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Managing Mailing Lists
pg. 7

• The Include Method
• Majordomo
• Installing Majordomo
• Adding a New List
• Basic Configuration and Use
• Advanced Configuration
• Creating a Password-Protected List
• Sending Messages to a Mailing List

A mailing list is a special type of email alias that is set up to automatically forward all incoming messages to a designated list of recipients.
Mailing lists are particularly useful for the purpose of sharing information between a large group of people, especially if the recipient list is subject to frequent change.
A typical alias entry requires each recipient to be added to a single line in your aliases file, which can become increasingly difficult to manage with each recipient address you add. A mailing list, however, accesses a separate file that contains the actual list of recipients, one per line. Such a list is much easier to update and maintain.
Programs such as Majordomo are especially useful for managing large mailing lists, because they automate much of the process of managing the list. Also, Majordomo allows you to restrict who is able to post messages to your mailing list through password restriction.

The Include Method
You can set up a very simple mailing list by following the steps outlined in this section.
This method creates an open list, meaning that there is no way to password-protect postings to the list. If you wish to restrict who can send messages to the recipients on your list, you will need to use a program such as Majordomo that has password protection capability. For information about how to install and use Majordomo, please refer to the next section.
Step 1: Create the mailing list
You can create your mailing list in any directory you choose. Because it contains many of your email configuration files, the most common location for a mailing list is the ~/etc directory.
The following command creates a mailing list file called sample_list:
pico sample_list Enter
Using the pico editor, type the email addresses for your list, one per line, as shown in the following example:
user1@somedomain.com
user2@somedomain.com
user3@anotherdomain.com
If you want to create an actual, working mailing list, you will need to enter actual, valid email addresses. The sample_list file will be accessed by the alias in Step 2, below.
Step 2: Add an alias for your mailing list
To create an alias for your mailing list, you must edit your ~/etc/aliases file. First, go to your ~/etc directory:
cd ~/etc Enter
Next, open your aliases file in the pico editor:
pico aliases Enter
Enter an alias for your mailing list, using the following format:
alias::include:/path_to_file
The alias should be replaced with the name of your mailing list, and path_to_file is the path to your mailing list file, starting at your home directory.
Example 2: To create an alias called example that will use the mailing list sample_list located in your ~/etc directory, you would need to add the following alias to your ~/etc/aliases file:
example::include:/etc/sample_list
Remember to run the vnewaliases command whenever you add a new alias to your aliases file:
vnewaliases Enter
Assuming you followed the examples in Steps 1 and 2 above, all email sent to the address “example@yourdomain.com” will now be forwarded to all the recipients in your ~/etc/sample_list file.

Majordomo
Majordomo is now included in the VAdmin Web interface. VAdmin greatly simplifies the process of adding and managing your Majordomo mailing lists. For more information, please see the VAdmin section
Majordomo is a Perl program written by Brent Chapman of Great Circle Associates to handle routine administration of Internet mailing lists.
Majordomo automates many of the functions associated with managing a mailing list, and allows you to have a central moderator for your list. Additionally, Majordomo allows you to restrict postings to your mailing list through password protection.
Excellent documentation for majordomo can be found on the Great Circle Web site. Please visit the following URL:
http://www.greatcircle.com/majordomo/
Be sure to check out the majordomo FAQ page.

Installing Majordomo
Before you can use Majordomo, you must have Perl 5 installed on your virtual server. To check the version of Perl that is installed on your virtual server, Telnet or SSH to your virtual server and type the following at the command prompt:
virtual perl –v Enter
If you do not already have Perl 5 installed, type the following command to install Perl 5.004_03 on your virtual server:
vinstall perl5 Enter
Once you have verified that you have the latest version of Perl installed, type the following command to install Majordomo:
vinstall majordomo Enter
The following series of prompts appears (denoted by even spaced type):
What is the Domain you want people to see [yourdomain.com]:
This is the domain that majordomo will send and receive mail from by default. It must be a valid domain configured for use on your virtual server.
What is the E-Mail address of the Majordomo Administrator [webmaster@yourdomain.com]:
This is the email address to which majordomo will (by default) report errors and information.
The vinstall program then asks if you want to add a new list. If you choose yes, it takes you through the steps for adding a new list, as if you had typed the vaddlist command

