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Debugging Sendmail Permission Issues (Doc ID 1001806.1)

Last updated on JANUARY 30, 2022

Applies to:

Solaris Operating System - Version 8 to 11.4 [Release 8.0 to 11.0]
All Platforms

Goal

Sendmail may fail to start if bad file (directory) permissions are detected, generating "file class: cannot open : Group writable directory" messages in /var/adm/messages or /var/log/syslog and the /var/svc/log/network-smtp:sendmail.log (Solaris 10 and above) file.

In case sendmail is being used on Solaris 10 or above its SMF service may be in maintenance mode.

Examples:

Extract of /var/adm/messages or /var/log/syslog :

Beginning with version 8.9.0, sendmail has tightened the rules used for opening files. Sendmail now checks the modes and ownership of the files and the directory path leading up to that file to prevent users from taking advantage of overly permissive modes on directories and files.

Solution

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