Re: [Exim] Double messages

Top Page
Delete this message
Reply to this message
Author: Philip Hazel
Date:  
To: Marilyn Davis
CC: exim-users
Subject: Re: [Exim] Double messages
On Wed, 22 Mar 2000, Marilyn Davis wrote:

> This last time, I did a thorough study of the history of the duplicate
> message and read everything in the Exim manual about spool locking and
> I'm at a loss to figure out what to do.


[snip]

> 2000-03-17 11:28:59 12W2Qd-0006Nx-00 <= owner-mln-chat@???

U=majordom P=local S=3247
id=Pine.LNX.4.10.10003171125340.672-100000@???

[snip]

> Now, apparently this process has given up and never again tries any
> deliveries but has left the lock on the spool file:
>
> 2000-03-17 11:45:49 Start queue run: pid=24659
> 2000-03-17 11:45:49 12W2Qd-0006Nx-00 Spool file is locked


I have seen stuck processes before, but usually when an *incoming*
TCP/IP call got dropped, not an outgoing one. It seems to be a problem
in the TCP/IP stack such that a system call fails to time out. A way to
get out of this situation is to use exiwhat to find out which process is
working on the message, and kill that process. Then the message is no
longer locked, and the next queue run will pick it up again. It *should*
be proof against duplicates.

> Here we recycled the modem, the computer stayed up, and who generated
> this? You can tell by the id that it is the same message.
>
> 2000-03-18 16:52:26 12WTxC-0000Fn-00 <= owner-mln-chat@???

U=majordom P=local S=3247
id=Pine.LNX.4.10.10003171125340.672-100000@???

By the Pine message id it's the same message, but it looks from the log
that majordom resubmitted it to Exim. Exim has given it a new Exim id.
So the problem is why did Majordomo resubmit the message over 24 hours
later? I think this is unrelated to the stuck delivery.

-- 
Philip Hazel            University of Cambridge Computing Service,
ph10@???      Cambridge, England. Phone: +44 1223 334714.