====== MailMan ====== We originally considered using Majordomo, but then decided to go with Mailman. There are several advantages of MailMan over Majordomo: - Newer - Better docs - Works out of the box with postfix - Web management interface - Tool for member migration from majordomo - htdig patch The initial installed version was mailman 2.1.9 installed on 11/18/06 by Jeff Muse. ===== Installation ===== [[http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/index.html]] [[http://www.list.org/mailman-install/]] The list.org site was the primary reference used. We also used a patch from [[http://www.openinfo.co.uk/mm/patches/444884/index.html]] to enable searching list archives via htdig. =====Preface===== We got mailman up and running on bud after the two of you left. Search functionality is working as well. Right now, mailman is only handling mail lists for bud.sluug.org. We'll need to update it to handle lists for all of sluug.org before moving it into production. Unfortunately, mailman setup required editing a number of config files, so there's some missing detail in my .bash_history. Also, there was a fair amount of backtracking and undoing, so I'm just going to summarize what I did for documentation purposes. >Jefff Muse to Carl Fitch =====Obtain Source===== Download mailman-2.1.9 from [[http://sourceforge.net/projects/mailman/]], verifying with gnupg. Also download the patch to allow htdig functionality from [[http://www.openinfo.co.uk/mm/patches/444884/index.html]]. Put both in /usr/local/src. =====Create User and Group===== sudo groupadd mailman sudo useradd -c "Gnu Mailman" -s /no/shell -d /no/home -g mailman mailman =====Install Dependencies===== sudo apt-get install htdig htdig-doc gawk lockfile-progs gettext sudo apt-get install python-dev NOTE: MailMan requires at least Python 2.4. Debian 4.0 meets this requirement. Debian 3.1 did not, so we had to install Python 2.4 and use update-alternatives to make it the default version. Debian 3.1 also required installing libdb2. =====Pre-installation Steps===== As root, create the Mailman directory, set its ownership and permissions: mkdir /usr/local/mailman-2.1.9 chown mailman /usr/local/mailman-2.1.9 chmod 2775 /usr/local/mailman-2.1.9 ln -s mailman-2.1.9 /usr/local/mailman =====Extract and Prepare Source===== The Debian Mailman package did not include search capability. To enable search Mailman has to be compiled with htdig. Extract the source file into /usr/local/src/mailman-2.1.9 and move the patch into that directory. gunzip the patch. Disable most language support. This is an ugly hack to get around a problem with Japanese-language support in python on Debian Etch. Comment out the following line in messages/Makefile.in: #LANGUAGES= ar ca cs da de en es et eu fi fr hr hu ia it ja ko lt nl \ # no pl pt pt_BR ro ru sl sr sv tr uk vi zh_CN zh_TW and replace it with: LANGUAGES= de es In templates/Makefile.in, also comment out the original LANGUAGES line. #LANGUAGES= ar ca cs da de en es et eu fi fr hr hu ia it ja ko lt nl \ # no pl pt pt_BR ro ru sl sr sv tr uk vi zh_CN zh_TW and replace it with: LANGUAGES= de en es In misc/paths.py.in, comment out the following lines: import japanese import korean import korean.aliases =====Apply the Patch and Build===== patch -p1 < htdig-2.1.9.0.1.patch ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mailman-2.1.9 \ --with-mailhost=localhost --with-urlhost=bud.sluug.org make sudo make install cd /usr/local/ sudo ln -s /usr/local/mailman-2.1.9/ mailman cd /usr/local/mailman sudo chgrp mailman . sudo chmod a+rx,g+ws . cd bin sudo ./check_perms sudo ./check_perms -f cd archives sudo chown www-data private sudo chmod o-x private cd .. sudo chown root mailmain-2.1.9 =====Apache configuration for all lists===== Then edit /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-www.sluug.org and add: # Mailing list archives using Mailman ScriptAlias /mailman/ /usr/local/mailman/cgi-bin/ Alias /pipermail/ /usr/local/mailman/archives/public/ =====Protect with Password===== Do this for lists that have their archives password protected to prevent e-mail address harvesting. If a list's archives are not password protected, this section is not needed for that list. At this time, the discuss and steercom lists share the discuss list's password, while the sysadmin list has a separate password. * For the discuss list: * Directory /usr/local/mailman/archives/public/discuss * AuthName "SLUUG Discussion Archive Access" * AuthUserFile /etc/apache2/discuss-passwords * Username for the htpasswd command: discuss * For the steercom list: * Directory /usr/local/mailman/archives/public/steercom * AuthName "SLUUG Discussion Archive Access" * AuthUserFile /etc/apache2/discuss-passwords * Username for the htpasswd command: Don't create one, use the one created for the discuss list. * For the sysadmin list: * Directory /usr/local/mailman/archives/public/sysadmin * AuthName "SLUUG Sysadmin Archive Access" * AuthUserFile /etc/apache2/sysadmin-passwords * Username for the htpasswd command: sysadm ====Tell Apache to use password protection==== Edit /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-www.sluug.org and add a new directory section, filling in the directory where the archive is stored, the name of the list for the AuthName, and the file with the password. # Define password protection for this list's archives Options FollowSymlinks AuthType Basic AuthName "SLUUG CUSTOM Archive Access" AuthUserFile /etc/apache2/CUSTOM-passwords Require valid-user ===Security holes=== In 2018, on amber, it was found there were two major holes that allowed bots to access all mailing list contents: - Each archived posting has two URLs, ''/pipermail/'' and ''/mailman/htdig/'', however only the first is protected. - The sluug.org and stlwebdev.org archives are defined in separate config files, and only protect the lists defined in each, but all lists are accessible through either domain. Therefore, the above '''' sections were replaced with '''' sections that first denied all access to the two URLs, then allowed password protected access to to selected lists available through that domain. Also unlimited access to two lists used for announcements. Any list not overridden by a subsequent section will be blocked by the first global section. Using wildcards allowed protecting both URL paths without duplicating all the password statements. # Heavy use of symbolic links in Mailman configuration Options FollowSymlinks # Block all access to other lists' archives # Alternate path to same files via htdig search results Order allow,deny Deny from all # Define password protection for this list's archives # For all these lists: discuss steercom jobs test* # Alternate path to same files via htdig search results Allow from all AuthType Basic AuthName "SLUUG Discussion Archive Access" AuthUserFile /etc/apache2/discuss-passwords Require valid-user # Define password protection for this list's archives # For sysadmin list only # Alternate path to same files via htdig search results Allow from all AuthType Basic AuthName "SLUUG Sysadmin Archive Access" AuthUserFile /etc/apache2/sysadmin-passwords Require valid-user # No password protection for this list's archives # For all these lists: announce users # Alternate path to same files via htdig search results Allow from all All common parts of the port 80 and port 443 '''' definitions were moved to a common file to eliminate complete duplication. Make similar changes to the stlwebdev web site definition. ====Create the password file==== The name of the file matches the AuthUserFile configuration statement. The username for the htpasswd command is whatever is used for that password file. You will be prompted for the password by the htpasswd command. cd /etc/apache2/ sudo htpasswd -c CUSTOM-passwords CUSTOM sudo chown root:www-data CUSTOM-passwords sudo chmod 640 CUSTOM-passwords =====Have Apache recognize the configuration file changes===== sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload =====Configure Mailman===== Then edit /usr/local/mailman/Mailman/mm_cfg.py and add: IMAGE_LOGOS='/images/' MTA='Postfix' USE_HTDIG='true' HTDIG_HTSEARCH_PATH = '/usr/lib/cgi-bin/htsearch' HTDIG_RUNDIG_PATH = '/usr/bin/rundig' =====Start Mailman on Boot===== cd /usr/local/mailman sudo cp scripts/mailman /etc/init.d/mailman sudo /usr/sbin/update-rc.d mailman defaults cd ../bin sudo ./genaliases'' =====Postfix===== ====main.cf==== Edit /etc/postfix/main.cf: alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases,hash:/usr/local/mailman/data/aliases unknown_local_recipient_reject_code = 550'' ====maps==== sudo postfix reload cd /usr/local/mailman/data sudo chown mailman:mailman aliases* sudo chmod g+w aliases* cd ../bin sudo ./newlist mailman -- Jeff, What does this do? -- sudo config_list -i data/sitelist.cfg mailman Mailman uses a site-wide mailing list called "mailman". This list is where system-generated mails appear to come from. This command applies a generic template defined in sitelist.cfg to the mailman list. =====cron===== cd ../cron sudo crontab -u mailman crontab.in Edit ''crontab'' before or after installation to: * Comment the ''gate_news'' entry. We are not using any usenet gateway. =====Copy Apache Images to Mailman===== sudo ../bin/mailmanctl start su cd /usr/local/mailman/archives/private cp *png *jpg /home/web/www.sluug.org/images/ =====Initiallize htdig===== I'm not sure if these next steps were absolutely necessary rundig htfuzzy -v synonyms htfuzzy -v endings htmerge This is absolutely necessary: create a list via the web page (see below) and send some email to it. So is the next step. /usr/bin/python -S /usr/local/mailman/cron/nightly_htdig -v Everything appears to be working now. The search engine updates once a day at 2:19 via mailman's cron. ---- =====Importation of SLUUG Archives===== ====Expand list to all of SLUUG==== First, edit /usr/local/mailman/Mailman/Defaults.py: Change DEFAULT_EMAIL_HOST = 'bud. sluug.org' to DEFAULT_EMAIL_HOST = 'sluug.org' This will let us handle lists for all of sluug.org instead of just bud. The bud_test list remains functional. Restart mailman: $sudo /etc/init.d/mailman restart **Even though the following sections might refer to only the discuss and steercom lists, the announce, sysadmin, test, testing, and users lists also were created. This probably needs to be reworked as a generic procedure for any new lists added in the future.** ====Create Lists==== Create the discuss and steercom lists: $cd /usr/local/mailman/bin $./newlist discuss $./newlist steercom ====Import lists==== Import the lists: $gunzip /home/jmuseinst/discuss*gz $gunzip /home/jmuseinst/steercom*gz $cd /usr/local/mailman/bin $for file in /home/jmuseinst/discuss* > do sudo ./arch dicsuss $file > done $for file in /home/jmuseinst/steercom* > do sudo ./arch steercom $file > done I also imported the subscriber lists from majordomo on michelob into mailman on bud. This, too, was trivial: scp /opt/majordomo/lists/discuss and /opt/majordomo/lists/steercom over to bud. Then on bud: $cd /usr/local/mailman/bin $ sudo ./add_members -r /home/jmuseinst/discuss -w n discuss $ sudo ./add_members -r /home/jmuseinst/steercom -w n steercom Mailman can only base the archive on the timestamp in the mail, so we've got a few mails archived from 2021 and 2013. Now we know who had problems with keeping their clocks set accurately :-( ====Generate Search index==== Regenerate the search index: $ sudo /usr/bin/python -S /usr/local/mailman-2.1.9//cron/nightly_htdig -v Also, comment out all the majordomo entries in /etc/aliases and run "newaliases". newaliases There's a cron job that gzip's the monthly archives for all the lists. On dark only, change the first alias in /etc/mail/aliases for the list from @mail.sluug.org to @sluug.org (because @mail.sluug.org currently goes to michelob and @sluug.org goes to bud). On michelob only, uncomment the alias that redirects to @sluug.org and comment out the block of Majordomo aliases for the list. Run newaliases on both systems. ====Create List Descriptions==== In the administrative interface for discuss ([[http://bud.sluug.org/mailman/admin/discuss]]), add the following under "terse description": SLUUG general discussion Under "introductory