/etc/init.d/opendkim fails to start opendkim when run over ssh with a pseudo-tty

[Sam Umbach]

Binary package hint: opendkim

Without a pty, opendkim start and restart properly launch the opendkim milter daemon:
$ ssh -T ubuntu@192.168.2.117 sudo /etc/init.d/opendkim restart
Restarting OpenDKIM: opendkim.

But if I force pty allocation (as I do in my Capistrano deployments), the opendkim daemon is NOT started:
$ ssh -tt ubuntu@192.168.2.117 sudo /etc/init.d/opendkim restart
Restarting OpenDKIM: opendkim.
Connection to 192.168.2.117 closed.

I will also report this issue to the opendkim team as I'm not sure if this is Ubuntu- or Debian-specific.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
Package: opendkim 2.1.3+dfsg-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-22.33-generic 2.6.35.4
Uname: Linux 2.6.35-22-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Fri Apr 15 16:46:07 2011
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu-Netbook 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release i386 (20101007)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: opendkim

[Sam Umbach (sumbach)]

This may be a more general problem. I am seeing the same behavior with `/etc/init.d/dk-filter restart`.

[Sam Umbach (sumbach)]

Looks like a similar issue was found (and fixed) in the tomcat package last year #588481

[Sam Umbach (sumbach)]

The tomcat6 fix was to call start-stop-daemon with the -b (--background) flag. This may not be a proper fix here, as this would require both opendkim and dk-filter packages to make the change (among other packages, I assume) and could result in silent failures when starting these daemons.

The most likely culprit I can find is 3706d6214a86593e72bc9514f08f3c4e0fd0a92c in git://git.debian.org/git/dpkg/dpkg.git, which changed the start-stop-daemon behavior around opening, closing, and detaching from the tty.

[Sam Umbach (sumbach)]

I've confirmed that this issue occurs when starting the opendkim daemon directly and is not an issue with start-stop-daemon or the /etc/init.d/opendkim script. I've also confirmed that the problem occurs whether I start the daemon as a non-root user via sudo or as user root without sudo. The following does NOT start the opendkim daemon approximately 10% of the time.

    ssh -tt root@maverick '/usr/sbin/opendkim -x /etc/opendkim.conf -u opendkim -P /var/run/opendkim/opendkim.pid -p inet:8891@localhost'

I see essentially identical behavior for the dk-filter daemon. Additionally, the behavior is the same for 10.04 lucid, 10.10 maverick, and 11.04 beta 2 natty. I have NOT been able to replicate the problem on 9.10 karmic (but since it is a timing issue, I'm not sure if this really is a new issue introduced since karmic).

Adding "&& sleep 1" to the command keeps the pty open long enough for the daemon to be launched properly. With the one-second sleep in place, I have not be able to replicate the issue.

[Sam Umbach (sumbach)]

The problem occurs whether or not the daemon is launched with start-stop-daemon. This is NOT a start-stop-daemon or dpkg issue.

[David Bürgin (glts)]

I cannot reproduce this with opendkim 2.11.0~alpha-11 (Ubuntu 18.04).

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for dk-milter (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for opendkim (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]