Dovecot 1 to 2 broke mail system. Help :-(

[niffty]

During the upgrade to Dovecot 2 something has gone wrong and I have spent many hours trying to fix :-( In the mail.log file I know get the following errors

Jul 7 19:10:14 mail dovecot: master: Dovecot v2.0.13 starting up (core dumps disabled)
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(ssl-params): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(log): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(anvil): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail last message repeated 11 times
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail last message repeated 11 times
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 31056 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 31057 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 31058 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 31061 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 19:10:16 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 31062 killed with signal 9

This is very urgent now as we have no email service and any help is much appreciated and maybe rewared

 

[niffty]

And after the initial startup of dovecot and initial errors i just receive the following in constant cycles:

Jul 7 20:02:13 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 20:02:13 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 31428 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 20:02:13 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 20:02:17 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 20:02:17 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 31429 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 20:02:17 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 20:02:19 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 20:02:19 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 20:02:19 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 31430 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 20:02:19 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 20:02:19 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): child 31431 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 20:02:19 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 20:03:27 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 20:03:27 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 31432 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 20:03:27 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 20:03:35 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 20:03:35 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 20:03:35 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 31433 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 20:03:35 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 20:03:35 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): child 31434 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 20:03:35 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 20:04:44 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 20:04:44 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 20:04:44 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 31449 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 20:04:44 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 20:04:44 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): child 31450 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 20:04:44 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): command startup failed, throttling

 

[niffty]

this is a copy of my dovecot.conf file

## Dovecot 2.0 configuration file

#IPv4
listen = *

#IPv4 and IPv6:
#listen = *, ::

auth_username_chars = abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ01234567890.-_@&
auth_verbose = yes
disable_plaintext_auth = no
login_greeting = Dovecot DA ready.
mail_access_groups = mail
default_login_user = dovecot
mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir
passdb {
driver = shadow
}
passdb {
args = username_format=%n /etc/virtual/%d/passwd
driver = passwd-file
}
protocols = imap pop3
service auth {
user = root
}
service imap-login {
process_min_avail = 16
user = dovecot
}
service pop3-login {
process_min_avail = 16
user = dovecot
}
ssl_cert = </etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/server.crt
ssl_cipher_list = ALL:!ADH:RC4+RSA:+HIGH:+MEDIUM:-LOW:-SSLv2:-EXP
ssl_key = </etc/httpd/conf/ssl.key/server.key
userdb {
driver = passwd
}
userdb {
args = username_format=%n /etc/virtual/%d/passwd
driver = passwd-file
}
verbose_proctitle = yes
protocol pop3 {
pop3_uidl_format = %08Xu%08Xv
}

 

[Arieh]

I don't know a solution, but if you want to have your mail up and running asap, you could consider going back to dovecot 1.

cd /usr/local/directadmin/custombuild
perl -pi -e 's/dovecot:2.0.13:fd8a0702275a61332db7353dadff0f92/dovecot:1.2.17:a2c01cb0a9c54302d0870fdc3e6d2106/' versions.txt
./build dovecot

If you lost the dovecot 1 config, get it here http://files.directadmin.com/services/custombuild/dovecot.conf

 

[scsi]

wget -O /etc/dovecot.conf "http://files.directadmin.com/services/custombuild/dovecot.conf.2.0"

/sbin/service dovecot restart

 

[niffty]

Ok I have reverted back to dovecot 1 but am now back at my original issue which prompted me to upgrade which is that when dovecot service is running then cpu is close to 100% see top below:

root@mail:/usr/local/directadmin/custombuild# top
top - 20:44:32 up 2:18, 1 user, load average: 28.40, 18.19, 10.00
Tasks: 102 total, 27 running, 75 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
Cpu(s): 98.9%us, 0.1%sy, 0.0%ni, 0.0%id, 0.0%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.0%si, 1.0%st
Mem: 1548288k total, 865424k used, 682864k free, 61844k buffers
Swap: 2883576k total, 0k used, 2883576k free, 399720k cached

