


CHECKERR(8)                                           CHECKERR(8)


NAME
       checkerr - check for serious errors encountered by smail

SYNOPSIS
       /usr/lib/mail/checkerr

DESCRIPTION
       Checkerr reads through the spool area used by smail(8) and
       looks for serious processing  errors  detected  by  smail.
       Whenever  new  errors are detected, a summary is mailed to
       ``Postmaster,'' which is assumed to be an address for  the
       user who is responsible for maintaining the smail software
       and configuration.  In  addition  to  this,  a  number  of
       cleanup operations are performed.

       Checkerr  should  be  run periodically from cron(8).  Once
       per day should be sufficient.  Make certain that  checkerr
       is  executed  under  a user and group ID that can write to
       the directories in the smail spool areas.

       The checkerr detects message spool files under  the  smail
       error  directory.   If  any  files have appeared since the
       last time checkerr was executed, a summary  is  mailed  to
       the  Postmaster.   A  quick  check is made to determine if
       mail to ``Postmaster'' will actually succeed.  If not, the
       error summary is left in the file .checkerror in the error
       directory.

       The error summary mailed to the  Postmaster  will  include
       any  logged information pertaining to the failed messages.
       The per-message transaction log, the smail transaction log
       and the panic log are all used as sources of this informa-
       tion.

FILES
       /usr/lib/mail/config
                      The main smail configuration file.  A  sec-
                      ond  smail  configuration  file can also be
                      specified in config.

       /bin/smail     The default executable used for  attempting
                      to  deliver error summaries to the postmas-
                      ter.

       /usr/spool/smail/log/logfile
                      The default name for  the  transaction  log
                      file.   This  can  be  changed in the smail
                      config file.

       /usr/spool/smail/log/OLD /logfile.0
                      Archived version  of  the  transaction  log
                      file.              The            directory
                      "/usr/spool/smail/log/OLD" is changed to be
                      under   the  directory  where  the  logfile



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CHECKERR(8)                                           CHECKERR(8)


                      resides, and thus can  be  changed  in  the
                      smail config file.

       /usr/spool/smail/log/OLD /logfile.1.Z
                      Previous  compressed archive version of the
                      transaction  log   file.    The   directory
                      "/usr/spool/smail/log/OLD" is changed to be
                      under  the  directory  where  the   logfile
                      resides,  and  thus  can  be changed in the
                      smail config file.

       /usr/spool/smail/log/paniclog
                      The default name for the  panic  log  file.
                      This  can  be  changed  in the smail config
                      file.

       /usr/spool/smail/log/OLD /paniclog.0
                      Archive for the panic log file.   This  can
                      be changed in the smail config file.

       /usr/spool/smail/log/OLD /paniclog.1.Z
                      Previous  compressed  archive for the panic
                      log file.  This can be changed in the smail
                      config file.

       /usr/spool/smail
                      The  top  of the default smail spool direc-
                      tory tree.

       /usr/spool/smail/input
                      The directory into which incoming  messages
                      are  spooled.   Each file in this directory
                      has a unique 14 character name derived from
                      the message ID used internally by the smail
                      program.  Delivery is attempted  at  inter-
                      vals for each of these files.

       /usr/spool/smail/lock
                      A directory containing lock files.  On sys-
                      tems which do not have  an  efficient  file
                      locking  primative, files are created under
                      this directory to prevent simultaneous pro-
                      cessing  of  messages by concurrant invoca-
                      tions of the smail program.

       /usr/spool/smail/msglog
                      A directory containing per-message transac-
                      tion  logs.  Smail maintains these logfiles
                      to keep  track  of  which  recipients  have
                      received  a  particular  mail  message, and
                      what errors have so far  been  found  while
                      delivering.   These files are removed auto-
                      matically by smail processing of a  message
                      has completed.



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CHECKERR(8)                                           CHECKERR(8)


       /usr/spool/smail/error
                      If  a mail messages fails for a reason that
                      requires attendance by the site administra-
                      tor,  it  is  moved  into this directory to
                      prevent smail from  continuing  to  attempt
                      delivery.

SEE ALSO
       cron(8), smail(5) and smail(8).

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright(C)1987, 1988 Ronald S. Karr and Landon Curt Noll
       Copyright(C)1992 Ronald S. Karr
       See a file COPYING, distributed with the source  code,  or
       type  smail  -bc  for distribution rights and restrictions
       associated with this software.









































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