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Postfix luser_relay

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#1 Fri, 05/22/2009 - 03:32

ronald

Postfix luser_relay

so I created a mailbox to receive emails intended for non-existing users. This to prevent all kinds of bounce mails and reduce internet traffic

I entered this emailaddress in Postfix - Local delivery - Destination address for unknown recipients

but it doesn't work. Im getting the bounce notification back with the message: Recipient address rejected: User unknown in virtual alias table

Btw Im also seeing: warning: database /etc/postfix/virtual.db is older than source file /etc/postfix/virtual in the maillog

Any ideas? Thanks

#2 Fri, 05/22/2009 - 05:32

andreychek

Hmm, I wonder if perhaps Virtualmin didn't call postmap in all that.

What happens if you run:

postmap /etc/postfix/virtual

And then see if things work as expected.
-Eric

#3 Fri, 05/22/2009 - 13:04 (Reply to #2)

ronald

<div class='quote'>postmap /etc/postfix/virtual</div>
Doesn't give any output.

<div class='quote'>Bouncing it ... is way faster and more efficient</div>
yes, for now resources are not a big issue. Just wanted to do my part in reducing internet traffic, mainly from spammers

#4 Fri, 05/22/2009 - 14:19 (Reply to #3)

Joe

<div class='quote'>Just wanted to do my part in reducing internet traffic, mainly from spammers </div>

I don't think this is a good theory. The bounce happens instantly, and directly to the sending mail server (the one belonging to the spammer); the bandwidth usage is extremely minimal, and the resource usage dramatically lower. This isn't after-the-queue bounce, as it would be in qmail (without patches)...Postfix will reject it during the initial communication from the sending server. I think it's actually more efficient from a bandwidth perspective than accepting the mail (because I think Postfix stops it immediately after learning the message is for an address it cannot accept mail for), but I might be wrong about that.

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#5 Sat, 05/23/2009 - 00:43 (Reply to #4)

ronald

aha so what you are saying is that because of the immediate bounce/reject Postfix does, the mail from the spammer isn't actually send. And if I was to accept it in some mailbox, it would be send.
In that case my idea isn't good at all.
Didn't realise that..thank you

#6 Fri, 05/22/2009 - 12:18

Joe

<div class='quote'>so I created a mailbox to receive emails intended for non-existing users. This to prevent all kinds of bounce mails and reduce internet traffic</div>

Immediate bounces are what prevents excess work on your system. If you accept the mail, you then have to process it, which is a huge amount of work for your system. Bouncing it right after "Hi I want to email X" and saying, "No X here, go away!" is way faster and more efficient.

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