Changeset 316:e108bea0d05c

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Timestamp:
08/20/11 01:32:45 (9 months ago)
Author:
Anselm Lingnau <anselm@…>
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default
Message:

Various changes and improvements to the Project Lancelot HOWTO.

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1 modified

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  • doc/Lancelot-HOWTO.txt

    r303 r316  
    2828''alias'' such as 
    2929{{{ 
    30    test: "|/usr/local/bin/pl-incoming test@example.com" 
     30   test: "|/usr/local/bin/pl-incoming --user alfred test@example.com" 
    3131}}} 
    3232in your system's alias database (usually /etc/aliases). You will probably 
     
    4040take care of them. 
    4141 
    42 '''Note (for Our-ISP users):''' On Our-ISP, use the pfixadm(1) command to 
    43 create a mailbox ('''NOT''' a pfixadm-style mailinglist) for the desired 
    44 address: 
    45 {{{ 
    46   $ pfixadm mailbox add test@example.com foobar 
    47 }}} 
    48 (The password, "foobar" here, is of no consequence.) Then invoke 
    49 pl-init(1) as above, but giving the '''--our-isp''' command line option: 
    50 {{{ 
    51   $ pl-init --our-isp test@example.com alfred@example.com 
    52 }}} 
    53 This will create the list configuration database in 
    54 $HOME/domains/DOMAIN/LOCAL, or $HOME/domains/example.com/test in our 
    55 example. (Note that this is the mailbox's "home directory" from the 
    56 point of view of the mail delivery mechanism.) 
    57  
    58 To deliver mail to Project Lancelot on Our-ISP; create a file called 
    59 $HOME/domains/DOMAIN/LOCAL/.mailfilter (here, 
    60 $HOME/domains/example.com/test/.mailfilter) containing a recipe like 
    61 {{{ to "|/usr/bin/pl-incoming test@example.com" }}} The good news is 
    62 that Project Lancelot does this for you unless you specify the 
    63 '''--nomailfilter''' option. 
    64  
    65  
    6642== Configuring the new list == 
    6743 
     
    10985== Managing Subscribers == 
    11086 
    111 Like most mailing list management programs, Lancelot allows users 
     87Like most mailing list management programs, Project Lancelot allows users 
    11288to subscribe or unsubscribe themselves by sending messages to 
    113 addresses such as ''test-subscribe@example.com''. But you can still 
     89addresses such as ''test+subscribe@example.com''. But you can still 
    11490change the subscription database manually. Here's how to add subscribers: 
    11591{{{ 
     
    11793}}} 
    11894This will add Joe Blow's and Sue Foo's addresses to the subscriber 
    119 database.  pl-subscribe(1) takes arbitrarily many (well almost) 
     95database. Project Lancelot uses the same code to parse the address 
     96arguments to pl-subscribe(1) that it uses to pass ''From'' headers in 
     97e-mail, so you can say 
     98{{{ 
     99  $ pl-subscribe test@example.com "Joe Blow <joe.blow@example.org>" 
     100}}} 
     101and "Joe Blow" will be noted as the name going with the address, 
     102''joe.blow@example.org''. 
     103 
     104pl-subscribe(1) takes arbitrarily many (well almost) 
    120105addresses on the command line, but if you do not give any, pl-subscribe(1) 
    121 will read standard input instead: 
     106will read its standard input instead: 
    122107{{{ 
    123108  $ pl-subscribe test@example.com <members-list.txt 
     
    139124}}} 
    140125 
     126== List Aliases == 
     127 
     128It is extremely tedious to have to type command lines like 
     129{{{ 
     130  $ pl-subscribe foobar-announce@lists.marketing.example.com ... 
     131}}} 
     132so (fortunately) there is a helpful shortcut. A command like 
     133{{{ 
     134  $ pl-conf --alias foobar-announce@lists.marketing.example.com fba 
     135}}} 
     136lets you use ''fba'' in place of the long address in commands: 
     137{{{ 
     138  $ pl-subscribe fba ... 
     139}}} 
     140This form of "aliasing" applies to all Project Lancelot command-line 
     141tools. The command 
     142{{{ 
     143  $ pl-conf --alias foobar-announce@lists.marketing.example.com 
     144}}} 
     145(without an alias) will enumerate the current alias (or aliases -- 
     146you can have as many as you like) for that list. If you're ever unsure 
     147exactly what list an alias points to, use a command like 
     148{{{ 
     149  $ pl-conf -qh fba list.address 
     150}}} 
     151 
     152Project Lancelot maintains an "automatic" alias to the last list 
     153address you used in a Project Lancelot command. In 
     154{{{ 
     155  $ pl-subscribe test@example.org joe.blow@example.org 
     156  $ pl-subscribe . sue.foo@example.net 
     157}}} 
     158the second ''pl-subscribe'' command also applies to 
     159''test@example.org''. (You will be relieved to hear that this works 
     160for all Project Lancelot command-line tools except pl-incoming(1), 
     161which deals with incoming mail, and pl-janitor(1), which performs 
     162periodic cleanups. These commands will be invoked at various times 
     163either from the mail system or cron, and it would be confusing for 
     164them to reset Project Lancelot's notion of the "current list" while 
     165you may be typing interactive commands. 
     166 
     167List aliases are really just symbolic links in the ''.pl'' directory. 
     168If you want to remove an alias, simply delete the symbolic link in 
     169question. (The "." alias is really a symbolic link called 
     170''.default-list''.) 
     171 
    141172 
    142173== Incoming Mail == 
    143174 
    144175Here's what happens when Project Lancelot receives a message to the 
    145 list submission address (test@example.com, right?). At least this is 
     176list submission address (''test@example.com'', right?). At least this is 
    146177what happens unless you change things completely, which you are 
    147178absolutely free to do but probably shouldn't until you have learned 
     
    162193 * Checking whether the message looks reasonable from a MIME point 
    163194   of view, i.e., has significant plain-text content and does not contain 
    164    fishy-looking attachments such as viruses. This step also gets rid 
    165    of everything that is not plain text. 
     195   fishy-looking attachments, which might harbour spam or viruses. 
     196   This step also gets rid of everything that is not plain text. 
    166197 * Adding RFC2919 and (optionally) RFC2369 headers to the message. 
    167198 * Optionally adding a "tag" to the message's ''Subject:'' header. 
     
    212243 
    213244Project Lancelot is very much a work in progress, and we hope that its 
    214 obvious major problems, such as the complete lack of e-mail-based 
    215 subscription handling, will very shortly be either removed or replaced 
     245obvious major problems will very shortly be either removed or replaced 
    216246with new major problems. Stay tuned.