Mailman 3 December 2002 - Mailman-Users

UPGRADING continued...
by Jacek Wojaczynski Dec. 29, 2002

Dec. 29, 2002

Hi everybody! I'm a Linux newbie... (well... that is why probably I have some problems with upgrading). Now I have a running Mailman installation for my list with > 600 subscribers. It works fine... and I'm a little bit scared about this upgrade if things go wrong... My current version is: # rpm -q mailman mailman-2.0.13-5 I did not install it from source but automatically, using poldek (it's sth similar to apt-get). My directory structure looks now like this (Mailman 2.0): /var/spool/mailman: /archives /data /filters /lists /locks /logs /qfiles /spam /var/lib/mailman: /Mailman /bin /cron /icons /scripts /templates /usr/lib/mailman /cgi-bin /mail /usr/share/doc/mailman-2.0.13 In /etc/httpd/httpd.conf I have: ScriptAlias /mailman/ "/usr/lib/mailman/cgi-bin/" Alias /pipermail/ "/var/spool/mailman/archives/public/" ... and I have those standard cron entries. That's it. Everything done as desribed in MM2.0 INSTALL file. Works great. OK. What I'd like to do is upgrade to 2.1rc1. What would be the best upgrade strategy? Download the source or wait for stable release and install it with poldek? Hmmm... I can always wait, but I don't want to wait. :-) So, I downloaded the source. I did ./configure and "make install". Now I have two installations together. One (2.0) still working and the second one (2.1) compiled, installed and waiting... Mailman 2.1 has its all files in: /usr/local/mailman OK. So far so good... Time for the real upgrade. Is it really so simple? I don't think so... I started reading: ~/mailman-2.1rc1/UPGRADING I read it once, twice.... three times and still have some doubts. Let's see: UPGRADING FROM 2.0.x to 2.1 In Mailman 2.1, the qrunner subsystem has been completely rewritten. You no longer start qrunner from cron! Instead, there is a bin/mailmanctl script which is used to start, stop, and restart mail delivery. This script is appropriate to use as a Unix init script. Be sure to update your crontab with the new cron/crontab.in file. Hm... should I delete my cron entries for qrunner? What does it mean "Be sure to update your crontab with the new cron/crontab.in file."? Remove all entries that contain qrunner?? Will my old MM2.0 still work after removing those crontab entries? Damn! I want to get rid of MM20... I want a working 2.1 :-) OK... I have nothing in /qfiles so I skip to another point: NOTE: When upgrading to Mailman 2.1beta1, you will need to regenerate your aliases files. There have been many changes to the alias names, the programs they map to, and the name of the wrapper script. See README.<yourMTA> for details of making Mailman work with your mail server. Yeah, regenerate aliases... fine. But my new MM2.1 has no lists so far. I did not move any files... I think that regenerating aliases works for existing lists... maybe I'm missing something. Let's skip to another point: UPGRADING INDIVIDUAL LISTS If you're nervous about upgrading all of your lists to 2.1 in one go, you can move them and upgrade them one at a time. Start by doing a clean Mailman 2.1 installation in an empty directory -- call it $MM21. (I'll assume your Mailman 2.0 installation is in $MM20.) Oh, yeah! I'm nervous about upgrading one of my lists to 2.1. :) I did a clean MM2.1 installation. I don't know which is mine $MM20 installation directory. $MM20: /var/spool/mailman: /var/lib/mailman: /usr/lib/mailman /usr/share/doc/mailman-2.0.13 $MM21: /usr/local/mailman If you use Apache with mod_rewrite, then it's fairly straightforward to set things up so that both Mailman 2.0 and 2.1 inhabit the /mailman and /pipermail URL-space of your server; this makes the transition almost transparent to list admins and subscribers. See below for details. OK. I'm using Apache... possibly with mod_rewrite (hope so!) :-) Do I really need both MM2.0 and MM2.1 inhabit /mailman and /pipermail URL-space? I just want to move my list to 2.1 and forget about 2.0 as quick as possible... * Shut down your MTA. * Shut down your web server. * Force Mailman 2.0 to process its queue No problems with that... I can shutdown postfix. I can shutdown Apache. No files in /var/spool/mailman/qfiles. Good. * Move the list: cd $MM20 mv -i lists/foo-list $MM21/lists mv -i archives/private/foo-list $MM21/archives/private mv -i archives/private/foo-list.mbox $MM21/archives/private rm archives/public/foo-list rm archives/public/foo-list.mbox cd $MM21 bin/withlist -l -r fix_url mylist (The fix_url step will not be necessary if your Mailman 2.0 and 2.1 installations will be sharing the same URL-space.) OK. I can move everything from /var/spool/mailman/archives/private/ to /usr/local/mailman/archives/private/ I can go to /usr/local/mailman/bin and type "withlist -l -r fix_url listname" - but I don't think I need that... Or maybe? Well... I have no idea. What does it mean to share same URL-space? * Edit your web server config so the list's URLs continue to work. Well to be honest I don't understand this one... Let's look closer to some strange-looking rule for my httpd.conf: RewriteRule ^/mailman/(.*)/(foo-list.*) \ $MM21/cgi-bin/$1/$2 \ [T=application/x-httpd-cgi] Wow! Looks nice :) I have no idea what does it do... Anyway - I put it in my httpd.conf file... and my Apache didn't want to start anymore. Of course I changed $MM21 with /usr/local/mailman. Should I also change "$1" and "$2" with something? What is going on here?? We're coming to the end of the UPGRADING file: In either case, you'll want to rewrite the list's archive URLs to Mailman 2.1's archive: RewriteRule ^/pipermail/(foo-list.*) $MM21/archives/public/$1 OK... I'm just wondering why is it done that way? Can't I simply change a line in my httpd.conf: Alias /pipermail/ "/var/spool/mailman/archives/public/" with: Alias /pipermail/ "/usr/local/mailman/archives/public/" OK. I don't know. I'm just asking... I'm just curious... * Restart your web server (or disable the "temporarily unavailable" stuff). * Restart your MTA (or make it listen to more than just 127.0.0.1). Well that's a piece of cake... Anyone still with me? :-) Anyone can put some light on it? Why do I need an upgrade so fast? Because I need (and find it very useful) internationalization. Mailman 2.1 is multilingual. I wanted to help with polish translation, but I can't do it right if I'm working with an old MM2.0. I need a working MM2.1 to do this. Any help would be appreciated. -- kocurek

