SOLVED Dovecot policy server HTTP error 9002 after cPanel upgrade

[kalexanakis]

Hello

After upgrading cPanel to cPanel & WHM 64.0 (build 12) customers experience time outs connecting to mail server. In / var/log/messages I see multiple instances of

Apr 18 11:25:17 SERVER_NAME dovecot: auth: Error: policy([email protected], xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx,<xxxxxx>): Policy server HTTP error: 9002 connect(127.0.0.1:579) failed: Connection refused

for all accounts (XXXs are per incident different).

- i have restarted imap and exim
- fixed mailbox permissions

I thing that the problem occured after auto ssl installation.

Any thoughts?

 

[kalexanakis]

It seems that the problem had to do with cPHulk. I saw many errors in cpanel error_log like

Brute force checking was skipped for the “[email protected]” from “xxxx” for the “mail” service because the system could not connect to cphulkd. at /usr/local/cpanel/Cpanel/Server.pm line 1896.

Usually this occured in the past due to corrupted cphulk MySQL database but that was not the case now (tables where just fine).

After stopped and restarted cphulk, smtp connections seem to work ok now (no cphulkd errors in cpanel error_log)

I would like to know what have happened though...

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello,

The following error message may appear in /var/log/maillog on systems where POP3/IMAP users are unable to authenticate:

Policy server HTTP error: 9002 connect(127.0.0.1:579) failed: Connection refused

This happens when cPHulkd fails to bind on port 579. Restarting cPHulkd should correct the issue:

/scripts/restartsrv_cphulkd

Additionally, it's a good idea to enable monitoring for the "cPHulk Daemon" service via "WHM >> Service Manager" to ensure the service is automatically restarted should it fail again in the future.

Note: Internal case CPANEL-12290 addresses an issue in cPanel 64 where the cPHulkd Chkservd driver was not ensuring the service was listening on port 579. The resolution is included in cPanel 64.0.13:

Fixed case CPANEL-12290: Update cphulkd chkservd driver to ensure port 579 is working.

Thank you.