☩ Walking in Light with Christ – Faith, Computing, Diary

Through my 10 years of experience  in managing and "life with qmail", I've at many times had to deal with suddenly broken or misconducting, qmail installs. With some of them the problems started during new Qmail install configuration time, with others QMAIL worked perfectly for years and then suddenly it stopped working. Nomatter what the situation was, there was a kind of "scenario" and common things to check to debug and find out what is causing the respective qmail installation to not work. In this little, article I will try to share my knowledge in hope that others which configure new QMAIL based mail servers or are in situation to need to recover – "resurrect" a one that suddenly stopped working qmail to its normal operations.

Here are few cases , there are many more, probably hundreds of reasons which might be causing Qmail + Vpopmail  to stop properly delivering e-amails but  as this ones ones are really most likely ones just checking them gives a good clue What is going wrong with  Qmail?.:

• Something broke up with scheduled daemontools processes;
• There is no hard disk (the disk is full) and Qmai is unable to writeinside its mail Queue directories (/var/qmail/queue) or Spamassassin or AntiVirus programs fails to write on disk
• qmail-scanner-queue.pl ( /var/qmail/bin/qmail-scanner-queue.pl ) perl script is messed up or if using simscan to do antivirus check-ups instead simscan is failing somewhere
• something messed up with /var/qmail/control/rcpthosts
• something messed up with /var/qmail/control/validrcptto.txt or /var/qmail/control/validrcptto.cdb
•  incorrect main server host in /var/qmail/control/me or /var/qmail/control/plusdomain
• Messed up vpopmail (virtual domain) records in /var/qmail/control/virtualdomains file
• problems with insufficient memory (whether there is a softlimit memory limit for /service/qmail-smtpd/run (qmail daemontools start up and monitoring script) – /usr/local/bin/softlimit is no longer proposed used by newer qmail guides but in older ones it was common to appear in /../qmail-smtpd/run
• Something is wrong with clamd (/usr/sbin/clamd – for example crashed due to bug) or something is wrong with clamav database ( /var/lib/clamav or wherever set to be stored; on some installs /usr/local/lib/clamav) – there most commonly main.cvd and daily.cld break up during freshclam clamav database update.
• As freshclam takes care for AntiVirus database updates it is good to check it is properly running, either as a service or via a cronjob
  
• Assure there are no mistakes or wrong (unexistent) variables in /etc/tcp.smtp file or / and /etc/tcp.smtp.cdb is not broken
• Permission issues with; qmail main binaries in /var/qmail/bin/ , queue files – /var/qmail/queue or qmail log files /var/log/qmail/…

As I said there are plenty of other possible, reasons but I listed this here, since they're the most common reasons for problems with sent or receive of messages with Qmail mail server.

Checking all of the above and making sure they're okay, I've checked daemontools readprodctitle process as it often signalize for problems with any part of qmail install, there all seemed normal no warnings and errors, e.g.:

qmail:~# ps ax|grep -i -E 'clam|freshclam|spam|vpopmail'
2241 ? Ssl 3:49 /usr/sbin/clamd
2408 ? Ss 11:54 /usr/bin/freshclam -d --quiet
2853 ? S 0:00 tcpserver -H -R -v -c100 0 110 qmail-popup mail.www.pc-freak.net /home/vpopmail/bin/vchkpw qmail-pop3d Maildir
2856 ? S 0:01 tcpserver -vR -l /var/qmail/control/me -c 30 -u 89 -g 89 -x /etc/tcp.smtp.cdb 0 25 rblsmtpd -t0 -r zen.spamhaus.org -r dnsbl.njabl.org -r dnsbl.sorbs.net -r bl.spamcop.net qmail-smtpd /var/qmail/control/me /home/vpopmail/bin/vchkpw /bin/true
2857 ? S 0:00 sslserver -e -vR -l mail.www.pc-freak.net -c 30 -u 89 -g 89 -x /etc/tcp.smtp.cdb 0 465 qmail-smtpd mail.www.pc-freak.net /home/vpopmail/bin/vchkpw /bin/true


