Mailman 3 May 2000 - Mailman-Users

Sudden Delivery errors
by Saille Warner Norton May 19, 2000

May 19, 2000

Help! I'm running mailman 1.1 on Linux, and suddenly started encountering several errors, on all my lists. I've been running problem free for 6 months. Can someone help me decipher the following error messages? Error Msg #1: The following text was generated during the delivery attempt: ------ |/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/mail/wrapper post cbcell ------ Traceback (innermost last): File "/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/scripts/contact_transport", line 66, in ? Utils.TrySMTPDelivery(to_addrs, from_addr, text, queue_id) File "/disk2/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/Mailman/Utils.py", line 222, in TrySMTPDelivery from Mailman.pythonlib import smtplib File "/disk2/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/Mailman/pythonlib/smtplib.py", line 45, in ? import rfc822 ImportError: No module named rfc822 ------ This is a copy of the message, including all the headers. ------ This message gets through, and is archived. Error Msg #2: The following text was generated during the delivery attempt: ------ |/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/mail/wrapper post tcell ------ Traceback (innermost last): File "/disk2/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/Mailman/Archiver/Archiver.py", line 237, in ArchiveMail h.processUnixMailbox(f, HyperArch.Article) File "/disk2/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/Mailman/Archiver/pipermail.py", line 387, in processUnixMailbox self.add_article(a) # Add the article File "/disk2/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/Mailman/Archiver/HyperArch.py", line 846, in add_article article.subject) File "/disk2/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/Mailman/Archiver/HyperDatabase.py", line 296, in getOldestArticle self.__openIndices(archive) File "/disk2/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/Mailman/Archiver/HyperDatabase.py", line 242, in __openIndices t=DumbBTree(os.path.join(arcdir, archive+'-'+i)) File "/disk2/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/Mailman/Archiver/HyperDatabase.py", line 59, in __init__ self.lock() File "/disk2/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/Mailman/Archiver/HyperDatabase.py", line 75, in lock self.lockfile.lock() File "/disk2/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/Mailman/LockFile.py", line 245, in lock os.unlink(self.__tmpfname) OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/domains/reweaving.org/mailman/archives/private/tcell/database/2000-May-date.lock.blueness.alife.org.17995' ------ This is a copy of the message, including all the headers. ------ This message gets through, but is not archived. Another SA moved my mailman directories to a different disk. I'm not sure how this could cause these errors. I have recompiled the source, but that didn't fix the problem. I'm not aware of any other system changes. Ideas? Thanks ahead of time for the help! Saille

2 1

Re: [Mailman-Users] Installation/permission troubles..
by David Smead May 18, 2000

May 18, 2000

Here's where my systems has paths. /home/mailman/bin/paths.py /home/mailman/bin/paths.pyc /home/mailman/scripts/paths.py /home/mailman/cron/paths.py /home/mailman/cron/paths.pyc Sincerely, David Smead http://www.amplepower.com. http://www.ampletech.com. On Thu, 18 May 100, Chad Day wrote: > This is with the 2.0 beta.. > > >From my httpd.conf: > > <VirtualHost 208.246.80.201> > ServerAdmin cday(a)beachassociates.com > DocumentRoot /home/cday/public_html > ServerName www.online-leagues.com > ErrorLog /home/cday/error_log > CustomLog /home/cday/access_log common > ScriptAlias /mailman/ /home/mailman/cgi-bin/ > Alias /pipermail/ /home/mailman/archives/public/ > </VirtualHost> > > > Check_perms: > > [root@vw2 mailman-2.0beta2]# bin/check_perms > Traceback (innermost last): > File "bin/check_perms", line 35, in ? > import paths > ImportError: No module named paths > > > and my apache error_log.. > > [Thu May 18 16:08:48 2000] [error] [client 24.28.207.66] Directory index forbidden by rule: /home/mailman/archives/public/ > [Thu May 18 16:09:35 2000] [error] [client 24.28.207.66] Directory index forbidden by rule: /home/mailman/archives/public/ > [Thu May 18 16:09:44 2000] [error] [client 24.28.207.66] attempt to invoke directory as script: /home/mailman/cgi-bin > [Thu May 18 16:09:57 2000] [error] [client 24.28.207.66] Directory index forbidden by rule: /home/mailman/archives/public/ > > > Any ideas? I'm totally stuck :( > > Chad > > > ------------------------------------------------------ > Mailman-Users maillist - Mailman-Users(a)python.org > http://www.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-users >

1 0

adding users to a private list with no confirmation..
by Francisco Hernandez May 18, 2000

May 18, 2000

ive got a list of several thousand emails.. i need to send.. i installed mailman and its working.. but then in the Privacy Options menu it lists What steps are required for subscription? it says i *need* a confirmation.. how could i add members to a list.. but not have to make them confirm the addition to the list.. and no this isnt spam.. these emails came from a webpage where they request newsletters. any help is greatly appreciated

