: Majordomo Mail List

Overview

Majordomo is a program which automates the management of Internet mailing lists. Commands are sent to Majordomo via electronic mail to handle all aspects of list maintenance. Once a list is set up, virtually all operations can be performed remotely, requiring no intervention upon the postmaster of the list site.

Ordering

To see about the pricing of a Majordomo account with Speedsoft, see the Services Page.

To set up a mail list for your account, please email support@speedsoft.com with the following information:

1. Mail List Name (i.e. rose-list):
2. Your Domain Name:
3. Password to Administrate the List:

Extras

A handy script for allowing web site viewers to add their email address to your mail list is located at CGI Central -> majdom.pl.

If you have disabled the who command on your mail list, you can still see the email addresses on your list if you are the list owner using this Mail List Subscribers page.

For information other than the basics found below, you might want to take a look at the Majordomo Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Majordomo Commands

Here are the main commands that you can send to majordomo@YOURDOMAIN:

The "documented" commands which Majordomo understands and which are for everyone to use are:

subscribe <list> [<address>] unsubscribe <list> [<address>]

You can get detailed explanations of all of these by asking for "help" from Majordomo.

The "undocumented" commands for use by list owners are:

approve <passwd> {subscribe|unsubscribe} <list> [<address>]

 

This is so that you can approve subscription or unsubscription actions that need approval by the list owner. Note that this is just a standard "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" command prefixed with "approve <password>" (where you substitute the password for your list, which is listed above, for "<password>").

 

passwd <list> <old_passwd> <new_passwd>

 

This is so you can change the password for your list, if you desire.

 

newinfo <list> <password>

 

This is so that you can replace the information file that people get when they do "info <list>" or "subscribe <list>". It reads everything after the "newinfo" command to end-of-message or the word "EOF" on a line by itself as the new info for the list.

 

config <list> <password>

 

retrieve a self-documenting configuration file for the list <list>. The <password> can be the password contained in the file <listname>.passwd or the admin_password in the configuration file.

 

newconfig <list> <password>

 

Validates and installs a new configuration file. It reads everything after the "newconfig" command to end-of-message or the word "EOF" on a line by itself as the new info for the list. The config file is expected to be a complete config file as returned by "config". Incremental changing of the config file is not yet supported. As soon as the config file is validated and installed its settings are available for use. This is useful to remember if you have multiple commands in your mail message since they will be subject to the settings of the new config file. If there is an error in the config file (incorrect value...), the config file will not be accepted and the error message identifying the problem line(s) will be returned to the sender. Note that only the error messages are returned to the sender not the entire config file, so it would be a good idea to keep a copy of your outgoing email message.

 

writeconfig <list> <password>

 

Write a new config file in standard form. Writeconfig forces a rewrite of the config file with all comments and default values in place. It is useful to use after an upgrade of majordomo since it will add the new keywords for people to change. It also updates the documentation in the file if that has changed.

 

mkdigest <digest list name> <password>

 

Generate a digest.

Configuring Your List

You should retrieve the configuration file for your list. To do this, send an email message to the majordomo address listed at the top of this form. The contents of this message should be:

	config <List name> <List Password>

Where <ListName> <List Password> are given at the top of the form. You will receive a config file that can be used to change the operation of your list. If the information at the top of this form shows that resend is being used, you want to configure the majordomo and resend subsystems. Otherwise you only have to configure those items that are associated with the majordomo system.

The configuration file is meant to be self documenting. Once you have completed all of the changes to the config file, You should use the newconfig command (described above) to put a new configuration file in place.

If you have a digest version of your list, you should retrieve the config file for the digest as well using:

	config <Digest List Name> <Digest list password>

and configure the parameters for the digest and majordomo subsystems.