E-mail not sent, test e-mail returns an error

[Mornagest]

Hello,

I'm facing a annoying problem with vB4.2.2 PL6: I cannot send e-mail anymore from vBulletin.

There is no e-mail for notification, no e-mail sent from the contact form, no e-mail sent to users... well, no e-mail :D

I ran the e-mail diagnostic utility and this is its reply:

SMTP: localhost
sendmail_from: None
sendmail_path: -t -i

The fact is that I can send and receive e-mails from my server. The contact e-mail address works fine when I use it with SquirrelMail, BUT it doesn't receive contact e-mails sent from the forum form.

Would you have any idea?

Thank you in advance!

[snakes1100]

Verify that smtp email processing is disabled.

If smtp is what you want to use, verify the login & server credentials are correct.

If you have log access on server level, send a test email while using for example tail while in a shell: tail -f mailllog | grep "email@yousentto.com"

If not download the log, like thru ftp if it isnt a dedicated server with shell access & search for the email you sent to, im going to guess you should see a lot of errors if the site sends out daily notifications.

[Mornagest]

Hi Snakes1100 and thank you for your answer :)

The SMTP protocol is disabled in vBulletin options.

We have a dedicated server.

tail found nothing. We use exim4 and its log looks like this :

2020-11-22 19:27:45 1kgu5Q-0004rB-AR <= EdwardHarrisczoir@iconpln.net.id H=(132.42.202.160.iconpln.net.id) [XXX] P=esmtp S=5550 id=1FDF493F.C830B142@iconpln.net.id
2020-11-22 19:27:45 1kgu5Q-0004rB-AR => administration <administration@mysite> R=local_user T=mail_spool
2020-11-22 19:27:45 1kgu5Q-0004rB-AR Completed
2020-11-22 19:28:04 no host name found for IP address XXX
2020-11-22 19:28:04 SMTP protocol error in "AUTH LOGIN" H=(User) [141.98.10.192] AUTH command used when not advertised
2020-11-22 19:29:20 no host name found for IP address XXX
2020-11-22 19:29:20 SMTP protocol error in "AUTH LOGIN" H=(User) [141.98.10.136] AUTH command used when not advertised
2020-11-22 19:39:31 no host name found for IP address XXX

[...]

2020-11-22 19:53:30 Start queue run: pid=19272
2020-11-22 19:53:30 End queue run: pid=19272

[...]


I skipped many lines that look like those ones.

I have no mail in queue as shown in main admin screen on vBulletin.

So I do not know where the problem lies... :confused:

Thank you for your help!

[snakes1100]

tail -f /var/log/exim_mainlog | grep "email@yousenttointest.com"

If you say no outbound email works, then exim's mainlog should be full of clues as to why.

[Mornagest]

So to be sure I'm doing things right, I log on my server and run

tail -f /var/log/exim/mainlog | grep "myemail@blabla.com"

The i open the admin panel in vB and ask him to send a test e-mail via the diagnostic tools.

But nothing shows on the terminal of the server. The tail process is pending without any output.

I wonder where the chain is broken...

Thank you for your help, Snakes1100 ! :)

[snakes1100]

tail -f /var/log/exim_mainlog | grep "email@yousenttointest.com"

Not exim/mainlog

Run that in a shell & then send a email.

[Mornagest]

Sorry for my silliness but the file doesn't exist:

tail -f /var/log/exim4_mainlog | grep "me@blabla"
tail: impossible d'ouvrir '/var/log/exim4_mainlog' en lecture: Aucun fichier ou dossier de ce type
tail: aucun fichier restant


It's in French but I guess you can understand :)

What goes wrong with these mails?

Thanks for your help!


edit: same error with tail -f /var/log/exim_mainlog | grep "me@blabla"

[snakes1100]

exim by default stores all its logs in /var/log.

not sure what your setup is or who may have did anything custom on it, but you'll need to find the exim logs & see why its failing to send out emails.

[Mornagest]

I'm surprised as I just checked on my computer by installing exim4 and the mainlog is in /var/log/exim4 as well.

I'm using Ubuntu 18.04 and our server runs on Debian 10. Maybe this point was different before, I don't know.

[snakes1100]

Do a search for the exim logs then.

find / -name exim_* -print

[Mornagest]

Here you are:

find / -name exim_* -print
/usr/sbin/exim_dbmbuild
/usr/sbin/exim_dumpdb
/usr/sbin/exim_lock
/usr/sbin/exim_tidydb
/usr/sbin/exim_fixdb
/usr/sbin/exim_convert4r4
/usr/sbin/exim_checkaccess
/usr/share/man/man8/exim_fixdb.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/exim_dumpdb.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/exim_convert4r4.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/exim_db.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/exim_lock.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/exim_checkaccess.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/exim_tidydb.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/exim_dbmbuild.8.gz

