Plesk 12 can't send email.

[deltatech]

Every out bound email message fails and stays in the queue. The mail log shows this error.

qmail: 1432283802.380653 delivery 27: deferral: Unable_to_read_control_files._(#4.3.0)/

A second problem, also qmail is that I can't send to the server using TLS on the submission port, only if I do plain text. But the first problem is bigger because we can't send at all.

This is a new plesk installation and it has never worked. Would appreciate any assistance. thanks.

 

[IgorG]

Have you tried to fix it with mchk utility or with switching to postfix?

 

[abdi]

http://talk.plesk.com/threads/problem-with-qmail.60125/

 

[deltatech]

Have you tried to fix it with mchk utility or with switching to postfix?

Postfix is not an option since it won't work with spamdyke. I don't know how to use mchk. But since you mentioned it, I did run it and it didn't help. I have another symptom that is likely caused by the same thing.. Not being able to do tls is because of this..

> telnet localhost 587
Trying ::1...
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 echo.deltatechnicalservices.com ESMTP
STARTTLS
421 unable to read controls (#4.3.0)
Connection closed by foreign host.

 

[UFHH01]

Hi deltatech,

Postfix is not an option since it won't work with spamdyke. I don't know how to use mchk. But since you mentioned it, I did run it and it didn't help. I have another symptom that is likely caused by the same thing.. Not being able to do tls is because of this..

The suggestion to "switch" is not done to suggest a mail-server-software - change, it is the fastest way to remove ( maybe corrupted ) qmail - files and to re-install qmail with all standard files, after re-changing back to qmail again. The procedure is "changing to postfix" and "changing back to qmail" within minutes, instead of typing a bunch of commands over the command line to re-install qmail with standard files. A big advantage with this procedure is as well, that NO mail-account will be touched at all. You could either do this over the Plesk Control Panel, or over the command line with only two commands:

/usr/local/psa/admin/bin/autoinstaller --select-product-id plesk --select-release-current --reinstall-patch --install-component postfix

/usr/local/psa/admin/bin/autoinstaller --select-product-id plesk --select-release-current --reinstall-patch --install-component qmail​

If you wish a backup of your current qmail - settings, please use "cp -rf /etc/qmail /etc/qmail.backup" BEFORE you use the above commands.


You could try as well, to set the correct hostname at "/etc/qmail/me", which might be the initial cause of your issue:

echo SERVERNAME.YOUR-DOMAIN.COM > /etc/qmail/me

( please use the same as in "/etc/hostname" )​

service qmail restart
​

For your second issue:

A second problem, also qmail is that I can't send to the server using TLS on the submission port, only if I do plain text.

please include log - files and maybe configuration files for further investigations and suggestions.

Parallels Plesk Panel for Linux services logs and configuration files ( KB - article: 111 283 )​

 

[UFHH01]

Hi deltatech again... ^^

while you are still configuring your server, please be aware, that your server is currently vulnerable to the POODLE attack and supports weak Diffie-Hellman (DH) key exchange parameters. You could check this as well at "https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest". You might consider reading:

[Plesk] CVE-2014-3566: POODLE attack exploiting SSL 3.0 fallback ( KB - article: 123 160 )​

and

http://talk.plesk.com/threads/logjam-solution-required.333088/#post-780014​

 

[deltatech]

Hi deltatech,



The suggestion to "switch" is not done to suggest a mail-server-software - change, it is the fastest way to remove ( maybe corrupted ) qmail - files and to re-install qmail with all standard files, after re-changing back to qmail again. The procedure is "changing to postfix" and "changing back to qmail" within minutes, instead of typing a bunch of commands over the command line to re-install qmail with standard files. A big advantage with this procedure is as well, that NO mail-account will be touched at all. You could either do this over the Plesk Control Panel, or over the command line with only two commands:

/usr/local/psa/admin/bin/autoinstaller --select-product-id plesk --select-release-current --reinstall-patch --install-component postfix

/usr/local/psa/admin/bin/autoinstaller --select-product-id plesk --select-release-current --reinstall-patch --install-component qmail​

If you wish a backup of your current qmail - settings, please use "cp -rf /etc/qmail /etc/qmail.backup" BEFORE you use the above commands.

That fixed both issues!!! Thanks. and the location of /etc/qmail doesn't exist on any of my plesk installations. So I assumed you meant /var/qmail/control which is where the me file is located. I checked it and it was already correct. But switching to postfix and back did the job! My queue finally processed and all mail is going out.

 

[deltatech]

Hi deltatech again... ^^

while you are still configuring your server, please be aware, that your server is currently vulnerable to the POODLE attack and supports weak Diffie-Hellman (DH) key exchange parameters. You could check this as well at "https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest". You might consider reading:

[Plesk] CVE-2014-3566: POODLE attack exploiting SSL 3.0 fallback ( KB - article: 123 160 )​

and

http://talk.plesk.com/threads/logjam-solution-required.333088/#post-780014​

I have the version of openssl that supports the safe fallback. however, even if I didn't poodle is safer than nothing in this case. Poodle only means that if someone were to go thru the extreme measures to do something nasty, all they could do is fall back to a less secure protocol.. My other option is to use plain text which is even more insecure. And we need to keep our customers happy with some encryption.