[wplug] FreeBSD help?

[Chris Romano]

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 08:52:22 -0400, Bill Moran <wmoran at potentialtech.com> wrote:
> 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.
> 

I agree but was offering this as a possible "temp" fix to try to get
his queue to something a little more managable.  If that was truely
part of the problem.

Chris