using mailman on a server other than the one that DNS is pointing to
Can you use mailman on a server other than the one where the DNS is pointing to?
I have a website abc123.com and it's hosted on Host A. Host A does not allow Mailman on cpanel. Host B does. I set up a list called " bot@abc123.com" on Host B while also setting up abc123.com as an addon domain. Is there any way to make this work? It doesn't seem to work now even though I have "Remote Mail Exchanger" chosen for the MX value.
-- Adam
On Mon, Jun 14, 2010 at 07:16:26PM -0400, Adam Parker, OD wrote:
I have a website abc123.com and it's hosted on Host A. Host A does not allow Mailman on cpanel. Host B does. I set up a list called " bot@abc123.com" on Host B while also setting up abc123.com as an addon domain. Is there any way to make this work?
Firstly, where you're using "abc123.com", I presume you don't actually mean "abc123.com"[1].
Secondly, I know *nothing* about what cPanel offers, let alone how they've re-modified Mailman -- apart from what I've read in previous posts (and there are a few).
Using a different name on "Host B" (differing to "Host A") might alllow, for say, <list-foo@hostb.example.com> something like
(a) ProxyPass and ProxyPassReverse /mailman/ (and /pipermail) to hostb
(b) forward the mails for the mailman parts (e.g,
<list-foo{admin,bounces,confirm,join,leave,owner,request,subscribe,unsubscribe}@example.com>
->
<list-foo{admin,bounces,confirm,join,leave,owner,request,subscribe,unsubscribe}@hostb.example.com>)
to hostbin your scenario.
It would almost certainly be easier/less hassle, to use a separate name for hostb (e.g., make hostb "lists.example.org", and then just use normal look-ups to point your lists (mail and web) to hostb), with all the Mailman stuff taking place on hostb
[1] that is to say: Domain Name: ABC123.COM Registrar: TIERRANET INC. D/B/A DOMAINDISCOVER Whois Server: whois.domaindiscover.com Referral URL: http://www.domaindiscover.com Name Server: NS1.DOMAINDISCOVER.COM Name Server: NS2.DOMAINDISCOVER.COM Status: clientTransferProhibited Updated Date: 19-aug-2009 Creation Date: 19-aug-1995 Expiration Date: 18-aug-2010
>>> Last update of whois database: Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:25:35 UTC <<<-- ``Whether intentionally or not, fish control and potato control were billeted together in St. John's College, Oxford, making this ancient seat of higher learning the biggest fish and chip shop the world has ever seen.'' (Peter Hennessey, on the organisation of wartime rationing)
no, i'm not actually using that domain. Cpanel allows you to easily set up a list - it just asks you for the name of the list and a password and does the rest for you. The problem is that the server the Mailman/List resides on is not the server that houses the email server. So i'm looking for a way for the 2nd server to be able to monitor the emails from the email server. I went into the panel and there's a place to alter the MX record - one option is for "Remote Mail Exchanger" which I thought would work, but it doesn't. I'm not sure this is possible, but was hoping there'd be a way to use Mailman when the emails are not on same server. -Adam
On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 10:30 AM, Adam McGreggor <adam-mailman@amyl.org.uk>wrote:
On Mon, Jun 14, 2010 at 07:16:26PM -0400, Adam Parker, OD wrote:
I have a website abc123.com and it's hosted on Host A. Host A does not allow Mailman on cpanel. Host B does. I set up a list called " bot@abc123.com" on Host B while also setting up abc123.com as an addon domain. Is there any way to make this work?
Firstly, where you're using "abc123.com", I presume you don't actually mean "abc123.com"[1].
Secondly, I know *nothing* about what cPanel offers, let alone how they've re-modified Mailman -- apart from what I've read in previous posts (and there are a few).
Using a different name on "Host B" (differing to "Host A") might alllow, for say, <list-foo@hostb.example.com> something like
(a) ProxyPass and ProxyPassReverse /mailman/ (and /pipermail) to hostb
(b) forward the mails for the mailman parts (e.g,
<list-foo{admin,bounces,confirm,join,leave,owner,request,subscribe, unsubscribe}@example.com <unsubscribe%7D@example.com>> ->
<list-foo{admin,bounces,confirm,join,leave,owner,request,subscribe, unsubscribe}@hostb.example.com <unsubscribe%7D@hostb.example.com>>) to hostb
in your scenario.
It would almost certainly be easier/less hassle, to use a separate name for hostb (e.g., make hostb "lists.example.org", and then just use normal look-ups to point your lists (mail and web) to hostb), with all the Mailman stuff taking place on hostb
[1] that is to say: Domain Name: ABC123.COM Registrar: TIERRANET INC. D/B/A DOMAINDISCOVER Whois Server: whois.domaindiscover.com Referral URL: http://www.domaindiscover.com Name Server: NS1.DOMAINDISCOVER.COM Name Server: NS2.DOMAINDISCOVER.COM Status: clientTransferProhibited Updated Date: 19-aug-2009 Creation Date: 19-aug-1995 Expiration Date: 18-aug-2010
Last update of whois database: Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:25:35 UTC <<<
-- ``Whether intentionally or not, fish control and potato control were billeted together in St. John's College, Oxford, making this ancient seat of higher learning the biggest fish and chip shop the world has ever seen.'' (Peter Hennessey, on the organisation of wartime rationing)
-- Adam P. Parker, OD, FVAO Drs. Robinson & Parker President, Richmond Optometric Society (804) 595-2020
Adam Parker, OD wrote:
no, i'm not actually using that domain. Cpanel allows you to easily set up a list - it just asks you for the name of the list and a password and does >the rest for you. The problem is that the server the Mailman/List resides on is not the server that houses the email server. So i'm looking for a >way for the 2nd server to be able to monitor the emails from the email server. I went into the panel and there's a place to alter the MX record - one option is for "Remote Mail Exchanger" which I thought would work, but it >doesn't. I'm not sure this is possible, but was hoping there'd be a way to use Mailman when the emails are not on same server.
