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Exim Mail Transfer Agent Overview
*********************************

The Exim Overview is converted mechanically into Texinfo format from its
original marked-up source. Some typographic representations are changed,
chapters and sections cannot be numbered, and Texinfo lacks the ability
to mark updated parts of the specification with change bars.

Because the chapters and sections are unnumbered, cross references are
set to their names. This makes the English a bit odd, with phrases like
`see section "Mail filtering"' but it seemed very cumbersome to change
this to `see the section entitled "Mail filtering"' each time.

* Menu:

* Exim Overview::


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Exim Overview,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

Exim Overview
*************

Date: 9 November 2000

Exim is a mail transfer agent (MTA) developed at the University of
Cambridge for use on Unix systems connected to the Internet. It is
freely available under the terms of the GNU General Public Licence. In
overall style it is similar to Smail 3, but its facilities are more
extensive. It contains facilities for verifying incoming sender and
recipient addresses, for refusing mail from specified hosts, networks,
or senders, and for controlling mail relaying.

Exim is in production use at quite a few sites, some of which move
hundreds of thousands of messages per day. This document contains an
overview description of the way Exim works, with a certain amount of
omission and simplification to keep it fairly short. Please address any
enquiries about Exim to Philip Hazel:

     Email:  <ph10@cus.cam.ac.uk>
     Phone:  +44 1223 334714
     Fax:    +44 1223 334679

     University of Cambridge
     Computing Service
     New Museums Site
     Pembroke Street
     Cambridge CB2 3QG
     United Kingdom

This document is copyright (c) University of Cambridge 2000, but copying
permission is granted to all.
------------------------------------------------------------------------




"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
							 (Isaac Newton)






* Menu:

* Background::
* Availability::
* Limitations::
* Main features::
* Performance::
* Interface::
* Method of operation::
* Mail filtering::
* Directors::
* Routers::
* Transports::
* Exim logs::
* Exim databases::
* SMTP batching::
* Retries::
* Header rewriting::
* Host verification::
* SMTP port reservation::
* Control of relaying::
* Sender verification::
* Sender lock out::
* Receiver verification::
* The `percent hack'::
* Security::
* The Exim Monitor::


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Background,  Next: Availability,  Prev: Exim Overview,  Up: Exim Overview

Background
==========

Exim owes a great deal to Smail 3 and its author, Ron Karr. Without the
experience of running and working on the Smail 3 code, I could never
have contemplated starting to write a new mailer. The general style of
operation and configuration are taken from Smail 3, though the actual
code of Exim is entirely new.

My intention was to write a mailer that had more functionality than
Smail 3, but which retained the simple lightweight approach, as this
seemed to me to be all that was needed for systems directly connected
to the Internet, where most messages are delivered almost immediately.
On the central mail machines at Cambridge University, `most' means
around 98%.

Since the first versions of Exim went into service at the end of 1995,
it has continued to develop, and now has far more facilities than my
original conception.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Availability,  Next: Limitations,  Prev: Background,  Up: Exim Overview

Availability
============

The current distribution of Exim is available from

     ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/email/exim/exim-n.nn.tar.gz

where n.nn is the version number. The distribution contains an ASCII
copy of the documentation; other formats are available from

     ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/email/exim/exim-html-n.nn.tar.gz
     ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/email/exim/exim-pdf-n.nn.tar.gz
     ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/email/exim/exim-postscript-n.nn.tar.gz
     ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/email/exim/exim-texinfo-n.nn.tar.gz

The HTML documentation is also kept online via the Exim home page:

     http://www.exim.org

The following operating systems are currently supported: AIX, BSDI,
DGUX, FreeBSD, GNU/Hurd, GNU/Linux, HI-OSF (Hitachi), HP-UX, IRIX, MIPS
RISCOS, NetBSD, OpenBSD, QNX, SCO, SCO SVR4.2 (aka UNIX-SV), Solaris
(aka SunOS5), SunOS4, Tru64-Unix (aka DEC OSF1, aka Digital UNIX)
Ultrix, and Unixware.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Limitations,  Next: Main features,  Prev: Availability,  Up: Exim Overview

Limitations
===========

For the benefit of those reading this overview to see whether Exim is of
interest to them, its limitations are listed first.

   * Exim is written in ANSI C. This should not be much of a limitation
     these days.  However, to help with systems that lack a true ANSI C
     library, Exim avoids making any use of the value returned by the
     `sprintf()' function, which is one of the main incompatibilities.
     It has its own version of `strerror()' for use with SunOS4 and any
     other system that lacks this function, and a macro can be defined
     to turn `memmove()' into `bcopy()' if necessary.

   * Exim is intended for use as an Internet mailer, and therefore
     handles addresses in RFC 822 domain format only. It cannot handle
     `bang paths', though simple two-component bang paths can be
     converted by a straightforward rewriting configuration. This does
     not prevent Exim from being interfaced to UUCP, provided domain
     addresses are used.