So I made the same for exim4 :

find / -name exim4* -print
/sys/fs/cgroup/pids/system.slice/exim4.service
/sys/fs/cgroup/devices/system.slice/exim4.service
/sys/fs/cgroup/memory/system.slice/exim4.service
/sys/fs/cgroup/systemd/system.slice/exim4.service
/sys/fs/cgroup/unified/system.slice/exim4.service
/usr/lib/exim4
/usr/lib/exim4/exim4
/usr/sbin/exim4
/usr/share/doc/exim4-base
/usr/share/doc/exim4
/usr/share/doc/exim4-daemon-light
/usr/share/doc/exim4-config
/usr/share/doc-base/exim4-spec-txt
/usr/share/doc-base/exim4-filter-txt
/usr/share/doc-base/exim4-readme-debian
/usr/share/lintian/overrides/exim4-daemon-light
/usr/share/lintian/overrides/exim4-config
/usr/share/exim4
/usr/share/exim4/exim4_refresh_gnutls-params
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4_local_sender_callout.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4_passwd_client.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4_local_rcpt_callout.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4_local_domain_dnsbl_whitelist.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4_local_host_blacklist.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4_exim_key.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4_sender_local_deny_exceptions.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4_exim_crt.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4-config_files.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4_hubbed_hosts.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4_host_local_deny_exceptions.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4_passwd.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/exim4_local_sender_blacklist.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/exim4.8.gz
/usr/share/bug/exim4-base
/usr/share/bug/exim4
/usr/share/bug/exim4-daemon-light
/usr/share/bug/exim4-config
/run/exim4
/run/systemd/generator.late/graphical.target.wants/exim4.service
/run/systemd/generator.late/multi-user.target.wants/exim4.service
/run/systemd/generator.late/exim4.service
/var/lib/exim4
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-config.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-base.preinst
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-config.postrm
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-daemon-light.prerm
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-base.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-config.templates
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-daemon-light.postrm
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-base.templates
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-config.postinst
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-config.config
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-daemon-light.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4.postinst
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-config.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-base.postrm
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-daemon-light.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-config.conffiles
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-config.preinst
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-base.config
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4.config
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-base.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-base.postinst
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-daemon-light.templates
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-base.conffiles
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-daemon-light.config
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4.postrm
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4-daemon-light.postinst
/var/lib/dpkg/info/exim4.templates
/var/spool/exim4
/home/log/exim4
/etc/logrotate.d/exim4-base
/etc/logrotate.d/exim4-paniclog
/etc/default/exim4
/etc/ppp/ip-up.d/exim4
/etc/cron.daily/exim4-base
/etc/exim4
/etc/exim4/exim4.conf.template.dpkg-old
/etc/exim4/exim4.conf.template
/etc/init.d/exim4

[snakes1100]

It appears they renamed & moved quite a bit in that OS version.

Youre gonna have to edit the config & find out where & what its naming the log files.

Once you find the correct log, then you can tail the log as you test & send out an email.

[Mornagest]

So... as far as I can understand, there is a big mess on our server. We actually have two different versions of PHP : 5.3 and 7. And vBulletin is using 5.3 which is not supported any longer. As our server uses PHP 7 for e-mails, it doesn't do the link between vB and the mail server...

I now have to plan cascading updates for vBulletin and PHP to make things right and only then make further mail tests.

I hope this will be sufficient.

Sorry for the disturbance and thank you again Snakes1100 for your help! I'll post news when I get some.

[snakes1100]

1st, you actually need to test - 5.3 may or may not be the issue, you simply need to verify that by checking the log php is using as explained in response to the PM.

Just because someone told you 5.3 is the issue, doesnt mean its so.

[Mornagest]

I didn't find in php.ini where errors are loggued...

; Besides displaying errors, PHP can also log errors to locations such as a
; server-specific log, STDERR, or a location specified by the error_log
; directive found below. While errors should not be displayed on productions
; servers they should still be monitored and logging is a great way to do that.
; Default Value: Off
; Development Value: On
; Production Value: On
; http://php.net/log-errors
log_errors = On

Path is not specified so I guess it would be in syslog BUT when I try a diagnostic mail... nothing more shows in syslog.

Where could it be, by default ?

[snakes1100]

You need to find the php.ini file that your site uses, as you stated it runs 2 versions of php.

Check your phpinfo in the admincp.

[Mornagest]

Yes, we use PHP 5.3.29 as shown in admincp and so I checked that file:

/etc/php5/apache2/php.ini

I also checked those two files:

/usr/php53/lib/php.ini
/usr/php56/lib/php.ini

just to be sure but I found no path for an error log.

Confusing...

Thank you for your help!


edit: here is what I find on the server:

find / -name php.ini* -print
find: ‘/proc/20015’: Aucun fichier ou dossier de ce type
find: ‘/proc/20016’: Aucun fichier ou dossier de ce type
/usr/lib/php/7.3/php.ini-development
/usr/lib/php/7.3/php.ini-production.cli
/usr/lib/php/7.3/php.ini-production
/usr/php56/lib/php.ini
/usr/php56/lib/php.ini-memcache
/usr/php56/lib/php.ini-original
/usr/php56/lib/php.ini-xcache
/usr/php56/lib/php.ini-opcache
/usr/php53/lib/php.ini
/usr/php53/lib/php.ini-memcache
/usr/php53/lib/php.ini-original
/usr/php53/lib/php.ini-xcache
/usr/php53/lib/php.ini-opcache
/etc/php5/apache2/php.ini
/etc/php5/cli/php.ini

Maybe the path is defined in one of these files?

