On Thu, 1 May 2003, Holger Nilsson wrote:
> I am using Exim 3.36 under Linux in a setting where incoming mail is
> saved in the users' Unix mailboxes (flat files) in the spool directory
> /var/spool/mail. This has worked well for a long time.
>
> I have now run into problems when I created a new user with the
> user name 'db'. It turns out that the MTA (I think) used a directory
> named db under /var/spool/mail where is stores files retry,
If you are using Exim, you should NOT have configured it to use
/var/spool/mail as its spool directory! Exim needs its own spool
directory for storing its data. This is normally called
/var/spool/exim
[This is the first time I have heard of a system where it was called
something else.]
> What is the appropriate solution for this problem? Is there a way to
> rename the directory (or to move it)? Or do I have to rename my
> user? I have tried to go through the specification without any luck,
> but I suppose there is an answer somewhere...
1. Rebuild your Exim to use a more sensible spool directory. (You could
just change the runtime configuration, but it is more sensible to
rebuild.)
2. Stop the Exim daemon, if one is running.
3. Install the new Exim - as soon as an Exim process runs, it will make
the new directory and start using it.
4. Restart the daemon.
5. Move any files from the old input and msglog subdirectories to the new ones.
6. You can discard the db files - they will be rebuilt.
7. You will have to think about what to do with the log files. If you do
the whole process with the machine in maintenance mode, you can move
them. Otherwise, you'll have to think about how to merge them or
whatever.
--
Philip Hazel University of Cambridge Computing Service,
ph10@??? Cambridge, England. Phone: +44 1223 334714.
