Public mailboxes disappeared?

Support
,
#1

NethServer Version: 7.9.2009
Module: dovecot?

So this morning was I looking through my shared mailboxes, I use them to catch mail with the wrong recipients and to receive mail from servers. That worked fine and I forwarded a mail from my catcher mailbox but after that they became grey in Thunderbird and when I look in cockpit there are no public (shared) mailboxes listed. I even locked in the old Web UI to be sure. In the logs I can find this from when we did a test.

10:50 lmtp(vmail@nethserver.domain.tld): msgid=Nb0UoUgVyEDqnGe_rihN3LEWDgif2Ky4bGMvS3Jgttg3oVYxzJu1kSThM6ufRMckvtvN33dQeiWpLEYq1vfD6Pq3VIf6WBhWRzasZYsGPTY=@sender.tld: save failed to open mailbox catcher: Mailbox doesn’t exist: catcher

Have I started dreaming or are the mailboxes gone, and if so why and how?

#2

To investigate:
db accounts show catcher@ (press TAB to auto-complete the account name)

grep catcher /etc/postfix/virtual

Then search for catcher in /var/log/messages.

#3

db accounts show catcher@
catcher@=pseudonym
Access=public
Account=vmail+catcher
Description=Shared mailbox

grep catcher /etc/postfix/virtual
catcher@domain1.tld vmail+catcher
catcher@domain2.tld vmail+catcher
catcher@domain3.tld vmail+catcher
@domain1.tld vmail+catcher
@domain2.tld vmail+catcher

Nothing found in /var/log/messages for catcher

I tested for another public mailbox called system that also is missing.
db account returns system@domain3.tld returns
system@domain3.tld=pseudonym
Access=public
Account=vmail+system
Description=
grep system /etc/postfix/virtual returns
system@domain3.tld vmail+system

domain1 and domain2 are public domains and domain3 is a sub domain to domain1.

#4

@filippo_carletti, any update?

#5

Oops, sorry, I missed your reply.
Everything seems to be in order.
Maybe it’s a thunderbird problem, please, try roundcube or a different client.
Honestly, I think we never encountered a similar problem, I don’t have a checklist ready for troubleshooting.

#6

I checked with Roundcube and I couldn’t find them there either. I doubt that the problem is Thunderbird since they also has disappeared from the admin interface, same problem in both cockpit and the old interface.
In Thunderbird I can still see the mailboxes but they are greyed, edit: they disappeared after a restart of the client. I checked maillog and saw that mails seems to be sent to the mailbox system. When looking in /var/lib/nethserver/vmail/vmail/Maildir/new I can see new mails that has arrived to the mailboxes after I was able to access them.

From maillog
Feb 15 12:43:48 saga dovecot: lmtp(vmail@): msgid=truenas-20210215.114322.428655.b’9OaH’@nas.subdomain.domain.tld: save failed to open mailbox system: Mailbox doesn’t exist: system
Feb 15 12:43:49 saga postfix/lmtp[2575]: C74C63F2CB: to=<vmail+system@>, orig_to=system@subdomain.domain.tld, relay=[/var/run/dovecot/lmtp], delay=21, delays=18/0.01/0.22/2.7, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (250 2.0.0 <vmail+system@> SLNgA3NeKmAQCgAAw1SXjw Saved)
Feb 15 12:53:13 saga dovecot: lmtp(vmail@): Error: EFHaGalgKmBPDwAAw1SXjw: sieve: msgid=truenas-20210215.115313.065618.b’0idA’@nas.subdomain.domain.tld: failed to store into mailbox ‘system’: Mailbox doesn’t exist: system
Feb 15 12:53:13 saga dovecot: lmtp(vmail@): msgid=truenas-20210215.115313.065618.b’0idA’@nas.subdomain.domain.tld: save failed to open mailbox system: Mailbox doesn’t exist: system
Feb 15 12:53:13 saga postfix/lmtp[3918]: 1A2D81647: to=<vmail+system@>, orig_to=system@subdomain.domain.tld, relay=[/var/run/dovecot/lmtp], delay=0.61, delays=0.29/0.02/0.03/0.28, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (250 2.0.0 <vmail+system@> EFHaGalgKmBPDwAAw1SXjw Saved)

From /var/lib/nethserver/vmail/vmail/Maildir/new/
-rw------- 1 vmail vmail 2367 Feb 15 12:43 1613389428.M141737P2576.,S=2367,W=2416
-rw------- 1 vmail vmail 2005 Feb 15 12:53 1613389993.M443853P3919.,S=2005,W=2049

#7

@davidep @stephdl do you have any idea of what may have happened?

