The /etc/sympa.conf configuration file contains numerous parameters which are read on start-up of Sympa. If you change this file, do not forget that you will need to restart Sympa afterwards.
The /etc/sympa.conf file contains directives in the following format:
keyword value
Comments start with the # character at the beginning of a line. Empty lines are also considered as comments and are ignored. There should only be one directive per line, but their order in the file is of no importance.
This keyword is mandatory. It is the domain name used in the From: header in replies to administrative requests. So the smtp engine (qmail, sendmail, postfix or whatever) must recognize this domain as a local address. The old keyword host is still recognized but should not be used anymore.
Example: domain cru.fr
(Default value: sympa)
Username (the part of the address preceding the @ sign) used in the From: header in replies to administrative requests.
Example: email listserv
The list of e-mail addresses of listmasters (users authorized to perform global server commands). Listmasters can be defined for each virtual robot.
Example: listmaster postmaster@cru.fr,root@cru.fr
(Default value: http://<host>/wws)
This is the root URL of WWSympa.
Example: wwsympa_url https://my.server/wws
There is a need to protection Sympa web site against spambot which collect email adresse in public web site. Various method are availble into Sympa and you can choose it with spam_protection and web_archive_spam_protection parameters. Possible value are :
Idem spam_protection but restricted to web archive. A additional value is availible : cookie which mean that users must submit a small form in order to receive a cookie before browsing archives. This block all robot, even google and co.
They are the color definition for web interface. Default are set in the main Makefile. Thoses parameters can be overwritten in each virtual robot definition.
This string is used to generate MD5 authentication keys. It allows generated authentication keys to differ from one site to another. It is also used for reversible encryption of user passwords stored in the database. The presence of this string is one reason why access to sympa.conf needs to be restricted to the Sympa user.
Note that changing this parameter will break all http cookies stored in users' browsers, as well as all user passwords and lists X509 private keys.
Example: cookie gh869jku5
(Default value: public_listmaster)
create_list parameter is defined by scenario (see 11.8, page )
Defines who can create lists (or request list creations). Sympa will use the corresponding scenario.
Example: create_list intranet
(Default value: listmaster)
global_remind parameter is defined by scenario (see 11.8, page )
Defines who can run a REMIND * command.
(Default value: /home/sympa/expl)
The directory whose subdirectories correspond to the different lists.
Example: home /home/sympa/expl
(Default value: /home/sympa/etc)
This is the local directory for configuration files (such as edit_list.conf. It contains 5 subdirectories: scenari for local scenarii; templates for the site's local templates and default list templates; wws_templates for the site's local html templates; global_task_models for local global task models; and list_task_models for local list task models
Example: etc /home/sympa/etc
(Default value: LOCAL1)
Name of the sub-system (facility) for logging messages.
Example: syslog LOCAL2
(Default value: 0)
This parameter sets the verbosity of Sympa processes (including) in log files. With level 0 only main operations are logged, in level 3 almost everything is logged.
Example: log_level 2
(Default value: unix)
Sympa communicates with syslogd using either UDP or UNIX sockets. Set log_socket_type to inet to use UDP, or unix for UNIX sockets.
(Default value: /home/sympa/etc/sympa.pid)
The file where the sympa.pl daemon stores its process number. Warning: the sympa user must be able to write to this file, and to create it if it doesn't exist.
Example: pidfile /var/run/sympa.pid
(Default value: 027)
Default mask for file creation (see umask(2)). Note that it will be interpreted as an octual value.
Example: umask 007
(Default value: 20)
Maximum number of SMTP delivery child processes spawned by Sympa. This is the main load control parameter.
Example: maxsmtp 500
(Default value: off)
Set logging of each MTA call. Can be overwritten by -m sympa option.
Example: log_smtp on
(Default value: 5 Mb)
Maximum size allowed for messages distributed by Sympa. This may be customized per virtual robot or per list by setting the max_size robot or list parameter.
Example: max_size 2097152
(Default value: reject)
When a robot command is sent to a list, by default Sympa reject this message. This feature can be turned off setting this parameter to ignore.
(Default value: (subscribe|unsubscribe|signoff))
This is the Perl regular expression applied on messages subject and body to detect misaddressed commands, see misaddressed_commands parameter above.
(Default value: 25)
Maximum number of recipients per sendmail call. This grouping factor makes it possible for the (sendmail) MTA to optimize the number of SMTP sessions for message distribution.
(Default value: 10)
Maximum number of different internet domains within addresses per sendmail call.
(Default value: /usr/sbin/sendmail)
Absolute call path to SMTP message transfer agent (sendmail for example).
Example: sendmail /usr/sbin/sendmail
(Default value: -oi -odi -oem)
Arguments passed to SMTP message transfer agent
(Default value: help,subscribe,unsubscribe,post,owner,archive)
RFC2369 compliant header fields (List-xxx) to be added to distributed messages. These header-fields should be implemented by MUA's, adding menus.
