OS X 10.6 Server - Dovecot Issue

[Jeroen Scheerder]

Quoth Ian Baker (23 Aug 2014, 18:17):

> I've just taken over support for an OS X Server (v10.6.8) box, and am 
> a bit new at Postfix & Dovecot.

[...]

> And here is what a bounce looks like
>
> Aug 22 07:29:28 mail postfix/local[93916]: error: od[getpwnam_ext]: No 
> record for user sblondin
> Aug 22 07:29:28 mail postfix/pipe[93944]: 852C43AE7ACC: 
> to=<sblondin at eem.ca>, relay=dovecot, delay=15, delays=0.14/0.05/0/15, 
> dsn=5.1.1, status=bounced (user unknown)

This looks familiar to me.

I've seen this happen when running Snow Leopard server as well, and 
recall tracing this back to Time Machine.

IIRC, Time Machine suspends directory services briefly while running.  
My wild guess is that this is probably by design, in order to create 
consistent database snapshots.  And since Time Machine runs quite often 
(in its default configuration), that doesn't do much good to services 
relying on permanent availability of AAA services.

If you're running Time Machine, try disabling it.  You can alter its 
schedule by hand, or you can use utilities like 
<http://www.klieme.com/TimeMachineScheduler.html> to coax it into a a 
more suitable (less disruptive) schedule.

Regards, Jeroen.
-- 
Jeroen Scheerder
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