A big message overwhelmed MailScanner

Julian Field MailScanner at ecs.soton.ac.uk
Wed Oct 5 09:03:00 IST 2005 

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What happens if you set Debug = yes and then do a check_mailscanner  
(after killing all MailScanner processes). I would be interested to  
hear what error it finally bombs out on. Almost certainly out of  
memory for something.

On 4 Oct 2005, at 23:59, Kai Wang wrote:

> We are running sendmail 8.11.7. It does not seem to be a lock  
> problem. I re-put the message to the incoming queue. You can see  
> the load went up quickly. According to lsof command, only one  
> MailScanner process opened the qf file. After about 10 minutes, I  
> found the MailScanner process ID changed from lsof command output.  
> The original MailScanner process disappeared. There was another log  
> entry. I guess the previous uvscan probably timed out and the  
> original MailScanner process went away and released the lock.
>
> # How to lock spool files.
> # Don't set this unless you *know* you need to.
> # For sendmail, it defaults to "flock".
> # For sendmail 8.13 onwards, you will probably need to change it to  
> posix.
> # For Exim, it defaults to "posix".
> # No other type is implemented.
> Lock Type =
>
> [root at smtp1 mqueue.in]# uname -a
> Linux smtp1.ucalgary.ca 2.4.21-15.EL #1 Thu Apr 22 00:27:41 EDT  
> 2004 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
> [root at smtp1 mqueue.in]# cat /etc/redhat-release
> Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS release 3 (Taroon Update 2)
> [root at smtp1 mqueue.in]# /usr/sbin/sendmail -d0.1 -bt < /dev/null
> Version 8.11.7
> Compiled with: LDAPMAP MAP_REGEX LOG MATCHGECOS MIME7TO8 MIME8TO7
>                NAMED_BIND NETINET NETINET6 NETUNIX NEWDB NIS QUEUE  
> SASL SCANF
>                SFIO SMTP STARTTLS TCPWRAPPERS USERDB
>
> ============ SYSTEM IDENTITY (after readcf) ============
>      (short domain name) $w = smtp1
>  (canonical domain name) $j = smtp1.ucalgary.ca
>         (subdomain name) $m = ucalgary.ca
>              (node name) $k = smtp1.ucalgary.ca
> ========================================================
>
> ADDRESS TEST MODE (ruleset 3 NOT automatically invoked)
> Enter <ruleset> <address>
>
> [root at smtp1 test]# ls -l /var/spool/mqueue.in/qfj94FuH024035
> -rw-------    1 root     root          868 Oct  4 16:39 /var/spool/ 
> mqueue.in/qfj94FuH024035
>
> [root at smtp1 test]# top
>
> 16:41:07  up 25 days, 16:25,  2 users,  load average: 5.73, 3.25, 2.52
> 63 processes: 59 sleeping, 4 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped
> CPU states:  cpu    user    nice  system    irq  softirq  iowait     
> idle
>           total   84.4%    0.0%   15.2%   0.0%     0.4%    0.0%     
> 0.0%
> Mem:  2064640k av, 2043832k used,   20808k free,       0k shrd,   
> 174268k buff
>                   1358992k actv,  406880k in_d,   39624k in_c
> Swap: 2048248k av,    1756k used, 2046492k free                  
> 1587096k cached
>
>  PID USER     PRI  NI  SIZE  RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM   TIME CPU  
> COMMAND
> 18369 root      25   0 24328  23M  1872 R    43.2  1.1   0:18   0  
> uvscan
> 1234 root      20   0 18952  18M  2264 S    23.4  0.9   3:20   0  
> MailScanner
> 1702 root      21   0 18960  18M  2224 S     3.4  0.9   3:01   0  
> MailScanner
> 18660 root      21   0  3996 3996  2824 R     1.6  0.1   0:00   0  
> sendmail
> 1513 root      21   0 19236  18M  2224 S     0.2  0.9   3:10   0  
> MailScanner
>
> [root at smtp1 test]# lsof /var/spool/mqueue.in/qfj94FuH024035
> COMMAND    PID USER   FD   TYPE DEVICE SIZE  NODE NAME
