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BOUNCE(5)                                                            BOUNCE(5)

NAME
       bounce - Postfix bounce message template format

SYNOPSIS
       bounce_template_file = /etc/postfix/bounce.cf

       postconf -b [template_file]

DESCRIPTION
       The  Postfix  bounce(8)  server  produces  delivery status
       notification  (DSN)  messages  for   undeliverable   mail,
       delayed  mail, successful delivery or address verification
       requests.

       By default, these notifications are generated from  built-
       in  templates with message headers and message text. Sites
       can override the  built-in  information  by  specifying  a
       bounce template file with the bounce_template_file config-
       uration parameter.

       This document describes the general procedure to create  a
       bounce  template file, followed by the specific details of
       bounce template formats.

GENERAL PROCEDURE
       To create customized bounce template file, create a tempo-
       rary  copy  of the file /etc/postfix/bounce.cf.default and
       edit the temporary file.

       To preview the results of $name expansions in the template
       text, use the command

           postconf -b temporary_file

       Errors  in  the  template will be reported to the standard
       error stream and to the syslog daemon.

       While previewing the  text,  be  sure  to  pay  particular
       attention  to  the expansion of time value parameters that
       appear in the delayed mail notification text.

       Once the result is satisfactory, copy the template to  the
       Postfix  configuration  directory  and  specify in main.cf
       something like:

       /etc/postfix/main.cf:
               bounce_template_file = /etc/postfix/bounce.cf

TEMPLATE FILE FORMAT
       The template file can specify templates for  failed  mail,
       delayed mail, successful delivery or for address verifica-
       tion.   These  templates   are   named   failure_template,
       delay_template,   success_template   and  verify_template,
       respectively.  You can but do not have to specify all four
       templates in a bounce template file.

       Each template starts with "template_name = <<EOF" and ends
       with a line that contains the word  "EOF"  only.  You  can
       change the word EOF, but you can't enclose it in quotes as
       with the shell or with  Perl  (template_name  =  <<'EOF').
       Here is an example:

           # The failure template is used for undeliverable mail.

           failure_template = <<EOF
           Charset: us-ascii
           From: MAILER-DAEMON (Mail Delivery System)
           Subject: Undelivered Mail Returned to Sender
           Postmaster-Subject: Postmaster Copy: Undelivered Mail

           This is the mail system at host $myhostname.

           I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not
           be delivered to one or more recipients. It's attached below.

           For further assistance, please send mail to <postmaster>

           If you do so, please include this problem report. You can
           delete your own text from the attached returned message.

                                          The mail system
           EOF

       The usage and specification of bounce templates is subject
       to the following restrictions:

       o      No special meaning is given to the backslash  char-
              acter  or  to  leading whitespace; these are always
              taken literally.

       o      Inside the << context, the "$"  character  is  spe-
              cial. To produce a "$" character as output, specify
              "$$".

       o      Outside the << context, lines  beginning  with  "#"
              are ignored, as are empty lines, and lines consist-
              ing of whitespace only.

       Examples of  all  templates  can  be  found  in  the  file
       bounce.cf.default  in the Postfix configuration directory.

TEMPLATE HEADER FORMAT
       The  first  portion  of  a  bounce  template  consists  of
       optional  template  headers.   These either become message
       headers in the delivery status  notification,  or  control
       the  formatting of the notification. Headers not specified
       in a template will be left at their default value.

       The following headers are supported:

       Charset:
              The MIME character  set  of  the  template  message
              text.   See  the  "TEMPLATE  MESSAGE  TEXT  FORMAT"
              description below.

       From:  The sender address in the  message  header  of  the
              delivery status notification.

       Subject:
              The  subject  in the message header of the delivery
              status notification.

       Postmaster-Subject:
              The subject that will be used in Postmaster  copies
              of  undeliverable  or  delayed  mail notifications.
              These  copies  are  sent  under  control   of   the
              notify_classes configuration parameter.

       The usage and specification of template message headers is
       subject to the following restrictions:

       o      Template message header names can be  specified  in
              upper  case,  lower  case  or  mixed  case. Postfix
              always uses the spelling as shown  in  the  example
              above.

       o      Template  message  headers  must  not span multiple
              lines.

       o      Template message headers must not  contain  main.cf
              $parameters.

       o      Template message headers must contain ASCII charac-
              ters only.

TEMPLATE MESSAGE TEXT FORMAT
       The second portion of a bounce template consists  of  mes-
       sage  text.  As  the above example shows, template message
       text may contain main.cf $parameters. Besides the  parame-
       ters that are defined in main.cf, the following parameters
       are treated specially depending  on  the  suffix  that  is
       appended to their name.

       delay_warning_time_suffix
              Expands  into  the  value of the delay_warning_time
              parameter, expressed in the time unit specified  by
              suffix,  which  is  one of seconds, minutes, hours,
              days, or weeks.

       maximal_queue_lifetime_suffix
              Expands into the value of  the  maximal_queue_life-
              time  parameter,  expressed in the time unit speci-
              fied by suffix.  See above under delay_warning_time
              for possible suffix values.

       The  usage  and  specification of template message text is
       subject to the following restrictions:

       o      The template message text is not sent in Postmaster
              copies of delivery status notifications.

       o      If  the  template  message  text contains non-ASCII
              characters, Postfix requires that the Charset: tem-
              plate  header  is  updated.  Specify an appropriate
              superset of US-ASCII.  A superset is needed because
              Postfix  appends  ASCII text after the message tem-
              plate when it sends a delivery status notification.

SEE ALSO
       bounce(8), Postfix delivery status notifications
       postconf(5), configuration parameters

LICENSE
       The  Secure  Mailer  license must be distributed with this
       software.

HISTORY
       The Postfix bounce template format was  originally  devel-
       oped by Nicolas Riendeau.

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

                                                                     BOUNCE(5)