Killing MailCatcher: Something's using port 1025

Question

I'm trying to run "foreman start" for a rails app however this error message is preventing me from running the foreman properly:

~~> ERROR: Something's using port 1025. Are you already running MailCatcher?

I've tried killing the PID, going to the web interface to quit the program and also...restarting the comp. Does anybody know how to remedy this?

Thanks

Are you running an NFS? [According to Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_TCP_and_UDP_port_numbers#Registered_ports), NFS will use that port. — , Dec 13 '14 at 08:43
@MisterDood you right. I'm using NFS alongside my vagrant box and when deactivate the NFS syncing, the error message went off. Pretty weird given I've done this same conf in a MBP (same vagrant box). — Francisco Quintero, May 24 '16 at 03:50

score 49 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 12 '15 at 23:58

49

In OSX, run the following in a shell:

sudo lsof -nP -iTCP:1025 -sTCP:LISTEN

The expected output of this command is a process, which is listening on port 1025:

ruby    43841 youruserid    9u  IPv4 0x6a1610da80bb9b4f      0t0  TCP 127.0.0.1:1025 (LISTEN)

In the output above, the 2nd value is the process ID. Then, to kill the offending process (substitute in the correct PID):

sudo kill 43841

answered Jan 12 '15 at 23:58

Joseph Combs

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4

What about if the process keeps rebooting with a new PID everytime you try to kill it? Any ideas? – Mattias Sep 03 '15 at 06:27
Then there is likely some other process running that is ensuring that mailcatcher is on if it is not already on. – Joseph Combs Sep 04 '15 at 19:22
1

Yeah it seems like that was the case. Also the problem for me wasn't the mail catcher process but the code sending an email, but thanks anyway! – Mattias Sep 04 '15 at 19:24
Use quit option on top right in mail catcher browser window – Muhammad Aamir Talib Mar 29 '16 at 17:14
Only this answer worked for me on Mac. Clicking 'Quit' from 127.0.0.1:1080 web interface simply didn't work for me on Mac. – fatuhoku May 27 '16 at 09:18

score 19 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 23 '16 at 17:57

MailCatcher launches both SMTP and HTTP servers.

When you start MailCatcher in a terminal you'll see the following output:

$ mailcatcher
Starting MailCatcher
==> smtp://127.0.0.1:1025
==> http://127.0.0.1:1080
*** MailCatcher runs as a daemon by default. Go to the web interface to quit.

See the last line in the output when starting MailCatcher?

If you attempt to start MailCatcher if it's already running you'll see:

$ mailcatcher
Starting MailCatcher
~~> ERROR: Something's using port 1025. Are you already running MailCatcher?

How to quit Mailcatcher:

Open the http url (http://127.0.0.1:1080) in your browser.

Note: the port may be different than 1080. If so, you'll have to use that port. If you don't know it, you'll have to use one of the other answers here to kill the running process.
In the top right corner of the page that opens, you'll see a "Quit" link.

how to quit if i cannot access the http url. (running in a remote server) — Sasi varna kumar, Feb 21 '17 at 08:43
i found the answer `sudo lsof -nP -iTCP:1025 -sTCP:LISTEN `sudo kill — Sasi varna kumar, Feb 21 '17 at 08:45
I use the quit button and refresh the page, VIOLA it's still there running. — Nick Res, Mar 28 '18 at 14:19

score 10 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 13 '14 at 04:51

10

If you are using linux, you should be able to see what program is using a certain port using the netstat command. To see if port 1025 is in use, run this from the command line:

$ netstat -tulpn | grep :1025

Here is a useful reference: http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/what-process-has-open-linux-port/

edited Dec 13 '14 at 04:51

Martin Tournoij

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answered Jul 18 '14 at 18:26

saskcan

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1

I've executed the command with lsof|grep :1025. Killed th e PID with kill -9 PID. However I'm still getting the error. Thanks though! – CJ -S Jul 18 '14 at 19:33

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 24 '19 at 19:11

4

get the process id's of the ports mailcatcher is using

lsof -i tcp:1080 
lsof -i tcp:1025

kill em:

kill 37747 
kill 35647

answered Apr 24 '19 at 19:11

Jbur43

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score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 21 '17 at 09:25

3

I solved this by starting mailcatcher on a different port: mailcatcher --smtp-port 1026

And changing the following in config/development.rb

config.action_mailer.smtp_settings = {
  ...
  port: 1026,
  ...
}

answered Feb 21 '17 at 09:25

Linus

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I'm on Windows, it doesn't help with port `1026` or `1027` etc. But it lead me in the right direction. Didn't think of just simply changing the port. It works with `--smtp-port 30000` for me, Windows 7. Found it here https://block81.com/articles/test-emails-locally-with-mailcatcher – 244an Apr 22 '18 at 11:53

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 07 '17 at 04:50

1

To avoid that type of situation use mailcatcher in a container. You can find few in docker hub, here is my cut.

answered Aug 07 '17 at 04:50

Stephane Paquet

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 09 '18 at 15:42

0

Try launchctl remove me.mailcatcher

answered Apr 09 '18 at 15:42

airdrumz

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score 0 · Answer 8 · answered May 08 '18 at 09:44

0

A good advice. If you already have somehow "postfix" configured or running just stop it in order to get the mails in "Mail Catcher"

sudo systemctl stop postfix

answered May 08 '18 at 09:44

marmureanuweb

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jan 14 '21 at 12:29

0

Putting this here in case it helps someone else.

I made the mistake of visiting http://localhost:1025/, whereas I needed to be at http://localhost:1080/.

Go to http://localhost:1080/ and hopefully mailcatcher is running as expected

answered Jan 14 '21 at 12:29

stevec

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Dec 13 '22 at 16:31

Another way to kill MailCatcher in this situation, if you are using a Mac:

Manually stop all ruby processes that you are running locally, and then open Activity Monitor, by pressing Command + Space (to bring up Spotlight) and type "Activity Monitor" to find and open the application.

In Activity Monitor, sort the processes by Process Name. Look for any processes named ruby that remain running:

Click on any process that you are interested in killing, and click the Stop Process button at the top of the window.

After manually stopping all ruby processes and then killing any remaining ruby processes in this manner, you should then be able to run MailCatcher successfully.

Killing MailCatcher: Something's using port 1025

10 Answers10

When you start MailCatcher in a terminal you'll see the following output:

If you attempt to start MailCatcher if it's already running you'll see:

How to quit Mailcatcher: