[comp.mail.sendmail] Possible bug in 'sendmail.mx' in SunOS 4.1

rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) (05/01/91)

 It looks as if there is a bug somewhere in 'sendmail.mx' on a Sun.

 Background.

   The system I administer, mp.cs.niu.edu, is NOT a Sun.  It is running
an IDA version of sendmail.

   Mail was stuck in the queue, addressed to 'math.niu.edu' which is a Sun 3,
running SunOS 4.1, and using 'sendmail.mx', but with a 'sendmail.cf' built
from the BSD distribution rather than the Sun version.

   Symptoms.

	The message sits in the queue till it times out.  The sending
	sendmail is in the result phase, having completed the DATA
	phase, and having sent the terminating '.\r\n'.

	The receiving sendmail is still in the data phase, presumably
	trying to read.  The 'ps' command shows it is waiting.

	Examination of the queue file (both qfAA* and dfAA*) with 'od'
	shows everything to be normal.  All characters are valid ASCII'
	characters.  All lines are terminated with '\n'.  No unprintable
	characters other than '\n'.  No lines begin with a period.

	Attempts at adding an extra data to change the queue file lengths
	do not correct the problem.

	Editing the recipient in the queue file to address a different
	machine (a non-Sun) permits the mail to be correctly delivered to
	the other machine.

	'shar'ing the queue files and enclosing them in a different message
	creates another message which fails in exactly the same way.

 Most mail to this Sun goes through without trouble.  It is almost as if there
is some magic character string in this particular message which trips a bug.

 Any ideas, anybody.  (Don't bother to tell me to junk the Sun software and
install something decent.  If I administered the system I would.)


-- 
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  Neil W. Rickert, Computer Science               <rickert@cs.niu.edu>
  Northern Illinois Univ.
  DeKalb, IL 60115                                   +1-815-753-6940

rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) (05/01/91)

In article <1991May1.015144.21847@mp.cs.niu.edu> rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) writes:
> It looks as if there is a bug somewhere in 'sendmail.mx' on a Sun.

 Much egg on face.

 Looks like we are having a networking problem with our main campus router.

-- 
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  Neil W. Rickert, Computer Science               <rickert@cs.niu.edu>
  Northern Illinois Univ.
  DeKalb, IL 60115                                   +1-815-753-6940