syslog file with failed deliveries

lgtrean · 07-03-2014, 12:58 PM

Hello,

I apologize if I am posting in the wrong area. I am not sure if this is a server question, desktop question or software question so I am posting in the Ubuntu section since I am using Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. I am using it as a desktop. I read in a magazine about a file called /var/log/syslog. So, I looked at my syslog. An excerpt of my syslog is shown below.

Code:

Jul  3 13:39:59 vroo nullmailer[1887]: Starting delivery, 25 message(s) in queue.
Jul  3 13:39:59 vroo nullmailer[9202]: smtp: Failed: Connect failed
Jul  3 13:39:59 vroo nullmailer[1887]: Sending failed:  Host not found
Jul  3 13:39:59 vroo nullmailer[9204]: smtp: Failed: Connect failed
Jul  3 13:39:59 vroo nullmailer[1887]: Sending failed:  Host not found
Jul  3 13:39:59 vroo nullmailer[1887]: Delivery complete, 25 message(s) remain.

That looks bad, right? It starts off stating it has to mail 25 messages and ends with 25 messages unsent. I assume if it's writing these errors to the syslog file it's wasting system resources especially if it keeps failing. How can I fix this?

Thank you for any information you can provide.

widget · 07-04-2014, 10:48 AM

Syslog is not something that I have ever used but your output doesn't look alarming to me.

What it does look like is that syslog is not configured for use on your install.

Not being at all sure what the actual package name is under Ubuntu I would suggest checking on that. Under Debian, which is likely to be correct under Ubuntu, I would first try checking the man page;

Code:

man syslog

To configure the thing this may be useful, as root;

Code:

dpkg-reconfigure syslog

There are a number of packages relating to syslog, many appear to be specifically for the configuration of syslog.

Code:

apt-cache search syslog

will give you a list of related packages.

According to your output the function that is being reported on is syslog.d. This is the daemon function or auto running function. This is indicated by the 3 in the second collumn.

Configuring syslog to not run that would be the easiest way to avoid that sort of message. Would probably also be the best for you. I doubt you have any real use for syslog.

Another solution would be to simply remove syslog unless you really do have a use for it.

A quick search for syslog gave this general overview;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syslog

unSpawn · 07-04-2014, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by widget

What it does look like is that syslog is not configured for use on your install.

No, that's not it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by widget

Configuring syslog to not run that would be the easiest way to avoid that sort of message. Would probably also be the best for you. I doubt you have any real use for syslog. Another solution would be to simply remove syslog unless you really do have a use for it.

Really, that's bad advice...

Quote:

Originally Posted by lgtrean

I am using Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. I am using it as a desktop. I read in a magazine about a file called /var/log/syslog.

That's good. You should get acquainted with what you run.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lgtrean

I assume if it's writing these errors to the syslog file it's wasting system resources especially if it keeps failing.

Kind of depends. It's only lines of text so if it would result in like 1K of messages per hour, yeah, that would be bad...

Quote:

Originally Posted by lgtrean

How can I fix this?

The messages are about 'nullmailer': the system is trying to mail you, or your unprivileged user, something. Repeatedly. And fails ;-p. To see what the messages are about check the contents of /var/spool/nullmailer/queue/. There should be plain text files to read. Check the recipient and message body. To properly configure nullmailer see /etc/nullmailer, the Ubuntu nullmailer documentation or something like http://www.troubleshooters.com/linux/nullmailer/

widget · 07-05-2014, 12:57 AM

Well, he says in a huff.

All I can really say is that I stand corrected.