Demo
Demo

Knowledge base

PMTA knowledge base›Configuration block§ 3.3.11

<acct-file>

The accounting file and its rotation
There can be several streams, each with its own composition

The block describes one accounting stream: what goes into it, where it is written and what happens to it next.

There can be several streams. Each with its own file, its own set of record types and its own field composition — this is how deliveries and bounces, for example, are separated.

Rotation is set right here: how often to start a new file and how many old ones to keep. This is a decision about history depth, and it has to be made together with the decision about disk space.

The field composition is also a decision about size. There are as many delivery records as delivered recipients; every extra field is multiplied by that volume.

Example configuration
# two streams: deliveries separately, bounces separately
<acct-file /var/log/pmta/acct-d.csv>
    records d    move-interval 1h
</acct-file>
The highlighted line is what separates one stream from another — it lists the record types. Without it the file gets everything the engine writes by default.
yellow — — directive names, blue — blocks. They are highlighted the same way in the text of the card.
Block directives: 26
Accounting 14
record-fieldscriticalset by the HubWhich fields go into records of the chosen typerecordscriticalset by the HubWhich record types go into this accounting fileiso-timesTimestamp format in accounting recordssyncWhether to flush accounting records to disk regularlydelete-afterset by the HubHow many days to keep closed accounting filesmap-header-to-fieldSubstituting a message header into a standard accounting fieldmax-sizeset by the HubThe maximum size of an accounting file or a webhook batchmove-toThe directory a closed accounting file moves toqueue-filterSelecting accounting records by queue nameuser-stringA constant string added to every accounting recordcount-moved-recordsWhether to count the records in a file being movedmove-intervalHow often to close the accounting file and start a new oneretry-intervalHow often to restart the accounting receiver program after a failurewrite-timeoutHow long to wait for the receiver program when writing
API 10
http-webhook-urlset by the HubThe address the node sends accounting records tohttp-webhook-extra-headersset by the HubA file with extra webhook request headershttp-webhook-max-connectionsHow many threads send batches to the receiver at oncehttp-webhook-max-intervalset by the HubHow often the node sends the accumulated batch of recordshttp-webhook-ca-fileA file of trusted authorities for verifying the receiver’s certificatehttp-webhook-certificateThe client certificate the node presents to the receiverhttp-webhook-connect-timeoutHow long to wait for a connection to the receiver to be establishedhttp-webhook-io-timeoutHow long to wait for the receiver’s reply during an exchangehttp-webhook-log-verboseDetailed logging of webhook activityhttp-webhook-transfer-encodingWhether to compress a batch before sending
Access 2
privacy-policyAnonymizing recipient addresses in accountingworld-readableWhether to make the accounting file readable by all system users
Compatibility
PowerMTA 6.0
described in the manual of this version · platform: any
The vendor does not state the first version for every directive — there is no note here. The name also appears in the 5.0 edition of the manual.
◇

What else to read

3 articles

◇What the node tells about itself and through which channelsSeven observation surfaces: the web monitor, the console in four formats, the log, accounting, accounting search, metrics and export to external analytics.◇Two inbound report processors and what to do with themBounces by message and complaints are parsed by two identically structured blocks; each has its own address list and its own pair of decisions about the message’s fate.◇Five ways for a queue to hand off a messageA queue does not have to use SMTP: it can write to a file, run a program, call over HTTP or discard.

In the Hub
Cost of a mistake
reversible: harms only while it is set
Scenarios
Collect telemetry