[snakes1100]

You can set a log in the ini that the site is using to log errors, so just make a listing in:

/etc/php5/apache2/php.ini

Restart apache/php if it doesnt start logging after adding it.

[Mornagest]

Well that doesn't work as the file is not created, even after restarting apache2.

I put this in /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini:

; Besides displaying errors, PHP can also log errors to locations such as a
; server-specific log, STDERR, or a location specified by the error_log
; directive found below. While errors should not be displayed on productions
; servers they should still be monitored and logging is a great way to do that.
; Default Value: Off
; Development Value: On
; Production Value: On
; http://php.net/log-errors
log_errors = On
error_log = /var/log/phptesterror.log


but the file /var/log/phptesterror.log doesn't exist, even after trying the diagnostic mail.

[snakes1100]

create it yourself

[Mornagest]

I created it with nano, but it stays empty even after restarting apache2 and trying to send diagnostic mail.

Still confusing for me :/

[Mornagest]

Here is the result of phpinfo() :

phpinfo()
PHP Version => 5.3.29

System => Linux ns3002344.ip-188-165-212.eu 4.9.58-xxxx-std-ipv6-64 #1 SMP Mon Oct 23 11:35:59 CEST 2017 x86_64
Build Date => Jun 15 2020 22:10:18
Configure Command => './configure' '--enable-fpm' '--prefix=/usr/php53' '--with-gd' '--with-jpeg-dir' '--with-png-dir' '--enable-gd-native-ttf' '--with-zlib-dir' '--enable-mbstring' '--enable-sockets' '--enable-sysvsem' '--with-xsl' '--enable-soap' '--with-bz2' '--enable-zip' '--with-freetype-dir' '--with-mysql=mysqlnd' '--with-mysqli=mysqlnd' '--with-pdo-mysql=mysqlnd' '--with-openssl'
Server API => Command Line Interface
Virtual Directory Support => disabled
Configuration File (php.ini) Path => /usr/php53/lib
Loaded Configuration File => /usr/php53/lib/php.ini
Scan this dir for additional .ini files => (none)
Additional .ini files parsed => (none)
PHP API => 20090626
PHP Extension => 20090626
Zend Extension => 220090626
Zend Extension Build => API220090626,NTS
PHP Extension Build => API20090626,NTS
Debug Build => no
Thread Safety => disabled
Zend Memory Manager => enabled
Zend Multibyte Support => disabled
IPv6 Support => enabled
Registered PHP Streams => https, ftps, compress.zlib, compress.bzip2, php, file, glob, data, http, ftp, phar, zip
Registered Stream Socket Transports => tcp, udp, unix, udg, ssl, sslv3, tls
Registered Stream Filters => zlib.*, bzip2.*, convert.iconv.*, string.rot13, string.toupper, string.tolower, string.strip_tags, convert.*, consumed, dechunk


This program makes use of the Zend Scripting Language Engine:
Zend Engine v2.3.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2014 Zend Technologies
with Zend OPcache v7.0.5, Copyright (c) 1999-2015, by Zend Technologies


__________________________________________________ _____________________


Configuration

bz2

BZip2 Support => Enabled
Stream Wrapper support => compress.bzip2://
Stream Filter support => bzip2.decompress, bzip2.compress
BZip2 Version => 1.0.6, 6-Sept-2010

