OpenBSD Journal

Sendmail Milter Support Cleaned Up

Contributed by jose on from the email-filters-galore dept.

A recent change to Sendmail's Makefile makes milter more integratable with the system (it's off by default). With milter you can create and manage a complex and powerful mail filtering set of solutions, tracking spam, fixing up messages, and the like. A website has sprung up, milter.org to share ideas and code using libmilter.

Using a powerful mail filter can contribute to site security, and milter can be used to provide an efficient and complex custom site filter.

To enable libmilter, simply add a line like: 

WANT_LIBMILTER=	yes
in your /etc/mk.conf file and rebuild your Sendmail installation. Then you can tie in libmilter programs easily!

(Comments are closed)

Comments

  1. By RC () on

    Why are so many people putting so much work into Spam filtering methods that can be circumvented easilly-not to mention that they're useless against e-mail bourne viri.

    Why not just stop it all, for good, with very little effort?

    http://slashdot.org/~ryancooley/journal/9467

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward () on

      because i live in the real world where my few thousand users will not want to be bothered with such complications. what is simple to you is not necessarily simple to someone still figuring out what a mouse is.

      Comments

      1. By RC () on

        I don't know anyone that can use e-mail, that can't type a word in a subject line if you asked them to do so.

        There are plenty of times that users have accepted complications, that others thought they would not. I can't recall how many times I heard someone say that 'Linux' will replace Windows when feature XXX is available.. then the feature is added with a fizzle, and ignored.

        Comments

        1. By Anonymous Coward () on

          I don't know anyone that can use e-mail, that can't type a word in a subject line if you asked them to do so.

          they also have to set up all the filtering, plus add mailing lists to these filters.
          i dont know anyone who can't learn unix, or can't learn smtp fundamentals, or to not open attachments from untrusted sources, but plenty of people still do after being informed.

          There are plenty of times that users have accepted complications, that others thought they would not. I can't recall how many times I heard someone say that 'Linux' will replace Windows when feature XXX is available.. then the feature is added with a fizzle, and ignored.

          so? it's called ease of use. my clients already know how to use XXX not linux.

          if told they can go through many hoops (subject line, filter rules) to eliminate 100% spam, or told they dont do jack shit and we filter to eliminate 75% spam, then they can deal with 25% spam. they would get annoyed that we even asked.

    2. By Kenny Sabarese () kenny at sabarese.net on http://kenny.sabarese.net

      what happens when the people who find you thru your website want to email you, do you make a mailto link with your passphrase automatically in there?

      or how about if you are filling out a job application online and there is no place to put your passphrase, and you have no idea who will be getting back to you etc.

      there's no way to stop it, everyone should just stop whining and hit delete a few times.

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward () on

        - Megabyte upone link-saturating megabyte
        - Wasted processing time and disk storage
        - Distraction in work mailboxes

      2. By RC () on

        do you make a mailto link with your passphrase automatically in there?

        No, that would defeat the purpose. You can have a regular e-mail link, just make a note that the passphrase must be stuck in the subject line.

        if you are filling out a job application online and there is no place to put your passphrase, and you have no idea who will be getting back to you etc.


        Hmm, might you just create a new folder, and move all incomming mail from that domain into a seperate folder? A bypass like this is not out of line. I mentioned that a few bypasses are okay where nesecary, provided that not everyone lets the same address through...

        Besides, nothing stops you from checking your trash folder if you are expecting something. If you like, you could send all the mail without the phrase into a seperate folder (e.g. "Bulk Mail") and go through and delete everything at your leisure, if you like.

        Just think of it though, if just a reasonably small number of people started to follow this method, Spam would grind to a complete halt, and it would be safe to have an e-mail address or two that don't use this method of filtering. Of course, when a few people begin doing this, any company that sends e-mails will take it into account, and include facilities to match.

  2. By BWSS BOFH () info@bwss.nl on http://www.bwss.nl

    Where`s the MIMEDefang port?!

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward () on

      Dunno, why aren't you finished?

  3. By Anonymous Coward () on

    Christ, use exim or postfix, but not sendmail. it just isn't worth the pain.

    Comments

    1. By zil0g () on

      yuh yuh!
      anythingotherthansendmail forever man!

      ofcourse, it has alot of options, i'm not against that...

    2. By Anonymous Coward () on

      Becuase both postfix and exim suck.

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward () on

        exim sucks? you obviously couldn't tell your ass from a hole in the ground, even with high resolution satellite images... put down the crack pipe and get a clue.

        Comments

        1. By Anonymous Coward () on

          yeah, exim sucks. but postfix rules!

  4. By Chris Humphries () chumphries@drauku.net on http://drauku.net

    simple as that...


    can everyone stop complaining now? you are not being forced to use it, and this is not a time to start a flame war on what you think may be the best solution. all this article is saying is that an _optional_ feature is available now if you choose to enable it.

    that is it. come on people, stay with the context of the article...

    i for one welcome newer features to openbsd, that doesnt mean i have to use them. i personally use postfix, but that doesnt mean i am going to try to slam that in your face...

    the cool thing about free software and operating systems, or any system that is yours in general i guess, is that you can do whatever you want to do with it... it is yours (or your company's that you are in charge of). do what you want with the tools you have, and let others so the same... Peacefully.

    *sigh*

    yet another 2 cents,
    Chris

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward () on

      and this is not a time to start a flame war on what you think may be the best solution

      if not now, if not here, then when, where?

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward () on

        there is no need of such crappy discussions on forums
        this is a waste of time for everybody

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