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EXIM(8)								       EXIM(8)

NAME
       exim - a Mail Transfer Agent

SYNOPSIS
       exim [options] arguments ...
       mailq [options] arguments ...
       rsmtp [options] arguments ...
       rmail [options] arguments ...
       runq [options] arguments ...
       newaliases [options] arguments ...

DESCRIPTION

       Exim is a mail transfer agent (MTA) developed at the University of Cam‐
       bridge.	It is a large program with very many facilities.  For  a  full
       specification,  see the reference manual. This man page contains only a
       description of the command line options. It has been automatically gen‐
       erated  from  the  reference  manual source, hopefully without too much
       mangling.

       Like other MTAs, Exim replaces Sendmail, and is normally called by user
       agents  (MUAs)  using the path /usr/sbin/sendmail when they submit mes‐
       sages for delivery (some operating systems use /usr/lib/sendmail). This
       path  is	 normally set up as a symbolic link to the Exim binary. It may
       also be used by boot scripts to start the Exim daemon. Many  of	Exim's
       command line options are compatible with Sendmail so that it can act as
       a drop-in replacement.

DEFAULT ACTION

       If no options are present that  require	a  specific  action  (such  as
       starting	 the daemon or a queue runner, testing an address, receiving a
       message in a specific format, or listing the queue), and there  are  no
       arguments  on  the  command  line,  Exim	 outputs a brief message about
       itself and exits.

       However, if there is at least one command line argument, -bm (accept  a
       local  message on the standard input, with the arguments specifying the
       recipients) is assumed. Thus, for example,  if  Exim  is	 installed  in
       /usr/sbin, you can send a message from the command line like this:

	 /usr/sbin/exim -i <recipient-address(es)>
	 <message content, including all the header lines>
	 CTRL-D

       The  -i	option	prevents a line containing just a dot from terminating
       the message. Only an end-of-file (generated by  typing  CTRL-D  if  the
       input is from a terminal) does so.

SETTING OPTIONS BY PROGRAM NAME

       If  an Exim binary is called using one of the names listed in this sec‐
       tion (typically via a symbolic link), certain options are assumed.

       mailq  Behave as if the	option	-bp  were  present  before  any	 other
	      options.	 The  -bp option requests a listing of the contents of
	      the mail queue on the standard output.

       rsmtp  Behaves as if the option	-bS  were  present  before  any	 other
	      options,	for  compatibility  with Smail. The -bS option is used
	      for reading in a number of messages in batched SMTP format.

       rmail  Behave as if the -i and -oee options  were  present  before  any
	      other  options,  for compatibility with Smail. The name rmail is
	      used as an interface by some UUCP systems. The -i option	speci‐
	      fies  that  a  dot  on  a	 line  by  itself does not terminate a
	      non-SMTP message; -oee requests that errors detected in non-SMTP
	      messages be reported by emailing the sender.

       runq   Behave  as  if  the  option  -q  were  present  before any other
	      options, for compatibility with Smail. The -q  option  causes  a
	      single  queue  runner  process  to  be started. It processes the
	      queue once, then exits.

       newaliases
	      Behave as if the	option	-bi  were  present  before  any	 other
	      options,	for  compatibility  with Sendmail. This option is used
	      for rebuilding Sendmail's alias file. Exim  does	not  have  the
	      concept  of  a single alias file, but can be configured to run a
	      specified command if called with the -bi option.

OPTIONS

       --	 This is a pseudo-option whose only purpose  is	 to  terminate
		 the  options  and  therefore to cause subsequent command line
		 items to be treated as arguments rather than options, even if
		 they begin with hyphens.

       --help	 This  option  causes  Exim  to output a few sentences stating
		 what it is.  The same output is generated if the Exim	binary
		 is called with no options and no arguments.

       --version This  option  is an alias for -bV and causes version informa‐
		 tion to be displayed.

       -B<type>	 This is a Sendmail option for selecting 7 or 8	 bit  process‐
		 ing. Exim is 8-bit clean; it ignores this option.

       -bd	 This  option  runs  Exim  as a daemon, awaiting incoming SMTP
		 connections. Usually the -bd  option  is  combined  with  the
		 -q<time>  option, to specify that the daemon should also ini‐
		 tiate periodic queue runs.

		 The -bd option can be used only by an admin user.  If	either
		 of  the -d (debugging) or -v (verifying) options are set, the
		 daemon does not disconnect  from  the	controlling  terminal.
		 When running this way, it can be stopped by pressing ctrl-C.

		 By  default,  Exim  listens  for  incoming connections to the
		 standard SMTP port on all the host's running interfaces. How‐
		 ever,	it  is	possible to listen on other ports, on multiple
		 ports, and only on specific interfaces.

		 When a listening daemon is started without  the  use  of  -oX
		 (that	is,  without  overriding the normal configuration), it
		 writes its process id to a  file  called  exim-daemon.pid  in
		 Exim's	 spool	directory.  This location can be overridden by
		 setting PID_FILE_PATH in Local/Makefile. The file is  written
		 while Exim is still running as root.

		 When  -oX  is	used  on the command line to start a listening
		 daemon, the process id is not written to the normal pid  file
		 path.	However, -oP can be used to specify a path on the com‐
		 mand line if a pid file is required.

		 The SIGHUP signal can be used to cause the daemon to  re-exe‐
		 cute  itself.	This should be done whenever Exim's configura‐
		 tion file, or any file that is incorporated into it by	 means
		 of the .include facility, is changed, and also whenever a new
		 version of Exim is installed. It is not necessary to do  this
		 when  other  files that are referenced from the configuration
		 (for example, alias files) are	 changed,  because  these  are
		 reread each time they are used.

       -bdf	 This  option  has the same effect as -bd except that it never
		 disconnects from  the	controlling  terminal,	even  when  no
		 debugging is specified.

       -be	 Run  Exim  in	expansion testing mode. Exim discards its root
		 privilege, to prevent ordinary users from using this mode  to
		 read otherwise inaccessible files. If no arguments are given,
		 Exim runs interactively, prompting for lines of data.	Other‐
		 wise, it processes each argument in turn.

		 If Exim was built with USE_READLINE=yes in Local/Makefile, it
		 tries to load the libreadline	library	 dynamically  whenever
		 the  -be  option  is  used without command line arguments. If
		 successful, it uses the readline() function,  which  provides
		 extensive line-editing facilities, for reading the test data.
		 A line history is supported.

		 Long expansion expressions can be split over several lines by
		 using backslash continuations. As in Exim's run time configu‐
		 ration, white space at the start  of  continuation  lines  is
		 ignored.  Each	 argument  or  data line is passed through the
		 string expansion mechanism, and the result is	output.	 Vari‐
		 able  values from the configuration file (for example, $qual‐
		 ify_domain) are available,  but  no  message-specific	values
		 (such as $sender_domain) are set, because no message is being
		 processed (but see -bem and -Mset).

		 Note: If you use this mechanism  to  test  lookups,  and  you
		 change	 the  data  files or databases you are using, you must
		 exit and restart Exim before trying the  same	lookup	again.
		 Otherwise,  because  each  Exim process caches the results of
		 lookups, you will just get the same result as before.

       -bem <filename>
		 This option operates like -be except that it must be followed
		 by the name of a file. For example:

		   exim -bem /tmp/testmessage

		 The file is read as a message (as if receiving a locally-sub‐
		 mitted non-SMTP message) before any of	 the  test  expansions
		 are  done.  Thus,  message-specific  variables	 such as $mes‐
		 sage_size  and	 $header_from:	are  available.	 However,   no
		 Received: header is added to the message. If the -t option is
		 set, recipients are read from the headers in the normal  way,
		 and  are shown in the $recipients variable. Note that recipi‐
		 ents cannot be given on the  command  line,  because  further
		 arguments are taken as strings to expand (just like -be).

       -bF <filename>
		 This  option  is  the same as -bf except that it assumes that
		 the filter being tested is a system  filter.  The  additional
		 commands that are available only in system filters are recog‐
		 nized.

       -bf <filename>
		 This option runs Exim in user filter testing mode;  the  file
		 is  the  filter file to be tested, and a test message must be
		 supplied  on  the  standard  input.  If  there	 are  no  mes‐
		 sage-dependent tests in the filter, an empty file can be sup‐
		 plied.

		 If you want to test a system filter file, use -bF instead  of
		 -bf.  You  can	 use  both -bF and -bf on the same command, in
		 order to test a system filter and a user filter in  the  same
		 run. For example:

		   exim -bF /system/filter -bf /user/filter </test/message

		 This  is  helpful when the system filter adds header lines or
		 sets filter variables that are used by the user filter.

		 If the test filter file does not begin with one of  the  spe‐
		 cial lines

		   # Exim filter
		   # Sieve filter

		 it  is	 taken to be a normal .forward file, and is tested for
		 validity under that interpretation.

		 The result of an Exim command	that  uses  -bf,  provided  no
		 errors are detected, is a list of the actions that Exim would
		 try to take if presented with	the  message  for  real.  More
		 details  of filter testing are given in the separate document
		 entitled Exim's interfaces to mail filtering.