Core

PHP Version => 5.3.29

Directive => Local Value => Master Value
allow_call_time_pass_reference => Off => Off
allow_url_fopen => On => On
allow_url_include => Off => Off
always_populate_raw_post_data => Off => Off
arg_separator.input => & => &
arg_separator.output => & => &
asp_tags => Off => Off
auto_append_file => no value => no value
auto_globals_jit => On => On
auto_prepend_file => no value => no value
browscap => no value => no value
default_charset => no value => no value
default_mimetype => text/html => text/html
define_syslog_variables => Off => Off
disable_classes => no value => no value
disable_functions => no value => no value
display_errors => Off => Off
display_startup_errors => Off => Off
doc_root => no value => no value
docref_ext => no value => no value
docref_root => no value => no value
enable_dl => Off => Off
error_append_string => no value => no value
error_log => no value => no value
error_prepend_string => no value => no value
error_reporting => 22527 => 22527
exit_on_timeout => Off => Off
expose_php => On => On
extension_dir => /usr/php$MINEUR/lib/php/extensions/edge/ => /usr/php$MINEUR/lib/php/extensions/edge/
file_uploads => On => On
highlight.bg => <font style="color: #FFFFFF">#FFFFFF</font> => <font style="color: #FFFFFF">#FFFFFF</font>
highlight.comment => <font style="color: #FF8000">#FF8000</font> => <font style="color: #FF8000">#FF8000</font>
highlight.default => <font style="color: #0000BB">#0000BB</font> => <font style="color: #0000BB">#0000BB</font>
highlight.html => <font style="color: #000000">#000000</font> => <font style="color: #000000">#000000</font>
highlight.keyword => <font style="color: #007700">#007700</font> => <font style="color: #007700">#007700</font>
highlight.string => <font style="color: #DD0000">#DD0000</font> => <font style="color: #DD0000">#DD0000</font>
html_errors => Off => Off
ignore_repeated_errors => Off => Off
ignore_repeated_source => Off => Off
ignore_user_abort => Off => Off
implicit_flush => On => On
include_path => .:/usr/php53/lib/php => .:/usr/php53/lib/php
log_errors => On => On
log_errors_max_len => 1024 => 1024
magic_quotes_gpc => Off => Off
magic_quotes_runtime => Off => Off
magic_quotes_sybase => Off => Off
mail.add_x_header => On => On
mail.force_extra_parameters => no value => no value
mail.log => no value => no value
max_execution_time => 0 => 0
max_file_uploads => 20 => 20
max_input_nesting_level => 64 => 64
max_input_time => -1 => -1
max_input_vars => 1000 => 1000
memory_limit => 128M => 128M
open_basedir => no value => no value
output_buffering => 0 => 0
output_handler => no value => no value
post_max_size => 8M => 8M
precision => 14 => 14
realpath_cache_size => 16K => 16K
realpath_cache_ttl => 120 => 120
register_argc_argv => On => On
register_globals => Off => Off
register_long_arrays => Off => Off
report_memleaks => On => On
report_zend_debug => Off => Off
request_order => GP => GP
safe_mode => Off => Off
safe_mode_exec_dir => no value => no value
safe_mode_gid => Off => Off
safe_mode_include_dir => no value => no value
sendmail_from => no value => no value
sendmail_path => -t -i => -t -i
serialize_precision => 17 => 17
short_open_tag => Off => Off
SMTP => localhost => localhost
smtp_port => 25 => 25
sql.safe_mode => Off => Off
track_errors => Off => Off
unserialize_callback_func => no value => no value
upload_max_filesize => 2M => 2M
upload_tmp_dir => no value => no value
user_dir => no value => no value
user_ini.cache_ttl => 300 => 300
user_ini.filename => .user.ini => .user.ini
variables_order => GPCS => GPCS
xmlrpc_error_number => 0 => 0
xmlrpc_errors => Off => Off
y2k_compliance => On => On
zend.enable_gc => On => On

So I make changes in /usr/php53/lib/php.ini to add error_log = /var/log/phptesterror.log under log_errors = On

I restarted apache2 and here is what I have with phpinfo() :

phpinfo()
PHP Version => 5.3.29

System => Linux ns3002344.ip-188-165-212.eu 4.9.58-xxxx-std-ipv6-64 #1 SMP Mon Oct 23 11:35:59 CEST 2017 x86_64
Build Date => Jun 15 2020 22:10:18
Configure Command => './configure' '--enable-fpm' '--prefix=/usr/php53' '--with-gd' '--with-jpeg-dir' '--with-png-dir' '--enable-gd-native-ttf' '--with-zlib-dir' '--enable-mbstring' '--enable-sockets' '--enable-sysvsem' '--with-xsl' '--enable-soap' '--with-bz2' '--enable-zip' '--with-freetype-dir' '--with-mysql=mysqlnd' '--with-mysqli=mysqlnd' '--with-pdo-mysql=mysqlnd' '--with-openssl'
Server API => Command Line Interface
Virtual Directory Support => disabled
Configuration File (php.ini) Path => /usr/php53/lib
Loaded Configuration File => /usr/php53/lib/php.ini
Scan this dir for additional .ini files => (none)
Additional .ini files parsed => (none)
PHP API => 20090626
PHP Extension => 20090626
Zend Extension => 220090626
Zend Extension Build => API220090626,NTS
PHP Extension Build => API20090626,NTS
Debug Build => no
Thread Safety => disabled
Zend Memory Manager => enabled
Zend Multibyte Support => disabled
IPv6 Support => enabled
Registered PHP Streams => https, ftps, compress.zlib, compress.bzip2, php, file, glob, data, http, ftp, phar, zip
Registered Stream Socket Transports => tcp, udp, unix, udg, ssl, sslv3, tls
Registered Stream Filters => zlib.*, bzip2.*, convert.iconv.*, string.rot13, string.toupper, string.tolower, string.strip_tags, convert.*, consumed, dechunk


This program makes use of the Zend Scripting Language Engine:
Zend Engine v2.3.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2014 Zend Technologies
with Zend OPcache v7.0.5, Copyright (c) 1999-2015, by Zend Technologies


