mail routing performance issues, backing up in /var/spool/mqueue

Denis Beauchemin Denis.Beauchemin at USHERBROOKE.CA
Tue Jun 29 21:34:12 IST 2004


Lester,

Your top and vmstat output show no problem at all.  It is quite common 
for systems to use all unallocated memory for internal buffers.  When 
you look at memory use you may be tempted to believe that there is none 
available but it is just being used for internal chores.  It will be 
freed upon request from user processes.

As for your outgoing queue backing up, are you sure these are not 
messages that couldn't be delivered?  My MS servers all have a lot of 
messages in mqueue (between 2000 and 3000 messages each).  This is normal.

Denis
lester lasad wrote:

>--- Ugo Bellavance <ugob at CAMO-ROUTE.COM> wrote:
>  
>
>>lester lasad wrote:
>>
>>    
>>
>>>fedora core 1
>>>mailscanner-4.31.6-1
>>>SpamAssassin version 2.63
>>>mta= sendmail
>>>
>>>mail is backing up in /var/spool/mqueue, it is
>>>      
>>>
>>getting
>>    
>>
>>>to the /var/spool/mqueue.in in a timely manner but
>>>once it gets to mqueue it is taking too long to
>>>      
>>>
>>route.
>>
>>This looks like a sendmail problem, since
>>MailScanner's job is finished
>>once messages are in /var/spool/mqueue.  How is your
>>outgoing sendmail
>>called?
>>    
>>
>
>My MS conf settings have it set to queue.  If I'm
>answering this incorrectly please let me know.
>
>  
>
>>>I have been using this same setup for roughly two
>>>weeks and just started noticing the performance
>>>      
>>>
>>issues
>>    
>>
>>>friday afternoon.
>>>      
>>>
>>Do you see anything else, swapping, high cpu usage?
>>
>>what is the output of free?
>>what is the output of
>>
>>vmstat 1
>>    
>>
>
>This is output from top.  hardly any memory available.
>
> 12:18:55  up 23:19,  2 users,  load average: 1.61,
>2.03, 1.91
>58 processes: 57 sleeping, 1 running, 0 zombie, 0
>stopped
>CPU states:  cpu    user    nice  system    irq
>softirq  iowait    idle
>           total   13.4%    0.0%    4.2%   0.0%
>0.0%    0.0%  182.0%
>           cpu00    1.3%    0.0%    0.7%   0.0%
>0.0%    0.0%   97.8%
>           cpu01   12.1%    0.0%    3.5%   0.0%
>0.0%    0.0%   84.2%
>Mem:  1291356k av, 1236132k used,   55224k free,
>0k shrd,   51216k buff
>
>sorry for all the output but this is the result from
>vmstat 1
>
>vmstat 1
>procs                      memory      swap
>io     system         cpu
> r  b   swpd   free   buff  cache   si   so    bi
>bo   in    cs us sy wa id
> 0  0  29716  52092  51224  43008    0    0     2
>211  109    84 18  5  0 77
> 0  0  29716  36940  51224  43012    0    0     0
>0  171   104 18  8  0 73
> 0  0  29716  42432  51224  43016    0    0     0
>0  170   123 11  4  0 85
> 1  0  29716  31508  51224  43032    0    0     0
>884  284   141 37 11  0 52
> 1  0  29716  53780  51224  43028    0    0     0
>516  158   170 44 11  0 45
> 0  0  29716  53796  51224  43004    0    0     0
>304  129    49  1  0  0 99
> 0  0  29716  53596  51224  43004    0    0     0
>36  164    70  0  1  0 98
> 0  0  29716  52792  51224  43012    0    0     0
>208  181   109  0  0  0 99
> 0  0  29716  52752  51224  43028    0    0     0
>384  170   130  0  1  0 99
> 0  0  29716  43948  51224  43040    0    0     0
>76  172    95 10  3  0 87
> 0  0  29716  52212  51224  43040    0    0     0
>128  151    97  7  2  0 91
> 0  0  29716  43976  51224  43044    0    0     0
>0  168    91  6  3  0 91
> 0  0  29716  43524  51224  43088    0    0     0
>0  264   239 16  5  0 78
> 1  2  29716  43580  51224  45748    0    0     0
>3256  266   227 25 12  0 63
> 0  0  29716  43648  51224  43148    0    0     0
>452  204   210 26  5  0 69
> 0  0  29716  41032  51224  43196    0    0     0
>892  253   186  3  3  0 94
> 0  3  29716  43004  51224  43244    0    0     0
>4536  285   333 43 13  0 44
> 3  2  29716  33708  51224  43256    0    0     0
>5356  337   371 41 12  0 47
> 0  0  29716  41336  51232  43160    0    0     0
>4328  230   218 39 12  0 49
> 0  0  29716  41152  51232  43160    0    0     0
