[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Thanks Mark for the very useful explanation. How can I get hold of
> this script you mention?
Here you go:
-------------------------
#! /usr/bin/perl
# put into the public domain by Russell Nelson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
# NO GUARANTEE AT ALL; support is available for a fee from the author.
#
# Creates maildirs for everyone in /etc/passwd who receives mail.
# Copies all their mail in /var/spool/mail into their maildir.
# Assumes that nothing is trying to modify the mailboxes in /var/spool/mail
# This assumption could be removed by locking the mailboxes and deleting
# the mail after moving it.
# version 0.00 - first release to the public.
while(($name, $passwd, $uid, $gid, $quota, $comment, $gcos, $dir, $shell) =
getpwent()) {
if (!-e $dir) {
print "warning: ${name}'s home dir, $dir, doesn't exist (passwd:
$passwd), skipping.\n";
next;
}
$st_uid = (stat($dir))[4];;
if ($uid != $st_uid) {
print "warning: $name is $uid, but $dir is owned by $st_uid,
skipping.\n";
next;
}
print "$name\n";
$spoolname = "$dir/Maildir";
-d $spoolname || mkdir $spoolname,0700 || die "fatal: mailbox doesn't
exist and can't be created.\n";
chown ($uid,$gid,$spoolname);
chdir($spoolname) || die("fatal: unable to chdir to $spoolname.\n");
-d "tmp" || mkdir("tmp",0700) || die("fatal: unable to make tmp/
subdir\n");
-d "new" || mkdir("new",0700) || die("fatal: unable to make new/
subdir\n");
-d "cur" || mkdir("cur",0700) || die("fatal: unable to make cur/
subdir\n");
chown ($uid,$gid,"tmp","new","cur");
open(SPOOL, "</var/spool/mail/$name") || next;
$i = time;
while(<SPOOL>) {
if (/^From /) {
$fn = sprintf("new/%d.$$.mbox", $i);
open(OUT, ">$fn") || die("fatal: unable to create new
message");;
chown ($uid,$gid,$fn);
$i++;
next;
}
s/^>From /From /;
print OUT || die("fatal: unable to write to new message");
}
close(SPOOL);
close(OUT);
}
endpwent();
-----------------------------
> But as my earlier posting indicated, in this particular case there are
> no lock files (.username) present in /var/spool/mail. I am still at
> square 1. I'll do these changes after sorting out this problem.
>
>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>>> Use ls -al
>>> and check for the file under the name /var/spool/mail/.username
>>
>> Yes, it could be that the user's spool file locked while
>> reading/writing new mail data. Usually, mail stored in 'mbox' format
>> will create lock files (very bad, very slow). My suggestion is that
>> you move your mail storage format from 'mbox' to Maildir/.
>>
>> Maildir/ mail storage format is the same way Eudora stores its mail
>> on a client machine. MS Outlook, Netscape Mail, e.t.c, mimic the
>> 'mbox' format. With Maildir/, each mail is stored as a single file -
>> this means mail can be quickly accessed, and no .lock files are
>> created when the spool file is accessed for read/write i/o.
>>
>> If you are interested in this format, there are 3 things you'd need
>> to do:
>>
>> o First, convert all your existing 'mbox' mail to Maildir/. This
>> will read your 'mbox' spool file, and break each
>> message up into separate files. I have a script that will do this.
>> The script will read all users in the
>> /etc/passwd file, access their /var/spool/mail/username files and
>> convert each mail into a single file. The script
>> will then create a ~user/Maildir/ directory in the user's home
>> directory as specified by the 'homedir' variable for
>> the user in the '/etc/passwd' file.
>>
>> o Now that the user's existing mail has taken on a Maildir/ storage
>> format, you will need to tell your MTA to deliver
>> mail to the user's home directory in Maildir/ format, and not
>> 'mbox' format. From the last time I checked, Postfix
>> and Exim can do this with some extra configuration. IIRC, Sendmail
>> could be patched to support Maildir/ dropping.
>> Alternatively, you can call an MDA to do the delivery e.g.
>> maildrop, procmail, smtp.pl, e.t.c.
>>
>> o The third thing to do now is to be able to read the mail. Unlike
>> 'mbox' format mail, Maildir/ files aren't just
>> readable in such a straightforward manner. For those who love
>> Pine, I believe a patch is available to read Maildir/
>> files; otherwise, Mutt is the most preferred command line MUA for
>> reading/handling Maildir/ files. I am not sure
>> of the KDE-based MUA's as I haven't tried them, but you could do
>> your experiments. As usual, Google is your friend.
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Apr 24, 2004, at 10:16 AM, Lule George William wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hello all,
>>>> Something strange has just happened. A user has just lost all his
>>>> mails, over 32MB of them!!! When I check /var/spool/mail/username,
>>>> I find that only 12k is left. I am sure he didn't delete them
>>>> because he needs all of them, what do you think happened? Is there
>>>> a chance of retrieving any? System: SuSE Linux 7.2, kernel
>>>> 2.4.4-4GB, 40GB Hard disk and 512 RAM. Neomail is the MUA.
>>>>
> **********************************************************************
>>>> * *
>>>> Lule George William (Mr)
>>>> Network and Systems Administrator
>>>> Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi
>>>> P.O. Box 5498 Kampala
>>>> Uganda
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---------------------------------------------
>>>> This service is hosted on the Infocom network
>>>> http://www.infocom.co.ug
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> **************** *****************************
>>> Kiggundu Mukasa # Computer Network Consultancy###
>>> KYM-NET LTD. # Intranets & Internet Solutions#
>>> Plot 80 Kanjokya Street P.O. Box 24284 Kampala, Uganda
>>> Tel: +256 77 972255
>>> +256 71 221141
>>> Fax: +256 31 262122
>>> *****************************************************************
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------------
>>> This service is hosted on the Infocom network
>>> http://www.infocom.co.ug
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Mark Tinka
>> Technical Manager, Africa Online Swaziland
>>
>>
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------
>> This service is hosted on the Infocom network
>> http://www.infocom.co.ug
>>
>>
>
> ************************************************************************
> Lule George William (Mr)
> Network and Systems Administrator
> Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi
> P.O. Box 5498 Kampala
> Uganda
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------
> This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
Regards,
Mark Tinka
Technical Manager, Africa Online Swaziland
---------------------------------------------
This service is hosted on the Infocom network
http://www.infocom.co.ug
