Re: [Exim] Strange connection time

On 2002-02-04 at 15:10 -0800, Dave Doeppel wrote:
> The problem is some servers, especially MS servers, are not running an
> identd server and thus the 30 second timeout.

NO!

Exim does _NOT_ time out if the remote side behaves correctly, and
returns a RST packet when exim tries to open a connection to the auth
port (TCP/113, aka 'ident').

In TCP, a RST packet means "ReSeT -- this port is not open". In normal
operation, that leads to a "Connection refused". Exim notes that
there's no ident value and continues on.

The _problem_ here is that someone is playing stupid games with their
network and filtering packets required for operation.

If you filter operational packets then expect operational problems.

So there's no RST, so Exim keeps trying, and then gives up after 30
seconds.

So the server might have a broken network stack, or might be filtering
RST packets (so effectively has a broken network stack), or someone
inbetween might be filtering the packets.

Don't blame Exim for requiring a working network when operating on the
network. Exim does not _require_ ident. But if you set Exim up to
_use_ ident, then you require a working network.

How much clearer can this be made?
--
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.