Stopped getting mailing list emails

[Bob Katz]

I am running a couple of maillists with mailman on cpanel. I just discovered that messages from OTHER users are not getting to my email. I can only see messages that I personally send to the list.

To test it, I've asked several users to send an email to the list, and it doesn't show up in my Thunderbird email or webmail. I can find their messages in the list archives so I know they're supposed to be there. How can I start debugging this troubling development? Thanks in advance.

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello,

Try searching for one of their email addresses in /var/log/exim_mainlog to see if you can get a better idea of what's happening to the emails. EX:

exigrep [email protected] /var/log/exim_mainlog

Feel free to post the output here, ensuring to replace real domain names and IP addresses with examples.

Thank you.

 

[Bob Katz]

Try searching for one of their email addresses in /var/log/exim_mainlog to see if you can get a better idea of what's happening to the emails. EX:

Code:
exigrep [email protected] /var/log/exim_mainlog
Feel free to post the output here, ensuring to replace real domain names and IP addresses with examples.

Thank you.

Thanks, Michael. I'm beginning to think that when I changed ISPs to a new ISP back around May that their installation of Mailman might be defective. That was when things went crazy. I just did the inspection of the exim_mainlog. I cannot find a single message in there from the maillist. I sent a test message to the list on Aug. 2nd, which is within this log's range, and it does not show in the exim log. I telephoned a list subscriber and she found my test message from the list.

So I cannot determine the cause yet.... The exim maillog shows standard messages that I have received but no maillist messages. I'm tempted to make a new test maillist and see if that fixes the problem and then migrate the users to that new list. To complicate the issue I made a subdomain called lists.my_real_domain.com which seems to be working fine. The maillist is at lists.my_real_domain.com. I did this so that spam hero (an outside anti-spam servicer) software would not reject messages to the list. Spam hero only deals with the main domain. I hope that the subdomain is not cause of the problem.

 

[cPanelMichael]

I'm beginning to think that when I changed ISPs to a new ISP back around May that their installation of Mailman might be defective. That was when things went crazy.

Could you elaborate on if the mailing list in question is setup on the cPanel server in-question, or if it's setup on a remote server? If it's a remote server, do you have root access to that system?

Thank you.

 

[Bob Katz]

Dear Michael: Thanks again. The maillist is set up on a remote server. I have control over the server and also the assistance of the ISP's IT staff if necessary. I do have root access to the system, that's how I ran the exigrep command, through SSH. I just created a new test maillist, and with the default options (I unchecked the "nodupes" checkbox, however).... I made myself be the only subscriber. I did NOT receive the subscription message :-(. This is ominous. I am happy to perform as many tests as you like. I barely even know what "exim" means but I certainly can do tests and read logs. Many thanks! You'd think the mailman software on this cpanel is defective, however, for the main maillist the other subscribers are seeing MY posts and their posts.

The date when the maillist went crazy seems to correspond with when I moved the entire domain(s) over to the new ISP. It was a cpanel root level migration.

 

[Bob Katz]

I just found the log entry for the test message in exim. I do not think I have received this message. Name of domain in the log changed to "my_real_domain.com" as per your suggestion:

2017-08-03 11:12:37 1ddHnh-0005Pc-Ft <= [email protected]_real_domain.com H=(host.my_real_domain.com) [::1]:35181 P=esmtp S=2025 [email protected]s.my_real_domain.com T="Welcome to the \"Test\" mailing list" for [email protected]_real_domain.com

2017-08-03 11:12:37 1ddHnh-0005Pc-Ft => /dev/null <[email protected]_real_domain.com> R=central_filter T=**bypassed**

2017-08-03 11:12:37 1ddHnh-0005Pc-Ft Completed

 

[Bob Katz]

OK, I just received a message I sent to myself on the test maillist (three minutes after I sent it, so it's prompt). I also just received the welcome message, who knows why it was delayed.

Michael (or anyone else who can help). Would it be possible for you to give me your email address (just a test address you use for junk purposes) and I'll subscribe you to the test maillist and we'll see if I can receive your message? If that works, why not call it a day and I'll just migrate all the other list subscribers over to the test list and we'll assume that the migration was somehow defective.

