EXIM_CONVERT4R4(8)

💖 EXIM_CONVERT4R4 💖

okay bestie, so this is a section 8 manual page — that's System Manager's Manual territory, so it's the sysadmin girlies' domain 👑 — and it's all about exim_convert4r4. yes, the name is giving "cursed regex energy" but stay with me, it's actually iconic.

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✨ NAME ✨

exim_convert4r4 — Convert Exim configuration from v3 to v4 format

it's literally a glow-up service for your config file, no cap 🦋

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

exim_convert4r4

that's it. that's the whole synopsis. she takes no arguments, she just vibes and reads from stdin 💅

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

okay so this script exists to help you update your Exim configuration files. that's her whole job and she's doing it.

she reads an Exim 3 configuration file on the standard input, and writes a modified file on the standard output. and because she's a chatty queen, she also writes comments about what she's done to the standard error file 🎀

she assumes the input is a valid Exim 3 configuration file. she does not check. she does not verify. she trusts you completely, which is honestly kind of a lot to put on a script ngl 🙈

a typical call to the conversion script might be:

exim_convert4r4 < /etc/exim/exim.conf > /etc/exim4/exim4.conf.new

🚨 bestie listen to me. the output file MUST be checked and tested before you even think about trying to use it on a live system. the conversion script is just an aid which does a lot of the "grunt work". it does not guarantee to produce an Exim 4 configuration that behaves exactly the same as the Exim 3 configuration it reads. fr fr.

each option change in the new file is preceded by an identifying comment, so you can see what she did and where. but lowkey — the conversion script tends to make quite a mess of your configuration, and you should expect to go through it afterwards and tidy it up by hand. it's giving "group project where you redo everyone's slides" 😭

unless you are running a very straightforward configuration, the automatic conversion is likely to generate a non-optimal configuration. you should not only check it thoroughly, but also run as many tests as you can, to ensure that it is working as you expect. in particular, you should test address routing, using -bt and -bv, and the policy controls, using -bh. if possible, you should also do some live tests (i.e. send and receive some messages) before putting Exim 4 into service. test it like you mean it, periodt ✨

if you have a very complicated configuration, it is possible that exim_convert4r4 will break it in some situations, which is why thorough testing is strongly recommended. she's not perfect, she's just doing her best 💀

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😭 BUGS 😭

ngl, this manual page needs a major re-work. that's the actual bug report, that's the tea. if somebody knows better groff than us and has more experience in writing manual pages, any patches would be greatly appreciated — like genuinely, come through 🫶

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• exim(8)
• the files in /usr/share/doc/exim4-base/, especially Exim4.upgrade.gz

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🌈 AUTHOR 🌈

this manual page was stitched together from Exim4.upgrade by Andreas Metzler <ametzler at downhill.at.eu.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others). shoutout to Andreas for assembling the collage 💖

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and that's the whole page bestie! this one's from the System Manager's Manual, dated March 26, 2003 — yes she's a vintage icon and she's still serving 👑