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Child processes don't quit when I shut down exim (exim4 on debian etch)

 

 

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ate2 at cornell

Oct 27, 2009, 2:33 PM

Post #1 of 5 (186 views)
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Child processes don't quit when I shut down exim (exim4 on debian etch)

Hi all,

I don't have clue where to start diagnosing this so any suggestions
about what to look for would be appreciated.

I've been having an odd issue with exim today. I'll start exim and it
will have processes running like these:

102 1243 0.0 0.1 45668 1936 ? Ss 17:14 0:00 /usr/
sbin/exim4 -bd -q30m
root 1244 0.0 0.2 45672 3624 ? S 17:14 0:00 /usr/
sbin/exim4 -q
root 1973 0.0 0.1 45676 2560 ? S 17:24 0:00 /usr/
sbin/exim4 -q
102 1974 0.0 0.2 45940 3600 ? S 17:24 0:00 /usr/
sbin/exim4 -q

I shut it down using the Debian init script ('/etc/init.d/exim4
stop'), I expect all these to go away, but instead I see:

root 1244 0.0 0.2 45672 3624 ? S 17:14 0:00 /usr/
sbin/exim4 -q
root 1973 0.0 0.1 45676 2560 ? S 17:24 0:00 /usr/
sbin/exim4 -q
102 1974 0.0 0.2 45940 3600 ? S 17:24 0:00 /usr/
sbin/exim4 -q

Two wierd things here:

1. Why is it showing 102 for the user when there is a corresponding
"Debian-exim" entry for that user id?
2. Why don't the child processes quit?

I have recently used the following commands with exim... was it a
mistake to use sudo?:

sudo exim -bpc
sudo exim -qf
sudo exim -qff

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hs at schlittermann

Oct 28, 2009, 1:35 AM

Post #2 of 5 (174 views)
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Re: Child processes don't quit when I shut down exim (exim4 on debian etch) [In reply to]

Hello,

Ari Epstein <ate2[at]cornell.edu> (Di 27 Okt 2009 22:33:43 CET):
> Hi all,
>
> I don't have clue where to start diagnosing this so any suggestions
> about what to look for would be appreciated.
>
> I've been having an odd issue with exim today. I'll start exim and it
> will have processes running like these:
>
> 102 1243 0.0 0.1 45668 1936 ? Ss 17:14 0:00 /usr/sbin/exim4 -bd -q30m
> root 1244 0.0 0.2 45672 3624 ? S 17:14 0:00 /usr/sbin/exim4 -q
> root 1973 0.0 0.1 45676 2560 ? S 17:24 0:00 /usr/sbin/exim4 -q
> 102 1974 0.0 0.2 45940 3600 ? S 17:24 0:00 /usr/sbin/exim4 -q

If I understand the Exim design well, there is one master process (in
your listing the PID 1243). For each incoming connection and each queue
run/delivery the master forks a new child. The parent-child relation is
better visible if you use „ps axf“ or „pstree“.

To get an overview about only running Exim processes you might use
„exiwhat“.

> I shut it down using the Debian init script ('/etc/init.d/exim4
> stop'), I expect all these to go away, but instead I see:
>
> root 1244 0.0 0.2 45672 3624 ? S 17:14 0:00 /usr/
> sbin/exim4 -q
> root 1973 0.0 0.1 45676 2560 ? S 17:24 0:00 /usr/
> sbin/exim4 -q
> 102 1974 0.0 0.2 45940 3600 ? S 17:24 0:00 /usr/
> sbin/exim4 -q

The init script just shuts down the master process, the childs will die
as soon as they've finished their job (or as soon as the machine goes
down or you kill them one by one).

> Two wierd things here:
> 1. Why is it showing 102 for the user when there is a corresponding
> "Debian-exim" entry for that user id?

Hm. I see the same exception here. So I do not have any good idea about
this.

> 2. Why don't the child processes quit?
>
> I have recently used the following commands with exim... was it a
> mistake to use sudo?:
>
> sudo exim -bpc
> sudo exim -qf
> sudo exim -qff

About the „sudo“ - no, shouldn't be a mistake, as Exim may start as root
and changes it's EUID to something less dangerous as soon as possible.

Best regards from Dresden/Germany
Viele Grüße aus Dresden
Heiko Schlittermann
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>
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>
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steve at lobefin

Oct 28, 2009, 2:04 AM

Post #3 of 5 (175 views)
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Re: Child processes don't quit when I shut down exim (exim4 on debian etch) [In reply to]

On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 09:35:21AM +0100, Heiko Schlittermann said:
> > Two wierd things here:
> > 1. Why is it showing 102 for the user when there is a corresponding
> > "Debian-exim" entry for that user id?
>
> Hm. I see the same exception here. So I do not have any good idea about
> this.

It's an artifact of ps. If a name is longer than n (8?), ps will display
the numeric uid instead.
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jpb15 at admin

Oct 28, 2009, 2:20 AM

Post #4 of 5 (170 views)
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Re: Child processes don't quit when I shut down exim (exim4 on debian etch) [In reply to]

>
> It's an artifact of ps. If a name is longer than n (8?), ps
> will display
> the numeric uid instead.

That's by default - you can change the output format of ps (see man ps for more details than you'll ever want to know - the -o switch and the PS_FORMAT environment variables are of most interest, I'd guess). However, this is getting a little off-topic.
John
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hs at schlittermann

Oct 28, 2009, 2:24 AM

Post #5 of 5 (170 views)
Permalink
Re: Child processes don't quit when I shut down exim (exim4 on debian etch) [In reply to]

Stephen Gran <steve[at]lobefin.net> (Mi 28 Okt 2009 10:04:17 CET):
> On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 09:35:21AM +0100, Heiko Schlittermann said:
> > > Two wierd things here:
> > > 1. Why is it showing 102 for the user when there is a corresponding
> > > "Debian-exim" entry for that user id?
> >
> > Hm. I see the same exception here. So I do not have any good idea about
> > this.
>
> It's an artifact of ps. If a name is longer than n (8?), ps will display
> the numeric uid instead.

Ah. Thanks. (Could/should have checked the sourcecode by myself…)
--
Heiko
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