   * Exim insists that every address it handles has a domain attached.
     For incoming local messages, domainless addresses are
     automatically qualified with a configured domain value.
     Configuration options specify from which remote systems
     unqualified addresses are acceptable. They are qualified on
     receipt.

   * The only external transport currently implemented is an SMTP
     transport over a TCP/IP network (using sockets), suitable for
     machines on the Internet.  However, a pipe transport is available,
     and there are facilities for writing messages to files in `batched
     SMTP' format; both of these can be used to send messages to some
     other transport mechanism such as UUCP. Batched SMTP input is also
     catered for.

   * Exim is not designed for storing mail for dial-in hosts. When the
     volumes of such mail are large, it is better to get the messages
     `delivered' into files (that is, off Exim's queue) and
     subsequently passed on to the dial-in hosts by other means.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Main features,  Next: Performance,  Prev: Limitations,  Up: Exim Overview

Main features
=============

Exim follows the same general approach of decentralized control that
Smail 3 does. There is no central process doing overall management of
mail delivery.  However, the independent delivery processes share data
in the form of `hints', which makes delivery more efficient in some
cases. The hints are kept in a number of DBM files. If any of these
files are lost, the only effect is to change the pattern of delivery
attempts and retries.

Here is a summary of Exim's main features. More details are given in the
sections which follow.

   * Many configuration options can be given as expansion strings,
     which are transformed in various ways when they are used. As these
     can include file lookups, much of Exim's operation can be made
     table-driven if desired. For example, it is possible to do local
     delivery on a machine on which the users do not have accounts. The
     ultimate flexibility can be obtained (at a price) by running a
     Perl interpreter while expanding a string.

   * Regular expressions, compatible with Perl 5, are available in a
     number of configuration parameters.

   * Domain lists can include file lookups, making it possible to
     support a large number of local domains, for example.

   * Exim has flexible retry algorithms, applicable to mail routing as
     well as to delivery.

   * Exim contains header and envelope rewriting facilities.

   * Unqualified addresses are accepted only from specified hosts or
     networks.

   * Exim can perform multiple deliveries down the same SMTP channel
     after deliveries to a host have been delayed.

   * Exim can be configured to do local deliveries immediately but to
     leave remote deliveries until the message is picked up by a
     queue-runner process. This increases the likelihood of multiple
     messages being sent down a single SMTP connection.

   * When copies of a message have to be delivered to more than one
     remote host, up to a configured maximum number of remote
     deliveries can be done in parallel.

   * Exim has support for the SMTP AUTH extension for authenticating
     clients.

   * Exim has support for encrypted connections using the SMTP STARTTLS
     extension.

   * Exim supports optional checking of incoming return path (sender)
     and receiver addresses as they are received by SMTP.

   * SMTP calls from specific hosts and networks, optionally from
     specific idents, can be locked out, and incoming SMTP messages
     from specific senders can also be locked out. Blocked hosts can be
     identified explicitly, or via RBL lists, or the SMTP AUTH and TLS
     mechanisms can be used.

   * It is possible to control which hosts may use the Exim host as a
     relay for onward transmission of mail. Again, the SMTP AUTH and
     TLS mechanisms can be used in this connection.

   * Messages on the queue can be `frozen' and `thawed' by the
     administrator.

   * The maximum size of messages can be specified.

   * Exim can handle a number of independent local domains on the same
     machine; each domain can have its own alias files, etc. These are
     commonly called "virtual domains".

   * Simple mailing lists can be handled directly by Exim itself (but
     for `serious' mailing list operations, it is best to use it in
     conjunction with specialist mailing list software).

   * Exim stats a user's home directory before looking for a `.forward'
     file, in order to detect the case of a missing NFS mount.

   * Exim contains an optional built-in mail filtering facility. This
     enables users to set up their own mail filtering in a
     straightfoward manner without the need to run an external program.
     There can also be a system filter file that applies to all
     messages.

   * There is support for multiple user mailboxes controlled by
     prefixes or suffixes on the user name, either via the filter
     mechanism or through multiple `.forward' files.

   * Periodic warnings are automatically sent to messages' senders when
     delivery is delayed - the time between warnings is configurable.

   * A queue run can be manually started to deliver just a particular
     portion of the queue, or those messages with a recipient or sender
     whose address contains a given string or matches a particular
     regular expression.

   * Exim can be configured to run as root only when needed; in
     particular, it need not run as root when receiving incoming
     messages or when sending out messages over SMTP. It always uses
     `setuid' when doing local deliveries.

   * I have tried to make the wording of delivery failure messages
     clearer and simpler, for the benefit of those less-experienced
     people who are now using email. However, the wording can be
     completely replaced by customized paragraphs supplied in a file if
     necessary.

   * Exim contains support for IPv6.