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
13093 root 15 0 16828 832 540 S 0 0.1 0:07.50 dovecot
13136 dovecot 15 0 19460 2084 1644 S 0 0.1 0:03.76 pop3-login
13110 dovecot 15 0 19460 2088 1644 S 0 0.1 0:07.22 pop3-login
13129 dovecot 15 0 19472 2104 1660 S 0 0.1 0:05.67 imap-login
13131 dovecot 15 0 19472 2080 1644 S 0 0.1 0:06.13 imap-login
13108 dovecot 15 0 19460 2088 1644 R 0 0.1 0:07.17 pop3-login
13109 dovecot 16 0 19460 2088 1644 R 0 0.1 0:07.47 pop3-login
13117 dovecot 15 0 18612 2104 1660 S 0 0.1 0:06.58 imap-login
13126 dovecot 15 0 19472 2080 1644 S 0 0.1 0:06.25 imap-login
13128 dovecot 15 0 19472 2104 1660 R 0 0.1 0:06.13 imap-login
13107 dovecot 15 0 18600 2088 1644 R 0 0.1 0:05.94 pop3-login
13123 dovecot 15 0 18612 2104 1660 R 0 0.1 0:04.92 imap-login
13100 dovecot 15 0 18600 2092 1644 R 0 0.1 0:08.54 pop3-login
13101 dovecot 15 0 19460 2088 1644 S 0 0.1 0:07.04 pop3-login
13113 dovecot 15 0 19460 2084 1644 S 0 0.1 0:06.29 pop3-login
13121 dovecot 15 0 19472 2100 1660 R 0 0.1 0:06.77 imap-login
13099 dovecot 15 0 19460 2088 1644 S 0 0.1 0:07.19 pop3-login
13102 dovecot 15 0 18600 2088 1644 R 0 0.1 0:08.38 pop3-login
1398 mysql 15 0 233m 42m 5464 S 0 2.8 61:08.93 mysqld
13111 dovecot 15 0 19460 2084 1644 R 0 0.1 0:08.06 pop3-login
13114 dovecot 15 0 19460 2088 1644 R 0 0.1 0:06.77 pop3-login
13116 dovecot 15 0 19472 2104 1660 R 0 0.1 0:07.03 imap-login
13112 dovecot 15 0 19460 2092 1644 R 0 0.1 0:07.35 pop3-login
13120 dovecot 15 0 19472 2108 1660 R 0 0.1 0:05.68 imap-login
13130 dovecot 15 0 19472 2100 1660 S 0 0.1 0:06.40 imap-login
13125 dovecot 15 0 18612 2104 1660 R 0 0.1 0:06.64 imap-login
13103 dovecot 15 0 19460 2092 1644 R 0 0.1 0:08.18 pop3-login
13124 dovecot 15 0 19472 2100 1660 S 0 0.1 0:04.75 imap-login
13115 dovecot 15 0 19472 2104 1660 S 0 0.1 0:07.63 imap-login
13095 root 25 0 22156 1108 900 R 0 0.1 0:04.04 dovecot-auth
13138 root 15 0 18992 1312 992 R 0 0.1 0:00.20 top
13048 apache 15 0 135m 51m 3684 S 0 3.4 0:06.30 httpd
1 root 15 0 4168 932 632 S 0 0.1 0:00.43 init
2 root RT -5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.10 migration/0
3 root 34 19 0 0 0 R 0 0.0 0:00.00 ksoftirqd/0
4 root RT -5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 watchdog/0
5 root 10 -5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 events/0

