OpenBSD Mailing List Server

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createlist[-force][-inactive][-noarchive][-nowelcome] listname owner
createlist-destroy listname
createlist-nocreate listname
createlist-pass[-force][-inactive][-noarchive][-nowelcome] listname password owner
createlist-regen
createlist-rename listname newlistname
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
listname,  required, is an email list at this site
owner,     required, is an email address for who will manage the list
-destroy,  if specified, deletes instead of creating the list
-force,    if specified, takes action even if list already exists
-inactive, if specified, causes the "active" setting to be turned off
-noarchive if specified, suppresses creation of the message archive directory
-nocreate, if specified, shows suggested aliases but takes no action
-nowelcome,if specified, suppresses intro msg for new owner
-pass,     if specified, allows the list's master password to be specified.
-regen,    if specified, regenerates the mail aliases
-rename,   if specified, changes the name of a mailing list
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

The createlist command is used to build or destroy an electronic
mailing list.  The simplest uses of this command are

  createlist LISTNAME OWNER

to build a list, and

  createlist-destroy LISTNAME

to destroy it, where LISTNAME is a valid list name, and OWNER is the
e-mail address of the person who will be managing the mailing list.  
If no owner address is given, the address of the person who issues the
createlist command will be placed in the "owners" configuration setting
of the new mailing list.

A site or domain password is usually required to use this command (see
"help admin_passwords" for more information about administrative
passwords).

A mailing list name can consist of small or capital letters from the
English alphabet, digits, periods (.), hyphens (-), and underscores (_).
Majordomo will treat small and capital letters in list names
identically, so "BigDeal" and "bigdeal" are names for the same mailing
list.

A new list can be assigned more than one list owner with a here
document, in which each list owner's address is placed on a separate
line.  For example, the following command...

createlist broccoli <<ABC
cabbage@example.com
kale@example.net
ABC

...would create the "broccoli" mailing list with two list owners.  See
"help here_document" for a discussion of multi-line commands.

The new_list file is sent to the list owners when a new list is
created, unless the "nowelcome" mode was specified. If you want to change
this message, use the following command:
  get-edit GLOBAL /new_list

The createlist command automatically creates an archive directory unless
"noarchive" mode is specified. It also creates a master administrative
password randomly (see "help configset_master_password" for details on
changing this password).

For instance, the following command will create the "broccoli" mailing 
list without an archive directory:

       createlist-noarchive broccoli cabbage@example.com

The archive directory is used to store messages that have been posted to
a mailing list.  Majordomo cannot send messages bundled into digests
unless the archive directory exists (see "help configset_archive_dir"
for details on changing the location of the archive).  If the archive
directory is not created by the createlist command, it is possible to
create it later with the put-dir command (see "help put" for more
details).

The "createlist" command also does (or suggests) the necessary mail
transfer agent (MTA) configuration. For example, if sendmail is the MTA
in use, a set of sendmail aliases will be generated.  Consult the README
files in the Majordomo software for further details on several common
MTAs.


The following command modes are supported:

  destroy:
    The createlist-destroy command removes a list by renaming the list's
    directory, including a generation number to prevent successive
    destructions of the same list from overwriting one another. The list
    must have no subscribers, to prevent inconsistencies in the registry,
    and is not actually deleted from the file system until someone with
    shell access goes in and deletes the files and the renamed directory
    by hand. It renames the list's directory to start with a comma and
    end with the deletion version number, as in ",test-list.0".

  force:
    If the list already exists, the 'createlist' command will fail
    unless the 'force' argument is used.  Note that the owner address you
    enter when you force the list creation will replace any previous owner
    addresses associated with the list.

  inactive:
    This command mode will cause the list's "active" configuration
    setting to be turned off.  This will cause any subscription requests
    posted messages, or other commands to be discarded until the "active" 
    setting is turned on.  This feature allows the list owners to configure 
    a new list and make other preparations before the list is made public.

  noarchive:
    This argument suppresses creation of the message archive directory.
    WITHOUT '-noarchive', the directory "listname/public/archive" is
    created (regardless of the "configset archive_dir" setting).

  nocreate:
    This argument will cause 'createlist' to suggest the MTA
    configuration without actually creating the list; the command will not
    fail if the list already exists.

  nowelcome:
    This mode will prevent the guide for new list owners from being
    mailed to each owner of the new mailing list.

  pass:
    The master password will be stated explicitly on the command line,
    instead of being generated randomly.  The password must be at least
    as long as required by the password_min_length configuration
    setting.

  regen:
    The regen command mode will cause the mail aliases for every list
    within a domain to be regenerated.  In addition, every configuration
    file will be reparsed, and warnings will be displayed if any of the
    settings is incorrect.  The createlist-regen command is run
    automatically every time the software is upgraded.

    If Majordomo is maintaining your MTA configuration, the aliases file
    will be updated automatically by this command.  Otherwise, a complete
    list of suggested aliases for the domain will be displayed.
    The createlist-regen command must be run if you wish to update the
    aliases after the aliases, debug, priority, or sublists
    configuration setting for any list has been changed.

  rename:
    The createlist-rename command will change the name of a mailing
    list.  All subscription information, archive file names, and 
    mail aliases will be updated automatically.  It may be necessary
    to adjust the configuration settings and welcome message manually,
    to reflect the new list name.  After the list has been renamed, 
    use the configshow-declared command to see if any of the list's
    settings contain the old list name.

    Once a list has been renamed, it is possible to cause commands that 
    use the old list name to be adjusted to use the new name automatically.
    See "help configset_relocated_lists" for more details.

Auxiliary lists cannot be created or destroyed with the createlist
command.  An auxiliary list is created by adding an address to it with
the subscribe command, or by mentioning it in the access rules (see
"help auxiliary_list" for more details). 

Whenever the createlist command succeeds, the createlist-regen shell
hook is run.  See "help shell_hook" for more details.

When a new list is created, Majordomo will update the alias and virtual
user table files by adding the new aliases to the end of each file.
When a list is destroyed or renamed, or the aliases are regenerated, the
files are entirely rewritten.  (This is only true if Majordomo is
configured to update the files automatically.)


See Also:
   help admin                 (how to manage a list after it is created)
   help admin_domain
   help auxiliary_list        (introduction to sublists)
   help configset             (to configure the list after it is created)
   help configset_aliases
   help configset_active      (to activate an "inactive" list)
   help configset_archive_dir (to specify a non-default archive directory)
   help configset_debug
   help configset_default_class       (to configure default subscriptions)
   help configset_default_flags       (to configure default subscriptions)
   help configset_password_min_length
   help configset_priority
   help configset_relocated_lists
   help configset_sublists    (to make aliases for auxiliary lists)
   help shell_hook

This is the "createlist" help document for 
Majordomo 2, version 0.1201103110.

For a list of all help documents, send the following command:
   help topics
in the body of a message to majordomo@openbsd.org.

For assistance, please contact the openbsd.org administrators.

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