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Error running ./configure
by Feng Jeffrey Dec. 29, 2002

Dec. 29, 2002

I'm trying to install mailman onto FreeBSD. When I ran ./configure, I received the following message: checking for CGI extensions... no host info not found, set $MAILHOST and/or $WWWHOST environ vars $MAILHOST=None, $WWWHOST=None When I tried to issue "make install", I got the message: make: don't know how to make install. Stop Does this mean that the installation failed? What should I to fix the problem? Thank you in advance. Jeffrey ********************************************************************** Jeffrey Y. Feng Associate Director Computing Services Whittier College Email: yfeng(a)whittier.edu Tel: (562) 907-4287 Fax: (562) 907-4987 **********************************************************************

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upgrade problem
by Greg Westin Dec. 29, 2002

Dec. 29, 2002

> This probably means that you are trying to run check_perms from the source > directory. You must run this from the installation directory instead. Did you try doing what it suggests here? Greg --- greg(a)gregwestin.com http://www.gregwestin.com/ Contact info: http://www.gregwestin.com/contact.php

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Re: upgrade problem
by Paul H Byerly Dec. 29, 2002

Dec. 29, 2002

At 12:22 PM 12/25/2002, you wrote: >When I tried to upgrade to 2.1rc1 I had the following problem: > >[root@kocurek mailman-2.1rc1]# cd /usr/local/mailman/bin/ >[root@kocurek bin]# ./check_perms >Could not import paths! > >This probably means that you are trying to run check_perms from the source >directory. You must run this from the installation directory instead. > >Traceback (most recent call last): > File "./check_perms", line 38, in ? > import paths > File "./paths.py", line 55, in ? > import japanese >ImportError: No module named japanese I belive this is a python error. Are you running at least Python 2.1? <>< Paul

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FW: [Mailman-Users] can't resolve "smrsh: mailman not available for sendmail programs" issue
by Keith Steward Dec. 29, 2002

Dec. 29, 2002

Danny, I had it that way (i.e. "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman post test1" in the /etc/aliases) before, and then tried the "|/etc/smrsh/mailman post test1", as indicated in the Mailman INSTALL doc. Both gave the "smrsh: mailman not available for sendmail" error. thanks Keith -----Original Message----- From: Danny Terweij [mailto:danny@terweij.nl] Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2002 2:13 PM To: Keith Steward; mailman-users(a)python.org; mailman-developers(a)python.org Subject: Re: [Mailman-Users] can't resolve "smrsh: mailman not available for sendmail programs" issue |From: Keith Steward |Arghhhh!!! |After several attempts to get Mailman installed (including stable 2.0 final, and newest 2.1rc1), and hitting unresolvable "smrsh: |mailman not available for sendmail programs" issues (despite trying numerous things), i'm just about ready to give up. |The /etc/aliases includes: |## test1 mailing list |test1: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman post test1" |test1-admin: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman admin test1" |test1-bounces: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman bounces test1" |test1-confirm: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman confirm test1" |test1-join: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman join test1" |test1-leave: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman leave test1" |test1-owner: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman owner test1" |test1-request: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman request test1" |test1-subscribe: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman subscribe test1" |test1-unsubscribe: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman unsubscribe test1" Keith, this above is not good!!!! Must be like : ## poema-test mailing list mailman2.1 poema-test: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman post poema-test" poema-test-admin: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman admin poema-test" poema-test-bounces: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman bounces poema-test" poema-test-confirm: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman confirm poema-test" poema-test-join: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman join poema-test" poema-test-leave: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman leave poema-test" poema-test-owner: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman owner poema-test" poema-test-request: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman request poema-test" poema-test-subscribe: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman subscribe poema-test" poema-test-unsubscribe: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman unsubscribe poema-test" Danny.

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FW: [Mailman-Users] can't resolve "smrsh: mailman not available for sendmail programs" issue
by Keith Steward Dec. 29, 2002

Dec. 29, 2002

Larry, Yes, the /etc/smrsh/ directory contains a symbolic link to the mailman wrapper: ie. /etc/smrsh/mailman -> /usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman I've also tried replacing the symbolic link with a copy of the compiled mailman wrapper executable -- again, still get the same error. Thanks. Keith -- Keith L. Steward, Ph.D. work: 408-957-7777 x300 cell: 408-250-5213 Email: keith(a)BioinformaticsTech.com Web: http://www.BioinformaticsTech.com Pager: http://www.skytel.com/Paging/pageme.cgi?pin=8499479,1 or call 1-888-849-9479 FAX: 408-226-3215 408-40 (call ahead for setup) -----Original Message----- From: Larry Rosenman [mailto:ler@lerctr.org] Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2002 2:08 PM To: Keith Steward; mailman-users(a)python.org; mailman-developers(a)python.org Subject: Re: [Mailman-Users] can't resolve "smrsh: mailman not available for sendmail programs" issue Did you put links to the $MAILMANHOME/mail/mailman program in the CMDDIR directory for your copy of SMRSH? LER --On Sunday, December 29, 2002 13:31:35 -0800 Keith Steward <ksteward(a)keithsteward.com> wrote: > > Arghhhh!!! > > After several attempts to get Mailman installed (including stable 2.0 > final, and newest 2.1rc1), and hitting unresolvable "smrsh: mailman > not available for sendmail programs" issues (despite trying numerous > things), i'm just about ready to give up. I've been able to get > Mailman to send email to a new subscriber asking for confirmation, > and the /var/log/maillog shows the response to the subscriber's > confirmation email, but ALWAYS reporting the damn smrsh > problem: -------- /var/log/maillog segment ------------ > sendmail[30785]: gBTEUjD30785: from=<ksteward(a)keithsteward.com>, > size=2749, class=0, nrcpts=1, > msgid=<!~!UENERkVCMDkAAQACAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgAAAAAAAAAebN2b6Pb1RGjtQJg > jI3 > Ph8KAAAAQAAAAX+S3UuMa1xGjtQAFXc7j, proto=ESMTP, daemon=MTA, > relay=steward-family.com [66.127.210.186] smrsh: uid 8: attempt to > use mailman request test1 > sendmail[30786]: gBTEUjD30785: to="|/etc/smrsh/mailman request > test1", ctladdr=<test1-request(a)justice4injuredworkers.org> (8/0), > delay=00:00:00, xdelay=00:00:00, mailer=prog, pri=31743, dsn=5.0.0, > stat=Service unavailable sendmail[30786]: gBTEUjD30785: gBTEUjD30786: > DSN: Service unavailable sendmail[30786]: gBTEUjD30786: > to=<ksteward(a)keithsteward.com>, delay=00:00:01, xdelay=00:00:01, > mailer=esmtp, pri=31843, relay=keithsteward.com. [66.127.210.186], > dsn=2.0.0, stat=Sent (gBTERt820385 Message accepted for delivery) > ----------- end segment --------------- > > System information: > RedHat 7.2, Sendmail 8.11.6, Python-2.2.2 > The /etc/aliases includes: > ## test1 mailing list > test1: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman post test1" > test1-admin: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman admin test1" > test1-bounces: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman bounces test1" > test1-confirm: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman confirm test1" > test1-join: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman join test1" > test1-leave: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman leave test1" > test1-owner: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman owner test1" > test1-request: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman request test1" > test1-subscribe: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman subscribe test1" > test1-unsubscribe: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman unsubscribe test1" Sendmail > can send and receive successfully from a regular (non-Mailman) account > on the machine running Mailman. newaliases was run after the above > aliases were added. /etc/smrsh contains: > lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 31 Dec 29 05:38 mailman -> > /usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman The permissions on the > /usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman wrapper are: -rwxr-sr-x 1 mailman > mailman 39593 Dec 29 05:16 mailman > > Things i've tried: > > * ./configure --with-mail-gid=mail > * path to mailman wrapper in /etc/aliases as either > '/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman' or '/etc/smrsh/mailman' > * ln -s /etc/smrsh/mailman /usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman > * copying the compiled wrapper (/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman) into > /etc/smrsh * changing uid/gid of the wrapper to mailman, to mail > * by-passing sendmail as a test as in: echo "confirm" | > /etc/smrsh/mailman request test1, only to get mailman complaining about > the gid * by-passing root/sendmail as in: sudo -u mail "test" | > /etc/smrsh/mailman request mailman, only to still get a gid complaint. > * restarting Sendmail daemon and Mailman's qrunner daemon after config > changes. By the way, i've done extensive reading of: > > * Mailman INSTALL > * Mailman README.SENDMAIL > * Mailman README.LINUX > * Sendmails various READMES pertaining to SMRSH etc > * the mailman-developers list archives > At this point, i'm out of ideas on what to try, except to abandon Mailman > and switch to something like Majordomo, etc. And frankly i think i've > run out of time. I've spent several evenings on this already. > Getting any kind of mailing list up and running is more important than > the bells and whistles that Mailman offers. thanks. > > -keith s. > > > -- Larry Rosenman http://www.lerctr.org/~ler Phone: +1 972-414-9812 E-Mail: ler(a)lerctr.org US Mail: 1905 Steamboat Springs Drive, Garland, TX 75044-6749

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highly closed list
by Dave Stern - Former Rocket Scientist Dec. 29, 2002

Dec. 29, 2002

We've set up a number of private lists (only the admin can post or only the admin plus members). Now the admins are complaining about the request for post approval messages from spammers. Is there any way to have non-members messages completely disappear or at worst, get an autoreply saying the list is private? Thanks =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- generated by /dev/dave -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= David Stern University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies

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sync_members errors
by NOW Website Coordinator Dec. 29, 2002

Dec. 29, 2002

I'm using 2.1 and I can't get sync_members to work. I get either: If I use: sync_members -f /home/lists/testing.txt list-name I get: Traceback (most recent call last): File "/usr/local/mailman/bin/sync_members", line 286, in ? main() File "/usr/local/mailman/bin/sync_members", line 258, in main s = email.Utils.formataddr((name, addr)).encode(enc, 'replace') UnboundLocalError: local variable 'enc' referenced before assignment or with different lists: sync_members -f /home/lists/email-test.txt now-test-list Traceback (most recent call last): File "/usr/local/mailman/bin/sync_members", line 286, in ? main() File "/usr/local/mailman/bin/sync_members", line 275, in main name = mlist.getMemberName(laddr) or '' File "/usr/local/mailman/Mailman/OldStyleMemberships.py", line 128, in getMemberName self.__assertIsMember(member) File "/usr/local/mailman/Mailman/OldStyleMemberships.py", line 113, in __assertIsMember raise Errors.NotAMemberError, member Mailman.Errors.NotAMemberError: admin(a)now.org Any help would be appreciated. The format of the first is just one email address per line, the format of the second file is an email address with a space and then a comma. Neither seem to make any changes to the lists. Thanks. Sarah Stapleton-Gray -------------------------------------------- Web Site Coordinator National Organization for Women http://www.now.org

