How to check the reason for mail queue in exim

To check the reason for a mail queue in Exim, you can use the following commands:

  1. exim -bp: This command shows the current mail queue, including the sender, recipient, and status of each message. You can use the -b option to specify a specific queue or a range of queues.

Example:

exim -bp | grep <queue_name>

Replace <queue_name> with the name of the queue you want to check.

  1. exim -q: This command shows the status of the mail queue, including the number of messages in each queue and the reason for any messages that are delayed.

Example:

exim -q

This will show you the current status of the mail queue, including the number of messages in each queue and the reason for any messages that are delayed.

  1. exim -M: This command shows the message log, which includes information about each message that has been processed by Exim, including the reason for any messages that were delayed.

Example:

exim -M | grep <message_id>

Replace <message_id> with the ID of the message you want to check.

  1. exim -Mvb: This command shows the message log in a verbose format, which includes more detailed information about each message, including the reason for any messages that were delayed.

Example:

exim -Mvb | grep <message_id>

Replace <message_id> with the ID of the message you want to check.

  1. Check the Exim log files: Exim logs its activity to a file, usually /var/log/exim/mainlog or /var/log/exim4/mainlog. You can check this file to see if there are any errors or warnings that may be causing messages to be delayed.

Example:

tail -f /var/log/exim/mainlog

This will show you the most recent log entries, including any errors or warnings that may be causing messages to be delayed.

  1. Check the Exim configuration file: The Exim configuration file, usually /etc/exim.conf or /etc/exim4.conf, contains settings that control how Exim processes messages. You can check this file to see if there are any settings that may be causing messages to be delayed.

Example:

cat /etc/exim.conf

This will show you the contents of the Exim configuration file.

By using these commands and checking the Exim log files and configuration file, you should be able to determine the reason for any messages that are delayed in the mail queue.