Thousand attempts per second to connect to SMTP

[ndemou]

When we tried to start v5.4.0 on our development edition without a local SMTP server active we noticed that the pbx was not starting, the CPU was at 99% usage and strace revealed 5000 thousand requests per second to connect to the localhost SMTP port:

0.000199 connect(1, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(25), sin_addr=inet_addr("127.0.0.1")}, 16) = -1 EINPROGRESS (Operation now in progress)
0.000277 connect(1, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(25), sin_addr=inet_addr("127.0.0.1")}, 16) = -1 EINPROGRESS (Operation now in progress)
0.000177 connect(1, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(25), sin_addr=inet_addr("127.0.0.1")}, 16) = -1 EINPROGRESS (Operation now in progress)
0.000176 connect(1, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(25), sin_addr=inet_addr("127.0.0.1")}, 16) = -1 EINPROGRESS (Operation now in progress)
0.000175 connect(1, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(25), sin_addr=inet_addr("127.0.0.1")}, 16) = -1 EINPROGRESS (Operation now in progress)
0.000175 connect(1, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(25), sin_addr=inet_addr("127.0.0.1")}, 16) = -1 EINPROGRESS (Operation now in progress)
0.000284 connect(1, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(25), sin_addr=inet_addr("127.0.0.1")}, 16) = -1 EINPROGRESS (Operation now in progress)

I'm noting it because failure in one part of a system (the SMTP service) will cause the PBX to fail to start and there is no clear clue as to what is happening.

 

BTW just accepting the connection by a dummy process (ncat -l 25 --keep-open --exec /bin/cat) fixes the problem -- no need for an actual SMTP response.

[Vodia PBX]

Do you see that also in the PBX log for email (log level 7 at least)? What are your settings for email? Did you put 127.0.0.1 there or "localhost"?

[ndemou]

 

This post will need approval from a moderator before this post is shown.

 

Again!? This is my second thread with this obstacle when posting. Is it only me or it happens to everyone?

 

Anyway, back to your questions:

Regarding the setting: it's 127.0.0.1

Regarding the logs -- yes it does appear there also:

tail  /opt/pbxnsip/pbx/log/2016-03-04.txt
[7] 20160304150933: 127.0.0.1: Connect to 127.0.0.1:25
[7] 20160304150933: 127.0.0.1: Connected
[7] 20160304150933: 127.0.0.1: Connect to 127.0.0.1:25
[7] 20160304150933: 127.0.0.1: Connected
[7] 20160304150933: 127.0.0.1: Connect to 127.0.0.1:25
[7] 20160304150933: 127.0.0.1: Connected
[7] 20160304150933: 127.0.0.1: Connect to 127.0.0.1:25
[7] 20160304150933: 127.0.0.1: Connected
[7] 20160304150933: 127.0.0.1: Connect to 127.0.0.1:25
[7] 20160304150933: 127.0.0.1: Connected
# root  @ testpbx.zanadoo.gr  ~  
grep "Connect to 127.0.0.1"  /opt/pbxnsip/pbx/log/2016-03-04.txt |head -1
[7] 20160304150851: 127.0.0.1: Connect to 127.0.0.1:25
# root  @ testpbx.zanadoo.gr  ~  
grep "Connect to 127.0.0.1"  /opt/pbxnsip/pbx/log/2016-03-04.txt |tail -1
[7] 20160304150933: 127.0.0.1: Connect to 127.0.0.1:25
# root  @ testpbx.zanadoo.gr  ~  
grep "Connect to 127.0.0.1"  /opt/pbxnsip/pbx/log/2016-03-04.txt |wc -l
353085

[ndemou]

Help! Where do my posts go? I've replied within hours of your question but my post doesn't show up after many days. Then and now I see a green label "This post will need approval from a moderator before this post is shown."

This is the second thread with the same problem.

[Vodia PBX]

Ahm sorry we are not the biggest experts when it comes to forum. What version was this? Is this already resolved?

[ndemou]

Just noticed that this bug is still an issue on v5.5.0. (oh! and the annoying "This post will need approval from a moderator before this post is shown." still appears above the text box where I'm writing this)

[Vodia PBX]

Approved... We have requested an upgrade of the forum software, we are using the hosted edition ... Password changes should work now. We still have a lot of posts from the well-known SPAM countries. Record was 60000 new users in a few hours, phew. I did not know we are so popular!

 

So the problem is with the SNMP server still? Latest version?

[ndemou]

We have requested an upgrade of the forum software, we are using the hosted edition ... Password changes should work now. We still have a lot of posts from the well-known SPAM countries. Record was 60000 new users in a few hours, phew. I did not know we are so popular!

 

Oh! I see..I hope your problems end sooner than later

Not sure what you meant by "Password changes should work now". Does it have something to do with my posts being left waiting for moderator approval? Should I change my password?

 

So the problem is with the SNMP server still?

 

SNMP? Sorry I lost you. Anyway the behaviour is exactly as described in posts #1 and #3

 

Latest version?

 

As stated, I tested on v5.5.0 -- I think it is the latest. It's extremely easy to test on any version. Set 127.0.0.1 as the mailserver, set debug level at 7, start the pbx and look at the logs.

[Vodia PBX]

As stated, I tested on v5.5.0 -- I think it is the latest. It's extremely easy to test on any version. Set 127.0.0.1 as the mailserver, set debug level at 7, start the pbx and look at the logs.

 

With or without a mail serer actually running there?!

[ndemou]

With or without a mail serer actually running there?!

Without

[Vodia PBX]

I tried to set the SMTP server to 127.0.0.1, send a test message, and got a timeout... Maybe the problem is gone in 5.5.4

[ndemou]

I'll try 5.5.4 in a few days and let you know (just in case it's specific to my environment)