GENERIC(5) File Formats Manual GENERIC(5)

generic - Postfix generic table format

postmap /etc/postfix/generic
postmap -q "string" /etc/postfix/generic
postmap -q - /etc/postfix/generic <inputfile


The optional generic(5) table specifies an address mapping that applies when mail is delivered. This is the opposite of canonical(5) mapping, which applies when mail is received.

Typically, one would use the generic(5) table on a system that does not have a valid Internet domain name and that uses something like localdomain.local instead. The generic(5) table is then used by the smtp(8) client to transform local mail addresses into valid Internet mail addresses when mail has to be sent across the Internet. See the EXAMPLE section at the end of this document.

The generic(5) mapping affects both message header addresses (i.e. addresses that appear inside messages) and message envelope addresses (for example, the addresses that are used in SMTP protocol commands).

Normally, the generic(5) table is specified as a text file that serves as input to the postmap(1) command. The result, an indexed file in dbm or db format, is used for fast searching by the mail system. Execute the command "postmap /etc/postfix/generic" to rebuild an indexed file after changing the corresponding text file.

When the table is provided via other means such as NIS, LDAP or SQL, the same lookups are done as for ordinary indexed files.

Alternatively, the table can be provided as a regular-expression map where patterns are given as regular expressions, or lookups can be directed to TCP-based server. In those case, the lookups are done in a slightly different way as described below under "REGULAR EXPRESSION TABLES" or "TCP-BASED TABLES".



The search string is folded to lowercase before database lookup.
    As of Postfix 2.3, the search string is not case folded with database types
    such as regexp: or pcre: whose lookup fields can match both upper and lower
    case.










The input format for the postmap(1) command is as
  follows:



  

  
When pattern matches a mail address, replace it by the
      corresponding result.

  

  
Empty lines and whitespace-only lines are ignored, as are lines whose
      first non-whitespace character is a `#'.

  

  
A logical line starts with non-whitespace text. A line that starts with
      whitespace continues a logical line.












With lookups from indexed files such as DB or DBM, or from
    networked tables such as NIS, LDAP or SQL, each user@domain
    query produces a sequence of query patterns as described below.


Each query pattern is sent to each specified lookup table before
    trying the next query pattern, until a match is found.



  

  
Replace user@domain by address. This form has the
      highest precedence.

  

  
Replace user@site by address when site is
      equal to $myorigin, when site is listed in
      $mydestination, or when it is listed in $inet_interfaces or
      $proxy_interfaces.

  
@domain address

  
Replace other addresses in domain by address. This form has
      the lowest precedence.












The lookup result is subject to address rewriting:











When a mail address localpart contains the optional recipient
    delimiter (e.g., user+foo@domain), the lookup order becomes:
    user+foo@domain, user@domain, user+foo,
    user, and @domain.


The propagate_unmatched_extensions parameter controls
    whether an unmatched address extension (+foo) is propagated to the
    result of table lookup.










This section describes how the table lookups change when the table
    is given in the form of regular expressions. For a description of regular
    expression lookup table syntax, see regexp_table(5) or
    pcre_table(5).


Each pattern is a regular expression that is applied to the entire
    address being looked up. Thus, user@domain mail addresses are not
    broken up into their user and @domain constituent parts, nor
    is user+foo broken up into user and foo.


Patterns are applied in the order as specified in the table, until
    a pattern is found that matches the search string.


Results are the same as with indexed file lookups, with the
    additional feature that parenthesized substrings from the pattern can be
    interpolated as $1, $2 and so on.










This section describes how the table lookups change when lookups
    are directed to a TCP-based server. For a description of the TCP
    client/server lookup protocol, see tcp_table(5). This feature is not
    available up to and including Postfix version 2.4.


Each lookup operation uses the entire address once. Thus,
    user@domain mail addresses are not broken up into their user
    and @domain constituent parts, nor is user+foo broken up into
    user and foo.


Results are the same as with indexed file lookups.










The following shows a generic mapping with an indexed file. When
    mail is sent to a remote host via SMTP, this replaces
    his@localdomain.local by his ISP mail address, replaces
    her@localdomain.local by her ISP mail address, and replaces other
    local addresses by his ISP account, with an address extension of
    +local (this example assumes that the ISP supports "+"
    style address extensions).




/etc/postfix/main.cf:


    smtp_generic_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/generic
/etc/postfix/generic:


    his@localdomain.local   hisaccount@hisisp.example


    her@localdomain.local   heraccount@herisp.example


    @localdomain.local      hisaccount+local@hisisp.example


Execute the command "postmap /etc/postfix/generic" whenever the
  table is changed. Instead of hash, some systems use dbm database
  files. To find out what tables your system supports use the command
  "postconf -m".









The table format does not understand quoting conventions.










The following main.cf parameters are especially relevant.
    The text below provides only a parameter summary. See postconf(5) for
    more details including examples.



  

  
Address mapping lookup table for envelope and header sender and recipient
      addresses while delivering mail via SMTP.

  

  
A list of address rewriting or forwarding mechanisms that propagate an
      address extension from the original address to the result. Specify zero or
      more of canonical, virtual, alias, forward,
      include, or generic.




Other parameters of interest:



  

  
The network interface addresses that this system receives mail on. You
      need to stop and start Postfix when this parameter changes.

  

  
Other interfaces that this machine receives mail on by way of a proxy
      agent or network address translator.

  

  
List of domains that this mail system considers local.

  

  
The domain that is appended to locally-posted mail.

  

  
Give special treatment to owner-xxx and
      xxx-request addresses.










postmap(1), Postfix lookup table manager
postconf(5), configuration parameters
smtp(8), Postfix SMTP client










Use "postconf readme_directory" or
    "postconf html_directory" to locate this information.


ADDRESS_REWRITING_README, address rewriting guide
DATABASE_README, Postfix lookup table overview
STANDARD_CONFIGURATION_README, configuration examples










The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this
  software.










A genericstable feature appears in the Sendmail MTA.


This feature is available in Postfix 2.2 and later.








Wietse Venema
IBM T.J. Watson Research
P.O. Box 704
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
Wietse Venema
Google, Inc.
111 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10011, USA