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Posted to dev@spamassassin.apache.org by lloe <ll...@charter.net> on 2004/09/07 18:47:13 UTC
SpamAssassin help
Hello Fellow Users,
When I saw Don's email " How neophytes without mastery of computers can use spamassassin. " I felt that I am someone who is also in Don's shoes.
I am a fairly new person to PCs and do not feel strong enough in knowledge to understand what and how I need to personalize any of the SpamAssassin modules.
I do not have any knowledge of Perl.
I use Outlook Express 6 as my main e-mail program.
I use Internet Exployer 6 on a Windows 98SE operating machine.
There are 7 of us here at home using this machine. Each of the family members has one Outlook Express e-mail account. I have three account - personal, business, and one I strictly use for school type issues.
Each of these 10 plus accounts has been hit with spam type of mailings and I want to be able to catch as many as possible so that the younger members are not hit with stuff they should not be exposed to.
I originally started with version 2.55, and have attempted 'upgrades' up through 2.64, but I do not know if these were done correctly or completely.
With the 2.55 version, I created my own white-list for each of the 10 plus accounts and incorporated it into the following :
the ' C:\Program Files\SpamAssassin POP3 Proxy\defaults ' user prefs file
the ' C:\Program Files\SpamAssassin POP3 Proxy\lib\Mail\SpamAssassin ' local.cf and user prefs files
the ' C:\Program Files\SpamAssassin POP3 Proxy\rules ' local.cf and user prefs files
the ' C:\Program Files\SpamAssassin POP3 Proxy\spamassassin ' local.cf and user prefs files
All I have done with these upgrades [up through 2.64] is to 'unzip' and move all of those extracted folders and files to the program folder ' C:\Program Files\SpamAssassin POP3 Proxy ' [which was the program folder that 2.55 originally created]. I have kept the original saproxy.exe application program. It is version 1.0.0.0 dated June 6, 2003. I also kept the original sa-learn.exe application program. It is also version 1.0.0.0 dated June 6, 2003. I also propagated the above mentioned white-list to each of those files.
Frankly, I do not know what version update of SpamAssassin I am running.
Would someone be willing to walk me through - step by step - the process - from start to finish? I had a head injury and believe that this is a bit confusing for me to decipher on my own.
Thanking you in advance for any assistance - and willingness to at least hear me out.
Please advise.
Have a Nice Day!
Lucille Loe
lloe@charter.net
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.754 / Virus Database: 504 - Release Date: 9/6/2004
Re: SpamAssassin help
Posted by jdow <jd...@earthlink.net>.
From: "Robert Menschel" <Ro...@Menschel.net>
To: "lloe" <ll...@charter.net>
> Hello lloe,
>
> Tuesday, September 7, 2004, 9:47:13 AM, you wrote:
>
> l> Hello Fellow Users,
>
> l> When I saw Don's email " How neophytes without mastery of
> l> computers can use spamassassin. " I felt that I am someone who is also
> l> in Don's shoes.
>
> My impression wasn't that Don was a neophyte, unable to get SA to work,
> but rather he had users whom he wanted to do their own tuning, and those
> users couldn't figure out how.
>
> Your problem is different.
When I saw Lucille's note I sort of felt sorry for her. If her level
of expertise is Windows 98 I must admire her persistence in getting
it working at all. And off hand I do not think it is possible to get
it working smoothly for things like training without a Linux box or
some of the commercial software that is "powered by SpamAssassin."
OE in any version is very much unsuitable for use in an environment
that requires interactive SpamAssassin training, though. That makes
life hard for her.
> l> I am a fairly new person to PCs and do not feel strong enough in
> l> knowledge to understand what and how I need to personalize any of the
> l> SpamAssassin modules.
>
> To start with, SpamAssassin is /not/ designed to be set up or managed by
> someone without in-depth knowledge of the system SA runs on. It's not
> "plug and play."
There are some commercial packages that are powered by SpamAssassin.
But if Lucille is still stuck at the Windows 98 level I suspect they
are not an option for her.
> l> There are 7 of us here at home using this machine. Each of the
> l> family members has one Outlook Express e-mail account. I have three
> l> account - personal, business, and one I strictly use for school type
> l> issues.
>
> In other words, you have no direct control over what lands in your remote
> mailbox (which is where SpamAssassin excels).
The proxy intervenes during the fetch and runs SpamAssassin, I believe.
So that's not far different from the Linux box with fetchmail and
procmail driving POP3 (and IMAP for spam training) delivery agents.
> Most of my users are in the same situation you are. They only get
> non-spam in their mailboxes (well, 99.98% accurate -- one or two spam a
> week slips through). My system filters all spam and dumps it into a
> validation mailbox that I retrieve, to verify there are no false
> positives (non-spam wrongly flagged), and to help the Bayes system learn
> better and better how spam and non-spam differ.
My reading is that budget is probably driving Lucille very heavily.
> l> I originally started with version 2.55, ...
>
> l> All I have done with these upgrades [up through 2.64] is to
> l> 'unzip' and move all of those extracted folders and files to the
> l> program folder ' C:\Program Files\SpamAssassin POP3 Proxy ' [which
> l> was the program folder that 2.55 originally created]. I have kept the
> l> original saproxy.exe application program. It is version 1.0.0.0 dated
> l> June 6, 2003. I also kept the original sa-learn.exe application
> l> program. It is also version 1.0.0.0 dated June 6, 2003. I also
> l> propagated the above mentioned white-list to each of those files.