		 When testing a filter file, the envelope sender can be set by
		 the  -f option, or by a "From " line at the start of the test
		 message. Various parameters that would normally be taken from
		 the  envelope	recipient address of the message can be set by
		 means of additional command line options (see the  next  four
		 options).

       -bfd <domain>
		 This  sets  the domain of the recipient address when a filter
		 file is being tested by means of the -bf option. The  default
		 is the value of $qualify_domain.

       -bfl <local part>
		 This sets the local part of the recipient address when a fil‐
		 ter file is being tested by means  of	the  -bf  option.  The
		 default  is  the  username  of the process that calls Exim. A
		 local part should be specified	 with  any  prefix  or	suffix
		 stripped, because that is how it appears to the filter when a
		 message is actually being delivered.

       -bfp <prefix>
		 This sets the prefix of  the  local  part  of	the  recipient
		 address  when	a  filter file is being tested by means of the
		 -bf option. The default is an empty prefix.

       -bfs <suffix>
		 This sets the suffix of  the  local  part  of	the  recipient
		 address  when	a  filter file is being tested by means of the
		 -bf option. The default is an empty suffix.

       -bh <IP address>
		 This option runs a fake SMTP session as if from the given  IP
		 address,  using the standard input and output. The IP address
		 may include a port number at the end, after a full stop.  For
		 example:

		   exim -bh 10.9.8.7.1234
		   exim -bh fe80::a00:20ff:fe86:a061.5678

		 When an IPv6 address is given, it is converted into canonical
		 form. In the case of the second example above, the  value  of
		 $sender_host_address  after  conversion to the canonical form
		 is fe80:0000:0000:0a00:20ff:fe86:a061.5678.

		 Comments as to what is going on are written to	 the  standard
		 error file. These include lines beginning with "LOG" for any‐
		 thing that would have been logged.  This facility is provided
		 for  testing  configuration options for incoming messages, to
		 make sure they implement the required	policy.	 For  example,
		 you can test your relay controls using -bh.

		 Warning  1:  You  can test features of the configuration that
		 rely on ident	(RFC  1413)  information  by  using  the  -oMt
		 option.  However, Exim cannot actually perform an ident call‐
		 out when testing using -bh because there is no incoming  SMTP
		 connection.

		 Warning  2:  Address  verification  callouts are also skipped
		 when testing using -bh. If you want these callouts to	occur,
		 use -bhc instead.

		 Messages  supplied  during the testing session are discarded,
		 and nothing is written to any of the real  log	 files.	 There
		 may  be pauses when DNS (and other) lookups are taking place,
		 and of course these may time out. The -oMi option can be used
		 to specify a specific IP interface and port if this is impor‐
		 tant, and -oMaa and -oMai can be used to set parameters as if
		 the SMTP session were authenticated.

		 The  exim_checkaccess	utility is a "packaged" version of -bh
		 whose output just states whether a  given  recipient  address
		 from a given host is acceptable or not.

		 Features  such	 as  authentication  and encryption, where the
		 client input is not plain text, cannot easily be tested  with
		 -bh.  Instead, you should use a specialized SMTP test program
		 such as swaks.

       -bhc <IP address>
		 This option operates in the same  way	as  -bh,  except  that
		 address verification callouts are performed if required. This
		 includes consulting and updating the callout cache database.

       -bi	 Sendmail interprets the -bi option as a  request  to  rebuild
		 its  alias  file.  Exim does not have the concept of a single
		 alias file, and so it cannot mimic this  behaviour.  However,
		 calls to /usr/lib/sendmail with the -bi option tend to appear
		 in various scripts such as NIS make files, so the option must
		 be recognized.

		 If  -bi  is encountered, the command specified by the bi_com‐
		 mand configuration option is run, under the uid  and  gid  of
		 the  caller  of Exim. If the -oA option is used, its value is
		 passed to the command as an argument.	 The  command  set  by
		 bi_command may not contain arguments. The command can use the
		 exim_dbmbuild utility, or some other means, to rebuild	 alias
		 files	if  this  is required. If the bi_command option is not
		 set, calling Exim with -bi is a no-op.

       -bm	 This option runs an Exim receiving process  that  accepts  an
		 incoming, locally-generated message on the current input. The
		 recipients are given as the command arguments (except when -t
		 is  also  present  -  see  below).  Each  argument  can  be a
		 comma-separated list of  RFC  2822  addresses.	 This  is  the
		 default  option  for  selecting the overall action of an Exim
		 call; it  is  assumed	if  no	other  conflicting  option  is
		 present.

		 If  any  addresses  in	 the  message are unqualified (have no
		 domain), they are  qualified  by  the	values	of  the	 qual‐
		 ify_domain  or qualify_recipient options, as appropriate. The
		 -bnq option (see below) provides a way	 of  suppressing  this
		 for special cases.

		 Policy	 checks	 on  the  contents  of	local  messages can be
		 enforced by means of the non-SMTP ACL.

		 The return code  is  zero  if	the  message  is  successfully
		 accepted.  Otherwise,	the  action  is controlled by the -oex
		 option setting - see below.

		 The format of the message must be as  defined	in  RFC	 2822,
		 except	 that,	for  compatibility  with Sendmail and Smail, a
		 line in one of the forms

		   From sender Fri Jan	5 12:55 GMT 1997
		   From sender Fri, 5 Jan 97 12:55:01

		 (with the weekday optional, and possibly with additional text
		 after	the  date)  is permitted to appear at the start of the
		 message. There appears to be no  authoritative	 specification
		 of  the  format  of this line. Exim recognizes it by matching
		 against the regular expression defined by the	uucp_from_pat‐
		 tern option, which can be changed if necessary.

		 The  specified	 sender	 is treated as if it were given as the
		 argument to the -f  option,  but  if  a  -f  option  is  also
		 present,  its	argument  is used in preference to the address
		 taken from the message. The caller of Exim must be a  trusted
		 user for the sender of a message to be set in this way.

       -bmalware <filename>
		 This  debugging  option  causes  Exim to scan the given file,
		 using the malware scanning framework.	The option of av_scan‐
		 ner  influences  this	option,	 so  if	 av_scanner's value is
		 dependent upon an expansion then the  expansion  should  have
		 defaults  which  apply	 to  this  invocation.	 ACLs  are not
		 invoked, so if av_scanner references  an  ACL	variable  then
		 that  variable	 will  never  be  populated and -bmalware will
		 fail.

		 Exim will have changed working directory before resolving the
		 filename,  so	using  fully qualified pathnames is advisable.
		 Exim will be running as the Exim user when it tries  to  open
		 the  file,  rather  than  as  the invoking user.  This option
		 requires admin privileges.

		 The -bmalware option will not be extended to be  more	gener‐
		 ally  useful, there are better tools for file-scanning.  This
		 option exists to help administrators verify their Exim and AV
		 scanner configuration.

       -bnq	 By   default,	 Exim	automatically	qualifies  unqualified
		 addresses (those without domains)  that  appear  in  messages
		 that  are  submitted locally (that is, not over TCP/IP). This
		 qualification applies both to	addresses  in  envelopes,  and
		 addresses  in	header	lines.	Sender addresses are qualified
		 using qualify_domain, and  recipient  addresses  using	 qual‐
		 ify_recipient	 (which	  defaults   to	 the  value  of	 qual‐
		 ify_domain).

		 Sometimes, qualification is not wanted. For example,  if  -bS
		 (batch	 SMTP) is being used to re-submit messages that origi‐
		 nally came from remote	 hosts	after  content	scanning,  you
		 probably  do  not  want  to  qualify unqualified addresses in
		 header lines. (Such lines will be present only	 if  you  have
		 not enabled a header syntax check in the appropriate ACL.)

		 The  -bnq  option suppresses all qualification of unqualified
		 addresses in messages that originate on the local host.  When
		 this  is  used, unqualified addresses in the envelope provoke
		 errors (causing message rejection) and unqualified  addresses
		 in header lines are left alone.

       -bP	 If this option is given with no arguments, it causes the val‐
		 ues of all Exim's main configuration options to be written to
		 the  standard	output.	 The  values  of  one or more specific
		 options can be requested by giving their names as  arguments,
		 for example:

		   exim -bP qualify_domain hold_domains

		 However,  any	option	setting	 that  is preceded by the word
		 "hide" in the configuration file is not shown in full, except
		 to  an	 admin user. For other users, the output is as in this
		 example:

		   mysql_servers = <value not displayable>

		 If configure_file is given as an argument, the	 name  of  the
		 run time configuration file is output.	 If a list of configu‐
		 ration files was supplied, the value that is output  here  is
		 the name of the file that was actually used.

		 If log_file_path or pid_file_path are given, the names of the
		 directories where log files and daemon pid files are  written
		 are  output,  respectively.  If  these	 values are unset, log
		 files are written in a sub-directory of the  spool  directory
		 called	 log,  and  the	 pid file is written directly into the
		 spool directory.

		 If -bP is followed by a name preceded by +, for example,

		   exim -bP +local_domains

		 it searches for a matching named list of  any	type  (domain,
		 host, address, or local part) and outputs what it finds.