And here are the latest log entries

Jul 7 20:47:36 mail dovecot[13093]: dovecot: child 13100 (login) returned error 89 (Fatal failure)
Jul 7 20:47:36 mail dovecot[13093]: dovecot: child 13103 (login) returned error 89 (Fatal failure)
Jul 7 20:47:36 mail dovecot[13093]: dovecot: child 13104 (login) returned error 89 (Fatal failure)
Jul 7 20:47:36 mail dovecot[13093]: dovecot: child 13123 (login) returned error 89 (Fatal failure)
Jul 7 20:48:44 mail dovecot[13193]: Dovecot v1.2.17 starting up (core dumps disabled)
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13205, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13204, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13204, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13203, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13203, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13202, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13206, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail last message repeated 2 times
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13200, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail last message repeated 2 times
Jul 7 20:48:55 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13201, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:55 mail last message repeated 4 times
Jul 7 20:48:55 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13199, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:55 mail last message repeated 6 times
Jul 7 20:48:55 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13201, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail last message repeated 2 times
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13199, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13199, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13205, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13205, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13204, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13203, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13203, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13202, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13202, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13206, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13206, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13200, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:59 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13200, input bytes=0

Help :-(

 

[niffty]

First command run but second provided error

root@mail:/# /sbin/service dovecot restart
-bash: /sbin/service: No such file or directory
root@mail:/#

 

[niffty]

Restarted dovecot manually but still getting same errors:

Jul 7 21:05:20 mail dovecot: master: Dovecot v2.0.13 starting up (core dumps disabled)
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(ssl-params): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(log): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(anvil): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail last message repeated 12 times
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail last message repeated 11 times
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10581 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10582 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10583 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10584 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10587 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10588 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10589 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10590 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10591 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10592 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10593 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10594 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10595 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10596 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10597 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(pop3-login): child 10598 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10599 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10601 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10602 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10603 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10604 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10605 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10606 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10607 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10608 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10609 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10610 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10611 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10612 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10613 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10614 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10615 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(anvil): child 10616 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(anvil): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(log): child 10617 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(log): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(ssl-params): child 10618 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(ssl-params): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): child 10625 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:21 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 21:05:42 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 21:05:42 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 21:05:42 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10627 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:42 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 21:05:42 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): child 10628 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:05:42 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 21:06:04 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 21:06:04 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): Initial status notification not received in 30 seconds, killing the process
Jul 7 21:06:04 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): child 10632 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:06:04 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(imap-login): command startup failed, throttling
Jul 7 21:06:04 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): child 10633 killed with signal 9
Jul 7 21:06:04 mail dovecot: master: Error: service(config): command startup failed, throttling

 

[Arieh]

You probably have another OS, maybe /etc/init.d/dovecot restart will work. But it seems that config file is the same one you just pasted.

I'd just go back to dovecot1..

 

[niffty]

Thanks, if I go back to dovecot one then my CPU is constantly at 100% which is why I thought about the upgrade to 2....

On Version 1 when i run the top command i get the following:

top - 16:49:46 up 39 min, 1 user, load average: 22.47, 21.28, 16.92
Tasks: 102 total, 19 running, 83 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
Cpu(s): 98.4%us, 0.0%sy, 0.0%ni, 0.0%id, 0.0%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.0%si, 1.6%st
Mem: 1548288k total, 631968k used, 916320k free, 143424k buffers
Swap: 2883576k total, 0k used, 2883576k free, 233556k cached

