PMDF System Manager's Guide


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2.3.4.48 Normalizing messages that lack any recipient headers (missingrecipientpolicy)

According to RFC 822, messages are required to contain at least one recipient header: a To:, Cc:, or Bcc: header. This RFC states that a message without any such headers is illegal. This requirement has been relaxed in the updated RFC 2822 standard: such messages are no longer illegal. However, some remote systems that conform to RFC 822 will not accept these messages. In many cases, it can be useful to have PMDF modify the message to include at least one recipient header.

The missingrecipientpolicy channel keyword takes an integer value specifying what approach to use for such messages; the default value, if the keyword is not explicitly present, is 1, meaning that no action is taken.
Value Action
1 Pass the message through unchanged
2 Place envelope To: recipients in a To: header
3 Place all envelope To: recipients in a single Bcc: header
4 Generate an empty group construct To: header (i.e. "To: Recipients not specified: ;")
5 Generate a blank Bcc: header
6 Reject the message

Note that the MISSING_RECIPIENT_POLICY PMDF option, discussed in Section 7.3.1, can be used to set a PMDF system default for this sort of behavior.


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