> MailScann 6523 root    6uW  REG    8,7  868 95817 /var/spool/ 
> mqueue.in/qfj94FuH024035
>
> [root at smtp1 test]# lsof /var/spool/mqueue.in/qfj94FuH024035
> COMMAND    PID USER   FD   TYPE DEVICE SIZE  NODE NAME
> MailScann 1395 root    6uW  REG    8,7  868 95817 /var/spool/ 
> mqueue.in/qfj94FuH024035
> [root at smtp1 test]# ps -ef | grep MailScan
> root     18664     1  0 10:53 ?        00:00:00 /usr/bin/perl -I/ 
> usr/lib/MailScanner /usr/sbin/MailScanner /etc/MailScanner/ 
> MailScanner.conf
> root      1024 18664  2 14:54 ?        00:03:01 /usr/bin/perl -I/ 
> usr/lib/MailScanner /usr/sbin/MailScanner /etc/MailScanner/ 
> MailScanner.conf
> root      1133 18664  3 14:54 ?        00:03:52 /usr/bin/perl -I/ 
> usr/lib/MailScanner /usr/sbin/MailScanner /etc/MailScanner/ 
> MailScanner.conf
> root      1234 18664  3 14:54 ?        00:03:38 /usr/bin/perl -I/ 
> usr/lib/MailScanner /usr/sbin/MailScanner /etc/MailScanner/ 
> MailScanner.conf
> root      1277 18664  2 14:54 ?        00:03:17 /usr/bin/perl -I/ 
> usr/lib/MailScanner /usr/sbin/MailScanner /etc/MailScanner/ 
> MailScanner.conf
> root      1395 18664  3 14:54 ?        00:04:03 /usr/bin/perl -I/ 
> usr/lib/MailScanner /usr/sbin/MailScanner /etc/MailScanner/ 
> MailScanner.conf
> root      1513 18664  3 14:55 ?        00:03:36 /usr/bin/perl -I/ 
> usr/lib/MailScanner /usr/sbin/MailScanner /etc/MailScanner/ 
> MailScanner.conf
> root      1702 18664  2 14:55 ?        00:03:25 /usr/bin/perl -I/ 
> usr/lib/MailScanner /usr/sbin/MailScanner /etc/MailScanner/ 
> MailScanner.conf
> root      2220 18664  3 14:56 ?        00:03:39 /usr/bin/perl -I/ 
> usr/lib/MailScanner /usr/sbin/MailScanner /etc/MailScanner/ 
> MailScanner.conf
> root      9999 18664  3 15:12 ?        00:03:26 /usr/bin/perl -I/ 
> usr/lib/MailScanner /usr/sbin/MailScanner /etc/MailScanner/ 
> MailScanner.conf
> root     21822 18664  2 16:50 ?        00:00:05 /usr/bin/perl -I/ 
> usr/lib/MailScanner /usr/sbin/MailScanner /etc/MailScanner/ 
> MailScanner.conf
> root     22995 28404  0 16:53 pts/0    00:00:00 grep MailScan
>
> Oct  4 16:40:05 smtp1 MailScanner[6523]: Saved archive copies of  
> j94Me2J18130 j94Me2J18147 j94Me1J18118 j94Me1J18120 j94Me1J18042  
> j94Me2J18139 j94Me3J18155 j94Me2J18137 j94Me3J18153 j94Me2J18133  
> j94Me2J18149 j94Me2J18131 j94FuH024035 j94Me2J18128 j94Me2J18126  
> j94Me1J18116 j94Me1J18114 j94Me3J18157 j94Me2J18141 j94Me2J18151  
> j94Me1J18122 j94Me2J18135 j94Me2J18145 j94Me2J18124
> Oct  4 16:50:35 smtp1 MailScanner[1395]: Saved archive copies of  
> j94Me2J18130 j94Me2J18147 j94Me1J18118 j94Me1J18120 j94Me1J18042  
> j94Me2J18139 j94Me3J18155 j94Me2J18137 j94Me3J18153 j94Me2J18133  
> j94Me2J18149 j94Me2J18131 j94FuH024035 j94Me2J18128 j94Me2J18126  
> j94Me1J18116 j94Me1J18114 j94Me3J18157 j94Me2J18141 j94Me2J18151  
> j94Me1J18122 j94Me2J18135 j94Me2J18145 j94Me2J18124
>
>
>
>
> Julian Field wrote:
>
>
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA1
>>
>> From the fact that several different MailScanner processes all  
>> tried to process the same message, I would say your "Lock Type" is  
>> set wrong. What version of sendmail are you using and what  
>> operating system and distribution are you using?
>>
>> If you are using Linux and sendmail 8.13.1 or greater, then you  
>> need to set
>>    Lock Type = posix
>> in your MailScanner.conf. You will then need to "service  
>> MailScanner restart".
>>
>> Kai Wang wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> We are running MailScanner 4.43.8. Our message size limit is 50M.  
>>> I noticed a valid message was stuck in MailScanner for over an  