		 If  one  of  the words router, transport, or authenticator is
		 given,	 followed  by  the  name  of  an  appropriate	driver
		 instance, the option settings for that driver are output. For
		 example:

		   exim -bP transport local_delivery

		 The generic driver options are output first, followed by  the
		 driver's private options. A list of the names of drivers of a
		 particular type can be obtained by using  one	of  the	 words
		 router_list,  transport_list,	or  authenticator_list,	 and a
		 complete list of all drivers with their option	 settings  can
		 be obtained by using routers, transports, or authenticators.

		 If  invoked  by  an  admin  user,  then macro, macro_list and
		 macros are available,	similarly  to  the  drivers.   Because
		 macros	 are sometimes used for storing passwords, this option
		 is restricted.	 The output format is one item per line.

       -bp	 This option requests a listing of the contents	 of  the  mail
		 queue	on  the standard output. If the -bp option is followed
		 by a list of message ids, just those messages are listed.  By
		 default,  this option can be used only by an admin user. How‐
		 ever, the queue_list_requires_admin option can be  set	 false
		 to allow any user to see the queue.

		 Each  message	on  the queue is displayed as in the following
		 example:

		   25m	2.9K 0t5C6f-0000c8-00 <alice@wonderland.fict.example>
			     red.king@looking-glass.fict.example
			     <other addresses>

		 The first line contains the length of time  the  message  has
		 been  on the queue (in this case 25 minutes), the size of the
		 message (2.9K), the unique local identifier for the  message,
		 and  the  message  sender,  as contained in the envelope. For
		 bounce messages, the sender address is empty, and appears  as
		 "<>".	If  the	 message was submitted locally by an untrusted
		 user who overrode the	default	 sender	 address,  the	user's
		 login name is shown in parentheses before the sender address.

		 If  the  message  is  frozen (attempts to deliver it are sus‐
		 pended) then the text "*** frozen ***" is  displayed  at  the
		 end of this line.

		 The  recipients  of the message (taken from the envelope, not
		 the  headers)	are  displayed	on  subsequent	lines.	 Those
		 addresses to which the message has already been delivered are
		 marked with  the  letter  D.  If  an  original	 address  gets
		 expanded into several addresses via an alias or forward file,
		 the original is displayed with a D only when  deliveries  for
		 all of its child addresses are complete.

       -bpa	 This  option  operates	 like  -bp,  but  in addition it shows
		 delivered addresses that were generated from the original top
		 level	address(es)  in	 each  message	by alias or forwarding
		 operations. These addresses are flagged with "+D" instead  of
		 just "D".

       -bpc	 This  option  counts the number of messages on the queue, and
		 writes the total to the standard output. It is restricted  to
		 admin users, unless queue_list_requires_admin is set false.

       -bpr	 This  option  operates like -bp, but the output is not sorted
		 into chronological order of message arrival. This  can	 speed
		 it  up	 when  there are lots of messages on the queue, and is
		 particularly useful if the output is going  to	 be  post-pro‐
		 cessed in a way that doesn't need the sorting.

       -bpra	 This option is a combination of -bpr and -bpa.

       -bpru	 This option is a combination of -bpr and -bpu.

       -bpu	 This  option  operates	 like  -bp  but shows only undelivered
		 top-level addresses for  each	message	 displayed.  Addresses
		 generated by aliasing or forwarding are not shown, unless the
		 message was deferred after processing by a  router  with  the
		 one_time option set.

       -brt	 This  option  is for testing retry rules, and it must be fol‐
		 lowed by up to three arguments. It causes Exim to look for  a
		 retry	rule  that  matches  the values and to write it to the
		 standard output. For example:

		   exim -brt bach.comp.mus.example
		   Retry rule: *.comp.mus.example  F,2h,15m; F,4d,30m;

		  The first argument, which is required,  can  be  a  complete
		 address  in  the  form local_part@domain, or it can be just a
		 domain name. If the second argument contains  a  dot,	it  is
		 interpreted  as  an  optional second domain name; if no retry
		 rule is found for the first argument, the  second  is	tried.
		 This  ties  in	 with  Exim's behaviour when looking for retry
		 rules for remote hosts - if no rule is found that matches the
		 host, one that matches the mail domain is sought. Finally, an
		 argument that is the name of a specific  delivery  error,  as
		 used in setting up retry rules, can be given. For example:

		   exim -brt haydn.comp.mus.example quota_3d
		   Retry rule: *@haydn.comp.mus.example quota_3d  F,1h,15m

       -brw	 This  option  is  for testing address rewriting rules, and it
		 must be followed by a single argument, consisting of either a
		 local	part  without  a  domain, or a complete address with a
		 fully qualified domain. Exim outputs how this	address	 would
		 be rewritten for each possible place it might appear.

       -bS	 This  option  is  used	 for  batched  SMTP input, which is an
		 alternative interface for non-interactive local message  sub‐
		 mission.  A  number  of messages can be submitted in a single
		 run. However, despite its  name,  this	 is  not  really  SMTP
		 input.	 Exim reads each message's envelope from SMTP commands
		 on the standard input, but generates  no  responses.  If  the
		 caller	 is  trusted,  or  untrusted_set_sender	 is  set,  the
		 senders in the SMTP MAIL commands are believed; otherwise the
		 sender is always the caller of Exim.

		 The  message  itself is read from the standard input, in SMTP
		 format (leading dots doubled), terminated by a line  contain‐
		 ing  just a single dot. An error is provoked if the terminat‐
		 ing dot is missing. A further message may then follow.

		 As for other  local  message  submissions,  the  contents  of
		 incoming  batch  SMTP	messages  can  be  checked  using  the
		 non-SMTP ACL.	Unqualified addresses are automatically quali‐
		 fied using qualify_domain and qualify_recipient, as appropri‐
		 ate, unless the -bnq option is used.

		 Some other SMTP commands are recognized in  the  input.  HELO
		 and EHLO act as RSET; VRFY, EXPN, ETRN, and HELP act as NOOP;
		 QUIT quits, ignoring the rest of the standard input.

		 If any error is encountered, reports are written to the stan‐
		 dard output and error streams, and Exim gives up immediately.
		 The return code is 0 if no error was detected; it is 1 if one
		 or more messages were accepted before the error was detected;
		 otherwise it is 2.

       -bs	 This option causes Exim to accept one	or  more  messages  by
		 reading  SMTP	commands  on the standard input, and producing
		 SMTP replies on the standard output. SMTP policy controls, as
		 defined  in  ACLs  are	 applied.   Some  user agents use this
		 interface as a way of passing locally-generated  messages  to
		 the MTA.

		 In  this  usage,  if  the  caller  of	Exim  is  trusted,  or
		 untrusted_set_sender is set,  the  senders  of	 messages  are
		 taken	from the SMTP MAIL commands.  Otherwise the content of
		 these commands is ignored and the sender is  set  up  as  the
		 calling  user. Unqualified addresses are automatically quali‐
		 fied using qualify_domain and qualify_recipient, as appropri‐
		 ate, unless the -bnq option is used.

		 The  -bs  option  is  also used to run Exim from inetd, as an
		 alternative to using a listening daemon. Exim can distinguish
		 the  two  cases  by  checking whether the standard input is a
		 TCP/IP socket. When Exim is called from inetd, the source  of
		 the mail is assumed to be remote, and the comments above con‐
		 cerning senders and qualification do not apply. In this situ‐
		 ation,	 Exim  behaves in exactly the same way as it does when
		 receiving a message via the listening daemon.

       -bt	 This option runs Exim in address testing mode, in which  each
		 argument  is  taken  as  a recipient address to be tested for
		 deliverability. The results are written to the standard  out‐
		 put. If a test fails, and the caller is not an admin user, no
		 details of the failure are output, because these  might  con‐
		 tain  sensitive  information  such as usernames and passwords
		 for database lookups.

		 If no arguments are given, Exim runs in an  interactive  man‐
		 ner, prompting with a right angle bracket for addresses to be
		 tested.

		 Unlike the -be test option, you cannot arrange	 for  Exim  to
		 use  the  readline()  function, because it is running as root
		 and there are security issues.

		 Each address is handled as if it were the  recipient  address
		 of  a	message	 (compare the -bv option). It is passed to the
		 routers and the result is written  to	the  standard  output.
		 However, any router that has no_address_test set is bypassed.
		 This can make -bt easier to use for genuine routing tests  if
		 your first router passes everything to a scanner program.

		 The  return code is 2 if any address failed outright; it is 1
		 if no address failed outright but at least one could  not  be
		 resolved  for	some  reason. Return code 0 is given only when
		 all addresses succeed.

		 Note: When actually delivering a message, Exim removes dupli‐
		 cate  recipient  addresses after routing is complete, so that
		 only one delivery takes place.	 This  does  not  happen  when
		 testing  with	-bt;  the  full	 results of routing are always
		 shown.

