SPAWN(8)

NAME
spawn - Postfix external command spawner

SYNOPSIS
spawn [generic Postfix daemon options] command_attributes...

DESCRIPTION
The spawn daemon provides the Postfix equivalent of inetd. It listens on a port as specified in the Postfix master.cf file and spawns an external command whenever a connection is established. The connection can be made over local IPC (such as UNIX-domain sockets) or over non-local IPC (such as TCP sockets). The command's standard input, output and error streams are connected directly to the communication endpoint. This daemon expects to be run from the master(8) process manager.

COMMAND ATTRIBUTE SYNTAX
The external command attributes are given in the master.cf file at the end of a service definition. The syntax is as follows:

user=username (required)

user=username:groupname
    The external command is executed with the rights of the specified username. The software refuses to execute commands with root privileges, or with the privileges of the mail system owner. If groupname is specified, the corresponding group ID is used instead of the group ID of of username.

argv=command... (required)
    The command to be executed. This must be specified as the last command attribute. The command is executed directly, i.e. without interpretation of shell meta characters by a shell command interpreter.

BUGS
In order to enforce standard Postfix process resource controls, the spawn daemon runs only one external command at a time. As such, it presents a noticeable overhead by wasting precious process resources. The spawn daemon is expected to be replaced by a more structural solution.

DIAGNOSTICS
The spawn daemon reports abnormal child exits. Problems are logged to syslogd(8).

SECURITY
This program needs root privilege in order to execute external commands as the specified user. It is therefore security sensitive. However the spawn daemon does not talk to the external command and thus is not vulnerable to data-driven attacks.

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

Miscellaneous

export_environment
    List of names of environment parameters that can be exported to non-Postfix processes.

mail_owner
    The process privileges used while not running an external command.

Resource control

service_time_limit
    The amount of time the command is allowed to run before it is killed with force. service is the first field of the entry in the master.cf file. The default time limit is given by the global command_time_limit configuration parameter.

SEE ALSO
master(8) process manager
syslogd(8) system logging

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

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