The domainlist router

The `domainlist' router compares a list of domain patterns with the domain it is trying to route. When a match is found, the information associated with the pattern can specify several different actions:

• The message can be sent to a specific host, or one of a number of hosts.
• The domain name can be replaced by a new name, which can be
  1. passed to the next router; or
  2. looked up directly in the DNS, with or without MX processing; or
  3. looked up using `gethostbyname()'.
  Of course, `gethostbyname()' may well do its own DNS lookup, but it does not do MX processing, and it may also reference other sources of information, such as `/etc/hosts'. When Exim is compiled with IPv6 support, if a host that is looked up in the DNS has both A and AAAA records, all the addresses are used. See `README.IPV6' for general information about IPv6 support.

The list of patterns can be specified as an option string, or looked up in a file or database, or both; at least one of `route_list', `route_file', `route_query', or `route_queries' must be set. A transport must be set when the routing is completed by this router, that is, when the address is not passed on to subsequent routers. Each routing entry can specify its own transport, with the generic `transport' option acting as a default for those that don't.

host_find_failed (domainlist) option

Option: host_find_failed
Type: string
Default: "freeze"

This option controls what happens if a host which `domainlist' tries to look up because an address has been specifically routed to it does not exist. The option can be set to one of

freeze
defer
fail_soft
fail_hard

The default assumes that this state is a serious configuration error. The difference between `fail_soft' and `fail_hard' is that the former causes the address to be passed to the next router, while the latter does not, causing it to fail completely.

This option applies only to a definite `does not exist' state; if a host lookup gets a temporary error, delivery is deferred unless the generic `pass_on_timeout' option is set.

This specifies mode bits which must not be set for the route file. If they are set, the director fails and the message is frozen.

owners (domainlist) option

Option: owners
Type: string-list
Default: unset

This specifies a list of permitted owners for the route file. If it is unset, no check on the ownership is done. If the file is not owned by a user in the list, the router fails and the message is frozen.

owngroups (domainlist) option

Option: owngroups
Type: string-list
Default: unset

This specifies a list of permitted groups for the route file. If it is unset, no check on the file's group is done. If the file's group is not in the list, the router fails and the message is frozen.

route_file (domainlist) option

Option: route_file
Type: string
Default: unset

If this option is set, `search_type' must be set to one of the single-key lookup types, and `route_query' must not be set. See chapter "File and database lookups" for details of file and database lookups. The domain being routed is used as the key for the lookup, and the resulting data must be a list of routing rules in the form described below. The file name is expanded before use.

route_list (domainlist) option

Option: route_list
Type: "string-list,
Default: semicolon-separated" unset

This string is a list of routing rules, in the form defined below. Note that, unlike most string lists, the items are separated by semicolons. This is so that they may contain colon-separated host lists.

route_queries (domainlist) option

Option: route_queries
Type: string
Default: unset

This option is an alternative to `route_query'; the two options are mutually exclusive. The difference is that `route_queries' contains a colon-separated list of queries, which are tried in order until one succeeds or defers, or all fail. Any colon characters actually required in an individual query must be doubled, in order that they not be treated as query separators.

route_query (domainlist) option

Option: route_query
Type: string
Default: unset

If this option is set, `search_type' must be set to a query-style lookup type, and `route_file' must not be set. See chapter "File and database lookups" for details of file and database lookups. The query is expanded before use, and the expansion variable `$domain' contains the domain being routed. The data returned from the lookup must be a list of routing rules, in the form described below.

search_type (domainlist) option

Option: search_type
Type: string
Default: unset

This option is mandatory when `route_file', `route_query', or `route_queries' is specified. It must be set to one of the supported search types (for example, `lsearch'). See chapter "File and database lookups".

For single-file lookups, the name may be preceded by `partial-', indicating a simple wildcard file lookup that works as follows:

1. Exim first tries to look up the domain exactly as given.
2. If that fails, it adds `*.' on the front of the domain, and looks that up.
3. If that fails, it replaces the first component of the domain with `*' and tries that, and continues chopping off components in this way until either the lookup succeeds, or there are fewer than two non-* components left.

Thus, for example, if you put an entry keyed by `*.austen.fict.film' in your database, that entry will be used for

1. `austen.fict.film' by rule (b) above, having failed on rule (a). (If you are worried about the resource waste implied by this, you can always add an entry for `austen.fict.film' as well.)
2. `emma.austen.fict.film' at the first attempt in rule (c), having failed on rules (a) and (b).

A domain such as `jane.fict.film' will fail, having tried 3 lookups: `jane.fict.film', `*.jane.fict.film', `*.fict.film', but it won't waste effort looking up `*.film' because that has only one non-* component. In fact, the minimum number of components can be altered by including a number immediately before the hyphen. For example, `partial4-dbm' specifies a minimum of four non-* components.

