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Introduction

Troubleshooting email delivery issues using “Exim logs” in a Linux server allows for identifying and resolving email-related problems by analyzing log files. This guide is for email administrators and server managers who are facing issues with email delivery on a Linux server using Exim as the mail transfer agent (MTA). It explains how to troubleshoot email delivery problems by inspecting Exim logs to pinpoint delays, failures, or rejections. This is applicable when investigating email delivery failures in any Exim-based email server environment.

Prerequisite

• SSH access to the Linux server
• Administrator privileges on the server
• Basic understanding of Exim and email protocols
• Knowledge of how to read and interpret log files

Step-by-step guide

1. SSH into the server.
2. Navigate to the Log Directory. Change to the appropriate directory by running one of the following commands:

   cd /var/log/exim

   or
   

   cd /var/log/

3. Search the Log File. Use the following command to search the log file for a specific email address:
   

   cat mainlog | grep <example@email.com>

   Note: The above command searches the logs for the email address example@email.com. You can replace <> this with any other keyword, such as the email subject or date.
   or
   

   cat exim_mainlog | grep <example@email.com>

   Note: The above command searches the logs for the email address example@email.com. You can replace <> this with any other keyword, such as the email subject or date.

4. Analyze the Log Output. Review the log output to determine the status of the email:
   – If no logs are returned, the email did not reach your server

   – If you see an entry like the following, the message was delivered successfully:
   2013-03-13 09:39:49 1UFafO-00024W-7o Completed

   – If the logs indicate that the sender is blacklisted, you might see a message similar to:
   – If the logs show a message about a full mail quota, you might see:
   

Conclusion

By going through this guidance, you will be able to effectively troubleshoot and resolve email delivery issues using Exim logs in a Linux server.