__________________________________________________ _____________________


Configuration

bz2

BZip2 Support => Enabled
Stream Wrapper support => compress.bzip2://
Stream Filter support => bzip2.decompress, bzip2.compress
BZip2 Version => 1.0.6, 6-Sept-2010

Core

PHP Version => 5.3.29

Directive => Local Value => Master Value
allow_call_time_pass_reference => Off => Off
allow_url_fopen => On => On
allow_url_include => Off => Off
always_populate_raw_post_data => Off => Off
arg_separator.input => & => &
arg_separator.output => & => &
asp_tags => Off => Off
auto_append_file => no value => no value
auto_globals_jit => On => On
auto_prepend_file => no value => no value
browscap => no value => no value
default_charset => no value => no value
default_mimetype => text/html => text/html
define_syslog_variables => Off => Off
disable_classes => no value => no value
disable_functions => no value => no value
display_errors => Off => Off
display_startup_errors => Off => Off
doc_root => no value => no value
docref_ext => no value => no value
docref_root => no value => no value
enable_dl => Off => Off
error_append_string => no value => no value
error_log => /var/log/phptesterror.log => /var/log/phptesterror.log
error_prepend_string => no value => no value
error_reporting => 22527 => 22527
exit_on_timeout => Off => Off
expose_php => On => On
extension_dir => /usr/php$MINEUR/lib/php/extensions/edge/ => /usr/php$MINEUR/lib/php/extensions/edge/
file_uploads => On => On
highlight.bg => <font style="color: #FFFFFF">#FFFFFF</font> => <font style="color: #FFFFFF">#FFFFFF</font>
highlight.comment => <font style="color: #FF8000">#FF8000</font> => <font style="color: #FF8000">#FF8000</font>
highlight.default => <font style="color: #0000BB">#0000BB</font> => <font style="color: #0000BB">#0000BB</font>
highlight.html => <font style="color: #000000">#000000</font> => <font style="color: #000000">#000000</font>
highlight.keyword => <font style="color: #007700">#007700</font> => <font style="color: #007700">#007700</font>
highlight.string => <font style="color: #DD0000">#DD0000</font> => <font style="color: #DD0000">#DD0000</font>
html_errors => Off => Off
ignore_repeated_errors => Off => Off
ignore_repeated_source => Off => Off
ignore_user_abort => Off => Off
implicit_flush => On => On
include_path => .:/usr/php53/lib/php => .:/usr/php53/lib/php
log_errors => On => On
log_errors_max_len => 1024 => 1024
magic_quotes_gpc => Off => Off
magic_quotes_runtime => Off => Off
magic_quotes_sybase => Off => Off
mail.add_x_header => On => On
mail.force_extra_parameters => no value => no value
mail.log => no value => no value
max_execution_time => 0 => 0
max_file_uploads => 20 => 20
max_input_nesting_level => 64 => 64
max_input_time => -1 => -1
max_input_vars => 1000 => 1000
memory_limit => 128M => 128M
open_basedir => no value => no value
output_buffering => 0 => 0
output_handler => no value => no value
post_max_size => 8M => 8M
precision => 14 => 14
realpath_cache_size => 16K => 16K
realpath_cache_ttl => 120 => 120
register_argc_argv => On => On
register_globals => Off => Off
register_long_arrays => Off => Off
report_memleaks => On => On
report_zend_debug => Off => Off
request_order => GP => GP
safe_mode => Off => Off
safe_mode_exec_dir => no value => no value
safe_mode_gid => Off => Off
safe_mode_include_dir => no value => no value
sendmail_from => no value => no value
sendmail_path => -t -i => -t -i
serialize_precision => 17 => 17
short_open_tag => Off => Off
SMTP => localhost => localhost
smtp_port => 25 => 25
sql.safe_mode => Off => Off
track_errors => Off => Off
unserialize_callback_func => no value => no value
upload_max_filesize => 2M => 2M
upload_tmp_dir => no value => no value
user_dir => no value => no value
user_ini.cache_ttl => 300 => 300
user_ini.filename => .user.ini => .user.ini
variables_order => GPCS => GPCS
xmlrpc_error_number => 0 => 0
xmlrpc_errors => Off => Off
y2k_compliance => On => On
zend.enable_gc => On => On

So I checked rights on file /var/log/phptesterror.log :

