How to Configure Listadmin : Command Line Mailman Moderation

First of all I need to thank Daniel for turning me onto this tool. I’m administrator on more lists than I’d prefer and this has been a godsend!

If you happen to be one that missed his post recently on the planet, or if you’re just finding this via Google, Listadmin is a tool to help you bulk moderate mailman lists. If you are the admin or moderator on more than one mailman list do yourself a favor and keep reading. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, well, thanks for the visit anyway.

Installation

Installing Listadmin is just as simple as installing anything else really. Use the following command (or click the link using apturl):

sudo aptitude install listadmin

Configuration

Before we can begin moderating our lists we’ll need to tell Listadmin which lists to moderate. This is done by creating a file in your home directory ~/.listadmin.ini

With your favorite editor create the file and follow the below example, replacing with your own information:

default skip
log ~/.listadmin.log

# this example uses the same password
# for the users, process and admin lists
adminurl http://{domain}/mailman/admindb/{list}
password mypassword
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]


# this example uses different passwords
# for the supporters and staff lists
adminurl https://{domain}/mailman/admindb/{list}


password "myotherpassword"
[email protected]


password "mythirdpassword"
[email protected]

As you can see the configuration is pretty simple. The address to the list, the password needed and the lists you want to moderate.

If the lists use the same password you can list them under a single password block.

If the lists use different passwords you can list the by individual password and address.

Once you’ve replaced the details with your own information there is one more step before we run the utility. Considering this file holds sensitive passwords you’ll want to limit access to the file.

chmod go-r .listadmin.ini

Go ahead now and launch the tool and moderate your lists:

listadmin

I’ve been using this now for only two days or so but I’m so thankful I found it. Instead of manually moderating a large number of lists I simply run this tool once a day, clean out the garbage and get back to real work.