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--- lwc:linux:sympa [2025/12/04 14:25] – John Harrison
+++ lwc:linux:sympa [2025/12/15 07:54] (current) – John Harrison
@@ Line 102: / Line 102: @@
 # If you have trouble change from default log_level 1
 log_level 2
+# The sympa manager defaults to sympa so emails to subscribe/unsubscribe etc. will come from sympa@DOMAIN. You can change this. For example, to have them come from manager instead add the below line:
+email manager
 </code>
@@ Line 114: / Line 117: @@
 ===== Configuration =====
+==== Amazon SES relay ====
+  * if forwarding emails to Amazon SES for sending, Amazon gets upset because of a duplicate header: ''Precedence''
+    * This is because Sympa adds a Precedence: bulk (or list) header automatically to all list traffic to help spam filters identify it as a mailing list.
+    * Apparently the outgoing sender might have also added a Precedence header or maybe sympa is just confused :-o
+    * The result is that there is no Precedence header at all but that header has been obsoleted anyway so nothing lost
+  * to fix, add to ''/etc/sympa/sympa/sympa.conf'': ''remove_outgoing_headers Precedence''
+    * also available as a setting in the UI in ''sending/receiving setup'' -> ''Header fields to be removed before message distribution (remove_outgoing_headers)(default)''
 ==== Customizing Templates ====
 Sympa uses a "Cascading" template system. It looks for a template (like welcome.tt2) in this specific order:
@@ Line 120: / Line 132: @@
   - Site Level: ''/etc/sympa/mail_tt2/''
   - Default: ''/usr/share/sympa/default/mail_tt2/'' (Lowest Priority)
+=== Cascaded Templates for messages sent to the list ===
+  * have 2 footers, one plaintext (''message.footer'') and one html (''message.footer.mime'')
-To customize a template for one specific list, copy the default file into that list's folder and edit it there.
+  - List Level: ''/etc/sympa/list_configs/[list_name]/message.footer.mime''
+  - Robot/Domain Level: ''/etc/sympa/lists.lawrencemakers.org/message.footer.mime''
+  - Site/Global Level: /''etc/sympa/message.footer.mime''
+  - Default: ''/usr/share/sympa/default/message.footer.mime''
 ==== Unsubscribe Header ====
@@ Line 136: / Line 153: @@
 ==== List Config ====
-  * config file located at: ''/var/lib/sympa/list_data/<LISTNAME>/config
+  * config file located at: ''/var/lib/sympa/list_data/<LISTNAME>/config''
+  * To get the emails sent from the list instead of the sender in the UI:
+    * ''Admin'' -> ''Edit List Config'' -> ''DKIM/DMARC/ARC''
+      * ''DMARC Protection'' -> ''All''
+      * ''New From name format'' -> ''"Name" (via list)''
+  * Change the from address from the sender to the list:
+    * ''Admin'' -> ''Edit List Config'' -> ''Sending/Receiving Setup''
+    * ''"Reply address"'' -> change to ''All''
+  * Prepend the list name to the subjects when sending out:
+    * ''Admin'' -> ''Edit List Config'' -> ''Sending/Receiving Setup''
+    * ''Subject tagging (custom_subject)'' -> ''[% list.name %]''
+  * Get rid of the "via list" in the from:
+    * ''Admin'' -> ''Edit List Config'' -> ''DKIM/DMARC/ARC''
+    * ''New From name format (phrase)'' -> set to ''Name''
+  * consider increasing max message size:
+    * ''Admin'' -> ''Edit List Config'' -> ''Sending/Receiving Setup''
+    *  ''Maximum message size (max_size)(default)'' -> ''20971520''
+  * allow subscribers to view who is subscribed:
+    * ''Who can review subscribers (review)'' -> ''Restricted to subscribers (private)''
+  * create a list template to change the defaults for a new list:
+<code>
+# make a home for the new default override
+sudo mkdir -p /etc/sympa/create_list_templates
+# copy from the original default
+sudo cp -r /usr/share/sympa/default/create_list_templates/discussion_list /etc/sympa/create_list_templates/
+# edit to your heart's content:
+sudo emacs -nw /etc/sympa/create_list_templates/discussion_list/config.tt2