Adding a New List
To start an interactive program to help you configure a simple mailing list, Telnet or SSH to your virtual server and type the following at the command prompt:
vaddlist Enter
The following series of prompts appears (denoted by even spaced type):
What is the Domain you want people to see [yourdomain.com]:
This is what the mailing list will show as its domain, and it must be a valid domain that you can send and receive mail from on your virtual server.
What do you want to name this list [sample]:
This is just the name of the list you want to use, it must be unique, and must not already exist.
What is the EMail Address of the List Manager [webmaster@yourdomain.com]:
This is where any list diagnostic information or updates will be sent, as well as various other requests and information that you can configure majordomo to send.
Would you like the list to be restricted with a password?
You should normally always restrict a list with a password. This password is used for remote list configuration that you can do through email, and, as an example, if you choose to change your list to a moderated subscription list, you would use the password to approve email to the list.
This will also add several aliases to your virtual etc/aliases file. For example, assume you had a list called "sample":
   # "sample" list
   sample: "|/usr/local/majordomo/wrapper resend -A -R -l
  sample -h yourdomain.com a32281779"
   a32281779::include:/usr/local/majordomo/Lists/sample
   owner-sample: webmaster@yourdomain.com
   sample-request: "|/usr/local/majordomo/wrapper request-answer sample"
   sample-approval: webmaster@yourdomain.com
sample is the alias that mail for the list itself will be sent to and received from.
owner-sample is the standard alias for people to use to contact the owner of the sample list, which should be you.
sample-request is another address people can send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to, besides majordomo@yourdomain.com, and is added because it is another standard alias that is almost always in use with majordomo
sample-approval is the alias that all approval requests would be sent to, if you choose to change your list to a moderated format.

Basic Configuration and Use
To use and administer your majordomo email list, you send it simple commands through email messages sent to majordomo@yourdomain.com (where yourdomain.com is the domain name you specified as the domain name you want people to see). Each command should be placed on a separate line in an email message. At the end of your list of commands, place the word "END" on a line by itself.
Here is a list of the most common commands you can email to a majordomo list:
Subscribe [listname]. Subscribes you to a list, i.e., an academic discussion group.
Unsubscribe [listname]. Drops you from a list, or academic discussion group.
Info [listname]. Sends you introductory information for the specified list.
Who [listname]. Sends you a list of subscribers to the mailing list.
Index [listname]. Sends you a list of available files that can be mailed to you by use of the 'Get' command.
Get [list] [filename]. Sends you specified file from filelist (see 'Index').

