PMDF System Manager's Guide

By default, messages discarded via a mailbox filter are immediately discarded (deleted) from the system. However, when users are first setting up mailbox filters (and perhaps making mistakes), or for debugging purposes, it can be useful to have the deletion operation delayed for a period.

To have mailbox filter discarded messages temporarily retained on the PMDF system for later deletion, first add a FILTER_DISCARD channel to your PMDF configuration, e.g.:

filter_discard notices 7 FILTER-DISCARD

with the notices channel keyword specifying the length of time (normally number of days) to retain the messages before deleting them. Then set the option FILTER_DISCARD=2 or FILTER_DISCARD=3 in the PMDF option file; see Section 7.3.3.

Messages in the FILTER_DISCARD queue area should be considered to be in an extension of users' personal wastebasket folders. As such, note that warning messages are never sent for messages in the FILTER_DISCARD queue area, nor are such messages returned to their senders when a bounce or return is requested. Rather, the only action taken for such messages is to eventually silently delete them, either when the final notices value expires, or if a manual bounce is requested using a utility such as pmdf return.