message file too big

said76 · 07-25-2013, 08:33 AM

Hi,

I'm getting the following error from my postfix server running on Ubuntu Server 12.04.

*Fatal: General Fatal
Root(0): message file too big

*Warning: Queue file size limit exceeded

I checked on my main.cf config file and have the following settings:

message_size_limit = 31457280

This is already big enough.

I can send and receive emails with no problem though.

I don't know what else to check to resolve this error.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much

TB0ne · 07-25-2013, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by said76

Hi,
I'm getting the following error from my postfix server running on Ubuntu Server 12.04.

*Fatal: General Fatal
Root(0): message file too big
*Warning: Queue file size limit exceeded

I checked on my main.cf config file and have the following settings:

message_size_limit = 31457280

This is already big enough. I can send and receive emails with no problem though. I don't know what else to check to resolve this error.

Well, if you can send and receive mail correctly, there really isn't a problem to resolve. You're getting that warning because someone is trying to send a message that's larger than the size limit. So, send smaller messages.

Be aware that postfix/mime usually adds about a 33% overhead to the message size.

rosehosting.com · 07-25-2013, 09:28 AM

You can set the 'message_size_limit' to 0 in order to allow emails of any size to be passed through message queue.

So, change the 'mailbox_size_limit' value to 0 (unlimited) using the following command:

postconf -e message_size_limit=0

Then, restart the Postfix server for the changes to take effect:

/etc/init.d/postfix restart

TB0ne · 07-25-2013, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rosehosting.com

You can set the 'message_size_limit' to 0 in order to allow emails of any size to be passed through message queue.

So, change the 'mailbox_size_limit' value to 0 (unlimited) using the following command:

postconf -e message_size_limit=0

Then, restart the Postfix server for the changes to take effect:
/etc/init.d/postfix restart

Yes, but the OP has a size limit set now, which they said was big enough for them. Also, that is a dangerous thing to do, in my opinion, if you've got a good number of users. Having someone forward that 100MB joke video around is a great way to bring a mail server to its knees.

said76 · 07-26-2013, 09:02 AM

Thank you folks for your replies.

Yes, I can send and receive emails fine.

No, I don't want to set the message_size_limit to zero but rather imposing a certain size limit to what's been set already.

Is there any way to find out who the sender could be? The reason I ask this is because there is only two users, myself and my brother. And neither of us are trying to send a large message.

I've getting this fatal message for a week already.

Thank you very much

TB0ne · 07-26-2013, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by said76

Thank you folks for your replies.
Yes, I can send and receive emails fine. No, I don't want to set the message_size_limit to zero but rather imposing a certain size limit to what's been set already.

Is there any way to find out who the sender could be? The reason I ask this is because there is only two users, myself and my brother. And neither of us are trying to send a large message.

Well, if it's not you, that narrows it down, doesn't it? Have you checked the mail logs for more information, since all of that (sender, receiver, etc.), are all logged?

Quote:

I've getting this fatal message for a week already.

Read the message closely. It is a WARNING, telling you there is a failure in delivering messages over a certain size.

dt64 · 07-29-2013, 08:42 AM

check your mail spool directory for stuck messages (e.g. /var/mail/spool). if you are lucky you might be able to dig out the message or sender causing this warning.