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 nov. 22 00:00 alternatives.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 112 nov. 21 13:11 alternatives.log.1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 169 mai 14 2018 alternatives.log.10.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 791 nov. 18 2017 alternatives.log.11.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1,8K sept. 10 20:33 alternatives.log.2.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1,6K sept. 9 23:21 alternatives.log.3.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 149 f?vr. 7 2020 alternatives.log.4.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 131 f?vr. 6 2020 alternatives.log.5.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 449 ao?t 28 2019 alternatives.log.6.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 277 avril 7 2019 alternatives.log.7.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 110 nov. 16 2018 alternatives.log.8.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 163 ao?t 8 2018 alternatives.log.9.gz
drwxr-x--- 2 root adm 4,0K d?c. 6 00:00 apache2/
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4,0K d?c. 1 00:00 apt/
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 2,8M d?c. 6 13:10 auth.log
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 37M d?c. 6 00:00 auth.log.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 3,2M nov. 29 00:00 auth.log.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 3,2M nov. 22 00:00 auth.log.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 2,8M nov. 15 00:00 auth.log.4.gz
drwxr-xr-x 2 beamium beamium 4,0K d?c. 6 00:00 beamium/
-rw-rw---- 1 root utmp 30M d?c. 6 13:10 btmp
-rw-rw---- 1 root utmp 146M nov. 30 23:59 btmp.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 39K d?c. 6 13:09 daemon.log
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 719K d?c. 6 00:00 daemon.log.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 44K nov. 29 00:00 daemon.log.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 46K nov. 22 00:00 daemon.log.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 40K nov. 15 00:00 daemon.log.4.gz
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4,0K nov. 14 2017 dbconfig-common/
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 0 sept. 13 00:00 debug
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 9,3K sept. 10 20:23 debug.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 1,7K sept. 9 23:21 debug.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 1,7K juin 18 2019 debug.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 1,9K nov. 14 2017 debug.4.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 0 nov. 6 2014 dmesg
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 d?c. 1 00:00 dpkg.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3,5K nov. 27 18:30 dpkg.log.1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1,6K ao?t 28 2019 dpkg.log.10.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1,7K juil. 26 2019 dpkg.log.11.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 963 juin 6 2019 dpkg.log.12.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1,2K nov. 21 13:13 dpkg.log.2.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 35K sept. 13 18:31 dpkg.log.3.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 33K sept. 9 23:22 dpkg.log.4.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 243 ao?t 15 18:16 dpkg.log.5.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1,8K juin 22 10:24 dpkg.log.6.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 846 mars 27 2020 dpkg.log.7.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 614 f?vr. 7 2020 dpkg.log.8.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3,5K f?vr. 6 2020 dpkg.log.9.gz
drwxr-s--- 2 Debian-exim adm 4,0K d?c. 6 00:00 exim4/
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 32K sept. 9 23:20 faillog
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4,0K sept. 9 23:04 fsck/
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 982 d?c. 6 05:29 kern.log
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 131 d?c. 1 18:56 kern.log.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 329 nov. 1 05:28 kern.log.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 127 oct. 8 23:05 kern.log.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 328 oct. 4 05:23 kern.log.4.gz
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root utmp 287K d?c. 6 12:37 lastlog
drwx------ 2 root root 40K d?c. 6 07:15 letsencrypt/
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 125 d?c. 6 06:25 mail.err
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 1,5K d?c. 5 06:25 mail.err.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 156 nov. 28 06:25 mail.err.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 157 nov. 21 06:25 mail.err.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 357 nov. 14 20:05 mail.err.4.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 4,5K d?c. 6 12:35 mail.info
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 47K d?c. 5 21:54 mail.info.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 6,9K nov. 28 23:29 mail.info.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 5,2K nov. 21 14:30 mail.info.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 4,7K nov. 14 23:26 mail.info.4.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 4,5K d?c. 6 12:35 mail.log
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 47K d?c. 5 21:54 mail.log.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 6,9K nov. 28 23:29 mail.log.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 5,2K nov. 21 14:30 mail.log.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 4,7K nov. 14 23:26 mail.log.4.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 125 d?c. 6 06:25 mail.warn
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 1,5K d?c. 5 06:25 mail.warn.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 156 nov. 28 06:25 mail.warn.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 237 nov. 21 13:13 mail.warn.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 357 nov. 14 20:05 mail.warn.4.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 1,2K d?c. 6 05:29 messages
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 1,5K d?c. 6 00:00 messages.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 179 nov. 29 00:00 messages.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 183 nov. 22 00:00 messages.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 180 nov. 15 00:00 messages.4.gz
drwxr-s--- 2 mysql adm 4,0K d?c. 6 00:00 mysql/
-rw-r----- 1 mysql adm 0 sept. 8 00:40 mysql.log.1
drwxr-xr-x 2 noderig noderig 4,0K d?c. 6 00:00 noderig/
-rw-r--r-- 1 root adm 0 d?c. 1 23:08 phptesterror.log
drwx------ 2 root root 4,0K sept. 10 20:04 private/
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4,0K d?c. 6 00:00 proftpd/
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4,0K ao?t 28 2019 puppetlabs/
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 62K d?c. 6 13:09 syslog
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 103K d?c. 6 00:00 syslog.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 9,5K d?c. 5 00:00 syslog.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 11K d?c. 4 00:00 syslog.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 9,3K d?c. 3 00:00 syslog.4.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 12K d?c. 2 00:00 syslog.5.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 13K d?c. 1 00:00 syslog.6.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 13K nov. 30 00:00 syslog.7.gz
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4,0K sept. 27 2014 sysstat/
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 0 sept. 13 00:00 user.log
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 2,1K sept. 10 20:21 user.log.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 274 sept. 9 23:20 user.log.2.gz
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root utmp 37K d?c. 6 12:37 wtmp
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root utmp 3,0K ao?t 16 00:33 wtmp.1


