Demo
Demo

Knowledge base

PMTA knowledge base›Command§ 6.3.36

enable source

Return an address to service
An early return — and the only one if there was no timer

Returns a sending address to service for the specified queue. Exactly the opposite of what disable source does, and the target is specified the same way: ip domain[/vmta].

When it is really needed. If the address was disabled with –reenable-after, it will come back by itself — the command just speeds up the return. If there was no such option and reenable-source-ip-after is left at the never default, this is the only way to bring the address back: it will never come back by itself.

What it does not do. Re-enabling the address does not return a queue that went into backoff because of backoff-upon-all-sources-disabled to normal mode — the manual warns about this separately. The queue’s return is set by its own timer, backoff-to-normal-after, and it has to be configured in advance.

The main trap. A successful address return does not yet mean sending has resumed. If the queue went into backoff because of the disabling, it will stay there: the engine does not link these two events. Check both states — the list of disabled addresses and the queue mode.
What the Hub does. It calls it: this is the counterpart of disabling — “Return address” in control, through POST /command with the node key. The address and the queue are taken from the operation’s record in the log: “Return address” on the row of taking an address out returns exactly what was taken out. The result is checked with show disabled sources — the address should disappear from the list.

The target is the same domain/sending-address pair: the engine does not accept a star here either, and for an address that was not taken out it replies “Source … is not disabled for queue …” (verified on a node on Sep 15, 2026).

Recommended values

The arguments are the same as for disabling, and the target must match literally. An address disabled for yahoo.com/vmta1 will not come back with a command targeting yahoo.com: these are different records.

The command has no options. The only decision here is which pair to return.

From the manual here comes the command syntax. The requirement of a literal target match and the caveat about a queue in backoff are ours; they follow from how disabling works.
Example configuration
# return the address early
$ pmta enable source 1.2.3.4 yahoo.com/vmta1
# and check right away that the list of disabled addresses is empty
$ pmta show disabled sources yahoo.com/vmta1
The first line is the manual’s example. The second is required in substance: the command has no confirmation of its own other than the address disappearing from the list.
yellow — — directive names, blue — blocks. They are highlighted the same way in the text of the card.
▲

Common mistakes and problems

what people get wrong and how it ends2 mistakes▶

Returning the address and assuming sending has resumed

our experience

What it costsIf the queue went into backoff, re-enabling the address does not bring it out: the engine does not link these events, and the manual says so directly. The address is in service, yet messages still go out at a throttled rate.
How to spot itThe list of disabled addresses is empty, yet the queue is still in backoff mode.
How to do it rightConfigure backoff-to-normal-after in advance — or switch the queue to normal mode with a separate command.

Specifying the target differently than when disabling

§ 6.3.36

What it costsDisabling is tied to a “receiver + sending address” pair. A return with a different target — for example yahoo.com instead of yahoo.com/vmta1 — does not find the record, and the address stays disabled.
How to spot itThe command finished without an error, yet the address is still in the list of disabled ones.
How to do it rightCheck the target against the list: it prints it exactly as the disabling was recorded.
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.
⇄

Related entries

2 relations

Works together with

Which outgoing addresses are disabledHow to check the result: the address must disappear from the list. § 6.3.37

Can be replaced by

Take one address out of service for one queueThe paired command: take an address out of service. § 6.3.36

Referenced from

disabled-source-ip-notify<domain>The second event: a message also arrives when the address is re-enabled. § 3.3.10.52

How to check on the node
Make sure of two things: the address came back and the queue did not stay in backoff:
pmta show disabled sources yahoo.com/vmta1
pmta show queues --maxitems=20
The first command should stop showing the address. The second should show the queue in normal mode; if it is in backoff, re-enabling the address did not bring it out, and either backoff-to-normal-after or a manual switch of the queue to normal mode is needed.
◇

What else to read

3 articles

◇Headers the sender uses to control deliverySix control headers let the submitting side choose a stream, tag a message with a job, set signing options and the key, the envelope identifier and the schedule; each is allowed separately and per source.◇Backoff mode — the queue's second personalityA queue that a receiver has started refusing switches to a parallel set of limits, retries and routes — ten directives that act only in this mode.◇Warm-up built into the engineA warmed-up address hands the first N messages of the day for each receiver to its cold partner; the partner sends them itself and builds history.

In the Hub
Cost of a mistake
safe: a wrong value breaks nothing
Scenarios
Sending address rotation