Postfix

Plugin: go.d.plugin Module: postfix

Overview

This collector retrieves statistics about the Postfix mail queue using the postqueue command-line tool.

It periodically executes the postqueue -p command. The collection interval is set to 10 seconds by default, but this can be configurable.

This collector is supported on all platforms.

This collector only supports collecting metrics from a single instance of this integration.

Postfix has internal access controls for the mail queue. By default, all users can view the queue. If your system has stricter controls, grant the netdata user access by adding it to authorized_mailq_users in the /etc/postfix/main.cf file. For more details, refer to the authorized_mailq_users setting in the Postfix documentation.

Default Behavior

Auto-Detection

The collector executes postqueue -p to get Postfix queue statistics.

Limits

The default configuration for this integration does not impose any limits on data collection.

Performance Impact

The default configuration for this integration is not expected to impose a significant performance impact on the system.

Metrics

Metrics grouped by scope.

The scope defines the instance that the metric belongs to. An instance is uniquely identified by a set of labels.

Per Postfix instance

These metrics refer to the entire monitored application.

This scope has no labels.

Metrics:

Metric	Dimensions	Unit
postfix.qemails	emails	emails
postfix.qsize	size	KiB

Alerts

There are no alerts configured by default for this integration.

Setup

You can configure the postfix collector in two ways:

Method	Best for	How to
UI	Fast setup without editing files	Go to Nodes → Configure this node → Collectors → Jobs, search for postfix, then click + to add a job.
File	If you prefer configuring via file, or need to automate deployments (e.g., with Ansible)	Edit go.d/postfix.conf and add a job.

important

UI configuration requires paid Netdata Cloud plan.

Prerequisites

No action required.

Configuration

Options

The following options can be defined globally: update_every.

Config options

Option	Description	Default	Required
update_every	Data collection frequency.	10	no
binary_path	Path to the postqueue binary. If an absolute path is provided, the collector will use it directly; otherwise, it will search for the binary in directories specified in the PATH environment variable.	/usr/sbin/postqueue	yes
timeout	Timeout for executing the binary, specified in seconds.	2	no

via UI

Configure the postfix collector from the Netdata web interface:

1. Go to Nodes.
2. Select the node where you want the postfix data-collection job to run and click the ⚙ (Configure this node). That node will run the data collection.
3. The Collectors → Jobs view opens by default.
4. In the Search box, type postfix (or scroll the list) to locate the postfix collector.
5. Click the + next to the postfix collector to add a new job.
6. Fill in the job fields, then click Test to verify the configuration and Submit to save.
   • Test runs the job with the provided settings and shows whether data can be collected.
   • If it fails, an error message appears with details (for example, connection refused, timeout, or command execution errors), so you can adjust and retest.

via File

The configuration file name for this integration is go.d/postfix.conf.

The file format is YAML. Generally, the structure is:

update_every: 1
autodetection_retry: 0
jobs:
  - name: some_name1
  - name: some_name2

You can edit the configuration file using the edit-config script from the Netdata config directory.

cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata
sudo ./edit-config go.d/postfix.conf

Examples

Custom binary path

The executable is not in the directories specified in the PATH environment variable.

jobs:
  - name: custom_path
    binary_path: /usr/local/sbin/postqueue

Troubleshooting

Debug Mode

Important: Debug mode is not supported for data collection jobs created via the UI using the Dyncfg feature.

To troubleshoot issues with the postfix collector, run the go.d.plugin with the debug option enabled. The output should give you clues as to why the collector isn't working.

• Navigate to the plugins.d directory, usually at /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/. If that's not the case on your system, open netdata.conf and look for the plugins setting under [directories].

  cd /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/

• Switch to the netdata user.

  sudo -u netdata -s

• Run the go.d.plugin to debug the collector:

  ./go.d.plugin -d -m postfix

  To debug a specific job:

  ./go.d.plugin -d -m postfix -j jobName

Getting Logs

If you're encountering problems with the postfix collector, follow these steps to retrieve logs and identify potential issues:

• Run the command specific to your system (systemd, non-systemd, or Docker container).
• Examine the output for any warnings or error messages that might indicate issues. These messages should provide clues about the root cause of the problem.

System with systemd

Use the following command to view logs generated since the last Netdata service restart:

journalctl _SYSTEMD_INVOCATION_ID="$(systemctl show --value --property=InvocationID netdata)" --namespace=netdata --grep postfix

System without systemd

Locate the collector log file, typically at /var/log/netdata/collector.log, and use grep to filter for collector's name:

grep postfix /var/log/netdata/collector.log

Note: This method shows logs from all restarts. Focus on the latest entries for troubleshooting current issues.

Docker Container

If your Netdata runs in a Docker container named "netdata" (replace if different), use this command:

docker logs netdata 2>&1 | grep postfix