   * The Exim Monitor is an optional extra; it displays information
     about Exim's processing in an X window, and an administrator can
     perform a number of control actions from the window interface.
     This does not, however, supplant command-line access to all the
     control functions.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Performance,  Next: Interface,  Prev: Main features,  Up: Exim Overview

Performance
===========

Although I did not specifically set out to write a high-performance
MTA, Exim does seem to be fairly efficient. One site I heard of was a
mailing list exploder that sometimes handles over 100,000 deliveries a
day on a big Linux box, the record being 177,000 deliveries (791MB in
total). Up to 13,000 deliveries in an hour have been reported. On
larger systems, up to 800,000 messages a day have been reported.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Interface,  Next: Method of operation,  Prev: Performance,  Up: Exim Overview

Interface
=========

Like many MTAs, Exim has adopted the Sendmail interface so that it can
be a straight replacement for `usr/sbin/sendmail' or
`/usr/lib/sendmail'. All the relevant Sendmail options are implemented.
There are also some additional options that are compatible with Smail
3, and some further options that are new to Exim.

The runtime configuration interface is a single file which is divided
into a number of sections. The entries in this file consist of keywords
and values, in the style of Smail 3 configuration files.

Control of messages on the queue can be done via certain privileged
command line options. There is also an optional monitor program called
`eximon', which displays current information in an X window and
contains interfaces to the command line options.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Method of operation,  Next: Mail filtering,  Prev: Interface,  Up: Exim Overview

Method of operation
===================

When Exim receives a message, it writes two files in its spool
directory. The first contains the envelope information, the current
status of the message, and the headers, while the second contains the
body of the message. The status of the message includes a complete list
of recipients and a list of those that have already received the
message. The header file gets updated during the course of delivery if
necessary.

A message remains in the spool directory until it is completely
delivered to its recipients or to an error address, or until it is
deleted by an administrator or by the user who originally created it.
In cases when delivery cannot proceed - for example, when a message can
neither be delivered to its recipients nor returned to its sender, the
message is marked `frozen' on the spool, and no more deliveries are
attempted. The administrator can thaw such messages when the problem
has been corrected, and can also freeze individual messages by hand if
necessary.

As delivery proceeds, Exim writes timestamped information about each
address to a per-message log file; this includes any delivery error
messages. This log is solely for the benefit of the administrator. All
the information Exim itself needs for delivery is kept in the header
spool file. The message log file is deleted with the spool files. If a
message is delayed for more than a configured time, a warning message
is sent to the sender.

The main delivery processing elements of Exim are called directors,
routers, and transports. Code for a number of these is provided, and
compile-time options specify which ones are actually included in the
binary.  Directors handle addresses that include one of the local
domains, routers handle remote addresses, and transports do actual
deliveries.

When a message is to be delivered, the sequence of events is roughly as
follows:

   * If there is a system filter file, it is obeyed. This can check on
     the contents of the message and its headers, and cause delivery to
     be abandoned or directed to alternative or additional addresses,
     or it can freeze the message for human attention. It can also add
     headers to the message, and set up `scores' which can be used in
     local recipients' filter files.

   * Each address is parsed and a check is made to see if it is local
     or not, by comparing the domain with the list of local domains,
     which can be wildcarded, or even held in a file if there are a
     large number of them.

   * If an address is local, it is passed to each configured director
     in turn until one is able to handle it. There are directors for
     handling aliases, for handling `.forward' files, for checking on
     login names, and so on. If no director can handle it, the address
     is failed. Directors can be targeted at particular local domains,
     so several local domains can be processed independently of each
     other.

   * A director that accepts an address may set up a local or a remote
     transport for it, or it may generate one or more new addresses
     (typically from alias or forward files). New addresses are fed
     back into this process from the top, but in order to avoid loops,
     a director will ignore any address which has an identically-named
     ancestor that was processed by itself.

   * If an address is not local, it is passed to each router in turn
     until one is able to handle it. There are routers for looking up
     the domain in a local list, for doing DNS or host file lookups,
     and for running external routing programs.  If no router can
     handle it, the address is failed.

   * A router that accepts an address may set up a transport for it, or
     may pass an altered address to subsequent routers, or it may
     discover that the address is a local address after all. This
     typically happens when a partial domain name is used and (for
     example) the DNS lookup is configured to try to extend such names.
     In this case, the address is passed back to the directors.

   * Routers normally set up remote transports for messages that are to
     be delivered to other machines. However, a router can pass a
     message to a local transport, and by this means messages for
     remote hosts can be routed to other transport mechanisms such as
     UUCP via a file or a pipe.

   * When all the directing and routing is done, addresses that have
     been successfully handled are passed to their assigned transports.
     Local transports normally handle only one address at a time, but
     remote ones can handle more than one. Each local transport runs in
     a separate process under a non-privileged uid.

   * If there were any errors, a message is returned to an appropriate
     address (the sender in the common case).

