Subject: linux v2.0: networking & sendmail changes?

From: Derek Lee <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 23:14:51 -0400

I read the Changes file in the distribution of linux-2.0
There are some comments about the networking setup and sendmail filelocking.
Do they affect debian users?

(1) Networking:
	They suggest replacing 'route add -net 127.0.0.1' with 
	'route add -net 127.0.0.0' in the network files.
	I found:
		ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1
		route add 127.0.0.1
	in my /etc/init.d/network file. Is this okay?

(2) Sendmail:
	Something about file-locking conventions. Does the debian
	sendmail package obey this? I remember something unconventional
	about the debian package.

--Derek Lee

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From: Rob Leslie <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Jun 1996 01:43:45 -0400

> Do they affect debian users?
[...]
> 	about the debian package.

The newest sendmail packages have been compiled to use flock() file locking as
recommended by the kernel notes.

-- 
Robert Leslie
[email-masked]

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From: Craig Sanders <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Jun 1996 23:47:42 +1000 (EST)

> recommended by the kernel notes.

One site I installed debian on uses sendmail.  There are several dial
in users, mostly using pop3d to retrieve their mail.  

Under some circumstances (*see below), pop3d hangs - leaving a large
temporary file in /tmp and also leaving the user's mail file locked.

The mailbox stays locked until the pop3d process is killed.  Meanwhile
mail can not be delivered to that user.  As this is on a small
hobbyist/bbs type system, that might be a day or so before the admin
notices the problem.  Not good.

Anyone out there seen anything like this?  Got a fix for it?

* circumstances are unknown at this stage - appears to be related to
size of mailbox file but doesn't happen often enough for a common
pattern to emerge.  As far as I know, it's only happened when a user
was downloading a mail file which contained one or more large uuencoded
files.  My guess is that it's an obscure bug in pop3d triggered by
either a) mailbox file too large for it to cope with or b) user
terminating the mail download too early/at the wrong moment because
they're getting bored waiting or c) something about some uuencoded files
is confusing the hell out of pop3d.

Craig

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From: Scott Barker <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Jun 1996 08:55:07 -0600 (MDT)

> recommended by the kernel notes.

But make sure to used *hashed* database files. If you use dbm files, you get
problems. The dbm library must have been compiled to use fcntl (or lockf).

-- 
Scott Barker
Linux Consultant
[email-masked]
http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~barkers/   (under construction)

[ I try to reply to all e-mail within 5 days. If you don't  ]
[ get a response by then, I probably didn't get your e-mail ]
[ (we have a sometimes sporadic connection to the internet) ]

"Tell the Truth and run."
   - Yugoslav proverb

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From: [email-masked] (Miquel van Smoorenburg)
Date: 13 Jun 1996 20:49:08 +0200

In article <[email-masked]>,
>notices the problem.  Not good.

Install the qualcomm popper instead - current debian version is 2.1.4-2,
but I'll release a 2.1.4-3 tomorrow because the previous one has a
serious locking problem. Other than that - it works beautifully.

Package name is qpopper-2.1.4-3

Mike.
-- 
  Miquel van    | Cistron Internet Services   --    Alphen aan den Rijn.
  Smoorenburg,  | mailto:[email-masked]          http://www.cistron.nl/
[email-masked] | Tel: +31-172-419445 (Voice) 430979 (Fax) 442580 (Data)

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From: Mark Eichin <[email-masked]>
Date: 13 Jun 1996 16:03:23 -0400

>> problems. The dbm library must have been compiled to use fcntl (or lockf).

gdbm, as shipped by the FSF, compiles for fcntl or flock, depending on
which it finds. I'd taken over maintenance (though lacking bug reports
haven't uploaded a new package) but for my own use, built a version
that did no locking at all (it interferes with kerberos V5 database
locking, for one thing.)

If I could come up with a good interface (environment variable? mode
bits on the database?) I'd submit the patches for real...