Majordomo Guide

Majordomo mailing lists have many advantages over Outlook groups for the dissemination of email among many users. This page explains how to set up and administer a Majordomo style list. For security reasons, the list owner must be an OHSU user account.

The first step in setting up a Majordomo list is to decide what sort of list it will be: open, closed or private.

1. Open List. Available for general use. Subscription may be either open or approved by the list owner. Membership is voluntary. Members should not be drafted without their consent. Anyone who has subscribed can post to the list. The list owner is responsible for list maintenance including subscribing and unsubscribing members. Defaults for type 1: subscription open, not moderated, no restriction on posting, who access and which access open, info access open, and intro access restricted to list members.

2. Closed List. Available only for officially supported OHSU lists. Members are drafted by the university department to which the list owner belongs. Because members have not self-subscribed, it cannot be assumed that they know the rules of using a list such as problems encountered with "reply to all" or "vacation rules." Therefore the default for a closed list is to posting restricted. List membership is maintained by the list owner. Defaults for type 2: subscription closed, not moderated, posting restricted, who access and which access open, info access open, intro access restricted to list members.

3. Private List. The name of a private list is hidden from all who are not members of that private list. Majordomo's reply to the lists command will not include this private list, unless the request has come from a member of the private list. Defaults for type 3: Subscription closed, not moderated, no restriction on posting, who access and which access closed, info access open, intro access restricted to list members.

After reviewing this document, complete the Request for Majordomo List form found at the Majordomo request page. Mail the form to BICC-ITG or fax it to 494-2324.

When your mailing list has been established, the person you listed on the form as the list owner will receive a detailed e-mail message explaining what to do next. This message should be saved for future reference. The first two paragraphs for a fictional list called golfers would look like this:

Your mailing list has been established. It is being served by an automated mailing list manager program that responds to commands emailed to the "Majordomo address" listed above. This message has all the details of how to manage your list remotely using Majordomo. If you have any questions, refer them to the Majordomo-Owner address listed above.

To complete the Majordomo list, you must understand how to send commands to the program that manages your list. You do this via email. Read on to learn how.

Special commands for use by list owners only are not displayed when you send a help request to Majordomo but will be included in the detailed message the list administrator just received. A few are mentioned below.

To issue these commands, send an e-mail request to majordomo@ohsu.edu, leaving the Subject line blank. The commands should be entered in the body portion of the e-mail exactly as specified. A message to Majordomo is not limited to a single command per message. You may enter more than one command, each on a separate line. Majordomo will process commands until reaching end-of-message or the command end. It is important to limit your message to just the commands you want implemented. Do not add extra wording. If the commands are not entered in exactly, or other text is entered, the command will not be processed.

The following instructions describe the steps you need to take to configure your list now that it is functional.

As soon as possible, please issue in the body of an email message a newinfo command for your list to create the file that someone will receive when they ask about your list. The form of the message should be newinfo . Replace the words in <> with the appropriate information for your list. In the following example Arnold Palmer would replace the xxxxxxx with the password for the list called golfers:

newinfo golfers xxxxxxx
 
Golfers is a majordomo email list created at OHSU for those of you who love the links. It's open to all subscribers, but is moderated by the list owner.
 
End

You can issue in the body of an email message a who command for your list to see who's already on your list. You may or may not be subscribed to your own list. For example, sending the command "who golfers" to Majordomo will send back a reply with a list of the people on the golfers list.

As soon as possible, retrieve the configuration file for your list by sending the config command. Example: config golfers xxxxxxxx. Replace the name golfers with the name of your list and the x's with the password for your list. You will receive an email message with the configuration file for your list in the message body. Verify that your list has been set up as you have requested.

If you want to change how your list is configured, send the config command again. When the configuration file arrives in your email, click on Reply. Delete anything that appears on the Subject line of your Reply, edit the portion of the configuration file you wish to change , change the word config at the top to the word newconfig, delete any characters or spaces at the top of the message that appear before the word newconfig, change and delete any characters at the end of the message after the last parameter, the who parameter. Send the message. You will either receive an acceptance reply or a rejection reply with the reason for the rejection.

Once your new configuration is in place, you may change the info or intro files. Example: Send a message to majordomo with the revised text. In the following example Arnold Palmer would replace the xxxxxxx with the password for the list called golfers.

Example:
newinfo golfers xxxxxxx
Welcome! Golfers is a list that has been in existence since 1997. There are many members. Please observe the usual courtesty rules for internet email. Especially be sure, when you compose a reply to a posting, to determine who will receive your reply before you send it. Thanks. Arnie. end

The following are Majordomo commands sent in the body of an email to Majordomo@ohsu.edu which define the conditions of your list. Words in bold indicate something you would type. Substitute the appropriate words for the words in bold within angle brackets. Notice: < > means put nothing.

1. moderate = yes means all postings to the list must be approved by the moderator. moderate = <> means anyone can post a message, although it depends on how restrict_post has defined.

2. moderator = means when a message with a problem (too long, invalid format, wrong address, etc.) is sent to the list it bounces to the moderator instead of the owner of the list. moderator = <>means when a message is sent to the list it bounces to the list owner.

3. restrict_post = means there is a file containing members who can post a message to the list. Please let the Help Desk (494-2222) know if you want this option. restrict_post = <> means there is no such restriction.

4. subscribe_policy = closed means the list owner must approve any subscriber requests to the list.

   • subscribe_policy = auto allows anybody to subscribe anybody to the list.

   • subscribe_policy = open allows people to subscribe themselves to the list.

   • subscribe_policy = open+confirm will cause majordomo to send a reply back to the subscriber which includes an authentication number which must be sent back with another subscribe command.

5. unsubscribe_policy = open allows people to unsubscribe themselves from the list.

   • unsubscribe_policy = auto allows anybody to unsubscribe anybody to the list.

   • unsubscribe_policy = closed means the list owner must approve any unsubscribe request to the list.

6. welcome = <> means no welcome message will be sent to a new subscriber.

   • welcome = yes means a welcome message (and optional 'intro' file) will be sent to the newly subscribed user.

7. which_access = open means your list will be included when anyone issues the which command to check which lists an individual subscribes to.

   • which_access = closed means your list will be hidden.

   • which_access = list means only subscribers or those in the restrict_post file will see your list name when they use this this feature.

8. who_access = open means anyone can check to see who subscribes to your list.

   • who_access = closed means no one can access your list with this command.

   • who_access = list means only subscribers or those in the restrict_post file can see who else subscribes.

9. info_access = open means anyone can see the brief list description you have written.

   • info_access = closed means no one can access your list with this command.

   • info_access = list means only subscribers or those in the restrict_post file can see it.

10. intro_access = open means anyone can see the introduction you have written.

    • intro_access = closed means no one can access your list with this command.

    • intro_access = list means only subscribers or those in the restrict_post file can see it.