>0  137    40  0  0  0 99
> 0  0  29716  41732  51232  43172    0    0     0
>376  156    90  0  0  0 99
> 0  0  29716  41588  51232  43172    0    0     0
>24  139    33  0  0  0 100
>procs                      memory      swap
>io     system         cpu
> r  b   swpd   free   buff  cache   si   so    bi
>bo   in    cs us sy wa id
> 1  0  29716  41932  51232  43192    0    0     0
>472  179   161  0  2  0 98
> 1  0  29716  36200  51232  43212    0    0     0
>80  173   131 12  5  0 82
> 0  0  29716  48408  51232  43220    0    0     0
>3700  259   266 36  6  0 57
> 2  0  29716  30084  51232  43244    0    0     0
>20  194   146 29  9  0 62
> 4  0  29716  30568  51232  45840    0    0     0
>296  170   177 40 11  0 49
> 1  0  29716  45340  51232  45824    0    0     0
>664  157   172 38 10  0 52
> 0  0  29716  49760  51232  43212    0    0     0
>320  132    66 22  2  0 76
> 0  0  29716  50172  51232  43212    0    0     0
>0  128    29  0  0  0 99
> 0  0  29716  50172  51232  43212    0    0     0
>148  147    15  0  0  0 100
> 0  0  29716  49960  51232  43212    0    0     0
>0  122    13  0  0  0 100
> 0  0  29716  49784  51232  43212    0    0     0
>0  135    41  0  1  0 99
> 0  0  29716  49784  51232  43212    0    0     0
>0  114     9  0  0  0 100
> 0  0  29716  49632  51232  43228    0    0     0
>300  152   108  0  1  0 99
> 1  0  29716  44536  51232  43228    0    0     0
>140  205   111  1  2  0 96
> 1  0  29716  37864  51232  43244    0    0     0
>228  204   172  9  3  0 87
> 0  0  29660  38948  51232  43264    0    0     0
>4656  288   293 39 17  0 45
> 1  0  29660  38528  51232  45000    0    0     0
>376  238   221 24  7  0 69
> 2  0  29660  48644  51232  43324    0    0     0
>444  226   261 30  6  0 63
> 0  0  29660  46856  51232  43364    0    0     0
>4492  249   228 31  8  0 61
> 0  0  29660  47380  51232  43384    0    0     0
>220  164   108  0  0  0 100
> 0  0  29660  47956  51232  43384    0    0     0
>0  120    14  0  0  0 100
> 2  0  29660  28936  51232  43444    0    0     0
>316  208   213 20  8  0 72
>procs                      memory      swap
>io     system         cpu
> r  b   swpd   free   buff  cache   si   so    bi
>bo   in    cs us sy wa id
> 1  0  29660  30768  51232  43420    0    0     0
>0  182   167 19  5  0 76
> 4  0  29660  31056  51236  43516    0    0     0
>3636  274   345 37 11  0 52
> 0  3  29660  36784  51244  43512    0    0     0
>4796  284   339 50 14  0 36
> 1  0  29660  32300  51244  46008    0    0     0
>1116  269   430 26  9  0 65
> 0  0  29660  36200  51244  43448    0    0     0
>1148  289   310 23  6  0 71
> 0  0  29660  26932  51244  43456    0    0     0
>104  172   108 10  3  0 86
> 1  2  29660  36652  51244  43464    0    0     0
>592  189    85 12  4  0 84
> 1  0  29660  31236  51244  43448    0    0     0
>236  143    82 37  4  0 58
> 1  0  29660  24948  51244  43452    0    0     0
>0  153    79 11  1  0 88
> 1  0  29660  43564  51244  46408    0    0     0
>1016  190   242 43 16  0 41
> 1  0  29660  44900  51244  43452    0    0     0
>256  161    76 23  5  0 72
> 0  0  29660  36860  51244  43460    0    0     0
>20  186   128  7  3  0 90
> 0  3  29660  46244  51244  43480    0    0     0
>940  219   278 32 10  0 58
> 0  0  29660  37776  51244  43484    0    0     0
>72  177   125  7  3  0 90
> 1  0  29660  33804  51244  43496    0    0     0
>4660  197   189 30  8  0 61
> 0  0  29660  37660  51244  43492    0    0     0
>196  163   125 14  4  0 81
> 2  3  29660  34836  51244  44856    0    0     0
>772  264   251 20  9  0 71
> 1  0  29660  32336  51244  43504    0    0     0
>7896  227   189 53 10  0 37
> 0  0  29660  36308  51244  43500    0    0     0
>168  171   110 14  4  0 82
> 1  0  29660  32696  51244  43516    0    0     0
>3572  198   168 31  7  0 62
> 0  1  29660  35764  51244  43524    0    0     0
>268  208   191 17  5  0 78
> 1  0  29660  34016  51244  43536    0    0     0
>616  176   182 24  7  0 68
>procs                      memory      swap
