Mailman and Postfix Conflicting Information
I've been going in circles between mailman and postfix trying to get things working. My current condition is that either mailman is putting incoming mail in the bit bucket or postfix is not sending incoming mail to mailman. According to the postfix forum my mailman configuration is messed up but it was auto generated by the installer. Supposedly these entries should not be in /opt/mailman/mm/var/data/postfix_lmtp or rather transport_maps and/or local_recipient_maps.
# Aliases which are visible only in the @gmail.com domain. lllllllllll@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-bounces@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-confirm@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-join@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-leave@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-owner@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-request@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-subscribe@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-unsubscribe@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024
And relay_domains shouldn't have this entry either in /opt/mailman/mm/var/data/postfix_domains in relay_domains:
gmail.com gmail.com
Clearly my postfix configuration is messed up but since this was all auto generated I don't know what to do.
On 2/6/26 09:00, dap1--- via Mailman-users wrote:
I've been going in circles between mailman and postfix trying to get things working. My current condition is that either mailman is putting incoming mail in the bit bucket or postfix is not sending incoming mail to mailman.
What does your mail.log say? There should be an entry like
... postfix/lmtp ... to=<lllllllllll@gmail.com>, relay=127.0.0.1[127.0.0.1]:8024 ...
for mail to the list.
According to the postfix forum my mailman configuration is messed up but it was auto generated by the installer. Supposedly these entries should not be in /opt/mailman/mm/var/data/postfix_lmtp or rather transport_maps and/or local_recipient_maps.
# Aliases which are visible only in the @gmail.com domain. lllllllllll@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-bounces@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-confirm@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-join@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-leave@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-owner@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-request@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-subscribe@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024 lllllllllll-unsubscribe@gmail.com lmtp:[127.0.0.1]:8024
And relay_domains shouldn't have this entry either in /opt/mailman/mm/var/data/postfix_domains in relay_domains:
gmail.com gmail.com
Clearly my postfix configuration is messed up but since this was all auto generated I don't know what to do.
I think the Postfix people are confused by the fact that your list domain is gmail.com and expect gmail.com mail to be delivered to Google, not Mailman. What you post above seems OK to me for what you are trying to do.
-- Mark Sapiro <mark@msapiro.net> The highway is for gamblers, San Francisco Bay Area, California better use your sense - B. Dylan
Yes, I see this:
2026-02-06T10:33:49.632822-05:00 dap002 postfix/lmtp[185616]: 7304C500071: to=<lllllllll@gmail.com>, relay=127.0.0.1[12 7.0.0.1]:8024, delay=0.17, delays=0.09/0.02/0/0.06, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (250 Ok)
However, there is nothing after that indicating any mail being distributed.
I should note that I can get this working if I use:
[smtp.gmail.com]:587 llllllllll@gmail.com:keystring
in sasl_passwd with smtp_sender_dependent_authentication = no. But if I set that to yes and use
llllllllll@gmail.com llllllllll@gmail.com:keystring
I get what I am getting now which means I can't use the various other addresses ( llllllllll-request, etc.).
On 2/6/26 10:06, dap1--- via Mailman-users wrote:
Yes, I see this:
2026-02-06T10:33:49.632822-05:00 dap002 postfix/lmtp[185616]: 7304C500071: to=<lllllllll@gmail.com>, relay=127.0.0.1[12 7.0.0.1]:8024, delay=0.17, delays=0.09/0.02/0/0.06, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (250 Ok)
So the mail is delivered to Mailman's lmtp runner as it should be. What's in mailman.log and smtp.log? You can get a bit more log info by setting
[logging.smtp]
level: debug
in mailman.cfg.
