On Sun, 29 Dec 1996, John Henders wrote:
> > pagemill-talk@???:
> > Connection timed out:
> > retry timeout exceeded
>
> But when I look at the header of the message he sent, it was actually
> recieved by our mailer the exact time it was bounced. i.e.
This happens if a host has been down for so long that it has exceeded
the final retry time (typically around 4 days). In that state, Exim
won't even bother to try it again until the next retry time is reached.
Until that time, it just bounces the message on the theory that there's
no point keeping on hammering on a closed door, and one might as well
tell the user right away. (But see optional configuration change below.)
To check if this is the case, use the exinext utility command
exinext blueworld.com
This should tell you the information Exim has about hosts for that
domain, when their next retry times are, and whether they have passed
the final retry time.
On Mon, 30 Dec 1996, Piete Brooks wrote:
> I have persuaded PH10 to change the way this is done.
Optionally...
> It used to be the case that if a host is known to be dead, then any message
> for that host was rejected as soon as it arrived (i.e. within the second).
... by default, if it wasn't yet time to try again (as described above).
> I belive that he will now (if suiotable config is set ?) try every message
> at least once before rejecting it -- I believe that is why yours has over a
> minute's delay -- it has been attempting a delivery and failing -- it may
> show up in your logs ...
If the option no_delay_after_cutoff is set for the smtp transport, then,
if the final cutoff time for all IP addresses is past, Exim will try to
deliver to those IP addresses that have not been tried since the message
arrived. This is the same as "at least once" if messages arrive singly
at reasonable intervals, but avoids retrying the same host(s) in quick
succession if a lot of messages arrive within a short time.
--
Philip Hazel University Computing Service,
ph10@??? New Museums Site, Cambridge CB2 3QG,
P.Hazel@??? England. Phone: +44 1223 334714
