Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 11:11:59 -0700
From: "Jeff V. Merkey" <jmerkey@vger.timpanogas.org>
To: "Henning P. Schmiedehausen" <hps@tanstaafl.de>
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: sendmail fails to deliver mail with attachments in /var/spool/mqueue
Message-ID: <20001111111159.C9464@vger.timpanogas.org>
In-Reply-To: <3A0C427A.E015E58A@timpanogas.org>, <3A0C6E01.EFA10590@timpanogas.org> <8uji8q$1ru$1@forge.tanstaafl.de>
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In-Reply-To: <8uji8q$1ru$1@forge.tanstaafl.de>; from hps@tanstaafl.de on Sat, Nov 11, 2000 at 01:40:42PM +0000
Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org

On Sat, Nov 11, 2000 at 01:40:42PM +0000, Henning P. Schmiedehausen wrote:
> jmerkey@timpanogas.org (Jeff V. Merkey) writes:
> 
> 
> >We got to the bottom of the sendmail problem.  The line:
> 
> > -O QueueLA=20 
> 
> >and
> 
> > -O RefuseLA=18
> 
> >Need to be cranked up in sendmail.cf to something high since the
> >background VM on a very busy Linux box seems to exceed this which causes
> >large emails to get stuck in the /var/spool/mqueue directory for long
> >periods of time.  Since vger is getting hammered with FTP all the time,
> >and is rarely idle.  This also explains what Richard was seeing with VM
> >thrashing in a box with low memory.  
> 
> So what? This is written in the documentation of the program? You do read
> documentation, do you?
> 
> >The problem of dropping connections on 2.4 was related to the O RefuseLA
> >settings.  The defaults  in the RedHat, Suse, and OpenLinux RPMs are
> >clearly set too low for modern Linux kernels.  You may want them cranked
> >up to 100 or something if you want sendmail to always work.  
> 
> These settings are for single user / small user numbers boxes.
> 
> If you're using an out of the vendor box distribution configuration
> for a high traffic server, you're nuts. Or ignorant. Or dumb. Or your
> consultant is an idiot.
> 
> 	Regards
> 		Henning


I guess all customers are idiots then, since about 100+ people who were
using our release downloaded it, and had these problems with sendmail.  This
disconnect of yours is about what I would expect from someone in a University.
Some of us don't have the luxury of being able to pontificate in a Univ
environment -- we have to make a living from Linux -- and provide payroll
for the people on this list who actually do the core work on Linux.  

If there were not a commercialization effort around Linux, it would still
be unknown, like TMOK or a lot of other kernels sitting in universities
somewhere not being deployed.  It's the commercialization effort that made
Linux a household word.  NT and NetWare servers don't stop forwarding 
emails when the load average gets too high -- they just work out of the
box, and hopefully, no so will Linux (our distribution does now since 
this problem in fixed).

Now we know that sendmail has problems on Linux based on the this load
average interpretation, which we would not have known if someone had 
not raised the issue.  

Jeff

  
> 
> 
> -- 
> Dipl.-Inf. (Univ.) Henning P. Schmiedehausen       -- Geschaeftsfuehrer
> INTERMETA - Gesellschaft fuer Mehrwertdienste mbH     hps@intermeta.de
> 
> Am Schwabachgrund 22  Fon.: 09131 / 50654-0   info@intermeta.de
> D-91054 Buckenhof     Fax.: 09131 / 50654-20   
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