the old "unable to connect to smtp server localhost:25" problem...

[Wintermute]

Running Plesk 7.5.4

getting the following error...

"There was an error sending your message: unable to connect to smtp server localhost:25"

this all used to work..and no I am not at go Daddy.. I set this server up myself..and all was working until 2-3 days ago...
I haven't changed a thing in the last 2 weeks except maybe adding a few new domains...

sending email from horde gives same error...
trying to send an e-mail to an account on the box from an account off the box gives an error like...


Failed to deliver to '<[email protected]>'
unknown user account

then a few hours later i get


This is a warning message only.
Your message remains in the server queue,
the server will try to send it again.
You should not try to resend your message now.


Message delivery to '[email protected]' delayed
SMTP module(domain mydomain.com) reports:
mail.mydomain.com: connection refused



I know qmail is installed.. and running...

--------------------

rpm -qa |grep 'qmail'

returns 3 packages ...

psa-qmail-rblsmtpd-0.70-fc2.build75050824.12
psa-qmail-1.03-fc2.build75050824.12
drweb-qmail-4.32-fc2.build75050824.12

-----------------------

ps -ef |grep qmail

returns

qmails 6530 1 0 02:22 ? 00:00:00 qmail-send
qmaill 6532 6530 0 02:22 ? 00:00:00 splogger qmail
root 6533 6530 0 02:22 ? 00:00:00 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir/
qmailr 6534 6530 0 02:22 ? 00:00:00 qmail-rspawn
qmailq 6535 6530 0 02:22 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean
popuser 6564 1 0 02:22 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/spamd --username=popuser --daemonize --helper-home-dir=/var/qmail --max-children 20 --pidfile=/var/run/spamd/spamd_full.pid --socketpath=/tmp/spamd_full.sock
popuser 6566 1 0 02:23 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/spamd --username=popuser --daemonize --helper-home-dir=/var/qmail --max-children 20 --pidfile=/var/run/spamd/spamd_light.pid --socketpath=/tmp/spamd_light.sock
root 8611 8311 0 03:39 pts/0 00:00:00 grep qmail

------------

telnet localhost 25 (from the server's shell prompt)

comes up with


Trying 127.0.0.1...
telnet: connect to address 127.0.0.1: Connection refused

-----------

netstat -an |grep ':25'

comes up with

nothing!

-------------
telnet ip.add.re.ss 25 (from outside the server)

can not connect...

-------------

so i gather something is not listening on port 25 as it should be...but qmail is running...
what else can I look for ?

here is a piece of my /usr/local/psa/var/log/maillog


Feb 15 03:08:26 vps105 qmail: 1139990906.487153 status: local 0/10 remote 0/20
Feb 15 03:09:24 vps105 qmail: 1139990964.481754 starting delivery 5: msg 492216336 to remote [email protected]
Feb 15 03:09:24 vps105 qmail: 1139990964.481819 status: local 0/10 remote 1/20
Feb 15 03:09:24 vps105 qmail: 1139990964.825984 delivery 5: deferral: 205.188.157.25_failed_after_I_sent_the_message./Remote_host_said:_421-:__(DNS:NR)__http
://postmaster.info.aol.com/errors/421dnsnr.html/421_SERVICE_NOT_AVAILABLE/
Feb 15 03:09:24 vps105 qmail: 1139990964.826032 status: local 0/10 remote 0/20
Feb 15 03:09:55 vps105 qmail: 1139990995.821743 starting delivery 6: msg 492216347 to remote [email protected]
Feb 15 03:09:55 vps105 qmail: 1139990995.821807 status: local 0/10 remote 1/20
Feb 15 03:10:55 vps105 qmail: 1139991055.952162 delivery 6: deferral: Sorry,_I_wasn't_able_to_establish_an_SMTP_connecti
on._(#4.4.1)/
Feb 15 03:10:55 vps105 qmail: 1139991055.952223 status: local 0/10 remote 0/20
Feb 15 03:15:29 vps105 qmail: 1139991329.951797 starting delivery 7: msg 492216322 to remote [email protected]
Feb 15 03:15:29 vps105 qmail: 1139991329.951862 status: local 0/10 remote 1/20
Feb 15 03:15:31 vps105 qmail: 1139991331.926700 delivery 7: deferral: 167.206.4.79_does_not_like_recipient./Remote_host_said:_452_4.2.1_Your_host_209.x.x.x_has_no_DNS_record_. _If_you_are_using_a_firewall_please_configure_DNS_
and_try_again_authoritative_host_not_found:_klanda
[email protected]/Giving_up_on_167.206
.4.79./
Feb 15 03:15:31 vps105 qmail: 1139991331.926758 status: local 0/10 remote 0/20
Feb 15 03:15:55 vps105 qmail: 1139991355.921780 starting delivery 8: msg 492216330 to remote [email protected]
Feb 15 03:15:55 vps105 qmail: 1139991355.921849 status: local 0/10 remote 1/20
Feb 15 03:15:55 vps105 qmail: 1139991355.998264 delivery 8: deferral: Sorry,_I_wasn't_able_to_establish_an_SMTP_connecti
on._(#4.4.1)/
Feb 15 03:15:55 vps105 qmail: 1139991355.998305 status: local 0/10 remote 0/20
Feb 15 03:17:00 vps105 qmail: 1139991420.991743 starting delivery 9: msg 492216345 to remote [email protected]
Feb 15 03:17:00 vps105 qmail: 1139991420.991806 status: local 0/10 remote 1/20
Feb 15 03:17:01 vps105 qmail: 1139991421.273736 delivery 9: deferral: Sorry,_I_wasn't_able_to_establish_an_SMTP_connecti
on._(#4.4.1)/
Feb 15 03:17:01 vps105 qmail: 1139991421.273777 status: local 0/10 remote 0/20

I see the dns thing but that is something else completely...

I have rebooted..and I have also restarted xinetd stuff...
still same prob...

I also just noticed that under the VMC (this is running in a virtuoozo VPS) qmail shows at stopped...but my ps-ef shows it was runing no ? I tried starting it from the VMC and I get

error 703: Can not start/stop/restart services:
service "qmail" status is not "running" after command "start"

Please help...

thanks

winter

 

[Wintermute]

FOUND IT!

Found my solution in this thread...

http://forum.plesk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=134845#post134845

smtp was looking for

./etc/xinetd.d/smtp_psa and
./etc/xinetd.d/smtps_psa

but i had

./etc/xinetd.d/smtp.psa and
./etc/xinetd.d/smtps.psa

instead..

It seems renaming the files and a reboot fixed my problem.
I still have no idea how it happened though...bug ?

winter

 

[carver6]

Re: FOUND IT!

Hmmm... 1/2 day later and found this post. I had the same problem. Have to wonder whats renaming the files. Anyway... PROBLEM FIXED!

Originally posted by Wintermute
Found my solution in this thread...

http://forum.plesk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=134845#post134845

smtp was looking for

./etc/xinetd.d/smtp_psa and
./etc/xinetd.d/smtps_psa

but i had

./etc/xinetd.d/smtp.psa and
./etc/xinetd.d/smtps.psa

instead..

It seems renaming the files and a reboot fixed my problem.
I still have no idea how it happened though...bug ?

winter

 

[frostie]

I'll add an update to this also. It appears I have had a similar problem in the past week. As a result i've been totally flumoxed as i haven't been able to find a solution... until now. Thanks to Wintermute for locating this issue.

Does anyone have any idea how this happened? It's a very odd for this to suddenly change, especially given that I've made no changes to the system in months aside from the odd security update. File's don't just rename themselves...