PMDF Mailserv Mailing Lists : Configuration

Introduction

Many departmental and special interest mailing lists are maintained on the central mail gateway : smtp.unimelb.edu.au (also known as muwayb.its.unimelb.edu.au).

These mailing lists are PMDF mailserv mailing lists and are set up by Systems Programming staff in Information Infrastructure.

List Configuration Considerations

The lists may be set up with a number of different configurations. So if you are going to request that a new list be set up for you, you need to consider :

• Who can subscribe and unsubscribe email addresses to the list. For example :
  • Whether or not self-subscription to the list is to be permitted.
  • If self-subscription is to be permitted, is it to be limited in any way (e.g. to addresses in the unimelb.edu.au and mu.oz.au mail domains or perhaps to addresses in a domain such as "dept".unimelb.edu.au)?
  • If self-subscription is not to be permitted, are subscription attempts to be automatically referred to the list administrator?
  • Whether or not it is permitted for people to subscribe addresses to the list other than their own.
  • Whether or not people can unsubscribe themselves from the list.
  • Whether or not people can unsubscribe other addresses from the list.
  • When an administrator subscribes an address to a list should the administrator have the option of turning off the automatic notification sent to the subscribed address.

• Who can post to the list? For example :
  • Is the list to be totally open (i.e. anyone can post to the list)?
  • Is the list to be configured such that anyone whose address is subscribed to the list can post to it?
  • Is posting to be restricted to anyone whose email address is in specific mail domains (e.g. unimelb.edu.au or mu.oz.au)?
  • Is the list to be a moderated list (i.e. posts to the list are sent to a moderator who sends them to the list if they see fit)?
  • Is the list to be a one way list for which a select list of email addresses can post to the list.

• Who can obtain a listing of addresses subscribed to the list?

• Is the reply-to address to be set to the list itself rather than the address of the original message? There are important implications to be considered here (see below).

• Is a welcome message desired for the list.

Further information on these configuration considerations is given below.

Subscription And Unsubscription

It is general policy for lists on smtp.unimelb.edu.au that self-subscription is restricted to University of Melbourne mail domains (such as unimelb.edu.au, mu.oz.au, "dept".unimelb.edu.au). Self subscription by non University of Melbourne addresses are usually determined on a case by case basis by the list administrator.

In terms of subscription/unsubscription, the most common type of list hosted on smtp.unimelb.edu.au has :

• An administrator who can do everything.
• Subscriptions are by the administrator only.
• People can unsubscribe themselves.

Posting Messages To Lists

The most common type of mailing list on smtp.unimelb.edu.au limits postings to the list to those who are subscribed to the list.

Some lists are set up such that anyone in unimelb.edu.au or mu.oz.au can post to the list regardless of whether or not they are subscribed.

Other lists are moderated lists. Posts are first sent to the moderator who sends them to the list if they see fit. For such lists there can only be one moderator address.

There are some lists which are "one-way" lists where only the administrator or a selected few addresses can post to the list.

Requests For Lists Of Subscribed Addresses

This is usually limited to the list administrator.

Reply To Address

Normally the reply-to address is NOT set to the list itself. Such practice is strongly discouraged as it can lead to mail loops in the wrong circumstances. For example, if an address which is subscribed to the list has a vacation message set such that it automatically replies to any message received and the reply-to address of the list is the list itself then the vacation message will be distributed to all on the list (including the address originating the vacation message) ...

Welcome Messages

It is possible to set up files containing a welcome message which is automatically sent to new addresses subscribed to the list. These are put in place by Systems Programming staff in Information Infrastructure. Welcome messages must be in plain text and often include information about the purpose of the list, how to unsubscribe from the list, what is acceptable use of the list, etc.)

Message Size Limitations

Most lists hosted on muwayb have a message size limit of 205 Kbytes. Some list administrators have asked for the maximum message size to be reduced to 15 Kbytes for their lists. This has been done in an attempt to limit the possibility of viruses being sent to their entire list (most viruses are bigger than 15 Kbytes). This does not, of course stop messages containing html links to pages containing viruses/worms. Nor does it stop the undesirable practice known as phishing (the "confirm your bank details" type message). There are some lists which have a message size limit somewhat bigger than 205 Kbytes but these are only available by special arrangement and only where the number of subscribed addresses will remain small. Large lists with a large message size limit could cause load problems for the central mail servers.

Requests For Lists To Be Set Up

Requests for mailserv mailing lists to be set up should be sent to list-requests@unimelb.edu.au after consideration of the above information. Such requests should specify :

• The name and purpose of the list (such list names must contain at least one hyphen - e.g. arts-academics).
• The 3 digit department code for which the list is to be created.
• The names and email addresses of the people who will administer it.
• Any restrictions about who can subscribe to the list.
• Any restrictions about who can unsubscribe addresses from the list.
• Any restrictions about who can obtain a list of subscribed addresses.
• Any restrictions about who can post mail to the list.
• Whether replies sent to messages received from the list should go to back to all members of the list or just to the original sender.
• Whether the administrator can elect to turn off the automatic subscription notification normally sent to the subscribed address.
• Whether a welcome message is to be sent to all people who are subscribed to the list.

as well as any other special requests.

Instructions On How To Subscribe/Unsubscribe/Post To A Mailing List

For information on how to :

• Subscribe to a mailserv mailing list.
• Unsubscribe from a mailserv mailing list.
• Post a message to a mailserv mailing list.
• Obtain a list of who is subscribed to a mailserv mailing list.

see Using Mailserv Mailing Lists