   * If one or more addresses suffered a temporary failure, the message
     is left on the queue, to be tried again later. Otherwise the spool
     files and message log are deleted.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Mail filtering,  Next: Directors,  Prev: Method of operation,  Up: Exim Overview

Mail filtering
==============

Exim can be configured to allow users to set up filter files as an
alternative to the traditional `.forward' files. A filter file can test
various characteristics of a message, including the contents of the
headers and the start of the body, and direct delivery to specified
addresses, files, or pipes according to what it finds. The system-wide
filter file uses the same control syntax.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Directors,  Next: Routers,  Prev: Mail filtering,  Up: Exim Overview

Directors
=========

The existing directors are listed below. I use the RFC 822 term local
part to mean that portion of an address that comes before the @
character.

   * `aliasfile': This director handles local part expansion via a
     traditional alias file. The name of the file is obtained by string
     expansion, and may therefore depend on the local part or the
     domain. Generated pipe and file addresses can be (independently)
     locked out.

     The `aliasfile' director can also be used to test a list of local
     parts and direct any messages for them to a specific transport. In
     this case the data associated with the local part in the file is
     not used for address expansion, but is available for other
     purposes. For example, files containing records of the form

            foo: uid=1234 gid=5678 mailbox=/home_1/foo/inbox

     could be used on a system that did local deliveries without
     consulting its `passwd' file. The `aliasfile' director could use
     the file to verify that the local part was valid, and then the
     `appendfile' transport could use it to get a uid, gid, and mailbox
     for the delivery.

     The `aliasfile' director can also be configured to include the
     domain in the key that is looked up, making it possible to hold
     aliases for several different local domains in the same file. It
     is possible to specify a default address to be used if nothing in
     the alias file matches the incoming address.

   * `forwardfile': This director handles local part expansion via a
     traditional forward file or, if so configured, by a user's filter
     file. The name of the file is obtained by string expansion, and
     may therefore depend on the local part or the domain, though if it
     is not an absolute path it is automatically assumed to be in the
     home directory of the user whose login name is the local part.
     Mailing lists can be handled by file names of the form

            /some/list/directory/${local_part}

     and it is possible to specify an error address for each list that
     depends on the list name. Generated pipe and file addresses can be
     (independently) locked out.

   * `localuser': This director matches the local part of an address to
     a user of the machine. It can also be configured to do a pattern
     match on the user's home directory name. This makes it possible to
     partition the set of local users according to their home
     directories.

   * `smartuser': This director matches any local part. It can be used
     to pass messages for unknown users to a script that generates a
     helpful error message, or it can be used to send such messages to
     another host, optionally changing the envelope address in the
     process.

The configuration file determines which directors are actually used,
and in which order. It is possible to use the same director more than
once, with different options.

The addresses a director handles can be constrained in the following
ways:

   * A specific set of local domains may be specified, in which case
     the director is called only for addresses that contain one of
     those domains.

   * A specific set of local parts may be specified, in which case the
     director is called only for addresses that contain one of those
     local parts. This could be used, for example, to handle
     `postmaster' independently of the particular local domain.

   * A specific set of sender addresses may be specified. This can be
     used to implement closed mailing lists.

   * A director may be configured to handle local parts that start with
     a certain prefix and/or end with a certain suffix. For example, a
     director can be set up to handle local parts of the form
     `xxxx-request' only.

   * A flag controls whether a director is called when an address is
     being verified on an incoming message (during the SMTP dialogue),
     as opposed to being directed for delivery.

In addition, certain files can be required to exist or not exist for a
given director to be run.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Routers,  Next: Transports,  Prev: Directors,  Up: Exim Overview

Routers
=======

The existing routers are:

   * `domainlist:' This router searches a list of domains for the one
     it is trying to route. The list may either be a string in the
     configuration file, possibly including wild cards or regular
     expressions, or it may be in a file, or both may be provided. In
     the case of a file, keys of the form `*.foo.bar.com' can be used
     for simple wildcarding.

     If the domain is found, its entry can either specify a single
     replacement domain name that is passed on to subsequent routers,
     or it can specify a list of domain names that are looked up by
     this router. The lookup can be done by the `gethostbyname'
     function, or by DNS lookup, and in the latter case it is
     configurable whether MX or A records or both are used. As well as
     providing explicit routing for certain domains, the domainlist
     router can be used to set up gateways for partial domains (for
     example, for `*.uucp') and it can also be used as a `smarthost'
     router by using the all-inclusive wild card.

   * `lookuphost:' This router looks up domain names either by calling
     the `gethostbyname' function, or by using the DNS. In the latter
     case, it can be configured to use the DNS resolver options for
     qualifying single-component names and for searching parent
     domains. It is also possible to specify explicit text strings for
     widening domains that are not found initially. It is possible to
     insist on the presence of MX records for certain sets of domains. A
     configuration option controls whether the message's headers are
     rewritten when a domain name is changed.