(Default value: Return-Receipt-To,Precedence,X-Sequence,Disposition-Notification-To)
This is the list of headers that Sympa should remove from outgoing messages. Use it, for example, to ensure some privacy for your users by discarding anonymous options. It is (for the moment) site-wide. It is applied before the Sympa, rfc2369_header_fields, and custom_header fields are added.
Example: remove_headers Resent-Date,Resent-From,Resent-To,Resent-Message-Id,Sender,Delivered-To,Return-Receipt-To,Precedence,X-Sequence,Disposition-Notification-To
(Default value: Sender,X-Sender,Received,Message-id,From,X-Envelope-To,Resent-From,Reply-To,Organization,Disposition-Notification-To,X-Envelope-From,X-X-Sender)
This parameter defines the list of SMTP header fields that should be
removed when a mailing list is setup in anonymous mode (see
14.4.3, page ).
(Default value: NONE)
If this parameter is set with a SMTP server address, Sympa will check if alias with the same name as the list you're gonna create already exists on the SMTP server. It is robot specific, i.e. you can specify a different SMTP server for every virtual robot you are running. This is needed if you are running Sympa on somehost.foo.org, but you handle all your mail on a separate mail relay.
(Default value: request,owner,unsubscribe)
This paramater is a comma-separated list of admin suffixes you're using for Sympa aliases, i.e. mylist-request, mylist-owner etc... This parameter is used with list_check_smtp parameter. It is also used to check list names at list creation time.
The default disk quota for lists' document repository.
The default disk quota for lists' web archives.
(Default value: /home/sympa/spool)
The parent directory which contains all the other spools.
The absolute path of the directory which contains the queue, used both by the queue program and the sympa.pl daemon. This parameter is mandatory.
Example: queue /home/sympa/queue
(Default value: /home/sympa/spool/moderation)
This parameter is optional and retained solely for backward compatibility.
This parameter is optional and retained solely for backward compatibility.
(Default value: /home/sympa/spool/expire)
This parameter is optional and retained solely for backward compatibility.
(Default value: /home/sympa/spool/auth)
This parameter is optional and retained solely for backward compatibility.
(Default value: /home/sympa/spool/outgoing)
This parameter is optional and retained solely for backward compatibility.
(Default value: /home/sympa/spool/bounce)
Spool to store bounces (non-delivery reports) received by the bouncequeue program via the mylist-owner or bounce+* addresses . This parameter is mandatory and must be an absolute path.
(Default value: /home/sympa/spool/task)
Spool to store task files created by the task manager. This parameter is mandatory and must be an absolute path.
(Default value: /home/sympa/spool/tmp)
Temporary directory used by OpenSSL and antiviruses.
(Default value: 5)
Waiting period (in seconds) between each scan of the main queue. Never set this value to 0!
(Default value: 1)
Retention period (in days) for ``bad'' messages in spool (as specified by queue). Sympa keeps messages rejected for various reasons (badly formatted, looping, etc.) in this directory, with a name prefixed by BAD. This configuration variable controls the number of days these messages are kept.
Example: clean_delay_queue 3
(Default value: 10)
Expiration delay (in days) in the moderation spool (as specified by queuemod). Beyond this deadline, messages that have not been processed are deleted. For moderated lists, the contents of this spool can be consulted using a key along with the MODINDEX command.
(Default value: 3)
Expiration delay (in days) in the authentication queue. Beyond this deadline, messages not enabled are deleted.
(Default value: /home/sympa/nls)
The location of multilingual (nls) catalog files. Must correspond to ~src/nls/Makefile.
(Default value: us)
This is the default language for Sympa. The message catalog (.msg) located in the corresponding nls directory will be used.
(Default value: 30)
Site default value for bounce. The list owner receives a warning whenever a message is distributed and the number of bounces exceeds this value.
(Default value: 50)
FOR FUTURE USE
Site default value for bounce. Messages will cease to be distributed if the number of bounces exceeds this value.
(Default value: owner)
If set to string unique, sympa will use a unique e-mail address in the return path, prefixed by bounce+, in order to remove the corresponding subscriber. Requires the bounced daemon to run and bounce+* alias to be installed (plussed aliases as in sendmail 8.7 and later).
(Default value: owner)
Like welcome_return_path, but relates to the remind message. Also requires the bounce+* alias to be installed.
(Default value: daily)
This parameter tells what task will be used by task_manager.pl to perform bounces expiration. This task resets bouncing information for addresses not bouncing in the last 10 days after the latest message distribution.
(Default value: Monthly)
This parameter tells what task will be used by task_manager.pl to perform bounces cleaning. This task delete bounces archives for unsuscribed users.
(Default value: daily)
The task eval_bouncers evaluate all bouncing users for all lists, and fill the field bounce_score_suscriber in table suscriber_table with a score. This score allow the auto-management of bouncing-users.
