[SOLVED] Locked out by exim

[Haines]

For a new installation of Debian, I installed exiim4, fetchmail and mutt as well. I cannot receive mail because exim locks me out. Here are some lines from the exim log file:

Code: Select all

2024-12-30 00:21:07 Start queue run: pid=1114523
2024-12-30 00:21:07 1tRTX6-004EuV-0e Message is frozen
...
2024-12-30 00:21:07 1tS8DD-004fwO-28 <= <> R=1tRc6v-004dlL-2p U=Debian-exim P=local S=2247
2024-12-30 00:21:07 1tS8DD-004fwO-28 == /var/mail/haines <haines@iskra.histomat.net> R=userforward T=address_file defer (13): Permission denied: creating lock file hitching post /var/mail/haines.lock.iskra.histomat.net.67722dc3.001101ab (euid=1000 egid=1000)
2024-12-30 00:21:07 1tRbx2-004dkT-1g == /var/mail/haines <haines@localhost> R=userforward T=address_file defer (13): Permission denied: creating lock file hitching post /var/mail/haines.lock.iskra.histomat.net.67722dc3.001101af (euid=1000 egid=1000)
2024-12-30 00:21:07 1tRXHo-004FRR-2n Message is frozen

Nothing seems wrong with my /var/mail/haines file:

Code: Select all

  $ ls -la /var/mail
  total 12440
  drwxrwsr-x  2 root   mail    4096 Dec 29 16:08 .
  drwxr-xr-x 12 root   root    4096 Dec 17 10:39 ..
  -rw-rw----  1 haines mail 6362255 Dec 29 15:56 haines

Where does exim put its lock fille? What does "hithing post" refer to? Can exum_lock command be sued to remove a lock? Does the S and R in the message number refer to send and receive?

[arzgi]

For a new installation of Debian, I installed exiim4, fetchmail and mutt as well. I cannot receive mail because exim locks me out. Here are some lines from the exim log file:

2024-12-30 00:21:07 Start queue run: pid=1114523
2024-12-30 00:21:07 1tRTX6-004EuV-0e Message is frozen
...
2024-12-30 00:21:07 1tS8DD-004fwO-28 <= <> R=1tRc6v-004dlL-2p U=Debian-exim P=local S=2247
2024-12-30 00:21:07 1tS8DD-004fwO-28 == /var/mail/haines <haines@iskra.histomat.net> R=userforward T=address_file defer (13): Permission denied: creating lock file hitching post /var/mail/haines.lock.iskra.histomat.net.67722dc3.001101ab (euid=1000 egid=1000)
2024-12-30 00:21:07 1tRbx2-004dkT-1g == /var/mail/haines <haines@localhost> R=userforward T=address_file defer (13): Permission denied: creating lock file hitching post /var/mail/haines.lock.iskra.histomat.net.67722dc3.001101af (euid=1000 egid=1000)
2024-12-30 00:21:07 1tRXHo-004FRR-2n Message is frozen
...

Nothing seems wrong with my /var/mail/haines file:

$ ls -la /var/mail
total 12440
drwxrwsr-x 2 root mail 4096 Dec 29 16:08 .
drwxr-xr-x 12 root root 4096 Dec 17 10:39 ..
-rw-rw---- 1 haines mail 6362255 Dec 29 15:56 haines

Where does exim put its lock fille? What does "hithing post" refer to? Can exum_lock command be sued to remove a lock? Does the S and R in the message number refer to send and receive?

Looks like a permission problem.

[blackbird]

Maybe the description in the FAQ can help - https://github.com/Exim/exim/wiki/Q0036

[Haines]

Temtatively SOLVED. Thanks blackbird! My main machine email now seems to work.

But some things I don't understand. I happily send and receive mail on my laptop with
the following permissions for the mail directory (although the laptop runs Devuan, not Debian):

Code: Select all

  $ ls -la /var | grep mail
  drwxrwxr-x root mail

Following your suggestion, I changed the permissions for the mail directory on my main
machine to read:

Code: Select all

  $ ls -la /var | grep mail
  drwxrwsrwt  2 root mail   4096 Dec 31 12:56 mail

The machine now happily sends and receives mail. Was this a bug in Debian?

[Aki]

Hello,
Did you mean "exim" instead of "emacs" in the topic?

[Haines]

Yes sorry! So many the number of things broken seems to multiply and I'm loosing my mind.

[stevepusser]

And it still says emacs. You can edit your first post and fix the title, you know.

[reinob]

(I've taken the liberty of editing the title s/emacs/exim/)

[Aki]

Hello,

Temtatively SOLVED. Thanks blackbird! My main machine email now seems to work.
[…]
The machine now happily sends and receives mail. Was this a bug in Debian?

I'm glad you sorted it out. :)

It is not a bug.

I'm not a current exim user, but it's usually expected to run as a daemon with privileges different from the common user's privileges (unless you need to do something special, like debugging), if I remember correctly.

Please, mark the discussion as "solved" manually adding the text tag "[Solved]" at the beginning of the subject of the first message (after other tags, if any).

Thanks