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
1423 mysql 15 0 233m 43m 5412 S 0 2.9 11:18.90 mysqld
1894 root 15 0 16828 832 544 S 0 0.1 6:20.71 dovecot
1899 root 25 0 21296 1108 900 R 0 0.1 1:35.13 dovecot-auth
1901 dovecot 15 0 18600 2072 1640 R 0 0.1 0:57.80 pop3-login
1919 dovecot 15 0 19472 2092 1660 R 0 0.1 0:57.69 imap-login
1925 dovecot 15 0 19472 2084 1660 S 0 0.1 0:57.45 imap-login
1909 dovecot 15 0 19460 2072 1640 S 0 0.1 0:57.21 pop3-login
1923 dovecot 15 0 19472 2092 1660 R 0 0.1 0:57.16 imap-login
1906 dovecot 15 0 19460 2068 1640 R 0 0.1 0:57.10 pop3-login
1930 dovecot 15 0 19472 2088 1660 S 0 0.1 0:57.09 imap-login
1926 dovecot 15 0 19472 2084 1660 S 0 0.1 0:56.81 imap-login
1932 dovecot 15 0 19472 2088 1660 R 0 0.1 0:56.74 imap-login
1924 dovecot 15 0 19472 2092 1660 S 0 0.1 0:56.72 imap-login
1922 dovecot 15 0 19472 2092 1660 S 0 0.1 0:56.65 imap-login
1910 dovecot 15 0 19460 2072 1640 S 0 0.1 0:56.61 pop3-login
1927 dovecot 15 0 19472 2084 1660 R 0 0.1 0:56.61 imap-login
1914 dovecot 15 0 19460 2068 1640 S 0 0.1 0:56.52 pop3-login
1921 dovecot 15 0 19472 2084 1660 R 0 0.1 0:56.37 imap-login
1928 dovecot 15 0 19472 2088 1660 R 0 0.1 0:56.06 imap-login
1918 dovecot 15 0 19472 2084 1660 S 0 0.1 0:55.78 imap-login
1920 dovecot 15 0 18612 2084 1660 R 0 0.1 0:55.78 imap-login
1938 dovecot 15 0 19460 2068 1640 S 0 0.1 0:55.62 pop3-login
1972 dovecot 15 0 19460 2068 1640 R 0 0.1 0:49.69 pop3-login
1975 dovecot 15 0 19460 2064 1640 S 0 0.1 0:48.76 pop3-login
1976 dovecot 15 0 19460 2068 1640 R 0 0.1 0:48.23 pop3-login
1985 dovecot 15 0 18612 2084 1660 S 0 0.1 0:46.88 imap-login
2007 dovecot 15 0 19460 2068 1640 R 0 0.1 0:39.50 pop3-login
2005 dovecot 15 0 19460 2072 1640 S 0 0.1 0:39.29 pop3-login
2006 dovecot 15 0 19460 2064 1640 R 0 0.1 0:39.12 pop3-login
2036 dovecot 15 0 19472 2092 1660 S 0 0.1 0:30.47 imap-login
2035 dovecot 15 0 19472 2092 1660 R 0 0.1 0:29.71 imap-login

 

[Arieh]

When dovecot takes so many CPU and has many childs, do you see anything unusual like an attack in mail.log?

if not then maybe someone else can help.

 

[scsi]

You might need someone to look at your server. That is very strange.

Did you try:

cd /usr/local/directadmin/custombuild
./build update
./build clean
./build dovecot d
wget -O /etc/dovecot.conf "http://files.directadmin.com/services/custombuild/dovecot.conf.2.0"

/etc/init.d/dovecot restart

If that doesnt fix it then something else is definately screwed up somewhere.

You might want to try running dovecot in the foreground with:

dovecot -F

 

[niffty]

With Dovecot v1.2.17 this is what i get in the mail.log

Jul 7 20:48:44 mail dovecot[13193]: Dovecot v1.2.17 starting up (core dumps disabled)
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13205, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13204, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13204, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13203, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13203, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13202, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13206, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail last message repeated 2 times
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13200, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:54 mail last message repeated 2 times
Jul 7 20:48:55 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13201, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:55 mail last message repeated 4 times
Jul 7 20:48:55 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13199, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:55 mail last message repeated 6 times
Jul 7 20:48:55 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13201, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail last message repeated 2 times
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13199, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13199, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13205, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13205, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13204, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13203, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13203, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13202, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13202, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13206, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: imap-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13206, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:58 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13200, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:59 mail dovecot[13193]: pop3-login: Timeout waiting for handshake from auth server. my pid=13200, input bytes=0
Jul 7 20:48:59 mail dovecot[13193]: dovecot: Fatal: Time just moved backwards by 18009191 seconds. This might cause a lot of problems, so I'll just kill myself now. http://wiki.dovecot.org/TimeMovedBackwards

 

[scsi]

