Topic: SpamAssassin Daily Cron Error Message

[Tabletop]

I have been running SME 8.1 for a long time.  I have started receiving this message daily:

/etc/cron.daily/sa_update:

channel: no 'mirrors.updates.spamassassin.org' record found, channel failed
channel: no 'mirrors.sought.rules.yerp.org' record found, channel failed

This may have been the result of applying these updates on Feb 12, 2015:

===
=== yum reports available updates for Contribs :
===

smeserver-mailstats.noarch              1.0-4.el5.sme                smecontribs
smeserver-sme8admin.noarch              1.3-4.el5.sme                smecontribs
smeserver-userpanel.noarch              0.9-18.el5.sme               smecontribs

    To apply all these updates, you can log on your server and run the following command :

    yum update --enablerepo=smecontribs

I have the following further info:

[root@jgate ~]# sa-update -D
Feb 22 11:16:02.290 [349] dbg: logger: adding facilities: all
Feb 22 11:16:02.290 [349] dbg: logger: logging level is DBG
Feb 22 11:16:02.290 [349] dbg: generic: SpamAssassin version 3.3.2
Feb 22 11:16:02.290 [349] dbg: generic: Perl 5.008008, PREFIX=/usr, DEF_RULES_DIR=/usr/share/spamassassin, LOCAL_RULES_DIR=/etc/mail/spamassassin, LOCAL_STATE_DIR=/var/lib/spamassassin
Feb 22 11:16:02.290 [349] dbg: config: timing enabled
Feb 22 11:16:02.291 [349] dbg: config: score set 0 chosen.
Feb 22 11:16:02.300 [349] dbg: dns: no ipv6
Feb 22 11:16:02.300 [349] dbg: dns: is Net::DNS::Resolver available? yes
Feb 22 11:16:02.300 [349] dbg: dns: Net::DNS version: 0.71
Feb 22 11:16:02.300 [349] dbg: generic: sa-update version svn917659
Feb 22 11:16:02.300 [349] dbg: generic: using update directory: /var/lib/spamassassin/3.003002
Feb 22 11:16:02.410 [349] dbg: diag: perl platform: 5.008008 linux
Feb 22 11:16:02.410 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Digest::SHA1, version 2.11
Feb 22 11:16:02.410 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: HTML::Parser, version 3.69
Feb 22 11:16:02.410 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Net::DNS, version 0.71
Feb 22 11:16:02.410 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: NetAddr::IP, version 4.066
Feb 22 11:16:02.410 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Time::HiRes, version 1.9717
Feb 22 11:16:02.410 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Archive::Tar, version 1.56
Feb 22 11:16:02.410 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: IO::Zlib, version 1.10
Feb 22 11:16:02.411 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Digest::SHA1, version 2.11
Feb 22 11:16:02.411 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: MIME::Base64, version 3.07
Feb 22 11:16:02.411 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: DB_File, version 1.814
Feb 22 11:16:02.411 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Net::SMTP, version 2.29
Feb 22 11:16:02.411 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Mail::SPF, version v2.007
Feb 22 11:16:02.411 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: IP::Country::Fast, version 604.001
Feb 22 11:16:02.411 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Razor2::Client::Agent, version 2.84
Feb 22 11:16:02.411 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Net::Ident, version 1.23
Feb 22 11:16:02.411 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: IO::Socket::INET6, version 2.57
Feb 22 11:16:02.412 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: IO::Socket::SSL, version 1.44
Feb 22 11:16:02.412 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Compress::Zlib, version 2.015
Feb 22 11:16:02.412 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Mail::DKIM, version 0.39
Feb 22 11:16:02.412 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: DBI, version 1.622
Feb 22 11:16:02.412 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Getopt::Long, version 2.35
Feb 22 11:16:02.412 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: LWP::UserAgent, version 2.033
Feb 22 11:16:02.412 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: HTTP::Date, version 1.47
Feb 22 11:16:02.412 [349] dbg: diag: [...] module installed: Encode::Detect, version 1.01
Feb 22 11:16:02.413 [349] dbg: gpg: Searching for 'gpg'
Feb 22 11:16:02.413 [349] dbg: util: current PATH is: /sbin/e-smith:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
Feb 22 11:16:02.413 [349] dbg: util: executable for gpg was found at /usr/bin/gpg
Feb 22 11:16:02.413 [349] dbg: gpg: found /usr/bin/gpg
Feb 22 11:16:02.414 [349] dbg: gpg: release trusted key id list: 5E541DC959CB8BAC7C78DFDC4056A61A5244EC45 26C900A46DD40CD5AD24F6D7DEE01987265FA05B 0C2B1D7175B852C64B3CDC716C55397824F434CE
Feb 22 11:16:02.414 [349] dbg: channel: attempting channel updates.spamassassin.org
Feb 22 11:16:02.414 [349] dbg: channel: update directory /var/lib/spamassassin/3.003002/updates_spamassassin_org
Feb 22 11:16:02.414 [349] dbg: channel: channel cf file /var/lib/spamassassin/3.003002/updates_spamassassin_org.cf
Feb 22 11:16:02.414 [349] dbg: channel: channel pre file /var/lib/spamassassin/3.003002/updates_spamassassin_org.pre
Feb 22 11:16:02.415 [349] dbg: channel: metadata version = 1655961
Feb 22 11:16:02.423 [349] dbg: dns: query failed: 2.3.3.updates.spamassassin.org => NXDOMAIN
Feb 22 11:16:02.428 [349] dbg: dns: query failed: mirrors.updates.spamassassin.org => NXDOMAIN
channel: no 'mirrors.updates.spamassassin.org' record found, channel failed
Feb 22 11:16:02.429 [349] dbg: diag: updates complete, exiting with code 4
[root@jgate ~]#

