# cat /proc/version Linux version 2.4.20-18.9 (bhcompile@daffy.perf.redhat.com) (gcc version 3.2.2 20030222 (Red Hat Linux 3.2.2-5)) #1 Thu May 29 07:09:43 EDT 2003 # dovecot --version 0.99.10
I've just recently noticed a serious problem with my system. After about
an hour or so I get errors in /var/log/maillog such as this;
Sep 21 06:40:16 the-system imap(ray): opendir() failed with file
\/home/ray/Maildir//new: Too many open files
I investigated with 'lsof' and found that many copies of '.customflags' were open for each and every folder. ie; Each folder's '.customflags' file was open 15 times!
I suspect that postfix is not able to store newly collected email while this is occuring, therefore I am likely losing messages.
I've tried with multiple mail clients (Sylpheed & Evolution) and multiple users, always with the same result.
Further investigation indicates that each time the client scans for new mail another instance of each and every '.customflags' is opened. As I have the client set for checking at five minute intervals then it was probably 75 minutes until the client barfed. Less, if I manualy scan for new mail a few times.
If I shutdown the client and restart it then everything is fine for about an hour. Running 'lsof /home/ray/Maildir/.customflags' on the server I can see the list of files increasing each time the client checks for new mail.
Any help would be appreciated!