Spamassasin

[jpipitone]

I have a dedicated server through a company, however my Plesk license doesn't allow for Spamassassin. Is there another compatible type of application that I can install on this machine?

Is Spamassassin disabled simply becuase it's not already configured? Is this something I can do myself? I see that spam assassin is already installed on my server, however its disabled in my plesk control panel.

 

[jamesyeeoc]

As long as Spamassassin is installed on the server, then it should be scanning the emails on a server wide basis. Without the Plesk license for SA, you just cannot manage SA from the GUI, you would have to do any config changes via login with SSH to a shell prompt.

Spamassassin is a 'free' program which can be installed and used without a 'license'. The only reason for having the Plesk license is to allow the GUI control panel to show you the config options which Plesk wishes you to see in the GUI.

 

[jpipitone]

OK cool - thanks for the info - do you have any links to good docs to manage sa?

 

[jamesyeeoc]

You didn't post what Linux distro you use, so I am going to assume it's a RedHat or CentOS version.

What I recommend is that you install the following:

1. RulesDuJour - an addon to Spamassassin with lots of great rulesets which greatly enhance the effectiveness of SA.
http://www.exit0.us/index.php?pagename=RulesDuJour

2. Yum - an update program similar to up2date, apt-get. Configure the /etc/yum.conf to use ARTs channels

3. DrWeb AV - dump this lame and very buggy expensive POS.

4. ClamAV - great AV scanning software, can setup cronjob to autoupdate daily (use yum/ART)

5. F-Prot - can also be used at same time as clamav, 2 layers is better than 1. Cronjob the update script.

6. Qmail-scanner - a sofware package which automates coordination of email scanning, can be used with multiple AntiVirus packages, Spamassassin, and perl-scan. I use ART's (atomicrocketturtle.com) yum repository for this.

Qmail-scanner has a number of SA config options which really make things easy. Per site/server, per user, drop if score above x.x, and more.

7. mod_security - Highly recommend installing this as a minimum to server hardening. Also cronjob the update script.

8. Server hardening - see ART's ASL (Atomic Secured Linux) which includes mod_security, but goes way beyond. Many admins don't go this far, but for the small yearly fee it can be a lifesaver down the road. Too many script kiddies out there....

It may seem like a lot to do, but these simple things will make your admin life so much better.

 

[jpipitone]

Whoa!!! Thanks for the info! holy moly! looks like i have a bit of reading to do.

thanks again!

 

[jpipitone]

It appears as though Spamassassin is active, however I've tried to send the test email to mysefl with the strange string, and it still came through - does this mean that Spamassassin isn't configured at the user level?

Also, do you know of a GUI i can use to configure sa?

 

[Swakoo]

Hi guys (hi james!)

sorry if i hijack this thread...

I'm also looking to implement spamassasin in the server... i just got a trial license key from PLESK to test it 14 days....

But while I can see the icon in the main Server panel via Administrator login, i still can't configure for the individual user... am I missing something?

Also, since spamassasin is already installed, means i can configure it without the gui?

Running RHEL3, mine spamassasin rpm is as follow

spamassassin-2.63-0.2
psa-spamassassin-7.5.3-rhel3.build75050506.13


lastly.. this dr web.. does it even work...? there's only a client side option to it... i don even see a server option for it...

I just set it to mark 2 email addy for virus... one pop, another a mailgroup.. will it work for both kind (especially the mailing group)?

Just read the online manual for it... must manually update the definition.. will users be notify of quarantine emails?

read the drwebd.log.... i found the lines

Fri Dec 2 15:13:55 2005 Daemon is enabled for protecting 2 e-mail`s:
Fri Dec 2 15:13:55 2005 editorial@xxx.com
Fri Dec 2 15:13:55 2005 reviews@xxx.com

reviews is an alias of editorial.. but i can't find my pop account listed in log.. though i have enabled it...

sorry to hijack this thread guys.. but thought no point to start another thread on the same topic... but if you mind please let me know, i'll gladly open another

Thanks!