2 1

Can't change any list options!?
by Michael Tokarev May 18, 2000

May 18, 2000

Hello! I'm new to mailman. And, as usual for this king of expirience, encountered a problem with it. List is set up, mailings to it are successeful (subscribe/unsubscribe/post). But www interface is not working. When I try to access http://myhost/cgi-bin/admin/listname, it correctly asks me for a password, then sets cookie and display a page. I can change any value, but when I press submit, it again asks me for a password and display original page with original values. I noted a new files in lists/listname: config.db owned by nobody (www user) group mailman config.db.last owned by root (as I created new list) group mailman This is binary file and I can edit some fields within it using binary editor, but this is way ugly to do so... What can be wrong? Thanks in advise. Regards, Michael. P.S. Is there any info on virtual host setup? I want to run some lists with the same name on different domains on the same machine -- is it possible?

1 0

Fwd: Errors in Mailman list
by Christopher Kolar May 18, 2000

May 18, 2000

>Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 15:09:07 -0300 >From: Daniel Neto <danielneto(a)zaz.com.br> >X-Mailer: The Bat! (v1.42c) Educational >Reply-To: Daniel Neto <danielneto(a)zaz.com.br> >To: ckolar(a)aurora.edu >Subject: Errors in Mailman list > >Chris, > > I'm running your product (Mailman-2.0beta2) and I got the > following problem while creating a new list: > > > =================[ BEGIN OF CREATING A NEW LIST ]================= > >[mailman@srv12-vix mailman]$ bin/newlist teste >Enter the email of the person running the list: dneto(a)vix.zaz.com.br >Initial teste password: > >Entry for aliases file: > >## teste mailing list >## created: 18-May-2000 mailman >teste: "|/home/mailman/mail/wrapper post teste" >teste-admin: "|/home/mailman/mail/wrapper mailowner teste" >teste-request: "|/home/mailman/mail/wrapper mailcmd teste" >teste-owner: teste-admin > >Hit enter to continue with teste owner notification... > >Traceback (innermost last): > File "bin/newlist", line 154, in ? > main(sys.argv) > File "bin/newlist", line 148, in main > HandlerAPI.DeliverToUser(mlist, msg) > File "/home/mailman/Mailman/Handlers/HandlerAPI.py", line 82, in > DeliverToUser > pipeline_delivery(mlist, msg, pipeline) > File "/home/mailman/Mailman/Handlers/HandlerAPI.py", line 37, in > pipeline_deli >very > func(mlist, msg) > File "/home/mailman/Mailman/Handlers/Replybot.py", line 37, in process > toadmin = getattr(msg, 'toadmin', 0) >TypeError: getattr requires exactly 2 arguments; 3 given > > =================[ END OF CREATING A NEW LIST ]================= > > How can I fix this? > > In time: I'm running Python-1.6a2 (compiled in /usr/local/bin), > Linux 2.2.10 #8 on a i686, 128Mb RAM, only 28% used on a 4Gb hard > disk. > > Thanks a lot > Daniel Neto > danielneto(a)zaz.com.br > > PS: Please, if it ain't you, forward the message to the person I > can have a help! Please this is urgent!

2 1

Re: [Mailman-Users] mailman-2.0beta2 and sendmail
by Philip Goisman May 18, 2000

May 18, 2000

Thanks to hknief(a)auctionwatch.com, smead(a)amplepower.com, and the mailman-2.0beta2 install instructions, I've got mailman working. I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't fully read the install instructions. Thanks again to those who answered. Now I need to determine how to point the aliases from other platforms to the platform on which mailman exists. Does anyone know of any man pages, info sections, or other documentation concerning the executables and their options in ~mailman/bin? Philip

2 1

Mailman and Exim
by Graham Lillico May 18, 2000

May 18, 2000

H, I ahve installed the latest copy of mailman and I have got everything else working apart from this little problem. When I send a confirming email to test-request(a)linux1.grez.org I get the following email returned. This message was created automatically by mail delivery software. A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its recipients. The following address(es) failed: test-request(a)linux1.grez.org: Child process of list_request_transport transport returned 2 from command: /home/users/m/mailman/mail/wrapper I have read the exim and mailman howto and trawled through the documents but to noavail. Does anyone have any idea what the problem is here? Regards Grez _______________________________________________________ Get 100% FREE Internet Access powered by Excite Visit http://freelane.excite.com/freeisp

