filtermailRC(5)

NAME
filtermailrc - filtermail configuration file

SYNOPSIS
$HOME/.filtermailrc

DESCRIPTION
For a quick start read the INSTALL file provided with the filtermail distribution and copy its example configuration. This is enough to run the program with some basic features.

Generally the rcfile contains all of filtermail's settings and information on the mail accounts that should be checked for spam. It is possible to place remarks in that file by beginning a line with `#'.

It does not matter in which order keywords are inserted, except for the account set-up. To define an account you must use this whole block of commands:

    SERVER=your.pop.server.com
    USER=your.username
    PASS=your.password
    PROTOCOL=pop3
    PORT=110

Currently filtermail only supports the POP3 protocol which usually communicates over port 110. There should not be a need to change this value.

KEYWORDS
The rcfile is case-sensitive, which means it matters whether keywords are spelled in capitals or not. Commands must only consist of capitals while their options are usually in lower case.

To see some example applications of the engaged keywords, please refer to the filtermailex(5) man page.

ALLOW
    This keyword can be used to override spam filters i.e. to define `friends'. A message that matches any ALLOW rules will not be filtered or deleted. ALLOW takes a Regular Expression as argument.

DEL_DUPLICATES

    This keyword can be used to delete duplicates of messages sent to one or several accounts at once, i.e. it removes redundant e-mails. DEL_DUPLICATES takes either `yes' or `no' as argument. The default value is `no'.

DENY
    This keyword can be used to define spam filters. Messages that match spam filters (unless they match an ALLOW rule at the same time) are being deleted from the mail server. DENY takes a Regular Expression as argument.

DENY<>
    This keyword can be used to define a negative spam filter. Messages that do not match the negative filters are being deleted from the server. DENY<> takes a Regular Expression as argument, e.g. `DENY<>^To:.*my_username'.

DENY_CASE
    This keyword can be used to define case-sensitive spam filters. It overrides the default settings for case-sensivity (see REG_CASE for details). DENY_CASE takes a Regular Expression as argument.

DENY_CASE<>
    This keyword can be used to define negative case-sensitive spam filters. It overrides the default settings for case-sensivity (see REG_CASE for details). DENY_CASE<> takes a Regular Expression as argument.

DENY_NOCASE
    This keyword can be used to define case-insensitive spam filters. It overrides the default settings for case-sensivity (see REG_CASE for details). DENY_NOCASE takes a Regular Expression as argument.

DENY_NOCASE<>
    This keyword can be used to define negative case-insensitive spam filters. It overrides the default settings for case-sensivity (see REG_CASE for details). DENY_NOCASE<> takes a Regular Expression as argument.

LOGFILE
    This keyword can be used to define a log file for filtermail. The log file is being used to store error messages and information on deleted messages. LOGFILE expects a path and file name as argument.

MAXLENGTH
    This keyword can be used to define a maximum string length that must not be exceeded by any field of a message header. The default length is 998 characters per field, as stated in the according standard (RFC822). By setting MAXLENGTH to `0' the feature can be turned off, but may cause problems on certain types and versions of operating systems!

MAXSIZE_ALLOW
    This keyword can be used to define a maximum message size that must not be exceeded by all messages that match any ALLOW rule. (One could say, this is the size limit `friends' should not exceed.) The limit does not affect other messages. To define a more general message size limit, use MAXSIZE_DENY instead. MAXSIZE_ALLOW takes the number of bytes as argument. Assigning a `0' disables this feature.

MAXSIZE_DENY
    This keyword can be used to define a general message size limit that must not be exceeded. (Unless the incoming message matches an ALLOW rule. In that case MAXSIZE_ALLOW would apply.) MAXSIZE_DENY takes the number of bytes as argument. Assigning a `0' disables this feature.

NORMAL
    This keyword tells filtermail to `normalise' the subject strings in messages. A normalised string consists only of alpha-numeric characters. When normalisation is turned on, filtermail tries to apply its filters first to the original subject line, before it tries to match the normalised one. NORMAL takes either `yes' or `no' as argument. The default value is `no'.

REG_CASE
    This keyword can be used to define how filtermail should treat its Regular Expressions, case-sensitive or case-insensitive. REG_CASE takes either `yes' as argument to enable case-sensivity or otherwise `no' to disable it.

REG_NEWLINE
    This keyword defines how filtermail should treat line breaks in Regular Expressions. By default a line break is treated as ordinary character. REG_NEWLINE accepts either `yes' as argument to treat line breaks specially or `no' to treat them as ordinary character. The default for this option is `no'.

REG_TYPE
    This keyword can be used to define which type of Regular Expression filtermail should use. REG_TYPE can either be switched to `extended' or `basic'. The default value is `basic'.

SERVER / USER / PASS / PROTOCOL / PORT
    These keywords can only be used as a whole and in the given order. Such a block defines an e-mail account to be checked for spam by filtermail. A typical block looks like this:

        SERVER=your.pop.server.com
        USER=your.username
        PASS=your.password
        PROTOCOL=pop3
        PORT=110

    It is especially important to not change the arrangement of this block. PROTOCOL only supports `pop3' at the moment which usually communicates over port 110. There should be no need to change this value.

SHOW_HEADERS
    This keyword can be used to display the entire message headers of all filtered e-mails of an account. SHOW_HEADERS takes `yes' or `no' as argument. The default value is `no'.

TEST
    This keyword prevents filtermail from deleting any messages on any e-mail accounts. It is useful to experiment with filters and Regular Expressions and to see how filtermail reacts to the user's changes. The option can be turned on by assigning `yes' to TEST. The default value is `no'.

TIMEOUT
    This keyword can be used to define a server response time out in seconds. That is, the mail server has to respond to an issued command within a given time span, otherwise filtermail will drop the connection and issue an error. TIMEOUT takes an integer value as argument. The default is set to 30 (seconds).

VERBOSE
    This keyword can be used to define the level of verbosity. It takes an integer as argument.

    0   Silent, show nothing at all

    1   Only show errors

    2   Only show "Deleted..." messages and errors

    3   Default; Show "Deleted..." messages, errors and "Examining..." messages

    4   Like (3), except this also shows the current account's username

    5   Like (4), except this also shows the commands issued to the server and the server's return value (OK or ERR)

    6   Debugging mode; prints almost everything

DEPRECATED KEYWORDS
There are a few keywords from older versions of filtermail that are not supported anymore. The following list contains all these keywords and recommends substitutes.

ICASE
    Use REG_CASE instead.

MAXSIZE
    Use MAXSIZE_ALLOW and MAXSIZE_DENY instead.

MODE
    Use VERBOSE instead.

Even though filtermail still `silently' supports some of these words, you can not rely on that for future versions. It is highly recommended to update old configuration files.

SEE ALSO
filtermail(1), filtermailex(5), regex(7)

COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2000-2001 Andreas Bauer <baueran@in.tum.de>

This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.