Routing rules

Routing rules specified in `route_list' are scanned before `route_file', `route_query' or `route_queries' are used. The contents of `route_list' is a string consisting of a sequence of routing rules, separated by semicolons. If a semicolon is needed in an rule, it can be entered as two semicolons. Empty rules are ignored. The format of each rule is

<domain pattern>  <host-list>  <options>

The following example contains a simple domain pattern and just one rule:

route_list = "dict.ref.book mail-1.ref.book:mail-2.ref.book byname"

The three parts of a rule are separated by white space and only the domain pattern must be present in every rule. Each domain pattern in a `route_list' is in the same format as an item in a domain list (see section "Domain lists" in chapter "The Exim configuration file"), that is, it may be wildcarded or a regular expression, or a file or database lookup (see chapter "File and database lookups" for details). The rules in `route_list' are searched in order until one of the patterns matches the domain that is being routed. The host list and options are then used as described below.

If no rule in `route_list' matches the domain, it is used as the key for a lookup of the type specified by `search_type', using `route_file', `route_query', or `route_queries', as appropriate. The data returned from a successful lookup must be a string containing a host list and options, separated by white space. For example, a line in a linearly searched route file might be:

dict.ref.book:  mail-1.ref.book:mail-2.ref.book  byname

Note that there are two different uses of the colon character in this line. The first one is the delimiter of the key in the file, while the second is the normal list delimiter in the host list, which in this example consists of two host names. As both the host list and the options are not compulsory in a rule, the data returned from a lookup can legitimately be an empty string in some circumstances (see Application of routing rules below).

If the domain does not match anything in `route_list' and looking it up using `route_file', `route_query' or `route_queries' also fails, then the router cannot handle the address, and it gets passed on to the next router, unless `no_more' is set.

Host list format

If a host list is present in the rule which matches the domain, it is expanded before use. The result of the expansion must be a colon-separated list of host names and/or IP addresses. Some string expansion items may contain white space, and if this is the case, the host list must be enclosed in single or double quotes, because otherwise white space terminates it. The numeric expansion variables are available during host list expansion. These are mainly used when the domain is matched against a regular expression domain pattern in a `route_list' string, but `$1' is also set when partial matching is done in a file lookup.

If the expansion of the host list is forced to fail (by using the `fail' item in a conditional construction), the router just fails to handle the address, and (unless `no_more' is set) it gets passed on to the next router. If expansion fails for some other reason, the message is frozen, since this is considered to be a configuration error.

Options format

Options can be present only if there is a host list. They are a sequence of words, but in practice no more than two are ever present. One of the words can be the name of one of the configured transports, and this overrides the `transport' option on the router for this particular routing rule only. The other word (if present) specifies how the IP addresses of the hosts in the host list are to be found:

• `byname': use `gethostbyname()', or use literal IP addresses if present. Literal IP addresses are written without any surrounding square brackets.
• `bydns': use the DNS, doing the full MX and A record processing.
• `bydns_a': look up A records for the host(s) in the DNS; fail if there are none.
• `bydns_mx': look up MX records for the host(s) in the DNS; fail if there are none.

If no IP address for a host can be found, what happens is controlled by the `host_find_failed' option.

Application of routing rules

When a rule has been found that matches the current domain, either by matching one of the rules in `route_list', or by a successful lookup in `route_file' or using `route_query' or `route_queries', the host list and options are used in a number of different ways, depending on which are present and on whether a transport has been specified.

• If there is no host list (and therefore necessarily no options either), then a local transport (that is, not an SMTP transport) must be specified for the router via the generic `transport' option. Failure to specify such a transport is a configuration error. The address is routed to the transport. In all other cases, a host list must be provided.
• If there is a host list, and a local transport is specified either by the generic `transport' option, or by an option item in the rule, then the host list must contain just a single host name which is passed to the transport in the `$host' variable. Any `byxxx' options are ignored.
• If no `byxxx' option is present, then any remote transport setting is ignored, and there must be just one name in the host list. The address is passed on to the next router, with the domain being routed being replaced by the name from the host list.
• Otherwise, a remote (that is, SMTP) transport must be specified, either via the generic `transport' option or by a transport name as an option setting, and there may be many hosts in the list. Their IP addresses are looked up according to the `byxxx' option. If any of them are found to be the local host, that one and all those that follow it are discarded. If the first host is found to be the local host, then the generic `self' option specifies what happens. Otherwise, the address is passed to the specified transport, along with the ordered list of hosts. The transport will try delivering to each host in turn, until one accepts the message.

The various different possibilities for configuring the `domainlist' router make it possible to use it for a number of different routing requirements, as shown in the examples in the next section.