>
> I have no idea how SA Proxy worked, but I'm fairly certain that the
> method you're using to "upgrade" SA does not apply the new files to your
> system. If your system is working at all, I believe it's still working
> with mid-2003 software and parameters.
>
> l> Frankly, I do not know what version update of SpamAssassin I am
running.
>
> Can you view the email headers that control your email's delivery and
> record its history? Should be something somewhere on the MSOE menu that
> allows you to view those headers. If so, you should find one that looks
> like
> > X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.63 (2004-01-11) on
> > server3.arterytc3.net
> That will tell you what version you're using (mine is 2.63, as
> distributed Jan 11 2004).
>
> l> Would someone be willing to walk me through - step by step - the
> l> process - from start to finish? I had a head injury and believe that
> l> this is a bit confusing for me to decipher on my own.
>
> Can't do it myself, but you might find help at
> http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/UsingOnWindows
>
> Better, though, for you in my opinion, would be to look at
> http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/CommercialProducts and select one of
> the prepackaged systems, such as SAproxy Pro, or No Spam Today! for
> Workstations. You need to make sure it's software that runs with an email
> *client* like your MSOE, not an email /server/ (which is what your remote
> ISP uses).
Ditto. I do not touch Windows 98. Nor do I touch the concept of
running SpamAssassin on a PC. The thought is frightening given the
PC's vulnerabilities.
> You'll need to pay for these commercial solutions, but they should be
> much more "plug and play", easier to install and use, and maybe easier to
> maintain.
YES YES YES. If her budget allows a commercial solution is THE way
to go. (And frankly I'd suggest she upgrade from WIndows 98 if at
all possible.)
> l> Thanking you in advance for any assistance - and willingness to at
> l> least hear me out.
>
> Hope this helps.
Ditto, for whatever pathetically small help it might be.
{O.O} Joanne
Re: SpamAssassin help
Posted by Robert Menschel <Ro...@Menschel.net>.
Hello lloe,
Tuesday, September 7, 2004, 9:47:13 AM, you wrote:
l> Hello Fellow Users,
l> When I saw Don's email " How neophytes without mastery of
l> computers can use spamassassin. " I felt that I am someone who is also
l> in Don's shoes.
My impression wasn't that Don was a neophyte, unable to get SA to work,
but rather he had users whom he wanted to do their own tuning, and those
users couldn't figure out how.
Your problem is different.
l> I am a fairly new person to PCs and do not feel strong enough in
l> knowledge to understand what and how I need to personalize any of the
l> SpamAssassin modules.
To start with, SpamAssassin is /not/ designed to be set up or managed by
someone without in-depth knowledge of the system SA runs on. It's not
"plug and play."
l> There are 7 of us here at home using this machine. Each of the
l> family members has one Outlook Express e-mail account. I have three
l> account - personal, business, and one I strictly use for school type
l> issues.
In other words, you have no direct control over what lands in your remote
mailbox (which is where SpamAssassin excels).
Most of my users are in the same situation you are. They only get
non-spam in their mailboxes (well, 99.98% accurate -- one or two spam a
week slips through). My system filters all spam and dumps it into a
validation mailbox that I retrieve, to verify there are no false
positives (non-spam wrongly flagged), and to help the Bayes system learn
better and better how spam and non-spam differ.
l> I originally started with version 2.55, ...
l> All I have done with these upgrades [up through 2.64] is to
l> 'unzip' and move all of those extracted folders and files to the
l> program folder ' C:\Program Files\SpamAssassin POP3 Proxy ' [which
l> was the program folder that 2.55 originally created]. I have kept the
l> original saproxy.exe application program. It is version 1.0.0.0 dated
l> June 6, 2003. I also kept the original sa-learn.exe application
l> program. It is also version 1.0.0.0 dated June 6, 2003. I also
l> propagated the above mentioned white-list to each of those files.
I have no idea how SA Proxy worked, but I'm fairly certain that the
method you're using to "upgrade" SA does not apply the new files to your
system. If your system is working at all, I believe it's still working
with mid-2003 software and parameters.
l> Frankly, I do not know what version update of SpamAssassin I am running.
Can you view the email headers that control your email's delivery and
record its history? Should be something somewhere on the MSOE menu that
allows you to view those headers. If so, you should find one that looks
like
> X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.63 (2004-01-11) on
> server3.arterytc3.net
That will tell you what version you're using (mine is 2.63, as
distributed Jan 11 2004).
l> Would someone be willing to walk me through - step by step - the
l> process - from start to finish? I had a head injury and believe that
l> this is a bit confusing for me to decipher on my own.
Can't do it myself, but you might find help at
http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/UsingOnWindows
Better, though, for you in my opinion, would be to look at
http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/CommercialProducts and select one of
the prepackaged systems, such as SAproxy Pro, or No Spam Today! for
Workstations. You need to make sure it's software that runs with an email
*client* like your MSOE, not an email /server/ (which is what your remote
ISP uses).
You'll need to pay for these commercial solutions, but they should be
much more "plug and play", easier to install and use, and maybe easier to
maintain.
l> Thanking you in advance for any assistance - and willingness to at
l> least hear me out.
Hope this helps.
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.754 / Virus Database: 504 - Release Date: 9/6/2004
You do realize that modern viruses include these types of disclaimers in
some of their emails, yes? You should never trust them in any email you
receive -- never trust someone else's anti-virus system to work -- always
make sure yours is up to date and operational.
Bob Menschel