L-Soft international, Inc.
Site Manager's Operations Manual
for
LISTSERV®, version 14.5
23 February 2006
Initial Release
The reference number of this document is 0603-MD-01.
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All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
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LMail is a trademark of L-Soft international.
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AIX and IBM are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.
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Reference Number 0603-MD-01
Table of Contents
Preface: LISTSERV Command Syntax and Other Conventions 11
Editorial Note – New Version Numbering 11
LISTSERV Command Syntax Conventions 11
1. Who should read this book 13
1.1. Changes and updates to the manual 13
1.2. New documentation is coming! 13
2. Differences Between Architectures and Implementations 14
2.1. Differences between architectures 14
2.2. Differences between LISTSERV and LISTSERV Lite 15
2.3. Operating Systems and Architectures Supported 16
3. Principles of Operation 18
4. A LISTSERV How-To for Site Managers 20
4.1. Installation/Startup Questions 20
How do I install LISTSERV? 20
Why do I need a DNS A record and a static IP number for my LISTSERV machine? 20
Can LISTSERV read mail from POP mailboxes? 20
How do I install the web archive/administration interface? 20
How do I start LISTSERV? 20
How do I stop LISTSERV? 20
4.2. Initial configuration 21
How do I add, change, and delete LISTSERV Maintainers (aka postmasters)? 21
How do I create passwords for postmasters, and what are they used for? 21
How do I make my first list? 22
How do I delete a list? 22
Does LISTSERV have a GUI interface? 22
5. Configuring your LISTSERV® site 23
5.1. Site configuration files 23
5.2. What can be configured? 23
5.3. Files used by LISTSERV 29
5.4. Installing and configuring LISTSERV's WWW Archive and Administration Interface 34
5.4.1. The WWW Archive Interface described 35
5.4.2. The WWW Administration Interface described 36
5.4.3. Installing a web server 36
5.4.4. Installing the web archive interface script 37
5.4.5. Creating a subdirectory for the archive interface 38
5.4.6. Configuring LISTSERV to activate the web archive interface 39
5.4.7. Customizing the web pages LISTSERV creates 39
5.4.8. Enabling individual lists 40
5.4.9. Enabling web-based bulk operations 42
5.5. The "spam" detector and anti-subscription-"spoofing" feature 42
5.5.1. Spam quarantine 42
5.5.2. "Anonymous" spam alerts 43
5.5.3. Subscription anti-spoofing feature 43
5.6. Server Registration 44
5.6.1. Registering LISTSERV Classic Servers 44
5.6.2. The LISTSERV backbone 45
5.6.3. Automatic Registration for LISTSERV Lite Servers 46
5.7. Inter-server Updates 46
5.8. Setting up archive and notebook directories for use with LISTSERV 47
5.9. DBMS and Mail Merge Functions 47
5.10. Synonymous host name registration via ALIASES NAMES 48
5.11. Real-Time Anti-Virus Scanning 48
6. LISTSERV Commands 50
6.1. General Commands 50
6.1.1. List subscription commands (from most to least important) 50
6.1.2. Other list-related commands 55
6.1.3. Informational commands 58
6.1.4. Commands related to file server and web functions 59
6.1.5. Other (advanced) commands 62
6.2. List Owner and File Owner Commands 65
6.2.1. File management commands (for file owners only) 65
6.2.2. List management functions 66
6.3. LISTSERV Maintainer Commands 69
6.4. Sending commands to LISTSERV 72
6.5. Defining Personal Passwords 73
7. Creating and Maintaining Lists 74
7.1. Basic list creation 74
7.2. Architecture-Specific Steps for List Creation 76
7.2.1. Unix: Creating required Sendmail aliases 76
7.2.2. OpenVMS: Creating required PMDF aliases 77
