Topic: Amavisd / Qmail problem ... PLEASE HELP !!!

[Reveal]

I got a problem for some reason I get this error in my smtpfront-qmail log ...
It receives mail and handles it, but the problem is it takes to long to proces a mail so the maildrop of my provider disconnects ...
So I get mail from spammers etc but not from the server I need the mail to come from ....
I think it probably has something to do with this that because of this it times-out ......
Can someone help me out ?
I used the auto installer from here http://www.pagefault.org/howto/e-smith-antivirus.shtml

@4000000040768cde19d8d434 Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS/MTA/Qmail.pm line 124.
@4000000040768cde19e0f63c Use of uninitialized value in pattern match (m//) at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS/MTA/Qmail.pm line 127.
@4000000040768cde19e9339c Use of uninitialized value in string ne at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS.pm line 421.
@4000000040768cde1a04260c Use of uninitialized value in -d at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS.pm line 672.
@4000000040768cde1a065c74 Use of uninitialized value in -f at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS.pm line 672.
@4000000040768cde1a0867e4 Use of uninitialized value in -l at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS.pm line 672.
@4000000040768cde1a0a4c44 Use of uninitialized value in -l at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS.pm line 672.
@4000000040768cde1a0c3c5c Use of uninitialized value in -l at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS.pm line 672.


the only other error I can find is this one...
this one is from maillog...


Apr  9 13:50:15 server02 spamd[3012]: clean message (0.0/5.0) for qmailq:404 in 31.5 seconds, 1668 bytes.
Apr  9 13:52:55 server02 spamd[2313]: connection from localhost [127.0.0.1] at port 1100
Apr  9 13:52:55 server02 spamd[3041]: info: setuid to qmailq succeeded
Apr  9 13:52:55 server02 spamd[3041]: Creating default_prefs [/var/qmail/.spamassassin/user_prefs]
Apr  9 13:52:55 server02 spamd[3041]: Cannot write to /var/qmail/.spamassassin/user_prefs: No such file or directory
Apr  9 13:52:55 server02 spamd[3041]: Couldn't create readable default_prefs for [/var/qmail/.spamassassin/user_prefs]
Apr  9 13:52:55 server02 spamd[3041]: processing message <q$25$7t$47-x-h848--4xf$99u-9l-j@0a5sts> for qmailq:404.
Apr  9 13:53:26 server02 spamd[3041]: identified spam (13.2/5.0) for qmailq:404 in 30.7 seconds, 6510 bytes.

[Reveal]

I made a little progress it isn't spamassasin it's amavisd ... because if I disable scanning on mail there's no problem.
Also I called the helpdesk with this problem so they checked there log's...
This is wat it says in the log files at there side,

Apr  9 15:00:15 maildrop9 <account>: 1081515000.maildrop8.59595: to=info@<domain>, from=<mail adres>, stat=Deferred (354 End your message with a period.)

[Reveal]

OK so I was wrong ... it isn't Amavisd ITS SPAMASSASSIN !!!!

The problem is this .... without .. all works .. when enabling Spamassassin, Amavisd starts giving those errors like

@4000000040768cde19d8d434 Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS/MTA/Qmail.pm line 124.

What probably grabs the dot where my providers is asking for .... anyway spamassassin en Amavisd don't seem to coporate over here
Anyone have the same error's or dit something to fix it or knows something to fix it ?

[mbachmann]

I remember this. But not how i fixed it. Take a closer look at
Cannot write to /var/qmail/.spamassassin/user_prefs:
Couldn't create readable default_prefs for [/var/qmail/.spamassassin/user_prefs

Create the directory/file if it does not exist and set the permissions right.

Sometimes /sbin/e-smith/signal-event post-upgrade, reboot will help.

[Reveal]

I remember this. But not how i fixed it. Take a closer look at
Cannot write to /var/qmail/.spamassassin/user_prefs:
Couldn't create readable default_prefs for [/var/qmail/.spamassassin/user_prefs

Create the directory/file if it does not exist and set the permissions right.

Sometimes /sbin/e-smith/signal-event post-upgrade, reboot will help.

Just did that hope it helps ...
I did a touch user_prefs and chown'ed it for qmailq:qmail ... hope that's the correct setting and that it helps ...

