Postfix manual - bounce(5)

    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)