OS X 10.4 Mail Server (postfix+cyrus): catch-all (luser_relay) is flaky (inconsistent)

[tempel]

I’ve tried around for days and still can’t figure out why this happens:

I have set my mail server to deliver all “undeliverable mail” to a single account on my OS X system. While this usually works, _sometimes_ it does not: the incoming mail then gets rejected, even if it’s the same sender and the same recipient all again.

Details:

I have this problem since I switched a few weeks ago from SIMS to Apple’s postfix systems, now running on 10.4.9 (then on 10.4.8).

I have configured the mail system using Apple’s “Server Admin” app mainly, and have little understanding of all the things that go on behind it. Furthermore, Apple’s help on the tool is giving no examples, only instructions on a level where I feel that if I’d understand it all, I could as well config the text files directly and wouldn’t need your help. Oh well.

I am hosting several mail domains on my server (e.g. tempel.org and sepic.org), and I have entered them in “Server Admin” like this:
Local Host Aliases: localhost
Locally Hosted Virtual Domains: tempel.org, sepic.org

The bounce message looks like this:

> This is the Postfix program at host mail.tempel.org.
>
> I’m sorry to have to inform you that your message could not be
> be delivered to one or more recipients. It’s attached below.
>
> For further assistance, please send mail to >
> If you do so, please include this problem report. You can
> delete your own text from the attached returned message.
>
> The Postfix program
>
> : host /var/imap/socket/lmtp[/var/imap/socket/lmtp] said:
> 550-Mailbox unknown. Either there is no mailbox associated with this
> 550-name or you do not have authorization to see it. 550 5.1.1 User unknown
> (in reply to RCPT TO command)
>
> Final-Recipient: rfc822; td@sepic.org
> Action: failed
> Status: 5.0.0
> Diagnostic-Code: X-Postfix; host /var/imap/socket/lmtp[/var/imap/socket/lmtp]
> said: 550-Mailbox unknown. Either there is no mailbox associated with this
> 550-name or you do not have authorization to see it. 550 5.1.1 User unknown
> (in reply to RCPT TO command)

(note: “td” is a non-existing mail account, of course, which should get delivered to my catch-all account)

In the “Mail Access” log (using the “Server Admin” app), whenever a mail with a unknown local account comes in, I get the following message:

>Mar 22 14:23:06 servo lmtpunix[386]: warning: unable to post message for user: td@sepic.org, mail is not enabled for this user

Problem is that this message appears no matter if the message then gets delivered to the catch-all or it bounces. And I can find no log entries that would actually tell me if the mail gets delivered or bounces, either!

Note: Often the catch-all works, so it’s not totally wrong. Only sometimes (perhaps from 1 in 10 to 1 in 2) it fails. How can that happen?

I wonder if someone has dealt with this before and knows what to look out for?

I thought I keep this a bit brief before I start posting all my config files.

Besides, I do not even know which config files are all involved. I guess these are part of it, but are they all:

/etc/postfix/main.cf
/etc/postfix/master.cf
/etc/imapd.conf

Both in in main.cf and in imapd.conf I have set the luser setting to my catch-all account name.

Plus, does someone know how I can log the bounces? Chaning the Logging settings for Mail in “Server Admin” does not make a difference there – probably because the handling happens in a separate tool (lmtpd?) which requires its own log settings (but I could not find any for it).

Thomas

[tempel]

No ideas? Darn, I should have stayed with SIMS 😉

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