		 Warning: -bt can only do relatively simple testing. If any of
		 the  routers  in  the	configuration  makes  any tests on the
		 sender address of a message, you can use the -f option to set
		 an appropriate sender when running -bt tests. Without it, the
		 sender is assumed to be the calling user at the default qual‐
		 ifying	 domain.  However,  if	you  have set up (for example)
		 routers whose behaviour depends on the contents of an	incom‐
		 ing  message, you cannot test those conditions using -bt. The
		 -N option provides a possible way of doing such tests.

       -bV	 This option causes Exim to write the current version  number,
		 compilation  number,  and compilation date of the exim binary
		 to the standard output.  It also lists the DBM	 library  that
		 is  being used, the optional modules (such as specific lookup
		 types), the drivers that are included in the binary, and  the
		 name of the run time configuration file that is in use.

		 As  part of its operation, -bV causes Exim to read and syntax
		 check its configuration file. However, this is a static check
		 only.	It  cannot  check  values that are to be expanded. For
		 example, although a misspelt ACL verb is detected,  an	 error
		 in  the verb's arguments is not. You cannot rely on -bV alone
		 to discover (for example) all the typos in the configuration;
		 some realistic testing is needed. The -bh and -N options pro‐
		 vide more dynamic testing facilities.

       -bv	 This option runs Exim in address verification mode, in	 which
		 each  argument is taken as a recipient address to be verified
		 by the routers. (This does not involve any verification call‐
		 outs).	 During	 normal operation, verification happens mostly
		 as a consequence processing a verify condition in an ACL.  If
		 you  want to test an entire ACL, possibly including callouts,
		 see the -bh and -bhc options.

		 If verification fails, and the caller is not an  admin	 user,
		 no  details  of  the  failure are output, because these might
		 contain sensitive information such as usernames and passwords
		 for database lookups.

		 If  no	 arguments are given, Exim runs in an interactive man‐
		 ner, prompting with a right angle bracket for addresses to be
		 verified.

		 Unlike	 the  -be  test option, you cannot arrange for Exim to
		 use the readline() function, because it is  running  as  exim
		 and there are security issues.

		 Verification differs from address testing (the -bt option) in
		 that routers that have no_verify set are skipped, and if  the
		 address  is  accepted	by  a router that has fail_verify set,
		 verification fails. The address is verified as a recipient if
		 -bv  is used; to test verification for a sender address, -bvs
		 should be used.

		 If the -v option is not set, the output consists of a	single
		 line  for  each  address,  stating whether it was verified or
		 not, and giving a reason in the latter case. Without -v, gen‐
		 erating more than one address by redirection causes verifica‐
		 tion to end successfully, without considering	the  generated
		 addresses.  However,  if  just one address is generated, pro‐
		 cessing continues, and the generated address must verify suc‐
		 cessfully for the overall verification to succeed.

		 When -v is set, more details are given of how the address has
		 been handled, and in the case of address redirection, all the
		 generated  addresses  are  also  considered. Verification may
		 succeed for some and fail for others.

		 The return code is 2 if any address failed outright; it is  1
		 if  no	 address failed outright but at least one could not be
		 resolved for some reason. Return code 0 is  given  only  when
		 all addresses succeed.

		 If any of the routers in the configuration makes any tests on
		 the sender address of a message, you should use the -f option
		 to  set an appropriate sender when running -bv tests. Without
		 it, the sender is assumed to  be  the	calling	 user  at  the
		 default qualifying domain.

       -bvs	 This  option  acts  like  -bv,	 but verifies the address as a
		 sender rather than a  recipient  address.  This  affects  any
		 rewriting and qualification that might happen.

       -bw	 This  option  runs  Exim  as a daemon, awaiting incoming SMTP
		 connections, similarly to the -bd option.  All port  specifi‐
		 cations on the command-line and in the configuration file are
		 ignored.  Queue-running may not be specified.

		 In this mode, Exim expects to be passed  a  socket  as	 fd  0
		 (stdin) which is listening for connections.  This permits the
		 system to start up and have inetd (or equivalent)  listen  on
		 the  SMTP  ports,  starting an Exim daemon for each port only
		 when the first connection is received.

		 If the option is given as -bw<time> then the time is a	 time‐
		 out,  after  which  the  daemon will exit, which should cause
		 inetd to listen once more.

       -C <filelist>
		 This option causes Exim to find the  run  time	 configuration
		 file  from  the given list instead of from the list specified
		 by the CONFIGURE_FILE compile-time setting. Usually, the list
		 will  consist	of  just  a  single file name, but it can be a
		 colon-separated list of names. In this case, the  first  file
		 that  exists  is used. Failure to open an existing file stops
		 Exim from proceeding any further along the list, and an error
		 is generated.

		 When this option is used by a caller other than root, and the
		 list is different from the compiled-in list,  Exim  gives  up
		 its  root  privilege  immediately, and runs with the real and
		 effective uid and gid set to those of the  caller.   However,
		 if  a	TRUSTED_CONFIG_LIST file is defined in Local/Makefile,
		 that file contains a list of full pathnames,  one  per	 line,
		 for  configuration files which are trusted. Root privilege is
		 retained for any configuration file so listed, as long as the
		 caller is the Exim user (or the user specified in the CONFIG‐
		 URE_OWNER option, if any), and as long as  the	 configuration
		 file is not writeable by inappropriate users or groups.

		 Leaving  TRUSTED_CONFIG_LIST  unset precludes the possibility
		 of testing a configuration using  -C  right  through  message
		 reception  and	 delivery,  even  if  the  caller is root. The
		 reception works, but by that time, Exim  is  running  as  the
		 Exim user, so when it re-executes to regain privilege for the
		 delivery, the use of -C causes privilege to be lost. However,
		 root  can test reception and delivery using two separate com‐
		 mands (one to put a message on the  queue,  using  -odq,  and
		 another to do the delivery, using -M).

		 If  ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX is defined in Local/Makefile, it speci‐
		 fies a prefix string with which any file named in a  -C  com‐
		 mand  line option must start. In addition, the file name must
		 not contain the sequence /../.	 However, if the value of  the
		 -C  option  is	 identical  to	the value of CONFIGURE_FILE in
		 Local/Makefile, Exim ignores -C and proceeds as usual.	 There
		 is  no	 default  setting  for	ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX;  when it is
		 unset, any file name can be used with -C.

		 ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX can be used to confine alternative configu‐
		 ration	 files	to  a directory to which only root has access.
		 This prevents someone who has broken into  the	 Exim  account
		 from  running	a privileged Exim with an arbitrary configura‐
		 tion file.

		 The -C facility is useful  for	 ensuring  that	 configuration
		 files	are syntactically correct, but cannot be used for test
		 deliveries, unless the caller is privileged, or unless it  is
		 an  exotic  configuration that does not require privilege. No
		 check is made on the owner or group of the files specified by
		 this option.

       -D<macro>=<value>
		 This  option can be used to override macro definitions in the
		 configuration file. However, like -C, if it  is  used	by  an
		 unprivileged caller, it causes Exim to give up its root priv‐
		 ilege.	 If DISABLE_D_OPTION is defined in Local/Makefile, the
		 use of -D is completely disabled, and its use causes an imme‐
		 diate error exit.

		 If WHITELIST_D_MACROS is defined in  Local/Makefile  then  it
		 should	 be a colon-separated list of macros which are consid‐
		 ered safe and, if -D only supplies macros from this list, and
		 the  values  are  acceptable, then Exim will not give up root
		 privilege if the caller is root, the Exim run-time  user,  or
		 the  CONFIGURE_OWNER, if set.	This is a transition mechanism
		 and is expected to be removed in the future.  Acceptable val‐
		 ues for the macros satisfy the regexp: ^[A-Za-z0-9_/.-]*$

		 The entire option (including equals sign if present) must all
		 be within one command line item. -D can be used  to  set  the
		 value	of  a  macro  to  the  empty string, in which case the
		 equals sign is optional. These two commands are synonymous:

		   exim -DABC  ...
		   exim -DABC= ...

		 To include spaces in a macro definition item, quotes must  be
		 used.	If  you	 use  quotes,  spaces are permitted around the
		 macro name and the equals sign. For example:

		   exim '-D ABC = something' ...

		 -D may be repeated up to 10 times on a command line.

       -d<debug options>
		 This option causes debugging information to be written to the
		 standard  error  stream.  It  is  restricted  to  admin users
		 because debugging output may show database queries that  con‐
		 tain password information. Also, the details of users' filter
		 files should be protected. If a non-admin user uses -d,  Exim
		 writes	 an  error  message  to	 the standard error stream and
		 exits with a non-zero return code.

