When executing /etc/init.d/postfix --dry-run reload does a real reload, ignoring the '--dry-run' option. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. In one terminal, execute 'tail -f /var/log/messages' 2. In a second terminal, execute '/etc/init.d/postfix --help' 3. Learn that there is an option '--dry-run' supposed to 'show what would be done' 4. Execute '/etc/init.d/postfix --dry-run reload' 5. See in the first terminal that postfix claims to actually have reloaded Actual Results: 1. postfix reloads, even if told to perform a 'dry-run' and to 'show what would be done'. 2. postfix writes to the log that it has reloaded. 3. The postfix init script terminates with success. Expected Results: 1. postfix should not do the reload. 2. The postfix init script, together with the postfix application, should respond with information of 'what would be done', insisting that it wasn't really done. 3. postfix should write to the log that it has performed a dry-run and that it hasn't actually reloaded. 4. If dry-run of a reload is successful, the postfix init script should terminate with success. --- OR ALTERNATIVELY --- 1. The postfix init script, or potentially the postfix application, should respond that it doesn't recognize the '--dry-run' option and terminate with an appropriate error code. (Potentially provoking the creation of a different bug report. ;-) 2. postfix should note in the log that it has been asked to do a 'dry-run' but that it doesn't know how to do so, plus that the init script will terminate in error. 3. The postfix init script should terminate in error. Opinion: If an application is unable to do something that it's expected to do, it should admit it's lack of functionality, but not hide the same lack of functionality. End opinion. # emerge --info Portage 2.1.10.44 (default/linux/x86/10.0, gcc-4.5.3, glibc-2.13-r4, 2.6.39.1-linode34 i686) ================================================================= System uname: Linux-2.6.39.1-linode34-i686-Intel-R-_Xeon-R-_CPU_L5520_@_2.27GHz-with-gentoo-2.0.3 Timestamp of tree: Sat, 11 Feb 2012 05:15:01 +0000 app-shells/bash: 4.1_p9 dev-lang/python: 2.7.2-r3, 3.1.4-r3 dev-util/cmake: 2.8.6-r4 dev-util/pkgconfig: 0.26 sys-apps/baselayout: 2.0.3 sys-apps/openrc: 0.9.8.4 sys-apps/sandbox: 2.5 sys-devel/autoconf: 2.68 sys-devel/automake: 1.11.1 sys-devel/binutils: 2.21.1-r1 sys-devel/gcc: 4.5.3-r1 sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.4.1-r1 sys-devel/libtool: 2.4-r1 sys-devel/make: 3.82-r1 sys-kernel/linux-headers: 3.1 (virtual/os-headers) sys-libs/glibc: 2.13-r4 Repositories: gentoo ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86" ACCEPT_LICENSE="* -@EULA" CBUILD="i686-pc-linux-gnu" CFLAGS="-O2 -march=native -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer" CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu" CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /var/bind" CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/ca-certificates.conf /etc/env.d /etc/gconf /etc/gentoo-release /etc/php/apache2-php5.3/ext-active/ /etc/php/cgi-php5.3/ext-active/ /etc/php/cli-php5.3/ext-active/ /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/sandbox.d /etc/terminfo" CXXFLAGS="-O2 -march=native -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer" DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles" FEATURES="assume-digests binpkg-logs distlocks ebuild-locks fixlafiles news parallel-fetch protect-owned sandbox sfperms strict unknown-features-warn unmerge-logs unmerge-orphans userfetch" FFLAGS="" GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/pub/gentoo/ ftp://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/pub/gentoo/ http://www.gtlib.gatech.edu/pub/gentoo ftp://ftp.gtlib.gatech.edu/pub/gentoo" LANG="en_US.UTF-8" LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1 -Wl,--as-needed" LINGUAS="en fr it sv" MAKEOPTS="-j3" PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages" PORTAGE_CONFIGROOT="/" PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --stats --timeout=180 --exclude=/distfiles --exclude=/local --exclude=/packages" PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp" PORTDIR="/usr/portage" PORTDIR_OVERLAY="" SYNC="rsync://rsync.us.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage" USE="acl apache2 berkdb bzip2 cli cracklib cron crypt cxx emacs ffmpeg fortran gd gdbm geoip gif iconv idea idn imagemagick imap ipv6 jpeg logrotate maildir modules mudflap mysql ncurses nls nptl nptlonly openmp pam pcre png python readline session ssl symlink sysfs tcpd tordns truetype unicode unzip userlocales vhosts x86 xml zip zlib" ALSA_CARDS="ali5451 als4000 atiixp atiixp-modem bt87x ca0106 cmipci emu10k1 emu10k1x ens1370 ens1371 es1938 es1968 fm801 hda-intel intel8x0 intel8x0m maestro3 trident usb-audio via82xx via82xx-modem ymfpci" ALSA_PCM_PLUGINS="adpcm alaw asym copy dmix dshare dsnoop empty extplug file hooks iec958 ioplug ladspa lfloat linear meter mmap_emul mulaw multi null plug rate route share shm softvol" APACHE2_MODULES="actions alias auth_basic auth_digest authn_anon authn_dbd authn_dbm authn_default authn_file authz_dbm authz_default authz_groupfile authz_host authz_owner authz_user autoindex cache cgid dav dav_fs dav_lock dbd deflate dir disk_cache env expires ext_filter file_cache filter headers ident imagemap include info log_config logio mem_cache mime mime_magic negotiation proxy proxy_ajp proxy_balancer proxy_connect proxy_http rewrite setenvif so speling status unique_id userdir usertrack vhost_alias" APACHE2_MPMS="prefork" CALLIGRA_FEATURES="kexi words flow plan stage tables krita karbon braindump" CAMERAS="ptp2" COLLECTD_PLUGINS="df interface irq load memory rrdtool swap syslog" ELIBC="glibc" GPSD_PROTOCOLS="ashtech aivdm earthmate evermore fv18 garmin garmintxt gpsclock itrax mtk3301 nmea ntrip navcom oceanserver oldstyle oncore rtcm104v2 rtcm104v3 sirf superstar2 timing tsip tripmate tnt ubx" INPUT_DEVICES="keyboard mouse evdev" KERNEL="linux" LCD_DEVICES="bayrad cfontz cfontz633 glk hd44780 lb216 lcdm001 mtxorb ncurses text" LINGUAS="en fr it sv" PHP_TARGETS="php5-3" RUBY_TARGETS="ruby18" USERLAND="GNU" VIDEO_CARDS="fbdev glint intel mach64 mga neomagic nouveau nv r128 radeon savage sis tdfx trident vesa via vmware dummy v4l" XTABLES_ADDONS="quota2 psd pknock lscan length2 ipv4options ipset ipp2p iface geoip fuzzy condition tee tarpit sysrq steal rawnat logmark ipmark dhcpmac delude chaos account" Unset: CPPFLAGS, CTARGET, EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS, INSTALL_MASK, LC_ALL, PORTAGE_BUNZIP2_COMMAND, PORTAGE_COMPRESS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS_FLAGS, PORTAGE_RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS
From man 8 runscript: -Z, --dry-run Shows what services would be stopped and/or started without actually starting or stopping them. i.e. it is only good for start and stop. Arguably, --help output can be improved and if you want to pursue that option, please open a separate bug. This is an openrc issue, not postfix.