Firstly, this list is not really set up to support users using the CPanel version of Mailman, which is altered to work with the CPanel setup. We can only usually advise on a version of Mailman built from source, or that you can run the standard binaries on without breaking a CPanel list.
Having said that...
I understand you have two hosts - one running CPanel and Mailman, and one not. You have moved your site over to the new host, but want to continue with the old host for the Mailman hosting. There are two options as I see it:
Use the old Host to host the mail system for your domain. This essentially means pointing the MX records at your old host, then letting them handle mail forwarding, Mailman hosting, and mail hosting. The new host wouldn't concern itself about mail.
Move the list to a subdomain inside your domain, i.e., lists.example.com. The MX records for your domain would point at the new mail server, but the MX records for the subdomain would point at the Mailman host.
Thanks. Andrew.
Adam Parker, OD writes:
no, i'm not actually using that domain. Cpanel allows you to easily set up a list - it just asks you for the name of the list and a password and does the rest for you.
Actually, cPanel itself doesn't do anything except allow the hosting staff to avoid interacting with clients on client-specific stuff. It's the staff of the cPanel host that does the host configuration work you don't want to do (quite reasonably; or perhaps you aren't allowed to do it on those hosts).
I gather from the suffix to your name that you are a professional. Well, web hosting (including mail) is a profession, too, but the ethical side of professionalism is often slighted in favor of low-cost high-volume operation, of which a very common symptom is ... you guessed it ... cPanel. Pros can use cPanel, too, of course, but if your cPanel host were run by pros, they would be telling you how to get this job done.
My recommendation is that you talk to a reputable professional about getting your needs met with minimum work on your part. They'll help you figure out what your needs really are, among other things. There are a couple listed on the Mailman wiki, I think. Most likely the kind of service you want is only marginally more expensive (and possibly as little as $4/month) than what you've got. Even if it turns out to be more than you want to pay, you'll have a better idea of the possibilities (and your own needs) when you're done.
http://wiki.list.org/display/COM/Mailman+hosting+services http://wiki.list.org/display/COM/Mailman+consulting+services
"Consulting" seems to be oriented toward extensive customizations, probably not what you need. Of the "hosting" services, EMWD staff are known to contribute on this list, FWIW. If you contact a service, you might want to check the archives (use Google's site:mail.python.org option) to see if the people you talk to hang out here in a visible way, and whether they talk sense at your level. Many probably lurk without saying anything, though. ("They also serve who stand and wait.")
I went into the panel and there's a place to alter the MX record - one option is for "Remote Mail Exchanger" which I thought would work, but it doesn't.
It can't work, because the configuration that needs to change is on the email server, not on the cPanel host. Unlike your personal mail client which works by "pulling" mail from a specific host, the mail system itself works by "pushing" mail from one host to the next (along a route it looks up in the domain name directory service) until it reaches the destination. If you don't know that much about the mail system yet, it will be a big investment to get the knowledge and skills needed to make this work ... and you very well may not be permitted to do the necessary configuration yourself by your hosting service(s).
If you do want to do this yourself anyway, I recommend the solution that several others have already offered: set up a lists.YourDomain subdomain in the DNS, whose A and MX records point to the cPanel host. No muss, no fuss once it's done, but if the email and cPanel hosts are run by separate companies, getting the DNS configuration done could be modestly annoying depending on how much freedom the email host gives you to delegate subdomains.
Adam Parker, OD wrote:
Can you use mailman on a server other than the one where the DNS is pointing to?
Technically there is nothing requiring Mailman to be running on your mail server.
In theory, there is no reason why each address for the mailing list(s) can't be a pop3 mail box that is polled for messages to feed in to Mailman. Though this type of set up is out side of the scope of Mailman. (It would be more in the scope of downloading messages from a mail box and piping them in to standard in of a program.)
I have a website abc123.com and it's hosted on Host A. Host A does not allow Mailman on cpanel. Host B does. I set up a list called "bot@abc123.com" on Host B while also setting up abc123.com as an addon domain. Is there any way to make this work? It doesn't seem to work now even though I have "Remote Mail Exchanger" chosen for the MX value.
Purely from an email administration / routing point of view, you normally don't want the same domain to be handled by multiple servers. (I say normally because there are some special configurations where this is explicitly made to work.)
What you will end up with is each server will only work with (handle email for) it's incomplete list addresses. I.e. host A will not about accounts 1 and 2 but not accounts 3 or 4. Similarly host B will know about accounts 3 and 4 but not accounts 1 or 2.
What would probably be better, as Adam McGreggor suggested, is to have email for the abc123.com domain to one server and have email to the mailing list addresses be forwarded to accounts in a different (sub)domain on the other server. I.e. bot@abc123.com would be forwarded to bot@lists.abc123.com.
Grant. . . .
participants (5)
-
Adam McGreggor -
Adam Parker, OD -
Andrew Hodgson -
Grant Taylor -
Stephen J. Turnbull