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Attachements?
by Staven Bruce Dec. 29, 2002

Dec. 29, 2002

Hello, I am new to Mailman, and have just set a server running Redhat 8.0 with Mailman 2.1(I Think). We are using teh listserve strictly as a "one way" communication to our clients, distributing a monthly newsletter. I have had several requests to include attachments with these newsletters, word and .pdf docouments, and I was wondering if I can do this with Mailman? Thanks

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can't resolve "smrsh: mailman not available for sendmail programs" issue
by Keith Steward Dec. 29, 2002

Dec. 29, 2002

Arghhhh!!! After several attempts to get Mailman installed (including stable 2.0 final, and newest 2.1rc1), and hitting unresolvable "smrsh: mailman not available for sendmail programs" issues (despite trying numerous things), i'm just about ready to give up. I've been able to get Mailman to send email to a new subscriber asking for confirmation, and the /var/log/maillog shows the response to the subscriber's confirmation email, but ALWAYS reporting the damn smrsh problem: -------- /var/log/maillog segment ------------ sendmail[30785]: gBTEUjD30785: from=<ksteward(a)keithsteward.com>, size=2749, class=0, nrcpts=1, msgid=<!~!UENERkVCMDkAAQACAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgAAAAAAAAAebN2b6Pb1RGjtQJgjI3Ph8KAAAAQAAAAX+S3UuMa1xGjtQAFXc7j, proto=ESMTP, daemon=MTA, relay=steward-family.com [66.127.210.186] smrsh: uid 8: attempt to use mailman request test1 sendmail[30786]: gBTEUjD30785: to="|/etc/smrsh/mailman request test1", ctladdr=<test1-request(a)justice4injuredworkers.org> (8/0), delay=00:00:00, xdelay=00:00:00, mailer=prog, pri=31743, dsn=5.0.0, stat=Service unavailable sendmail[30786]: gBTEUjD30785: gBTEUjD30786: DSN: Service unavailable sendmail[30786]: gBTEUjD30786: to=<ksteward(a)keithsteward.com>, delay=00:00:01, xdelay=00:00:01, mailer=esmtp, pri=31843, relay=keithsteward.com. [66.127.210.186], dsn=2.0.0, stat=Sent (gBTERt820385 Message accepted for delivery) ----------- end segment --------------- *System information:* RedHat 7.2, Sendmail 8.11.6, Python-2.2.2 The /etc/aliases includes: ## test1 mailing list test1: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman post test1" test1-admin: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman admin test1" test1-bounces: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman bounces test1" test1-confirm: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman confirm test1" test1-join: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman join test1" test1-leave: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman leave test1" test1-owner: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman owner test1" test1-request: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman request test1" test1-subscribe: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman subscribe test1" test1-unsubscribe: "|/etc/smrsh/mailman unsubscribe test1" Sendmail can send and receive successfully from a regular (non-Mailman) account on the machine running Mailman. newaliases was run after the above aliases were added. /etc/smrsh contains: lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 31 Dec 29 05:38 mailman -> /usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman The permissions on the /usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman wrapper are: -rwxr-sr-x 1 mailman mailman 39593 Dec 29 05:16 mailman *Things i've tried:* 1. ./configure --with-mail-gid=mail 2. path to mailman wrapper in /etc/aliases as either '/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman' or '/etc/smrsh/mailman' 3. ln -s /etc/smrsh/mailman /usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman 4. copying the compiled wrapper (/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman) into /etc/smrsh 5. changing uid/gid of the wrapper to mailman, to mail 6. by-passing sendmail as a test as in: echo "confirm" | /etc/smrsh/mailman request test1, only to get mailman complaining about the gid 7. by-passing root/sendmail as in: sudo -u mail "test" | /etc/smrsh/mailman request mailman, only to still get a gid complaint. 8. restarting Sendmail daemon and Mailman's qrunner daemon after config changes. By the way, i've done extensive reading of: * Mailman INSTALL * Mailman README.SENDMAIL * Mailman README.LINUX * Sendmails various READMES pertaining to SMRSH etc * the mailman-developers list archives At this point, i'm out of ideas on what to try, except to abandon Mailman and switch to something like Majordomo, etc. And frankly i think i've run out of time. I've spent several evenings on this already. Getting any kind of mailing list up and running is more important than the bells and whistles that Mailman offers. thanks. -keith s.

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