[Mailman-Users] zero-length config.pck file

[Mark Sapiro]

On 10/18/19 3:46 PM, David Newman wrote:
> 
> I've restored the config.pck file from a backup and things seem to be OK
> now.


If there was a config.pck.tmp.hhh.ppp with (hhh is the host name and ppp
is the PID of the process doing the updating) or a config.pck.last with
appropriate size and time stamp, those would have been good and more
recent that your backup.

The process for saving a list is

write config.pck.tmp.hhh.ppp
    this is the updated config.pck
remove config.pck.last
hard link config.pck.last to config.pck
    now the previous config.pck has two names
rename config.pck.tmp.hhh.ppp to config.pck
    finally the new file is named config.pck

See the definition of _save() in Mailman/MailList.py

> Just checking, though:
> 
> 1. Have others encountered config.pck corruption from power loss?


Yes, there have been reports on this list.


> 2. (putting on my tinfoil paranoid hat) Is there any chance the file
> corruption occurred due to an intrusion attempt, and not the power loss?


Extremely unlikely. Much more likely is that particular list was in the
process of being saved when the power went off.


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