Michael Meier:
> >> smtp-source -t crap@localhost -l 102400000 127.0.0.1
> >
> > Completes in a 1-3 seconds on a laptop (ssd) and old workstation
> > (rust). Obviously the problem is outside of Postfix.
> >
> > Maybe the outpout from 'lsattr /var/spool/postfix' will reveal
> > special configuration (sync writes, or something else).
>
> Decades of using Linux and I had no idea you could set sync writes on
> file/directory level!
> That was exactly the problem. Would be interesting to know how that ever
> got set.
> Thanks a lot. I really couldn't imagine in any way what the problem
> could be...
That setting may date from the time that Linux rename() could remove
a file from its old directory before adding it to its new directory,
resulting in 'lost' files after a system crash (presumably, directory
updates got reordered to reduce disk seek activity).
That behavior violated the SMTP standard that that says "[an MTA]
MUST NOT lose the message for frivolous reasons, such as because
the host later crashes or because of a predictable resource shortage."
If you're paranoid, setting the 'D' flag (synchronous directory
updates) may still be an option. This is rather platform-specific
and I make no promises about Linux file systems bevhavior.
Wietse
