Topic: Fetchmail - another foreground fetchmail is running

[andreasantini]

Hello everyone,
I have a problem that haunts me and I do not know how to fix it.
I have an SME 7.5, which is a mail server for five users.
Never had problems, but recently, at least twice a day, I get this msg:

fetchmail: another foreground fetchmail is running at 10443

Consequently, the server does not get more mail because fetchmail is stuck.
The only solution is to reboot the server.
I've read other posts where it says up to 15 min of the control of fetchmail (I did),
but the problem remains.
Is there a way to restore fetchmail without restarting the server each time or is there a way to permanently solve the problem?
Thank you.

[philbrearley]

I have had this problem in the past.

It can be caused by a faulty internet connection. the fetchmail process hangs and another fetchmail cannot run. There is no need to restart the SME server, What is required is to kill the fetchmail process. You can find the fetchmail process pid number from the email to admin or better still from the command line:
 pidof fetchmail

This will return the pid number of the running fetchmail process.  eg 10443
make certain you have the correct process id as this changes each time fetchmail runs.
You can then use the kill command to end the running process.
 kill 10443

This is only a temporary solution to enable fetchmail to run without restarting the SME server. The real cause should be investigated and resolved (possible internet connection fault)

Phil Brearley

[CharlieBrady]

The only solution is to reboot the server.

No, that most definitely is not true. You can just terminate the existing foreground fetchmail process. However, you need to diagnose and fix the problem.

I notice you have cross-posted to another forum, and are receiving advice there.

http://forums.contribs.org/index.php/topic,48326.msg239046

[andreasantini]

Ok, I try to kill process,but I would like to solve definitely the problem.
The server has about a year old and the problem has occurred about fifteen days. Emails accounts are always the same.
I will research more and then I will tell you. Thanks for the moment.
Andrea