2 1

getattr
by Roland Krause May 18, 2000

May 18, 2000

Hi, has someone experience with following error which occurs when I use new_list on a SunOS 5.5.1: . . . Hit enter to continue with raburabu owner notification... Traceback (innermost last): File "/user/mailman/bin/newlist", line 154, in ? main(sys.argv) File "/user/mailman/bin/newlist", line 148, in main HandlerAPI.DeliverToUser(mlist, msg) File "/user/mailman/Mailman/Handlers/HandlerAPI.py", line 82, in DeliverToUser pipeline_delivery(mlist, msg, pipeline) File "/user/mailman/Mailman/Handlers/HandlerAPI.py", line 37, in pipeline_delivery func(mlist, msg) File "/user/mailman/Mailman/Handlers/Replybot.py", line 37, in process toadmin = getattr(msg, 'toadmin', 0) TypeError: getattr requires exactly 2 arguments; 3 given Thank you. ----------------------+---------------------- Roland.Krause(a)amd.com | Roland.Krause(a)gmx.net Senior CAD Systems Engineer Advanced Micro Devices, Dresden Voice: (351) 277-6047 | FAX: (351) 277-96047 ----------------------+----------------------

1 0

Some notes on mailman...
by Chuq Von Rospach May 18, 2000

May 18, 2000

Hope folks find this useful. I've been evaluating list systems for the last, oh, god knows how long, looking to see how to bring my list systems up to date and replacing my existing (and heavily, heavily hacked) majordomo systems. This is the evaluation I've just written to send to my list admins and other people I need to convince/educate about this upgrade, outlining what I see as the improvements from MJ, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of Mailman (based on 2.0b2). If any of this is wrong, please feel free to let me know. and if any of this is unclear, I'll be happy to try to explain further. chuq ---- Key functionality change list for Majordomo -> Mailman 2.0b2 Here is a list of key functionality changes and new features that we will acquire migrating to MailMan, as well the weaknesses or missing features I've identified. Changes/improvements: 1) MIME support -- allows posting of mime-based messages, including attachments, multipart/alternative and HTML/styled text. 2) Integrated web-based subscription interface -- allows a user to subscribe and modify subscriptions via the web with a system integrated into the list server (my current system is a bag grafted onto the side of the computer...). 3) Nomail (vacation) mode (turn off mail w/o unsubscribing), allowing users to turn off deliveries without unsubscribing and losing all of their subscription option settings. 4) MIME-digests as well as plain digests. 5) consolidated subscriber interface for a user, allowing them to look at all of their subscriptions and manage them from a single web page. 6) integrated web-based archives, and automated downloadable text versions of archives. 7) support for virtual domains (fred(a)hockeyfanz.com, babble(a)chuqui.com...) 8) moderator and admin messages go to the list owners for processing (and approvals via the admin web site). 9) better moderator/posting/spam protection for lists. 10) owner/moderators have more control over their lists via admin web site. 11) ability to define trolls who require moderation, without making the list moderated. 12) owner/moderator gets emailed any time a message requiring approval is received. 13) integrated bounce processing system. 14) significantly simplified list creation and management (especially since pretty much everything is now integrated...) 15) supports List-ID proposed standard <http://www.within.com/~chandhok/ietf/listid.shtml>. 16) much better mail loop detection and nuking. Weaknesses/bugs/missing features: 1) No way to limit MIME content other than file size: opens us to some potential problems such as viruses or "active" attachments. Priority: high. Resolution: can be handled with a scripted front end (as I do with majordomo today), or by patching the code to add a trap into moderator approval using the existing mechanism. Workaround: leaving the message size limit ~20K limits the ability to pass around anything meaningfully nasty. I would really like to be able to limit the types of data passed via MIME, however, to known/safe data types. 2) No way to force plain-text only. This is a MIME-capable server. Priority: low (basically, text-only is dead. This will upset a small minority of users, but it's true. The question is how to best manage MIME content, not to reject it. If we have a case that requires plain-text, there are de-mime scripts that can front-end the server address and strip a MIME message to the text part. 3) no centralized "majordomo@" type subscription account. Each list has its own subscription/admin address. Priority: low. and this enables easy virtual hosting. Frankly, just not a big issue any more, since ther's a mass migration to web interfaces anyway, and this is simply a documentation issue.... 3) no -subscribe or -unsubscribe address. Priority: low. Majordomo didn't do that, either, it was all my custom scripting. I can add that in again. 4) Does not support list-XXX headers (RFC 2369). Priority: medium. Workaround: can probably be added to system. 5) web archives have no search engine (on the project TODO list). Priority: medium. Workaround: continue the existing system storing digests on a public site, indexed with htDig. 6) plain digests don't hande MIME stuff too cleanly. Priority: medium. Workaround: none (the answer is probably to add the ability to de-MIME to the MLM, and then allow yet another option to all of this, a no-MIME option. So users can choose message/digest, MIME/plain in either mode, and plain implies messages get de-mimed before delivery. 