Mailing List Archive

Locked files?
Our systems are set up to mail some significant logs to a central user
who 'keeps an eye on them'

These can be fairly large, as they are made up of a small summary and a
full days log (up to 200 KB)

Yesterday, I saw this:

Feb 18 22:57:38 reptile qmail: 856303058.536836 delivery 4752: deferral:
File_has_been_locked_for_30_seconds_straight._(#4.3.0)/

Never seen this happen though... Can somebody explain me *what* this means?


full logs of what happend...

Feb 18 22:57:10 reptile qmail: 856303030.254003 new msg 10968
Feb 18 22:57:10 reptile qmail: 856303030.254435 info msg 10968: bytes 943 from <root@reptile.rug.ac.be> qp 8408 uid 0
Feb 18 22:57:10 reptile qmail: 856303030.470378 starting delivery 4753: msg 10968 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:57:11 reptile qmail: 856303031.251930 new msg 10974
Feb 18 22:57:11 reptile qmail: 856303031.252305 info msg 10974: bytes 371 from <root@reptile.rug.ac.be> qp 8411 uid 0
Feb 18 22:57:11 reptile qmail: 856303031.423507 starting delivery 4754: msg 10974 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:57:12 reptile qmail: 856303032.201462 new msg 10609
Feb 18 22:57:12 reptile qmail: 856303032.201829 info msg 10609: bytes 2405 from <root@reptile.rug.ac.be> qp 8427 uid 0
Feb 18 22:57:12 reptile qmail: 856303032.393060 starting delivery 4755: msg 10609 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:57:13 reptile qmail: 856303033.204990 new msg 10978
Feb 18 22:57:13 reptile qmail: 856303033.205360 info msg 10978: bytes 21803 from <root@reptile.rug.ac.be> qp 8433 uid 0
Feb 18 22:57:13 reptile qmail: 856303033.483055 starting delivery 4756: msg 10978 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:57:13 reptile qmail: 856303033.483350 new msg 10977
Feb 18 22:57:13 reptile qmail: 856303033.483587 info msg 10977: bytes 2250 from <root@reptile.rug.ac.be> qp 8438 uid 0
Feb 18 22:57:13 reptile qmail: 856303033.938656 starting delivery 4757: msg 10977 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:57:14 reptile qmail: 856303034.725550 delivery 4751: success: 206.48.177.11_accepted_message./Remote_host_said:_250_WAA10191_Message_accepted_for_delivery/
Feb 18 22:57:14 reptile qmail: 856303034.961478 end msg 10607
Feb 18 22:57:15 reptile qmail: 856303035.716559 new msg 10607
Feb 18 22:57:15 reptile qmail: 856303035.716947 info msg 10607: bytes 136307 from <root@reptile.rug.ac.be> qp 8454 uid 0
Feb 18 22:57:16 reptile qmail: 856303036.569944 starting delivery 4758: msg 10607 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:57:16 reptile qmail: 856303036.816483 new msg 10966
Feb 18 22:57:16 reptile qmail: 856303036.816842 info msg 10966: bytes 1049 from <root@reptile.rug.ac.be> qp 8460 uid 0
Feb 18 22:57:17 reptile qmail: 856303037.347038 starting delivery 4759: msg 10966 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:57:38 reptile qmail: 856303058.536836 delivery 4752: deferral: File_has_been_locked_for_30_seconds_straight._(#4.3.0)/
Feb 18 22:57:40 reptile qmail: 856303060.626962 delivery 4753: deferral: File_has_been_locked_for_30_seconds_straight._(#4.3.0)/
Feb 18 22:57:41 reptile qmail: 856303061.516744 delivery 4754: deferral: File_has_been_locked_for_30_seconds_straight._(#4.3.0)/
Feb 18 22:57:42 reptile qmail: 856303062.606719 delivery 4755: deferral: File_has_been_locked_for_30_seconds_straight._(#4.3.0)/
Feb 18 22:57:43 reptile qmail: 856303063.626743 delivery 4756: deferral: File_has_been_locked_for_30_seconds_straight._(#4.3.0)/
Feb 18 22:57:44 reptile qmail: 856303064.236672 delivery 4757: deferral: File_has_been_locked_for_30_seconds_straight._(#4.3.0)/
Feb 18 22:57:46 reptile qmail: 856303066.796822 delivery 4758: deferral: File_has_been_locked_for_30_seconds_straight._(#4.3.0)/
Feb 18 22:57:47 reptile qmail: 856303067.476722 delivery 4759: deferral: File_has_been_locked_for_30_seconds_straight._(#4.3.0)/
Feb 18 22:58:49 reptile qmail: 856303129.599316 starting delivery 4760: msg 10958 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:58:49 reptile qmail: 856303129.863140 delivery 4760: success: did_1+0+0/
Feb 18 22:58:49 reptile qmail: 856303129.941474 end msg 10958
Feb 18 22:58:52 reptile qmail: 856303132.020241 starting delivery 4761: msg 10968 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:58:52 reptile qmail: 856303132.090837 starting delivery 4762: msg 10974 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:58:52 reptile qmail: 856303132.239925 starting delivery 4763: msg 10609 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:58:52 reptile qmail: 856303132.336262 delivery 4761: success: did_1+0+0/
Feb 18 22:58:52 reptile qmail: 856303132.397856 delivery 4762: success: did_1+0+0/
Feb 18 22:58:52 reptile qmail: 856303132.485298 end msg 10968
Feb 18 22:58:52 reptile qmail: 856303132.523214 end msg 10974
Feb 18 22:58:52 reptile qmail: 856303132.580202 delivery 4763: success: did_1+0+0/
Feb 18 22:58:52 reptile qmail: 856303132.624142 end msg 10609
Feb 18 22:58:54 reptile qmail: 856303134.654028 starting delivery 4764: msg 10978 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:58:54 reptile qmail: 856303134.709814 starting delivery 4765: msg 10977 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:58:54 reptile qmail: 856303134.840209 delivery 4764: success: did_1+0+0/
Feb 18 22:58:54 reptile qmail: 856303134.908265 end msg 10978
Feb 18 22:58:54 reptile qmail: 856303134.912982 delivery 4765: success: did_1+0+0/
Feb 18 22:58:54 reptile qmail: 856303134.976809 end msg 10977
Feb 18 22:59:18 reptile qmail: 856303158.063273 starting delivery 4766: msg 10607 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:59:18 reptile qmail: 856303158.093512 starting delivery 4767: msg 10966 to local bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be
Feb 18 22:59:18 reptile qmail: 856303158.408040 delivery 4766: success: did_1+0+0/
Feb 18 22:59:18 reptile qmail: 856303158.505495 end msg 10607
Feb 18 22:59:18 reptile qmail: 856303158.588890 delivery 4767: success: did_1+0+0/
Feb 18 22:59:18 reptile qmail: 856303158.637271 end msg 10966


