01-Aug-2022

Maintenance job has usual outcome
Last night’s maintenance run didn’t show anything weird. Although there is a huge amount of spam, numbers aren’t alarming:

PMAS%nbsp;statistics%nbsp;for%nbsp;July
Total%nbsp;messages%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;3162%nbsp;=%nbsp;100.0%nbsp;o/o
DNS%nbsp;Blacklisted%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;0%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;.0%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(Files:%nbsp;%nbsp;0)
Relay%nbsp;attempts%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;75%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;2.3%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(Files:%nbsp;31)
Accepted%nbsp;by%nbsp;PMAS%nbsp;%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;3087%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;97.6%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(Files:%nbsp;31)
%nbsp;%nbsp;Handled%nbsp;by%nbsp;explicit%nbsp;rule
%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;Rejected%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;2012%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;65.1%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(processed),%nbsp;%nbsp;63.6%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(all)
%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;Accepted%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;107%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;3.4%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(processed),%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;3.3%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(all)
%nbsp;%nbsp;Handled%nbsp;by%nbsp;content
%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;Discarded%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;310%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;10.0%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(processed),%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;9.8%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(all)
%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;Quarantained%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;542%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;17.5%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(processed),%nbsp;%nbsp;17.1%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(all)
%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;Delivered%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;116%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;3.7%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(processed),%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;3.6%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(all)

No large amount of relay attempts either. probably just a few on some days, none of the files exceed 4 blocks (2 Kb) in size. Fine.

New case and components for workstation
Since I found UnReal 5 engine is freely available, I started creating virtual worlds. I started with my workstation consisting of an ASUS TUF X299 Mark1 motherboard, an Intel Core I9 processor with 10 cores, 32 GB memory and a NVidia GTX1080 video card in a Sharkoon enclosure. That card is the bare minimum to run the Unreal Editor, but it does the trick. However, it pushes the system to it’s max so the fans were very busy.
To improve performance, I changed my video card for an ASUS RTX3080, 10Gb memory. It does make a difference, but I quickly found out that all fans should run at their max, to keep GPU and CPU on healthy temperatures: GPU ran up to 80 degrees and CPU 60. When the fans ran at high speed, these were lowered to about 45, with a lot of noise. So I decided I should choose a more airy enclosure, that could hold more fans. I found a good case: Lian-Li O11 Dynamic EVO, and I added 8 fans to cool it all down. And now I’m busy: For some projects you need more memory so I added another 32 Mb. Moving from one case into another was one day, not all completed yet but now I don’t have to worry anymore about temperatures: even when fans are at low or moderate speed and high load using UnReal, GPU temp won’t exceed 55 degrees, and the CPU is kept on a healthy 40.
Still need to finish a few things, but I’m happy with it. The only downside: There is no facility to hold the 2 5.25 inch DVD/BR drives, but I’ll find a solution for that.

Switch to Diana didn’t go as expected
I have run my server on Dione now for over 6 months so I decided it is time to switch to Diana. Yesterday I prepared for a switch: Copy whatever I had done on Dione to Diana (Willibrordpad images, MySQL database and CMS files) and had the system running completely except for a few services that would cause conflicts if running. Tonight, I retrieved the log data shown above, to be added on Diana, after Dione was switched off. A few minor problems activating these services, but all was running in the end, so I could shutdown Dione.
Wrong. Not enough. I should have copied the certificate files now on Dione to Diana as well, but I could indeed access the web. Except for the blogs; for some reason, index.php could not be found. HomeDesk did work and showed that indeed, sysblog:[000000]index.php could not be found. I tried using DCL but $ dir sysblog:[000000]index.php failed to find the file. It is probably a matter of logicals, but this needs to be investigated. . So I restarted Dione and keep it running until this is solved.

CMS program
I picked it up again but had a problem uploading the files to Dahpne (the PWS). I now know what caused it and the solution has been implemented, so as soon as I get started again, I can upload the new files and compile – and create a test program to see if it works

19-Jul-2022

No problems except relay attempts
Quite late this month, but I did check what the maintenance job had to mention. Nothing out of the expected:

PMAS%nbsp;statistics%nbsp;for%nbsp;June
Total%nbsp;messages%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;6830%nbsp;=%nbsp;100.0%nbsp;o/o
DNS%nbsp;Blacklisted%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;0%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;.0%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(Files:%nbsp;%nbsp;0)
Relay%nbsp;attempts%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;2741%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;40.1%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(Files:%nbsp;30)
Accepted%nbsp;by%nbsp;PMAS%nbsp;%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;4089%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;59.8%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(Files:%nbsp;30)
%nbsp;%nbsp;Handled%nbsp;by%nbsp;explicit%nbsp;rule
%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;Rejected%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;3274%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;80.0%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(processed),%nbsp;%nbsp;47.9%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(all)
%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;Accepted%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;89%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;2.1%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(processed),%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;1.3%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(all)
%nbsp;%nbsp;Handled%nbsp;by%nbsp;content
%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;Discarded%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;201%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;4.9%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(processed),%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;2.9%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(all)
%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;Quarantained%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;260%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;6.3%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(processed),%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;3.8%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(all)
%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;Delivered%nbsp;:%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;265%nbsp;=%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;6.4%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(processed),%nbsp;%nbsp;%nbsp;3.8%nbsp;o/o%nbsp;(all)

