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Many ezmlm users have contributed to improvements in ezmlm-idx. These are
listed in the README.idx file in the ezmlm-idx distribution.
Others have through questions and suggestions inspired parts in this FAQ,
or pointed out errors or omissions. Thanks! Direct contributions are
attributed to the respective authors in the text. Thanks again!
This FAQ contains answers to many questions that arise while
installing ezmlm, ezmlm-idx, and while setting up and managing ezmlm
mailing lists. See
difference
for a brief summary of what is
ezmlm and what is ezmlm-idx.
Many aspects of ezmlm are covered in several places in this FAQ. The early
sections explain how ezmlm works. Later sections discuss how to deal with
possible errors/problems. Subsequent sections discuss details of customization
and list setup in a HOWTO form. Finally, there are
sections on information philosophy for moderated lists and on
security aspects on ezmlm lists.
This is an evolving document.
If you find any errors, or wish to comment, please do so to the authors.
This FAQ is currently aimed at system administrators and knowledgeable users,
and heavily weighted towards questions
specific to the ezmlm-idx add-on.
If you have problems with the ezmlm-idx package, please start
by reading the ``man'' pages which come with each program, then
this document and other ezmlm documentation which
is identified here. If you have exhausted these resources,
try the ezmlm and qmail mailing
lists and their respective mailing list archives. If you have solved a
problem not in the documentation, write it up as a proposed
section of a FAQ and send it to the authors. This way, it can
be added to the next version of this FAQ.
This document uses a number of terms. Here are the meanings ascribed to them
by the authors.
- DIR
The base directory of the list.
- SENDER
The envelope sender of the message, as passed to
ezmlm by qmail via the $SENDER environment variable.
- LOCAL
The local part of the envelope recipient. For
list-get-1@host, it is usually list-get-1. If host
is a virtual domain, controlled by user-sub, then
local would be user-sub-list-get-1.
- moddir
Base directory for moderators.
Moderator E-mail addresses are stored in a hashed database
in moddir/subscribers/. By default, ``moddir'' is
DIR/mod/.
To add or remove
moderators:
% ezmlm-sub DIR/moddir moderator@host.domain
% ezmlm-unsub DIR/moddir moderator@host.domain
- dotdir
The second argument of ezmlm-make is the main .qmail
file for the list. dotdir is the directory in
which this ``dot file'' resides, i.e. the directory
part of the ``dot'' argument. This is usually the home
directory of the user controlling the list (but NOT
necessarily of the one creating the list). Thus,
dotdir is ~alias/ if
``root'' creates a list:
# ezmlm-make ~alias/list ~alias/.qmail-list ...
dotdir is where the .ezmlmrc
file is expected when the
ezmlm-make(1) ``-c''
switch is used
(see
Customizing ezmlm-make operation).
- ezmlm binary directory
The directory where the ezmlm-binaries are
normally stored, as defined at compile time in conf-bin.
This is compiled into the programs and does not
change just because you have moved the program.
-
ezmlm-get(1)
This is a reference to the ezmlm-get.1 man page.
Access it with one of the following:
% man ezmlm-get
% man 1 ezmlm-get
or if you have not yet installed ezmlm-idx:
% cd ezmlm-idx-0.314
% man ./ezmlm-get.1
- basedir
The list directory when referencing the list subscriber address database.
For E-mail addresses stored in a set of files within dir/subscribers/,
the ``basedir''
is ``dir''.
- address database
A collection of E-mail addresses stored in a set of files within the ``subscribers''
subdirectory of the basedir, DIR/subscribers/.
- message moderator
An address to which moderation requests for posts to the list are sent. The
moderation requests are formatted with ``From:''-``reject'' and a
``To:''-``accept'' default headers for moderator replies. A reply to the
``reject'' address leads to the rejection of the post. A reply to the
``accept'' address leads to the acceptance of the post. Any E-mail address
can be a moderator E-mail address. Any number of moderator E-mail addresses
can be used. If a post is sent from a moderator E-mail address, the
moderation request is sent to that E-mail address only. If a post is sent
from an E-mail address that is not a moderator, a moderation request is sent
to all moderators.
The first reply to the moderation request determines the fate of the
message. Further requests for the action already taken are silently ignored,
while a request for the contrary action results in an error message stating
the actual fate of the message. Thus, if you want to ``accept'' the message
and it has already been accepted, you receive no reply, but if you attempt
to ``reject'' it, you will receive an error message stating that the message
already has been accepted.