		 When -d is used, -v is assumed. If -d is given on its own,  a
		 lot  of  standard  debugging  data  is	 output.  This	can be
		 reduced, or increased to  include  some  more	rarely	needed
		 information,  by  directly following -d with a string made up
		 of names preceded by plus or minus characters. These  add  or
		 remove	 sets  of  debugging  data, respectively. For example,
		 -d+filter  adds  filter  debugging,   whereas	 -d-all+filter
		 selects  only	filter	debugging.  Note  that	no  spaces are
		 allowed in the debug setting. The available  debugging	 cate‐
		 gories are:

		   acl		   ACL interpretation
		   auth		   authenticators
		   deliver	   general delivery logic
		   dns		   DNS lookups (see also resolver)
		   dnsbl	   DNS black list (aka RBL) code
		   exec		   arguments for execv() calls
		   expand	   detailed debugging for string expansions
		   filter	   filter handling
		   hints_lookup	   hints data lookups
		   host_lookup	   all types of name-to-IP address handling
		   ident	   ident lookup
		   interface	   lists of local interfaces
		   lists	   matching things in lists
		   load		   system load checks
		   local_scan	   can be used by local_scan()
		   lookup	   general lookup code and all lookups
		   memory	   memory handling
		   pid		   add pid to debug output lines
		   process_info	   setting info for the process log
		   queue_run	   queue runs
		   receive	   general message reception logic
		   resolver	   turn on the DNS resolver's debugging output
		   retry	   retry handling
		   rewrite	   address rewriting
		   route	   address routing
		   timestamp	   add timestamp to debug output lines
		   tls		   TLS logic
		   transport	   transports
		   uid		   changes of uid/gid and looking up uid/gid
		   verify	   address verification logic
		   all		    almost  all	 of the above (see below), and
		 also -v

		 The all  option  excludes  memory  when  used	as  +all,  but
		 includes  it  for  -all.  The reason for this is that +all is
		 something that people tend to use when generating debug  out‐
		 put  for  Exim	 maintainers. If +memory is included, an awful
		 lot of output that is very rarely of interest	is  generated,
		 so  it now has to be explicitly requested. However, -all does
		 turn everything off.

		 The resolver option produces output only if the DNS  resolver
		 was compiled with DEBUG enabled. This is not the case in some
		 operating systems. Also, unfortunately, debugging output from
		 the DNS resolver is written to stdout rather than stderr.

		 The  default  (-d  with  no  argument)	 omits expand, filter,
		 interface, load, memory, pid, resolver, and timestamp.	  How‐
		 ever,	the pid selector is forced when debugging is turned on
		 for a daemon, which then passes  it  on  to  any  re-executed
		 Exims.	 Exim  also  automatically adds the pid to debug lines
		 when several remote deliveries are run in parallel.

		 The timestamp selector causes the current time to be inserted
		 at  the  start	 of all debug output lines. This can be useful
		 when trying to track down delays in processing.

		 If the debug_print option is set in any driver,  it  produces
		 output whenever any debugging is selected, or if -v is used.

       -dd<debug options>
		 This  option  behaves	exactly	 like -d except when used on a
		 command that starts a daemon process. In that case, debugging
		 is  turned  off for the subprocesses that the daemon creates.
		 Thus, it is useful for monitoring the behaviour of the daemon
		 without creating as much output as full debugging does.

       -dropcr	 This  is  an  obsolete option that is now a no-op. It used to
		 affect the way Exim handled CR and LF characters in  incoming
		 messages.

       -E	 This	option	 specifies  that  an  incoming	message	 is  a
		 locally-generated delivery failure report. It is used	inter‐
		 nally	by  Exim  when	handling  delivery failures and is not
		 intended for external use. Its only effect is	to  stop  Exim
		 generating  certain  messages to the postmaster, as otherwise
		 message cascades could occur in some situations. As  part  of
		 the  same  option, a message id may follow the characters -E.
		 If it does, the log entry for the receipt of the new  message
		 contains the id, following "R=", as a cross-reference.

       -ex	 There	are  a	number	of  Sendmail options starting with -oe
		 which seem to be called by various programs without the lead‐
		 ing  o	 in the option. For example, the vacation program uses
		 -eq. Exim treats all options of the form  -ex	as  synonymous
		 with the corresponding -oex options.

       -F <string>
		 This  option  sets  the  sender's  full  name	for use when a
		 locally-generated message is being accepted. In  the  absence
		 of this option, the user's gecos entry from the password data
		 is used. As users are	generally  permitted  to  alter	 their
		 gecos entries, no security considerations are involved. White
		 space between -F and the <string> is optional.

       -f <address>
		 This option sets the address of  the  envelope	 sender	 of  a
		 locally-generated  message  (also  known as the return path).
		 The option can normally be used only by a trusted  user,  but
		 untrusted_set_sender  can  be set to allow untrusted users to
		 use it.

		 Processes running  as	root  or  the  Exim  user  are	always
		 trusted. Other trusted users are defined by the trusted_users
		 or trusted_groups options. In the absence of -f,  or  if  the
		 caller	 is  not trusted, the sender of a local message is set
		 to the caller's login name at the default qualify domain.

		 There is one exception to the restriction on the use  of  -f:
		 an empty sender can be specified by any user, trusted or not,
		 to create a message that can never provoke a bounce. An empty
		 sender	 can  be  specified either as an empty string, or as a
		 pair of angle brackets with nothing between them, as in these
		 examples of shell commands:

		   exim -f '<>' user@domain
		   exim -f "" user@domain

		 In  addition,	the use of -f is not restricted when testing a
		 filter file with -bf or when testing or  verifying  addresses
		 using the -bt or -bv options.

		 Allowing  untrusted  users  to change the sender address does
		 not of itself make it possible to send anonymous  mail.  Exim
		 still	checks that the From: header refers to the local user,
		 and if it does not, it adds a Sender: header, though this can
		 be overridden by setting no_local_from_check.

		 White	space  between	-f and the <address> is optional (that
		 is, they can be given as two arguments or one combined	 argu‐
		 ment).	 The sender of a locally-generated message can also be
		 set (when permitted) by an initial "From " line in  the  mes‐
		 sage  -  see the description of -bm above - but if -f is also
		 present, it overrides "From ".

       -G	 This is a Sendmail option which is ignored by Exim.

       -h <number>
		 This option is accepted for compatibility with Sendmail,  but
		 has  no  effect.  (In	Sendmail  it overrides the "hop count"
		 obtained by counting Received: headers.)

       -i	 This option, which has the same effect as -oi, specifies that
		 a  dot	 on a line by itself should not terminate an incoming,
		 non-SMTP message. I can find no documentation for this option
		 in Solaris 2.4 Sendmail, but the mailx command in Solaris 2.4
		 uses it. See also -ti.

       -M <message id> <message id> ...
		 This option requests Exim to run a delivery attempt  on  each
		 message  in turn. If any of the messages are frozen, they are
		 automatically thawed before the delivery  attempt.  The  set‐
		 tings	of queue_domains, queue_smtp_domains, and hold_domains
		 are ignored.

		 Retry hints for any of the addresses are  overridden  -  Exim
		 tries	to  deliver  even if the normal retry time has not yet
		 been reached. This option requires the caller to be an	 admin
		 user.	However, there is an option called prod_requires_admin
		 which can be set false to relax this  restriction  (and  also
		 the same requirement for the -q, -R, and -S options).

		 The  deliveries  happen  synchronously, that is, the original
		 Exim process  does  not  terminate  until  all	 the  delivery
		 attempts have finished. No output is produced unless there is
		 a serious error. If you want to see what  is  happening,  use
		 the -v option as well, or inspect Exim's main log.

       -Mar <message id> <address> <address> ...
		 This option requests Exim to add the addresses to the list of
		 recipients of the message ("ar" for  "add  recipients").  The
		 first	argument  must be a message id, and the remaining ones
		 must be email addresses. However, if the  message  is	active
		 (in  the  middle  of  a delivery attempt), it is not altered.
		 This option can be used only by an admin user.

       -MC <transport> <hostname> <sequence number> <message id>
		 This option is not intended for use by external  callers.  It
		 is  used  internally  by  Exim	 to invoke another instance of
		 itself to deliver a waiting message using  an	existing  SMTP
		 connection,  which is passed as the standard input. This must
		 be the final option, and the caller must be root or the  Exim
		 user in order to use it.

       -MCA	 This  option  is not intended for use by external callers. It
		 is used internally  by	 Exim  in  conjunction	with  the  -MC
		 option.  It  signifies that the connection to the remote host
		 has been authenticated.

       -MCP	 This option is not intended for use by external  callers.  It
		 is  used  internally  by  Exim	 in  conjunction  with the -MC
		 option. It signifies that the server to which	Exim  is  con‐
		 nected supports pipelining.

       -MCQ <process id> <pipe fd>
		 This  option  is not intended for use by external callers. It
		 is used internally by Exim in conjunction with the -MC option
		 when  the original delivery was started by a queue runner. It
		 passes on the process id of the queue runner,	together  with
		 the  file  descriptor	number of an open pipe. Closure of the
		 pipe signals the final completion of  the  sequence  of  pro‐
		 cesses	 that  are passing messages through the same SMTP con‐
		 nection.

       -MCS	 This option is not intended for use by external  callers.  It
		 is  used  internally  by  Exim	 in  conjunction  with the -MC
		 option, and passes on the fact	 that  the  SMTP  SIZE	option
		 should	 be  used on messages delivered down the existing con‐
		 nection.

       -MCT	 This option is not intended for use by external  callers.  It
		 is  used  internally  by  Exim	 in  conjunction  with the -MC
		 option, and passes on the fact that the host to which Exim is
		 connected supports TLS encryption.

