Directory Confusion

[J Thomas Hancock <jt...@bwsys.net>]

I'm a little confused between the difference between the contents of the
/usr/share/spamassassin folder and /etc/mail/spamassassin folder.

It is my understanding that /usr/share/spamassassin should only contain the
default filters that come with SA and /etc/mail/spamassassin should only
contain custom filters.  Based on that, there should be no need to have the
same filter in each directory, correct?  If you have a filter in each
directory, you are performing those tests twice, which inflates your score
and increases your scan time.

The reason I ask this is because I can not get razor to work unless
20_body_tests.cf is located in /etc/mail/spamassassin. Perhaps I got a
config file pointing to a wrong directory or I have my filters confused.
Another possiblility is my SA installation is not reading the filters in
/usr/share/spamassass.  If that is the case, how do I tell SA to include
filters in that directory?  

The server having this issue is a mail proxy running postfix and spamc/spamd
with no user accounts on it.

Any help clarifying this would be greatly appreciated.

Tom

Re: Directory Confusion

[Kai Schaetzl <ma...@conactive.com>]

J Thomas Hancock wrote on Thu, 4 Nov 2004 15:21:15 -0600:

> It is my understanding that /usr/share/spamassassin should only contain the 
> default filters that come with SA and /etc/mail/spamassassin should only 
> contain custom filters. 

correct. They are not really filters, though, but "rules".

 Based on that, there should be no need to have the 
> same filter in each directory, correct?  If you have a filter in each 
> directory, you are performing those tests twice, which inflates your score 
> and increases your scan time.

/usr/share/spamassassin contains the "built-in" set, don't touch it. You *add* 
custom rules in /etc/mail/spamassassin and you configure SA with local.cf in 
that dir. You can also override scores of the default rules with scores in 
/etc/mail/spamassassin. So, don't view them as exclusive, they complement and 
override each other.
 
>  
> The reason I ask this is because I can not get razor to work unless 
> 20_body_tests.cf is located in /etc/mail/spamassassin.

I can't say anything about Razor, we don't use it. But this file doesn't 
belong there.

 Perhaps I got a 
> config file pointing to a wrong directory or I have my filters confused.
>

You can use spamassassin -D to check which files and paths are getting used.


Kai

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Kai Schätzl, Berlin, Germany
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