Postfix Logging and Monitoring
Turn mail logs and queue metrics into actionable operational signals.
Production note: Back up configuration, run
postfix check, and stage changes before reloading.Logs
On systemd systems inspect journalctl -u postfix; distribution-specific rsyslog setups may also write /var/log/maillog or /var/log/mail.log.
Core metrics
Monitor accepted, rejected, deferred, bounced, queue size, oldest queue age, process failures, TLS errors, and authentication failures.
Useful commands
journalctl -u postfix --since "1 hour ago"
postqueue -p
postfix status
postconf -nAlert design
Alert on deviations from baseline, not only fixed totals. Include a runbook link and owner in every alert.