Primary message disappears, cc: arrives ???

[rlingen]

I don't know anything about the guts of sendmail, I only use it in Perl scripts.

I have a cgi script that generates an email, sent via sendmail to one of the POP3 boxes on our shared server. It also sends a cc: of the message to an outside email address.

The problem is that sometimes (not often) the email to the POP3 box does not arrive, but the outside cc: does. These are emails ordering product, so it's a real problem when one goes astray.

Can you point me toward any possible sources of the problem?

I am having difficulty troubleshooting this since:

1) the script works fine -- the cc: arrives!
2) it's intermittent -- I have not been able to replicate a "disappearing order" in any tests.
3) the only evidence I have of a problem is the arrival of the cc: and the non-arrival of the message to the primary addressee. (I added the cc: because of the occasional missing order.)

Could there be something wrong with the POP3 box?
Could sendmail lose an "internal" message while simultaneously transmitting it "outside"?
Is there some condition which would make sendmail do the above?

Roy

 

[pmkincaid]

Have you tried sending both of the messages to an external address (ie to your cc address and say create an account external to your domain) -- what I'm thinking is that would show if its a problem sending more than one message at a time via your script -- not very likely, but its a thought... Maybe try sending to the internal, cc and your own external...

Have you tried switching the cc: and to: (ie have the external be the to: and the internal be the cc.

You should be able to automate testing of this so you can troubleshoot test messages rather than live data. Create a script that will send 100 of the messages to an account you create on the outside and a internal account you create on the inside. Maybe have a script that sets the subject as an incrementing number so you know which ones get lost....

Another thought is it happening to one particular internal account - have you tried sending it to a differnet internal account.

Would there be a way to send 2 email messages via your script (with both internal and externals as to: in their particular message) instead of one email with a to: and a cc:? And delay their delivery by a couple seconds -- that might prove if its a problem sending both at the same time.

Also, how about sending the email with both addressees in the to: rather than a to: and a cc:.

Hope this helps,
Paul