Mail has started to have issues the past week or so

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#1 Thu, 10/19/2017 - 09:54
amityweb

Mail has started to have issues the past week or so

I have been using Virtualmin for a mail server for several years now, no problems, it works great. But the past week, some customers, and myself, have been experiencing intermittent cut outs. It must be the server as its several different customers in different locations, using different email clients.

I am not sure where to start as I have not changed anythign on the server, just do the usual yum updates. I have just run yum updates now in case it was anything.

Disk space has about 5Gb left, I am holding off before upgrading for more, but that should be plenty.

Or could it be memory? My server monitoring system does not report high memory at the moment. Looking back over a 12 hour period, inotifywait has a high memory usage, over 1Gb. Then inotifywait at over 600Mb, then imap-login at over 300Mb. I have a 8Gb machine.

Here is a Windows Live Mail error:-

Unable to send or receive messages for the xyz.com (charlotte) account. Header download for the 'Inbox' folder did not complete.

Server Response:
Server: 'mail.myserver.co.uk'
Windows Live Mail Error ID: 0x800CCC0E
Protocol: IMAP
Port: 993
Secure(SSL): Yes
Unable to send or receive messages for the xyz.com (charlotte) account. Your 'Drafts' folder was not polled for its unread count.

Server Response: Your IMAP command could not be sent to the server, due to non-network errors. This could, for example, indicate a lack of memory on your system.
Server: 'mail.myserver.co.uk'
Windows Live Mail Error ID: 0x800CCC0E
Protocol: IMAP
Port: 993
Secure(SSL): Yes
Unable to send or receive messages for the xyz.com (charlotte) account. Header download for the 'Drafts' folder did not complete.

Server Response:
Server: 'mail.myserver.co.uk'
Windows Live Mail Error ID: 0x800CCC0E
Protocol: IMAP
Port: 993
Secure(SSL): Yes
Thu, 10/19/2017 - 15:30
adelphia
adelphia's picture

According to MS, this is a certificate issue. Is your SSL still active and current?

Reference: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windowslive/forum/livemail-email/una...

Chris: Adelphia Interactive
Desktop: Windows 10 Pro x64
Server: Ubuntu 16.0.4.2LTS
Webmin/Virtualmin: Latest (daily updates)

Fri, 10/20/2017 - 08:13 (Reply to #2)
amityweb

The issue started to occur when I had a Comodo cert on it, installed last year. But I just changed to a LetsEncrypt in case it was anything to do with that, and the problem still persists.

Fri, 10/20/2017 - 09:21 (Reply to #3)
adelphia
adelphia's picture

Can you confirm that the domain has a valid Let's Encrypt certificate? Look under Server Configuration -> Manage SSL Certificate and make sure it says the issuer name is Let's Encrypt Authority X3 .

I too am having issues right now in that I can not receive any emails on my internal domains yet I'm not getting any error messages or bounces to the senders email.

Chris: Adelphia Interactive
Desktop: Windows 10 Pro x64
Server: Ubuntu 16.0.4.2LTS
Webmin/Virtualmin: Latest (daily updates)

Sat, 10/21/2017 - 05:00
amityweb

Yes its a valid domain, it expires in January. It works totally fine 99% of the time. Its just occasionally mail clients will report the error for 5 to 10 minutes, then come back.

Fri, 10/27/2017 - 04:00
amityweb

I have upgraded the mail server due to low disk space, thinking RAM may be an issue but I still get the issue. It used to be a 8Gb server, now its upgraded to 12Gb RAM, but the issue still exists.

Fri, 10/27/2017 - 07:02
adelphia
adelphia's picture

8GB RAM is ample, no matter what you are doing. Obviously disk space may be an issue. Just to let you know, mine is sorted completely in respect of sending and receiving but I still have a slight issue with prefixing spam messages with [SPAM]; I just don't seem to be able to find where to do that.

If you want to send me a private email, feel free although I'm not 100% sure I'm allowed to post my email here but once I've received the email I shall delete it. Just make sure you refer to this topic so I know it's from you. My email address is adelphia@live.co.uk. Once we've hooked up and I get the domain name I can try and assist more.

Chris: Adelphia Interactive
Desktop: Windows 10 Pro x64
Server: Ubuntu 16.0.4.2LTS
Webmin/Virtualmin: Latest (daily updates)

Thu, 11/02/2017 - 09:49
amityweb

Hi. Does anyone have any ideas about this? Getting a lot of irate customers and I have no idea.

I am going to try using the old Comodo SSL I had rather than Lets Encrypt, maybe it started happening when I installed Lets Encrypt.

Sat, 11/04/2017 - 06:17
noisemarine

Joe, can my post to this thread be approved, please? Not sure why it went into moderation in the first place?

Wed, 11/22/2017 - 06:00
amityweb

Still have issues! Customer this morning asked should he find an alternative provider, so not good! Some updated issues...

1) Yesterday evening about 5:30pm I could not send an email, stuck in my Outbox (I eventually lost those emails, am using Thunderbird and will blame Thunderbird for that as I copied then into the Drafts folder to resend when I get home, but they disappeared)

2) Got home and email was OK

3) Got back in office this morning and my email would not send and receive again, in Thunderbird. Opened Mail.app and got the warnings I often have the past several weeks. A couple of customers reported issues also.

