[Mailman-Users] Rescuing Misdirected Mail from Moderation Queue - possible?

[Mark Sapiro]

On 02/03/2014 07:01 AM, Drew Tenenholz wrote:
> 
> Is it possible to actually have them sent to the correct list with their original date/time?

There are at least two ways to do this. The messages are in Mailman's
data/ directory as files with names like heldmsg-LIST-nnn.ext where LIST
is the listname, nnn is a sequence number and ext is either 'pck' if
mm_cfg.HOLD_MESSAGES_AS_PICKLES is True (the default) or 'txt' if it is
False.

One way would be to extract the messages from the heldmsg-*.pck files
(or just use them as if they're .txt) and queue them to the correct
list's incoming queue with Mailman's bin/inject command. The tricky part
here is if the heldmsg-* files are pickles, extracting the message
requires a separate step, but something like

for f in `ls data/heldmsg-englishlist-*.pck; do
  bin/show_qfiles $f | bin/inject -l frenchlist
  rm $f
done

should work, or just

for f in `ls data/heldmsg-englishlist-*.msg; do
  bin/inject -l frenchlist $f
  rm $f
done

for the .msg case.

Another way is to use the script at
<http://www.msapiro.net/scripts/hold_again>. This requires renaming all
the heldmsg-englishlist-* files to heldmsg-frenchlist-*, while
preserving the extension an then running

 /path/to/hold_again -l frenchlist


> So, a couple of questions about this idea:
> 1) If this is a feasible method, with the accepted posts come with their original date/time?


Yes, with either method.


> 2) Will Mailman appropriately strip out the 'Approved:password' line when a message is released from the moderation queue, or will it deliver the message in it's entirety?


The Approved: password will be stripped.


> 3) Do I need to temporarily update the require_explicit_address option in the French list, or will accepting the posts from the moderation queue override that preference?


You will need to turn off require_explicit_destination or add the
english list to acceptable_aliases or the messages will be held by the
french list.

After doing either method, the admindb page for the english list will
show a bunch of "Message with id nnn was lost." messages the first time
it is visited. This is harmless.

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