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 syslog dae-
       mon.

       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 fail_template, delay_tem-
       plate, 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:

         fail_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_name program 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_name program
         EOF

       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 tem-
       plate headers.  These are either included as message head-
       ers  in  the delivery status notification, or they control
       the formatting of the notification. The following  headers
       are allowed:

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

       From:  The sender address that the recipient will see.

       Subject:
              The subject that the recipient will see

       Postmaster-Subject:
              The  subject that will be used in postmaster copies
              of undeliverable or delayed mail notifications.

       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. The  examples
              above use the recommended spelling.

       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, you MUST change the character set value
              in  the Charset: template header, otherwise Postfix
              will not use the template.  Specify a character set
              that  is  a  superset  of US-ASCII, because Postfix
              appends ASCII text after the message template  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

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