Domainlist examples

• Routing to a gateway to another mail environment can be set up using a wildcarded domain pattern that matches some pseudo top-level domain. For example, to route certain addresses to UUCP and Bitnet gateways:

  
  uucp_bitnet:
    driver = domainlist
    route_list = "*.uucp   uugateway.fict.book; \
                  *.bitnet bngateway.ref.book"
  

  The two rules match domains ending in `.uucp' and `.bitnet' respectively, and because no options or transport are specified in either case, the name of the appropriate gateway domain is taken from the host list and passed to subsequent routers for further routing. So, for example, mail addressed to `user@faraway.uucp' is routed by applying subsequent routers to the domain `uugateway.fict.book' to determine where to send it. If there are two hosts servicing one of these domains and they are not connected to a single domain name (by MX records for example), you may want to quote two names in the host list portion of a rule. In this case, you have to specify one of the `byxxx' options, to get the names looked up by `domainlist', since it can pass on only a single domain name to other routers. A transport must also be provided:

  
  uucp:
    driver = domainlist
    transport = smtp
    route_list = "\
      *.uucp uugate1.fict.book:uugate2.fict.book byname"
  

  In this case, no further routers are called.
• A host that is itself a gateway can `deliver' messages to pipes or into files in batched SMTP format for onward transportation by some other means. In this case, the route list entry can be as simple as a single domain name in a configuration like this:

  
  route_append:
    driver = domainlist
    transport = batchsmtp_appendfile
    route_list = gated.domain
  

  though often a pattern is used to pick up more than one domain. If there are several domains or groups of domains with different transport requirements, different transports can be listed in the routing information:

  
  route_append:
    driver = domainlist
    route_list = "\
      *.gated.domain1  $domain  batch_appendfile; \
      *.gated.domain2  \
        ${lookup{$domain}dbm{/domain2/hosts}{$value}fail} \
        batch_pipe"
  

  The first of these just passes the domain in the `$hosts' variable, which doesn't achieve much (since it is also in `$domain') but the second does a file lookup to find a value to pass, causing the router to fail to handle the address if the lookup fails.
• Routing mail directly to UUCP software is a specific case of the use of `domainlist' in a gateway to another mail environment. This is an example of one way it can be done, taken from a real configuration:

  
  # Transport
  uucp:
    driver = pipe
    user = nobody
    command = "/usr/local/bin/uux -r - \
      ${substr_-5:$host}!rmail ${local_part}"
    return_fail_output = true
  

  
  # Router
  uucphost:
    transport = uucp
    driver = domainlist
    route_file = /usr/local/exim/uucphosts
    search_type = lsearch
  

  The file `/usr/local/exim/uucphosts' contains entries like

  
  darksite.ethereal.ru:           darksite.UUCP
  

  It can be set up more simply without adding and removing `.UUCP' but this way makes clear the distinction between the domain name `darksite.ethereal.ru' and the UUCP host name `darksite'.
• A mail hub is a machine which receives mail for a number of domains via MX records in the DNS and delivers it via its own private routing mechanism. Often the final destinations are behind a firewall, with the mail hub being the one machine that can connect to machines both inside and outside the firewall. The `domainlist' router can be set up for this kind of purpose:

  
  through_firewall:
    driver = domainlist
    transport = smtp
    route_file = /internal/host/routes
    search_type = lsearch
  

  For a small number of cases, the routing could be inline, using the `route_list' option, but for a larger number a file lookup would be easier to manage, and the file containing the internal routing might contain lines like this:

  
  dict.ref.book:  mail-1.ref.book:mail-2.ref.book  byname
  

  The DNS would be set up with an MX record for `dict.ref.book' pointing to the mail hub, which would then then forward mail for `dict.ref.book' to one of the two specified machines, looking up their addresses using `gethostbyname()'. If the domain names are in fact the names of the machines to which the mail is to be sent by the mail hub, then the configuration can be quite simple. For example,

  
  hub_route:
    driver = domainlist
    transport = smtp
    route_list = *.rhodes.tvs  $domain  byname
  

  This configuration routes domains that match `*.rhodes.tvs' by calling `gethostbyname()' on the domain that matched. A similar approach can be taken if the host name can be obtained from the domain name by simple manipulation that the expansion facilities can handle.
• The `domainlist' router can also be used to forward all non-local mail to a smart host by using a configuration like

  
  smart_route:
    driver = domainlist
    transport = smtp
    route_list = "*  smarthost.ref.book  bydns_a"
  

  which causes all messages containing remote addresses to be sent to the single host `smarthost.ref.book', whose address (in this example) is obtained from its DNS address record. If a colon-separated list of smart hosts is given, they are tried in order. A router like this should be the last one in the configuration file, since it will route any domain whatsoever.

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