1 Like
#8

The following command prints a list of public mailboxes base directories:

find  /var/lib/nethserver/vmail/vmail/Maildir/  -type d -name cur -printf "%h\n"

If the files are still in place, there could be some misconfiguration. I’d start with a

signal-event nethserver-mail-server-update

There should be a domain suffix after @…

#9

Returns /var/lib/nethserver/vmail/vmail/Maildir but as I mentioned in my previous entry can I see the new mails sent to the mailboxes in /var/lib/nethserver/vmail/vmail/Maildir/new/. The folders cur and tmp are empty.

It ran for a minute and then the cursor reappeared and I see no changes. I have installed all updates and at the time when this happened no updates had been installed for a a few days and no configuration changes for an even longer time.

#10

:fearful: I’m afraid the public mailboxes (i.e. catcher, system…) are gone…

#11

That is worrying, not that they contained anything that was important but I it would help to understand what happened. The oldest mail in the new folder is dated 2021-02-07 00:00 so probably did it happen sometimes before that but unfortunately are all the backups from after that date.

db accounts lists the missing mailboxes even if it behaves a bit odd. I created a new mailbox called demo and db accounts show demo@ shows this
demo@=pseudonym
Access=public
Account=vmail+demo
Description=Created automatically for public folder demo

If I include the domain name is the response empty. I checked the other ones that were empty, in total I had four public mailboxes.
demo and catcher requires the format @
system and logger requires the format @subdomain.domain.tld.
maillist requires the format @domain.tld.

I installed a lot of updates at 14:30 on the 6th, could any of them cause have caused it?

Summary

Feb 06 14:27:23 Updated: glibc-common-2.17-322.el7_9.x86_64
Feb 06 14:27:42 Updated: glibc-2.17-322.el7_9.x86_64
Feb 06 14:27:49 Updated: systemd-libs-219-78.el7_9.3.x86_64
Feb 06 14:27:50 Updated: 4:perl-macros-5.16.3-299.el7_9.x86_64
Feb 06 14:29:21 Updated: 4:perl-libs-5.16.3-299.el7_9.x86_64
Feb 06 14:29:31 Updated: 4:perl-5.16.3-299.el7_9.x86_64
Feb 06 14:29:45 Updated: libsss_certmap-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:29:50 Updated: libsss_idmap-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:30:20 Updated: libuuid-2.23.2-65.el7_9.1.x86_64
Feb 06 14:30:27 Updated: libblkid-2.23.2-65.el7_9.1.x86_64
Feb 06 14:30:29 Updated: libmount-2.23.2-65.el7_9.1.x86_64
Feb 06 14:30:31 Updated: zlib-1.2.7-19.el7_9.x86_64
Feb 06 14:30:46 Updated: systemd-219-78.el7_9.3.x86_64
Feb 06 14:31:18 Installed: nethserver-base-3.8.0-1.ns7.noarch
Feb 06 14:31:40 Updated: nethserver-cockpit-lib-1.7.22-1.ns7.noarch
Feb 06 14:31:45 Updated: nethserver-backup-data-1.7.5-1.ns7.noarch
Feb 06 14:31:48 Updated: libsss_sudo-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:31:50 Updated: libsss_autofs-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:31:53 Updated: libsss_nss_idmap-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:31:58 Updated: sssd-client-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:32:02 Updated: sssd-common-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:32:20 Updated: sssd-krb5-common-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:32:23 Updated: sssd-common-pac-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:32:27 Updated: sssd-ad-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:32:30 Updated: sssd-ldap-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:32:44 Updated: sssd-krb5-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:32:49 Updated: sssd-proxy-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:32:59 Updated: kernel-tools-libs-3.10.0-1160.15.2.el7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:33:03 Updated: libsmartcols-2.23.2-65.el7_9.1.x86_64
Feb 06 14:33:13 Updated: util-linux-2.23.2-65.el7_9.1.x86_64
Feb 06 14:33:24 Updated: python-perf-3.10.0-1160.15.2.el7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:33:28 Updated: libipa_hbac-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:33:33 Updated: sssd-ipa-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:33:35 Updated: python-sssdconfig-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.noarch
Feb 06 14:34:00 Updated: webtop5-1.4.12-1.ns7.noarch
Feb 06 14:39:05 Updated: linux-firmware-20200421-80.git78c0348.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:41:53 Installed: kernel-3.10.0-1160.15.2.el7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:41:59 Updated: nethserver-webtop5-1.6.10-1.ns7.noarch
Feb 06 14:42:00 Updated: sssd-1.16.5-10.el7_9.7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:42:03 Updated: tuned-2.11.0-11.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:42:56 Updated: kernel-tools-3.10.0-1160.15.2.el7.x86_64
Feb 06 14:43:01 Updated: nethserver-cockpit-1.7.22-1.ns7.noarch
Feb 06 14:43:06 Updated: systemd-sysv-219-78.el7_9.3.x86_64
Feb 06 14:43:09 Updated: 1:perl-Pod-Escapes-1.04-299.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:43:27 Updated: libgudev1-219-78.el7_9.3.x86_64
Feb 06 14:43:38 Updated: iwl2000-firmware-18.168.6.1-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:43:40 Updated: iwl6050-firmware-41.28.5.1-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:43:42 Updated: iwl135-firmware-18.168.6.1-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:43:48 Updated: iwl3945-firmware-15.32.2.9-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:43:50 Updated: iwl2030-firmware-18.168.6.1-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:43:51 Updated: iwl105-firmware-18.168.6.1-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:43:56 Updated: iwl6000g2a-firmware-18.168.6.1-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:43:57 Updated: 1:iwl1000-firmware-39.31.5.1-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:44:17 Updated: iwl7260-firmware-25.30.13.0-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:44:19 Updated: iwl6000g2b-firmware-18.168.6.1-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:44:21 Updated: iwl5000-firmware-8.83.5.1_1-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:44:24 Updated: iwl4965-firmware-228.61.2.24-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:45:44 Updated: iwl100-firmware-39.31.5.1-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:45:51 Updated: iwl3160-firmware-25.30.13.0-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:45:53 Updated: iwl6000-firmware-9.221.4.1-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:45:54 Updated: iwl5150-firmware-8.24.2.2-80.el7_9.noarch
Feb 06 14:46:42 Erased: nethserver-letsencrypt-1.2.0-1.ns7.noarch

