All email stuck in queue unless manually pushed out

[stingray34]

I am having problem with EXIM. All incoming and outgoing mail stay in queue, and I have to manually push them for delivery.

The server load is not high, and it has enough disk space, but the overall response is slow. How can I make the system deliver it automatically, without me pushing?

 

[MikeDVB]

It depends on why the messages are being stuck in the queue. You should check /var/log/exim_mainlog to see why.

 

[stingray34]

I got to open the log, but I don't know how to read it. Could you tell me what I look for?

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello

You can search for a specific email address in /var/log/exim_mainlog with a command such as:

exigrep [email protected] /var/log/exim_mainlog

Search for an email address that you notice has a message in the queue. The log should indicate why the first delivery attempt failed.

Thank you.

 

[stingray34]

I have no idea about what happened. The server response was extremely slow, and that was the reason for mails in queue. The next morning, everything was cleared.

At the time when they were stuck, Load Average showed about 10. I did not know it was a high number, and thought that CPU usage was 10%. I need to have myself familialized with WHM and Linux environment.

According to the CPU usage log, here is the major difference between then and now:
default user in OUR DOMAIN 45% vs 3%
nobody 8% vs 1%

Does this mean our website was attacked, and it affected the EXIM?
If you can help me pinpoint the cause of the problem, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you very much for all your responses.

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello

It's likely the load was above the threshold for which Exim will deliver emails. The best way to resolve this type of issue in the future is to troubleshoot the load issue directly. The following thread is useful for help with load issues:

Troubleshooting High Load on Linux Systems

Thank you.

 

[stingray34]

Michael,
Thank you very much. I will check the link.