[cobalt-users] Qube3 Mail Queue Gone Mad

["dr. mikey." <mikey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

hi all,

i am having a devil of a time with a message that seems to be stuck in 
the mail server on our qube 3 and could use some help in figuring out 
how to get it back under control.

one of our users attempted to send an email containing several pdf 
attachments to one of our customers while also cc'ing several local 
users, but now that email is haunting us severely.  it appears that the 
email is stuck in some sort of endless loop in our mail server, where 
the qube sends it to the non-local recipient, but fails on the local 
cc'd users due to quota errors.  it then tries to bounce it back to the 
original sender with an error but can't because of the size is way 
beyond the user's quota.  so the email server logs an error and kills 
the message leaving it in the queue as a dead message.  only it doesn't 
seem to actually kill the message, it just loops back through the 
process until our hard drive is full to capacity and the active monitor 
screams at me for attention.

now, that is just what seems to me to be happening.  what is really 
happening may be something entirely different.

the evidence, besides active monitor, is that all 4 of the mail queue's 
on the server get completely clogged with 15-20 copies of 3 or 4 
different files generated from the errant message: there are files 
beginning with "dfg", "qfg", "xfg" and "Qfg" (where the dfg files are up 
around 82 mb each).  also, the intended recipient of the original 
message (poor unsuspecting guy) has reported receiving >100 copies of 
the message at once, then nothing, and then another bejillion copies 
when the process repeats itself.

what i have done so far is stop sendmail, and manually delete everything 
from all 4 queue directories.  that seems to stop the problem, for 
awhile.  then it re-occurs.  this has happened 3 or 4 times now, and 
each time the offending message seems to be the same one that was sent 
back on may 21.

so, to you i appeal for help.  why does this message keep coming back to 
haunt us after i have deleted all traces of it from the mail queues? 
where else has our qube stashed this file and why does it keep trying to 
resend it?  and most importantly, how can i kill this bloody message 
once and for all.

i thank you for any help you are able to offer,

mikey.

--
mike songster                  work1:           www.biosearchtech.com
mikey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx        work2:  www.chem.umn.edu/orgs/ampepsoc

an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind
                                                 gandhi