How do I fix this?

Thank you in advance,
Jim

[byte]

A quick search in the forums point me to http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=50498.0 and another note raised as a bug http://bugs.contribs.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7661.

DNS lookup issue...should resolve itself unless you are experiencing  any other issues with DNS in which case please open a new bug and provide full server detail including any contribs added.

[Tabletop]

Thank you for the reply byte.

Yes, I found both of those early on, studied them to the limits of my abilities, and have been waiting a month in hopes of the problem resolving itself.  In the bug report, it could have taken nearly a year.  How long would be likely?

SpamAssassin seems to use, what is to me, an unusual way of finding its mirrors.  As I understand it, The DNS lookup is supposed to find a version dependent TXT entry in the spamassassion.org DNS record that can be used to find the real mirrors.  My limited understanding is that "mirrors.updates.spamassassin.org" would never work.

I am stuck.  Perhaps un/reinstall SpamAssassin would work, but I don't know how to do it without fear of breaking SME.

Thanks,
Jim

[Stefano]

uninstall and reinstall pieces of code is a windows' style approach..

issues must be debugged and solved

[janet]

Tabletop

As byte has suggested, the best way to resolve this is for you to lodge a bug report at bugzilla providing the log file & your server details & history of upgrade & contribs installed etc. Link at top of forums.

[Tabletop]

I have eliminated the titular problem.  The only generally useful information is that it was indeed a DNS issue.

I have a load-balancing dual-WAN router ahead of my SME server.  This introduces many atypical possibilities that make definitive analysis difficult.  All I can do is describe my observations and actions.

In mid-Sept 2014, my Sme8admin-reported average ping jumping from 35 to 45 ms.

In late-Dec 2014, I changed the SME corporate DNS value from blank to the router gateway/DNS address.  Average ping returned to 35 ms.

In early-Feb 2015, I blanked the corporate DNS and the average ping rose to 50 ms.

On Feb 12, I again set the corporate DNS to the router gateway/DNS address.  Average ping returned to 35 ms, but this time the Spamassassin messages began for the first time.

On Mar 16, I again blanked the corporate DNS.  Average ping returned to 50 ms, but the SA messages ended.

On Mar 18, I set the corporate DNS to 8.8.8.8 (Google DNS).  Average ping returned to 35 ms and the SA messages have remained absent.

Thank you all for your suggestions.