Recipe 20.17. Administering a couriermlm List

20.17.1 Problem

You need to know the basic list-maintenance commands, such as those for manually unsubscribing a user, viewing subscriber information, and setting list options.

20.17.2 Solution

This command reference covers basic list chores.

To manually unsubscribe a user, use:

$ couriermlm unsub /var/lists/php_list [e-mail]

To generate a subscriber list, use:

$ couriermlm export /var/lists/php_list > php_subscribers.txt

Use the following command to restore the subscriber list from a file, if it is ever damaged or lost:

$ couriermlm import php_subscribers.txt

To post a message to the whole list, use:

$ couriermlm msg /var/lists/php_list

To display a single subscriber's record, use:

$ couriermlm info /var/lists/php_list  [e-mail]

This command sets the list as moderated, so that all posts must be reviewed by the list admin before they are posted. Posts waiting for approval sit in the /var/lists/php_list/modqueue folder:

$ couriermlm set /var/lists/php_list  POST=mod

The default is to allow only subscribers to post. You can open the list to the world:

$ couriermlm set /var/lists/php_list  POST=all

By default, all messages are archived, and anyone can view them. This command purges archives after seven days and limits access to subscribers:

$ couriermlm set /var/lists/php_list  PURGEARCHIVE=7 POSTARCHIVE=subscribers

This also shows how list options can be grouped into a single command.

20.17.3 Discussion

Once a list is set up and running, there's not much to do except keep an eye on your users. Watch for flamewars and spammers. It is good to have a list policy, with clear rules about behavior. Put this in sub2.tmpl, so that all new subscribers see it.

20.17.4 See Also

• courier(8) and dot-courier(5), for additional commands and list options