This document is actually about our mailing lists, but here are a few other links:

• Diagram of mail traffic through puremsg/beta/mail (circa 2006)
• Current user documentation - (Old Documentation)
  
• mail.phas.ubc.ca
• Mailing Lists:    SmartList    MailMan    Include Files
• Aliases File
  

• User documentation on the main departmental lists is available on our secure site under Directory -> Email Lists.
• All lists are maintained on mail.phas.ubc.ca.
• Most departmental lists are handled by the SmartList software.
• The Events list and most user lists are handled by the MailMan software.
• Some user lists are simply include files in /etc/aliases.
• Look in /etc/aliases to find out whether a particular list is SmartList, MailMan or an include file.

1. SmartList Lists:
   
   • References: SmartList is part of the ProcMail package. There's a Manual in /mail/slist/.etc/Manual Here's the online version.
   • Location: /mail/slist
     - there is directory for each list (dist file contains actual list addresses - accept file contains allowed poster addresses)
     - administrative directories are hidden (ie. .bin, .etc, .examples, .local)
   • Strengths:
     - lists are stored in plain text files, so we can write scripts to help maintain them (eg. compare them to files generated from databases maintained by non-technical staff. See Department Lists notes below.
     - able to modify the Bourne shell scripts to expand any list names on the allowed poster list (accept file) and treat all local domains (astro/phas/physics) as synonymous for accept check. See "Local Mods" notes below.
   • Creation/Deletion:
     - .bin/createlist {listname} list-admin@phas.ubc.ca and .bin/removelist {listname} (Don't forget to add/delete appropriate entries to /etc/aliases (see Alias Setup Notes below)
     - .local/make.CLOSED {listname} (to create a list like the everyone, student lists, ie. accept file can contain a list name, phas/physics/astro are synonymous, no subscribe/unsubscribe allowed). See "Local Mods" notes below.
   • Local Mods:
     - See local changes to SmartList in /mail/slist/.local directory. In particular look at the 00PHAS file. 
   • Department Lists: (lists described on secure site: https://secure.phas.ubc.ca/directory/lists.php )
     - Scripts that create or help maintain these lists are located in mail:/opt/sysadmin/:
     • passwd/check_lists.pl,check_grads.pl - Daily scripts to check faculty/staff/postdocs/others/adj-assoc, grads lists against the contents of the dept. directory, grad student databases.
       These scripts send email notifications of discrepancies to slist-admin.  NOTE: The various components of "everyone" are maintained by hand based on these notifications.
     • passwd/check_sessionals.pl - Monthly script to compare sessionals list with Brownie Point System (BPS).  Sends email notification to hr and cew.
       
     • slist/eplists.pl - Daily script to generate the ep* lists from the mail:/home/office/lists/ep* files dumped from EngPhys MS-Access database (maintained by Eileen).  List location: /mail/slist/ep*/dist
     • slist/palists.pl - Daily script to generate the pa* lists from the PHAS_programs.csv SIS file (weekly download to /home/regi/).  List location: /mail/slist/pa*/dist
     • slist/sessionals.pl - Daily script to generate the sessionals list from department directory (maintained by HR).
2. MailMan Lists:
   

   On May 16, 2014 all mailman lists were moved from mail.phas.ubc.ca to listserver.phas.ubc.ca

   Mailman lists web interface: https://listserver.phas.ubc.ca/mailman/listinfo
   For unadvertised lists, add the list name, for example: https://listserver.phas.ubc.ca/mailman/listinfo/arpes

   Mailman lists are implemented as regular mail aliases ( /etc/aliases) pointing to the program /usr/lib/mailman/mail/mailman/ with 2 arguements: the particular task, & the name of the list. A related set of aliases give access to all the available tasks.

   On mail.phas.ubc.ca we need the following aliases setup:

   rexs:              rexs@listserver.phas.ubc.ca
   rexs-admin:        rexs-admin@listserver.phas.ubc.ca
   rexs-bounces:      rexs-bounces@listserver.phas.ubc.ca
   rexs-confirm:      rexs-confirm@listserver.phas.ubc.ca
   rexs-join:         rexs-join@listserver.phas.ubc.ca
   rexs-leave:        rexs-leave@listserver.phas.ubc.ca
   rexs-owner:        rexs-owner@listserver.phas.ubc.ca
   rexs-request:      rexs-request@listserver.phas.ubc.ca
   rexs-subscribe:    rexs-subscribe@listserver.phas.ubc.ca
   rexs-unsubscribe:  rexs-unsubscribe@listserver.phas.ubc.ca

   On listserver.phas.ubc.ca we need the real aliases setup:

   ## rexs mailing list (Giorgio Levy)
   rexs:              "|/usr/lib/mailman/mail/mailman post rexs"
   rexs-admin:        "|/usr/lib/mailman/mail/mailman admin rexs"
   rexs-bounces:      "|/usr/lib/mailman/mail/mailman bounces rexs"
   rexs-confirm:      "|/usr/lib/mailman/mail/mailman confirm rexs"
   rexs-join:         "|/usr/lib/mailman/mail/mailman join rexs"
   rexs-leave:        "|/usr/lib/mailman/mail/mailman leave rexs"
   rexs-owner:        "|/usr/lib/mailman/mail/mailman owner rexs"
   rexs-request:      "|/usr/lib/mailman/mail/mailman request rexs"
   rexs-subscribe:    "|/usr/lib/mailman/mail/mailman subscribe rexs"
   rexs-unsubscribe:  "|/usr/lib/mailman/mail/mailman unsubscribe rexs"

   An appropriate snippet for inclusion into /opt/sysadmin/aliases/realaliases can be made with a perl script /opt/sysadmin/aliases/mk-mm-list-aliases as:

   /opt/sysadmin/aliases/mk-mm-list-aliases listname "List Owner"
   

   • References: Here's the Official Mailman Site.
   • Lists location: listserver:/var/lib/mailman/lists
     - the actual lists are in separate directories under the /var/lib/mailman/lists directory.
     - admin scripts are in the /usr/lib/mailman/bin directory.
     - to see the addresses on a list: /usr/lib/mailman/bin/list_members {listname}
   • Strengths:
     - list administrators can manage their lists via a web page
     - there are many ways to configure a list, including self-subscribe/unsubscribe, restricting posting, digests, etc.
   • Creation/Deletion:
     

     One can manage the lists through the webform listserver.phas.ubc.ca/mailman and logging in with the master password.

     - creation: cd /usr/lib/mailman/
     - creation: ./bin/newlist {listname} (you will be prompted to enter the email address of the list administrator);
     - deletion: ./bin/rmlist {listname}
     - in either case, don't forget to add/delete appropriate entries to /etc/aliases (see Alias Setup Notes below).
     - to configure a list go to: http://listserver.phas.ubc.ca/mailman/admin/{listname} You can use the Mailman admin password to get to any list's administration page.
   • Local Mods: By default new lists should have the following options set:
     • Privacy options: "Advertise this list when people ask what lists are on this machine?" No
     • Archiving options: "Archive messages?" No
     • 2013-05-06: These defaults were found *NOT* to be set, so reset by adding the following lines to /mail/mailman/config/Mailman/mm_cfg.py:
       • DEFAULT_LIST_ADVERTISED = No
       • DEFAULT_ARCHIVE = Off
     • There are many configuration options and it will depend on how the list is going to be used. Do they want people to self-subscribe/unsubscribe? Who can post to the list? Who can view the list members? When it doubt, check an existing list.
3. Alias Include Files:
   
   • References: your friendly, neighbourhood O'Reilly sendmail BatBook.
   • Location: Lists are kept in a lists sub-directory of users' mail home directories (by convention).
   • Strengths:
     - this is the simplest way to maintain a list if the administrator is comfortable editing a file on physics.ubc.ca, doesn't require any fancy options and if the list name isn't so obvious that spammers will guess it.
   • Creation:
     - tell user to create a file in their /mail/$HOME/lists directory (eg. mylist.list) with one address per line. The file needs to be world-readable.
     - add a line of the form \"mylist: :include:/home/map/lists/mylist.list\" to /etc/aliases (see Alias Setup Notes below).
   • Local Mods: None really, except the convention that lists are kept in a sub-directory of home directories called \"lists\".
4. Alias Files:
   aliases can also be a file name. This came up as a solution to a request from Matthews regarding a uncoming conference that he was hosting. Part of the request was a mailing list for the conference participants: an include file in his lists file space. But also he wanted a reply email which was not his -- so forwarding a reply alias to a file avoids the creation of a psuedo-user.

   In the alias file create the alias as
   testfile: /mail/home/grieve/TestAliasFile
   (see Alias Setup Notes below) then create the with group ownership of "mail" & group write permission
   [grieve@mail ~]$ ls -l TestAliasFile -rw-rw---- 1 grieve mail 3061 Jul 25 16:59 TestAliasFile
   . Then this "file" can be subscribed to in Thunderbird, for example, & then the mail client can manage the mail. Thunderbird also has the provision for multiple identities, so it simple to reply with the correct "from" address.

Procedure for handling /etc/aliases files on our email server:

All system-wide aliases and email lists are defined on mail. 

To add a new alias (eg. nickname or email list):
- edit: mail:/opt/sysadmin/aliases/realaliases
- run:  mail:/opt/sysadmin/aliases/validaliases.pl 
  (or wait for the cronjob that runs it every 15 min. 6am-6pm)

mail:/opt/sysadmin/aliases/validaliases.pl: 
 - builds new alias files for all servers and if different from previous 
   one will write/copy to appropriate server and run newaliases.

Reasons for maintaining /etc/aliases via a script:
 (1) mail,beta: need to know all valid usernames (ie. combination of /etc/passwd and /etc/aliases)
 (2) server-specific aliases required for certain accounts (eg. root)