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello,

I recommend creating a test email account using Google or Hotmail for the purpose of seeing if it can receive the test message. You may also want to run the following command on the cPanel server where the affected mailing list is hosted:

/scripts/fixmailman

This will detect any fix any permission issues with the mailing list in-case that's what's causing the issue. Additionally, feel free to open a support ticket using the link in my signature if you'd like us to take a closer look.

Thank you.

 

[Bob Katz]

Fantastic, Michael. You've been a godsend. I created a new gmail account, sent a test message to the new "tests" maillist and did not receive a message on the tests lists, at least so far after 12 minutes. "nodupes" is not checked for this list member. Will wait a few hours and if nothing on the new tests lists I will submit a support ticket.

 

[Bob Katz]

I see the new test message shows up in the LIST ARCHIVES. So is the problem with the send mail function of the list?

 

[Bob Katz]

Oops, I forgot to look in this new gmail account under all labels. The welcome message shows up in the new gmail account under the label "promotions". But still I cannot find the test message anywhere.

 

[cPanelMichael]

I see the new test message shows up in the LIST ARCHIVES. So is the problem with the send mail function of the list?

How does the test message appear in /var/log/exim_mainlog?

If you decide to open a ticket, please post the ticket number here and I will update this thread with the outcome.

Thank you.

 

[Bob Katz]

How does the test message appear in /var/log/exim_mainlog?

If you decide to open a ticket, please post the ticket number here and I will update this thread with the outcome.

Thank you.

Here's the expurgated exim_maillog, replacing some domains to protect this cpanel thread. Note that I sent two test messages. The only message I've seen come back from the list is the welcome message. :-( mxthunder.net is a real address, this is the address of spam hero. Can't diagnose if spam hero is at fault here or not. This could be an mx records issue :-( But I did get the first message below, about the creation of the new gmail account.

[[email protected] log]# exigrep [email protected] exim_mainlog
2017-08-03 13:10:03 1ddJdL-00088R-Av <= [email protected].mxthunder.net H=c7-b.mxthunder.net [208.53.48.218]:63651 P=esmtps X=TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:256 CV=no S=5682 [email protected]l.com T="Your Gmail address, [email protected], has been created" for [email protected]_real_domain.com
2017-08-03 13:10:03 1ddJdL-00088R-Av => bobkatz <[email protected]_real_domain.com> R=virtual_user T=dovecot_virtual_delivery C="250 2.0.0 <[email protected]_real_domain.com> 11+dHutYg1lhegAA9cK2lA Saved"
2017-08-03 13:10:03 1ddJdL-00088R-Av Completed

2017-08-03 13:11:09 1ddJeP-0008CQ-7L <= [email protected]_real_domain.com H=(host.digido.com) [::1]:45271 P=esmtp S=1995 [email protected]s.my_real_domain.com T="Welcome to the \"Test\" mailing list" for [email protected]
2017-08-03 13:11:09 1ddJeP-0008CQ-7L SMTP connection identification H=localhost A=::1 P=45271 M=1ddJeP-0008CQ-7L U=mailman ID=996 S=mailman B=authenticated_local_user
2017-08-03 13:11:09 1ddJeP-0008CQ-7L => [email protected] R=lookuphost T=remote_smtp H=gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com [209.85.232.27] X=TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:128 CV=yes C="250 2.0.0 OK 1501780270 d85si31809369qkc.437 - gsmtp"
2017-08-03 13:11:09 1ddJeP-0008CQ-7L Completed

2017-08-03 13:13:22 1ddJgY-0008Ee-7O <= [email protected] H=mail-yw0-f173.google.com [209.85.161.173]:33940 P=esmtps X=TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:128 CV=no S=2539 [email protected]l.com T="test to test list from bobkatz48bit" for [email protected]_real_domain.com
2017-08-03 13:13:22 1ddJgY-0008Ee-7O => test <[email protected]_real_domain.com> R=mailman_virtual_router T=mailman_virtual_transport
2017-08-03 13:13:22 1ddJgY-0008Ee-7O Completed

