sendmail, 4th Edition

The args

The args of the K configuration command follow the symbolic name and type:

Kname type args

The args specify (among other things) the location of the database file or the name of a network database map. The args is like a miniature command line, and its general form looks like this:

switches file_or_map

The switches are letters prefixed with a - character that modify the use of the database. (We’ll discuss them in the next section.) The file_or_map is the location of the database file or the name of a network database map. The file_or_map should exclude the .pag and .dir suffixes for dbm-type files and exclude the .db suffix for hash, or btree-type files.

A database map is opened for reading when the configuration file is processed. If the file cannot be opened (and the -o is omitted, -o on page 889), an appropriate error is printed. The file_or_map should be an absolute pathname of a file (such as /etc/mail/uuhosts) or a literal network database-map name (such as hosts.byname). An nis database-map specification can include a domain:

map@domain

Relative filenames (names that omit a leading /) are interpreted as relative to the queue directory and should never be used.

The database files must live in a safe directory (one whose every component is writable only by root or the user defined by the TrustedUser option, TrustedUser on page 1112). If the file itself is unsafe or its directory is unsafe, one of several errors will be printed or logged, depending on how you run sendmail