Majordomo Config File

config listname password
end

A copy of your config file will be mailed to you by the Majordomo program. Save this email to a disk file. You may edit this file using the text editor of your choice, either Unix or DOS. Please note that this file is a pure text file and programs such as Word for Windows must be used very carefully in order to preserve the pure text nature of the file. The formatting information usually placed into documents by word processing programs will render your config file useless to majordomo. Programs such as Microsoft Windows Notepad will do nicely for the job. Make sure that word wrap is disabled.

Once you have the appropriate changes made in your config file, you may reinstall it by sending it to majordomo@bga.com in an email of the following form:

newconfig listname password
.
.
[complete text of config file]
.
.
EOF
end

Config Command Summary

The following brief index will direct you to different locations in a sample config file. Commented text (lines beginning in "#") in the file is generally document specific features fairly well. The "Notes" link on some index entries takes you to additional information on the item.

Administrative commands

• admin_password - List administration password
• approve_password - List approval password
• administrivia - Look for admin requests message subject and body (Notes)
• comments - Place comments in your config file
• moderate - Set list moderation policy
• mungdomain - Address interpretation management
• strip - Strip comments from addresses in list
• subscribe_policy - Determine list subscription policy

• advertise - Determine who can know about list
• noadvertise - Determine who can know about list
• description - Add a description for your list to "lists" output

• digest_issue - Set number of next digest issue
• digest_name - Name of your digest in subject line
• digest_volume - Current digest volume number
• maxlength - Trigger size for sending a digest (Notes)

• message_footer - Text appended to all posts to list
• message_fronter - Text prepended to all posts to list
• subject_prefix - Prefix information to subject lines

• message_headers - Add mail headers to posts from list
• precedence - Add a precedence header to posts
• purge_received - Remove excess "received" headers
• (Notes)
• resend_host - Host name for outgoing mail from list (Notes)
• sender - Set envelope and sender address for resent mail

• no_who - Restrict the use of the "who" command (Notes)
• private_get - Restrict file retrieval to list members
• private_index - Restrict file index retrieval to list members
• private_info - Restrict list info request to list members
• private_which - Restrict "which" info to list members
• private_who - Restrict "who" command use to list members
• restrict_post - Restrict who can post to list (Notes)

	# admin_passwd       [word] (foobarlist.admin) <majordomo>
	# (Default is specified in the file <listname>.passwd) The password
	# for handling administrative tasks on the list.
admin_passwd      =   foobarlist.admin

	# administrivia      [bool] (yes) <resend>
	# Look for administrative requests (e.g. subscribe/unsubscribe) and
	# forward them to the list maintainer instead of the list.
administrivia     =   yes

	# advertise          [regexp_array] (undef) <majordomo>
	# If the requestor email address matches one of these regexps, then
	# the list will be listed in the output of a lists command. Failure to
	# match any regexp excludes the list from the output. The regexps
	# under noadvertise overide these regexps.
advertise         <<  END

END

	# approve_passwd     [word] (foobarlist.pass) <resend>
	# Password to be used in the approved header to allow posting to
	# moderated list, or to bypass resend checks.
approve_passwd    =   foobarlist.pass

	# archive_dir        [absolute_dir] (undef) <majordomo>
	# The directory where the mailing list archive is kept. This item does
	# not currently work. Leave it blank.
archive_dir       =

	# comments           [string_array] (undef) <config>
	# Comment string that will be retained across config file rewrites.
comments          <<  END

END

	# date_info          [bool] (yes) <majordomo>
	# Put the last updated date for the info file at the top of the info
	# file rather than having it appended with an info command. This is
	# useful if the file is being looked at by some means other than
	# majordomo (e.g. finger).
date_info         =   yes

	# debug              [bool] (no) <resend>
	# Don't actually forward message, just go though the motions.
debug             =   no

	# description        [string] (undef) <majordomo>
	# Used as description for mailing list when replying to the lists
	# command. There is no quoting mechanism, and there is only room for
	# 50 or so characters.
description       =

	# digest_archive     [absolute_dir] (undef) <digest>
	# The directory where the digest archive is kept. This item does not
	# currently work. Leave it blank.
digest_archive    =

	# digest_issue       [integer] (1) <digest>
	# The issue number of the next issue
digest_issue      =   1

	# digest_name        [string] (foobarlist) <digest>
	# The subject line for the digest. This string has the volume  and
	# issue appended to it.
digest_name       =   foobarlist

