spamassassin

NAME

       spamassassin - mail filter to identify spam using text
       analysis

SYNOPSIS

       spamassassin [options] < mailmessage > output

       spamassassin -d < mailmessage > <output>

       spamassassin -r [-w addr] < mailmessage

       spamassassin -W|-R < mailmessage

       Options:

        -P, --pipe                        Deliver to STDOUT (now default)
        -L, --local                       Local tests only (no online tests)
        -r, --report                      Report message as spam
        -w addr, --warning-from=addr      Send a warning mail to sender from addr
        -d, --remove-markup               Remove spam reports from a message
        -C file, --config-file=file       Set configuration file
        -p prefs, --prefs-file=file       Set user preferences file
        -x, --nouser-config               Disable user config files
        -e, --exit-code                   Exit with a non-zero exit code if the
                                          tested message was spam
        -l filename, --log-to-mbox=file   Log messages to a mbox file
        -t, --test-mode                   Pipe message through and add extra
                                          report to the bottom
        --lint                            Lint the rule set: report syntax errors
        -a, --auto-whitelist              Use auto-whitelists
        -W, --add-to-whitelist            Add addresses in mail to whitelist
        --add-to-blacklist                Add addresses in mail to blacklist
        -R, --remove-from-whitelist       Remove all addresses found in mail
                                          from whitelist
        --add-addr-to-whitelist=addr      Add addr to whitelist
        --add-addr-to-blacklist=addr      Add addr to blacklist
        --remove-addr-from-whitelist=addr Remove addr from whitelist
        -M, --whitelist-factory           Select whitelist factory
        -D, --debug [area=n,...]          Print debugging messages
        -V, --version                     Print version
        -h, --help                        Print usage message

OPTIONS

       -P, --pipe
           The -P parameter will cause SpamAssassin to pipe the
           output to STDOUT.  This is now the default mode of
           operation, so this switch is obsolete, and should not
           be used anymore.

       -a, --auto-whitelist, --whitelist
           Use auto-whitelists.  Auto-whitelists track the long-
           term average score for each sender and then shift the
           score of new messages toward that long-term average.
           This can increase or decrease the score for messages,
           depending on the long-term behavior of the particular
           correspondent.  See the README file for more details.

       -e, --error-code, --exit-code
           Exit with a non-zero error code, if the message is
           determined to be spam.

       -h, --help
           Print help message and exit.

       -t, --test-mode
           Test mode.  Pipe message through and add extra report.
           Note that the report text assumes that the message is
           spam, since in normal use it is only visible in this
           case.  Pay attention to the score instead.

           If you run tests with the -a option, the scores will
           be added to the AWL.  This may not be what you want to
           do.  If it is not, then don't use -a -t.

       -r, --report
           Report this message as verified spam.  This will sub-
           mit the mail message read from STDIN to various spam-
           blocker databases.  Currently, these are Vipul's Razor
           ( http://razor.sourceforge.net/ ) and the Distributed
           Checksum Clearinghouse ( http://www.rhyolite.com/anti-
           spam/dcc/ ).

           If the message contains SpamAssassin markup, this will
           be stripped out automatically before submission.  The
           support modules for DCC and Razor must be installed
           for spam to be reported to each service.

       --lint
           Syntax check (lint) the rule set and configuration
           files, reporting typos and rules that do not compile
           correctly.  Exits immediately with 0 if there are no
           errors, or greater than 0 if any errors are found.

       -W, --add-to-whitelist
           Add all email addresses, in the headers and body of
           the mail message read from STDIN, to the automatic
           whitelist.  Note that you must be running "spamassas-
           sin" or "spamd" with the -a switch for this to work.

       --add-to-blacklist
           Add all email addresses, in the headers and body of
           the mail message read from STDIN, to the automatic
           whitelist with a high score (ensuring they will be
           ''blacklisted'').  Note that you must be running "spa-
           massassin" or "spamd" with the -a switch.


       -R, --remove-from-whitelist
           Remove all email addresses, in the headers and body of
           the mail message read from STDIN, from the automatic
           whitelist. STDIN must contain a full email message, so
           to remove a single address you should use --remove-
           addr-from-whitelist instead.

           Note that you must be running "spamassassin" or
           "spamd" with the -a switch.

       --add-addr-to-whitelist
           Add the named email address to the automatic
           whitelist.  Note that you must be running "spamassas-
           sin" or "spamd" with the -a switch.

       --add-addr-to-blacklist
           Add the named email address to the automatic whitelist
           with a high score (ensuring they will be ''black-
           listed'').  Note that you must be running "spamassas-
           sin" or "spamd" with the -a switch.

       --remove-addr-from-whitelist
           Remove the named email address from the automatic
           whitelist.  Note that you must be running "spamassas-
           sin" or "spamd" with the -a switch.

       -w fromaddr, --warning-from=fromaddr
           This flag is only useful in conjunction with -r.  It
           will send a reply mail to the sender of the tested
           mail, notifying them that their message has been
           trapped as spam, from the address supplied in fro-
           maddr.  See the SPAM TRAPPING entry elsewhere in this
           document.

       -l filename, --log-to-mbox=filename
           Log all mail messages that pass through the filter, to
           an mbox-format file named by filename.  Handy for use
           with -r and -w.

       -L, --local
           Do only the ''local'' tests, ones that do not require
           an internet connection to operate.  Normally, SpamAs-
           sassin will try to detect whether you are connected to
           the net before doing these tests anyway, but for
           faster checks you may wish to use this.

       -d, --remove-markup
           Remove SpamAssassin markup (the "SpamAssassin results"
           report, X-Spam-Status headers, etc.) from the mail
           message.  The resulting message, which will be more or
           less identical to the original, pre-SpamAssassin
           input, will be output to stdout.

