install/39374: The postdrop process sometimes stops the boot process, preventing local and remote logins

[randolf+netbsd.org%inter-corporate.com@localhost]

>Number:         39374
>Category:       install
>Synopsis:       The postdrop process sometimes stops the boot process, 
>preventing local and remote logins
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       critical
>Priority:       high
>Responsible:    install-manager
>State:          open
>Class:          sw-bug
>Submitter-Id:   net
>Arrival-Date:   Mon Aug 18 00:45:00 +0000 2008
>Originator:     Randolf Richardson
>Release:        NetBSD 4.0
>Organization:
Inter-Corporate Computer & Network Services, Inc.
>Environment:
NetBSD netbsd.test.lumbercartel.ca 4.99.70 NetBSD 4.99.70 (GENERIC) #0: Mon Jul 
21 04:17:53 PDT 2008  
builds@wb38:/home/builds/ab/HEAD/i386/200807210002Z-obj/home/builds/ab/HEAD/src/sys/arch/i386/compile/GENERIC
 i386
>Description:
The message "postdrop: warning: mail_queue_enter: create file 
maildrop/635518.167: no such file or directory" appears every second (with the 
number 635518.167 changing).  This continued perpetually, and the "login:" 
prompt never appears on the console.  SSH logins fail too.

I had to press CTRL-C to put a stop to this "postdrop" problem, which allowed 
the rest of the boot process to complete.  After that, console and SSH logins 
worked just fine, as did the rest of the system.

This is a very serious problem because if the power fails at a remote site, and 
this problem occurs, the server will not be accessible until someone can 
physically press CTRL-C to allow the boot process to continue to completion.

>How-To-Repeat:
I don't know.  This is a fresh installation with only pkgsrc-current and GRUB 
installed.

>Fix:
The following two commands fixed this problem for me (because I don't need 
postfix):
  echo postfix=NO>>/etc/rc.conf
  shutdown -r now

Please fix the default installation of NetBSD to leave postfix disabled by 
default.  Adding the following comment to /etc/rc.conf is probably a good idea:

# To enable postfix, un-comment the next line:
#postfix=YES