Linux Cookbook

20.16.1 Problem

You want to set up some mail lists on your Postfix/Courier mail server.

20.16.2 Solution

You'll need couriermlm (Courier mailing list manager), dot-courier, and cron.

Users can create a list in any directory where they have write permissions. You might want to set up list directories for your users outside of their home directories, for example in /var.

Run this command to create a directory for a new mailing list:

$ couriermlm create /var/lists/php_list ADDRESS=php@test.net

This creates a directory chock-full of templates and subdirectories:

$ ls -xa php_list . .. adminrequest.tmpl archive bounces commands confsubj.tmpl digestsubj.tmpl fetch.tmpl fetchsubj.tmpl headeradd help.tmpl idxheader2html.tmpl idxheaderhtml.tmpl idxheadertxt.tmpl idxsubject.tmpl modqueue modrejbody.tmpl modreject.tmpl modrejheader.tmpl modsubject.tmpl modtext.tmpl modtext2.tmpl options sub.tmpl sub2.tmpl sub3.tmpl sub4.tmpl sub5.tmpl sublist subreportfooter.tmpl subreporthdr.tmpl subreporthdr1.tmpl subreporthdr2.tmpl subreporthdr3.tmpl tmp unsub.tmpl unsub2.tmpl unsub3.tmpl unsublist warn1headers.tmpl warn1text.tmpl warn1text2.tmpl warn2msg.tmpl

Read the following template files, and edit them as necessary to suit your needs:

help.tmpl

The message that Courier sends in response to help requests.

sub.tmpl

Subscription is a two-step process, requiring confirmation to minimize bogus and forged subscriptions. sub.tmpl is the first reponse to a subscription request.

sub.tmpl

The final confirmation message, containing additional list instructions.

headeradd

Put any additional mail headers you want on list messages here.

headerdel

Put any mail headers you want deleted here.

If you're running a public list and don't want to expose subscribers' personal addresses to spammers, use headerdel and headeradd together:

# headerdel Reply-To: From: # headeradd Reply-To:php@test.net From:php@test.net

Next, set up /etc/crontab to run couriermlm's hourly and daily commands:

# m h dom mon dow user command @midnight alice couriermlm daily /var/lists/php_list @hourly alice couriermlm hourly /var/lists/php_list

Finally, create some dot-courier files to direct administrative list mails to the appropriate user. These files go in the list manager's home directory. In this example, the php@test.net list is administered by user valorie. First, valorie creates /home/valorie/.courier-php. That tells the location of the php list:

/usr/bin/couriermlm msg /var/lists/php_list

Next is /home/valorie/.courier-php-owner:

valorie@test.net

And finally, /home/valorie/.courier-php-default:

/usr/bin/couriermlm ctlmsg /var/lists/php_list

This directs all the administrative list mail, such as subscribe/unsubscribe and help requests, to the correct mail list.

20.16.3 Discussion

The hourly and daily commands clean up any stale entries in the /var/lists/php_list/commands directory.

List users will use the following commands, in the list-command@domain format:

php-help@test.net php-subscribe@test.net php-unsubscribe@test.net

This is where those dot-courier files come into play, by directing these requests to the right places.

20.16.4 See Also

• courier(8), dot-courier(5)