       -Mc <message id> <message id> ...
		 This  option  requests Exim to run a delivery attempt on each
		 message in turn, but unlike the -M option, it does check  for
		 retry	hints, and respects any that are found. This option is
		 not very useful to external callers. It  is  provided	mainly
		 for internal use by Exim when it needs to re-invoke itself in
		 order to regain root privilege for a delivery.	 However,  -Mc
		 can  be  useful when testing, in order to run a delivery that
		 respects retry times and other options such  as  hold_domains
		 that are overridden when -M is used. Such a delivery does not
		 count as a queue run.	If you want to run a specific delivery
		 as  if	 in  a	queue run, you should use -q with a message id
		 argument. A distinction  between  queue  run  deliveries  and
		 other deliveries is made in one or two places.

       -Mes <message id> <address>
		 This option requests Exim to change the sender address in the
		 message to the given address, which must be a fully qualified
		 address  or  "<>"  ("es"  for	"edit  sender"). There must be
		 exactly two arguments. The first argument must be  a  message
		 id, and the second one an email address. However, if the mes‐
		 sage is active (in the middle of  a  delivery	attempt),  its
		 status	 is  not  altered.  This option can be used only by an
		 admin user.

       -Mf <message id> <message id> ...
		 This option requests Exim to  mark  each  listed  message  as
		 "frozen".  This  prevents  any delivery attempts taking place
		 until the message is "thawed", either manually or as a result
		 of  the  auto_thaw  configuration option.  However, if any of
		 the  messages	are  active  (in  the  middle  of  a  delivery
		 attempt),  their  status  is  not altered. This option can be
		 used only by an admin user.

       -Mg <message id> <message id> ...
		 This option requests Exim to give up trying  to  deliver  the
		 listed	 messages,  including any that are frozen. However, if
		 any of the messages are active, their status is not  altered.
		 For  non-bounce messages, a delivery error message is sent to
		 the sender, containing the text "cancelled by administrator".
		 Bounce	 messages  are just discarded. This option can be used
		 only by an admin user.

       -Mmad <message id> <message id> ...
		 This option requests Exim to mark all the recipient addresses
		 in  the  messages  as	already delivered ("mad" for "mark all
		 delivered"). However, if any message is active (in the middle
		 of  a	delivery  attempt),  its  status  is not altered. This
		 option can be used only by an admin user.

       -Mmd <message id> <address> <address> ...
		 This option requests Exim to  mark  the  given	 addresses  as
		 already  delivered  ("md"  for	 "mark	delivered"). The first
		 argument must be a message id, and the remaining ones must be
		 email	addresses. These are matched to recipient addresses in
		 the message in a case-sensitive manner.  If  the  message  is
		 active	 (in  the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is
		 not altered. This option can be used only by an admin user.

       -Mrm <message id> <message id> ...
		 This option requests Exim to remove the given	messages  from
		 the  queue. No bounce messages are sent; each message is sim‐
		 ply forgotten. However, if any of the	messages  are  active,
		 their	status is not altered. This option can be used only by
		 an admin user or by the user who originally caused  the  mes‐
		 sage to be placed on the queue.

       -Mset <message id>
		 This  option is useful only in conjunction with -be (that is,
		 when testing string expansions). Exim loads the given message
		 from its spool before doing the test expansions, thus setting
		 message-specific variables  such  as  $message_size  and  the
		 header variables. The $recipients variable is made available.
		 This feature is provided to make it easier to test expansions
		 that make use of these variables. However, this option can be
		 used only by an admin user. See also -bem.

       -Mt <message id> <message id> ...
		 This option requests Exim to "thaw" any of  the  listed  mes‐
		 sages	that  are  "frozen",  so  that	delivery  attempts can
		 resume. However, if any of the	 messages  are	active,	 their
		 status	 is  not  altered.  This option can be used only by an
		 admin user.

       -Mvb <message id>
		 This option causes the contents  of  the  message  body  (-D)
		 spool	file to be written to the standard output. This option
		 can be used only by an admin user.

       -Mvc <message id>
		 This option causes a copy of  the  complete  message  (header
		 lines	plus body) to be written to the standard output in RFC
		 2822 format. This option can be used only by an admin user.

       -Mvh <message id>
		 This option causes the contents of the message	 headers  (-H)
		 spool	file to be written to the standard output. This option
		 can be used only by an admin user.

       -Mvl <message id>
		 This option causes the contents of the message log spool file
		 to be written to the standard output. This option can be used
		 only by an admin user.

       -m	 This is apparently a synonym for  -om	that  is  accepted  by
		 Sendmail, so Exim treats it that way too.

       -N	 This  is  a debugging option that inhibits delivery of a mes‐
		 sage at the transport level. It implies -v. Exim goes through
		 many  of  the	motions of delivery - it just doesn't actually
		 transport the message, but instead behaves as if it had  suc‐
		 cessfully  done  so. However, it does not make any updates to
		 the retry database, and the log entries  for  deliveries  are
		 flagged with "*>" rather than "=>".

		 Because  -N  discards	any  message to which it applies, only
		 root or the Exim user are allowed to use it with -bd, -q,  -R
		 or  -M. In other words, an ordinary user can use it only when
		 supplying  an	incoming  message  to  which  it  will	apply.
		 Although  transportation  never  fails	 when  -N  is  set, an
		 address may be deferred because of a configuration problem on
		 a  transport, or a routing problem. Once -N has been used for
		 a delivery attempt, it sticks to the message, and applies  to
		 any  subsequent  delivery  attempts  that may happen for that
		 message.

       -n	 This option is interpreted by Sendmail to mean "no aliasing".
		 It is ignored by Exim.

       -O <data> This option is interpreted by Sendmail to mean set option. It
		 is ignored by Exim.

       -oA <file name>
		 This option is used by Sendmail in conjunction	 with  -bi  to
		 specify an alternative alias file name. Exim handles -bi dif‐
		 ferently; see the description above.

       -oB <n>	 This is a debugging option which limits the maximum number of
		 messages  that	 can  be  delivered  down one SMTP connection,
		 overriding the value set in any smtp  transport.  If  <n>  is
		 omitted, the limit is set to 1.

       -odb	 This option applies to all modes in which Exim accepts incom‐
		 ing messages, including the  listening	 daemon.  It  requests
		 "background"  delivery of such messages, which means that the
		 accepting process automatically starts a delivery process for
		 each  message	received,  but	does not wait for the delivery
		 processes to finish.

		 When all the  messages	 have  been  received,	the  reception
		 process  exits,  leaving  the delivery processes to finish in
		 their own time. The standard output  and  error  streams  are
		 closed	 at  the  start of each delivery process.  This is the
		 default action if none of the -od options are present.

		 If one of the queueing	 options  in  the  configuration  file
		 (queue_only  or  queue_only_file,  for example) is in effect,
		 -odb overrides it if queue_only_override is set  true,	 which
		 is  the default setting. If queue_only_override is set false,
		 -odb has no effect.

       -odf	 This option requests "foreground" (synchronous) delivery when
		 Exim  has accepted a locally-generated message. (For the dae‐
		 mon it is exactly the same as -odb.) A	 delivery  process  is
		 automatically	started to deliver the message, and Exim waits
		 for it to complete before proceeding.

		 The original Exim reception process does not finish until the
		 delivery  process  for the final message has ended. The stan‐
		 dard error stream is left open during deliveries.

		 However,  like	 -odb,	this   option	has   no   effect   if
		 queue_only_override  is false and one of the queueing options
		 in the configuration file is in effect.

		 If there is a	temporary  delivery  error  during  foreground
		 delivery,  the	 message is left on the queue for later deliv‐
		 ery, and the original reception process exits.

       -odi	 This option is synonymous with -odf. It is provided for  com‐
		 patibility with Sendmail.

       -odq	 This option applies to all modes in which Exim accepts incom‐
		 ing messages, including the listening	daemon.	 It  specifies
		 that  the  accepting process should not automatically start a
		 delivery process for  each  message  received.	 Messages  are
		 placed	 on  the  queue,  and  remain there until a subsequent
		 queue runner process encounters them. There are several  con‐
		 figuration  options  (such as queue_only) that can be used to
		 queue incoming messages under certain conditions. This option
		 overrides all of them and also -odqs. It always forces queue‐
		 ing.

       -odqs	 This option is a hybrid between -odb/-odi and -odq.  However,
		 like	-odb   and   -odi,   this  option  has	no  effect  if
		 queue_only_override is false and one of the queueing  options
		 in the configuration file is in effect.

		 When  -odqs  does  operate, a delivery process is started for
		 each incoming message, in the background by default,  but  in
		 the  foreground  if  -odi  is	also  present.	The  recipient
		 addresses are routed, and local deliveries are	 done  in  the
		 normal	 way.  However,	 if  any SMTP deliveries are required,
		 they are not done at this time, so the message remains on the
		 queue	until a subsequent queue runner process encounters it.
		 Because routing was done, Exim knows which messages are wait‐
		 ing for which hosts, and so a number of messages for the same
		 host  can  be	sent  in  a  single   SMTP   connection.   The
		 queue_smtp_domains  configuration  option has the same effect
		 for specific domains. See also the -qq option.

