From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Jul 28 14:52:46 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2905337B401 for ; Mon, 28 Jul 2003 14:52:46 -0700 (PDT) Received: from floyd.gnulife.org (floyd.gnulife.org [199.86.41.27]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9CBE543F85 for ; Mon, 28 Jul 2003 14:52:45 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from jamie@gnulife.org) Received: by floyd.gnulife.org (Postfix, from userid 1000) id 5D77143317; Mon, 28 Jul 2003 16:57:06 -0500 (CDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by floyd.gnulife.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4ED1243316; Mon, 28 Jul 2003 16:57:06 -0500 (CDT) Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 16:57:06 -0500 (CDT) From: Jamie To: Rus Foster In-Reply-To: <20030728144506.G68935@thor.65535.net> Message-ID: <20030728165345.A71147-100000@floyd.gnulife.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Server spinning out of control... X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 21:52:46 -0000 That is a good idea, thanks. We did check that though. Went through each user's accounts checking their .forwards and procmaillrc files. We are running spamassassin 2.55, and in the global procmailrc file we call spamc which connects to a spamd running on another machine. Are you aware of any other system utilities that might be used to trace CPU consumption and trap problems? We've taken a lot of stabs in the dark with what it could be, and we'd like to try some solid diagnostic utils to shed more light. - Jamie On Mon, 28 Jul 2003, Rus Foster wrote: > > We've got a server that occassionally becomes temporarily useless > > because the load average shoots up to around 150.0 or so, and then slowly > > winds down over a 2 minute period. I cannot seem to find the process which > > is putting so much load on the machine. I've tried running top with the q > > switch, as well as the "I" switch, and when top opens, I can't see > > anything consuming large amounts of CPU power or consuming much memory, > > but the load average will be incredibly high. There isn't anything unusual > > in /var/log/messages to indicate anything which might be causing the load > > average to go shooting through the ceiling. > > Are you running any sort of spam filtering? Could a use put something in > their ~/.forward? > > Rus > > www: http://jvds.com | Virtual Servers from just $15/mo > MSNM: support@jvds.com | Totally Customizable Technology > e: rghf@jvds.com | forums: http://forums.jvds.com > 10% donation to FreeBSD.org on each purchase > "A friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself."