The dreaded "hundreds of notification emails" problem returns

gsmaclean · Post by **gsmaclean** » Tue Feb 28, 2017 2:36 pm

Support Request Template
What version of phpBB are you using? phpBB 3.1.10
What is your board's URL? http://goldwingdocs.com
Who do you host your board with? Self hosted
How did you install your board? I used the download package from phpBB.com
What is the most recent action performed on your board? Update from a previous version of phpBB3
Is registration required to reproduce this issue? Yes
Do you have any MODs installed? No
Do you have any extensions installed? No
What version of phpBB3 did you update from? phpBB 3.1.9
What styles do you currently have installed? Prosilver
What language(s) is your board currently using? English
Which database type/version are you using? MS SQL Server
What is your level of experience? Experienced with PHP and phpBB
What username can be used to view this issue? No answer given
What password can be used to view this issue? No answer given
What actions did you take (updating your board; installing a MOD, style or extension; etc.) prior to this problem becoming noticeable? None
Please describe your problem.Years ago this problem occurred on my and many other sites. Out of the blue, it is randomly starting to happen on my site again, and I can't find an explanation for it. Nothing on the site has changed in months.

The site will run for weeks with no issues. Then out of nowhere, the queue.php file will start filling up with notification emails. The system sends out the notification emails, but does NOT delete the emails from queue.php. As a result, each time it processes the queue, it re-sends the emails, and users start receiving hundreds and hundreds of copies of their notification emails.

After a few hours, it generally fixes itself, unless I have a user complain before that happens, in which case I will delete the queue.php file and that fixes it.

It is not a permissions problem - clearly, PHPBB has write access to the queue.php file, because it keeps adding more and more notification emails to it - it just never deletes any after they are sent.

I would REALLY like to stop this from happening. My users REALLY dislike it.
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gsmaclean · Post by **gsmaclean** » Tue Feb 28, 2017 3:00 pm

Incidentally, I (and many others) have been dealing with this issue, on and off, for over eight years now...you would think maybe it's time to revisit PHPBB's email queuing system.

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=1707575

https://tracker.phpbb.com/browse/PHPBB3-8011

RMcGirr83 · Post by **RMcGirr83** » Tue Feb 28, 2017 3:33 pm

Does the cache directory have all permissions (aka 777)?

gsmaclean · Post by **gsmaclean** » Tue Feb 28, 2017 4:09 pm

RMcGirr83 wrote: ↑
Tue Feb 28, 2017 3:33 pm
Does the cache directory have all permissions (aka 777)?

This is a Windows server (hence MS SQL Server as a back end), so 777 type permissions don't apply. But yes, the IIS USR account has correct permissions (read/write/modify) on the directory. Otherwise the site would not be able to read, write and modify the queue file, queue lock files, and all the other files that are cached there.

Like I mentioned, the site works perfectly for weeks at a time, until it randomly starts doing this. Deleting the queue.php (and queue lock file) fixes the problem until the next time it occurs.

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