The confSTFILE macro defines the name of the sendmail program's statistics file (see Section 5.4.1). Normally that name is statistics. It is very unlikely that you will ever have to change this predefined value, but one reason to change the name might be a desire to use a more traditional name:

define(`confSTFILE', `sendmail.st')

Note that, if you redefine this name, you must also redefine the STATUS_FILE configuration macro (Section 5.4.1) so that the correct name appears in your sendmail.cf file's StatusFile option.

Beginning with V8.12.4 sendmail, the confSTMODE Build macro has been added to specify the initial permissions for the statistics file. The default permissions are 0600 (read/write only for the owner). These are the recommended permissions, but you might prefer slightly looser permissions if you wish to allow others to read that file with the mailstats program. To change the default, add a line such as the following to your Build m4 file:

define(`confSTMODE', `0640')

It's OK to allow others to read the file, but it is never OK to allow others to write to that file. Although even looser permissions—say, 0644—might appear desirable, we discourage them because they can allow for a denial-of-service attack on the local machine.