Most lists are not message moderated. If they are, the owner is usually
a ``message moderator'', sometimes together with a few other trusted users.
For an announcement list, it is common to make all the ``official announcers''
``message moderators''. This way, they can post securely and ``accept'' their
own posts, while posts from other users will be sent to this set of ``official
announcers'' for approval.
- subscription moderator
An E-mail address where subscription moderation requests are sent. A subscription
moderation request is sent after a user has confirmed her intention to
subscribe. The subscription moderation request is sent to all moderators. As
soon as a reply to this message is received, the user is subscribed
and notified. Any E-mail address can be a subscription moderator
and any number of subscription moderators can be used.
Unsubscribe requests are never moderated (except when the
ezmlm-manage(1) ``-U''
flag is used and the sender attempts to remove an address other than the one
s/he is sending from). It is hard to imagine a legitimate mailing list that
would want to prevent unsubscriptions.
- remote administrator
When a remote administrator subscribes or unsubscribes a list member, the
``confirm'' request is sent back to the remote administrator, rather than
to the subscriber's E-mail address. This allows the remote administrator to
(un)subscribe any list member without the cooperation of the subscriber
at that address. Any E-mail address can be a remote administrator and any number
of E-mail addresses can be remote administrators.
The set of E-mail addresses that are ``remote administrators'' and ``subscription
moderators'' are always the same. This set of E-mail addresses can be ``remote
administrators'', ``subscription moderators'' or both.
For most lists, the owner would be the ``remote administrator'', if s/he
wishes to moderate messages, the owner would be the ``message moderator''
and if s/he wishes to moderate subscriptions the owner would also be the
``subscription moderator''.
The list's ``message moderator(s)'' can be the same, but
can also be set up to be completely different.
- Changing list ``ownership''
Within this FAQ there are references to the need to check or change the list
``ownership.'' This is not a reference to the individual user who is the
``list-owner'', but a reference to the ownership of the files by your
operating system which make up the list and reside in DIR/.
To change the ownership of DIR/ and everything within:
% chown -R user DIR
% chgrp -R group DIR
Depending on your system/shell, it may be possible to combine
these commands into either:
% chown -R user.group DIR
% chown -R user:group DIR
ezmlm-0.53 is a qmail-based mailing list manager written by Dan J. Bernstein.
It has all the basic functionality of a mailing list manager, such as
subscriber address management including automated bounce handling as well as
message distribution and archiving.
ezmlm-idx is an add-on to ezmlm. It adds multi-message threaded message
retrieval from the archive, digests, message and subscription moderation,
and a number of remote administration function. It modifies the configuration
program
ezmlm-make(1) so that it uses a text file template rather than
compiled-in texts in list creation. In this manner, ezmlm-idx allows
easy setup of lists in different languages and customization of default list
setup. ezmlm-idx also adds MIME handling, and other support to streamline
use with languages other than English. As an ezmlm add-on, ezmlm-idx does not
work without ezmlm and tries to be compatible with ezmlm as much as possible.
ezmlm-idx also modifies the ezmlm subscriber database to be case insensitive
to avoid many unsubscribe problems.
This document is a FAQ for ezmlm-idx. However, many of the basic items that
are discussed also apply to ezmlm per se. Referring to the two paragraphs
above, it should be relatively easy to figure out which features require
ezmlm-idx.
We have now registered ezmlm.org to make access to ezmlm-idx and
related programs/documentation easier. www.ezmlm.org is currently
an alias for Fred B. Ringel's www.rivertown.net/~ezmlm/ and
ftp.ezmlm.org an alias for Fred Lindberg's
ftp.id.wustl.edu.
- Dan J. Bernstein's ezmlm-0.53
- ezmlm-idx-0.314
- The latest version of ezmlm and patches to ezmlm-idx
ezmlm-idx releases are numbered ``ezmlm-idx-0.xy[z]''.
Versions with the same ``x''
are backwards compatible. A change in ``x'' signifies major changes, some
of which may require list changes (see README.idx). Addition
of ``z'' are bug fixes only. Thus, ezmlm-idx-0.301 is ezmlm-idx-0.30 with
known bugs fixed (but no other significant changes).
When available, patches are
named ``filename-0.xy[z].diff'',
where ``0.xy[z]'' corresponds to the release
to which they apply.