>>> hour. The server's load was very high and email processing was  
>>> very slow. Eventually I had to move it to the delivery queue  
>>> manually. Does anybody know what's the best practice for this  
>>> situation?
>>>
>>> -rw-------    1 root     root     48384095 Oct  4 09:57  
>>> dfj94FuH024035
>>> -rw-------    1 root     root          867 Oct  4 09:57  
>>> qfj94FuH024035
>>>
>>> Oct  4 09:57:20 smtp1 pc214-161.psych.ucalgary.ca  
>>> [136.159.214.161]: DATA[24035]: j94FuH024035:  
>>> from=<XXXXXX at ucalgary.ca>, size=48384415, class=0, nrcpts=1,  
>>> msgid=<a2a2d24bbef12aafca57ff41575a2abe at ucalgary.ca>,  
>>> proto=ESMTP, daemon=MTA, mech=PLAIN,  
>>> relay=pc214-161.psych.ucalgary.ca [136.159.214.161]
>>> Oct  4 09:57:20 smtp1 pc214-161.psych.ucalgary.ca  
>>> [136.159.214.161]: DATA[24035]: j94FuH024035:  
>>> to=<XXXXXX at ucalgary.ca>, delay=00:01:03, mailer=relay,  
>>> pri=48414415, stat=queued
>>> Oct  4 09:57:21 smtp1 pc214-161.psych.ucalgary.ca  
>>> [136.159.214.161]: DATA[24035]: NOQUEUE: --> 250 2.0.0  
>>> j94FuH024035 Message accepted for delivery
>>> Oct  4 09:57:21 smtp1 MailScanner[7673]: Saved archive copies of  
>>> j94FuH024035
>>> Oct  4 10:07:39 smtp1 MailScanner[8930]: Saved archive copies of  
>>> j94G7W029517 j94FuH024035
>>> Oct  4 10:18:02 smtp1 MailScanner[1963]: Saved archive copies of  
>>> j94GHv001891 j94G7W029517 j94FuH024035 j94GHx001902 j94GHv001893  
>>> j94GHx001907 j94GHx001912 j94GHt001887 j94GHx001908
>>> Oct  4 10:28:27 smtp1 MailScanner[7135]: Saved archive copies of  
>>> j94GHv001891 j94G7W029517 j94FuH024035 j94GHx001902 j94GHv001893  
>>> j94GHx001907 j94GHx001912 j94GHt001887 j94GHx001908
>>> Oct  4 10:38:44 smtp1 MailScanner[7847]: Saved archive copies of  
>>> j94GHv001891 j94G7W029517 j94FuH024035 j94GHx001902 j94GHv001893  
>>> j94GHx001907 j94GHx001912 j94GHt001887 j94GHx001908
>>> Oct  4 10:49:07 smtp1 MailScanner[16427]: Saved archive copies of  
>>> j94GHv001891 j94G7W029517 j94FuH024035 j94GHx001902 j94GHv001893  
>>> j94GHx001907 j94GHx001912 j94GHt001887 j94GHx001908
>>> Oct  4 10:53:26 smtp1 MailScanner[18665]: Saved archive copies of  
>>> j94GHv001891 j94GrOJ18662 j94Gr0018612 j94Gqt018568 j94G7W029517  
>>> j94FuH024035 j94GHx001902 j94Gqv018575 j94GHv001893 j94GHx001907  
>>> j94Gqv018574 j94Gqt018562 j94Gqq018538 j94Gqr018549 j94GHx001912  
>>> j94Gqr018543 j94Gqp018536 j94GHt001887 j94GHx001908
>>> Oct  4 11:03:42 smtp1 MailScanner[18996]: Saved archive copies of  
>>> j94GHv001891 j94GrOJ18662 j94Gr0018612 j94Gqt018568 j94G7W029517  
>>> j94FuH024035 j94GHx001902 j94Gqv018575 j94GHv001893 j94GHx001907  
>>> j94Gqv018574 j94Gqt018562 j94Gqq018538 j94Gqr018549 j94GHx001912  
>>> j94Gqr018543 j94Gqp018536 j94GHt001887 j94GHx001908
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> - -- Julian Field
>> www.MailScanner.info
>> Buy the MailScanner book at www.MailScanner.info/store
>> Professional Support Services at www.MailScanner.biz
>> MailScanner thanks transtec Computers for their support
>>
>> PGP footprint: EE81 D763 3DB0 0BFD E1DC 7222 11F6 5947 1415 B654
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
> -- 
> Kai Wang
> System Services
> Information Technologies, University of Calgary,
> 2500 University Drive, N.W.,
> Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4
> Phone (403) 220-2423, Fax (403) 282-9361
>
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>

- -- 
Julian Field
www.MailScanner.info
Buy the MailScanner book at www.MailScanner.info/store
PGP footprint: EE81 D763 3DB0 0BFD E1DC 7222 11F6 5947 1415 B654


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