qmail:~# ps ax|grep -i qmail
2840 ? S 0:00 supervise qmail-send
2844 ? S 0:00 supervise qmail-smtpd
2846 ? S 0:00 supervise qmail-pop3d
2848 ? S 0:00 supervise qmail-smtpdssl
2850 ? S 0:05 qmail-send
2852 ? S 0:00 multilog t n1024 s1048576 n20 /var/log/qmail/qmail-smtpdssl
2853 ? S 0:00 tcpserver -H -R -v -c100 0 110 qmail-popup mail.www.pc-freak.net /home/vpopmail/bin/vchkpw qmail-pop3d Maildir
2854 ? S 0:00 multilog t s100000 n20 /var/log/qmail/qmail-pop3d
2855 ? S 0:01 multilog t n1024 s1048576 n20 /var/log/qmail/qmail-smtpd
2856 ? S 0:01 tcpserver -vR -l /var/qmail/control/me -c 30 -u 89 -g 89 -x /etc/tcp.smtp.cdb 0 25 rblsmtpd -t0 -r zen.spamhaus.org -r dnsbl.njabl.org -r dnsbl.sorbs.net -r bl.spamcop.net qmail-smtpd /var/qmail/control/me /home/vpopmail/bin/vchkpw /bin/true
2857 ? S 0:00 sslserver -e -vR -l mail.www.pc-freak.net -c 30 -u 89 -g 89 -x /etc/tcp.smtp.cdb 0 465 qmail-smtpd mail.www.pc-freak.net /home/vpopmail/bin/vchkpw /bin/true
2858 ? S 0:01 multilog t n1024 s1048576 n20 /var/log/qmail/qmail-send
2868 ? S 0:01 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir
2869 ? S 0:00 qmail-rspawn
2870 ? S 0:00 qmail-clean
2871 ? S 0:04 qmail-todo
2872 ? S 0:01 qmail-clean
27742 pts/6 S+ 0:00 grep -i qmail


qmail:~# ps ax |grep -i readproc|grep -v grep
48060 ?        S      0:00 readproctitle service errors: ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
 

As you see  "….." signalize, all is fine with processes scheduled to run over daemontools process. If you instead get warnings or error messages usually the error will point you what is wrong with the qmail install. Common error, I've got over the years here especially on long time functionining qmail installs is insufficient disk space to write in qmail queue and log files.

Also above ps ax|grep -i -E 'clam|freshclam|spam|vpopmail'
shows all 3 clamd, freshclam and vpopmail are up and running so this most likely means all is good with them. Of course sometimes some of those 3 is working and there are problems with the services properly processing emails so it is always a good idea to read qmail log files, in most qmail installations qmail logs are located in /var/log/qmail .

Quickest way is to check all of the qmail related logs in a loop with something like:

qmail:~# for i in $(ls -d /var/log/qmail/*qmail*/); do tail -n 10 $i/current|tai64nlocal; sleep 5; done


Also it is always a good idea to check last 10 lines of clamav, freshclam, qmail-scanner and spamd logs:

qmail:~# tail -n 10 /var/log/qmail/clamav/clamav.log;
Fri Nov 9 06:52:28 2012 -> SelfCheck: Database status OK.
Fri Nov 9 07:52:28 2012 -> SelfCheck: Database status OK.
Fri Nov 9 08:52:28 2012 -> SelfCheck: Database status OK.
Fri Nov 9 09:52:28 2012 -> SelfCheck: Database status OK.
Fri Nov 9 10:52:29 2012 -> SelfCheck: Database status OK.
Fri Nov 9 11:57:29 2012 -> SelfCheck: Database status OK.
Fri Nov 9 12:57:29 2012 -> SelfCheck: Database status OK.
Fri Nov 9 14:14:35 2012 -> SelfCheck: Database status OK.
Fri Nov 9 15:33:46 2012 -> SelfCheck: Database status OK.
Fri Nov 9 16:33:46 2012 -> SelfCheck: Database status OK.