7.3. A sample checklist for creating lists 78
7.4. Naming Conventions 79
7.5. List Header Keywords and what they do 81
7.6. Retrieving and editing the list – some considerations 81
7.7. Adding a list password (obsolete since 1.8c) 83
7.8. Storing a modified list on the host machine 84
7.9. Fixing mistakes 84
7.10. A sample list header file 85
7.11. Deleting a list 85
7.12. Adding HTML to a list header for the CataList 86
7.12.1. Update latency 87
7.12.2. Inserting a pointer to another list 87
7.12.3. Restrictions on the placement of equal signs 87
7.13. How to set up lists for specific purposes 88
7.13.1. Public discussion lists 88
7.13.2. Private discussion lists 89
7.13.3. Edited lists 89
7.13.4. Moderated lists 91
7.13.5. Semi-moderated lists 93
7.13.6. Self-moderated lists 93
7.13.7. Private edited/moderated lists 93
7.13.8. Auto-responders 94
7.13.9. Announce-only lists 95
7.13.10. Restricted subscription lists with automatically-generated questionnaire 95
7.13.11. Peered lists 97
7.13.12. "Super-lists" and "sub-lists" 100
7.13.13. "Cloning" lists 101
7.14. Merging existing LISTSERV lists 103
7.14.1. Merging list A into list B; list A user options not preserved 103
7.14.2. Merging list A into list B; list A user options preserved 103
7.14.3. Merging list A and list B into list C 104
7.15. Migrating lists from one site to another 104
7.15.1. Migrating lists from one LISTSERV site to another LISTSERV site 105
7.15.2. Migrating lists from non-LISTSERV sites 106
7.15.3. Migrating lists from Sendmail alias files, databases, etc. 107
7.16. Changing the name of an existing list 108
7.17. Bulk operations (ADD and DELETE) 109
7.17.1. Bulk ADD operations 109
7.17.2. Bulk DELETE operations 110
7.18. Content filtering 110
7.19. DomainKeys Message Signing (14.5) 113
8. File and Notebook Archives 114
8.1. What is the file archive? 114
8.2. Starting a file archive for your list 114
8.3. Filelist maintenance (VM systems only) 115
8.3.1. VM only: Creating a filelist 115
8.3.2. VM only: Adding FAC codes 115
8.3.3. VM only: Retrieving the filelist 115
8.3.4. VM only: Adding file descriptors to the filelist 116
8.3.5. VM only: File Access Codes (FAC) for user access 117
8.3.6. VM only: Deleting file descriptors from the filelist 117
8.3.7. VM only: Storing the filelist 117
8.4. The listname.CATALOG system on non-VM systems 118
8.4.1. Adding files to the SITE.CATALOG 119
8.4.2. Delegating file management authority 120
8.4.3. Creating a sub-catalog 120
8.4.4. Updating the sub-catalog 121
8.4.5. Indexing the sub-catalog 122
8.5. Storing files on the host machine 122
8.6. Deleting files from the host machine 123
8.7. Automatic File Distribution (AFD) and File Update Information (FUI) 124
8.8. File "Packages" 125
8.9. Where to find more information on File Archives 126
8.10. Notebook Archives 126
8.10.1. Setting up notebook archives for a list 126
8.10.2. Migrating old notebook archives to a new site (LISTSERV to LISTSERV) 127
8.10.3. Migrating old notebook archives (non-LISTSERV to LISTSERV) 127
8.10.4. Deleting old notebook archives 129
8.10.5. Indexing existing notebook archives 129
9. Creating and Editing LISTSERV's Mail and Web Templates 130
9.1. What LISTSERV uses templates for 130
9.2. The default template files and how to get copies 130
9.3. Mail template format and embedded formatting commands 130
9.3.1. 8-bit characters in templates 135
9.4. Creating and editing a <listname>.MAILTPL file for a list 135
9.4.1. The INFO template form 136
9.4.2. Other available template forms 137
9.4.3. Tips for using templates 141
9.5. Storing the <listname>.MAILTPL file on the host machine 142
9.6. Other template files: DIGEST-H and INDEX-H 142
9.7. Templates and template forms for the WWW interface 143