7) archives don't cleanly integrate MIME stuff. Priority: medium. workaround: none (the answer is probably to have the web archives recognize enhanced content, store copies of attachments so they're available by HTTP, integrate HTML into the archive, and -- and, well, easier said than done. But the "right" thing is to present data as it was sent out, which means decoding and processing all of this in appropriate ways... ) 8) documentation and code issues: it's beta. It has features that aren't there yet, and documentation is incomplete and needs cleanup. Priority: low. workaround: Not a big deal, except for (1) above. Everything else I care about is either already far ahead of what we have or not that significant. 9) web site customization: needs web-based templatization. Priority: low. (optimally, every bloody thing can be changed via a web interface, so once it's installed, yo never need to visit the code base or MLM directory in a shell ever again. Easier said than done...) 10) doesn't VERP, or encode subscribed address into the message (ought to be available for header/footer, encoded into envelope, and/or X-sent-to: address, and if reply-to is not set to list, used as the "To:" address instead of the list...) 11) the user "conceal address" stuff is confusing. By default, list addresses are not publically available (as selected in the privacy options page in the admin web site) -- but the default for the user is to make it public. For users who understand what this means, this is going to create concern and confusion. The user-visible "conceal" value should track the list value. Or better yet, use two values: non-visible (which overrides the list default if the list is open) and list-default (trust the list admin), with the default being list-default. That way, at least, it's clear what's happening. And for any user set to "list-default", if that default changes to open, they should be sent an email telling them, and explaining how to change it if they wish. 12) there is no way for the installation admin to "lock" values so the list admins and moderators can't change them. For instance, things like reply-to, headers or footers, etc, may need to be standardized in some installations. The system doesn't allow for site-wide standards to be created and enforced by the site admin -- you need to enable a list admin's ability to manage their list, but the site-admin needs to be the ultimate authority on what the list admin can and can't tweak. In some installations, list admins aren't going to be allowed access to the admin pages for this reason... The only weaknesses I see to the system are: 1) no configurable way to manage MIME content: given the recent ILOVEYOU virus, this ought to be a key, top priority. Allowing MIME/plain delivery as well as installation- and list-based restrictions on MIME content are crucial to protect users and the list. By default (IMHO), only "safe", non-active content should be allowed through a MLM, and anything else rejected or held for approval. Opening to MIME is good. Opening to MIME without restriction (other than file size) isn't. Also, an option to hold for approval or auto-reject this stuff (with explanation) would be nice. 2) It's in Python: but I guess it's time to learn a new programming language... 3) lack of RFC2369 support, and lack of -subscribe and -unsubscribe addresses. I'm surprised that List-ID is in the code, but 2369 isn't. It needs to be. Overall evaluation: A huge step forward from the current system. Beta code seems very stable -- and the glitches can be lived with. Easily integrates about 95% of the custom hacking I've written around majordomo over the years, and allows me to give a lot more power and capability to the list owners without me having to manually go in and tweak stuff for them. Adds MIME-digests and MIME/HTML capabilities, which will honk off some users, but MIME and HTML are rapidly mainstreaming into discussion systems, and more and more users have huge problems trying to send non-MIME messages (at the least, some way to de-MIME stuff is necessary, and I think full MIME support is leading edge in mailing lists, but far from bleeding edge.) Having worked with it for about a week and run it through it's paces, I feel that the system is capable of going production with 2.0b2, giving us the upgrade we desperately need -- and as the development continues to 2.0 release, it'll continue to improve and refine. I'm therefore committing to standardizing on mailman as the server to replace my majordomo systems. -- Chuq Von Rospach - Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:chuqui@plaidworks.com) Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:chuq@apple.com) And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar and say 'Man, what are you doing here?'"

5 7

hostname vs. domain name in "-request" addresses
by Sheryl Weidner May 18, 2000

May 18, 2000

Hello folks, My apologies in advance if this is a simple and already-answered question. I'm relatively new to running Mailman; we have it up and running on a machine that is actually not the same machine as the mailserver for the domain in which the lists reside (so that the addresses of the lists are list(a)lists.domain.com rather than list(a)domain.com). We have everything working correctly except the list-request autoresponses sent out when a user needs to reply to the request address for confirmation - they show up as 'list-request(a)domain.com'. All of the entries in Defaults.py and mm_cfg.py refer to the default hostname correctly as the full name of the machine. I can't find any other references to the domain that don't include the machine name. While we could just alias "list-request" on the domain's default mail server to point back to the correct address on the listserver, this is obviously not optimal (in my case I manage the web & list servers, but not the mail server). Am I missing something obvious? Details: Mailman 2.0b2 RedHat 6.2 w/default sendmail install Thanks! Sheryl

1 0