[828] in Release_7.7_team
Sun mailq bug
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Michael L Jacknis)
Tue Jan 21 12:51:51 1997
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 12:51:47 -0500
From: Michael L Jacknis <mjacknis@MIT.EDU>
To: jweiss@MIT.EDU, matt@MIT.EDU, carla@MIT.EDU
Cc: release-team@MIT.EDU, dryfoo@MIT.EDU
Dear Jonathon, Matt and Carla:
I know you are very busy, and that it is difficult to respond to every
little problem on Athena (and respond to every uninformed user...)
Therefore, I've taken the time to write a MOTD designed to inform users
about the Sun mailq bug. I feel this is important because email is used
on campus for important functions... contacting professors, making
appointments, arranging for final exam make-up times... when email is
delayed, serious consequences result... and I think it is fair that the
user community be aware of this bug.
I am asking you to proofread my MOTD and suggest improvements to
it... feel free to forward it whereever you think it should be sent (please copy me)
Eventually, I would be interested in having the perfected MOTD be
deployed as an official Athena user MOTD, and placed in the info locker,
OLC answers, and/or the appropriate official web page.
Thanks for your help!
Mike Jacknis
mjacknis@mit.edu
ADVISORY NOTICES ABOUT THE SUN MAILQ BUG:
Athena user MOTD, OLC MOTD, xlogin banner, posters in clusters, etc.:
A bug in the Sun version of sendmail sometimes causes email you send
from Athena Sun workstations to be delayed with no warning. For more
information and what to do about it, please look at the file /mit/info/mailbug
athena% attach info
athena% more /mit/info/mailbug
INFO file, OLC Stock Answer:
** EMAIL YOU SEND OUT MIGHT BE DELAYED WITH NO WARNING **
When you send email, the email is first stored at the workstation you
are logged in to. It then gets transmitted to the mail servers for
delivery.
Occasionally, on a Sun workstation, the mail you send never gets
transmitted but just waits at the workstation you are logged into.
==> To check if the mail was sent, use the mailq command shortly after
sending mail:
athena% mailq
If it says:
Mail queue is empty
Then the mail you sent probably was delivered to the mail servers,
and everything is fine.
If, however, you receive a list of email addresses, then there is mail
waiting to be sent.
==> To cause the waiting mail to be sent, reboot the workstation.
If you are using a Sun workstation in a general use Athena cluster
(with the standard numeric combination lock at the entrance)
1. Save all your work and log out.
2. Hold down STOP and press A
3. Type:
boot
and press ENTER.
If you are using a private Athena workstation, first find out who
owns/maintains the machine and ask them what to do. This is because
private workstations sometimes serve other functions, and rebooting them
can disrupt these functions.
Advanced users: If you put mailq in your .logout file, and you watch
your screen whenever you logout normally, you can know whether you need
to reboot.
If you have and further questions about this, please feel free to ask in
OLC. Thank you for your patience.
Athena User Consulting
1/97
