Mail not sending in Crontab

[TheGuy]

Hi Guys

I have a script running that is suppose to email me the backup results:

#Add mail recipients here - comma seperated : MAILTO=xyz@somewhere.com,abc@somewhere.com
MAILTO=me@mycompany.local

tar cvf /dev/st0 / 2>/local/root_backuplog.err >/local/root_backuplog
mt -f /dev/st0 offline

tail -n 15 /local/root_backuplog | mutt -x -a /local/root_backuplog.err -s "Daily backup logs" $MAILTO

/local/removetmp
/sbin/shutdown -g0 -y -i6

Can you see if I'm doing anything wrong as the email is not coming through?

 

[Murlin]

Maillog

I see you are using "mutt" to send a mail. Can you see anything in the maillogs ? Have you run the command manually to see if the box can run the command ?

 

[hedgehog]

I had a problem yesterday where the path wasn't setup correctly from a script executed by cron, simply solved by using absolute paths on all the commands.

 

[TheGuy]

I see you are using "mutt" to send a mail. Can you see anything in the maillogs ? Have you run the command manually to see if the box can run the command ?

Not sure how to check the mail logs but I ran the command manually and the server restarted afterwards so I think it's working.

I had a problem yesterday where the path wasn't setup correctly from a script executed by cron, simply solved by using absolute paths on all the commands.

The script was working before and I haven't changed anything. Were can I check what relay server the Mail to uses? I suspect the problem started after replacing the Mail server?

 

[rward]

yeah - absolute paths all the time. To find out where the program is use 'which':
which tail
/usr/bin/tail


mail logs should be in /var/log/mail.log or /var/log/maillog

you should be able to see where it's trying to send/relay through from there.
also check your spam folder of the receiver in case it's getting flagged as spam.
also check the /var/spool/mail/ to make sure the mail isn't being bounced back to where it's being sent from.

 

[TheGuy]

mail logs should be in /var/log/mail.log or /var/log/maillog

No mail logs in there. There is logs but it doesn't contain anything about logs.

you should be able to see where it's trying to send/relay through from there.
also check your spam folder of the receiver in case it's getting flagged as spam.

Checked it no email in spam folder

also check the /var/spool/mail/ to make sure the mail isn't being bounced back to where it's being sent from.

This directory is empty.

 

[MickZA]

If it failed after replacing the mail server check your smtp setting(s) in Muttrc.

 

[TheGuy]

If it failed after replacing the mail server check your smtp setting(s) in Muttrc.

Sorry where is the file located? Not really a Linux admin but I can't get our idiot Linux guy which charges R1600 and hour out to come and fix it.

 

[MickZA]

From your script you should be calling the default system wide config - /etc/Muttrc

 

[TheGuy]

From your script you should be calling the default system wide config - /etc/Muttrc

I looked around and read up on it but it doesn't seem that Mutt is installed.

 

[MickZA]

What flavour Linux are you using?

 

[TheGuy]

OpenSuse

 

[Kasyx]

Sorry where is the file located? Not really a Linux admin but I can't get our idiot Linux guy which charges R1600 and hour out to come and fix it.

R1600?!

And all this time I have been under-charging...

 

[MickZA]

Not my area of expertise but if it worked before mutt must be installed, to check:

from the command line zypper se mutt will show packages that support mutt, an i indicates it is installed.

 

[MickZA]

R1600?!

And all this time I have been under-charging...

Nah - it's just that his support guy is related to Linus Torvalds

 

[Rocket-Boy]

or you could save yourself the hassle and install a package called "email" yes its a stupid name but it works. It allows you to use external SMTP's without relayhosts etc.
The syntax would be: email -s "Daily backup logs" -a /path/to/attachment person@company.com
I use it extensively where I dont want to setup a mailserver on an arb server but still want certain things mailed to me.

 

[TheGuy]

Ok I've managed to find a file in skel/.muttrc but it doesn't contain any mail server settings

 

[Nod]

It is a good idea to specify the PATH variable for scripts that are run from cron.

 

[Nod]

Ok I've managed to find a file in skel/.muttrc but it doesn't contain any mail server settings

That normally gets copied to you home directory when you create a user.
Try `cat ~/.muttrc`
If that is empty, or does not exist, you might have to create a new one with the needed information.

On my laptop, I use exim to send mail via my ISP. Works very well.
Some info here: http://newbiedoc.sourceforge.net/networking/exim.html

 

[MickZA]

One result from googling "suse default mutt":

if you don't have your own .muttrc mutt will use the system version, found at
/etc/Muttrc (note the capital M). So,

Suggestion #2 is to copy /etc/Muttrc to your home directory (~/.muttrc) and
edit the bejeezus out of it. Lastly, sounds like you could use a good
beginner's guide to mutt. Here, have mine:
http://therandymon.com/content/view/42/98/ (HTML and PDF versions).

Please confirm that script you posted ran successfully in the past.