Rate control for SMTP delivery to speicific domain
Mike Hutchinson
Hello Everyone.
Our company sends out newsletters to people who have subscribed their mail address in-store (retail). I have been working in attempt to slow down E-Mail deliveries to Hotmail, as our server attempts deliveries too quickly and will get blocked by their servers. I have googled and found some decent information and have even applied it, but it does not appear to do a single thing to slow delivery down for the domain. I have in my configuration files:
Master.cf:
smtphotmail unix - - - - 3 smtp
Transport:
hotmail.com smtphotmail:hotmail.com
Main.cf:
smtphotmail_destination_concurrency_limit = 2
smtphotmail_destination_rate_delay = 3s
I was using the global limiters and these were working just fine – we were able to deliver OK, until I commented them out:
#initial_destination_concurrency = 3
#local_destination_concurrency_limit = 3
#smtp_destination_concurrency_limit = 3
#smtp_destination_rate_delay = 2s
It appears that whenever I use the smtphotmail transport rules, instead of the global ones, delivery attempts to the domain increase as if there was no limitation.. Ie: after a Postfix reload, I follow the mail.info log and find straight after the reload that there are instantly pages and pages of delivery attempts to hotmail.com. To me this doesn’t make sense – the rate limit means I should only see a few, every couple of seconds, right?
Am I missing something here?
Thanks in advance,
Yours Sincerely,
Michael Hutchinson
Sahil Tandon
> It appears that whenever I use the smtphotmail transport rules, instead of
> the global ones, delivery attempts to the domain increase as if there was no
> limitation.. Ie: after a Postfix reload, I follow the mail.info log and find
> straight after the reload that there are instantly pages and pages of
> delivery attempts to hotmail.com. To me this doesn't make sense - the rate
> limit means I should only see a few, every couple of seconds, right?
>
> Am I missing something here?
http://www.postfix.org/QSHAPE_README.html#backlog
http://www.postfix.org/DEBUG_README.html#mail
--
Sahil Tandon <sa...@tandon.net>
Wietse Venema
> Hello Everyone.
>
> Our company sends out newsletters to people who have subscribed their mail
> address in-store (retail). I have been working in attempt to slow down
> E-Mail deliveries to Hotmail, as our server attempts deliveries too quickly
> and will get blocked by their servers. I have googled and found some decent
> information and have even applied it, but it does not appear to do a single
> thing to slow delivery down for the domain. I have in my configuration
> files:
>
> Master.cf:
>
> smtphotmail unix - - - - 3 smtp
Who told you to set a wakeup timer of 3 seconds? Remove it.
> Transport:
> hotmail.com smtphotmail:hotmail.com
How do you know that Postfix uses this? The cut-and-paste fragments
from the main.cf file show no evidence of that.
As requested in the mailing list welcome message (see below) do
NOT send cut-and-paste fragments from the main.cf file.
Wietse
TO REPORT A PROBLEM see http://www.postfix.org/DEBUG_README.html#mail
TO (UN)SUBSCRIBE see http://www.postfix.org/lists.html
Thank you for using Postfix.
Mike Hutchinson
> > smtphotmail unix - - - - 3
> smtp
>
> Who told you to set a wakeup timer of 3 seconds? Remove it.
No-one did. I had intended to set a max processes limit..
As I understand it, this would be setting the Max Processes limit.
smtphotmail unix - - - - 3 smtp
And setting the wakeup timer would be like this:
smtphotmail unix - - - 3 - smtp
> > Transport:
> > hotmail.com smtphotmail:hotmail.com
>
> How do you know that Postfix uses this? The cut-and-paste fragments
> from the main.cf file show no evidence of that.
I have the transport referenced in main.cf, and have used postmap to build
the db.
> As requested in the mailing list welcome message (see below) do
> NOT send cut-and-paste fragments from the main.cf file.
My apologies. Ill go back and start from scratch.
Cheers,
Michael
Sahil Tandon
> As I understand it, this would be setting the Max Processes limit.
> smtphotmail unix - - - - 3 smtp
That is how you set maxproc, but why do you need 3 for this transport?
> And setting the wakeup timer would be like this:
> smtphotmail unix - - - 3 - smtp
That is how you set the timer.
> My apologies. Ill go back and start from scratch.
What version of Postfix is this?
--
Sahil Tandon <sa...@tandon.net>
Wietse Venema
> > >
> > > smtphotmail unix - - - - 3
> > smtp
> >
>
> No-one did. I had intended to set a max processes limit..
You're right. Hoewever, with smtphotmail...rate_delay, Postfix will
make at most one connection at a time.
> I have the transport referenced in main.cf, and have used postmap
> to build the db.
We need to know what Postfix uses, not what YOU believe Postfix is
using. This is why we ask for NOT sending cut-and-paste output.
Wietse
Mike Hutchinson
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-pos...@postfix.org [mailto:owner-postfix-
> us...@postfix.org] On Behalf Of Sahil Tandon
> Sent: Tuesday, 30 March 2010 3:07 p.m.
> To: postfi...@postfix.org
> Subject: Re: Rate control for SMTP delivery to speicific domain
>
> On Tue, 30 Mar 2010, Mike Hutchinson wrote:
>
> > As I understand it, this would be setting the Max Processes limit.
> > smtphotmail unix - - - - 3 smtp
>
> That is how you set maxproc, but why do you need 3 for this transport?