(yes, I know I should to a su nobody -c "mail bla bla" instead running
this stuff a root...)


*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*
Wim Vandeputte --So pound the nails in tight--
Re: Locked files? [ In reply to ]
[ Comfort is Treachery <wvdputte@reptile.rug.ac.be> 1997-2 -19 23:30 +0100
]
|---
|
| Our systems are set up to mail some significant logs to a central user
| who 'keeps an eye on them'
|
| These can be fairly large, as they are made up of a small summary and a
| full days log (up to 200 KB)
|
| Yesterday, I saw this:
|
| Feb 18 22:57:38 reptile qmail: 856303058.536836 delivery 4752: deferral:
| File_has_been_locked_for_30_seconds_straight._(#4.3.0)/
|
| Never seen this happen though... Can somebody explain me *what* this
| means?

It means qmail-alias has tried for 30 seconds straight to aquire a lock on
the mailbox in question and failed. (The code is in qmail-alias.c, easy
to find.) There may be several reasons for this: Perhaps, if reptile was
extremely heavily loaded at the time, a previous delivery actually took
that long to finish. Or maybe a mail client was holding the lock. I
think it is also possible for a lock to be held for an indefinite period
if an NFS client locked the file and then crashed, but in your case the
deliveries succeede just a minute and a half later, so that is not a very
likely explanation.

You might consider delivering to a maildir instead. Then this problem
just doesn't happen. I get all my mail delivered to maildirs, even though
my mail client doesn't understand maildirs. It's just a question of
running maildir2mbox on demand...

- Harald
Re: Locked files? [ In reply to ]
On Thu, 20 Feb 1997, Harald Hanche-Olsen wrote:


> | Feb 18 22:57:38 reptile qmail: 856303058.536836 delivery 4752: deferral:
> | File_has_been_locked_for_30_seconds_straight._(#4.3.0)/


> It means qmail-alias has tried for 30 seconds straight to aquire a lock on
> the mailbox in question and failed. (The code is in qmail-alias.c, easy

ok, that explains... (Pine session was probably locking the Mailbox)


A bit confusing though... File locked.... I thought it was refering to
the queued file (with inode ...), never thought of the Mailbox...

*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*
Devilbunny <bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be>

"Be there now blown clear the Human Race what use is there of figures then
wrote wordless Statistic Names and Numbers now seem out of place
a paper representing Life blowing down the Street"
-- NIVEK OGRE
Re: Locked files? [ In reply to ]
DevilBunny <bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be> writes:
>
>
>A bit confusing though... File locked.... I thought it was refering to
>the queued file (with inode ...), never thought of the Mailbox...
>

That's a good point. Dan, perhaps the message would be clearer if
it said "Mailbox file locked..."?

-Greg
--
Greg Andrews West Coast Online
Unix System Administrator 5800 Redwood Drive
gerg@wco.com Rohnert Park CA 94928
(yes, 'greg' backwards) 1-800-WCO-INTERNET
Re: Locked files? [ In reply to ]
On Thu, 20 Feb 1997, Greg Andrews wrote:
> DevilBunny <bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be> writes:
> >A bit confusing though... File locked.... I thought it was refering to
> >the queued file (with inode ...), never thought of the Mailbox...

> That's a good point. Dan, perhaps the message would be clearer if
> it said "Mailbox file locked..."?

/home/xyz/Mailbox file locked? Or Maildir... Absolute path to problem
file/dir

*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*-=-*
Devilbunny <bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be>

"Be there now blown clear the Human Race what use is there of figures then
wrote wordless Statistic Names and Numbers now seem out of place
a paper representing Life blowing down the Street"
-- NIVEK OGRE
Re: Locked files? [ In reply to ]
DevilBunny <bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be> writes:
>On Thu, 20 Feb 1997, Greg Andrews wrote:
>> DevilBunny <bunbun@reptile.rug.ac.be> writes:
>> >A bit confusing though... File locked.... I thought it was refering to
>> >the queued file (with inode ...), never thought of the Mailbox...
>
>> That's a good point. Dan, perhaps the message would be clearer if
>> it said "Mailbox file locked..."?
>
>/home/xyz/Mailbox file locked? Or Maildir... Absolute path to problem
>file/dir
>

I don't think Maildir files need locking, per se.

-Greg
--
Greg Andrews West Coast Online
Unix System Administrator 5800 Redwood Drive
gerg@wco.com Rohnert Park CA 94928
(yes, 'greg' backwards) 1-800-WCO-INTERNET