.TH POSTALIAS 1 
.ad
.fi
.SH NAME
postalias
\-
Postfix alias database maintenance
.SH SYNOPSIS
.na
.nf
.fi
\fBpostalias\fR [\fB-Ninvw\fR] [\fB-c \fIconfig_dir\fR]
[\fB-q \fIkey\fR] [\fIfile_type\fR:]\fIfile_name\fR ...
.SH DESCRIPTION
.ad
.fi
The \fBpostalias\fR command creates or queries one or more Postfix
alias databases, or updates an existing one. The input and output
file formats are expected to be compatible with Sendmail version 8,
and are expected to be suitable for the use as NIS alias maps.

While a database update is in progress, signal delivery is
postponed, and an exclusive, advisory, lock is placed on the
entire database, in order to avoid surprises in spectator
programs.

Options:
.IP \fB-N\fR
Include the terminating null character that terminates lookup keys
and values. By default, Postfix does whatever is the default for
the host operating system.
.IP "\fB-c \fIconfig_dir\fR"
Read the \fBmain.cf\fR configuration file in the named directory.
.IP \fB-i\fR
Incremental mode. Read entries from standard input and do not
truncate an existing database. By default, \fBpostalias\fR creates
a new database from the entries in \fBfile_name\fR.
.IP \fB-n\fR
Don't include the terminating null character that terminates lookup
keys and values. By default, Postfix does whatever is the default for
the host operating system.
.IP "\fB-q \fIkey\fR"
Search the specified maps for \fIkey\fR and print the first value
found on the standard output stream. The exit status is non-zero
if the requested information was not found.
.IP \fB-v\fR
Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Multiple \fB-v\fR
options make the software increasingly verbose.
.IP \fB-w\fR
Do not warn about duplicate entries; silently ignore them.
.PP
Arguments:
.IP \fIfile_type\fR
The type of database to be produced.
.RS
.IP \fBbtree\fR
The output is a btree file, named \fIfile_name\fB.db\fR.
This is available only on systems with support for \fBdb\fR databases.
.IP \fBdbm\fR
The output consists of two files, named \fIfile_name\fB.pag\fR and
\fIfile_name\fB.dir\fR.
This is available only on systems with support for \fBdbm\fR databases.
.IP \fBhash\fR
The output is a hashed file, named \fIfile_name\fB.db\fR.
This is available only on systems with support for \fBdb\fR databases.
.PP
When no \fIfile_type\fR is specified, the software uses the database
type specified via the \fBdatabase_type\fR configuration parameter.
The default value for this parameter depends on the host environment.
.RE
.IP \fIfile_name\fR
The name of the alias database source file when rebuilding a database.
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
.ad
.fi
Problems are logged to the standard error stream. No output means
no problems were detected. Duplicate entries are skipped and are
flagged with a warning.
.SH ENVIRONMENT
.na
.nf
.ad
.fi
.IP \fBMAIL_CONFIG\fR
Directory with Postfix configuration files.
.IP \fBMAIL_VERBOSE\fR
Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes.
.SH CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
.na
.nf
.ad
.fi
The following \fBmain.cf\fR parameters are especially relevant to
this program. See the Postfix \fBmain.cf\fR file for syntax details
and for default values.
.IP \fBdatabase_type\fR
Default alias database type. On many UNIX systems, the default type
is either \fBdbm\fR or \fBhash\fR.
.SH STANDARDS
.na
.nf
RFC 822 (ARPA Internet Text Messages)
.SH SEE ALSO
.na
.nf
aliases(5) format of alias database input file.
sendmail(1) mail posting and compatibility interface.
.SH LICENSE
.na
.nf
.ad
.fi
The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.
.SH AUTHOR(S)
.na
.nf
Wietse Venema
IBM T.J. Watson Research
P.O. Box 704
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA