[Mailman-Users] New crontab query: senddigests

[Mark Sapiro]

Savoy, Jim wrote:
>
>All of our lists allow users to select the
>digest
>
>option ("digestable=yes"), and the digests are sent out when the 30k
>threshold is
>
>reached ("digest_size_threshold=30"). The next option asks if a digest
>should be
>
>sent out DAILY when the threshold isn't reached
>("digest_send_periodic=yes").
>
> 
>
>So that is how all of our lists have been set all this time, and the
>digest mails
>
>seem to have been working, despite not having run anything in crontab.


The digest messages are accumulated for a list in a mbox format file
lists/LISTNAME/digest.mbox. When a new message arrives and is added to
digest.mbox and the size of digest.mbox is now greater than the list's
digest_size_threshold, a digest is sent at that time for that list,
and the digest.mbox is removed.

So, digests based on digest_size_threshold will work whether or not
cron/senddigests is run.


>The crontab entry for senddigests says:
>
> 
>
># Noon, mail digests for lists that do periodic as well as threshhold
>delivery.
>
>0 12 * * * /usr/bin/python -S /mail/mailman/cron/senddigests
>
> 
>
> 
>
>Not sure what this does differently, other than maybe force the digests
>to go out
>
>at noon, rather than the vague "DAILY" option from above. Can anyone
>share any
>
>light? I just ran it and nothing seemed to happen.


Running cron/senddigests will send a digest for any list which has a
digest.mbox file and for which digest_send_periodic=yes regardless of
how big the digest is. So, if you ran it and nothing happened, there
were no such lists. This seems unlikely. Are you sure no digests were
sent?

And yes, running it at noon daily forces the periodic digests at noon,
but you can chose another time. I prefer mine to go over night so I
run cron/senddigests daily at 03:30.

-- 
Mark Sapiro <mark at msapiro.net>        The highway is for gamblers,
San Francisco Bay Area, California    better use your sense - B. Dylan