When a number of bugs (or a significant bug) are found
a bug-fix release is made incorporating all the patches for the previous
version.
-
ezmlmrc(5) files for different languages
The latest versions at the time of release of a package are included in that
package. Thus, this directory will have a file labelled with the current
ezmlm-idx version number only if it has been updated later than the package.
- ezmlm-issub-0.05
- RPMs and SRPMS of qmail, ezmlm and ezmlm-idx
- ezmlm-split-0.01.tar.gz or later
- ezmlm-subdb-0.01.tar.gz or later
- man pages
All ezmlm component programs come with their own man pages.
Thus, for info on ezmlm-send, type:
% man ezmlm-send
or if you have unpacked ezmlm, but not made it or installed
it:
% cd ezmlm-0.53
% man ./ezmlm-send.1
-
ezmlm(5)
General info on ezmlm and list directories is in ezmlm.5:
% man ezmlm
or
% cd ezmlm-0.53
% man ./ezmlm.5
NOTE: Installation of the ezmlm-idx package updates some
existing man pages to reflect changes made by the patch (e.g.
ezmlm-send(1),
ezmlm(5)).
- Text files in the distribution
ezmlm comes with a README file with general instructions,
an INSTALL file with installation instructions, an UPGRADE
file for upgrading from a previous version and a CHANGES file
with information on changes from previous versions. ezmlm-idx
comes with similar files suffixed with ``.idx''. Most other
patches or add-ons contain similar files and man pages and
should contain identifying suffixes (.iss for ezmlm-issub, for
example).
For a discussion of the authors' understanding of ezmlm security,
see
Ezmlm-idx security.
- ``Ezman'', an ezmlm/idx manual
The ezmlm manual is a brief manual that is meant for list subscribers,
list moderators and remote administrators, and as an introduction for
list owners. It is useful even if you do not use ezmlm-idx. Features
requiring ezmlm-idx are marked as such.
The manual is available as a set of html files, as a text file, and in
a ``letter'' and ``A4'' postscript version:
- This FAQ
This FAQ is built from a sgml source. It is available in the following
formats:
- WWW resources
- An on-line version of this FAQ
- General qmail and ezmlm info
- The qmail mailing list archive
http://www.ornl.gov/cts/archives/mailing-lists/qmail/ - The ezmlm mailing list archive
http://sunsite.auc.dk/mhonarc-archives/ezmlm/
- Mailing lists
Please read other documentation and mailing list archives
before posting questions to the lists. It's also useful to
``lurk'' on the list for a few days, (i.e. to subscribe and
read without posting) before asking your questions on the
list.
To subscribe, send mail to the E-mail addresses listed:
To the authors via E-mail:
ezmlm-idx>=0.23 writes DIR/config in a standard format.
If
ezmlm-make(1)
is invoked with the ``-e'' or ``-+'' switch and the ``DIR'' argument only,
ezmlm-make(1) will read other arguments from this file. The difference between
the switches is that with ``-e'' the options used are the ones specified
on the command line, whereas with ``-+'' they are the ones currently active
for the list, as overridden by any command line options.
Thus, with just:
% ezmlm-make -+c DIR
you can rebuild the list, without affecting any archives, list state
variables, etc. You will lose any manual customizations to some of your
DIR/text/
files. DIR/headeradd,
DIR/text/info, DIR/text/faq, DIR/text/mod-sub,
and DIR/text/sub-ok are protected against being overwritten, so that
your manual customizations of these files are retained.
To test a new version of ezmlm-idx or to run several version, make the
new version as per INSTALL.idx (if you haven't used ezmlm-idx before)
or UPGRADE.idx (if you've got a previous version of ezmlm-idx
installed), setting conf-bin to
a new directory. You can use either the current directory or any
other directory. If not using the current dir, you also have to:
% make setup
If you now edit the list using the new ezmlm-make program, the list will
automatically be configured to use the new binaries. To change back to
the ``default'' installation, just edit the list again, this time with the
old ezmlm-make.
If your system has an /etc/ezmlmrc
file, you may need to temporarily place
the
ezmlmrc(5) file for the ezmlm version you want to test in
dotdir
of the list and use the
ezmlm-make(1) ``-c''
switch (see
Terminology: dotdir).
ezmlm-idx>=0.314 comes with
ezmlm-test(1), a program that tests most
functions of ezmlm+idx and can be used before installation.
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