Sun Microsystems Sun Workstation 100U System Manager's Manual page 336

Sendmall Inatallatlon and Operation Guld.
1.3.3. Foreln. the queue
Sendmail should run the queue automatically at intervals. The algorithm
is
to
read and sort the queue, and then
to
attempt
to
process all jobs iD
order. When it
attempts to run the job, .endmtJiI Ont checks to see if the job is locked. If
80,
it
ignores the job.
There is no attempt to insure that only one queue processor exists
at
any time,
since there is no guarantee that a job cannot tate forever
to
process. Due to the lock-
ing algorithm, it is impossible for one job to freele the queue. However, an uncooper.
tive recipient host or a program recipient that never retums
CaD
accumulate many
processes in your system. Unfortunately, there is no way to resolve this without violat-
ing the protocol.
In some cases, you may Ond that a major h08t goinl down for a couple of days
may create a prohibitively large queue. This wiD result in .endmtJiI spending an inordi-
nate amount
ot
time sorting the queue. This situation can be Ixed by moving the
queue to a temporary place and creating a new queue. The old queue can be run later
when the offending host returns
to
aervice.
To do this, it is acceptable to move the entire queue directory:
cd / usr / spool
mv mqueue omqueue; mkdir mqueue; chmod 777 mqueue
You should then kill the existinl daemon (since it will still be processinl in the old
queue directory) and create a new daemon.
To run the old mail queue, run the foUowing command:
/usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/usr/spool/omqueue -q
The -oQ ftag specifies an alternate queue directory and the -q lag says to just run
every job in the queue. If you have a tendency toward voyeurism, you can use the -v
ftag to watch what is going on.
When the queue is finally emptied, you
CaD
remove the directory:
rmdir /usr/spool/omqueue
1.4. The A11aa DatabaH
G
The alias database exists in two forms. One is a text form, maiDtained in the lie
/ usr/lib/ aliases. The aliases are of the form
name: narnel, name2, ...
Only local names may be aliased; e.g.,
ericQmi~xx:
ericOberkeley
will not have the desired effect. Aliases may' be continued by starting any continuation
lines with a space or a tab. Blank lines and lines beginning with a sharp sign ("*") are
comments.
The second form is processed by the dbm(3) library. This form is in the files
/u8r/lib/alia,8es.dir and /u8r/lib/alia8e •. pa,. This is the form that .endmtJiI actually uses
to resolve aliases. This technique is used to improve performance.
1.4.1. RebuUdlns the au.. d.tabue
The DBM version of the database may be rebuilt explicitly by executinl the com-
mand
new ali ases
This is equivalent to giving .endmtJiI the -bl lag:
Veralon 4.1
Lad Mod 8/10/81