This transport points to a rather fragile mail server, in other words, we
are going over their acceptable delivery rate and our Server IP gets banned
unless we do something about rate control. I assumed the Max Processes would
assist with this, but perhaps I am wrong.
> > And setting the wakeup timer would be like this:
> > smtphotmail unix - - - 3 - smtp
>
> That is how you set the timer.
Yes, not what I am doing / want to do.
> > My apologies. Ill go back and start from scratch.
>
> What version of Postfix is this?
Postfix mail_version = 2.5.1
Cheers,
Michael Hutchinson
Victor Duchovni
> > What version of Postfix is this?
>
> Postfix mail_version = 2.5.1
The rate control features introduced in 2.5.0 were improved in later
patches, you must upgrade to the latest 2.5 release if you want to
enforce inter-message delays.
--
Viktor.
P.S. Morgan Stanley is looking for a New York City based, Senior Unix
system/email administrator to architect and sustain our perimeter email
environment. If you are interested, please drop me a note.
Noel Jones
>
> Postfix mail_version = 2.5.1
>
> Michael Hutchinson
>
>
Postfix 2.5.1 is pretty old, the current 2.5 patchlevel is 10.
There have been some changes that could affect your rate
delay controls.
Anyway, for diagnostics you can add a '-o
syslog_name=smtphotmail' to your master.cf entry to verify the
correct transport is being used, or for more info add a -v to
your smtphotmail transport to see what it's up to.
Also see the "slow" transport example under
http://www.postfix.org/QSHAPE_README.html#backlog
-- Noel Jones
Wietse Venema
> On Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 08:16:28AM +1300, Mike Hutchinson wrote:
>
> >
> > Postfix mail_version = 2.5.1
>
> patches, you must upgrade to the latest 2.5 release if you want to
> enforce inter-message delays.
According to the change log:
20090305
Bugfix: in the "new queue manager", the _destination_rate_delay
code needed to postpone the job scheduler updates after
delivery completion, otherwise the scheduler could loop on
blocked jobs. Victor & Wietse. File: qmgr/qmgr_entry.c,
qmgr/qmgr_queue.c, qmgr/qmgr_job.c.
This fix was released with Postfix 2.5 Patch 07.
Wietse
Sahil Tandon
<packe...@ping.net.nz> wrote:
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: owner-pos...@postfix.org [mailto:owner-postfix-
>> us...@postfix.org] On Behalf Of Sahil Tandon
>> Sent: Tuesday, 30 March 2010 3:07 p.m.
>> To: postfi...@postfix.org
>> Subject: Re: Rate control for SMTP delivery to speicific domain
>>
>> On Tue, 30 Mar 2010, Mike Hutchinson wrote:
>>
>>> As I understand it, this would be setting the Max Processes limit.
>>> smtphotmail unix - - - - 3 smtp
>>
>> That is how you set maxproc, but why do you need 3 for this
>> transport?
>
> This transport points to a rather fragile mail server, in other
> words, we
> are going over their acceptable delivery rate and our Server IP gets
> banned
> unless we do something about rate control. I assumed the Max
> Processes would
> assist with this, but perhaps I am wrong.
>
>
>>> And setting the wakeup timer would be like this:
>>> smtphotmail unix - - - 3 - smtp
>>
>> That is how you set the timer.
>
> Yes, not what I am doing / want to do.
>
>>> My apologies. Ill go back and start from scratch.
>>
>> What version of Postfix is this?
>
> Postfix mail_version = 2.5.1
That's what I suspected. Upgrade; see RELEASE_NOTES for
destination_rate_delay fix last year. Also show logs confirming your
special transport is actually being used.
Mike Hutchinson
> > > What version of Postfix is this?
> >
> > Postfix mail_version = 2.5.1
>
> patches, you must upgrade to the latest 2.5 release if you want to
> enforce inter-message delays.
>
Sounds interesting. I shall investigate and persue upgrading our Postfix to
a more recent version.
Thanks for the information
Cheers,
Michael Hutchinson
Mike Hutchinson
> >>> And setting the wakeup timer would be like this:
> >>> smtphotmail unix - - - 3 - smtp
> >>
> >> That is how you set the timer.
> >
> > Yes, not what I am doing / want to do.
> >
> >>> My apologies. Ill go back and start from scratch.
> >>
> >
> > Postfix mail_version = 2.5.1
> >
> > Michael Hutchinson
> >
> >
>
> Postfix 2.5.1 is pretty old, the current 2.5 patchlevel is 10.
> There have been some changes that could affect your rate
> delay controls.
>
> Anyway, for diagnostics you can add a '-o
> syslog_name=smtphotmail' to your master.cf entry to verify the
> correct transport is being used, or for more info add a -v to
> your smtphotmail transport to see what it's up to.
>
> Also see the "slow" transport example under
> http://www.postfix.org/QSHAPE_README.html#backlog
Ahh, some direct logging would be nice. Thanks for the information and
links. I will also check out whether my postfix needs to be upgraded.
Cheers,
Michael Hutchinson
Mike Hutchinson
> >> What version of Postfix is this?
> >
> > Postfix mail_version = 2.5.1
>
> destination_rate_delay fix last year. Also show logs confirming your
> special transport is actually being used.
Excellent. Sounds like I have my answer. Thanks for the info, everyone,
including Wietse.
Hopefully all will be resolved today.
Cheers,
Michael Hutchinson.