description", add: This is where we discuss Unix and Unix-like operating systems. We also discuss applications that run on these operating systems, programming in these environments, and even a little bit of hardware. IIn the administrative interface for steercom ([[http://bud.sluug.org/mailman/admin/steercom]]), add the following under "terse description": SLUUG Steering Committee discussion This is the place to discuss SLUUG business matters, planning and related items. In both administrative interfaces, where it says "Where are replies to list messages directed? Poster is strongly recommended for most mailing lists.", check "This list". ====Archives==== We changed the template for archive index entries, to show the date and time of each post. This was done by editing ''/usr/local/mailman/templates/en/archidxentry.html''. We also had to modify ''/usr/local/mailman/Mailman/Archiver/HyperArch.py'' to send the date string to the template: --- /usr/local/mailman-2.1.9/templates/en/archidxentry.html.ORIGINAL 2007-06-13 14:20:00.000000000 -0500 +++ /usr/local/mailman-2.1.9/templates/en/archidxentry.html 2007-07-23 00:05:04.000000000 -0500 @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
  • %(subject)s   -%(author)s +%(author)s (%(datestr)s) --- /usr/local/mailman-2.1.9/Mailman/Archiver/HyperArch.py.ORIGINAL 2007-06-13 14:19:59.000000000 -0500 +++ /usr/local/mailman-2.1.9/Mailman/Archiver/HyperArch.py 2007-06-14 14:22:30.000000000 -0500 @@ -1213,7 +1213,8 @@ 'filename': urllib.quote(article.filename), 'subject': subject, 'sequence': article.sequence, - 'author': author + 'author': author, + 'datestr': article.datestr } print quick_maketext( 'archidxentry.html', d, We ran into some problems using a % character in the templates (to specify a 50% font size). The % character is used to delimit variable substitution, so to make it work (instead of printing just the variable names) we had to double the % sign to have it print a literal % character. Discuss archives are at [[http://bud.sluug.org/pipermail/discuss/]]. List info is at [[http://bud.sluug.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss]]. Steercom list info is at [[http://bud.sluug.org/mailman/listinfo/steercom]]. Archives are at [[http://bud.sluug.org/pipermail/steercom/]] I haven't moved sysadmin over, because it looks like it has a different password protection scheme than the other lists. ===== List Configuration ===== Each of our lists will be a little different. Configuration of most settings is done via the admin web interface. ==== ANNOUNCE ==== Under **Privacy Options / Sender Filters**, we changed the following, in order to keep the list admins from getting all the spams that are sent to the list by non-members: * hold_these_nonmembers: add a few trusted source email addresses * generic_nonmember_action: Discard * forward_auto_discards: No ==== DISCUSS ==== Not sure what we changed. ===== Links to Our Lists ===== Create new mailing lists at [[http://bud.sluug.org/mailman/create]] Get information about lists on bud at [[http://bud.sluug.org/mailman/listinfo]] Get on the test list at [[http://bud.sluug.org/mailman/listinfo/bud_test]] Look at the test list archives at [[http://bud.sluug.org/pipermail/bud_test/]] Configure the bud_test list at [[http://bud.sluug.org/mailman/admin/bud_test/]] =====Creating lists for virtual domains===== * Make sure your domain's MX records point to bud.sluug.org * Make sure your domain is included in virtual_alias_maps in /etc/postfix/main.cf * In /etc/postfix/virtual, add a new entry for your list. The LHS should be the address to which users send their posts, and the RHS should be the name of the list you are creating (no domain part, just the list name). * Run # postmap /etc/postfix/virtual * In /usr/local/mailman/Mailman/mm_cfg.py, add your domain to POSTFIX_STYLE_VIRTUAL_DOMAINS. If there needs to be more than one domain set in POSTFIX_STYLE_VIRTUAL_DOMAINS, this variable probably needs to be set in python list syntax. * Restart mailman # /etc/init.d/mailman restart * Create a new vhost in /etc/apache2/sites-available for your