Setting Up Spamassassin

[denglund1996]

Can someone give me a screen shot of their "SpamAssassin Configuration" screen in cPanel? I have been looking through the forums and doing google searches and I have yet to find a good article on how I should setup SpamAssassin.

 

The "Required score" is already set to "5"

I filled in the "rewrite_subject_header" with "*****SPAM*****" (no quotes)

 

But I have no idea what to put in the "blacklist_from" area, the "score" area or the "whitelist_from" area.

 

I went to the SpamAssassin site and tried the configuration generator tool (http://www.yrex.com/spam/spamconfig.php). But it tells you NOT to replace your current config file, and I don't see how to include this stuff in my current file. In fact, what this thing does bears little resemblence to what I am seeing either in my current config file or the configuration screen accessed through cPanel.

 

And once I get all that sorted out there's the question of what I need to do in Horde to help SpamAssassin learn what's spam and what isn't.

 

Am I the only one marveling at the lack of "How to" information on these programs and their integration?

[TCH-Bruce]

This is the way I have configured mine on two sites. It's working quite well.

 

I have it set to 5 which is the default. You can get more aggressive and set it higher but I'd start there.

[denglund1996]

This is the way I have configured mine on two sites. It's working quite well.

 

I have it set to 5 which is the default. You can get more aggressive and set it higher but I'd start there.

Bruce, thanks. I saw that page. And it *appears* it is *not* talking about SpamAssassin configuration settings. Rather, it is talking about *Horde webmail* settings and getting it working with SpamAssassin. But nowhere on the page does it explicitly say that. So, this help page needs some editing.

 

Now, let's assume my SpamAssassin settings are correct (which you have not verified one way or the other yet). I therefore assume the section that applies to setting it up in Horde is "Automatically discard spam email." So, I go to Horde and try to follow those instructions.

 

First line *should* read "Click on Filters from the left sidebar, then click New Rule"

 

Second line *should* read "In the first drop down box ("Select a field"), select "Spam Assassin Spam Header"

 

Problem1: There is no item titled "Spam Assassin Spam Header" in that list. There *is* an item titled "Self-Defined Header" Is that what I want here? Is that the same as the SpamAssassin Spam Header?

 

Problem2: When I select "Self-Defined Header" the screen redraws and there is now a blan textbox to the right of "Self-Defined Header" and then there is a drop-down list which defautls to "Contains" and then there is a blank textbox for that value. So, I see...

 

Self-Defined Header:[texbox] Contains: [textbox]

What do I put in the textbox for Self-Defined Header? Is that where I input "Spam Assassin Spam Header"? So, would it be this:

 

Self-Defined Header: [spam Assassin Spam Header] Contains: [*****SPAM*****]

So, I'm sorry Bruce. I don't mean to be picky here. But this help screen is NOT up to date and it is NOT terribly helpful. And NOWHERE is there ANY mention of the SpamAssassin Configuration screen accessed through the control panel and what kind of setup we need to do there. But if you can help me get these things worked out I would certainly be grateful.

[TCH-Andy]

The page that Bruce linked to is not about Horde.

 

I assume you are meaning the area for email filtering where it says

Click on E-Mail Filtering, then Add Filter

In the first drop down box, select "Spam Assassin Spam Header"

In the second drop down box, select "contains"

In the third box, enter: *****SPAM*****

Click Discard, then Activate, then Go Back

 

The email filtering is in cpanel, in the mail section (the same place you find spam assassin). There should be a link to "E-mail Filtering" - then follow the instructions above.

[denglund1996]

The page that Bruce linked to is not about Horde.

 

I assume you are meaning the area for email filtering where it says

 

The email filtering is in cpanel, in the mail section (the same place you find spam assassin). There should be a link to "E-mail Filtering" - then follow the instructions above.

Ah ha!! That bit of information helps Andy! Now the instructions actually make sense! (and doesn't this point out that the help page needs a little work?)

 

I have followed the instructions to the letter, except that I have input "Spam" instead of "Discard." I assume this will direct all such email to my Spam folder instead, correct?

[TCH-Bruce]

Actually it was this page that I meant to link too.

 

I also found a tutorial on configuring Spam Assassin here in the forums.

[denglund1996]

Actually it was this page that I meant to link too.

 

I also found a tutorial on configuring Spam Assassin here in the forums.

Thanks guys. I'm really getting there now. I have made the filtering changes and have gone into Horde and verified the spam is getting diverted to the Spam folder, and the messages in that folder now have "*****SPAM***** in their subject lines

 

Is the "blacklist" and "whitelist" stuff in Horde tied into SpamAssassin? That is, if I find something in the Spam folder that should not be spam, do I just select it and click "whitelist?" Or, is there some other way I need to tell SpamAssassin that it's legit. In short, how do I teach it where it needs teaching?

 

As an aside, I went to the SpamAssassin's test performed page and it looks like the application is pretty dern thorough in it's checking.

[TCH-Bruce]

You would need to go into the Spam Assassin configuration and white list or black list things you want or don't want for Spam Assassin to filter them properly.