9.7.1. Forms contained in DEFAULT MAILTPL 143
9.7.2. The www_archive.mailtpl file (optional) 144
9.7.3. The default.wwwtpl file 144
9.7.4. The site.wwwtpl file (optional) 147
9.7.5. National language template files (idiom.mailtpl) (optional) 147
9.7.6. Template precedence 148
9.8. Using the DAYSEQ(n) function 149
9.8.1. Rotating bottom banner 149
9.8.2. Rotating FAQ via the PROBE1 template and "Renewal= xx-Daily" 150
9.8.3. Calculating the value for DAYSEQ() 150
9.9. Serving up custom web pages for your list 151
9.9.1. A practical example: ADMIN_POST 151
9.10. Modifying the output of LISTSERV's HELP command (non-VM) 153
9.11. The $SITE$.MAILTPL file 154
10. Interpreting and Managing LISTSERV's log files 156
10.1. Logs kept by LISTSERV 156
10.2. Managing the logs 156
10.3. Interpreting the LISTSERV log 157
10.3.1. Expiring cookies 157
10.3.2. Releasing and reallocating a disk slot 158
10.3.3. Reindexing a list 158
10.3.4. Distributing a digest 158
10.3.5. Daily error monitoring reports 159
10.3.6. Processing mail for local lists 159
10.3.7. Administrative mail (X-ADMMAIL) 160
10.3.8. DISTRIBUTE jobs from remote hosts 160
10.3.9. Requesting "OK" confirmation for commands 160
10.3.10. Subscription summary updates (SUPD jobs) 161
10.3.11. Global list of lists updates (LUPD jobs) 161
10.3.12. Valid "OK" confirmation received 162
10.3.13. Invalid "OK" confirmation received 163
10.3.14. User is already subscribed to a given list 163
10.3.15. User has included non-command text (e.g., a .sig file) in his mail to LISTSERV 163
10.3.16. Response to list owner or LISTSERV maintainer commands 164
10.3.17. Response to a user who tries to post to a held list (or one for which PRIMETIME is in effect) 164
10.3.18. Command forwarded via GLX from another host 164
10.3.19. Netwide DELETE (X-DEL jobs) 164
10.3.20. FIOC cache notifications 164
10.3.21. Web archive/administration interface logging (starting with 1.8d) 165
10.3.22. X-SPAM jobs 165
10.3.23. X-TBREG jobs 166
10.3.24. Responses to 166
10.3.25. MIME parser messages (1.8e) 167
10.3.26. Content filter rejection message (1.8e) 168
10.4. Interpreting the SMTP logs (Windows servers only) 168
10.5. Interpreting the SMTP "worker" log entries (non-VM only) 169
10.6. Change logs 170
10.7. Using LISTSERV logs and SHOW CTR to extract server statistics 171
10.7.1. Sample log-processing scripts 171
10.7.2. Interpreting the output of SHOW CTR 174
10.8. Using the system changelog to track distributions 176
10.9. Logging changelog information to a DBMS 177
11. Using the Web Adminstration Interface 179
11.1. Default LISTSERV Home Page 179
11.2. Logging in 179
11.3. Setting a LISTSERV password 180
11.4. The List Management main page 181
11.5. Maintaining subcriptions via the web 182
11.5.1. Examine or delete a subscription 183
11.5.2. Add a new user to the list 185
11.6. Maintaining the list header via the web 185
11.7. Customizing how a list's pages look 186
11.8. Maintaining mail and WWW templates via the web 186
11.9. Bulk operations via the web 187
11.10. Sending interactive commands via the web 189
11.11. Mail merge 189
11.12. Server administration interface 189
12. Distribution Features and Functions 191
12.1. Controlling the default level of acknowledgement to user postings 191
12.2. Controlling the maximum number of postings per day 191
12.2.1. Controlling total postings to the list per day 191
12.2.2. Controlling the number of postings per day from individual users 191
12.3. Controlling "prime" time 191
12.4. "Holding" and "freeing" a list 193
12.4.1. Automatic list holds 193
12.4.2. Manual list holds 193
12.5. Controlling the list digest feature 194
12.6. Setting up list topics 194
12.7. Allowing/Blocking MIME Attachments 195
13. Error Handling Features and Functions 197