mailhelo and mailips being cleared by upcp ?

[nyjimbo]

Every now and then we find the files /etc/mailhelo and /etc/mailips zeroed out from the information that was there.

Our upcp is set to manual so there should be no real upcp updating unless we trigger it from WHM or the system console.

Last night at the normal upcp run time we see that /etc/mailhelo and /etc/mailips zeroed out again.

We need those files left intact because they provide exim (or whatever reads it) to act as a different IP and different domain name as the normal IP has a "bad reputation" as per IronPort stupid reputation scheme.

How can be tweak the system so it does not zero out those files. It does it without warning and we cannot send to anyone using the IronPort reputation crap until we go back and copy good mailhelo and mailips over the zeroed out ones and restart exim.

[sawbuck]

What cPanel/WHM version?

In the interim until cPanel responds you could try to chattr +i those files.

[nyjimbo]

What cPanel/WHM version?

In the interim until cPanel responds you could try to chattr +i those files.

cPanel 11.25.0-C42048 - WHM 11.25.0 - X 3.9
CENTOS 5.2 i686 standard

thanks for the chattr idea, but I really want to be sure I am doing the right thing. If something needs to blow out mailhelo/mailips or if it doesnt like what it sees for some reason it would be good to know what else I should do.

I dont want to open a trouble ticket right away as this may be a problem that has occured for others.

[sawbuck]

Latest Current is 42213.

[cpanelnick]

If you wish to customize these files you will need to enable the following options in the Exim Configuration Editor:

Send HELO based on the domain name in /etc/mailhelo (*: HELONAME can be added to the file to change the default helo name)


Send outgoing mail from the IP that matches the domain name in /etc/mailips (*: IP can be added to the file to change the main outgoing interface)

[nyjimbo]

If you wish to customize these files you will need to enable the following options in the Exim Configuration Editor:

Send HELO based on the domain name in /etc/mailhelo (*: HELONAME can be added to the file to change the default helo name)


Send outgoing mail from the IP that matches the domain name in /etc/mailips (*: IP can be added to the file to change the main outgoing interface)

We did that months ago. Its just that every now and then they are zeroed out. When we went from 11.24.x to 11.25.x it did it and now last night it did it without any manual updating.

[cpanelnick]

Does running /scripts/updateuserdomains (this is the only thing in cpanel that touches the file) cause the files to be zeroed out?

[nyjimbo]

Does running /scripts/updateuserdomains (this is the only thing in cpanel that touches the file) cause the files to be zeroed out?

Just ran it now (boy, I hope it doesnt do anything else bad) but it did not affect the two files. The contents remained the same and date stamp is the same.

I also just restarted EXIM after checking the file sizes just to be sure it wouldnt clear it out later (like when you sometimes delete a log but it doesnt update until you restart the associated app) and it didnt change the files date stamp or size.

Last night when they zeroed out it the time stamp was the same minute that upcp ran (even though its set for manual) so its something quick.

[Arvand]

I've just verified this. upcp just wiped mailips on all servers even though they had both the options checked in Exim configuration (EHLO and the other one).

We now have to do a chattr +i but please look into this as we've already had customers threatening to cancel because their emails started going out the main IP again....

[cPanelDon]

I've just verified this. upcp just wiped mailips on all servers even though they had both the options checked in Exim configuration (EHLO and the other one).

We now have to do a chattr +i but please look into this as we've already had customers threatening to cancel because their emails started going out the main IP again....

Was the upcp ran with force, or without force?

Please let us know the output from the following commands, to confirm OS, cPanel version, and relevant Exim configuration options:

# grep -H '' /etc/*release /usr/local/cpanel/version
# grep "mailhelo\|mailips" /etc/exim.conf.localopts
# stat /var/cpanel/custom_mailhelo /var/cpanel/custom_mailips

[Arvand]

Automatic updates. Not being done with --force.