>io     system         cpu
> r  b   swpd   free   buff  cache   si   so    bi
>bo   in    cs us sy wa id
> 2  3  29660  30468  51244  43564    0    0     0
>760  328   362 30  6  0 64
> 1  3  29660  28920  51244  46180    0    0     0
>2160  252   309 41 16  0 43
> 2  0  29660  36512  51244  46452    0    0     0
>2984  220   219 38 11  0 50
> 0  1  29660  33064  51244  43592    0    0     0
>488  171    81 34  6  0 60
> 0  0  29660  33924  51244  43584    0    0     0
>0  171    96 13  5  0 81
> 1  2  29660  41464  51244  44836    0    0     0
>352  140   103 11 10  0 78
> 0  0  29660  43756  51244  43580    0    0     0
>312  135    53 25  4  0 71
> 0  0  29660  43348  51244  43580    0    0     0
>0  127    31  0  0  0 100
> 0  0  29660  43348  51244  43580    0    0     0
>28  116    21  0  0  0 100
> 0  0  29660  43348  51244  43580    0    0     0
>0  122    10  0  0  0 100
> 1  0  29660  38712  51244  43580    0    0     0
>0  140    56  2  0  0 97
> 3  0  29660  27732  51244  43600    0    0     0
>400  263   285 13  8  0 79
> 2  0  29660  21532  51244  43628    0    0     0
>5040  355   336 37  7  0 56
> 1  0  29660  32884  51244  45144    0    0     0
>1888  462   422 34  9  0 57
> 1  0  29660  38832  51244  43656    0    0     0
>380  170   136 36  8  0 56
> 0  0  29660  24936  51244  43672    0    0     0
>0  174   103 25  4  0 71
> 0  0  29660  34176  51244  43660    0    0     0
>0  156    84  6  3  0 91
> 3  0  29660  30560  51244  46268    0    0     0
>344  205   190 22 13  0 65
> 0  5  29656  30784  51260  46304    0    0     0
>3916  282   228 50 15  0 35
> 2  0  29656  38740  51260  43720    0    0     0
>652  221   212 18  4  0 78
> 0  2  29656  36584  51260  43736    0    0     0
>356  189   134  1  1  0 98
> 0  0  29656  35996  51260  43732    0    0     0
>4  167    96  2  2  0 96
>procs                      memory      swap
>io     system         cpu
> r  b   swpd   free   buff  cache   si   so    bi
>bo   in    cs us sy wa id
> 1  0  29656  27908  51260  43748    0    0     0
>444  196   163 10  4  0 86
> 0  2  29656  23776  51260  43760    0    0     0
>720  272   138  6  3  0 90
> 1  4  29656  23148  51260  43784    0    0     0
>464  303   356 13  4  0 83
> 2  0  29652  39768  51260  46200    0    0     0
>1436  405   310 20 13  0 67
> 2  0  29652  29552  51260  43796    0    0     0
>344  178   123 32 10  0 57
>open: No such file or directory
>error: failed to parse /proc/stats
>
>
>  
>
>>?
>>    
>>
>>>I am not finding anything in the maillog that
>>>      
>>>
>>would
>>    
>>
>>>lead me to believe that there is a problem.  The
>>>      
>>>
>>only
>>    
>>
>>>steps I have taken so far was to try using
>>>      
>>>
>>different
>>    
>>
>>>dns servers and I also turned on skip_rbl_checks
>>>      
>>>
>>in
>>    
>>
>>>/etc/MailScanner/spam.spamassassin.prefs.conf
>>>      
>>>
>>do you have a local caching nameserver?
>>    
>>
>
>No...
>
>  
>
>>>If I restart MailScanner it seems to route quickly
>>>      
>>>
>>but
>>    
>>
>>>only for a couple of minutes then it starts
>>>      
>>>
>>backing up
>>    
>>
>>>again.  I usually have anywhere from 200 to 500
>>>messages in mqueue at one time since this problem
>>>started surfacing.
>>>      
>>>
>>And how many did you have before?
>>    
>>
>
>Mail was routed as quickly as it came in, I would say
>no more that 10 - 20 in the queue at a time.
>
>  
>
>>>Any other suggestions would be greatly
>>>      
>>>
>>appreciated.
>>    
>>
>>>My box routes roughly 40,000 - 50,000 messages per
>>>      
>>>
>>day.
>>
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>>at
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>>at
>>http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/mailscanner.html
>>
>>    
>>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
   _
  °v°   Denis Beauchemin, analyste
 /(_)\  Université de Sherbrooke, S.T.I.
  ^ ^   T: 819.821.8000x2252 F: 819.821.8045

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