Re: Amavisd silently dies at startup

Hello,

IIRC I had a similar problem back in July 2025 (FreeBSD 14.x). After =
some Perl module upgrade Amavisd-new would fail on startup (syslog would =
trace that in /var/log/message: /usr/local/etc/rc.d/amavisd: WARNING: =
failed to start amavisd)

I=E2=80=99ve solved this problem by removing Perl (and 96 depending =
pkgs), then reinstalling amavisd (and sympa and other softwares =
depending on Perl). Since then, I=E2=80=99ve upgraded to 5.40.2_2 and =
later to 5.42.0_1, without any issue.=20

Hope this helps.

Patrick PRONIEWSKI


> On 22 Feb 2026, at 17:20, Xavier Humbert <[email protected]> wrote:
>=20
> Hi,
>=20
> I'm running FreeBSD 14, I recently upgraded Perl from 5.40 to 5.42 and =
all its dependencies as recommended in /usr/ports/UPDATING
>=20
> Since then amavisd silently dies when I start it. In my config, I =
added
> $log_level =3D 5;
> $sa_debug =3D 1;
>=20
> I issued the command "service amavisd start" It launches, the dies =
without any error message. Here is the relevant part of maillog
>=20
> Feb 22 17:03:39 numenor amavis[97168]: logging initialized, log level =
5, syslog: amavis.mail
> Feb 22 17:03:39 numenor amavis[97168]: sd_notify (no socket): =
STATUS=3DConfig files have been read, modules loaded.
> Feb 22 17:03:39 numenor amavis[97168]: starting. =
/usr/local/sbin/amavisd at numenor.groumpf.org amavis-2.14.0 (20250711), =
Unicode aware, LANG=3D"C.UTF-8"
> Feb 22 17:03:39 numenor amavis[97168]: perl=3D5.042000, user=3D, EUID: =
110 (110);  group=3D(), EGID: 110 110 (110 110)
> Feb 22 17:03:39 numenor amavis[97168]: INFO: no optional modules: =
bytes_heavy.pl utf8_heavy.pl unicore::To::Lower.pl unicore::To::Upper.pl =
unicore::To::Fold.pl unicore::To::Title.pl unicore::To::Digit.pl =
unicore::lib::Nt::De.pl unicore::Heavy.pl Unix::Getrusage
> Feb 22 17:03:39 numenor amavis[97168]: SpamControl: scanner =
SpamAssassin, module Amavis::SpamControl::SpamAssassin
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97168]: INFO: SA version: 4.0.2, =
4.000002, no optional modules: Mail::SpamAssassin::AutoWhitelist =
Mail::SpamAssassin::Plugin::Hashcash =
Mail::SpamAssassin::Plugin::WhiteListSubject =
auto::Crypt::OpenSSL::RSA::new_public_key =
auto::Crypt::OpenSSL::RSA::new_key_from_parameters =
auto::Crypt::OpenSSL::RSA::get_key_parameters =
auto::Crypt::OpenSSL::RSA::import_random_seed
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97168]: SpamControl: init_pre_chroot on =
SpamAssassin done
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97168]: socket module IO::Socket::IP, =
protocol families available: INET, INET6
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97168]: will bind to =
/var/amavis/amavisd.sock|unix, 127.0.0.1:10024/tcp, [::1]:10024/tcp
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97168]: sd_notify (no socket): =
STATUS=3DTransferring control to Net::Server.
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Net::Server: Process =
Backgrounded
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: sd_notify (no socket): =
MAINPID=3D97171\nSTATUS=3DDaemonized, preparing to bind sockets.
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Net::Server: =
2026/02/22-17:03:40 Amavis (type Net::Server::PreForkSimple) starting! =
pid(97171)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Net::Server: Binding to UNIX =
socket file "/var/amavis/amavisd.sock"
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Net::Server: Binding to TCP =
port 10024 on host 127.0.0.1 with IPv4
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Net::Server: Binding to TCP =
port 10024 on host ::1 with IPv6
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: sd_notify (no socket): =
STATUS=3DSockets bound, checking user and group.
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Net::Server: Group Not Defined. =
 Defaulting to EGID '110 110'
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Net::Server: User Not Defined.  =
Defaulting to EUID '110'
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: sd_notify (no socket): =
STATUS=3DThe rest of pre-fork init, finding helper programs.
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: config files read: =
/usr/local/etc/amavisd.conf
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Amavis::Conf        =
2.412
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Archive::Zip        1.68
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Compress::Raw::Zlib =
2.213
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Compress::Zlib      =
2.213
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Crypt::OpenSSL::RSA 0.35
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module DB_File             =
1.859
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Digest::MD5         2.59
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Digest::SHA         6.04
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Digest::SHA1        2.13
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Encode              3.21
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module File::Temp          =
0.2311
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module IO::Socket::IP      0.43
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module IO::Socket::SSL     =
2.095
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module MIME::Entity        =
5.517
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module MIME::Parser        =
5.517
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module MIME::Tools         =
5.517
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Mail::DKIM::Signer  =
1.20240923
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Mail::DKIM::Verifier =
1.20240923
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Mail::Header        2.22
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Mail::Internet      2.22
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Mail::SPF           =
3.20250505
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Mail::SpamAssassin  =
4.000002
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Net::DNS            1.53
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Net::LibIDN         0.12
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Net::LibIDN2        1.02
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Net::Patricia       1.24
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Net::SSLeay         1.94
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Net::Server         =
2.014
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module NetAddr::IP         =
4.079
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Razor2::Client::Version =
2.84
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Scalar::Util        1.70
