Demo
Demo

Knowledge base

PMTA knowledge base›Command§ 6.3.12

set queue

critical

Change a queue's mode by hand
Put a queue into or take it out of backoff mode

Switches the selected queues to backoff or normal mode. In backoff mode the backoff-… settings of the <domain> block apply. Stars in the target change many queues at once.

The mode holds until the next change — by a command or by the node itself under its return conditions, for example backoff-to-normal-after.

The main trap is returning normal mode without removing the cause. If the receiver keeps replying with the same errors, the reply rules put the queue back into backoff mode on the very first attempts.
What the Hub does. It calls it — the “BACKOFF mode” and “NORMAL mode” operations go through POST /command with the node key as set queue –mode=backoff target and –mode=normal. Backoff mode can be given a deadline: when it expires the Hub returns normal mode itself.

The node puts queues into backoff mode on its own too — the Hub tracks those episodes separately, every five minutes.

Recommended values

When to call it:

Question This command or not
hold back a receiver without stopping yes — –mode=backoff
return a queue after analysis yes — –mode=normal
stop completely no — pause queue
The two modes, stars and the link to the backoff-… settings come from the manual (§ 6.3.12). The trap analysis is ours.
Example configuration
# hold back all queues to one receiver and return them
pmta set queue --mode=backoff yahoo.com/*pmta set queue --mode=normal yahoo.com/*
A target with a star changes the mode of all queues to yahoo.com at once.
yellow — — directive names, blue — blocks. They are highlighted the same way in the text of the card.
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.
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Related entries

3 relations

Depends on

backoff-max-msg-rate<domain>The directive whose effective value the command shows. inference

Works together with

Queue state together with event historyA neighboring command: the same subject from another side. § 6.3.14

Affects

Backoff mode — the queue's second personalityThe mechanism the command works with. § 6.3.12

Referenced from

Reputation monitoring inside the nodeThe command through which the mechanism is observed. § 11.5.3

How to check on the node
Check the mode:
pmta show queues --mode=backoff --no-rcpt-events --maxitems=1000
Queues with this target should appear in the backoff selection or disappear from it.
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What else to read

3 articles

◇Four value types the whole config is written inBoolean, domain pattern, regular expression and time interval — defined once in § 3.2 and then used by all directives.◇How the policy for a receiver is assembledSettings are assembled from the most general pattern to the most precise; the order of blocks in the file means nothing.◇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.

In the Hub
Cost of a mistake
reversible: harms only while it is set
Scenarios
Emergency stop · Tune the pace for a provider
Priority
critical