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PMTA knowledge base›Command§ 6.3.16

show settings

critical

Effective queue settings
The result of merging, not what is in the file

Prints the settings in force for a “receiver and sending address” queue: first the sending address limits, then the full list of queue settings — both set values and defaults.

The only reliable answer to “which value is in force”. Reading the file instead is the most common way to get it wrong: block merging and defaults are not visible in the file.

The main trap is asking about the wrong pair. Settings depend on both the domain and the sending address: an answer without /address may not match what applies to mail through a specific address.
What the Hub does. It does not call it: after applying the configuration it checks the sending address with show vmta-settings, and it does not compare queue settings with what was written.
Recommended values

When to call it:

Question This command or not
which value applies to the pair yes
the limits of one sending address yes — the first part of the output
what is written in the file no — that is reading the configuration
The output layout comes from the manual (§ 6.3.16). The analysis of merging is ours.
Example configuration
# what applies to mail to gmail.com through vmta1
pmta show settings gmail.com/vmta1pmta show settings gmail.com/vmta1 | grep -E 'max-smtp-out|max-msg-rate|retry-after'
The second line picks a few limits out of the long list.
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

A queue is a receiving server together with a sending addressSettings are printed per pair — which is why an answer “per domain” is not enough. § 6.3.16

Same name in other blocks

Effective settings of a sending addressThe same question asked about a sending address rather than a queue. § 6.3.22

Works together with

Configuration parse checkGrammar before applying, effective values after. inference

How to check on the node
Compare the value in force with the written one:
pmta show settings gmail.com/vmta1 | grep max-msg-rate
grep -rn 'max-msg-rate' /etc/pmta/
If the numbers differ, the value came from another block or from a default — the command’s answer outranks the file.
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What else to read

3 articles

◇Third-party components of the enginePowerMTA runs on five third-party libraries — PCRE, OpenSSL, ICU, gumbo-parser and prometheus-cpp; their behavior is determined by the engine build.◇The directive indexThe manual’s alphabetical index: 475 lines name 477 places where directives are documented — the only complete inventory of the configuration language.◇Accept, route, deliverA message’s path inside the node: accept, decide where, deliver — and all the settings live between these three steps.

In the Hub
Cost of a mistake
safe: a wrong value breaks nothing
Scenarios
Configuration lifecycle · Troubleshoot deliverability
Priority
critical