[Reveal]

I remember this. But not how i fixed it. Take a closer look at
Cannot write to /var/qmail/.spamassassin/user_prefs:
Couldn't create readable default_prefs for [/var/qmail/.spamassassin/user_prefs

Create the directory/file if it does not exist and set the permissions right.

Sometimes /sbin/e-smith/signal-event post-upgrade, reboot will help.

Just did that hope it helps ...
I did a touch user_prefs and chown'ed it for qmailq:qmail ... hope that's the correct setting and that it helps ...

It didn't help any
still getting this error and mail is stuck at my provider ...

4000000040768cde19d8d434 Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS/MTA/Qmail.pm line 124.
@4000000040768cde19e0f63c Use of uninitialized value in pattern match (m//) at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS/MTA/Qmail.pm line 127.
@4000000040768cde19e9339c Use of uninitialized value in string ne at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS.pm line 421.
@4000000040768cde1a04260c Use of uninitialized value in -d at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS.pm line 672.
@4000000040768cde1a065c74 Use of uninitialized value in -f at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS.pm line 672.
@4000000040768cde1a0867e4 Use of uninitialized value in -l at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS.pm line 672.
@4000000040768cde1a0a4c44 Use of uninitialized value in -l at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS.pm line 672.
@4000000040768cde1a0c3c5c Use of uninitialized value in -l at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/AMAVIS.pm line 672.

[mbachmann]

Disable CLAM AV and see further.

[raem]

What version of sme ?
How much RAM ?
What processor ?

Spamassassin is memory and processor intensive and can create problems on sme v6.0 if your hardware is not good enogh.
What worked on v5.6 WILL NOT work on v6.0 unless you upgrade the box. Increase RAM to at least 512Mb.

By the way you can disable spamassassin and still block spam without overloading your sme v6.0 server using my new HOWTO
http://mirror.contribs.org/smeserver/contribs/rmitchell/smeserver/howto/Spam%20blocking%20HOWTO%20using%20smtpfront-qmail%20for%20sme%20server.htm

Regs
Ray

[Reveal]

It's version 6.01 and runs on a Pentium II 300Mhz and it has 128MB of RAM...
10 users are using it.... (only for mail)

[Reveal]

Disable CLAM AV and see further.

CLAM only gives this error with SpamAssassin ... if spamassassin is disabled it works like charm .....

[wyron]

Several posts (and threads) on this issue just made me spend half an hour trying to report it as a general problem in the bug tracker.
Half an hour wasted, since my login time expired, so my meticulous report went to hell, and I went back here.
Since Clam/Amavis and Spamassassin are not core applications they are not community projects, but I (at least) think they should be !
Will somebody else with a bit more patience than me (and who agrees with me, of course) please make the effort on behalf of several members (me among them), and get the attention of the core developers.
They at least have the knowledge to disclose the obscure workings of such applications, which God knows I have not, and the bug tracker seems to be the only place with enough attention sticking to it.

[raem]

Dear Reveal
> It's version 6.01 and runs on a Pentium II 300Mhz and it has 128MB of RAM...

That box is very much under spec for running sme v6.x
I had a very similar issue recently when upgrading to v6.0.
As I said in my earlier post, add more RAM, (256Mb is NOT enough in my experience) you want about 512Mb and disable spamassassin and leave it disabled. That processor cannot handle the amount of tasks being asked of it. Also disable any services you don't absolutely need, and uninstal any add on rpms that are not essential.

If you implement Spam blocking using smtpfront-qmail as per my HOWTO most of your spam will be rejected.

When you get a more powerful box you can run anything you want !

I learnt the above the hard way, so heed my advice.

Regs
Ray

[Reveal]

Dear Reveal
> It's version 6.01 and runs on a Pentium II 300Mhz and it has 128MB of RAM...

That box is very much under spec for running sme v6.x
I had a very similar issue recently when upgrading to v6.0.
As I said in my earlier post, add more RAM, (256Mb is NOT enough in my experience) you want about 512Mb and disable spamassassin and leave it disabled. That processor cannot handle the amount of tasks being asked of it. Also disable any services you don't absolutely need, and uninstal any add on rpms that are not essential.

