Authors:

David Jorm

Karsten 'quaid' Wade

Much of this developer documentation provides historical context but may not reflect the current state of the project.
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It is not user documentation and should not be treated as such.

User Documentation is available here.

Creating and configuring mailing lists

This standard operating procedure (SOP) describes how to create and configure a Mailman mailing list on lists.ovirt.org.

To create a new list or modify lists configuration, since Mailman 3 you can do everything using the administration interface.

Mailman 3 administrative interface shortcomings

It is not yet possible to define a custom rejection notice; the following configurations would then use a generic notice.
There is also a bug with the ‘Acceptable aliases’ field preventing from saving the settings; if the list of aliases is empty you can simply empty the field before saving.
It is not possible to add non-members; instead subscribe the sender and in Members > Subscribers > sender’s Member Options set Delivery status to ‘Disabled’.

Individual list-type configurations

These settings have been adapted to Mailman 3; they may require some adjustment. Please update this page if you find more appropriate settings.

Configuration for -commits list

in Settings > Message acceptance set Maximum message size to 0
the sender address should be added to non-members and allowed to post; because of a bug this is not possible, use the alternative method listed in chapter Mailman 3 administratice interface shortcomings
in Message acceptance, set Default action to take when a non-member posts to the list to ‘Discard (no notification)’
in Subscription Policy set to ‘Confirm then Moderate’

Configuration for a -patches list

in Settings > Message acceptance set Maximum message size to 4000
on the same page, set Default action to take when a non-member posts to the list to ‘Discard (no notification)’
in Subscription Policy set to ‘Confirm then Moderate’

Configuration for -devel (discussion) list:

in Settings > Subscription Policy set to ‘Confirm’
in Message acceptance, set Default action to take when a non-member posts to the list to ‘Hold for moderation’

Configuration for a -private list

in Settings > Subscription Policy set to ‘Confirm then Moderate’
in Message acceptance, set Default action to take when a non-member posts to the list to ‘Discard (no notification)’
in Archiving set Archive policy to ‘Private archives’
in List Identity keep Show list on index page to ‘Yes’, it’s private but not kept a secret

Configuration for a no-archives -private list

This is a rare configuration, usually reserved for security-related issues. Same settings as a -private list except for:

in Archiving set Archive policy to ‘Do not archive this list’

Configuration for an open-sender list

This should be avoided for SPAM reasons.

in Message acceptance, set Default action to take when a non-member posts to the list to ‘Accept immediately (bypass other rules)’

Configuration for an announcement mailing list

in Settings > Subscription Policy set to ‘Confirm’
in Message acceptance, set Default action to take when a non-member posts to the list to ‘Reject (with notification)’, and insert a text explaining it is an announcement only list and gives at least one contact email address for questions and comments
on the same page, set Default action to take when a member posts to the list to ‘Hold for moderation’
in Message acceptance, you may restrict the Maximum message size (be careful to allow for images and such in announcements, ~300kb should be fine for most usage)

Configuration for closing a list permanently

If you need to close a mailing list, either to direct to a new location or because it is no longer needed, take these steps to hide the list (if needed) and notify senders of what to do. (You may also want to unsubscribe all members, if that is appropriate.)

in Settings > List Identity > Show list on index page set to ‘No’
on the same page, update the Description and Information fields accordingly
in Subscription Policy set to ‘Confirm then Moderate’
in Message Acceptance set both ‘Default action to take…’ settings to ‘Reject (with notification)’ and insert a text explaining the situation

Category:Infrastructure documentation Category:Infrastructure SOP