serverfault.com

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 6.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Common Server issues – FAQs and answers from those in the know

How can I limit the smtp authentication only for SMTPS connections in my Exim4?

23 February 2026 @ 2:19 pm

I'm working with Exim version 4.97 in ubuntu server. I have the splitted file configuration and I want to be sure that SMTP Authentication is available only for SMTPS connections. How can I do it? Consider I still want to accept plain connection from 25 port, but not to be used as outbound SMTP server, but just to handle local mailbox deliveries received by other smtp servers. This is the reason why I want to enforce SMTPS for authentications.

Linux: Connecting to Fortinet VPN using IPSEC IKEv1 with PSK, XAUTH and OTP

23 February 2026 @ 1:39 pm

the topic says it all: I am trying to connect to a Fortinet VPN server using Strongswan. IKEv1 phase 1 and phase2 work, PSK works, user auth works and then I receive a token via mail. Unfortunately, there is no place to enter it (Strongswan seems to be non-interactive after user auth succeeded). Is there a way to make this work? TIA, tm

Building a Custom Read-Only iSCSI Target on Windows (Physical Disk Export)

23 February 2026 @ 12:01 pm

I want to implement a custom iSCSI target on Windows Server 2019 that exports a physical disk (\.\PhysicalDriveX) in strict read-only mode to a Windows client. Requirements: Disk should appear as a locally attached SCSI disk on the client. Full disk layout visible (GPT/MBR, partitions). All WRITE commands rejected. No VHD/VHDX wrapper. Questions: Is user-mode implementation (Winsock + raw disk reads) sufficient, or is a kernel-mode StorPort/virtual SCSI driver required? Which Windows components or tools are needed (Windows SDK, WDK)? If implemented as read-only at SCSI level, is it architecturally safe from disk corruption? Looking for architectural guidance on the correct implementation path.

import21 failing with `object does not support the context manager protocol`

22 February 2026 @ 10:44 pm

I set up a new Mailman site using 3.3.10, and copied over my files from my old mailman site (using 2.1.34). I created a new domain, and a new list, and tried to import the settings from the old pickle file using mailman import21 [email protected] /var/tmp/var.lib.mailman/lists/pt-test/config.pck (in the virtual environment shell) but I get the following error File "/opt/mailman/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/mailman/utilities/importer.py", line 512, in import_config_pck default_value = getUtility(ITemplateLoader).get(newvar, mlist) File "/opt/mailman/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/mailman/model/template.py", line 211, in get path, fp = find(default_uri, mlist, code) ~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ File "/opt/mailman/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/mailman/utilities/i18n.py", line 157, in find for search_path in raw_search_order: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ File &quo

MariaDB connection to home ip address slow [migrated]

22 February 2026 @ 1:42 am

I'm using a local server (Windows server 2022 standard) where MariaDB 10.11.6 is currently running. My modem is directly connected to the fiber network with a Draytek Vigor 2135F. In this router I blocked all access to MariaDB access and granted only my websites. So far, so good.. But the sites which connect to my DB are really slow. In my mariaDb ini I have this: [mysqld] datadir=C:/Program Files/MariaDB 10.11/data port=3306 host_cache_size = 1000 innodb_buffer_pool_size = 2G innodb_read_io_threads = 8 innodb_thread_concurrency = 16 innodb_io_capacity = 2000 innodb_write_io_threads = 8 innodb_log_file_size = 256M innodb_log_buffer_size = 8M join_buffer_size = 2M sort_buffer_size = 2M key_buffer_size = 32M max_connections = 500 max_user_connections = 500 max_allowed_packet = 16M max_heap_table_size = 32M myisam_sort_buffer_size = 64M read_buffer_size = 8M read_rnd_buffer_size = 32M thread_cache_size = 100 tmp_table_size = 64M wait_timeout = 160 sort_buffer_size

How do I remove a file that was not properly replicated through Gluster?