To sync your time do:

ntpdate -u pool.ntp.org

Also put this in /etc/crontab

*/5 * * * * root /usr/sbin/ntpdate -u pool.ntp.org >/dev/null 2>&1

 

[niffty]

Just tried this and reports no server suitable

root@mail:~# ntpdate -u pool.ntp.org
7 Jul 21:32:46 ntpdate[1577]: no server suitable for synchronization found

 

[niffty]

If I run ntpdate in debug then I get the following:

root@mail:~# ntpdate -d pool.ntp.org
7 Jul 21:48:24 ntpdate[1643]: ntpdate [email protected] Fri Dec 4 19:14:01 UTC 2009 (1)
transmit(79.99.122.29)
receive(79.99.122.29)
transmit(79.99.122.29)
receive(79.99.122.29)
transmit(79.99.122.29)
receive(79.99.122.29)
transmit(79.99.122.29)
receive(79.99.122.29)
transmit(79.99.122.29)
transmit(212.68.213.6)
receive(212.68.213.6)
transmit(212.68.213.6)
receive(212.68.213.6)
transmit(212.68.213.6)
receive(212.68.213.6)
transmit(212.68.213.6)
receive(212.68.213.6)
transmit(212.68.213.6)
transmit(77.243.184.65)
receive(77.243.184.65)
transmit(77.243.184.65)
receive(77.243.184.65)
transmit(77.243.184.65)
receive(77.243.184.65)
transmit(77.243.184.65)
receive(77.243.184.65)
transmit(77.243.184.65)
79.99.122.29: Server dropped: server too far away
212.68.213.6: Server dropped: server too far away
77.243.184.65: Server dropped: server too far away
server 79.99.122.29, port 123
stratum 2, precision -20, leap 00, trust 000
refid [79.99.122.29], delay 117.26096, dispersion 0.00000
transmitted 4, in filter 4
reference time: d1c097f9.d151c1d3 Thu, Jul 7 2011 21:39:21.817
originate timestamp: d1c09a19.127d720a Thu, Jul 7 2011 21:48:25.072
transmit timestamp: d2241456.2a832b99 Wed, Sep 21 2011 8:44:22.166
filter delay: 117.8766 117.2609 117.3669 117.3251
0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000
filter offset: -6518849 -6519040 -6519227 -6519415
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
delay 117.26096, dispersion 0.00000
offset -6519040.011246

server 212.68.213.6, port 123
stratum 2, precision -20, leap 00, trust 000
refid [212.68.213.6], delay 130.71446, dispersion 0.00000
transmitted 4, in filter 4
reference time: d1c0990d.e5d0f554 Thu, Jul 7 2011 21:43:57.897
originate timestamp: d1c09a19.485b98b5 Thu, Jul 7 2011 21:48:25.282
transmit timestamp: d22417c4.46162f16 Wed, Sep 21 2011 8:59:00.273
filter delay: 131.2391 130.7765 130.7671 130.7144
0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000
filter offset: -6519695 -6519897 -6520099 -6520300
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
delay 130.71446, dispersion 0.00000
offset -6520300.335574

server 77.243.184.65, port 123
stratum 2, precision -23, leap 00, trust 000
refid [77.243.184.65], delay 132.06969, dispersion 0.00000
transmitted 4, in filter 4
reference time: d1c09a0f.922ab5ad Thu, Jul 7 2011 21:48:15.570
originate timestamp: d1c09a19.7b459703 Thu, Jul 7 2011 21:48:25.481
transmit timestamp: d2241b0b.52c2df0d Wed, Sep 21 2011 9:12:59.323
filter delay: 133.0242 132.0696 133.1294 132.3296
0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000
filter offset: -6520534 -6520738 -6520942 -6521139
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
delay 132.06969, dispersion 0.00000
offset -6520738.119303

7 Jul 21:48:25 ntpdate[1643]: no server suitable for synchronization found

 

[scsi]

http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Servers/NTPPoolServers

Find a server that is closer to where your server is.

I dont know how the hell pool.ntp.org doesnt work cause its supposed to be worldwide.