How to: Manage the Mail Queue

The mail queue is where messages are stored before they are processed and delivered. From the Mail Queue page in NodeWorx, administrators can view, expire, and delete messages that may be stuck in the queue. It is also possible to purge the entire queue, as well as send test messages from the server, itself, to troubleshoot sending or delivery issues.

This page can be particularly useful in identifying and removing spam.

To Send a Test Message

This feature can be used to troubleshoot mail delivery and sending issues. Sending a test message from the Mail Queue page in Nodeworx sends the message directly from the mail server. This can be helpful in determining if the issue is related to specific mail clients or webmail, vs the mail service, itself.

  1. Log into NodeWorx from the browser (https://ip.ad.dr.ess:2443/nodeworx)

  2. In NodeWorx, navigate to System Services > Mail Server> Mail Queue

  3. Under Send a Test Message, update the required fields:

    • Email: The address to send the message to

    • Subject: The subject of the message

    • Body: The body of the message

    test message form

  4. Click Send

To Manage Messages in the Mail Queue

Changing the Queue

  1. Log into NodeWorx from the browser (https://ip.ad.dr.ess:2443/nodeworx)

  2. In NodeWorx, navigate to System Services > Mail Server> Mail Queue

  3. Next to Queue, select the desired queue dropdown:

    • Remote + Local: Messages both to/from remote servers, as well as to/from email addresses on the server

    • Remote: Messages to/from remote servers

    • Local: Messages to/from email addresses on the server

    • Todo: Messages waiting to be sorted into either Remote or Local

    mail queue list

Viewing a Message in the Queue

  1. Log into NodeWorx from the browser (https://ip.ad.dr.ess:2443/nodeworx)

  2. In NodeWorx, navigate to System Services > Mail Server> Mail Queue

  3. Under Action, click View Message next to the message. This opens the message details form

    stuck message in queue message details

Expiring a Message in the Queue

Expiring a message will result in the message being deleted the next time the mail queue is processed. Messages in the queue generally will expire automatically after seven days.

  1. Log into NodeWorx from the browser (https://ip.ad.dr.ess:2443/nodeworx)

  2. In NodeWorx, navigate to System Services > Mail Server> Mail Queue

  3. Select the checkbox next to the message to mark as expired

  4. Select Expire from the With Selected dropdown

    expire dropdown

  5. Click Go

Unexpiring a Message in the Queue

  1. Log into NodeWorx from the browser (https://ip.ad.dr.ess:2443/nodeworx)

  2. In NodeWorx, navigate to System Services > Mail Server> Mail Queue

  3. Select the checkbox next to the message to mark as unexpired

  4. Select Unexpire from the With Selected dropdown

    expire dropdown

  5. Click Go

Deleting a Message in the Queue

Deleting a message immediately removes the message from the queue and no further attempts to deliver the message will occur.

  1. Log into NodeWorx from the browser (https://ip.ad.dr.ess:2443/nodeworx)

  2. In NodeWorx, navigate to System Services > Mail Server> Mail Queue

  3. Select the checkbox next to the message to delete

  4. Select Delete from the With Selected dropdown

    expire dropdown

  5. Click Go.

To Process the Mail Queue

This sends a signal to Qmail to manually process the mail queue.

Note

This option should only be used if the mail queue does not appear to be processing on its own.

  1. Log into NodeWorx from the browser (https://ip.ad.dr.ess:2443/nodeworx)

  2. In NodeWorx, navigate to System Services > Mail Server> Mail Queue

  3. Under Process Mail Queue, click Process

    mail queue process button

To Purge the Mail Queue

If a queue is purged, the messages within will not be processed.

  1. Log into NodeWorx from the browser (https://ip.ad.dr.ess:2443/nodeworx)

  2. In NodeWorx, navigate to System Services > Mail Server> Mail Queue

  3. Under Quick Stats, select the checkbox next to the queue to purge:

    • Remote: Messages to/from remote servers

    • Local: Messages to/from email addresses on the server

    • Todo: Messages waiting to be sorted into either Remote or Local

  4. Select Purge from the With Selected dropdown

    purge queue button

  5. Click Go

To Clear the Queue from the CLI

To Globally Empty the Queue

Warning

Globally emptying the queue will delete all messages that are currently in the queue. This includes both spam and valid messages. As such, this method should be used with caution.

  1. Log in to the server at the CLI as root, either via SSH or from the terminal

  2. From the CLI, run the following command sequence. This sequence will:

    • Navigate to the qmail directory

    • Stop the SMTP service

    • Rename the queue directory to queue.bad

    • Reinstall qmail–this regenerates the queue directory

    • Restart the SMTP service

    cd /var/qmail; service smtp stop; mv queue queue.bad; yum reinstall qmail -y; service smtp start

To Selectively Clear the Queue

Selectively clearing the queue uses a pattern, such as a source email address, to target messages for removal.

  1. Log in to the server at the command line as root, either via SSH or from the terminal

  2. From the CLI, run the following command sequence, replacing {PATTERN} with the source email address, or other pattern you would like to search for and remove from the queue. This sequence will:

    • Navigate to the qmail queue directory

    • Create a folder named “junk” for the spam messages to be moved to

    • Stop the SMTP service

    • Search for a specific pattern and move all messages matching that pattern to the junk folder

    • Restart the SMTP service

    cd /var/qmail/queue/; mkdir junk; service smtp stop; /var/qmail/bin/qmail-remove -p "{PATTERN}" -y junk/ -r; service smtp start