21 February 2026 @ 11:14 pm

I have a Gluster volume that was originally on server A, and then was configured to be replicated on server B. By mistake, I took apart server A before everything was replicated to server B. Now, server B shows some files as unavailable. Here, 2.tar.gz is represented as question marks because it wasn't replicated. root@serverB:/mnt/example# ll -h ls: cannot access '/mnt/example/2.tar.gz': No data available total 16G drwxrwxr-x 2 root root 4.0K Feb 21 22:53 ./ drwxr-xr-x 11 root root 4.0K Sep 17 2021 ../ -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.0G Sep 8 2011 1.tar.gz -????????? ? ? ? ? ? -r--r--r-- 1 root root 4.9G Oct 8 2015 3.tar.gz ... I don't care much about the actual missing files because I have a backup. I would like to get rid of those non-existent files. An rm doesn't work, because: root@serverB

ubuntu 24.04 running redmine, apache2.4 asks for multiple logins

21 February 2026 @ 4:10 pm

Running redmine under apache 2.4 on ubuntu 24.04. The apache server is set up to require logins. Under normal circumstances, one logs in to the apache server once, then when one requests a redmine page one logs into redmine once. Subsequently, additional tabs require no logins on either apache or redmine. However, under some conditions which I have not been able to pinpoint, when one switches browser tabs or tries to update an issue, the apache server asks for another login; redmine seems to maintain state ok and does not request additional logins. When this happens the login request seems like it is in some kind of loop, as it comes up multiple times. It's not clear whether it is asking for logins for tabs other than the one currently being viewed and is getting confused, or if it is just in a loop. In order to get out of this condition I have had to completely exit the browser. It happens with both firefox and chrome. Does anyone have any idea wh

Linux hangs on IO operations [migrated]

21 February 2026 @ 2:43 pm

Since several days now, my Linux desktop (Fedora Linux 43 Workstation) has occasional IO "hangs". So far I noticed Playing MP3s from an NFS filemount Writing to the local filesystem (e.g. when saving a file in a texteditor) Reading from the local filesystem When it happens, the thread with the operation is freezing 2-20 seconds and then continues normally. I don't see any messages journalctl or dmesg. I suspect that it started with the last batch of installed package updates, but I have no clue how to approach this without a hint in the logs. Current kernel is 6.18.8-200.fc43.x86_64, built on 30. January (not by me). Do you have any other advice how to triage this?

Ubuntu Server 22.04 – Wi‑Fi PCIe card detected but no IP with Netplan (NO‑CARRIER, state DOWN) [migrated]

21 February 2026 @ 12:53 pm

I bought a WiFi card on Amazon for an Ubuntu Server. I know it's not optimal for a server, but I don't need it running 24/7—it's for personal use and I can't run a cable. I installed the card, and when I run ip a, I can see the new WiFi interface: 3: wlp2s0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state DOWN group default qlen 1000 link/ether e0:e2:58:aa:13:51 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff I modified my /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml config file to manage this new interface. But when I run sudo netplan generate followed by sudo netplan apply, I still don't get an IP address when I check ip a. network: version: 2 renderer: networkd ethernets: enp3s0: dhcp4: true nameservers: addresses: [8.8.8.8, 1.1.1.1] wifis: wlp2s0: dhcp4: true access-points: "Freebox-172BD1": password: password nameservers: addresses: [8.8

Domain Controller Change Region settings

21 February 2026 @ 8:41 am

I need to change the timestamp format of the logs in C:\Windows\System32\dns\dns.log to include the complete year in the logs timestamp. Since the time stamp format in this log file is based on Region settings, I would have to change the format there and then use the "Administrative" tab in the "Region" settings to Copy settings to the system account. I believe this not only changes the format in dns.log but also systemwide. Since this is a production Domain controller, I would like to know what adverse effects this could have. Will it affect the current functionality of the domain controller? If this not recommended what other alternative method is possible to just change the format only in the dns.log?