[Mailman-Users] Creating aliases as an unprivleged user . . .

[Brad Knowles]

At 6:50 AM +0000 2004-08-13, hesco at greens.org wrote:

>  I, as an unprivleged user, and a member of the mailman group,
>  am supposed to administer this installation.  Hopefully without
>  bothering our root user everytime we need to create another
>  list.
>
>  I'm expecting to have to create and delegate out about 150 or
>  so lists in the next couple of weeks.

	There are standard automatic alias generation tools for use with 
postfix (see README.POSTFIX), and they have been adapted to work with 
sendmail as well (see 
<http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/faqw-mm.py?req=show&file=faq04.049.htp>).

	If you use one of those two MTAs, then this should solve your problem.

>  How can I automate the necessary interaction with mailman?
>  Will mailman accept emailed commands like majordomo does?

	Mailman has a limited e-mail interface.  See 
<http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/faqw-mm.py?req=show&file=faq04.049.htp>.

>  Or can I somehow create a ssh tunnel to interact directly
>  with the mailman server?  Could I perhaps build a database of
>  subscribe requests that the list server could interact with
>  on a cron job?  Are there other ways this might be accomplished?

	Mailman is not well-suited to this kind of operation.  If you 
need to go this route, I think the best way would be to use remote 
execution facilities to use the command-line tools (detailed at 
<http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/faqw-mm.py?req=show&file=faq04.009.htp>).

	Of course, you could use a variety of ways to get the information 
from one system to the other, and to have the relevant commands 
executed on your behalf.

-- 
Brad Knowles, <brad at stop.mail-abuse.org>

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

     -- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), reply of the Pennsylvania
     Assembly to the Governor, November 11, 1755

   SAGE member since 1995.  See <http://www.sage.org/> for more info.