       -oee	 If an error is detected while a  non-SMTP  message  is	 being
		 received  (for	 example,  a  malformed address), the error is
		 reported to the sender in a mail message.

		 Provided this error message is successfully  sent,  the  Exim
		 receiving  process  exits with a return code of zero. If not,
		 the return code is 2 if the problem is that the original mes‐
		 sage  has  no	recipients,  or 1 any other error. This is the
		 default -oex option if Exim is called as rmail.

       -oem	 This is the same as -oee, except that Exim always exits  with
		 a  non-zero return code, whether or not the error message was
		 successfully sent.  This is the default -oex  option,	unless
		 Exim is called as rmail.

       -oep	 If  an	 error	is  detected while a non-SMTP message is being
		 received, the error is reported by writing a message  to  the
		 standard  error  file (stderr).  The return code is 1 for all
		 errors.

       -oeq	 This option is supported for compatibility with Sendmail, but
		 has the same effect as -oep.

       -oew	 This option is supported for compatibility with Sendmail, but
		 has the same effect as -oem.

       -oi	 This option, which has the same effect as -i, specifies  that
		 a  dot	 on a line by itself should not terminate an incoming,
		 non-SMTP message. Otherwise, a	 single	 dot  does  terminate,
		 though	 Exim  does no special processing for other lines that
		 start with a dot. This option is set by default  if  Exim  is
		 called as rmail. See also -ti.

       -oitrue	 This option is treated as synonymous with -oi.

       -oMa <host address>
		 A number of options starting with -oM can be used to set val‐
		 ues associated with remote hosts  on  locally-submitted  mes‐
		 sages	(that  is,  messages  not received over TCP/IP). These
		 options can be used by any caller  in	conjunction  with  the
		 -bh,  -be,  -bf,  -bF,	 -bt, or -bv testing options. In other
		 circumstances, they are ignored unless the caller is trusted.

		 The -oMa option  sets	the  sender  host  address.  This  may
		 include a port number at the end, after a full stop (period).
		 For example:

		   exim -bs -oMa 10.9.8.7.1234

		 An alternative syntax is to enclose the IP address in	square
		 brackets, followed by a colon and the port number:

		   exim -bs -oMa [10.9.8.7]:1234

		 The  IP  address  is placed in the $sender_host_address vari‐
		 able, and the port, if present, in $sender_host_port. If both
		 -oMa and -bh are present on the command line, the sender host
		 IP address is taken from whichever one is last.

       -oMaa <name>
		 See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The
		 -oMaa	option	sets  the  value of $sender_host_authenticated
		 (the authenticator name).  This option can be used  with  -bh
		 and -bs to set up an authenticated SMTP session without actu‐
		 ally using the SMTP AUTH command.

       -oMai <string>
		 See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The
		 -oMai option sets the value of $authenticated_id (the id that
		 was authenticated).  This overrides the  default  value  (the
		 caller's  login  id,  except  with  -bh,  where  there	 is no
		 default) for messages from local sources.

       -oMas <address>
		 See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The
		 -oMas	option sets the authenticated sender value in $authen‐
		 ticated_sender. It overrides the sender address that is  cre‐
		 ated  from  the  caller's  login  id  for messages from local
		 sources, except when -bh is used, when there is  no  default.
		 For  both -bh and -bs, an authenticated sender that is speci‐
		 fied on a MAIL command overrides this value.

       -oMi <interface address>
		 See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The
		 -oMi  option sets the IP interface address value. A port num‐
		 ber may be included, using the same syntax as for  -oMa.  The
		 interface  address  is placed in $received_ip_address and the
		 port number, if present, in $received_port.

       -oMr <protocol name>
		 See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The
		 -oMr  option  sets the received protocol value that is stored
		 in $received_protocol. However, it does  not  apply  (and  is
		 ignored)  when	 -bh  or -bs is used. For -bh, the protocol is
		 forced to one of the standard SMTP protocol names.  For  -bs,
		 the protocol is always "local-" followed by one of those same
		 names. For -bS (batched SMTP) however, the  protocol  can  be
		 set by -oMr.

       -oMs <host name>
		 See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The
		 -oMs option sets the sender host name	in  $sender_host_name.
		 When this option is present, Exim does not attempt to look up
		 a host name from an IP address; it uses the name it is given.

       -oMt <ident string>
		 See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The
		 -oMt option sets the sender ident value in $sender_ident. The
		 default setting for local callers is  the  login  id  of  the
		 calling  process,  except  when -bh is used, when there is no
		 default.

       -om	 In Sendmail, this option means "me too", indicating that  the
		 sender	 of  a message should receive a copy of the message if
		 the sender appears in an alias expansion.  Exim  always  does
		 this, so the option does nothing.

       -oo	 This  option  is ignored. In Sendmail it specifies "old style
		 headers", whatever that means.

       -oP <path>
		 This option is useful only in conjunction with -bd or -q with
		 a  time  value.  The  option  specifies the file to which the
		 process id of the daemon is written. When -oX	is  used  with
		 -bd,  or when -q with a time is used without -bd, this is the
		 only way of causing Exim to write  a  pid  file,  because  in
		 those cases, the normal pid file is not used.

       -or <time>
		 This  option  sets a timeout value for incoming non-SMTP mes‐
		 sages. If it is not set, Exim will wait forever for the stan‐
		 dard  input. The value can also be set by the receive_timeout
		 option.

       -os <time>
		 This option sets a timeout value for incoming SMTP  messages.
		 The  timeout  applies to each SMTP command and block of data.
		 The value can also be set by the smtp_receive_timeout option;
		 it defaults to 5 minutes.

       -ov	 This option has exactly the same effect as -v.

       -oX <number or string>
		 This  option  is  relevant only when the -bd (start listening
		 daemon) option is also given. It  controls  which  ports  and
		 interfaces  the daemon uses. When -oX is used to start a dae‐
		 mon, no pid file is written unless -oP	 is  also  present  to
		 specify a pid file name.

       -pd	 This  option  applies	when  an  embedded Perl interpreter is
		 linked	 with  Exim.  It  overrides   the   setting   of   the
		 perl_at_start option, forcing the starting of the interpreter
		 to be delayed until it is needed.

       -ps	 This option applies when  an  embedded	 Perl  interpreter  is
		 linked	  with	 Exim.	 It   overrides	 the  setting  of  the
		 perl_at_start option, forcing the starting of the interpreter
		 to occur as soon as Exim is started.

       -p<rval>:<sval>
		 For compatibility with Sendmail, this option is equivalent to

		   -oMr <rval> -oMs <sval>

		 It  sets  the	incoming  protocol  and host name (for trusted
		 callers). The host name and its colon	can  be	 omitted  when
		 only  the  protocol  is to be set.  Note the Exim already has
		 two private options, -pd and  -ps,  that  refer  to  embedded
		 Perl. It is therefore impossible to set a protocol value of p
		 or s using this option (but that does not seem a real limita‐
		 tion).

       -q	 This  option  is normally restricted to admin users. However,
		 there is a configuration  option  called  prod_requires_admin
		 which	can  be	 set false to relax this restriction (and also
		 the same requirement for the -M, -R, and -S options).

		 The -q option starts one queue runner process. This scans the
		 queue	of  waiting  messages, and runs a delivery process for
		 each one in turn. It waits for each delivery process to  fin‐
		 ish  before starting the next one. A delivery process may not
		 actually do  any  deliveries  if  the	retry  times  for  the
		 addresses  have  not been reached. Use -qf (see below) if you
		 want to override this.

		 If the delivery process spawns	 other	processes  to  deliver
		 other messages down passed SMTP connections, the queue runner
		 waits for these to finish before proceeding.

		 When all the queued messages have been considered, the origi‐
		 nal queue runner process terminates. In other words, a single
		 pass is made over the waiting mail, one message  at  a	 time.
		 Use  -q  with	a  time	 (see  below)  if  you want this to be
		 repeated periodically.

		 Exim processes	 the  waiting  messages	 in  an	 unpredictable
		 order. It isn't very random, but it is likely to be different
		 each time, which is all that matters.	If one particular mes‐
		 sage  screws  up a remote MTA, other messages to the same MTA
		 have a chance of getting through if they get tried first.

		 It is possible to cause the messages to be processed in lexi‐
		 cal message id order, which is essentially the order in which
		 they arrived, by setting the queue_run_in_order  option,  but
		 this is not recommended for normal use.

       -q<qflags>
		 The  -q  option  may  be followed by one or more flag letters
		 that change its behaviour. They are all optional, but if more
		 than  one  is present, they must appear in the correct order.
		 Each flag is described in a separate item below.

       -qq...	 An option starting with -qq requests a two-stage  queue  run.
		 In   the  first  stage,  the  queue  is  scanned  as  if  the
		 queue_smtp_domains option matched every domain. Addresses are
		 routed, local deliveries happen, but no remote transports are
		 run.