(Default value: monthly)
The task process_bouncers execute configured actions on bouncing users, according to their Score. The association between score and actions has to be done in List configuration, This parameter define the frequency of execution for this task.
(Default value: 10)
This parameter is for the bounce-score evaluation : the bounce-score is a note that allows the auto-management of bouncing users. This score is evaluated with,in particular, the number of messages bounces received for the user. This parameter sets the minimum number of these messages to allow the bounce-score evaluation for a user.
(Default value: 10)
Determine the minimum bouncing period for a user to allow his bounce-score evaluation. Like previous parameter, if this value is too low, bounce-score will be 0.
(Default value: 0) Days
Another parameter for the bounce-score evaluation : This one represent the average time (days) for a bounce to come back to sympa-server after a post was send to a list. Usually bounces are arriving same day as the original message.
(Default value: 45)
This is the default value for bouncerslevel1 rate entry
(, page
)
(Default value: 75)
This is the default value for bouncerslevel2 rate entry
(14.5.3, page )
(Default value: 1)
Priority applied to Sympa commands while running the spool.
Available since release 2.3.1.
(Default value: 0)
Priority for processing of messages for mylist-request, i.e. for owners of the list.
Available since release 2.3.3
(Default value: 9)
Priority for processing messages for mylist-owner in the spool. This address will receive non-delivery reports (bounces) and should have a low priority.
Available since release 2.3.3
(Default value: 5)
Default priority for messages if not defined in the list configuration file.
Available since release 2.3.1.
The following parameters are needed when using an RDBMS, but are otherwise not required:
Format: db_type mysql | Pg | Oracle | Sybase
Database management system used (e.g. MySQL, Pg, Oracle)
This corresponds to the PERL DataBase Driver (DBD) name and is therefore case-sensitive.
(Default value: sympa)
Name of the database containing user information. See
detailed notes on database structure, ,
page
.
Database host name.
Database port.
User with read access to the database.
If these options are defined, they will be appended to the database connect string.
Example for MySQL:
db_options mysql_read_default_file=/home/joe/my.cnf
Gives a list of environment variables to set before database connexion. This is a ';' separated list of variable assignments.
Example for Oracle:
db_env ORACLE_TERM=vt100;ORACLE_HOME=/var/hote/oracle/7.3.4
If your subscriber_table database table has more fields than required by Sympa (because other programs access this table), you can make Sympa load these fields. You will then be able to use them from within mail/web templates and scenario (as [subscriber->field]). This parameter is a comma-separated list.
Example :
db_additional_subscriber_fields billing_delay,subscription_expiration
If your user_table database table has more fields than required by Sympa (because other programs access this table), you can make Sympa load these fields. You will then be able to use them from within mail/web templates (as [user->field]).
This parameter is a comma-separated list.
Example :
db_additional_user_fields address,gender
The following define your loop prevention policy for commands.
(see 11.10, page )
(Default value: 200)
The maximum number of command reports sent to an e-mail address. When it is reached, messages are stored with the BAD prefix, and reports are no longer sent.
(Default value: 3600)
This parameter defines the delay in seconds before decrementing the counter of reports sent to an e-mail address.
(Default value: 0.5)
The decrementation factor (from 0 to 1), used to determine the new report counter after expiration of the delay.
Sympa can optionally verify and use S/MIME signatures for security purposes.
In this case, the three first following parameters must be set by the listmaster
(see 9.4.2, page ). The two others are optionnal.
The path for the openSSL binary file.
A directory of trusted certificates. The certificates should have names of the form: hash.0 or have symbolic links to them of this form ("hash" is the hashed certificate subject name: see the -hash option of the openssl x509 utility). This directory should be the same as the directory SSLCACertificatePath specified for mod_ssl module for Apache.
The password for list private key encryption. If not defined, Sympa assumes that list private keys are not encrypted.
States the model version used to create the task which regurlaly checks the certificate
expiration dates and warns users whose certificate have expired or are going to.
To know more about tasks, see 11.11, page .
Specifies the model version used to create the task which regurlaly updates the certificate revocation lists.
Sympa can optionally check incoming messages before delivering them, using an external antivirus solution. You must then set two parameters.
The path to your favorite antivirus binary file (including the binary file).
Example :
antivirus_path /usr/local/bin/uvscan
The arguments used by the antivirus software to look for viruses. You must set them so as to get the virus name. You should use, if available, the 'unzip' option and check all extensions.
Example with uvscan :
antivirus_args --summary --secure
Example with fsav :
antivirus_args --dumb --archive
Exemple with AVP :
antivirus_path /opt/AVP/kavscanner antivirus_args -Y -O- -MP -I0
Exemple with Sophos :
antivirus_path /usr/local/bin/sweep antivirus_args -nc -nb -ss -archive
Exemple with Clam :
antivirus_path /usr/local/bin/clamscan antivirus_args --stdout
(Default value: sender)
This parameter tells if Sympa should notify the email sender when a virus has been detected.