If you implement Spam blocking using smtpfront-qmail as per my HOWTO most of your spam will be rejected.

When you get a more powerful box you can run anything you want !

I learnt the above the hard way, so heed my advice.

Regs
Ray

Well maybe the box is under spec but I can't believe that's the cause of a script error ....
Also my System load is somewhere near the 0 so it seems to handle all great ..

[raem]

Reveal
> Well maybe the box is under spec but I can't believe that's the cause of a script error ....

That "error" message (in your first post) is known to the designers but is harmless.

Your under spec machine is causing you problems.

> Also my System load is somewhere near the 0 so it seems to handle all great

That's not what you said earlier !!
It only handles things great when there is nothing happening, as soon as you give it some load it slows down etc.

> It receives mail and handles it, but the problem
> is it takes to long to proces a mail so the
> maildrop of my provider disconnects ...
> So I get mail from spammers etc but not from the
> server I need the mail to come from ....

Upgrade your hardware or follow my other suggestions to fix your problems.

Regs
Ray

[Reveal]

Ok this is really weird ....
I reinstalled the server ... spamassassin & amavisd ... al seemed to work ...
Only thing was ... I had the mail configured to be forwarded to both local en forward adres, but that did'n happen.
So I re-entered the forward adresses and now I have the error again and everything stays on the server  
Any idea's ?

[Brenno]

Harware specs could be an issue.  I've got twin copies of SME 6.0b2 on two different machines.  One is a quad processor (4 x PIII 500 Xeons) with gobs of RAM, the other is an older PII 200 with 96mb of RAM.  I have had many issues with the install on the PII that never occur on the quad processor machine.

That being said, it's unlikely that the machine itself would cause a script error, but it is possible that the machine is unable to process your mail fast enough and therefore your timeouts occur.  I think this is what Ray is getting at.  Perhaps it's also got something to do with your connection?  A slow connection trying to receive a large email may be a factor?

I did find, on both machines, that having SpamAssassin installed before Amavis caused problems - Amavis was working, but SpamAssassin was not (although it worked before installing Amavis.)  Curiously enough, checking the headers of incoming mail shows that SpamAssassin has started working again in concert with Amavis.

When I run "top" from the console on the quad machine, it usually only displays .3 or .4 % usage on one of the processors, rarely higher. That being said, it's not that easy necessarily to watch the load change as your server is receiving mail.  Perhaps you could test by sending mail to your machine from a Hotmail account or the like and then keep your eye on "top" for changes in the usage.  That might give you a clue as to whether or not your hardware is being overburdend when handling mail.  It might be fine when it's idle.

[Brenno]

Okay, out of curiosity, I did exactly what I mentioned above.  I sent mail from my Hotmail account to my server account and watched the CPU load via "top."

One processor went from 99.9% idle to 73.2% idle, so it's definitely possible to watch the impact on your server as mail is being received.

Of course, one of the luxuries of a quad processor machine is that the other 3 CPU's all stated 99.9% idle.  For a single processor machine, you're likely to see an increase in the load on the CPU, especially if the server is doing other things simultaneously (ie serving websites, etc.)

[Reveal]

Well why would the error not occur first and then after changing settings, give error's ?
I wouldn't think it's the CPU speed because I can run a normal Debian mailserver with postfix, amavisd & spamassassin without a problem on slower server....
And this server isn't doing anything more ... so if I don't get this fixed, I'll have to check out that option

[Brenno]

Are you by any chance running webmail?  I've heard from several sources that this can really slow a machine down.

As for the script errors, I suppose there could be any number of causes as to why they appeared after changing settings.  Is it possible to review your changes?  Maybe you've inadvertently  set up a conflict or made a change elsewhere in the config of the system that's affecting things.

I'm no computer expert, but from my experience, 90% of the problems had with computers are the result of the smallest things - a missed checkbox, typographical error, etc.

[Reveal]

just found a few log files with problem mails in de problem dir ...
And gave as error (after trying to extract)
AMAVIS::AV::CLAMD: Cannot connect to /var/lib/clamav/clamd.sock

which is weird because the file is there ...

Also the mail forwarding still doesn't work ...