qmail:~# tail -n 10 /var/log/qmail/clamav/freshclam.log
Fri Nov 9 16:20:44 2012 -> --------------------------------------
Fri Nov 9 17:20:44 2012 -> Received signal: wake up
Fri Nov 9 17:20:44 2012 -> ClamAV update process started at Fri Nov 9 17:20:44 2012
Fri Nov 9 17:20:44 2012 -> WARNING: Your ClamAV installation is OUTDATED!
Fri Nov 9 17:20:44 2012 -> WARNING: Local version: 0.97.5 Recommended version: 0.97.6
Fri Nov 9 17:20:44 2012 -> DON'T PANIC! Read http://www.clamav.net/support/faq
Fri Nov 9 17:20:44 2012 -> main.cvd is up to date (version: 54, sigs: 1044387, f-level: 60, builder: sven)
Fri Nov 9 17:20:44 2012 -> daily.cld is up to date (version: 15557, sigs: 284869, f-level: 63, builder: jesler)
Fri Nov 9 17:20:44 2012 -> bytecode.cld is up to date (version: 191, sigs: 37, f-level: 63, builder: neo)
Fri Nov 9 17:20:46 2012 ->
--------------------------------------


qmail:~# tail -n 10 /var/log/qmail/qscan/qmail-queue.log
Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:14:35 EET:14705:
from='noreply@theitjobboard.eu', subj='Network Developer', via SMTP from oy-ip-034.smwebhost.com
Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:14:44 EET:14705: ------ Process 14705 finished. Total of 8.846395 secs
Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:04:27 EET:21979: +++ starting debugging for process 21979 (ppid=21969) by uid=89
Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:04:27 EET:21979: g_e_h: return-path='hipo@www.pc-freak.net', recips='sandy.richardson@hyperionrecruitment.com'
Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:04:27 EET:21979: from='"G. Georgiev" ', subj='Re: Network Developer', via SMTP from ip156-108-174-82.adsl2.static.versatel.nl using auth (hipo@www.pc-freak.net@ip156-108-174-82.adsl2.static.versatel.nl)
Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:04:34 EET:21979: ------ Process 21979 finished. Total of 6.626484 secs
Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:33:46 EET:23891: +++ starting debugging for process 23891 (ppid=23884) by uid=89
Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:33:46 EET:23891: g_e_h: return-path='sdy.richardson@hyperionrecruitment.com', recips='hipo@www.pc-freak.net'
Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:33:46 EET:23891: from='"Sandy Richardson" ', subj='RE: Network Developer', via SMTP from
ostrich.dnsmaster.net

qmail:~# tail -n 10 /var/log/spamd/current |tai64nlocal 2012-11-09 16:25:43.091680500 Nov 9 15:04:27.858 [22049] info: spamd: connection from localhost [127.0.0.1] at port 54494
2012-11-09 16:25:43.091683500 Nov 9 15:04:27.948 [22049] info: spamd: checking message <509CFF4F.9030601@www.pc-freak.net> for qscand:89
2012-11-09 16:25:43.091684500 Nov 9 15:04:33.837 [22049] info: spamd: clean message (0.0/5.0) for qscand:89 in 6.0 seconds, 1104 bytes.
2012-11-09 16:25:43.091690500 Nov 9 15:04:33.838 [22049] info: spamd: result: . 0 - scantime=6.0,size=1104,user=qscand,uid=89,required_score=5.0,rhost=localhost,raddr=127.0.0.1,rport=54494,mid=<509CFF4F.9030601@www.pc-freak.net>,autolearn=ham
2012-11-09 16:25:43.091692500 Nov 9 15:04:34.077 [22043] info: prefork: child states: II
2012-11-09 16:25:43.091692500 Nov 9 15:33:53.626 [22049] info: spamd: connection from localhost [127.0.0.1] at port 54681
2012-11-09 16:25:43.091696500 Nov 9 15:33:53.656 [22049] info: spamd: checking message <05e201cdbe7e$d1c83c90$7558b5b0$@hyperionrecruitment.com> for qscand:89
2012-11-09 16:25:43.091697500 Nov 9 15:33:59.467 [22049] info: spamd: clean message (0.0/5.0) for qscand:89 in 5.8 seconds, 33845 bytes.
2012-11-09 16:25:43.091698500 Nov 9 15:33:59.467 [22049] info: spamd: result: . 0 - scantime=5.8,size=33845,user=qscand,uid=89,required_score=5.0,rhost=localhost,raddr=127.0.0.1,rport=54681,mid=<05e201cdbe7e$d1c83c90$7558b5b0$@hyperionrecruitment.com>,autolearn=ham
2012-11-09 16:25:43.091702500 Nov 9 15:33:59.506 [22043] info: prefork: child states: II