   * `queryprogram:' This router passes the address to a command that
     runs in a separate process under an unprivileged uid and gid. The
     command returns a line of text specifying whether it matched the
     domain or not. If it did match, it may specify a transport name,
     or it may specify that the transport specified for the router is
     used. The command may also send back a new domain name to replace
     the current one, and specify a method of looking this name up
     (`gethostbyname', DNS, or pass to next router).

The configuration file determines which routers are actually used, and
in which order. It is possible to use the same router more than once,
with different options.

Like directors, routers can be constrained to handle only certain
domains or certain local parts (though I haven't seen a good use for
that yet), or messages from certain senders. If a router times out,
either the delivery can be deferred, or the address can be passed on to
the next router.

A flag controls whether a router is called when an address is being
verified on an incoming message, as opposed to being routed for
delivery.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Transports,  Next: Exim logs,  Prev: Routers,  Up: Exim Overview

Transports
==========

Local and remote transports are handled differently. A local transport
is always run in a separate process with an appropriate real uid and
gid. Their values can be specified in the transport's configuration, or
passed over from the director that handled the address. Remote
transports run under Exim's own uid. The existing transports are:

   * `appendfile:' This local transport appends the message to a file
     whose name is specified as a string containing variable
     expansions. The current local part can be inserted via the
     expansion mechanism, and file names such as

          /home/${local_part}/inbox
          /var/mail/${local_part}

     are typical examples. However, it is possible to look up each
     individual user's inbox name in a file, should that be required.

     Exclusive access to the file is ensured by using the traditional
     mailbox locking strategy of creating a lock file. The lock
     creation process uses a `hitching post' algorithm (similar to that
     used by Pine) which is robust when the mailbox file is
     NFS-mounted. The file is also locked using the `lockf' function,
     but either one of the locking mechanisms can be turned off if
     necessary.

     The `appendfile' transport can also be configured to deliver each
     message into a separate file in a given directory, optionally in
     `maildir' format. In this case, no locking is needed.

     Options on this transport allow for the insertion of a prefix line
     (for example, `From xxx...') and a suffix line, special processing
     of message lines starting with `From', and the addition of
     `Return-path', `Delivery-date', and `Envelope-to' headers. If the
     mailbox file is not a regular file, or does not have the correct
     owner, group, or permissions, no delivery takes place; the address
     is deferred and the postmaster is informed, except that, if the
     file's permissions are greater than those required, Exim reduces
     the permissions and carries on. There are additional checks to
     reduce the possibility of security exposures caused by race
     conditions.

   * `pipe': This local transport passes the message via a pipe to a
     specified command (program or script) which is run in a separate
     process under a given uid and gid. Various parameters of the
     message are passed as environment variables, and there are the
     same options as for `appendfile' for controlling the form of the
     message.

     The returned status of the command may be used to determine
     success or failure, or it can be ignored. A configuration option
     specifies whether any standard output generated by the command is
     to be returned to the sender (either always, or only if the
     command fails). If this is set unconditionally and output is
     actually generated, the delivery is deemed to have failed,
     whatever the returned status of the command. The maximum amount of
     output generated by the command can be controlled, and a timeout
     may be set for it.

   * `smtp': This remote transport delivers a message using SMTP over
     TCP/IP. All addresses in the message that route to the same set of
     hosts, and have the same error address (return path), are normally
     sent in a single transaction. An explicit list of hosts can be set
     for the transport, or a host list may be attached to an address by
     one of the routers. If all the hosts are temporarily unable to
     accept the message, it is delivered to one of a list of fallback
     hosts, if configured.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Exim logs,  Next: Exim databases,  Prev: Transports,  Up: Exim Overview

Exim logs
=========

Exim writes to three different log files:

   * The main log records the arrival of each message and the result of
     each delivery attempt in a single line in each case. The format is
     as compact as possible, in an attempt to keep down the size of log
     files. A number of other events are also recorded in the main log.

   * The reject log records information from messages that are rejected
     because their return paths are invalid (a configurable option), or
     the sender or sending host appears in a blocking list. The headers
     are written to this log if they have been read, following a copy
     of the one-line message that is also written to the main log.

   * The panic log is written to when Exim suffers a disaster and has
     to bomb out.

A utility script for renaming and compressing the main and reject logs
each night is provided. There are also scripts for extracting
statistics from log files and for searching log files for message
entries that match a given pattern. For example, one can pull out all
entries relating to messages for a given local part.

It is possible to configure Exim to write its logging data to syslog
instead of, or as well as, to local files.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Exim databases,  Next: SMTP batching,  Prev: Exim logs,  Up: Exim Overview

Exim databases
==============

Exim maintains a number of databases in DBM files to help it perform
efficient mail delivery. In effect, the files contain hints, and if
they are lost it is not a disaster - Exim's performance just suffers a
bit. The databases are:

   * `retry': This contains information about each failing remote host
     and temporary failing local delivery - when the first failure was
     detected, when the delivery (or directing or routing) was last
     tried, and when it should next be tried. More details about retry
     algorithms are given below.

