---
title: 'Content Filter'
url: 'https://docs.danami.com/warden/user-guide/content-filter'
markdown: 'https://docs.danami.com/warden/user-guide/content-filter.md'
date: '2026-09-25'
description: 'Content Filter The Amavid content filter is a high-performance interface between Postfix, SpamAssassin, and ClamAV. Amavis has been the gold standard used by large email providers for over a decade. More information about Amavis can be found here: https://www.amavis.org/ Features Block spam, virus…'
taxonomy:
  category:
    - docs
  tag:
    - amavis
---

[](#)  [ Basics ](https://docs.danami.com/warden/)     [ User Guide ](https://docs.danami.com/warden/user-guide)      Content Filter    

# Content Filter

## Content Filter

The Amavid content filter is a high-performance interface between Postfix, SpamAssassin, and ClamAV. Amavis has been the gold standard used by large email providers for over a decade. More information about Amavis can be found here: [https://www.amavis.org/](https://www.amavis.org/#doc)

## Features

- Block spam, viruses, banned attachments, and even messages with non-compliant email headers.
- Supports move, quarantine, block, or tag subject spam actions.
- Supports setting server, domain, and mailbox level anti-spam and anti-virus policies.
- Supports blacklisting and whitelisting at the server, domain, or mailbox levels.
- Does not let mail pass unchecked when unpredictable things happen or when mail is too big. Mail stays in the Postfix queue.
- Optionally call one or more anti-virus scanners - the current list includes more than 40 AV scanners and is easily extended.
- Optionally check MIME types, file names and content types of decoded mail parts against a list of banned names and content types.
- Optionally check the mail header for invalid characters and some other common violations of rfc2822.
- Optionally decompresses multiple formats: MIME, uuencode, xxencode, BinHex, compress, gzip, bzip, bzip2, zip, 7-zip, freeze, lzop, tar, cpio, rpm, deb, rar, arc, arj, zoo, lha(lzh), tnef, ole, cab.
- SpamAssassin check is called only once per message regardless of the number of recipients.
- Provides a SQL log of all processed email in the Warden database.
- Standards compliant and adheres tightly to multiple RFC specifications.

## Restarting Amavis

#### AlmaLinux / CloudLinux / RHEL / Rocky Linux

```
// restart amavis
systemctl restart amavisd

// amavis log file
tail -f /var/log/maillog  
```

#### Debian / Ubuntu

```
// restart amavis
systemctl restart amavis

// amavis log file
tail -f /var/log/maillog 
```

## Related Files

| File | Description |
|---|---|
| `/etc/amavisd/amavisd.conf` | Main configuration file for Amavis on AlmaLinux / CloudLinux / RHEL / Rocky Linux |
| `/etc/amavisd/warden.conf` | Warden configuration file for Amavis on AlmaLinux / CloudLinux / RHEL / Rocky Linux |
| `/etc/amavis/conf.d/99-warden` | Warden configuration file for Amavis on Debian/Ubuntu |

## Related Pages

- [Filter Settings](https://docs.danami.com/warden/settings/contentfilter/filter-settings "Filter Settings")
- [Policy Banks](https://docs.danami.com/warden/settings/contentfilter/policy-banks "Policy Banks")
- [Scanner Settings](https://docs.danami.com/warden/settings/contentfilter/scanner-settings "Scanner Settings")
- [Milter Settings](https://docs.danami.com/warden/settings/contentfilter/milter-settings "Milter Settings")
- [Policy Settings](https://docs.danami.com/warden/settings/contentfilter/policy-settings "Policy Settings")

 [](https://docs.danami.com/warden/command-line-interface/contentfilter/contentfilter-contentfilter)

---

## Navigation

- Parent: [User Guide](https://docs.danami.com/warden/user-guide.md)
- Next: [Anti-spam](https://docs.danami.com/warden/user-guide/antispam.md)