	# digest_rm_footer   [word] (undef) <digest>
	# The value is the name of the list that applies the header and
	# footers to the messages that are received by digest. This allows the
	# list supplied headers and footers to be stripped before the messages
	# are included in the digest. This keyword is currently non operative.
digest_rm_footer  =

	# digest_rm_fronter  [word] (undef) <digest>
	# Works just like digest_rm_footer, except it removes the front
	# material. Just like digest_rm_footer, it is also non-operative.
digest_rm_fronter =

	# digest_volume      [integer] (1) <digest>
	# The current volume number
digest_volume     =   1

	# digest_work_dir    [absolute_dir] (undef) <digest>
	# The directory used as scratch space for digest. Don't  change this
	# unless you know what you are doing
digest_work_dir   =

	# maxlength          [integer] (40000) <resend,digest>
	# The maximum size of an unapproved message in characters. When used
	# with digest, a new digest will be automatically generated if the
	# size of the digest exceeds this number of characters.
maxlength         =   40000

	# message_footer     [string_array] (undef) <resend,digest>
	# Text to be appended at the end of all messages posted to the list.
	# The text is expanded before being used. The following expansion
	# tokens are defined: $LIST - the name of the current list, $SENDER -
	# the sender as taken from the from line, $VERSION, the version of
	# majordomo. If used in a digest, no expansion tokens are provided
message_footer    <<  END

END

	# message_fronter    [string_array] (undef) <resend,digest>
	# Text to be prepended to the beginning of all messages posted to the
	# list. The text is expanded before being used. The following
	# expansion tokens are defined: $LIST - the name of the current list,
	# $SENDER - the sender as taken from the from line, $VERSION, the
	# version of majordomo. If used in a digest, only the expansion token
	# _SUBJECTS_ is available, and it expands to the list of message
	# subjects in the digest
message_fronter   <<  END

END

	# message_headers    [string_array] (undef) <resend,digest>
	# These headers will be appended to the headers of the posted message.
	# The text is expanded before being used. The following expansion
	# tokens are defined: $LIST - the name of the current list, $SENDER -
	# the sender as taken from the from line, $VERSION, the version of
	# majordomo.
message_headers   <<  END

END

	# moderate           [bool] (no) <resend>
	# If yes, all postings to the list  must be approved by the moderator.
moderate          =  yes

	# mungedomain        [bool] (no) <majordomo>
	# If set to yes, a different method is used to determine a matching
	# address.  When set to yes, addresses of the form user@dom.ain.com
	# are considered equivalent to addresses of the form user@ain.com.
	# This allows a user to subscribe to a list using the domain address
	# rather than the address assigned to a particular machine in the
	# domain. This keyword affects the interpretation of addresses for
	# subscribe, unsubscribe, and all private options.
mungedomain       =   no

        # no_who             [bool] (no) <majordomo>
        # If set to yes, then the requestor must provide  a password in order
        # to use the who command.
no_who            =   no

	# noadvertise        [regexp_array] (undef) <majordomo>
	# If the requestor name matches one of these regexps, then the list
	# will not be listed in the output of a lists command. Noadvertise
	# overrides advertise.
noadvertise       <<  END

END

	# precedence         [word] (bulk) <resend,digest>
	# Put a precedence header with value <value> into the outgoing
	# message.
precedence        =   bulk

	# private_get        [bool] (yes) <majordomo>
	# If set to yes, then the requestor must be on the mailing list in
	# order to get files.
private_get       =   yes

	# private_index      [bool] (no) <majordomo>
	# If set to yes, then the requestor must be on the mailing list in
	# order to get a file index.
private_index     =   no

	# private_info       [bool] (no) <majordomo>
	# If set to yes, then the requestor must be on the mailing list to use
	# the info <list> command.
private_info      =   no

	# private_which      [bool] (no) <majordomo>
	# If set to yes, then the requestor must  be on the mailing list in
	# order to get which info from that list.
private_which     =   no

	# private_who        [bool] (no) <majordomo>
	# If set to yes, then the requestor must  be on mailing the list in
	# order to use the who command.
private_who       =   no

	# purge_received     [bool] (no) <resend>
	# Remove all received lines before resending the message.
purge_received    =   no