   * `wait-smtp': This contains information about messages that are
     waiting for particular hosts after an SMTP delivery failure (see
     the next section).

   * `reject': This contains information about SMTP message rejections
     (see below).

   * `serialize-<xxx>': Exim can be configured to serialize connections
     to certain hosts and some kinds of queue run, in other words, do
     only one of them at a time. The data for implementing this is kept
     in database files whose names begin with `serialize-'.

There is a utility program that lists the contents of one of these
databases, and another that allows manual modifications to be applied
in some cases.  Database records are timestamped, and there is a
utility that removes records that are older than a given period, and
also cleans up `wait-smtp' records containing references to messages
that no longer exist. Running this daily or weekly should be sufficient
to keep the files reasonably tidy.

Exim can use any one of the following DBM libraries: `ndbm', `gdbm',
`DB 1.85', or `DB 2.x'.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: SMTP batching,  Next: Retries,  Prev: Exim databases,  Up: Exim Overview

SMTP batching
=============

When an SMTP delivery attempt fails, causing the message to be deferred
till later, Exim updates a DBM database that contains records keyed by
host name plus IP address. Each record holds a list of messages that
are waiting for that host and address.

When an SMTP delivery succeeds, Exim consults the database to see if
there are any other messages waiting for the same host and address. If
it finds any, it creates a new Exim process and passes it the open SMTP
channel and a message identification. The new process then delivers the
waiting message down the existing channel and may in turn cause the
creation of yet another process. Any other waiting addresses in the
message are skipped. The maximum number of messages sent down one
connection is configurable.

This scheme achieves some SMTP efficiency when a number of messages
have been queued up for a given host, without the overhead of a
heavyweight queueing apparatus.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Retries,  Next: Header rewriting,  Prev: SMTP batching,  Up: Exim Overview

Retries
=======

When a message cannot immediately be directed, routed, or delivered, it
remains on the queue and another delivery attempt occurs at a later
time. While failures to deliver to remote hosts are the most common
cause of this, it is also possible for a message to be deferred as a
result of temporary local delivery failure, or following directing or
routing. A local delivery can fail if the user is over quota, while
directing can be delayed if a user's home directory is not available
(for example, a missing NFS mount), and therefore the existence of a
`.forward' file cannot be tested. Routing can be delayed by DNS
timeouts.

Exim can be given a set of rules which specify how often to retry
deferred addresses, and when to give up. These rules apply to directing
and routing as well as to transporting, and are keyed by (wildcarded)
domain name or, for local users, by local part and domain name, either
of which can be wildcarded.

Each rule is actually a sequential list of subrules, which are applied
successively as time passes. At present there are two kinds of subrule:
fixed interval, and geometrically increasing interval. For example, it
is possible to specify a rule such as `retry every 15 minutes for 2
hours; then increase the interval between retries by a factor of 1.5
each time until 8 hours have passed; then retry every 8 hours until 4
days have passed; then give up'. The times are measured from when the
address first failed, so, for example, if a host has been down for two
days, new messages will immediately go on to the 8-hour retry schedule.

Exim does not have an elaborate series of alarm clocks to cause retries
to happen exactly on schedule. A queue-runner process is started
periodically, to attempt delivery, one by one, of messages containing
addresses that have passed their next retry time. If such an address
fails again, a new retry time is computed, and so subsequent messages
queued for the same address get skipped.  The queue is not processed
sequentially, but in a `random' order, to prevent one rogue message
that causes a problem blocking other messages to the same destination
for ever.

When the maximum time for retrying has passed, pending addresses are
failed.  However, a next try time is still computed from the final
subrule. Until that time is reached, any new messages for the address
are immediately failed. When the next try time is passed, one further
delivery attempt is made; if this fails, a new next try time is
computed, and so on.

The increasing number of small computers on the Internet has caused
there to be a lot of messages addressed to hosts that are never going
to listen. The retry logic described above should reduce the amount of
wasted time spent on trying to deliver such messages. However, some
administrators are unhappy about this rather draconian approach, which
can cause an address to be failed without any deliveries being
attempted. Exim can alternatively be configured always to try at least
once those hosts whose last failure was before the arrival of the
message. This option increases the number of attempts to deliver to
dead hosts.

Retry rules can be predicated on particular errors as well as on domain
names, and for domains that are looked up in the DNS, further
discrimination on whether MX records were used or not is also possible.
Thus it is possible to treat `connection refused' and `connection timed
out' differently, or to distinguish between `connection refused and
there was only an A record' and `connection refused from a host pointed
to by an MX record'.

When a local delivery fails because a user is over quota, the retry
rule can be predicated on the length of time since the mailbox was last
read. For example, if the mailbox has been recently read, the delivery
can be retried for a while; otherwise it can be failed quickly.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Header rewriting,  Next: Host verification,  Prev: Retries,  Up: Exim Overview

Header rewriting
================

There are those who argue that header rewriting is a totally Bad Thing;
there are others who swear they cannot live without it. Exim provides
the facility - you do not have to use it!

