---
name: "qmail-queue"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "qmail"
version: "1.06-6.2~deb10u1"
release: "Debian 10 (Buster)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/qmail-queue"
---

# qmail-queue(8)

queue a mail message for delivery

## NAME

qmail-queue - queue a mail message for delivery

## SYNOPSIS

**qmail-queue**

## DESCRIPTION

**qmail-queue** reads a mail message from descriptor 0. It then reads envelope information from descriptor 1. It places the message into the outgoing queue for future delivery by **qmail-send**.

The envelope information is an envelope sender address followed by a list of envelope recipient addresses. The sender address is preceded by the letter F and terminated by a 0 byte. Each recipient address is preceded by the letter T and terminated by a 0 byte. The list of recipient addresses is terminated by an extra 0 byte. If **qmail-queue** sees end-of-file before the extra 0 byte, it aborts without placing the message into the queue.

Every envelope recipient address should contain a username, an @ sign, and a fully qualified domain name.

**qmail-queue** always adds a **Received** line to the top of the message. Other than this, **qmail-queue** does not inspect the message and does not enforce any restrictions on its contents. However, the recipients probably expect to see a proper header, as described in **[qmail-header(5)](/qmail-header/5.md)**.

Programs included with qmail which invoke **qmail-queue** will invoke the contents of **$QMAILQUEUE** instead, if that environment variable is set.

## FILESYSTEM RESTRICTIONS

**qmail-queue** imposes two constraints on the queue structure: each **mess** subdirectory must be in the same filesystem as the **pid** directory; and each **todo** subdirectory must be in the same filesystem as the **intd** directory.

## EXIT CODES

**qmail-queue** does not print diagnostics. It exits 0 if it has successfully queued the message. It exits between 1 and 99 if it has failed to queue the message.

All **qmail-queue** error codes between 11 and 40 indicate permanent errors:

- **11**

  Address too long.

- **31**

  Mail server permanently refuses to send the message to any recipients. (Not used by **qmail-queue**, but can be used by programs offering the same interface.)

All other **qmail-queue** error codes indicate temporary errors:

- **51**

  Out of memory.

- **52**

  Timeout.

- **53**

  Write error; e.g., disk full.

- **54**

  Unable to read the message or envelope.

- **55**

  Unable to read a configuration file. (Not used by **qmail-queue**.)

- **56**

  Problem making a network connection from this host. (Not used by **qmail-queue**.)

- **61**

  Problem with the qmail home directory.

- **62**

  Problem with the queue directory.

- **63**

  Problem with queue/pid.

- **64**

  Problem with queue/mess.

- **65**

  Problem with queue/intd.

- **66**

  Problem with queue/todo.

- **71**

  Mail server temporarily refuses to send the message to any recipients. (Not used by **qmail-queue**.)

- **72**

  Connection to mail server timed out. (Not used by **qmail-queue**.)

- **73**

  Connection to mail server rejected. (Not used by **qmail-queue**.)

- **74**

  Connection to mail server succeeded, but communication failed. (Not used by **qmail-queue**.)

- **81**

  Internal bug; e.g., segmentation fault.

- **91**

  Envelope format error.

## SEE ALSO

[addresses(5)](/addresses/5.md), [envelopes(5)](/envelopes/5.md), [qmail-header(5)](/qmail-header/5.md), [qmail-inject(8)](/qmail-inject/8.md), [qmail-qmqpc(8)](/qmail-qmqpc/8.md), [qmail-send(8)](/qmail-send/8.md), [qmail-smtpd(8)](/qmail-smtpd/8.md)