           (Note: the message will not be exactly identical; some
           headers will be reformatted due to some features of
           the Mail::Internet package, but the body text will
           be.)

       -C config, --config-file=config, -c config (deprecated)
           Read configuration from config.

       -p prefs, --prefs-file=prefs
           Read user score preferences from prefs.

       -D [area=n,...], --debug [area=n,...]
           Produce diagnostic output. The level of diagnostic
           output can be set for each area separately; area is
           the area of the code to instrument, and n is a posi-
           tive or negative number indicating the debug level or
           bitmask for that area of code.  For example, to pro-
           duce diagnostic output on all rules that hit, use:

                   spamassassin -D rulesrun=255


       -x, --nouser-config
           Disable per-user configuration files.

       -M factory, --whitelist-factory=factory
           Select alternative whitelist factory.

DESCRIPTION

       SpamAssassin is a mail filter to identify spam using text
       analysis and several internet-based realtime blacklists.

       Using its rule base, it uses a wide range of heuristic
       tests on mail headers and body text to identify "spam",
       also known as unsolicited commercial email.

       Once identified, the mail is then tagged as spam for later
       filtering using the user's own mail user-agent applica-
       tion.

       SpamAssassin also includes support for reporting spam mes-
       sages to collaborative filtering databases, such as
       Vipul's Razor ( http://razor.sourceforge.net/ ).

       The default tagging operations that take place are
       detailed in the TAGGING entry elsewhere in this document.

CONFIGURATION FILES

       The rule base, text templates, and rule description text
       are loaded from the configuration files.

       By default, configuration data is loaded from the first
       existing directory in: /usr/local/share/spamassas-
       sin;/usr/share/spamassassin;./rules;../rules

       The configuration data in the first existing directory in:
       /usr/local/etc/spamassassin;/usr/pkg/etc/spamassas-
       sin;/usr/etc/spamassassin;/etc/mail/spamassassin;/etc/spa-
       massassin are used to override any values which had
       already been set

       Spamassassin will read *.cf in these directories, in
       alphanumeric order within each directory (similar to SysV-
       style startup scripts).  In other words, it will read
       10_misc.cf before 50_scores.cf and 20_body_tests.cf before
       20_head_test.cf.  Options in later files will override
       earlier files.

       The user preferences (such as scores to attach to each
       rule), are loaded from the file specified in the -p argu-
       ment.  If this is not specified, ~/.spamassas-
       sin/user_prefs is used if it exists.  "spamassassin" will
       create this file if it does not exist, using
       user_prefs.template as a template.  This file will be
       looked for in /etc/spamassassin/user_prefs.tem-
       plate;/usr/local/share/spamassassin/user_prefs.tem-
       plate;/usr/share/spamassassin/user_prefs.template

TAGGING

       The following two sections detail the tagging that takes
       place for spam messages, first of all, and for non-spam
       messages.

       Note that if you use the -t argument, all mails will be
       tagged as if they are spam messages.

       TAGGING FOR SPAM MAILS

       The modifications made are as follows:

       Subject: header
           The string "*****SPAM*****" is prepended to the sub-
           ject, unless the "rewrite_subject 0" configuration
           option is given.

       X-Spam-Status: header
           A string, "Yes, hits=nn required=nn" is set in this
           header to reflect the filter status.

       X-Spam-Flag: header
           Set to "YES".

       X-Spam-Report: header for spam mails
           The SpamAssassin report is added to the mail header if
           the "report_header 1" configuration option is given.

       Content-Type: header
           Set to "text/plain", in order to defang HTML mail or
           other active content that could "call back" to the
           spammer.

       spam mail body text
           The SpamAssassin report is added to top of the mail
           message body, unless the "report_header 1" configura-
           tion option is given.

       TAGGING FOR NON-SPAM MAILS


       X-Spam-Status: header
           A string, "No, hits=nn required=nn" is set in this
           header to reflect the filter status.

SPAM TRAPPING

       Quite often, if you've been on the internet for a while,
       you'll have accumulated a few old email accounts that
       nowadays get nothing but spam.

       SpamAssassin lets you set them up as aliases, as follows:

       spamtrap1: ""| /path/to/spamassassin -r -w spamtrap1""

       This will add any incoming mail messages straight into
       spam-tracking databases, such as Vipul's Razor; send an
       explanatory reply message to the sender, from the spam-
       trap1 address; then drop the mail into the bit-bucket.

       The explanatory reply text is taken from the SpamAssassin
       configuration file, where it is stored in the "spamtrap"
       lines.

       If you want to keep a copy of the mails, use something
       like this:

       spamtrap1: ""| /path/to/spamassassin -r -w spamtrap1 -l
           /var/spam/caught""

       It is suggested you familiarise yourself with how MTAs run
       programs specified in aliases, if you plan to do this; for
       one thing, spamassassin will not run under your user id in
       this case.  If you are nervous about this, create a user
       for spamtrapping, and set up spamassassin in its .forward
       file.

INSTALLATION

       The spamassassin command is part of the Mail::SpamAssassin
       Perl module.  Install this as a normal Perl module, using
       "perl -MCPAN -e shell", or by hand.

ENVIRONMENT

       No environment variables, aside from those used by perl,
       are required to be set.

SEE ALSO

       Mail::SpamAssassin(3) Mail::SpamAssassin::Conf(3)
       Mail::Audit(3) Razor(3)

AUTHOR

       Justin Mason <jm /at/ jmason.org>

PREREQUISITES

       "Mail::Audit"

COREQUISITES

       "Net::DNS" "Razor"