[Mailman-Users] list stop sending - no changes to server or mailman in months

[John Adamski]

I believe I found the cause of the problem; SMTPHOST = 'localhost' in
mm_cfg.py was commented out and a line with the fully qualified server
name as added.  Switching which was commented out fix the problem.  I
must have done that when trying to resolve the Exchange sending issue.
Or one of my co-workers was trying to help me out.  Either way I am now
getting the correct number of recips in the smtp log file.  I got 50
recips on a test email to a list that has 50 members, before the switch
would only get 1 recips.

Now I get to go have fun getting umbrella list working here. Woohoo.

Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions.

John


-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Sapiro [mailto:msapiro at value.net] 
Sent: Saturday, May 27, 2006 10:34 PM
To: John Adamski; mailman-users at python.org
Subject: Re: [Mailman-Users] list stop sending - no changes to server
ormailman in months

John Adamski wrote:
>
>The post & SMTP logs seem to indicate it got the email and sent it ok, 
>but its not getting there.  Exchange logs seem to indicate it got the 
>email from mailman and is sending it. 
>
>
>Where can I go to verify who,what,when mailman sent a email.  I don't 
>know mailman's internals so not sure if it generates a email per 
>memeber on a list or sends a email with all member on one email.  So 
>not sure what I should be looking for to resolve this issue. 


Mailman's 'smtp' and 'smtp-failure' logs will tell you about delivery
to the outgoing smtp server. If there is an entry in the 'smtp' log of
the form '%(msg_message-id)s smtp to %(listname)s for %(#recips)d
recips, completed in %(time).3f seconds' and no entry in the
'smtp-failure' log, Mailman has successfully transferred the message
to the outgoing MTA. If bounces are subsequently returned, they will
be noted in the 'bounce' log if bounce processing is enabled.

As far as how Mailman delivers, this depends on a number of things. The
basic controls are Defaults.py/mm_cfg.py options SMTP_MAX_RCPTS
(default 500) and SMTP_MAX_SESSIONS_PER_CONNECTION (default 0). These
defaults say messages should be delivered to the MTA in chunks with a
maximum of 500 recipients per chunk and as many chunks as necessary
with one connect to the server. SMTP_MAX_RCPTS adjusts the chunk size,
and if SMTP_MAX_SESSIONS_PER_CONNECTION is > 0, after that many chunks
are sent, Mailman will close the SMTP connection and re-open it for
the next chunk.

VERP and personalization will reduce the chunk size to 1 - i.e., each
recipient will be sent to individually.

In any case, there will be only one 'smtp' log entry for a successful
message send indicating the total #recips and time, regardless of how
many chunks are sent.

See the Defaults.py/mm_cfg.py settings for VERP_DELIVERY_INTERVAL and
OWNERS_CAN_ENABLE_PERSONALIZATION and the list's personalize setting
if OWNERS_CAN_ENABLE_PERSONALIZATION = Yes.

As far as resolving the issue, the problem seems to be out of Mailman's
hands based on what you say about the post and smtp logs. You may be
able to work around the issue by mm_cfg.py settings like for example

SMTP_MAX_RCPTS = 5
SMTP_MAX_SESSIONS_PER_CONNECTION = 1

but this may not help depending on what the actual problem is.

-- 
Mark Sapiro <msapiro at value.net>       The highway is for gamblers,
San Francisco Bay Area, California    better use your sense - B. Dylan