Quoting Doug <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Hi all, > > I have a problem with some mail on my system. Whenever a queue runner > comes across a message with a locked spool file, it will not attempt > to deliver the message for another 4 hours or so. > > We see the following, and the next thing we see in the logs for this > message would be the delivery some 4 hours later. > > <DATE> <ID> Spool file is locked (another process is handling this message) > > Has anyone seen similar symptoms and does anyone know of a retry rule > tweak to capture these messages? > > Thanks in advance, > > D.A. > > -- > ## List details at http://lists.exim.org/mailman/listinfo/exim-users > ## Exim details at http://www.exim.org/ > ## Please use the Wiki with this list - http://wiki.exim.org/ >
I'm seeing this more often lately, and it seems to be only mail going to hosts which implement a level of graylisting or tar trap. The host graylists, but doesn't send a temporary error, just keeps the connection alive for an obscenely long time, long enough that the next time a queue runner comes by, the previous runner is still holding the file and then it will get deferred for as long as the retry time is. This is particularly bad with Barracuda spam filters, which seem to get "dead" SMTP connections quite often, where the SMTP process never finished, just hangs during DATA or some such and Exim will diligently try to finish it until it finally times out. E-mails to Barracuda about the issue were unanswered (we run a couple of them and the issue has been verified with other outside mail server sources). I haven't found a way to resolve it, except to just accept the fact that many mail servers and gateways on the internet are "broken". Brent Jones [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program. -- ## List details at http://lists.exim.org/mailman/listinfo/exim-users ## Exim details at http://www.exim.org/ ## Please use the Wiki with this list - http://wiki.exim.org/
