pinkas@cadev4.intel.com (Israel Pinkas ~) (03/17/88)
My site has recently started to run into network-wide problems with MH.
Sending mail sometimes results in the following error messages:
post: problem initializing server; [BHST] no servers available
send: message not delivered to anyone
This problem appears and disappears without any apparent reason. When the
problem occurs, all machines on the network are affected and give the same
error.
We are running on Vaxen of all sizes, under Ultrix 2.0. MH was compiled
with the following options:
version: MH 6.5 #47[UCI] (wisper) of Fri Apr 3 11:58:13 EST 1987
options: [BANG] [ATZ] [ISI] [MHRC] [WHATNOW] [BSD42] [BERK] [TTYD]
[DUMB] [MHE] [NETWORK] [BIND] [RPATHS] [SBACKUP='"#"']
[SENDMTS] [SMTP]
I have access to source code, but I would prefer not to have to recompile
as this is the standard Ultrix setting.
-Israel
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: The above are my personal opinions, and in no way represent
the opinions of Intel Corporation. In no way should the above be taken
to be a statement of Intel.
UUCP: {amdcad,decwrl,hplabs,oliveb,pur-ee,qantel}!intelca!mipos3!cadev4!pinkas
ARPA: pinkas%cadev4.intel.com@relay.cs.net
CSNET: pinkas%cadev4.intel.com
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"You can do more with a kind word and a gun than with just a kind word"
-Al Caponepb1v+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU (Patrick Barron) (03/20/88)
It means that the SMTP server (probably a /usr/lib/sendmail -bd) responsible for accepting the message was either not running, or was not accepting incoming connections due to load (or perhaps that it was just not reachable if it's on a different part of your network). If you check in your mtstailor file, it will show you what host that is (mine is set to "localhost", but yours probably isn't since all machines on your network are affected). --Pat.
ted%braggvax.arpa@ICS.UCI.EDU (03/21/88)
The message
post: problem initializing server; [BHST] no servers available
send: message not delivered to anyone
means that MH cannot contact a sendmail daemon to hand off its mail to.
The file /usr/local/lib/mh/mtstailor should have a line in it called
'servers' which says where (on what machines) for MH to look for smtp
servers. You should check the machine(s) listed there to make sure that their
sendmails are happy. It's possible that they are getting swamped and refusing
connections. Do you route all outgoing mail through the same sendmail? If
so, it would explain why all the mail on your net stops at once. A good
test for sendmails and network problems is to do a
telnet hostname 25
to see if the the smtp server responds.
Ted Nolan
ted@braggvax.arpa