	# reply_to           [word] () <resend,digest>
	# Put a reply-to header with value <value> into the outgoing message.
	# If the token $SENDER is used, then the address of the sender is used
	# as the value of the reply-to header. This is the value of the reply-
	# to header for digest lists.
reply_to          =	foobarlist

	# resend_host        [word] (undef) <resend>
	# The host name that is appended to all address strings specified for
	# resend.
resend_host       =	bga.com

	# restrict_post      [restrict_post] (undef) <resend>
	# If defined only address listed in one of the files (colon or space
	# separated) can post to the mailing list. This is less useful than it
	# seems it should be since there is no way to create these files if
	# you do not have access to the machine running resend. This mechanism
	# will be replaced in a future version of majordomo/resend.
restrict_post     =

	# sender             [word] (owner-foobarlist) <majordomo,resend,digest>
	# The envelope and sender address for the resent mail. This string has
	# "@" and the value of resend_host appended to it to make a complete
	# address. For majordomo, it provides the sender address for the
	# welcome mail message generated as part of the subscribe command.
sender            =   owner-foobarlist

	# strip              [bool] (yes) <majordomo>
	# When adding address to the list, strip off all comments etc, and put
	# just the raw address in the list file.  In addition to the keyword,
	# if the file <listname>.strip exists, it is the same as specifying a
	# yes value. That yes value is overridden by the value of this
	# keyword.
strip             =   yes

	# subject_prefix     [word] (undef) <resend>
	# This word will be prefixed to the subject line, if it is not already
	# in the subject. The text is expanded before being used. The
	# following expansion tokens are defined: $LIST - the name of the
	# current list, $SENDER - the sender as taken from the from line,
	# $VERSION, the version of majordomo.
subject_prefix    =

	# subscribe_policy   [enum] (open) <majordomo> /open;closed;auto/
	# One of 3 possible values: open, closed, auto.  Open allows people to
	# subscribe themselves to the list. Auto allows anybody to subscribe
	# anybody to the list without maintainer approval. The existence of
	# the file <listname>.auto is the same as specifying the value auto.
	# Closed requires maintainer approval for all subscribe requests to
	# the list. In addition to the keyword, if the file <listname>.closed
	# exists, it is the same as specifying the value closed. The value of
	# this keyword overrides the value supplied by any existent files.
subscribe_policy  =

Administrivia checks for words in the message subjet such as subscribe, unsubscribe, help, RCPT and several combinations of other words. The first 5 lines of the message body are also searched for delete me, remove me, help, change address, subscribe and unsubscribe. Using administrivia can be a double-edged sword. If you get a lot of mail from Majordomo with a subject like "BOUNCE listname@bga.com: Admin request" which turn out to be legitimate posts, you may want to consider disabling administrivia.

In addition to digest triggering, maxlength determines the maximum size of a post to a list. Posts over this size will be bounced to the list administrator for action. For digests are sent out on a calendar basis, maxlength may be set quite large, in which case the digest-send command placed in the system crontab takes precedence unless the accumulated material for digesting exceeds maxlength bytes before the digesting period has elapsed.

The no_who config option was added by Real/Time to support ezines and other lists for which the list of subscribers must remain private, even from list subscribers. Majordomo "out of the box" does not support this option.

The reply_to config option is critial in determining the default behaviour of users' mailers when they select the reply function. Most lists administrators will want to set this to the address of the list. Setting this to "$SENDER" will cause a simple reply to be addressed to the original poster rather than to the list.

If a list has a registered domain name other than bga.com this name may be set here and included in the appropriate places in mail headers in place of bga.com.

Setting restrict_post to the fully qualified path name of the list file will prevent the general Internet public from posting to a list and attempted posts will be returned to the sender with an error message. For lists which constitute strictly private discussion groups, setting this variable is important. The full path to a list with name listname would be specificd as:

/var/local/majordomo/lists/listname

Use of restrict_post is also recommended for ezine publishers and others who need to use a list as a one-way means of distributing information and wish to keep others from using the list for the same purpose. In this case, the list administrator will wish to set restrict_post to the fully qualified path name of a file in his or her home directory containing a list of email addresses to which permission to post to the list should be granted. For example, user fmouse who administers the list cyberpluckers might create a file in his home directory called cyberpluckers.posters containing the email addresses of everyone who has permission to post to the cyberpluckers list. fmouse would set restrict_post to

/home1/f/fmouse/cyberpluckers.posters