Email getting sent or received more than once.

[yourivdlans]

A few of my clients reported a problem to me saying, "when we send a newsletter to hundreds of our clients they email me back complaining they received it 6 times" or "When i email a few people they receive it more than 30 times and sometimes when they use reply all i receive it multiple times".
I checked the knowledge base for a similar problem, i found this one: http://help.directadmin.com/item.php?id=104

But my clients don't use the webmail client and i already have dovecot, so i guess its not the same.
Couldn't find a similar problem on the forum also, so i was hoping someone could help me out!

Thanks.

 

[floyd]

What are you using to send the newsletter?

 

[yourivdlans]

I think they use a normal email client like outlook to send the newsletters.

 

[floyd]

I think they use a normal email client like outlook to send the newsletters.

If they are using Outlook then that is probably your problem. Outlook is known to send out multiple copies when a message gets stuck in the Outbox.

The has been going on for years and Microsoft has never fixed it.

 

[yourivdlans]

I spoke to one of my clients, and he confirmed he does use the webmail from time to time, but then again i already have dovecot.

any idea someone?

 

[floyd]

I spoke to one of my clients, and he confirmed he does use the webmail from time to time

But does he use webmail to send out the newsletter that people receive more than once?

, but then again i already have dovecot.

I am not sure what that has to do with anything. Dovecot does not have anything to do with email delivery.

 

[yourivdlans]

This was from another client who just sends normal mails but receives multiple mails and people he sends to get them a couple of times.

I'm referring to the knowledgebase: http://help.directadmin.com/item.php?id=104
Which describes almost the same problem.

 

[floyd]

I'm referring to the knowledgebase: http://help.directadmin.com/item.php?id=104
Which describes almost the same problem.

But what do the people on the receiving end have to do with this article? They are not even using your server and they are receiving multiple copies.

I thought you were saying that your server was sending them multiple copies somehow.

 

[yourivdlans]

Well i think my server is sending them multiple copies, and my clients receive multiple copies but i don't know why.

The article aside, what can i do to fix this problem?

 

[floyd]

The article aside, what can i do to fix this problem?

You have to determine what the problem is before fixing it.

I would pick one email where multiple copies were received and check the exim log to see why exim sent multiple copies.

Never trust what people tell you especially your clients. Gather the evidence from your clients and examine it yourself. Use their computer if you have to so you can see what they are seeing.

 

[yourivdlans]

Yes thats true.

I'm checking the exim log files for the email adres with these problems, not seeing any direct problems, but i'm also not sure what to look for.

Thanks for the advice, i'll try and get more info myself.

 

[floyd]

I'm checking the exim log files for the email adres with these problems, not seeing any direct problems, but i'm also not sure what to look for.

Check to see if exim is sending the mail more than one for the same email address.

 

[amator]

I've the same problem. I get one message more that 5-6 time. The same thing is when I send message to someone. I sent one, but recipient get more that 1 copy of my mail. In exim log, I see that this message is send more that one time.
This is new installation of DA. On other server everything work's fine. Can anyone help me?

 

[ranz]

Here's a good site to check up on what Exim is doing:

http://bradthemad.org/tech/notes/exim_cheatsheet.php

Hope this helps.

 

[yourivdlans]

@amator: i fixed it by setting the hostname the same as i entered it for directadmin, it was also giving me warnings about this...
after a reboot the hostname got reset.

@ranz: thanks!

 

[DirectAdmin Support]

Hello,

FYI, some Debian/Unbuntu installs have issues with the exim binaries. If you spot "segmentation fault" in the /var/log/exim/mainlog.. or sometimes get multiple duplicate deliveries, the solution is to recompile exim from source on your system:
http://help.directadmin.com/item.php?id=125

The id=104 guide doesn't apply if you've got dovecot.

John

 

[yourivdlans]

Thanks for the fast reply!
I've checked the /var/log/exim/mainlog file, but couldn't find any lines containing "segmentation fault".

Also, the options.conf for custombuild has these settings regarding the mail.

#Mail options
exim=no
mail-header-patch=yes
dovecot=yes

But the exim log files are being used, could someone explain?
And what should i do if my server is using dovecot?

Thanks in advance!

p.s. thought i resolved this issue, but apparently not

 

[Voland]

Same problem!
list users getting mails twice

dont know where to dig.

when list is 3-5 users everything is OK
if there is 1000 users they getting emails twice

 

[nobaloney]

If anything at all fails during the process of sending an email, the email will be sent again.

Especially in email lists, look to see if exim is sending to multiple recipients at the same domain name. If so, and if the recipient MTA decides you're sending to too many recipients, it will disconnect. The mailer will try again, to all recipients, later.

Note that I manage the DirectAdmin mailing list many of you subscribe to, for notification of new versions. Are any of you getting multiple copies?

Jeff