		 The hints database that remembers which messages are  waiting
		 for  specific hosts is updated, as if delivery to those hosts
		 had been deferred. After this is complete, a  second,	normal
		 queue scan happens, with routing and delivery taking place as
		 normal. Messages that are routed  to  the  same  host	should
		 mostly	 be delivered down a single SMTP connection because of
		 the hints that were set up during the first queue scan.  This
		 option	 may  be  useful  for  hosts that are connected to the
		 Internet intermittently.

       -q[q]i... If the i flag is present, the queue runner runs delivery pro‐
		 cesses	 only  for those messages that haven't previously been
		 tried. (i stands for "initial delivery".) This can be helpful
		 if  you are putting messages on the queue using -odq and want
		 a queue runner just to process the new messages.

       -q[q][i]f...
		 If one f flag is present, a delivery attempt  is  forced  for
		 each	non-frozen  message,  whereas  without	f  only	 those
		 non-frozen addresses that have passed their retry  times  are
		 tried.

       -q[q][i]ff...
		 If ff is present, a delivery attempt is forced for every mes‐
		 sage, whether frozen or not.

       -q[q][i][f[f]]l
		 The l (the letter  "ell")  flag  specifies  that  only	 local
		 deliveries  are  to be done. If a message requires any remote
		 deliveries, it remains on the queue for later delivery.

       -q<qflags> <start id> <end id>
		 When scanning the queue, Exim can be made to skip  over  mes‐
		 sages whose ids are lexically less than a given value by fol‐
		 lowing the -q option with a starting message id. For example:

		   exim -q 0t5C6f-0000c8-00

		 Messages that arrived earlier than 0t5C6f-0000c8-00  are  not
		 inspected.  If	 a  second message id is given, messages whose
		 ids are lexically greater than it are also  skipped.  If  the
		 same id is given twice, for example,

		   exim -q 0t5C6f-0000c8-00 0t5C6f-0000c8-00

		 just  one delivery process is started, for that message. This
		 differs from -M in that retry data is respected, and it  also
		 differs from -Mc in that it counts as a delivery from a queue
		 run. Note that the selection mechanism does  not  affect  the
		 order in which the messages are scanned. There are also other
		 ways of selecting specific sets of messages for delivery in a
		 queue run - see -R and -S.

       -q<qflags><time>
		 When  a  time	value is present, the -q option causes Exim to
		 run as a daemon, starting a queue runner process at intervals
		 specified by the given time value. This form of the -q option
		 is commonly combined with the -bd option,  in	which  case  a
		 single daemon process handles both functions. A common way of
		 starting up a combined daemon at system boot time is to use a
		 command such as

		   /usr/exim/bin/exim -bd -q30m

		 Such  a  daemon  listens  for	incoming  SMTP calls, and also
		 starts a queue runner process every 30 minutes.

		 When a daemon is started by -q with a time value, but without
		 -bd,  no  pid	file  is  written  unless  one	is  explicitly
		 requested by the -oP option.

       -qR<rsflags> <string>
		 This option is synonymous with -R. It is provided  for	 Send‐
		 mail compatibility.

       -qS<rsflags> <string>
		 This option is synonymous with -S.

       -R<rsflags> <string>
		 The  <rsflags>	 may  be  empty, in which case the white space
		 before the string is optional, unless the string is f, ff, r,
		 rf,  or  rff,	which  are  the possible values for <rsflags>.
		 White space is required if <rsflags> is not empty.

		 This option is similar to -q with no time value, that is,  it
		 causes	 Exim to perform a single queue run, except that, when
		 scanning the messages on the queue, Exim processes only those
		 that have at least one undelivered recipient address contain‐
		 ing the given string, which is checked in a  case-independent
		 way.  If  the <rsflags> start with r, <string> is interpreted
		 as a regular expression; otherwise it is a literal string.

		 If you want to do periodic queue runs for messages with  spe‐
		 cific	recipients,  you  can  combine	-R  with -q and a time
		 value. For example:

		   exim -q25m -R @special.domain.example

		 This example does a queue run for messages with recipients in
		 the  given domain every 25 minutes. Any additional flags that
		 are specified with -q are applied to each queue run.

		 Once a message is selected for delivery  by  this  mechanism,
		 all  its addresses are processed. For the first selected mes‐
		 sage, Exim overrides  any  retry  information	and  forces  a
		 delivery  attempt  for	 each  undelivered address. This means
		 that if delivery of any address in the first message is  suc‐
		 cessful,  any	existing  retry information is deleted, and so
		 delivery attempts for that address in	subsequently  selected
		 messages (which are processed without forcing) will run. How‐
		 ever, if delivery of any address does not succeed, the	 retry
		 information  is  updated,  and	 in subsequently selected mes‐
		 sages, the failing address will be skipped.

		 If the <rsflags>  contain  f  or  ff,	the  delivery  forcing
		 applies  to all selected messages, not just the first; frozen
		 messages are included when ff is present.

		 The -R option makes it straightforward to  initiate  delivery
		 of  all messages to a given domain after a host has been down
		 for some time. When the SMTP command ETRN is accepted by  its
		 ACL,  its  default  effect is to run Exim with the -R option,
		 but it can be configured to run an arbitrary command instead.

       -r	 This is a documented (for Sendmail) obsolete alternative name
		 for -f.

       -S<rsflags> <string>
		 This  option  acts  like  -R except that it checks the string
		 against each message's sender instead of against the  recipi‐
		 ents.	If  -R	is also set, both conditions must be met for a
		 message to be selected. If either of the options has f or  ff
		 in its flags, the associated action is taken.

       -Tqt <times>
		 This  an option that is exclusively for use by the Exim test‐
		 ing suite. It is not recognized when Exim is run normally. It
		 allows	 for  the setting up of explicit "queue times" so that
		 various warning/retry features can be tested.

       -t	 When Exim is receiving a locally-generated, non-SMTP  message
		 on its standard input, the -t option causes the recipients of
		 the message to be obtained from the To:, Cc:, and Bcc: header
		 lines	in  the message instead of from the command arguments.
		 The addresses are extracted before any rewriting takes	 place
		 and the Bcc: header line, if present, is then removed.

		 If  the  command has any arguments, they specify addresses to
		 which the message is not to be delivered. That is, the	 argu‐
		 ment  addresses are removed from the recipients list obtained
		 from the headers. This is compatible  with  Smail  3  and  in
		 accordance  with the documented behaviour of several versions
		 of Sendmail, as described in man pages on a number of operat‐
		 ing  systems  (e.g.  Solaris 8, IRIX 6.5, HP-UX 11). However,
		 some versions of Sendmail add	argument  addresses  to	 those
		 obtained  from	 the  headers,	and the O'Reilly Sendmail book
		 documents it that way. Exim  can  be  made  to	 add  argument
		 addresses  instead  of subtracting them by setting the option
		 extract_addresses_remove_arguments false.

		 If there are any Resent- header lines in  the	message,  Exim
		 extracts  recipients  from  all  Resent-To:,  Resent-Cc:, and
		 Resent-Bcc: header lines instead of from To:, Cc:, and	 Bcc:.
		 This  is  for	compatibility  with  Sendmail  and other MTAs.
		 (Prior to release 4.20, Exim gave an error if -t was used  in
		 conjunction with Resent- header lines.)

		 RFC  2822  talks about different sets of Resent- header lines
		 (for when a message is resent several times).	The  RFC  also
		 specifies  that they should be added at the front of the mes‐
		 sage, and separated by Received: lines.  It  is  not  at  all
		 clear	how -t should operate in the present of multiple sets,
		 nor indeed exactly what constitutes a "set".  In practice, it
		 seems	that MUAs do not follow the RFC. The Resent- lines are
		 often added at the end of the header, and  if	a  message  is
		 resent	 more  than once, it is common for the original set of
		 Resent- headers to be renamed as X-Resent- when a new set  is
		 added. This removes any possible ambiguity.

       -ti	 This  option  is  exactly equivalent to -t -i. It is provided
		 for compatibility with Sendmail.

       -tls-on-connect
		 This option is available when Exim is compiled with TLS  sup‐
		 port. It forces all incoming SMTP connections to behave as if
		 the incoming  port  is	 listed	 in  the  tls_on_connect_ports
		 option.

       -U	 Sendmail  uses	 this option for "initial message submission",
		 and its documentation states that in future releases, it  may
		 complain  about  syntactically	 invalid  messages rather than
		 fixing them when this flag is	not  set.  Exim	 ignores  this
		 option.

       -v	 This  option causes Exim to write information to the standard
		 error stream, describing what it is doing. In particular,  it
		 shows	the  log lines for receiving and delivering a message,
		 and if an SMTP connection  is	made,  the  SMTP  dialogue  is
		 shown.	 Some of the log lines shown may not actually be writ‐
		 ten to the log if the setting of log_selector discards	 them.
		 Any  relevant selectors are shown with each log line. If none
		 are shown, the logging is unconditional.

       -x	 AIX uses -x for a private purpose ("mail from	a  local  mail
		 program  has National Language Support extended characters in
		 the body of the mail item").  It sets -x when calling the MTA
		 from its mail command. Exim ignores this option.

SEE ALSO

       The full Exim specification, the Exim book, and the Exim wiki.

								       EXIM(8)
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