As far as I understand, the file is writable by root, as well as other log files in this directory. So that SHOULD work, but when I run a diagnostic email with vBulletin, nothing writes down in that /var/log/phptesterror.log

I don't know what to do :(

[snakes1100]

-rw-r----- 1 root adm 125 déc. 6 06:25 mail.err
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 1,5K déc. 5 06:25 mail.err.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 156 nov. 28 06:25 mail.err.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 157 nov. 21 06:25 mail.err.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 357 nov. 14 20:05 mail.err.4.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 4,5K déc. 6 12:35 mail.info
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 47K déc. 5 21:54 mail.info.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 6,9K nov. 28 23:29 mail.info.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 5,2K nov. 21 14:30 mail.info.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 4,7K nov. 14 23:26 mail.info.4.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 4,5K déc. 6 12:35 mail.log
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 47K déc. 5 21:54 mail.log.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 6,9K nov. 28 23:29 mail.log.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 5,2K nov. 21 14:30 mail.log.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 4,7K nov. 14 23:26 mail.log.4.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 125 déc. 6 06:25 mail.warn
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 1,5K déc. 5 06:25 mail.warn.1
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 156 nov. 28 06:25 mail.warn.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 237 nov. 21 13:13 mail.warn.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 357 nov. 14 20:05 mail.warn.4.gz

Those are your mail logs there

cd /var/log
tail -f mail.err
send an email

tail -f mail.log
send an email

[Mornagest]

OK so:

tail -f mail.err
Dec 6 06:25:02 ns3002344 exim4: ALERT: exim paniclog /var/log/exim4/paniclog has non-zero size, mail system possibly broken

Nothing more after sending e-mail. I checked /var/log/exim4/paniclog a lot of times, nothing new there but to be sure, here's the content:

cat /var/log/exim4/paniclog
[...]
2018-10-05 07:19:28 1g8IUx-0007a2-K0 Failed to get read lock for /var/spool/exim4/db/retry.lockfile: timed out
2018-10-05 07:19:40 1g8IUA-0007XO-PE Failed to get write lock for /var/spool/exim4/db/retry.lockfile: timed out
2018-10-05 07:19:41 1g8IUb-0007ZD-Df Failed to get write lock for /var/spool/exim4/db/retry.lockfile: timed out
2018-10-05 07:19:41 1g8ITa-0007Vf-I8 Failed to get write lock for /var/spool/exim4/db/retry.lockfile: timed out
2018-10-05 07:19:41 1g8IUw-0007Zy-Pv Failed to get write lock for /var/spool/exim4/db/retry.lockfile: timed out
2018-10-05 07:19:41 1g8IUD-0007Xs-Ci Failed to get write lock for /var/spool/exim4/db/retry.lockfile: timed out
2018-10-05 07:19:41 1g8IUC-0007XW-7k Failed to get write lock for /var/spool/exim4/db/retry.lockfile: timed out
2018-10-05 07:19:41 1g8IUW-0007Yz-Jt Failed to get write lock for /var/spool/exim4/db/retry.lockfile: timed out
2018-10-05 07:19:41 1g8IUA-0007X9-7g Failed to get write lock for /var/spool/exim4/db/retry.lockfile: timed out
2018-10-05 07:19:41 1g8IUE-0007YH-9t Failed to get write lock for /var/spool/exim4/db/retry.lockfile: timed out
2018-10-05 07:19:42 1g8ISy-0007PY-Rh Failed to get write lock for /var/spool/exim4/db/retry.lockfile: timed out
2018-10-05 07:19:42 1g8ISx-0007PJ-Qk Failed to get write lock for /var/spool/exim4/db/retry.lockfile: timed out
2018-10-05 09:34:18 daemon: accept process fork failed: Cannot allocate memory
2018-10-05 10:38:43 daemon: accept process fork failed: Cannot allocate memory
2018-10-05 10:39:22 daemon: accept process fork failed: Cannot allocate memory
2018-10-05 10:41:35 daemon: accept process fork failed: Cannot allocate memory
2019-07-14 21:24:12 daemon: accept process fork failed: Cannot allocate memory

I trimmed the log as it is too long for the post. As the problem is recent (about two months or so), I suppose this has nothing to do with it.