Exim can be configured to rewrite the address portions of headers when a
message is received. From release 3.20, Exim can also be configured to
rewrite addresses in header lines at transport time. Rewriting rules
can be targeted at individual headers and the envelope fields; it is
possible, for example, just to rewrite the `From' header and no others.

Rewriting rules are keyed by local part and domain, either of which can
be wildcarded, and the replacement text is a general expansion string
which can contain file lookups. This makes it possible to replace login
names by `friendly' names in outgoing addresses via a DBM lookup, for
example. The other most common rewriting requirement of replacing
`*.foo.bar' with `foo.bar' is also easily handled.

Headers are also automatically rewritten by Exim in two cases:

   * If a locally-generated message contains addresses without domains,
     a configured qualifying domain is added to each of them. It is
     also possible to specify which remote systems are permitted to
     send messages containing unqualified addresses. These too get
     qualified on reception.

   * Routing of a domain may reveal that it was only a partial domain,
     in which case the headers are rewritten to contain the full
     domain. For example, as a result of routing, an address such as
     `xxx@foo' may turn into `xxx@foo.bar.ac.uk'.

In addition to the rewriting rules, Exim can be configured to add or
delete specific headers at transport time. The configuration can either
be on the transport, in which case it applies to all copies of the
message sent by that transport, or on a director or router, in which
case it applies only to copies of the message that are associated with
the addresses that the router or director handled.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Host verification,  Next: SMTP port reservation,  Prev: Header rewriting,  Up: Exim Overview

Host verification
=================

Exim can be configured to accept incoming SMTP calls from certain hosts
only, or it can be configured to reject calls from certain hosts. In
both cases, the test may include an RFC 1413 identification check. A
system that gets all its mail via a central hub might want to lock out
the rest of the world, while a number of systems under one management
might want to exchange mail only via the standard mailer, and hence
reject mail from all but certain specified ids within the group.

Hosts for rejection can be identified explicitly, or via the RBL DNS
databases.  Alternatively, the SMTP AUTH extension mechanism may be
used for authenticating hosts.

When a host fails an acceptance test, Exim can either give an error code
immediately on connection, or allow the connection to proceed and then
give error codes to all the message's recipients. The latter approach
is useful when using the mechanism to reject unsolicited junk mail and
mail bombs, because it normally prevents the sender from trying again
with the same message.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: SMTP port reservation,  Next: Control of relaying,  Prev: Host verification,  Up: Exim Overview

SMTP port reservation
=====================

The maximum number of simultaneous incoming SMTP calls can be set, and
in addition, a number of them can be reserved for particular hosts or
particular IP networks. It is also possible to specify a system load
value above which only calls from the reserved hosts are accepted.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Control of relaying,  Next: Sender verification,  Prev: SMTP port reservation,  Up: Exim Overview

Control of relaying
===================

A host is said to act as a relay if it accepts an incoming message from
an external host and delivers it to an external host. Unscrupulous
persons have been known to use unsuspecting hosts as relays in an
attempt to disguise the origin of messages. An Exim host can be
configured to accept mail from any host for onward transmission to a
limited set of domains only, and to accept mail only from a specified
list of hosts or networks for onward transmission to any domain. Such
hosts may also be identified by means of the SMTP AUTH mechanism.  It
is also possible to enable relaying to any domain whose MX records
point to the local host, without having to list the domains explicitly.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Sender verification,  Next: Sender lock out,  Prev: Control of relaying,  Up: Exim Overview

Sender verification
===================

The return path of a message (also known as the `envelope sender') is
used when Exim has to return an error message. If this is a bad
address, the error message cannot be delivered, and the postmaster has
to sort things out.

Sender verification (a configurable option that applies to SMTP input)
is intended to pass this work to a foreign postmaster, by refusing to
accept the message in the first place. There is an exception list which
can specify certain hosts (with optional RFC 1413 identifications) that
are allowed to bypass the check.

A certain amount of SPAM mail contains invalid return paths. Apart from
this, there are two main causes: misconfigured mailers (gateways in
particular), and users fooling around with mail. Sender verification
catches both of them. It operates by passing the sender address through
the directors and routers in verification mode; if this fails, the
message is not accepted.

The first thing foreign postmasters ask when they learn about an
apparently legitimate rejected message is `What were the headers?'. For
this reason, and also to collect evidence in cases of mail forgery,
Exim does not initially reject a message after the MAIL FROM command in
the SMTP session. It reads the message, so as to be able to write the
headers to the rejection log, and then gives a hard error response to
the sending host.