Whether observing, some of above logs reveals problems to delivery e-mail messages because e-mail boxes are not existing in  /var/qmail/control/validrcptto.cdb – this often happens whether new e-mail boxes are created and the new mail somehow did not enter validrcptto.txt / validrcptto.cdb , you will have to re-build validrcptto.cdb. Rebuilding validrcptto.cdb manually is done with cmd:
br />  

qmail:~# /usr/local/bin/mkvalidrcptto > /var/qmail/control/validrcptto.txt qmail:~# cdbmake-12 /var/qmail/control/validrcptto.cdb /var/qmail/control/validrcptto.tmp < /var/qmail/control/validrcptto.txt

Of course, if the qmail was already properly installed with validrcptto support, this should be done automatically with some cron job set to invoke above commands every 5 minutes or so. In Thibs QmailRocks followed install the script is called /usr/sbin/update-validrcptto and is set to exec every 5 mins.
 

If spamassassin is configured to automatically update its set of anti-spam rules, via some cron job or smth. it is always a good idea to check if spamassassin, properly loads up does not fail due to some antispam rule:

qmail:~# spamassassin --lint -D ...
....


You will have to examine carefully, the long returned content for "warning" and "error" keywords. If you don't won't to bother with details you can do, spamassassin –lint

Another good idea whether problems with qmail is of course to rebuild tcpserver cdb file for smtp – this usually solves problems caused by broken /etc/tcp.smtp.cdb.cdb files.

Re-building manually tcp.smtp.cdb is done with:
qmail:~# tcprules /etc/tcp.smtp.cdb /etc/tcp.smtp.tmp < /etc/tcp.smtp
qmail:~# chmod 644 /etc/tcp.smtp.cdb

However, most qmail installation guides recommend or set a qmailctl bash script file, to start / stop / reload / flush qmail queue or simply get status of the qmail installation, so it much easier to rebuild tcp.smtp.cdb through it:
qmail:~# qmailctl cdb
Reloaded /etc/tcp.smtp.


Checking the status of the Qmail Queue state and fixing issues with it can be done using little external tool qmHandle – check my previous article ( Cleaning Qmail filled queue with Spam messages )

To check the basic qmail compontents (qmail-send, qmail-smtpd , qmail-smtpdssl)do:

qmail:~# qmailctl stat
/service/qmail-send: up (pid 2850) 1886193 seconds
/service/qmail-send/log: up (pid 2858) 1886193 seconds
/service/qmail-smtpd: up (pid 2856) 1886193 seconds
/service/qmail-smtpd/log: up (pid 2855) 1886193 seconds
/service/qmail-smtpdssl: up (pid 2857) 1886193 seconds
/service/qmail-smtpdssl/log: up (pid 2852) 1886193 seconds
messages in queue: 2
messages in queue but not yet preprocessed: 0


Another good practice if you have doubts that something is messed with qmail-queue is to check what is waiting to be send in queue:

qmail:~# qmail-qstat
messages in queue: 2
messages in queue but not yet preprocessed: 0


In above paste, from my mail server I have just 2 mails, if you however notice here some large numbers like 5000 or 10000, this might be the cause for asetbacks. If you have plenty of undelivered mails waiting in mail server queue, examine the queue:

qmail:~# qmail-qread ....
.....

Of course it is sometimes, possible to be in situation, where more than one components are creating mail server's sent / receive delivery issues. Anyhow doing a close examination of all possible components usually should (if not reveal what causes the issue) at least give you some pointer to where to search for the problem.

Also for qmail installations based on QmailRocks or Thibs QmailRocks guide, there is a tiny shell script provided, that does evaluation on standard qmail files permissions and binary locations and reports, whether it finds problems with some of them. You can fetch a copy of the qmr_inst_check from here . Although the script is created to check a newly install qmail for problems, it also often helps in determining issues with qmails who mysteriously stopped working.

If you suspect, there are::

• permission problems with vpopmail installation ( /home/vpopmail ) – use vpfixpermissions shell script to restore proper permissions

• permission problems with /var/qmail/ and its subdirectories run JMS's qfixpermissions shell script

• On qmail queue, messed up permissions (something I hope you will never end up with), you will have to run JMS QFIXQ bash script.
  Messed up queue permissions issue happened to me just few times and it is one of the most terrible ones to get with qmail – I hope and wish you  never experience it.

Well that's it. Hope this little walk through give you idea where to check on troublesome Qmail install. Please leave a comment if it help you (somehow) solve your issue. Also will be glad to hear if I'm missing something – i'm sure I am.