[wplug] FreeBSD help?

Bill Moran wmoran at potentialtech.com
Mon Oct 25 08:52:22 EDT 2004


Chris Romano <romano.chris at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 17:47:43 -0400, Bill Moran <wmoran at potentialtech.com> wrote:
> > terry mcintyre <terrymcintyre at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > 
> > > Right now, I'm trying to do something about a qmail /
> > > vpopmail server, running FreeBSD 4.5, which is
> > > bogging down rather badly.
> > 
> > Have a look at those messages to see if a lot of them are bounces and
> > double-bounces.  If so, it's quite possible that you're accepting mail
> > for accounts that don't exist, then trying to bounce it back to accounts
> > that don't exist, thus generating a double-bounce.
> > 
> > If you get a lot of spam with a From address that doesn't exist, to a
> > nonexistant account on your server, this can bog things down very
> > quickly, as each one of these spams results in 3 messages going through
> > the queue (the original, bounce, and finally the double-bounce).
> > 
> > If that's the problem, the best solution is to make sure qmail refuses
> > to accept mail for accounts that don't exist (instead of accepting it,
> > then bouncing it).  It's been a while since I've worked with qmail, so
> > I'm not sure how to configure this, but I know it can be done.
> 
> I can't verify this right now, but you can probably check on
> www.lifewithqmail.com.  Under the control directory you can create a
> file called "doublebounce".  In that file just put "#".  This way a
> triple bounce will not be generated.

I don't recommend doing this, as it would prevent your from getting legit
bounces.

If you've got a situation that's generating a lot of bounces, you want to
know about it so you can correct it.  You don't want to discard the final
bounce.  And you should correct it at the cause, not at the symptom.

-- 
Bill Moran
Potential Technologies
http://www.potentialtech.com


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