tail -f mail.log
Dec 6 12:35:32 ns3002344 dovecot: imap-login: Login: user=<webmaster>, method=PLAIN, rip=127.0.0.1, lip=127.0.0.1, mpid=27037, secured, session=<npB1G8q1bNp/AAAB>
Dec 6 12:35:32 ns3002344 dovecot: imap(webmaster)<27037><npB1G8q1bNp/AAAB>: Logged out in=348 out=10794 deleted=0 expunged=0 trashed=0 hdr_count=15 hdr_bytes=5080 body_count=0 body_bytes=0
Dec 6 16:05:05 ns3002344 dovecot: imap-login: Disconnected (disconnected before auth was ready, waited 0 secs): user=<>, rip=139.59.226.230, lip=188.165.212.115, TLS handshaking: SSL_accept() failed: error:1408F09C:SSL routines:ssl3_get_record:http request, session=<hjfnCM21FAqLO+Lm>
Dec 6 16:05:06 ns3002344 dovecot: imap-login: Disconnected (no auth attempts in 0 secs): user=<>, rip=139.59.226.230, lip=188.165.212.115, TLS handshaking: SSL_accept() failed: error:1408F09C:SSL routines:ssl3_get_record:http request, session=<m6/wCM21rAqLO+Lm>
Dec 6 16:05:09 ns3002344 dovecot: imap-login: Disconnected (no auth attempts in 0 secs): user=<>, rip=139.59.226.230, lip=188.165.212.115, TLS handshaking: SSL_accept() failed: error:1408F09C:SSL routines:ssl3_get_record:http request, session=<b7EbCc21iA2LO+Lm>
Dec 6 16:05:12 ns3002344 dovecot: imap-login: Disconnected (no auth attempts in 0 secs): user=<>, rip=139.59.226.230, lip=188.165.212.115, TLS handshaking: SSL_accept() failed: error:1408F09C:SSL routines:ssl3_get_record:http request, session=<S5dGCc21MBCLO+Lm>
Dec 6 16:05:14 ns3002344 dovecot: imap-login: Disconnected (no auth attempts in 0 secs): user=<>, rip=139.59.226.230, lip=188.165.212.115, TLS handshaking: SSL_accept() failed: error:1408F09C:SSL routines:ssl3_get_record:http request, session=<tAlyCc21FhOLO+Lm>
Dec 6 16:05:17 ns3002344 dovecot: imap-login: Disconnected (no auth attempts in 0 secs): user=<>, rip=139.59.226.230, lip=188.165.212.115, TLS handshaking: SSL_accept() failed: error:1408F09C:SSL routines:ssl3_get_record:http request, session=<aaebCc21thWLO+Lm>
Dec 6 16:05:20 ns3002344 dovecot: imap-login: Disconnected (no auth attempts in 0 secs): user=<>, rip=139.59.226.230, lip=188.165.212.115, TLS handshaking: SSL_accept() failed: error:1408F09C:SSL routines:ssl3_get_record:http request, session=<jzzFCc21hhiLO+Lm>
Dec 6 17:28:27 ns3002344 dovecot: imap-login: Disconnected (no auth attempts in 1 secs): user=<>, rip=192.35.168.128, lip=188.165.212.115, TLS, session=<hdABM8611NLAI6iA>

Nothing more either.

Thank you for your help!

[snakes1100]

chk the other exim logs for the out bound emails.

[Mornagest]

/var/log/exim4/mainlog:

[...]2020-12-10 08:08:49 SMTP protocol error in "AUTH LOGIN" H=(User) [103.253.42.54] AUTH command used when not advertised
2020-12-10 08:10:57 no host name found for IP address 141.98.10.143
2020-12-10 08:10:57 SMTP protocol error in "AUTH LOGIN" H=(User) [141.98.10.143] AUTH command used when not advertised
2020-12-10 08:15:25 SMTP protocol error in "AUTH LOGIN" H=mone183.secundiarourous.com (User) [141.98.10.183] AUTH command used when not advertised
2020-12-10 08:20:20 no host name found for IP address 141.98.10.136
2020-12-10 08:20:20 SMTP protocol error in "AUTH LOGIN" H=(User) [141.98.10.136] AUTH command used when not advertised
2020-12-10 08:20:45 SMTP protocol error in "AUTH LOGIN" H=(User) [45.125.65.105] AUTH command used when not advertised
2020-12-10 08:23:30 Start queue run: pid=22946
2020-12-10 08:23:30 End queue run: pid=22946
2020-12-10 08:40:29 no host name found for IP address 141.98.10.192
2020-12-10 08:40:29 SMTP protocol error in "AUTH LOGIN" H=(User) [141.98.10.192] AUTH command used when not advertised
2020-12-10 08:42:11 SMTP protocol error in "AUTH LOGIN" H=(User) [45.125.65.39] AUTH command used when not advertised
2020-12-10 08:42:44 SMTP protocol error in "AUTH LOGIN" H=(User) [45.125.65.105] AUTH command used when not advertised
2020-12-10 08:45:05 SMTP protocol error in "AUTH LOGIN" H=(User) [103.253.42.54] AUTH command used when not advertised

Nothing about that test mail... I send it at 8:43.

/var/log/exim4/rejectlog is empty.


Here could the hell be the error vBulletin tells me about writen down? :confused:

Thank you for your help, Snakes1100!

[Mornagest]

OK so the problem has been solved since we managed to upgrade PHP to 5.4. We'll have further updates until vB 4.2.5 and PHP 7.1 to avoid security problems. And hopefully, compatibility problems too...

Thank you Snakes1100 for your patience and help!