-- Mark Sapiro <mark@msapiro.net> The highway is for gamblers, San Francisco Bay Area, California better use your sense - B. Dylan
mailman.log
Feb 06 10:33:50 2026 (137333) llllllllll: DMARC lookup for uuuu@myisp.net (_dmarc.myisp.net) found p=quarantine in _dmarc.myisp.net. = v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; fo=1; rua=mailto:dmarc_rua@emaildefense.proofpoint.com; ruf=mailto:dmarc_ruf@emaildefense.proofpoint.com Feb 06 10:33:50 2026 (137333) ACCEPT: <ed25cdc2-81ea-4e9a-a9f3-03e5aab685ff@myisp.net> [06/Feb/2026:10:33:52 -0500] "GET /3.1/lists/llllllllll@gmail.com HTTP/1.1" 200 397 "-" "GNU Mailman REST client v3.3.5" [06/Feb/2026:10:33:52 -0500] "GET /3.1/lists/llllllllll@gmail.com/config HTTP/1.1" 200 3421 "-" "GNU Mailman REST client v3.3.5" [06/Feb/2026:10:33:52 -0500] "GET /3.1/lists/llllllllll.gmail.com/roster/owner HTTP/1.1" 200 741 "-" "GNU Mailman REST c lient v3.3.5" [06/Feb/2026:10:33:52 -0500] "GET /3.1/addresses/uuuu@myisp.net HTTP/1.1" 200 390 "-" "GNU Mailman REST client v3.3. 5" [06/Feb/2026:10:33:52 -0500] "GET /3.1/users/uuuu@myispnet HTTP/1.1" 200 285 "-" "GNU Mailman REST client v3.3.5" [06/Feb/2026:10:33:52 -0500] "GET /3.1/lists/llllllllll.gmail.com/roster/moderator HTTP/1.1" 200 745 "-" "GNU Mailman RE ST client v3.3.5" [06/Feb/2026:10:33:52 -0500] "GET /3.1/addresses/uuuu@myisp.net HTTP/1.1" 200 390 "-" "GNU Mailman REST client v3.3. 5" Feb 06 10:33:53 2026 (137328) HyperKitty archived message <ed25cdc2-81ea-4e9a-a9f3-03e5aab685ff@myisp.net> to https: //gmail.com/archives/list/llllllllll@gmail.com/message/DVXWCJVGONYAXYHWSYKVZJABR3OG5SDT/ Feb 06 10:45:01 llllllllll
smtp.log
Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) Available AUTH mechanisms: LOGIN(builtin) PLAIN(builtin) Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) Peer: ('127.0.0.1', 34218) Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) handling connection Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) >> b'LHLO dap002.localdomain' Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) >> b'MAIL FROM:<uuuu@myisp.net> SIZE=10502' Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) sender: uuuu@myisp.net Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) >> b'RCPT TO:<lllllllll@gmail.com>' Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) recip: clllllllll@gmail.com Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) >> b'DATA' Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) >> b'QUIT' Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) connection lost Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) Connection lost during _handle_client()
Hmmmm. Connection lost?
On 2/6/26 10:49, dap1--- via Mailman-users wrote:
mailman.log
Feb 06 10:33:50 2026 (137333) ACCEPT: <ed25cdc2-81ea-4e9a-a9f3-03e5aab685ff@myisp.net>
Mailman Accepted the message.
Feb 06 10:33:53 2026 (137328) HyperKitty archived message <ed25cdc2-81ea-4e9a-a9f3-03e5aab685ff@myisp.net> to https: //gmail.com/archives/list/llllllllll@gmail.com/message/DVXWCJVGONYAXYHWSYKVZJABR3OG5SDT/
And HyperKitty archived it.
smtp.log
Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) Available AUTH mechanisms: LOGIN(builtin) PLAIN(builtin) Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) Peer: ('127.0.0.1', 34218) Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) handling connection Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) >> b'LHLO dap002.localdomain' Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) >> b'MAIL FROM:<uuuu@myisp.net> SIZE=10502' Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) sender: uuuu@myisp.net Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) >> b'RCPT TO:<lllllllll@gmail.com>' Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) recip: clllllllll@gmail.com Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) >> b'DATA' Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) >> b'QUIT' Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) connection lost Feb 06 10:33:49 2026 (137334) ('127.0.0.1', 34218) Connection lost during _handle_client()
Hmmmm. Connection lost?
Those Connection lost messages are normal and expected as a result of the QUIT command.
However, missing are messages like
smtp to lllllllll@gmail.com for nn recips, completed in nn.nn seconds
post to lllllllll@gmail.com from uuuu@myisp.net, nnn bytes
Is Mailman's out runner running? Are messages queued in Mailman's var/queue/out/ directory?
