Quoting Doug <genesys2001uk@???>:
> Hi all,
>
> I have a problem with some mail on my system. Whenever a queue runner
> comes across a message with a locked spool file, it will not attempt
> to deliver the message for another 4 hours or so.
>
> We see the following, and the next thing we see in the logs for this
> message would be the delivery some 4 hours later.
>
> <DATE> <ID> Spool file is locked (another process is handling this message)
>
> Has anyone seen similar symptoms and does anyone know of a retry rule
> tweak to capture these messages?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> D.A.
>
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I'm seeing this more often lately, and it seems to be only mail going
to hosts which
implement a level of graylisting or tar trap.
The host graylists, but doesn't send a temporary error, just keeps the
connection alive
for an obscenely long time, long enough that the next time a queue
runner comes by, the
previous runner is still holding the file and then it will get
deferred for as long as
the retry time is.
This is particularly bad with Barracuda spam filters, which seem to
get "dead" SMTP
connections quite often, where the SMTP process never finished, just
hangs during DATA or
some such and Exim will diligently try to finish it until it finally
times out. E-mails
to Barracuda about the issue were unanswered (we run a couple of them
and the issue has
been verified with other outside mail server sources).
I haven't found a way to resolve it, except to just accept the fact
that many mail
servers and gateways on the internet are "broken".
Brent Jones
brent@???
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