Mailman status from systemctl not working, but mailman status from command line works

fperal · January 2, 2025, 10:40am

Opensuse 15.6.
mailman3-3.3.9-bp156.1.2.noarch

tutatis:~ # sudo -u mailman mailman info
GNU Mailman 3.3.9 (Tom Sawyer)
Python 3.11.10 (main, Sep 18 2024, 22:14:32) [GCC]
config file: /etc/mailman.cfg
db url: sqlite:////var/lib/mailman/data/mailman.db
devmode: DISABLED
REST root url: http://localhost:8001/3.1/
REST credentials: restadmin:restpass
tutatis:~ #

tutatis:~ # cat /etc/mailman.cfg
# This is the absolute bare minimum base configuration file.  User supplied
# configurations are pushed onto this.

[mailman]
# This address is the "site owner" address.  Certain messages which must be
# delivered to a human, but which can't be delivered to a list owner (e.g. a
# bounce from a list owner), will be sent to this address.  It should point to
# a human.
site_owner: admin@elemariamoliner.com

# Set the paths to be fhs compliant
layout: fhs
[paths.fhs]
ext_dir: /etc/mailman.d
bin_dir: /usr/bin
var_dir: /var/lib/mailman
queue_dir: /var/spool/mailman
log_dir: /var/log/mailman
lock_dir: /run/lock/mailman
pid_file: /run/mailman/master.pid

### ADD NEW SECTIONS AFTER THIS LINE ###

[mta]
incoming: mailman.mta.postfix.LMTP
outgoing: mailman.mta.deliver.deliver
lmtp_host: mydomain.com
#lmtp_host: 127.0.0.1
lmtp_port: 8024
smtp_host: mydomaincom
#smtp_host: 127.0.0.1
smtp_port: 25


# [webservice]
# admin_user: restadmin
# admin_pass: secret

if I enable mailman in systemctl, it fails

tutatis:~ # systemctl status mailman
× mailman.service - GNU Mailing List Manager
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: failed (Result: timeout) since Thu 2025-01-02 11:29:13 CET; 3min 53s ago
    Process: 1681 ExecStart=/usr/bin/mailman start --force (code=killed, signal=TERM)
        CPU: 2.159s

Jan 02 11:28:00 tutatis systemd[1]: Starting GNU Mailing List Manager...
Jan 02 11:29:13 tutatis systemd[1]: mailman.service: start operation timed out. Terminating.
Jan 02 11:29:13 tutatis systemd[1]: mailman.service: Failed with result 'timeout'.
Jan 02 11:29:13 tutatis systemd[1]: Failed to start GNU Mailing List Manager.
Jan 02 11:29:13 tutatis systemd[1]: mailman.service: Consumed 2.159s CPU time.

and

tutatis:~ # sudo -u mailman mailman status
GNU Mailman is not running

But if I launch mailman from mailman command it works

tutatis:~ # sudo -u mailman mailman start
Starting Mailman's master runner
Generating MTA alias maps
tutatis:~ # sudo -u mailman mailman status
GNU Mailman is running (master pid: 5305)

The service file is

tutatis:~ # cat /usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman.service
# It's not recommended to modify this file in-place, because it will be
# overwritten during package upgrades.  If you want to customize, the
# best way is to create a file "/etc/systemd/system/mailman3.service",
# containing
#       .include /usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman3.service
#       ...make your changes here...
# For more info about custom unit files, see
# http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Systemd#How_do_I_customize_a_unit_file.2F_add_a_custom_unit_file.3F


[Unit]
Description=GNU Mailing List Manager
After=syslog.target network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
PIDFile=/run/mailman/master.pid
User=mailman
Group=mailman
ExecStart=/usr/bin/mailman start --force
ExecReload=/usr/bin/mailman restart
ExecStop=/usr/bin/mailman stop

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Maybe I have to copy it to a new mailman3 file and change the ExecStart, etc. To be run by user mailman?

arvidjaar · January 2, 2025, 7:44pm

Are you sure it is correct? Apparently systemd waits for your program to fork and it never happens.

fperal · January 2, 2025, 10:16pm

No, but i did not change anything there, it is the original file from the opensuse oss repo.

