---
name: "postkick"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "postfix"
version: "3.11.7-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/postkick"
---

# postkick(1)

kick a Postfix service

## NAME

postkick - kick a Postfix service

## SYNOPSIS

```

```

**postkick** \[**-c** *config\_dir*\] \[**-v**\] *class service request*

## DESCRIPTION

The [**postkick**(1)](/postkick/1.md) command sends *request* to the specified *service* over a local transport channel. This command makes Postfix private IPC accessible for use in, for example, shell scripts.

Options:

- **-c** *config\_dir*

  Read the **main.cf** configuration file in the named directory instead of the default configuration directory.

- **-v**

  Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Multiple **-v** options make the software increasingly verbose.

Arguments:

- *class*

  Name of a class of local transport channel endpoints, either **public** (accessible by any local user) or **private** (administrative access only).

- *service*

  The name of a local transport endpoint within the named class.

- *request*

  A string. The list of valid requests is service-specific.

## DIAGNOSTICS

Problems and transactions are logged to the standard error stream.

## ENVIRONMENT

```

```

- **MAIL\_CONFIG**

  Directory with Postfix configuration files.

- **MAIL\_VERBOSE**

  Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes.

## CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS

```

```

The following **main.cf** parameters are especially relevant to this program. The text below provides only a parameter summary. See [**postconf**(5)](/postconf/5.md) for more details including examples.

- **config\_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)**

  The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf configuration files.

- **application\_event\_drain\_time (100s)**

  How long the [**postkick**(1)](/postkick/1.md) command waits for a request to enter the Postfix daemon process input buffer before giving up.

- **import\_environment (see 'postconf -d' output)**

  The list of environment variables that a privileged Postfix process will import from a non-Postfix parent process, or name=value environment overrides.

- **queue\_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)**

  The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.

## FILES

```
/var/spool/postfix/private, private class endpoints
/var/spool/postfix/public, public class endpoints
```

## SEE ALSO

```
qmgr(8), queue manager trigger protocol
pickup(8), local pickup daemon
postconf(5), configuration parameters
```

## 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
Wietse Venema
Google, Inc.
111 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10011, USA
```