Xref: utzoo comp.unix.sysv386:8202 news.software.b:7814 news.software.nntp:1316 comp.protocols.tcp-ip:16163 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!comp.vuw.ac.nz!actrix!paul From: paul@actrix.gen.nz (Paul Gillingwater) Newsgroups: comp.unix.sysv386,news.software.b,news.software.nntp,comp.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: NNTP periodic failures on ISC UNIX Message-ID: <1991May19.230225.2544@actrix.gen.nz> Date: 19 May 91 23:02:25 GMT Organization: Actrix Networks Lines: 74 We have a problem with our NNTP, and would appreciate any helpful suggestions. Here's our configuration: 386/33MHz with ISC 2.2.1, running TCP/IP 1.2 on a WD 1003E LAN card. We're connected via a PCRouter (software running on another PC) to a local University Internet node, where we receive mail and news via SMTP and NNTP. We have 10 Mb of RAM. We're using NNTP version 1.5.11 (with patches for ISC UNIX). The problem is that two or three times a day, the NNTP appears to lock up. This also causes mail to stop, so it seems to be a problem that restricts a resource used by both SMTP and NNTP (perhaps streams buffers?) We've tried shutting down the LAN, then restarting it by changing the init level, but this does not seem to work. We know that the PCRouter is fine, because we can still TELNET or FTP over the LAN (sometimes). We can usually PING the PCRouter successfully too. This has meant that the only way we can restart the connection is to do a complete powerdown and reboot. Obviously, this isn't very pleasant. Can anyone (especially ISC support) suggest a possible cause for this, and perhaps a fix? For example, how can we find out if there is a memory leak, or perhaps a loss of streams buffers? Is there some way we can enable NNTP debug logging to trace where it fails? Another symptom is that there seem to be multiple NNTP processes left hanging around (we have a housekeeping script which kills these off from time to time). If they're not killed cleanly, perhaps some resource is being lost. This seems to be a result of occasional loss of connection to our feed. The active NNTP process stops, but doesn't go away. When more news comes through, a new NNTP process is started, but the old one doesn't go away. Here's a netstat -a: Active Internet connections (including servers) Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address (state) tcp 0 2259 192.100.53.17.nntp 130.195.5.20.6750 CLOSED tcp 0 0 *.smtp *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.time *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.daytime *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.chargen *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.discard *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.echo *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.domain *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.finger *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.nntp *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.exec *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.login *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.shell *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.telnet *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.ftp *.* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *.* *.* CLOSED udp 0 0 *.1225 *.* udp 0 0 *.1030 *.* udp 0 0 *.1027 *.* udp 0 0 192.100.53.17.domain *.* udp 0 0 127.0.0.1.domain *.* udp 0 0 *.domain *.* udp 0 0 *.ntalk *.* udp 0 0 *.1025 *.* udp 0 0 *.1024 *.* udp 0 0 *.syslog *.* udp 0 0 *.* *.* Any help would be gratefully appreciated. -- Paul Gillingwater, paul@actrix.gen.nz