+</code>
 ==== Prettying it up ====
 === Logo and Favicon ===
@@ Line 148: / Line 193: @@
 </code>
+==== Null Sender ====
+=== Defining the problem ===
+  * Sympa uses null sender (<>) when sending automated administrative messages like "post rejected: you aren't a member of the list"
+  * Amazon SES rejects null sender on SMTP relay (all my testing confirmed this and their AI FAQ thingie says this as well)
+  * Sending direct (skipping Amazon SES relay) fails too at least for gmail, who blocks null sender from my server address and accepts other addresses from the same server IP
+  * I tried many many attempts to get Postfix to replace the null sender with noreply@ and after hours of this gave up
+=== Workaround ===
+//yes I know this is a terrible workaround but couldn't figure out anything better//
+  * Edit Sympa's ''/usr/share/sympa/lib/Sympa/Mailer.pm'' to use ''no-reply@'' instead of null. In the file:
+<code>
+#change
+($return_path eq '<>' ? '' : $return_path), '--', @rcpt;
+#to
+($return_path eq '<>' ? 'no-reply@SYMPA_SUBDOMAIN' : $return_path), '--', @rcpt;
+</code>
+  * write a simple script to make sure you are notified if ''Mailer.pm'' ever gets updated:
+<code>
+#!/bin/bash
+FILE="/usr/share/sympa/lib/Sympa/Mailer.pm"
+TARGET_MD5="<PUT MD5 HERE>"
+# Check if the file exists
+if [ ! -f "$FILE" ]; then
+    /usr/bin/echo "Error: File '$FILE' not found."
+    /usr/bin/logger -t checkMailer "Error: File '$FILE' not found."
+    /usr/bin/swaks --from FROM_ADDR --to TO_ADDR --h-Subject "checkMailer: FILE NOT FOUND" --body "Error: File '$FILE' not found." --server localhost
+    exit 1
+fi
+# Get the md5 of the file
+MD5=$(md5sum /usr/share/sympa/lib/Sympa/Mailer.pm | awk {'print $1'})
+# Compare the md5 to the target
+if [ "$MD5" == "$TARGET_MD5" ]; then
+    /usr/bin/echo "INFO: md5 for $FILE matches target."
+    /usr/bin/logger -t checkMailer "INFO: md5 for $FILE matches target."
+    /usr/bin/swaks --from FROM_ADDR --to TO_ADDR --h-Subject "checkMailer: md5 matches" --body "Good news: the md5 of $FILE has not changed" --server localhost
+else
+    /usr/bin/echo "WARNING: md5 for $FILE does NOT match target."
+    /usr/bin/logger -t checkMailer "WARNING: md5 for $FILE does NOT match target."
+    /usr/bin/swaks --from FROM_ADDR --to TO_ADDR --h-Subject "checkMailer: md5 does NOT match" --body "Bad news: the md5 of $FILE changed. Update null sender now." --server localhost
+fi
+</code>
+  * ''chmod 755'' and set up a daily cron for the script
+  * set Sympa to dump any bounced emails to noreply@:
+    * in ''/etc/sympa/aliases.sympa.postfix'' add ''no-reply:              "|/bin/true"''
+    * ''sudo postalias /etc/sympa/aliases.sympa.postfix''
+    * ''sudo postfix reload''
+=== Oh wait but we aren't done: Admin email is passing Google DKIM but failing Outlook DKIM ===
+Outlook is pretty unhappy with ''Content-Type: multipart/report''. To fix this:
+  * change ''/etc/sympa/mail_tt2/delivery_status_notification.tt2'' from ''Content-Type: multipart/report'' to ''Content-Type: text/plain''
+  * //To make it look pretty, you will definitely want make some other changes to the template as well//
 ==== Misc ====
   * It's a good idea to set the domain up with [[https://postmaster.google.com/|Google Postmaster Tools]] for some analytics sending to gmail addresses if you ever need it
+  * There's a list template which sets the defaults for new lists when they are created. It's possible to override with a new template. I did not look further into this.
+  * completely removing a list needs to happen from the CLI: ''sudo /usr/lib/sympa/bin/sympa.pl --purge_list=LISTNAME@SUBDOMAIN_OF_WEB_UI''
+  * From [[https://www.sympa.community/manual/customize/basics-templates.html|the documentation]]: "By default, text body of mail template (except attached part described in above) is wrapped. X-Sympa-NoWrap pseudo-header field prevents line wrapping."