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Knowledge base

PMTA knowledge base›Monitor screen§ 5.2

Console

Command
🔴 Node commands through a browser

Runs node console commands right from the browser — as if an operator logged into the machine and typed pmta.

The page link appears only while the PowerMTA service on the machine is running.

🔴 Message deletion and queue mode changes both go through here. Running commands is opened by the operator level in http-access; the monitor level is not enough for this page.

For a program there is POST /command — with the key from http-api-key.

The main trap is expecting an undo. Deleting messages from the queue is irreversible: what a command removed is no longer in the spool, and no monitor button will bring it back.
What the Hub does. It does not use the page: it sends the same commands to POST /command with the node key — with its own target check, a coverage preview and an entry in the operations log.
Recommended values

What question the page answers:

Question This one or not
run a command without logging into the machine yes — the operator level
run it from a program no — POST /command
who ran what through the monitor no — the request log, if http-log-requests is on
The page’s purpose, the condition for it appearing and the operator level for commands come from the manual (§ 5.2, § 3.3.1.58.3); the /command endpoint is § 8.4. The split of questions is ours.
Example configuration
# the same from a program: a command and a key
curl -s -H 'X-API-Key: KEY' 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/command' -F command='show status' -F format=json-text
json-text returns the same text as the console page, wrapped in JSON.
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

1 relation

Depends on

What protects the web monitor and what that protection is notAccess to the screen is decided by rights and addresses set at the node level. § 5.2

Referenced from

The monitor's home pageA neighboring catalog entry. § 5.2

How to check on the node
See who the page is open to and whether requests are logged:
grep -n 'http-access' /etc/pmta/config
grep -n 'http-log-requests' /etc/pmta/config
The page is open to addresses with the operator and admin levels. Exchanges with the monitor are not logged by default — for a trail, turn on http-log-requests.
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What else to read

3 articles

◇Who is allowed to submit mail and for whom to accept itOut of the box, the node accepts submission only from the machine itself; two different questions — “who can send through us” and “for whose addresses we accept mail” — are answered by different directives.◇The group that grants management rightsMembership in the pmta group gives an unprivileged user the right to call the node’s commands and use submission.◇How the node selects a source and combines its settingsA connection falls under all source blocks whose addresses cover it, and they act merged — the narrow one overrides the wide one; named blocks are attached only by direct reference.

In the Hub
Cost of a mistake
dangerous: effects outlast a rollback
Scenarios
Emergency stop · Node security