Advanced Configuration
The following is a list of advanced configuration options that can help you maintain a successful majordomo list. These settings are found in a configuration file that is created the first time you send email to the list. The settings in this majordomo configuration file help control the overall operation of your mailing list.
You can find the configuration file in your ~/usr/local/majordomo/Lists directory. The configuration file for your specific list will be in the form of [listname].config.
Here is a list of the most common configuration settings and their functions:
admin_passwd. Name of the majordomo password file, you can change the password by mailing the list or by editing the file located at usr/local/majordomo/Lists ... The password file is in the form [listname].passwd
administrivia. Checks any POSTs for what may be admin requests and sends these to the list maintainer ... even legitimate posts will be forwarded if they contain basic command words.
advertise. Contains email addresses of people who can run the command list on the mailing list (an email address goes between the two ENDs. There can only be one per line).
approve_passwd. This is the password that POSTers must put in the header of their messages if they wish to post to a restricted (moderated) list.
comments. This allows you to place comments in your configuration files. Put them between the two ENDs; there can only be one per line.
date_info. Adds the last updated date to the info file.
date_intro. Adds the last updated date to the intro file.
debug. When a list is configured to "debug = yes", no messages are actually sent to the people on the list. This is good for testing the stability of a list or when you want to test other commands or settings.
description. This is tacked on to the response given by the list command ... there is room in the config file for 50 characters to describe the list.
get_access. Enables people to download files you may have accessible through majordomo.
index_access. Enables people to list downloadable files you may have accessible through majordomo.
info_access. Restricts who can run the info command on the list.
intro_access. Restricts who can run the intro command on the list.
maxlength. The maximum size of an unapproved message. This prevents someone from spamming the list's admin with a large file.
message_footer. This text is attached to the end of every message POSTed to the list. Place text between the ENDs.
message_fronter. Same thing as the footer but attaches text to the front of the message.
message_headers. Whatever is placed here is added to the header of any POSTed message. Place the text between the ENDs.
moderate. The moderator has to approve any POSTings to list. With this setting enabled all messages go to the moderator first.
moderator. If an entry is made here, a bounced message will go to this email address instead of the list's owner.
mungedomain. Used when only certain domains are allowed to access a list. The majordomo program will ignore canonicals when checking to see if a message should be used.
noadvertise. Email addresses listed here cannot run the list command on the majordomo list.
precedence. Places a "precedence" header in all messages. The default is "bulk".
purge_received. Removes any extra headers that may have shown up when the message was sent or forwarded.
reply_to. Adds a reply-to field for any message sent by the majordomo program; has no default value.
resend_host. Any email that the mailing list is forced to resend will have the host field appended with this value. If this value is blank the address will be unchanged when the message is resent.
restrict_post. This is set to a file that contains a list of email address separated by a space. Only people in that file can POST to the list. The file you create must be located in usr/local/majordomo/Lists.
sender. This is what majordomo will replace the "sender" field with for any resent messages.
strip. When a person requests to be added to the list, this will remove any extra comments that might be in their email address so that majordomo can add only a "pure" email address.
subject_prefix. Any text in this field is placed before the normal subject of any message sent by majordomo.
subscribe_policy. How people are allowed to join the list. This can be set to open, closed, or auto. The auto and open settings let anyone in (auto doesn't inform maintainer) adding a +confirm allows the maintainer to confirm any additions first. Closed does not let anyone join this list.
taboo_body. This is a filter for your list. If a word here matches a word in the body of a message meant for the list, the message will bounce to the list's maintainer. It's a filter for swear words.
taboo_headers. This is the same thing as taboo_body but for headers.
unsubscribe_policy. Same thing as subscribe_policy but this is to leave the list (no +confirm this time, having a closed unsubscribe_policy will have the maintainer confirm anyone who wants to leave the list).
which_access. Who has access to get info on the list. Can be set to open, list, or closed. Open lets anyone get info on the list, list means that only people on the list can run this command, and closed doesn't let anyone see info about the mailing list.
who_access. Works just like which_access but this controls what people can view who is on the mailing list.

Creating a Password-Protected List
To create a password-protected list, you must modify a few settings in the configuration file for your list. The configuration file for a specific list can be found in the ~/usr/local/majordomo/Lists directory, in the form of [listname].config.
The following settings can be used to password protect your list:
admin_passwd. Sets a password that you will use to administer the list.
approve_passwd. Sets the password to be used by POSTers to your mailing list.
restrict_post. Use this so only mail coming from addresses listed in restrict_post are allowed to use the mailing list.

Sending Messages to a Mailing List
To send a message to a particular mailing list, you must send email to the following address, where listname is the name of a particular list and yourdomain.com is your domain name.
listname@yourdomain.com
The following example shows a message that is to be sent to the recipients of a mailing list.
The Approved header is necessary to post to any password-protected list, and must match either the admin_passwd or approve_passwd as described in the previous section. In the headers below, listname should be replaced with the actual name of the list, and yourdomain.com should be replaced with your actual domain name.
It is important not to type anything into the Subject header of your email message; you can associate a subject with your message by putting it in the message body, as shown below.
Approved: password
To: listname@yourdomain.com
From: you@yourdomain.com
Subject: Test
This is a test message to check if Majordomo is setup correctly.
To test your Majordomo setup, you can copy and paste the above lines into the message body of an email message and send it to “listname@yourdomain.com.” Remember to leave the other headers of your email message blank!