virtual domain if it doesn't already exist. Using /etc/apache2/sites-available/www.sluug.org as an example, copy the mailman containers into your vhost, making sure to update passwords, descriptions, and archive paths as necessary. * Restart apache # apache2ctl graceful * Create your list #/usr/local/mailman/bin/newlist list@domain You will be prompted for the email address of a list admin and for an administrative password for the list. Check that email account for a welcome mail. Go to the admin URL in that mail and select "Privacy Options"->"Recipient Filters". Add your list's email address to the box labeled "Alias names (regexps) which qualify as explicit to or cc destination names for this list." If you don't, all posts to your new list will be held for admin approval with a message about implicit destinations. * Send some test mails to verify that the list is working as expected. Currently we are hosting announce@stlwebdev.org and discuss@stlwebdev.org. =====Mailman TODO:===== * We should probably SSL-require the administrative pages for mailman. * We need to test mailman with some of the majordomo archives from michelob. * We need to set up mailman to handle lists for all of sluug.org * /usr/local/mailman/bin/add_members should be run on a list of current subscribers to ANNOUNCE, DISCUSS, SYSADMIN, and STEERCOM. I'm not quite sure how passwords, if any, will be handled. * We need to copy the archives from michelob to bud and index them via htdig. I'm not sure how htdig and/or apache will handle the compressed files as currently configured. === Spam Subscriptions === In 2018, it was discovered that one or more criminals were using a bot network to make repeated subscription requests to multiple lists, with the intent of SLUUG sending thousands of subscription confirmation e-mails to one address, that would eventually change to the next target. Looking in the logs, this had been happening for years, with SLUUG sending over 80k spam confirmations. This also taxed the SLUUG mail server when hundreds of e-mails were rejected and sitting in the mail queue for retry. In response, a local mod was made to ''subscribe.py'' sluug_sub_mod1_value = cgidata.getvalue('sluug_sub_mod1', '') if not sluug_sub_mod1_value: syslog('mischief', 'Subscribe w/o local mod form field as: %s: %s', email, remote) results.append(_('Subscription failed due to internal error!')) elif sluug_sub_mod1_value != 'sluug_sub_mod1-20180517': syslog('mischief', 'Subscribe w/ wrong local mod form field value %s as: %s: %s', sluug_sub_mod1_value, email, remote) results.append(_('Subscription failed due to internal error!')) Also modified the generic ''listinfo.html'' template and the customized version for the announce list (no other customized versions needed changes) to add: The permanent fix to stop all spam subscriptions is to upgrade to a current release of mailman that includes ''SUBSCRIBE_FORM_SECRET'' and probably other new features to combat the bots. === GENERAL MAIL TODO: === * We need to get virtual users set up in some way. Craig and I discussed this, and two options are postfix maps and a mysql database. We didn't make any decisions. Two particular challenges will be copying existing passwords for POP3/IMAP access and mail filtering (procmail/maildrop/whatever). Once we get users set up, we'll need to migrate their mail spools. * We need to get spamassassin working. We particularly need to take a look at the performance impact of scanning list mail. This should probably be done incoming list mail only. * We need to get some form of webmail up and running. I'm partial to Horde becauses it has a powerful interface and a ton of cool modules. I haven't used the password module, but it might be particularly useful for us. See http://www.horde.org/accounts/screenshots/accounts.png. If we use horde, we'll be using mysql, so that might be the way to go for virtual users. That should do it for now - enjoy the rest of the weekend. Jeff Muse ---- ====== Notes ====== ===== Logs ===== Logs are in ''/usr/local/mailman/logs/''. The log files are used as follows: * post - successful posts to a list * subscribe - subscription additions, deletions, auto-unsubscribes (due to bounces), and pending * vette - results of admin actions to deferred posts * bounce - tracks bounces, so failing members can automatically be purged * mischief - Detected attempts to use mailman that failed, including subscriptions by bots that were blocked. * error - Problems. * smtp - All mail activities? * smtp-failure - All mail problems? TODO: We should move these to /var/log and put them under log rotation. See ''contrib/*redhat_fhs.patch'' for a source modification to change log and data file locations. Important information about problems might also be in the Apache server logs. Currently in ''/var/log/apache2/''. ===== Problems seen ===== Following a system reload and restore of mailman directories from backups, searching failed with ''search failed -12-''. This turned out to be a missing symbolic link from ''/usr/local/bin/htsearch'' to ''/usr/lib/cgi-bin/htsearch''. It is not clear if this symbolic link is created automatically htdig, or if it was originally created manually, and left out of the procedure. ====== TODO ====== * We need to get virtual users set up in some way. Craig and I discussed this, and two options are postfix maps and a mysql database. We didn't make any decisions. Two particular challenges will be copying existing passwords for POP3/IMAP access and mail filtering (procmail/maildrop/whatever). Once we get users set up, we'll need to migrate their mail spools. * We need to get spamassassin working. We particularly need to take a look at the performance impact of scanning list mail. This should probably be done incoming list mail only. * We need to get some form of webmail up and running. I'm partial to Horde becauses it has a powerful interface and a ton of cool modules. I haven't used the password module, but it might be particularly useful for us. See http://www.horde.org/accounts/screenshots/accounts.png. If we use horde, we'll be using mysql, so that might be the way to go for virtual users. * I reccomend a look at Iholamail [[http://ilohamail.org/main.php]] I have it running at [[https://mx1.omnitec.net/webmail/source/index.php]] - Carl Fitch ====== Majordomo ====== NOTE: This was the original attempt, but is no longer being used. Majordomo was installed to use the same config & archives as current system Installed Majordomo from source: Source distribution (gzip'd) of current version (1.94.5) of Majordomo http://www.greatcircle.com/majordomo/1.94.5/majordomo-1.94.5.tar.gz Source distribution (compressed) of current version (1.94.5) of Majordomo http://www.greatcircle.com/majordomo/1.94.5/majordomo-1.94.5.tar.Z Source distribution (uuencoded) of current version (1.94.5) of Majordomo http://www.greatcircle.com/majordomo/1.94.5/majordomo-1.94.5.tar.Z.uu http://www.greatcircle.com/majordomo/1.94.5/majordomo-1.94.5.tar.gz #tar xzf majordomo-1.94.5.tar.gz #cd majordomo-1.94.5 Create majordomo user and group using the following commands #groupadd majordomo #useradd majordomo -g majordomo #cat /etc/passwd | grep majordomo Create installation directory for majordomo #mkdir /usr/local/majordomo Edit the makefile #vi Makefile Change the line with PERL variable definition to PERL = /usr/bin/perl Change the line with W_HOME variable definition to W_HOME = /usr/local/majordomo Change the lines with W_USER and W_GROUP variables definition to W_USER = 1008 W_GROUP = 1008 set TMPDIR = /tmp Edit the configuration file #cp sample.cf majordomo.cf #vi majordomo.cf Set $whereami variable to your host name and that is enough $whereami = "your-host.com"; Install the majordomo #make wrapper #make install #make install-wrapper Check the installation #cd /usr/local/majordomo; ./wrapper config-test Installed MHonArc from package Tarr'd & gzip'd /opt/majordomo directory on Michelob scp'd to bud & extracted to /usr/local/majordomo Instlled MHonArc on Bud (to use same tool as Michelob) ====== Credits ====== - Jeff Muse - Initial install of Mailman and providing notes from the install. ====== Comments ======