2017-08-03 13:13:23 1ddJgZ-0008FD-FV <= [email protected]_real_domain.com H=(host.digido.com) [::1]:45399 P=esmtp S=3748 [email protected]l.com T="[Test] test to test list from bobkatz48bit" for [email protected]_real_domain.com [email protected]
2017-08-03 13:13:23 1ddJgZ-0008FD-FV SMTP connection identification H=localhost A=::1 P=45399 M=1ddJgZ-0008FD-FV U=mailman ID=996 S=mailman B=authenticated_local_user
2017-08-03 13:13:23 1ddJgZ-0008FD-FV => /dev/null <[email protected]_real_domain.com> R=central_filter T=**bypassed**
2017-08-03 13:13:23 1ddJgZ-0008FD-FV => [email protected] R=lookuphost T=remote_smtp H=gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com [209.85.232.26] X=TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:128 CV=yes C="250 2.0.0 OK 1501780404 r32si29743554qtb.29 - gsmtp"
2017-08-03 13:13:23 1ddJgZ-0008FD-FV Completed

2017-08-03 14:01:42 1ddKRK-0000l9-3L <= [email protected] H=mail-yw0-f175.google.com [209.85.161.175]:34808 P=esmtps X=TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:128 CV=no S=2509 [email protected]l.com T="another test from bobkatz48bit to the list" for [email protected]_real_domain.com
2017-08-03 14:01:42 1ddKRK-0000l9-3L => test <[email protected]_real_domain.com> R=mailman_virtual_router T=mailman_virtual_transport
2017-08-03 14:01:42 1ddKRK-0000l9-3L Completed

2017-08-03 14:01:43 1ddKRL-0000mj-8q <= [email protected]_real_domain.com H=(host.digido.com) [::1]:49269 P=esmtp S=3718 [email protected]l.com T="[Test] another test from bobkatz48bit to the list" for [email protected]_real_domain.com [email protected]
2017-08-03 14:01:43 1ddKRL-0000mj-8q SMTP connection identification H=localhost A=::1 P=49269 M=1ddKRL-0000mj-8q U=mailman ID=996 S=mailman B=authenticated_local_user
2017-08-03 14:01:43 1ddKRL-0000mj-8q => /dev/null <[email protected]_real_domain.com> R=central_filter T=**bypassed**
2017-08-03 14:01:43 1ddKRL-0000mj-8q => [email protected] R=lookuphost T=remote_smtp H=gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com [209.85.232.26] X=TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:128 CV=yes C="250 2.0.0 OK 1501783304 d21si15119918qtb.69 - gsmtp"
2017-08-03 14:01:43 1ddKRL-0000mj-8q Completed

[[email protected] log]#

 

[Bob Katz]

Dear Michael: Haven't seen your response to the log. I hope you're still following my thread. I tried to submit a support ticket, and in step 3 of 7 from within WHM it complains that the login does not have an @ sign as it requests a valid email. My login to Cpanel or WHM does not look like an email address. It is normally a user name without any @ sign or further text. I usually login with a user name and the root password so I can switch from account to account within Cpanel. I've tried various combinations of valid email addresses but it says invalid. Suggestions, please?

 

[cPanelMichael]

I tried to submit a support ticket, and in step 3 of 7 from within WHM it complains that the login does not have an @ sign as it requests a valid email. My login to Cpanel or WHM does not look like an email address. It is normally a user name without any @ sign or further text. I usually login with a user name and the root password so I can switch from account to account within Cpanel. I've tried various combinations of valid email addresses but it says invalid. Suggestions, please?

It's asking for your cPanel Customer Portal login, as opposed to the username/password to your server. You can create a new one at:

cPanel Customer Portal

Thank you.

 

[Bob Katz]

Thanks for everything, Michael. I opened a support ticket. The Ticket number is 8764953. Good luck!

 

[cPanelMichael]

Thanks for everything, Michael. I opened a support ticket. The Ticket number is 8764953. Good luck!

Hello,

To update, it looks like this issue stemmed from a filter rule that discarded all messages not containing a specific header.

Thank you.

 

[Bob Katz]

Oh my, thanks for debugging that. I was getting tons of spam and the isp suggested that header. Now I'm going to get tons of spam. I have to think about this..... :-(

 

[cPanelMichael]

Oh my, thanks for debugging that. I was getting tons of spam and the isp suggested that header. Now I'm going to get tons of spam. I have to think about this..... :-(

In addition to using SpamAssassin, some administrators find the RBL options available in "WHM >> Service Configuration >> Exim Configuration Manager >> Basic Editor" helpful for stopping incoming SPAM:

Exim Configuration Manager - Basic Editor - Documentation - cPanel Documentation

Greylisting is often helpful as well:

Greylisting - Documentation - cPanel Documentation

Thank you.