fperal · January 2, 2025, 10:54pm

In the service script the user and group is ok, and the command and path is ok, it works if i use it from command line

tutatis:~ # sudo -u mailman /usr/bin/mailman start --force
Starting Mailman's master runner
Generating MTA alias maps
tutatis:~ # sudo -u mailman /usr/bin/mailman status
GNU Mailman is running (master pid: 66578)

I have copied mailman.service to mailman3.service and changed to simple

tutatis:~ # joe /usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman3.service
^K  IW   /usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman3.service (Modified)                                                    Row 16   Col 12  
# It's not recommended to modify this file in-place, because it will be
# overwritten during package upgrades.  If you want to customize, the
# best way is to create a file "/etc/systemd/system/mailman3.service",
# containing
#       .include /usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman3.service
#       ...make your changes here...
# For more info about custom unit files, see
# http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Systemd#How_do_I_customize_a_unit_file.2F_add_a_custom_unit_file.3F


[Unit]
Description=GNU Mailing List Manager
After=syslog.target network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
PIDFile=/run/mailman/master.pid
User=mailman
Group=mailman
ExecStart=/usr/bin/mailman start --force
ExecReload=/usr/bin/mailman restart
ExecStop=/usr/bin/mailman stop

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
File /usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman3.service saved
tutatis:~ # sudo -u mailman mailman stop
Shutting down Mailman's master runner
tutatis:~ # systemctl mailman3 start
Unknown command verb mailman3.
tutatis:~ # systemctl start mailman3
tutatis:~ # systemctl status mailman3
○ mailman3.service - GNU Mailing List Manager
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman3.service; disabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: inactive (dead)

Jan 02 23:40:22 tutatis systemd[1]: Started GNU Mailing List Manager.
Jan 02 23:40:23 tutatis mailman[67215]: Starting Mailman's master runner
Jan 02 23:40:23 tutatis mailman[67215]: Generating MTA alias maps
Jan 02 23:40:25 tutatis mailman[67221]: Shutting down Mailman's master runner
Jan 02 23:40:25 tutatis systemd[1]: mailman3.service: Deactivated successfully.
Jan 02 23:40:25 tutatis systemd[1]: mailman3.service: Consumed 10.122s CPU time.
tutatis:~ # sudo -u mailman mailman status
GNU Mailman is not running

Then I have tried also to change type to exec with same error, then notify and I had other error

tutatis:~ # systemctl start mailman3
Job for mailman3.service failed because the service did not take the steps required by its unit configuration.
See "systemctl status mailman3.service" and "journalctl -xeu mailman3.service" for details.

Then changed again to forking and I had a new error:

tutatis:~ # systemctl start mailman3
Warning: The unit file, source configuration file or drop-ins of mailman3.service changed on disk. Run 'systemctl daemon-reload' to reload units.
Job for mailman3.service failed because the service did not take the steps required by its unit configuration.
See "systemctl status mailman3.service" and "journalctl -xeu mailman3.service" for details.

The I run

tutatis:~ # systemctl daemon-reload

And now it works …

tutatis:~ # systemctl start mailman3
tutatis:~ # systemctl status mailman3
● mailman3.service - GNU Mailing List Manager
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman3.service; disabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Thu 2025-01-02 23:45:38 CET; 7s ago
    Process: 67827 ExecStart=/usr/bin/mailman start --force (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 67828 (python3.11)
      Tasks: 18 (limit: 19076)
        CPU: 23.170s
     CGroup: /system.slice/mailman3.service
             ├─67828 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/master --force -C /etc/mailman.cfg
             ├─67835 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=archive:0:1
             ├─67836 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=bounces:0:1
             ├─67837 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=command:0:1
             ├─67838 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=in:0:1
             ├─67839 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=lmtp:0:1
             ├─67840 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=nntp:0:1
             ├─67841 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=out:0:1
             ├─67842 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=pipeline:0:1
             ├─67843 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=rest:0:1
             ├─67844 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=retry:0:1
             ├─67845 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=task:0:1
             ├─67846 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=virgin:0:1
             ├─67847 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=digest:0:1
             ├─67863 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=rest:0:1
             └─67864 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=rest:0:1

Jan 02 23:45:35 tutatis systemd[1]: Starting GNU Mailing List Manager...
Jan 02 23:45:37 tutatis mailman[67827]: Starting Mailman's master runner
Jan 02 23:45:37 tutatis mailman[67827]: Generating MTA alias maps
Jan 02 23:45:37 tutatis systemd[1]: mailman3.service: Can't open PID file /run/mailman/master.pid (yet?) after start: No such fi>
Jan 02 23:45:38 tutatis systemd[1]: Started GNU Mailing List Manager.


tutatis:~ # sudo -u mailman mailman status
GNU Mailman is running (master pid: 67828)

but why?

arvidjaar · January 3, 2025, 5:31am

So what? It cannot have bugs?

