processed by the Postfix <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a> delivery agent.

       Normally,  the  <b>aliases</b>  table is specified as a text file
       that serves as input  to  the  <a href="postalias.1.html"><b>postalias</b>(1)</a>  command.  The
       result,  an  indexed file in <b>dbm</b> or <b>db</b> format, is used for
       fast lookup  by  the  mail  system.  Execute  the  command
       <b>newaliases</b>  in  order  to  rebuild  the indexed file after
       changing the Postfix alias database.

       The input and output file formats are expected to be  com-
       patible  with  Sendmail  version 8, and are expected to be
       suitable for the use as NIS maps.

       Users can control delivery of their own mail by setting up
       <b>.forward</b> files in their home directory.  Lines in per-user
       <b>.forward</b> files have the same syntax as the right-hand side
       of <b>aliases</b> entries.

       The format of the alias database input file is as follows:

       <b>o</b>      An alias definition has the form

                   <i>name</i>: <i>value1</i>, <i>value2</i>, <i>...</i>

       <b>o</b>      Empty lines and whitespace-only lines are  ignored,
              as  are  lines whose first non-whitespace character
              is a `#'.

       <b>o</b>      A logical line starts with non-whitespace  text.  A
              line  that starts with whitespace continues a logi-
              cal line.

       The <i>name</i> is a local address (no domain part).  Use  double
       quotes  when the name contains any special characters such
       as whitespace, `#', `:', or `@'. The  <i>name</i>  is  folded  to
       lowercase, in order to make database lookups case insensi-
       tive.

       In addition, when an alias exists for <b>owner-</b><i>name</i>, delivery
       diagnostics  are  directed  to that address, instead of to
       the originator.  This is typically used to direct delivery
       errors  to the owner of a mailing list, who is in a better
       position to deal with mailing list delivery problems  than
       the originator of the undelivered mail.

       The <i>value</i> contains one or more of the following:

       <i>address</i>
              Mail  is  forwarded to <i>address</i>, which is compatible
              with the <a href="http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc822.html">RFC 822</a> standard.

       <i>/file/name</i>
              Mail is appended to <i>/file/name</i>.  See  <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a>  for
              details  of delivery to file.  Delivery is not lim-
              ited to regular files.  For example, to dispose  of
              unwanted mail, deflect it to <b>/dev/null</b>.

       |<i>command</i>
              Mail  is  piped into <i>command</i>. Commands that contain
              special characters, such as whitespace,  should  be
              enclosed  between  double  quotes. See <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a> for
              details of delivery to command.

              When the command fails, a limited amount of command
              output  is  mailed  back  to  the sender.  The file
              <b>/usr/include/sysexits.h</b> defines the  expected  exit
              status  codes. For example, use <b>|"exit</b> <b>67"</b> to simu-
              late a "user  unknown"  error,  and  <b>|"exit</b>  <b>0"</b>  to
              implement an expensive black hole.

       <b>:include:</b><i>/file/name</i>
              Mail  is  sent  to  the  destinations listed in the
              named file.  Lines in <b>:include:</b> files have the same
              syntax as the right-hand side of alias entries.

              A  destination  can  be  any  destination  that  is
              described in this manual page. However, delivery to
              "|<i>command</i>" and <i>/file/name</i> is disallowed by default.
              To  enable,  edit  the  <b>allow</b><i>_</i><b>mail</b><i>_</i><b>to</b><i>_</i><b>commands</b>  and
              <b>allow</b><i>_</i><b>mail</b><i>_</i><b>to</b><i>_</i><b>files</b> configuration parameters.

<b>ADDRESS</b> <b>EXTENSION</b>
       When alias database search fails, and the recipient local-
       part contains  the  optional  recipient  delimiter  (e.g.,
       <i>user+foo</i>),  the  search  is  repeated  for  the unextended
       address (e.g., <i>user</i>).

<b>CONFIGURATION</b> <b>PARAMETERS</b>
       The following <b>main.cf</b> parameters are  especially  relevant
       to  this  topic.  See  the Postfix <b>main.cf</b> file for syntax
       details and for default values.  Use  the  <b>postfix</b>  <b>reload</b>
       command after a configuration change.

       <b>alias</b><i>_</i><b>maps</b>
              List of alias databases.

       <b>allow</b><i>_</i><b>mail</b><i>_</i><b>to</b><i>_</i><b>commands</b>
              Restrict  the  usage  of  mail delivery to external
              command.

       <b>allow</b><i>_</i><b>mail</b><i>_</i><b>to</b><i>_</i><b>files</b>
              Restrict the usage of  mail  delivery  to  external
              file.

       <b>expand</b><i>_</i><b>owner</b><i>_</i><b>alias</b>
              When delivering to an alias that has an <b>owner-</b> com-
              panion alias, set the envelope  sender  address  to
              the  right-hand  side  of  the owner alias, instead
              using of the left-hand side address.

       <b>owner</b><i>_</i><b>request</b><i>_</i><b>special</b>
              Give special treatment to <b>owner-</b><i>xxx</i> and <i>xxx</i><b>-request</b>
              addresses.

       <b>recipient</b><i>_</i><b>delimiter</b>
              Delimiter  that  separates  recipients from address
              extensions.

<b>BUGS</b>
       Regular expression alias lookup tables  are  allowed,  but
       substitution  of  $1  etc. is forbidden because that would
       open a security loophole.

<b>STANDARDS</b>
       <a href="http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc822.html">RFC 822</a> (ARPA Internet Text Messages)

<b>SEE</b> <b>ALSO</b>
       <a href="local.8.html">local(8)</a> local delivery agent
       <a href="newaliases.1.html">newaliases(1)</a> alias database management
       <a href="regexp_table.5.html">regexp_table(5)</a> POSIX regular expression table format
       <a href="pcre_table.5.html">pcre_table(5)</a> Perl Compatible Regular Expression table format

<b>LICENSE</b>
       The Secure Mailer license must be  distributed  with  this
       software.

<b>AUTHOR(S)</b>
       Wietse Venema
       IBM T.J. Watson Research
       P.O. Box 704
       Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA

                                                       ALIASES(5)
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