#12

No, AFAIK. However you could try to see if there’s some clue that it is related to the updates in /var/log/maillog and /var/log/imap (considering also archived logs).

#13

I see that a mail was successfully sent to system at 15:14:16 and at 00:00:14 the next day was the mailbox missing. I restarted the server after the update around 3pm. I have checked maillog, imap, messages and cron without finding anything that could explain it. In cron are these lines that I find a bit odd.
cron-20210207:Feb 6 18:22:15 “server” crontab[24324]: (root) BEGIN EDIT (root)
cron-20210207:Feb 6 18:22:21 “server” crontab[24324]: (root) END EDIT (root)
I couldn’t find any similar entries in any of the cron logs.

I think I just have to give up on this one. Can I just recreate the mailboxes without it causing any problems?

#14

It seems the hostname field (“server”) is missing :thinking: There could be a mail delivery problem if the hostname is not set correctly, however I can’t figure out why the folders disappeared.

As we didn’t find the problem origin we can’t be sure it has been solved. Let’s try it and see how it goes…

#15

That is only me that edited it, I replaced the actual hostname with “server” and missed one line that I have edited now.

1 Like
#16

I created the maiboxes system and catcher but when I look at the aliases for them appears the same address twice for system. It shows the internal AD domain twice.

I added myself in the ACL with full control of the mailboxes but they don’t appear in Thunderbird nor Roundcube.

#17

Can you give me some examples/UI screenshots?

Can you see the subdir with

find /var/lib/nethserver/vmail/vmail/Maildir/ -type d -name cur -printf "%h\n"
#18

Screenshots can be a bit tricky without exposing my environment which I try to avoid.

/var/lib/nethserver/vmail/vmail/Maildir
/var/lib/nethserver/vmail/vmail/Maildir/.demo
/var/lib/nethserver/vmail/vmail/Maildir/.system
/var/lib/nethserver/vmail/vmail/Maildir/.catcher

I think I figured it out now. I found entries under Addresses that I removed and it looks OK now.

I don’t understand why I can’t see them in the mail client. I created the public mailboxes and for the ACL I entered my username with Full control as permission. I have restarted Thunderbird but they still don’t show up.

#19

Are you sure they are subscribed?

1 Like
#20

It was as easy as that, totally forgot about that step. Have a great weekend.

1 Like