Filtering Spam on math.rutgers.edu
Math users are now able to filter unwanted spam using Procmail and another program called Spam Assassin. While the method outlined here is very effective you should understand that no automatic filtering agent is perfect. Therefore, it is possible that some spam messages will still make it into your inbox. More importantly, it is also possible that Spam Assassin will mistakenly filter legitimate messages. For this reason it is very important that you occasionly look though the archive of messages that Spam Assassin removes from your inbox.
Directions
- Use an SSH client(ex. putty) to login to the math server, and then use your favorite text editor (emacs, pine, vi, ed, etc) to create or modify the .forward file. Make sure that the first line of your .forward is the following:
"|IFS=' ';exec /usr/local/bin/procmail #your_username"
Replace your_username with the username that you use to login to the math server. Also be sure that your line includes the hash/pound symbol (#) as this is required for the program to work.
-
Create or modify your .procmailrc file, again using your
favorite text editor, so that it reads:
VERBOSE=on
MAILDIR=$HOME/mail
PMDIR=$HOME/.procmail
LOGFILE=$PMDIR/log
INCLUDERC=$PMDIR/spam.rc
- Create a .procmail directory by typing the following in your
home directory:
mkdir .procmail
Make sure to set the permission of the directory to 755. This is done by typing
chmod 755 .procmail -
Change your directory to .procmail by typing the following:
cd .procmail
Now use your text editor to create a file called spam.rc, and add the following lines to it:
:0fw
| /usr/local/bin/spamc -d spamfilter.rutgers.edu -p 7831
:0:
* ^X-Spam-Status: Yes
junkmail -
Keep a close eye on your email until you're satisfied that
messages are getting through successfully.
Spam Assassin will now place all spam messages into a folder called "junkmail". Be sure to check this folder from time to time to make sure real mail isn't getting classified as spam. If you suspect problems, be sure to look at the "log" file in your ".procmail" directory.