Because now the unit file matches what the program does.

arvidjaar · January 3, 2025, 6:03am

Sorry, I realized that you put forking back.

Well, the usual reason for a service to fail during boot is (mising) networking. What are you using - wicked or NetworkManager?

fperal · January 3, 2025, 3:11pm

I’m using wicked, with static IPv4 (and ipv6 disabled)

Yesterday, after checking that with forking back in the file /usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman3.service it worked, I disabled mailman3 service stopped it and started mailman service … I checked it and it was working (in fact mailman.service and mailman3.service are identical)

Now I have just rebooted the system to check if it works and…

tutatis:~ # systemctl status mailman
● mailman.service - GNU Mailing List Manager
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: activating (start) since Fri 2025-01-03 15:57:17 CET; 35s ago
  Cntrl PID: 1658 (mailman)
      Tasks: 1 (limit: 19076)
        CPU: 411ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/mailman.service
             └─1658 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/mailman start --force

after maybe a couple minutes I check again

tutatis:~ # systemctl status mailman
× mailman.service - GNU Mailing List Manager
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: failed (Result: timeout) since Fri 2025-01-03 15:58:31 CET; 2min 37s ago
    Process: 1658 ExecStart=/usr/bin/mailman start --force (code=killed, signal=TERM)
        CPU: 3.541s

Jan 03 15:57:17 tutatis systemd[1]: Starting GNU Mailing List Manager...
Jan 03 15:58:31 tutatis systemd[1]: mailman.service: start operation timed out. Terminating.
Jan 03 15:58:31 tutatis systemd[1]: mailman.service: Failed with result 'timeout'.
Jan 03 15:58:31 tutatis systemd[1]: Failed to start GNU Mailing List Manager.
Jan 03 15:58:31 tutatis systemd[1]: mailman.service: Consumed 3.541s CPU time.
tutatis:~ # systemctl start mailman

I would have bet that yesterday I rebooted the system with mailman3 service enabled and it worked.

And I am sure I have tried to launch mailman a lot of times with

tutatis:~ # systemctl start mailman

And it didn’t work, but now

tutatis:~ # systemctl start mailman
tutatis:~ # systemctl status mailman
● mailman.service - GNU Mailing List Manager
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mailman.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Fri 2025-01-03 16:01:36 CET; 14s ago
    Process: 5245 ExecStart=/usr/bin/mailman start --force (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 5246 (python3.11)
      Tasks: 18 (limit: 19076)
        CPU: 23.347s
     CGroup: /system.slice/mailman.service
             ├─5246 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/master --force -C /etc/mailman.cfg
             ├─5251 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=archive:0:1
             ├─5252 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=bounces:0:1
             ├─5253 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=command:0:1
             ├─5254 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=in:0:1
             ├─5255 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=lmtp:0:1
             ├─5256 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=nntp:0:1
             ├─5257 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=out:0:1
             ├─5258 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=pipeline:0:1
             ├─5259 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=rest:0:1
             ├─5260 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=retry:0:1
             ├─5261 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=task:0:1
             ├─5262 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=virgin:0:1
             ├─5263 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=digest:0:1
             ├─5266 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=rest:0:1
             └─5267 /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman.cfg --runner=rest:0:1

Jan 03 16:01:33 tutatis systemd[1]: Starting GNU Mailing List Manager...
Jan 03 16:01:35 tutatis mailman[5245]: Starting Mailman's master runner
Jan 03 16:01:35 tutatis mailman[5245]: Generating MTA alias maps
Jan 03 16:01:35 tutatis systemd[1]: mailman.service: Can't open PID file /run/mailman/master.pid (yet?) after start: No such file or directory
Jan 03 16:01:36 tutatis systemd[1]: Started GNU Mailing List Manager.