Difference between revisions of "Procmail"
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This document demonstrates how to use procmail to automate mail handling. | This document demonstrates how to use procmail to automate mail handling. | ||
| − | General mail handling based on the subject line is discussed first to get you familiar with | + | General mail handling based on the subject line is discussed first to get you familiar with Procmail. Handling multiple mailboxes is discussed at the end of this document. |
| + | = Getting Started with Procmail = | ||
| + | You need to create a file named ".procmailrc" (note the ".") in the home directory of your account. You can do this either by connecting to the server via SSH and using a text editor such as nano or vi, or you can create a file named, for instance, "procmail.txt" on your computer, upload the file to your account with an SFTP client the same way you would upload a web page, and then rename the file. | ||
| − | + | At the top of the file, include the following lines, making sure to change it to match your account's domain name: | |
| + | PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin # Path Variables for the procmail session | ||
| + | MAILDIR=/var/spool/mail/yourdomain.com # Do not put 'www.' in front of your domain here | ||
| + | LOGFILE=$HOME/procmail.log # Keeps a log of email routing | ||
| + | VERBOSE=no # Verbose Error Reporting --values (no|off yes|on) | ||
| + | COMSAT=no # set to no|off | ||
| + | # SENDMAIL=/usr/bin/sendmail # sendmail location (comment in procmail only) | ||
| − | + | The Procmail rules, sometimes called "recipes," will come after that. | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| + | = Email Forwarding = | ||
| − | + | Here is a simple email forwarding rule: | |
| − | + | :0 | |
| + | * ^TO_somethinglocal@myHurricaneElectricHostedDomain.com | ||
| + | ! my_personal_address@someOtherDomain.net | ||
| − | ' | + | '''Note:''' this forwards all mail, including spam. Please install [[SpamAssassin]] at the top of your .procmailrc file to limit the amount of spam your destination mailbox receives. |
| − | + | = Sorting into Folders = | |
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Adding the following text will match everything with 'INFO REQUEST' in the Subject line and save it to the folder 'Marketing'. | Adding the following text will match everything with 'INFO REQUEST' in the Subject line and save it to the folder 'Marketing'. | ||
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Marketing | Marketing | ||
| − | + | = Custom Autoresponders = | |
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| − | Adding the text below will match everything with 'SUPPORT' in the Subject line | + | Adding the text below will match everything with 'SUPPORT' in the Subject line and return an acknowledgement to the user who sent the support request. |
This is a little more difficult to understand. Make sure that 'SUPPORT' is in the Subject line and that it does not contain data from 'FROM_DAEMON' (listserv's and auto-mailers are suppose to put this in their headers.) | This is a little more difficult to understand. Make sure that 'SUPPORT' is in the Subject line and that it does not contain data from 'FROM_DAEMON' (listserv's and auto-mailers are suppose to put this in their headers.) | ||
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| (formail -t -r -A"X-Loop: john_doe@bigbusines.com " ; \ | | (formail -t -r -A"X-Loop: john_doe@bigbusines.com " ; \ | ||
cat /home/your_account/acknowlegement.txt ) | $SENDMAIL -t | cat /home/your_account/acknowlegement.txt ) | $SENDMAIL -t | ||
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} | } | ||
| − | + | = Examples of Combining Rules = | |
| + | |||
| + | Adding the following text will match everything with 'ORDER' in the subject line and save it to the folder Sales' and then send it to joe@bigbusiness.com. | ||
:0 | :0 | ||
| − | * ^ | + | * ^Subject:.*ORDER |
| − | + | { | |
| + | :0 c | ||
| + | ! joe@bigbusiness.com | ||
| + | :0 | ||
| + | Sales | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | To | + | To separate mail by sender (From line) use the following text, which will cause any mail from joe@bigbusiness.com to be stored in the folder 'BigBoss'. |
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:0 | :0 | ||
| − | * ^ | + | * ^From:.*joe@bigbusiness.com |
| − | + | BigBoss | |
| − | + | The following text will cause any mail sent to register@yourvirtualhost.com to be stored in the folder 'Registrations'. This can be handy if the mail being sent to register@yourvirtualhost.com is actually being forwarded to another address, because the email's entire history is preserved, and Procmail will know who the original recipient was supposed to be. | |
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| − | The following text will cause any mail sent to register@yourvirtualhost.com to be stored in the folder 'Registrations'. | + | |
:0 | :0 | ||
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Registrations | Registrations | ||
| − | + | Here's a modification of the autoresponder used above: mail sent support@yourvirtualhost.com triggers an autoresponse, is saved to a folder ("Support"), and a copy is forwarded (to support@bigbusiness.com). | |
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:0 | :0 | ||
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* !^FROM_DAEMON | * !^FROM_DAEMON | ||
* !^X-Loop: john_doe@bigbusiness.com | * !^X-Loop: john_doe@bigbusiness.com | ||
| − | + | { | |
| − | + | :0 h c | |
| − | + | | (formail -t -r -A"X-Loop: john_doe@bigbusines.com " ; \ | |
| − | + | cat /home/your_account/acknowlegement.txt ) | $SENDMAIL -t | |
| − | + | :0 c | |
| − | + | !support@bigbusiness.com | |
| − | + | :0 | |
| − | + | Support | |
| − | + | } | |
Revision as of 18:05, 11 January 2012
This information only pertains to Hurricane Electric's Shared Web Hosting package. There may be different information in our other categories.