root@tiger [~]# grep -H '' /etc/*release /usr/local/cpanel/version
/etc/redhat-release:CentOS release 5.4 (Final)
/usr/local/cpanel/version:11.25.0-RELEASE_42399
root@tiger [~]# grep "mailhelo\|mailips" /etc/exim.conf.localopts
custom_mailhelo=1
custom_mailips=1
per_domain_mailhelo=0
per_domain_mailips=0
root@tiger [~]# stat /var/cpanel/custom_mailhelo /var/cpanel/custom_mailips
File: `/var/cpanel/custom_mailhelo'
Size: 0 Blocks: 0 IO Block: 4096 regular empty file
Device: 802h/2050d Inode: 2910168 Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)
Access: 2009-12-22 17:13:26.000000000 -0800
Modify: 2009-12-22 17:13:26.000000000 -0800
Change: 2009-12-23 00:45:12.000000000 -0800
File: `/var/cpanel/custom_mailips'
Size: 0 Blocks: 0 IO Block: 4096 regular empty file
Device: 802h/2050d Inode: 2909270 Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)
Access: 2009-12-22 17:13:26.000000000 -0800
Modify: 2009-12-22 17:13:26.000000000 -0800
Change: 2009-12-23 00:45:08.000000000 -0800

[nyjimbo]

Mine zeroed out again this morning. Updates are set to manual and we did not do any manual upates. It
shows the zeroing at the time upcp is set to run. It did not zero out for two days and then it did it this morning.

Don't know if you want mine too. Manual updates, nothing with force, all done in WHM, not console.

root@slserver1 [~]# grep -H '' /etc/*release /usr/local/cpanel/version
/etc/redhat-release:CentOS release 5.2 (Final)
/usr/local/cpanel/version:11.25.0-CURRENT_42048
root@slserver1 [~]# grep "mailhelo\|mailips" /etc/exim.conf.localopts
custom_mailhelo=1
custom_mailips=1
per_domain_mailhelo=0
per_domain_mailips=0
root@slserver1 [~]# stat /var/cpanel/custom_mailhelo /var/cpanel/custom_mailips
File: `/var/cpanel/custom_mailhelo'
Size: 0 Blocks: 0 IO Block: 4096 regular empty file
Device: 802h/2050d Inode: 361299 Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)
Access: 2009-12-21 08:45:51.000000000 -0600
Modify: 2009-12-21 08:45:51.000000000 -0600
Change: 2009-12-21 16:45:01.000000000 -0600
File: `/var/cpanel/custom_mailips'
Size: 0 Blocks: 0 IO Block: 4096 regular empty file
Device: 802h/2050d Inode: 361300 Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)
Access: 2009-12-21 08:45:51.000000000 -0600
Modify: 2009-12-21 08:45:51.000000000 -0600
Change: 2009-12-21 16:45:01.000000000 -0600
root@slserver1 [~]#

[cPanelDon]

Automatic updates. Not being done with --force.

root@tiger [~]# grep -H '' /etc/*release /usr/local/cpanel/version
/etc/redhat-release:CentOS release 5.4 (Final)
/usr/local/cpanel/version:11.25.0-RELEASE_42399
...

Mine zeroed out again this morning. Updates are set to manual and we did not do any manual upates. It
shows the zeroing at the time upcp is set to run. It did not zero out for two days and then it did it this morning.

Don't know if you want mine too. Manual updates, nothing with force, all done in WHM, not console.

root@slserver1 [~]# grep -H '' /etc/*release /usr/local/cpanel/version
/etc/redhat-release:CentOS release 5.2 (Final)
/usr/local/cpanel/version:11.25.0-CURRENT_42048
...

Thank you both for the details; this is very much appreciated.

If the issue is persistently recurring please consider submitting a support request so that we can take a closer look at the affected system. When available, please PM me referencing this thread and your new ticket ID number so I may follow-up internally.

[Arun]

I use the option:

Send outgoing mail from the ip that matches the domain name in /etc/mailips (*: IP can be added to the file to change the main outgoing interface)

However I notice that after the cPanel 11.25 update, the /etc/mailips file gets emptied everyday when the auto upgrade runs. Is there anything to be done to prevent this from happenning?

cPanel 11.25.0-R42399

[sawbuck]

Might look at this thread - nothing definitive so far.

mailhelo and mailips being cleared by upcp ?