Ray's Mail Filter - Installation Version 1.04/1.14
On this page:- Requirements Installing the Filter	Other pages:- Home Page Configuration Operation Utilities

Requirements

Installing the Filter

1. Download the "tar" file or the "gzipped tar" file appropriate to the version of Sendmail that you are running. Save the file in a convenient directory outside the Sendmail source directory tree.

   Sendmail version	Download file	Approximate size (kB)
   8.10.* 8.11.0.Beta1	rays-filter-1.04.tar rays-filter-1.04.tar.gz	150 37
   8.11.0	rays-filter-1.14.tar rays-filter-1.14.tar.gz	150 37

   
   

2. Unzip and uncompress the tar archive, e.g.:

   % gunzip rays-filter-1.NN.tar.gz
   
   % tar xvf rays-filter-1.NN.tar

   This should create a subdirectory called rays-filter-1.NN which contains the following files. The ones marked with "*" are required to produce a working filter:

   Shell scripts *	build mail-filter mf-reset mf-start mf-stop
   C source files *	rays-filter.c rays-filter.h
   Configuration files *	header_list.conf mail-filter.conf string_list.conf
   Utilities	mf-archive mf-analyze mf-memory
   Documentation (HTML)	rays-filter.html install.html configure.html operate.html utilities.html
   Licence & Copyright	README GNU-public-licence.txt copyright.txt

   
   

3. Make the following changes to the files as required:

   build	This is just a handy script to save having to type out the whole command line when you want to compile rays-filter.c. Edit the following values as required:- SRCDIR should equal the absolute path to your sendmail source directory, e.g. SRCDIR=/usr/local/src/sendmail/sendmail-8.11.0 OBJDIR should be the location, relative to SRCDIR, of the platform-specific object directory which is created when you build sendmail, e.g. OBJDIR=obj.OSF1.V4.0.alpha Depending on your operating system and/or C compiler, you may also have to modify the compiler command (e.g. gcc instead of cc) and/or some of the compiler options. See the file libmilter/README (distributed with Sendmail) for more information.
   mail-filter.conf	The WORK_DIR variable specifies the directory that you wish the filter to use as its working directory. This directory must be created before the filter program is started. It will contain the log files produced by the scripts and utilities, and the rejects subdirectory, where the rejected messages will be saved. E.g.: WORK_DIR="/users/mf-user/mail-filter" The SOCKET variable specifies the socket that you want the mail filter to create and use to communicate with Sendmail. The socket can be a local file or an internet port. The way that sockets are specified varies between different versions of Sendmail. Refer to the file libmilter/README, distributed with Sendmail, for the various socket options. (See also the table of known bugs). If a local file socket is specified,the user who will run the filter must have read, write and execute access to the directory where it will reside. E.g.: SOCKET="local:/users/mf-user/mail-filter/mf-socket"
   header-list.conf string-list.conf	These configuration files specify the criteria by which the filter will accept or reject messages. These files can be edited at any time, even while the filter is running. See the Configuration Page for details.
   rays-filter.h	The text part of the SMTP reply can be specified in this file if you don't want to use the default message. Other parameters can also be changed. See the comments in the file for details.

   
   

4. Compile and link the program using the build script (or the command line given in the libmilter/README file referred to above):

   % ./build rays-filter

   If successful, this will produce a binary file, rays-filter.

   
   

5. Copy the following files into /usr/local/bin:-

   rays-filter
   mail-filter
   mf-reset
   mf-start
   mf-stop
   

   If you wish to use the utilities, then also copy the following files:-

   mf-analyze
   mf-archive
   mf-memory
   

   Ensure that the user who will run the filter has read and execute rights to these files. (The filter does not have to be run by root - however, see the remarks about sockets in the table of known bugs.)

   
   

6. Create the directory /usr/local/etc/mail-filter, and copy the following files into it:-

   header-list.conf
   mail-filter.conf
   string-list.conf
   

   Ensure that the user who will run the filter has read and write privileges to these files.

   
   

7. Create the filter's working directory, as specified in mail-filter.conf. Within this directory, create a sub-directory called rejects. If you intend to use the Analysis Utility, then also create a subdirectory called analysis, i.e.

   % mkdir WORK_DIR
   % mkdir WORK_DIR/rejects
   % mkdir WORK_DIR/analysis
   

   where WORK_DIR is the value of the WORK_DIR variable specified in mail-filter.conf. Ensure that the user who will run the filter has read, write and execute privileges in all of these directories.

   
   

8. At this point the filter can be started and stopped, as described in the Operation Page to make sure it will run and make entries in its log file, mail-filter.log, and the system log file. However, it will not actually filter any messages until references to it are added to the Sendmail configuration file, sendmail.cf.

   
   

9. Insert the following lines into sendmail.cf, after the definitions of mail delivery agents (lines beginning M...)

   Xrays-filter, S=local:/users/mf-user/mail-filter/mf-socket, F=R, T=S:60s;R:60s;E:5m 
   O InputMailFilters=rays-filter
   

   Note that the socket specification, "S=...", must match the SOCKET specified in mail-filter.conf. Please see the file distributed with Sendmail, libmilter/README, for information about the "F=..." and "T=..." parameters.

   
   

10. Shut down sendmail.

    
    

11. Start the filter:

    % /usr/local/bin/mail-filter start

    
    

12. Re-start sendmail.

    
    

13. Check the system log files to verify that Sendmail and the filter are both functioning correctly.

Ray's Mail Filter Home Page
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