This document demonstrates how to use procmail to automate mail handling. General mail handling based on the subject line is discussed first to get you familiar with Procmail. Handling multiple mailboxes is discussed at the end of this document.
Contents
Getting Started with Procmail
You need to create a file named ".procmailrc" (note the ".") in the home directory of your account. You can do this either by connecting to the server via SSH and using a text editor such as nano or vi, or you can create a file named, for instance, "procmail.txt" on your computer, upload the file to your account with an SFTP client the same way you would upload a web page, and then rename the file.
At the top of the file, include the following lines, making sure to change it to match your account's domain name:
PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin # Path Variables for the procmail session MAILDIR=/var/spool/mail/yourdomain.com # Do not put 'www.' in front of your domain here LOGFILE=$HOME/procmail.log # Keeps a log of email routing VERBOSE=no # Verbose Error Reporting --values (no|off yes|on) COMSAT=no # set to no|off # SENDMAIL=/usr/bin/sendmail # sendmail location (comment in procmail only)
The Procmail rules, sometimes called "recipes," will come after that.
Email Forwarding
Here is a simple email forwarding rule:
:0 * ^TO_somethinglocal@myHurricaneElectricHostedDomain.com ! my_personal_address@someOtherDomain.net
Note: this forwards all mail, including spam. Please install SpamAssassin at the top of your .procmailrc file to limit the amount of spam your destination mailbox receives.
Sorting into Folders
Adding the following text will match everything with 'INFO REQUEST' in the Subject line and save it to the folder 'Marketing'.
:0 * ^Subject:.*INFO REQUEST Marketing
Custom Autoresponders
Adding the text below will match everything with 'SUPPORT' in the Subject line and return an acknowledgement to the user who sent the support request.
This is a little more difficult to understand. Make sure that 'SUPPORT' is in the Subject line and that it does not contain data from 'FROM_DAEMON' (listserv's and auto-mailers are suppose to put this in their headers.)
We also don't want to keep replying to other auto responders. This is remedied by putting an 'X' header on your response. (X headers are not seen by standard mail clients) formail reformats the headers of the outgoing message to include 'X-Loop: john_doe@bigbusiness.com' The text that is being displayed is in the file '/home/your_account/acknowledgement.txt' It's mailed to support@bigbusiness.com and saved to the 'Support' folder.
:0
* ^Subject:.*SUPPORT
* !^FROM_DAEMON
* !^X-Loop: john_doe@bigbusiness.com
{
:0 h c
| (formail -t -r -A"X-Loop: john_doe@bigbusines.com " ; \
cat /home/your_account/acknowlegement.txt ) | $SENDMAIL -t
}
Examples of Combining Rules
Adding the following text will match everything with 'ORDER' in the subject line and save it to the folder Sales' and then send it to joe@bigbusiness.com.
:0
* ^Subject:.*ORDER
{
:0 c
! joe@bigbusiness.com
:0
Sales
}
To separate mail by sender (From line) use the following text, which will cause any mail from joe@bigbusiness.com to be stored in the folder 'BigBoss'.
:0 * ^From:.*joe@bigbusiness.com BigBoss
The following text will cause any mail sent to register@yourvirtualhost.com to be stored in the folder 'Registrations'. This can be handy if the mail being sent to register@yourvirtualhost.com is actually being forwarded to another address, because the email's entire history is preserved, and Procmail will know who the original recipient was supposed to be.
:0 * ^TO_register@yourvirtualhost.com Registrations
Here's a modification of the autoresponder used above: mail sent support@yourvirtualhost.com triggers an autoresponse, is saved to a folder ("Support"), and a copy is forwarded (to support@bigbusiness.com).
:0
* ^TO_support@yourvirtualhost.com
* !^FROM_DAEMON
* !^X-Loop: john_doe@bigbusiness.com
{
:0 h c
| (formail -t -r -A"X-Loop: john_doe@bigbusines.com " ; \
cat /home/your_account/acknowlegement.txt ) | $SENDMAIL -t
:0 c
!support@bigbusiness.com
:0
Support
}