Unfortunately, several mailers believe that any error response after
the data for a message has been sent indicates a temporary error.
Consequently, such mailers will continue to try to send a message that
has been rejected as described above. To prevent this, whenever a
message is rejected, Exim records the time, bad address, and host in a
DBM database. If the same host sends the same bad address within 24
hours, it is rejected immediately at the MAIL FROM command.

Sadly, even this doesn't stop some mailers from repeatedly trying to
send the message. As a last resort, if the same host sends the same bad
address for a third time in 24 hours, the MAIL FROM command is
accepted, but all subsequent RCPT TO commands are rejected. If this
does not stop a remote mailer then it is badly broken.

If the attempt to verify the sender address cannot be completed
(typically because of a DNS timeout) Exim returns a temporary error
code after the MAIL FROM command, which should cause the remote mailer
to try again later. However, it is possible to configure Exim to accept
the message in these circumstances.

Many messages with bad return paths in fact contain perfectly valid
`From' or `Reply-to' headers. For administrators that want a quieter
life, there is a configuration option which causes Exim to check these
headers if the return path is bad, and if a good address is found, to
use it to replace the return path. The old value is retained in an
header whose name begins with `X-'.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Sender lock out,  Next: Receiver verification,  Prev: Sender verification,  Up: Exim Overview

Sender lock out
===============

More and more unsolicited junk mail is being seen on the Internet. It is
sometimes useful to be able to reject messages (from any host) with
particular sender addresses in the envelope. Exim can be configured to
reject messages whose sender addresses match certain patterns, either
by failing the MAIL FROM command, or (because some mailers take no
notice of that) by failing all RCPT TO commands.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Receiver verification,  Next: The `percent hack',  Prev: Sender lock out,  Up: Exim Overview

Receiver verification
=====================

Exim can be configured so that it checks the addresses given in
incoming SMTP RCPT TO commands as they are received. A failing address
can be immediately rejected, or it can be logged and accepted. If
verification cannot be completed (typically because of a DNS timeout)
either a temporary error code can be given, or the address can be
logged and accepted.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: The `percent hack',  Next: Security,  Prev: Receiver verification,  Up: Exim Overview

The `percent hack'
==================

The so-called `percent hack' is the feature of mailers whereby a local
part containing a percent sign gets interpreted as an entire new
address, with the percent replaced by @. This is used for explicit mail
routing and sometimes for testing. In Exim, it is possible to configure
which local domains, if any, allow the `percent hack', though this is
not recommended. Such usage, if configured, is, however, subject to the
relay controls.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: Security,  Next: The Exim Monitor,  Prev: The `percent hack',  Up: Exim Overview

Security
========

Exim is written as a single binary that has to run `setuid' to root. I
did start off trying to write it as a number of different modules, but
soon came to the conclusion that, for this design of mailer, it was not
worth it, because the functions don't decompose cleanly. For example,
if you want to verify addresses while receiving mail you need all the
directing and routing apparatus to be available.

Exim runs each local delivery in a separate process which is `setuid'
to the relevant local user. In addition, it can be configured to run
under a given non-root uid (and gid) for much of the rest of the time,
and this is the recommended practice. In particular, it need not be
root while sending or receiving SMTP mail.

Exim checks the permissions and owners of files to which messages are
to be appended, and refuses to proceed with the delivery if things are
not right.

Delivery of messages to pipes or files is supported only as a result of
expanding an address via an alias or a forward file, provided this is
permitted by the configuration. Externally generated local addresses
cannot specify files or pipes - no special action is taken for
addresses starting with the file or pipe characters, so they will
usually fail.

Use of the VRFY, EXPN, and ETRN functions in SMTP connections is
controlled by configuration options. The DEBUG function is not supported
at all.


File: exim_overview.info,  Node: The Exim Monitor,  Prev: Security,  Up: Exim Overview

The Exim Monitor
================

A program for monitoring Exim and displaying information in an X window
is provided. This can be configured to show stripcharts of incoming and
outgoing mail in various categories. It also shows a `tail' of the main
log file, and information about messages on the queue.

There is a menu of operations that can be performed by suitably
privileged users. Messages can be frozen, thawed, deleted, caused to be
delivered, modified, or returned to their senders from this interface.
However, all these actions can also be performed from the command line
interface as well.


                                *  *  *
 



Tag Table:
Node: Top89
Node: Exim Overview834
Node: Background2719
Node: Availability3685
Node: Limitations4774
Node: Main features6925
Node: Performance12266
Node: Interface12810
Node: Method of operation13715
Node: Mail filtering18856
Node: Directors19393
Node: Routers23588
Node: Transports26512
Node: Exim logs30214
Node: Exim databases31554
Node: SMTP batching33314
Node: Retries34384
Node: Header rewriting38354
Node: Host verification40471
Node: SMTP port reservation41670
Node: Control of relaying42125
Node: Sender verification42988
Node: Sender lock out46006
Node: Receiver verification46568
Node: The `percent hack'47101
Node: Security47701
Node: The Exim Monitor49218

End Tag Table
