No New Messages Despite Messages on SMTP server I host on my LAN
I noticed I wasn't getting emails today. So I checked mail, no new messages. I use a combination of a forward MX that will store and forward mail to my SMTP server behind a VPN for when my SMTP server is unavailable.
I control both client and server. This is the first time where the VPN itself is working fine and my mail forwarder is delivering just fine to my SMTP server.
The problem is... Thunderbird says 'no new messages on server' which proves that authentication works just fine. I can look on the server, tail my mail file and see new messages that are not in Thunderbird. And yet, despite sending myself new mail, thunderbird just dumbly comes back with 'no new messages on server.'
I do have leave messages on server ticked, fwiw; however, I've only had issues when the upstream mail isn't being delivered to my SMTP server.
I've tried an older solution, moving the mail index file; however, that didn't do the trick (did rebuild the index, but didn't trigger download of new messages). Nothing has changed. I even fired up my Desktop and tried downloading mail there despite needing to merge inboxes and it did the same thing... no new messages. I ended up upgrading Thunderbird from 78 (which was working fine the last few days, btw) to whatever version it is now (91? 92?).
I do not have a webmail ui to try to find a malformed message (and I'm sure that message is long passed as, unfortunately, I have a 2gb+ mail file at this point in /var, long story). I may be able to pinpoint it based on the actual dates when the last email was received in my inbox (and combing thru the 2gb+ server's mail file).
It's vital that my mail client can actually download email. I have no idea why it's not working; also tried tls.min 1 and tls.min 0 as well as enable legacy flags in options to no avail just in case.
HELP! I've used Thunderbird for a long time (since 2006, maybe earlier) but this is the first time I have ever had a client-related problem downloading over pop3. I use courier as my pop server and purposefully do not advertise or listen (or port forward) on the internet. So it's just local LAN traffic or via ssh tunnel/port forwarding.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
It seems like perhaps Tbird is confused as to what it last downloaded and is now not triggering new mail pulls. IT could, naturally, be something on the mail server regarding the inbox there. I don't really use any other accounts, but I suppose I could try setting a test up.
I can send mail just fine via the same SMTP server that receives mail for the client, so it appears mostly isolated to pop/thunderbird.
Hoping someone here knows what to do to get it to try to pull mail again.
Chosen solution
Thank you for responding.
I realized it must be a problem with the server's mail file and discovered that there was a missing From header (or a few too many newlines between message end and From: tag) thanks to a Thunderbird error: Unable to process From lines (envelopes), change recognition modes
I ended up using the command csplit userfile '/^Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2021 08:59:38 -0500$/' based on the last message I received in the inbox.
Once I reconstructed it properly (putting the appropriate From: at the top) and replaced the inbox file on the server, I was then able to pull the mail down.
I've since zero'd out the server's mailbox and restarted postfix.
Thanks again for looking into this!
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ok here is my issue.
SMTP servers send mail. POP and IMAP servers receive mail and are therefore available to get mail from for a mail client like Thunderbird.
You mention POP3 and leaving mail on the server. But as you appear to have conflated sending and receiving in your question I really don;t know what is happening.
I suggest you log the connection and see what is really happening. https://wiki.mozilla.org/MailNews:Logging
I did not conflate; SMTP is not POP. SMTP works fine. I just mentioned it as I checked it to rule it out. No issues sending or receiving mail via SMTP (SMTP is an MTA and it both receives inbound and sends outbound mail as the registered MX), then 'delivers' inbound to the user's /var/mail/user inbox where the pop or imap server handles the client retrieval).
In other words, client issues [POP/IMAP] only. In Thunderbird, I have checked the leave messages on server and the until I delete them tick boxes.
I just installed outlook on my laptop and tried to retrieve messages; there were no new messages on server.
It's as if something has flagged all messages on server-side as read and clients won't download new messages.
Thunderbird would also, frequently, complain about a lock file and I would have to re-initiate the check mail manually to get it to pull mail down in the recent past.
As I've never read the POP RFC, I am uncertain as to why this would be a server-side issue. I would think the client would handle whether it downloaded a specific item already, but then maybe POP daemon can't handle such an enormous file.
The mail / OS setup has not changed from what it was two days ago when it was working.
Thanks in advanced for any insights; I'll try enabling logging, but I'm skeptical as the client believes there is no new mail.
I'll also try a smaller mail file and see if that fixes things. Perhaps there's a size limitation w/ pop.
POP requests individual emails from the server based on the information stored in the popstate.dat file. That is all the messages downloaded and already on the system but not deleted are recorded in the popstate dat file so as to identify them to the server.
Generally issues with the popstate file are indicated by a repeat download as either the file is corrupt or the server has changes the references by which the mail is identified (usually a server software upgrade is involved in that. Historically anyway.)
That nothing is being downloaded could have many causes, but not the least of which is they are not in that account to download. That would be evidenced by nothing being returned from the list command in the log. Something that does sound likely if two mail clients fail to get mail.
But we are still at the same place. I suggest you log the connection and see what is really happening. https://wiki.mozilla.org/MailNews:Logging
Or you could even try fetching mail using the old tried but true method of using telnet to see what your server is offering. https://inthetechpit.com/2019/07/23/telnet-to-test-connection-to-pop3-imap/
Chosen Solution
Thank you for responding.
I realized it must be a problem with the server's mail file and discovered that there was a missing From header (or a few too many newlines between message end and From: tag) thanks to a Thunderbird error: Unable to process From lines (envelopes), change recognition modes
I ended up using the command csplit userfile '/^Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2021 08:59:38 -0500$/' based on the last message I received in the inbox.
Once I reconstructed it properly (putting the appropriate From: at the top) and replaced the inbox file on the server, I was then able to pull the mail down.
I've since zero'd out the server's mailbox and restarted postfix.
Thanks again for looking into this!