Well, the number of messages has gone up quite a lot, but most of it was spam – somewhere my email address was obtained. However, most of them could be filtered to change behaviour to “reject” in stead of “quarantined” or “discarded” because most of them have similar text in the subject. So that limited the number of messages during the month, there are just a few that pass (but are still determined as spam).
More there have been quite a lot of relay attempts: over 2600 messages, from the same address, to another mail server:

27-JUN-2022%nbsp;14:30:56.12|R|201.150.32.106|nouth@10-234-83-45.connected.by.freedominter.net|test@icanchola.com.mx|
(2662%nbsp;messages)
27-JUN-2022%nbsp;18:14:47.85|R|201.150.32.106|adminadmin@10-234-83-45.connected.by.freedominter.net|test@icanchola.com.mx|

The server seems to be located in Mexico (according whois) but the sender is on the same provider as me (Freedomnet.nl). The first record seems to show his ‘real’ name, the rest are all Unix/linux/Windows processes or default users….Of course, none was accepted 🙂

09-Jun-2022

Maintenance check wile on holiday
Just a short check on the maintenance job (little internet access for the last two weeks), revealed no surprises:

PMAS statistics for May
Total messages    :   4529 = 100.0 o/o
DNS Blacklisted   :      0 =    .0 o/o (Files:  0)
Relay attempts    :    152 =   3.3 o/o (Files: 31)
Accepted by PMAS  :   4377 =  96.6 o/o (Files: 31)
  Handled by explicit rule
         Rejected :   2810 =  64.1 o/o (processed),  62.0 o/o (all)
         Accepted :    113 =   2.5 o/o (processed),   2.4 o/o (all)
  Handled by content
        Discarded :    399 =   9.1 o/o (processed),   8.8 o/o (all)
     Quarantained :    639 =  14.5 o/o (processed),  14.1 o/o (all)
        Delivered :    416 =   9.5 o/o (processed),   9.1 o/o (all)

and only somewhat more relay attempts on may 1st: all of the site I expect to see at least some times a month, but quite a lot more on that day.

Just what I expected to happen.

05-May-2022

Maintenance task
The monthly maintenance task has run again – with no real surprises. Even mail is moderate:
PMAS statistics for April
Total messages    :   1678 = 100.0 o/o
DNS Blacklisted   :      0 =    .0 o/o (Files:  0)
Relay attempts    :    191 =  11.3 o/o (Files: 30)
Accepted by PMAS  :   1487 =  88.6 o/o (Files: 30)
  Handled by explicit rule
         Rejected :    768 =  51.6 o/o (processed),  45.7 o/o (all)
         Accepted :    194 =  13.0 o/o (processed),  11.5 o/o (all)
  Handled by content
        Discarded :    270 =  18.1 o/o (processed),  16.0 o/o (all)
     Quarantained :    142 =   9.5 o/o (processed),   8.4 o/o (all)
        Delivered :    113 =   7.5 o/o (processed),   6.7 o/o (all)

but next month it will be different because some (cracked) sites send a lot of messages on dating and the like. I have set up rules to reject them but these are not completely working yet – may have to recompile the rule-list.

On the devlopment list: nothing has been done; I found another intriguing program that I like to use in the future – so that took some precedence. And since summer is coming, it might take some time to get to work again….

02-Apr-2022

Monthly maintenance
Loooked to the logfile of this monthly job: Nothing weird :). Mail is “minimal”:

PMAS statistics for March
Total messages    :   1768 = 100.0 o/o
DNS Blacklisted   :      0 =    .0 o/o (Files:  0)
Relay attempts    :    139 =   7.8 o/o (Files: 31)
Accepted by PMAS  :   1629 =  92.1 o/o (Files: 31)
  Handled by explicit rule
         Rejected :    971 =  59.6 o/o (processed),  54.9 o/o (all)
         Accepted :    107 =   6.5 o/o (processed),   6.0 o/o (all)
  Handled by content
        Discarded :    223 =  13.6 o/o (processed),  12.6 o/o (all)
     Quarantained :     92 =   5.6 o/o (processed),   5.2 o/o (all)
        Delivered :    236 =  14.4 o/o (processed),  13.3 o/o (all)

Most is either rejected, discarded or put in quarataine. some of the latter two were accepted on review.

On the content side, making progress. Working on Willibrordpad at the moment, in the finalizing state, Stelling van Amsterdam is to be next.

No progress on CMS program, but that can be continued now Daphe is set up to run by itself, so outside the cluster