4) Restarted dovecot and mail came in. Restarted postfix just in case too, as one customer using Windows Live mail had an error about the SMTP authentication being wrong (but it worked in our office yesterday when we added it to her computer).

5) Last week we could not add email accounts to 2 customer computers, different users, same domain. My email sent and received OK so assumed it was all OK, but when creating their accounts it was timing out. I restarted the whole server this time, and then it just worked for both of them, so was a server issue after all.

For info, I disabled CSF firewall briefly earlier in case it was blocking people, but still had the issue.

In summary, it seems intermittently we have problems, possibly dovecot or postfix or both related as a restart of those makes it work.

Does anyone know how would I debug this, where is the dovecot and postfox log, nothing in /var/logs for those. I need to try to find the source of this error. I don't understand why after years of working fine, its now starting to play up.

Thanks

Wed, 11/22/2017 - 06:20
amityweb

Couple of more issues reported by a customer, and I also get these issues too. Both using Thunderbird:

It regularly struggles to save messages to the sent folder, re-trying 2/3 times before telling me that the connection to the server has timed out. I also often get "There was an error saving the message to Drafts." Presumably also due to connectivity with the server issues.

I click "Get messages" at the end of the day (5-6pm) and nothing arrives. Logging on the following morning there are messages that were sent through the course of the previous afternoon. So it seems that messages are getting held up in transit.

Wed, 11/22/2017 - 06:52
amityweb

When I connect with the issues, like server timeout or something, the maillog shows only this for my IP address:

Nov 22 12:45:44 mail postfix/smtpd[28952]: warning: 12.34.56.78: hostname 12.34.56.78.hns.net verification failed: Name or service not known
Nov 22 12:45:44 mail postfix/smtpd[28952]: connect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:45:44 mail postfix/smtpd[28960]: warning: 12.34.56.78: hostname 12.34.56.78.hns.net verification failed: Name or service not known
Nov 22 12:45:44 mail postfix/smtpd[28960]: connect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:45:44 mail postfix/smtpd[28954]: warning: 12.34.56.78: hostname 12.34.56.78.hns.net verification failed: Name or service not known
Nov 22 12:45:44 mail postfix/smtpd[28954]: connect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:45:44 mail postfix/smtpd[28958]: warning: 12.34.56.78: hostname 12.34.56.78.hns.net verification failed: Name or service not known
Nov 22 12:45:44 mail postfix/smtpd[28958]: connect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:45:44 mail postfix/smtpd[28956]: warning: 12.34.56.78: hostname 12.34.56.78.hns.net verification failed: Name or service not known
Nov 22 12:45:44 mail postfix/smtpd[28956]: connect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:45:45 mail postfix/smtpd[28960]: disconnect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:45:45 mail postfix/smtpd[28958]: disconnect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:45:45 mail postfix/smtpd[28952]: disconnect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:45:45 mail postfix/smtpd[28956]: disconnect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:45:45 mail postfix/smtpd[28954]: disconnect from unknown[12.34.56.78]

But when I connect successfully for all my email accounts, it shows the above, plus other logs. The othe rlogs are missing when it fails:

Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30137]: warning: 12.34.56.78: hostname 12.34.56.78.hns.net verification failed: Name or service not known
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30137]: connect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30135]: warning: 12.34.56.78: hostname 12.34.56.78.hns.net verification failed: Name or service not known
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30135]: connect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30139]: warning: 12.34.56.78: hostname 12.34.56.78.hns.net verification failed: Name or service not known
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30139]: connect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30141]: warning: 12.34.56.78: hostname 12.34.56.78.hns.net verification failed: Name or service not known
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30141]: connect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30133]: warning: 12.34.56.78: hostname 12.34.56.78.hns.net verification failed: Name or service not known
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30133]: connect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30139]: disconnect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30135]: disconnect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30141]: disconnect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30133]: disconnect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:49:04 mail postfix/smtpd[30137]: disconnect from unknown[12.34.56.78]
Nov 22 12:49:17 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: client in: AUTH#0111#011PLAIN#011service=imap#011secured#011lip=87.65.43.21#011rip=12.34.56.78#011lport=143#011rport=59962#011resp=<hidden>
Nov 22 12:49:17 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: pam(laurence.mydomain,12.34.56.78): lookup service=dovecot
Nov 22 12:49:17 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: pam(laurence.mydomain,12.34.56.78): #1/1 style=1 msg=Password:
Nov 22 12:49:17 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: passwd(laurence.mydomain,12.34.56.78): lookup
Nov 22 12:49:17 mail dovecot: imap-login: Login: user=<laurence.mydomain>, method=PLAIN, rip=12.34.56.78, lip=87.65.43.21, mpid=30891, TLS
Nov 22 12:49:17 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: client in: AUTH#0111#011PLAIN#011service=imap#011secured#011lip=87.65.43.21#011rip=12.34.56.78#011lport=143#011rport=59965#011resp=<hidden>
Nov 22 12:49:17 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: pam(alerts.mydomain2,12.34.56.78): lookup service=dovecot
Nov 22 12:49:17 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: pam(alerts.mydomain2,12.34.56.78): #1/1 style=1 msg=Password:
Nov 22 12:49:17 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: passwd(alerts.mydomain2,12.34.56.78): lookup
Nov 22 12:49:17 mail dovecot: imap-login: Login: user=<alerts.mydomain2>, method=PLAIN, rip=12.34.56.78, lip=87.65.43.21, mpid=30893, TLS
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: client in: AUTH#0111#011PLAIN#011service=imap#011secured#011lip=87.65.43.21#011rip=12.34.56.78#011lport=143#011rport=59966#011resp=<hidden>
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: pam(info.mydomain2,12.34.56.78): lookup service=dovecot
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: pam(info.mydomain2,12.34.56.78): #1/1 style=1 msg=Password:
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: passwd(info.mydomain2,12.34.56.78): lookup
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: imap-login: Login: user=<info.mydomain2>, method=PLAIN, rip=12.34.56.78, lip=87.65.43.21, mpid=30895, TLS
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: client in: AUTH#0111#011PLAIN#011service=imap#011secured#011lip=87.65.43.21#011rip=12.34.56.78#011lport=143#011rport=59970#011resp=<hidden>
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: pam(info.mydomain,12.34.56.78): lookup service=dovecot
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: pam(info.mydomain,12.34.56.78): #1/1 style=1 msg=Password:
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: passwd(info.mydomain,12.34.56.78): lookup
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: imap-login: Login: user=<info.mydomain>, method=PLAIN, rip=12.34.56.78, lip=87.65.43.21, mpid=30897, TLS
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: client in: AUTH#0111#011PLAIN#011service=imap#011secured#011lip=87.65.43.21#011rip=12.34.56.78#011lport=143#011rport=59971#011resp=<hidden>
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: pam(laurence.mydomain2,12.34.56.78): lookup service=dovecot
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: pam(laurence.mydomain2,12.34.56.78): #1/1 style=1 msg=Password:
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: auth: Debug: passwd(laurence.mydomain2,12.34.56.78): lookup
Nov 22 12:49:18 mail dovecot: imap-login: Login: user=<laurence.mydomain2>, method=PLAIN, rip=12.34.56.78, lip=87.65.43.21, mpid=30899, TLS
Wed, 11/22/2017 - 07:14
amityweb

I also see this in the logs sometimes, could there be limits assigned, and with more and more users the server is reaching some sort of limits so blocking people? Could it be for people who have several email accounts on their servers? The only ones who have reported the issues so far all have several email accounts connecting from their computer, or IP. Although some customers with lots of email accounts have not reported issues (yet).

Nov 22 12:51:54 mail postfix/anvil[32139]: statistics: max connection count 5 for (submission:12.34.56.78) at Nov 22 12:42:37

Wed, 11/22/2017 - 07:26
amityweb

I also get this in Apple Mail sometimes:

The connection to the server “mail.mydomain.co.uk” on port 143 timed out.

Wed, 11/22/2017 - 09:23
amityweb

*Deleted

Mon, 11/27/2017 - 04:44
amityweb

HI. Just wondered if anyone can help? At the moment I have to restart dovecot and postfix daily to get it to work. I think its mainly dovecot.

Mon, 11/27/2017 - 06:08
amityweb

I have enabled dovecot logs in its conf file, and when it failed again earlier, I found these logs around about that time:

Nov 27 12:03:19 master: Warning: Killed with signal 15 (by pid=7251 uid=0 code=kill)
Nov 27 12:03:19 imap: Info: Server shutting down. bytes=940/3222
Nov 27 12:03:19 imap: Info: Server shutting down. bytes=153/1439
Nov 27 12:03:19 imap: Info: Server shutting down. bytes=255/1111
Nov 27 12:03:19 imap: Info: Server shutting down. bytes=404/1149
Nov 27 12:03:19 imap: Info: Server shutting down. bytes=535/3879
Nov 27 12:03:19 imap: Info: Server shutting down. bytes=1859799/7299

and that list of Server shutting down is very long.

Mon, 11/27/2017 - 06:15
amityweb

Also fond this:

Nov 27 12:13:19 master: Warning: service(imap-login): process_limit reached, client connections are being dropped
Mon, 11/27/2017 - 06:30
amityweb

If I add the following to /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf default_process_limit = 2000 I get this warning on restart:

Starting Dovecot Imap: doveconf: Warning: service auth { client_limit=4096 } is lower than required under max. load (6048)
doveconf: Warning: service anvil { client_limit=1000 } is lower than required under max. load (4003)
Warning: service auth { client_limit=4096 } is lower than required under max. load (6048)
Warning: service anvil { client_limit=1000 } is lower than required under max. load (4003)
Mon, 11/27/2017 - 07:10
amityweb

After playing around with some values on the following, I dont have that error, and have increased the limits, so will monitor if this worked

default_process_limit=500
default_client_limit=1200
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