-- Mark Sapiro <mark@msapiro.net> The highway is for gamblers, San Francisco Bay Area, California better use your sense - B. Dylan
There are many runner processes and var/queue/out/ is currently empty.
mailman 196777 0.0 1.1 103052 86488 ? S 06:28 0:05 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=archive:0:1 mailman 196779 0.0 1.1 105888 89116 ? S 06:28 0:04 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=bounces:0:1 mailman 196780 0.0 1.1 103048 86584 ? S 06:28 0:05 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=command:0:1 mailman 196782 0.0 1.1 103048 86464 ? S 06:28 0:05 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=in:0:1 mailman 196783 0.0 1.1 176792 86684 ? Sl 06:28 0:02 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=lmtp:0:1 mailman 196784 0.0 1.1 103048 86536 ? S 06:28 0:05 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=out:0:1 mailman 196785 0.0 1.1 103060 86420 ? S 06:28 0:05 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=pipeline:0:1 mailman 196786 0.0 1.2 108284 91896 ? S 06:28 0:05 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=rest:0:1 mailman 196787 0.0 1.1 103056 86588 ? S 06:28 0:01 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=retry:0:1 mailman 196788 0.0 1.1 105756 88656 ? S 06:28 0:02 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=task:0:1 mailman 196794 0.0 1.1 103048 86548 ? S 06:28 0:05 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=virgin:0:1 mailman 196799 0.0 1.1 103044 86596 ? S 06:28 0:05 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=digest:0:1 mailman 196945 0.0 1.0 111260 82884 ? S 06:28 0:00 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=rest:0:1 mailman 196946 0.0 1.0 111260 82756 ? S 06:28 0:00 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/python3 /opt/mailman/venv/bin/runner -C /etc/mailman3/mailman.cfg --runner=rest:0:1
On 2/7/26 08:01, dap1--- via Mailman-users wrote:
There are many runner processes and var/queue/out/ is currently empty.
If there are no errors in mailman.log and var/queue/shunt is also empty, the messages were delivered to the outgoing MTA. You can check bounce.log to see if they were bounced. Is the outgoing MTA a google mail MTA or do you send to a local postfix and have it relay to google mail. If the latter, check your mail.log. If the former and the messages didn't bounce and weren't delivered, only google knows why.
Also, setting Notify owner on bounce increment to Yes will get a notice to the list owner including the bounce DSN on the first bounce of the day for a bouncing user.
-- Mark Sapiro <mark@msapiro.net> The highway is for gamblers, San Francisco Bay Area, California better use your sense - B. Dylan
A bounce was logged for each list member. Yes, I do get a bounce notice as list owner but that goes via the default relay rather than gmail.
On 2/8/26 09:03, dap1--- via Mailman-users wrote:
A bounce was logged for each list member. Yes, I do get a bounce notice as list owner but that goes via the default relay rather than gmail.
So the issue is not with Mailman per se. What MTA is bouncing the messages and for what reason?
-- Mark Sapiro <mark@msapiro.net> The highway is for gamblers, San Francisco Bay Area, California better use your sense - B. Dylan
That is the piece I am having a hard time finding. The reason is gmail rejecting the authentication. What I can't seem to tell is what gmail user postfix is trying to use. I THINK the debug info is saying it is using llllllllll-bounces@gmail.com (although there is no real reason why authentication should fail for that either). I cannot find where it tries to use llllllllll@gmail.com which is what it is supposed to use. As I said using smtp_sender_dependent_authentication makes the difference.
Dennis
Post the log entries related to one such message, from both Postfix *and* Mailman, especially those related to debugging.
We cannot help you interpret what you don't show us.
It doesn't help us when you tell us what is "supposed to happen" without explaining why you think that is what the documentation and configuration say that Postfix and Mailman are supposed to do. Note that *both* Mailman and Postfix may have some influence on the credentials of the sender presented to remote recipients.
-- GNU Mailman consultant (installation, migration, customization) Sirius Open Source https://www.siriusopensource.com/ Software systems consulting in Europe, North America, and Japan
El vie, 06-02-2026 a las 17:00 +0000, dap1--- via Mailman-users escribió:
Clearly my postfix configuration is messed up but since this was all auto generated I don't know what to do.
You should follow the advice that you got from Viktor Dukhovni in the Postfix list: read Ralf and Patrick's Postfix book, clean everything up and start from scratch.
-- Victoriano Giralt Retired sysadmin
Note: signature.asc is the electronic signature of present message A: Yes.
Q: Are you sure ?
A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
Q: Why is top posting annoying in email ?
participants (4)
-
dap1＠bellsouth.net -
Mark Sapiro -
Stephen J. Turnbull -
Victoriano Giralt