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Socket              =
2.040
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Socket6             0.29
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Time::HiRes         =
1.9778
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module URI                 5.34
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Module Unix::Syslog        1.1
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: SQL base code        NOT loaded
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: SQL::Log code        NOT loaded
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: SQL::Quarantine      NOT loaded
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Lookup::SQL code     NOT loaded
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Lookup::LDAP code    NOT loaded
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found $file            at =
/usr/local/bin/file
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: No $altermime,         not =
using it
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Internal decoder for .mail
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: No ext program for   .F, tried: =
unfreeze, freeze -d, melt, fcat
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .Z    at =
/usr/bin/uncompress
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .gz   at =
/usr/bin/gzip -d
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Internal decoder for .gz   =
(backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .bz2  at =
/usr/bin/bzip2 -d
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .xz   at =
/usr/bin/xzdec
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .lzma at =
/usr/bin/xz -dc --format=3Dlzma
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .lrz  at =
/usr/local/bin/lrzip -q -k -d -o -
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .lzo  at =
/usr/local/bin/lzop -d
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .lz4  at =
/usr/local/bin/lz4c -d
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .rpm  at =
/usr/local/bin/rpm2cpio.pl
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .cpio at =
/bin/pax
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .tar  at =
/bin/pax
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .deb  at =
/usr/local/bin/ar
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .rar  at =
/usr/local/bin/unrar
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .arj  at =
/usr/local/bin/unarj
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .arc  at =
/usr/local/bin/nomarch
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .zoo  at =
/usr/local/bin/zoo
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .doc  at =
/usr/local/bin/ripole
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .cab  at =
/usr/local/bin/cabextract
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .tnef at =
/usr/local/bin/tnef
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Internal decoder for .tnef =
(backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .zip  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .kmz  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Internal decoder for .zip  =
(backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Internal decoder for .kmz  =
(backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .7z   at =
/usr/local/bin/7z
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .gz   at =
/usr/local/bin/7z (backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .bz2  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z (backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .Z    at =
/usr/local/bin/7z (backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .tar  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z (backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .xz   at =
/usr/local/bin/7z (backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .lzma at =
/usr/local/bin/7z (backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .jar  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .cpio at =
/usr/local/bin/7z (backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .arj  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z (backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .rar  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z (backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .swf  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .lha  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .iso  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .cab  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z (backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .deb  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z (backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .rpm  at =
/usr/local/bin/7z (backup, not used)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: Found decoder for    .exe  at =
/usr/local/bin/unrar; /usr/local/bin/lha; /usr/local/bin/unarj
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: No decoder for       .F
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: initializing Mail::SpamAssassin =
(0)
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: SpamAssassin debug facilities: =
info,all
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: SA dbg: logger: adding =
facilities: info, all
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: SA dbg: logger: logging level =
is DBG
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: SA dbg: generic: SpamAssassin =
version 4.0.2
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: SA dbg: generic: Perl 5.042000, =
PREFIX=3D/usr/local, DEF_RULES_DIR=3D/usr/local/share/spamassassin, =
LOCAL_RULES_DIR=3D/usr/local/etc/mail/spamassassin, =
LOCAL_STATE_DIR=3D/var/db/spamassassin
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: SA dbg: config: timing enabled
> Feb 22 17:03:40 numenor amavis[97171]: SA dbg: config: score set 0 =
chosen.
>=20
> All I can see when amavisd is activated in Postfix is :
>=20
> Feb 22 16:38:57 numenor postfix/smtpd[92467]: 6DBE91C196A: =
client=3Darnor.groumpf.org[192.168.100.148]
> Feb 22 16:38:57 numenor postfix/lmtp[92473]: connect to =
127.0.0.1[127.0.0.1]:10024: Connection refused
> Feb 22 16:38:57 numenor postfix/lmtp[92473]: 298C11C1A2B: =
to=3D<[email protected]>, relay=3Dnone, delay=3D0.32, =
delays=3D0.3/0.02/0/0, dsn=3D4.4.1, status=3Ddeferred (connect to =
127.0.0.1[127.0.0.1]:10024: Connection refused)
>=20
> If I run the command service amavisd status, it says that amavisd is =
not running.
>=20
> Any idea how I can debug this furthermore ?
>=20
> Regards,
>=20
> Xavier
>=20
> --=20
> Xavier HUMBERT - Unix/Win/MacOSX Sysadmin/Network Engineer
> https://www.amdh.fr
>=20