HOWTO install SpamAssassin on Red Hat Linux 7.3
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by Thomas Chung <tchung@openwebmail.org>
Last Updated: 2003-05-13
1. install following rpm packages
perl-Mail-SpamAssassin-2.53-1.7.3.i386.rpm
spamassassin-2.53-1.7.3.i386.rpm
spamassassin-tools-2.53-1.7.3.i386.rpm
2. create a global spamassassin config file at
/etc/mail/spamassassin/local.cf
use SpamAssassin Configuration Generator at
http://www.yrex.com/spam/spamconfig.php
make sure to choose: Rewrite Subjects using text "*****SPAM*****"
3. start spamassassin service
service spamassassin start
4. switch to a user (su - user) then create an individual procmailrc config file
instead of global for security concern at
$HOME/.procmailrc
type following:
# filter all incoming mail through SpamAssassin and tags probable spam with a unique header
:0fw: spamassassin.lock
| /usr/bin/spamassassin
5. to see spamassassin score using spamd client - spamc:
$spamc -R < /usr/share/doc/spamassassin-2.53/sample-nonspam.txt
-6.3/5.0
PGP_SIGNATURE (-6.3 points) Contains a PGP-signed message
note: -6.3 is way low to be spam than required hits score 5.0
$spamc -R < /usr/share/doc/spamassassin-2.53/sample-spam.txt
7.4/5.0
NO_REAL_NAME (0.7 points) From: does not include a real name
INVALID_DATE (0.6 points) Invalid Date: header (not RFC 2822)
UNDISC_RECIPS (1.4 points) Valid-looking To "undisclosed-recipients"
HOME_EMPLOYMENT (1.5 points) BODY: Information on how to work at home (2)
DRASTIC_REDUCED (1.5 points) BODY: Drastically Reduced
REMOVE_SUBJ (0.8 points) BODY: List removal information
ONCE_IN_LIFETIME (0.7 points) BODY: Once in a lifetime, apparently
DATE_IN_PAST_12_24 (0.2 points) Date: is 12 to 24 hours before Received: date
INVALID_MSGID (0.4 points) Message-Id is not valid, according to RFC 2822
AWL (-0.4 points) AWL: Auto-whitelist adjustment
note: 7.4 is high enough to be spam than required hits score 5.0
6. to test spamassassin by sending a sample spam email from a user to a user
mail -s test user@domain.com < /usr/share/doc/spamassassin-2.53/sample-spam.txt
7. check the mail from the user account and look for subject as
*****SPAM***** test
ps. To make spam scanner to more sensitive, decrese the number for required_hits in
/etc/mail/spamassassin/local.cf from 5.0 to 4.0 for exmaple
and make sure to restart spamassassin service after changing config file