Upgrading Spamassassin from 3.1.0 to 3.1.7

[PeteF]

I'm opening this thread for general issues relating to upgrading
Spamassassin (SA) from v3.1.0 to v3.1.7 on Westhost.

With SA v3.1.0, too much SPAM is getting past it, so I'm hoping that
a simple upgrade toi v3.1.7 will detect more SPAM automatically.

WARNING: If you have modified your procmailrc file you better
back it up before upgrading to v3.1.7. I chose the option to
upgrade from v3.1.0 to v3.1.7 and it wiped out my customized
file... etc\procmailrc

Fortunately I had my procmailrc file backedup

I simply uploaded my customized procmailrc file that I was
previouly using with v3.1.0 .

Feel free to share your experiences related to
Upgrading Spamassassin from 3.1.0 to 3.1.7

---pete---

[PeteF]

Bad News:
Copying my old procmailrc file caused my email to stop working!
I sent myself an email and it did not get bounced back, it did not
get tagged as SPAM, and I never received it. It got totally lost.

I reverted back to the procmailrc file that installs with SA v3.1.7
and my Email works again but it's not working as it used to where
all ***SPAM*** tagged email was automatically forwarded to
a separate mail box named... spam . I'm now receiving the
***SPAM*** tagged email on my regular email box.

Below is my old procmailrc file that won't work with v3.1.7
but worked perfectly with v3.1.0. What's wrong?

# Added By HostDir
VERBOSE = "no"
LOGABSTRACT = "no"
SHELL = "/bin/sh"

RESIDUE = `/bin/procmail_checker $DEFAULT $LOGNAME 2>/dev/null`
:0
* ? test $RESIDUE != "unlimited"
{
:0
* > $RESIDUE
{
LOGFILE=/proc/self/fd/2
LOG="554 - Mailbox quota exceeded by $LOGNAME
"
EXITCODE=69
:0
/dev/null
}
}
# SPAMASSASSIN BLOCK

# The condition line ensures that only messages smaller than 250 kB
# (250 * 1024 = 256000 bytes) are processed by SpamAssassin. Most spam
# isn't bigger than a few k and working with big messages can bring
# SpamAssassin to its knees.
:0
* ! ^FROM_DAEMON
* < 256000
{
:0 fw: /var/lock/spamassassin.lock
| /usr/local/perl/bin/spamassassin
}

# 10 stars or more...
###:0:
###* ^X-Spam-Level: \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*
###/dev/null
# remainder with a spam flag
# delivered to the mailbox named... spam
:0
* ^X-Spam-Flag: YES
/var/spool/mail/spam
# anything else should be delivered normally.

# END SPAMASSASSIN BLOCK

[PeteF]

# 10 stars or more...
###:0:
###* ^X-Spam-Level: \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*
###/dev/null
# remainder with a spam flag
# delivered to the mailbox named... spam
:0
* ^X-Spam-Flag: YES
/var/spool/mail/spam
# anything else should be delivered normally.

# END SPAMASSASSIN BLOCK

Good news:
Westhost tech support fixed it for me.
Oddly enough, the fix was the difference between... :0 and :0:
on one line. The quoted section above did not work, whereas,
the correct code is below:

# 10 stars or more...
###:0:
###* ^X-Spam-Level: \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*
###/dev/null
# remainder with a spam flag
# delivered to the mailbox named... spam
:0:
* ^X-Spam-Flag: YES
/var/spool/mail/spam
# anything else should be delivered normally.

# END SPAMASSASSIN BLOCK[/QUOTE]


The odd thing is that v3.1.0 handled the bad line
but the v3.1.7 did not.

I hope this helps someone else.

---pete---

[jalal]

Both:
:0:
and
:0
are valid lines. The first means create a lock file before running the rule, the second means don't bother with a lock file.
I suspect that your edited file was saved in Windows format (guaranteed to kill procmail) and when WH looked at it, they saved it in Unix format. just a guess.

Upgrading SA may make a difference in the amount of spam blocked but usually minor upgrades (such as 3.1.0 to 3.1.7) are either bug fixes or efficiency improvements, it probably won't effect the amount getting caught.
What can have an effect though is your ruleset. You can either write your own rules or use some such as Rules Emporium have. I use rules_du_jour and they have served me well.

[PeteF]

Both:
:0:
and
:0
are valid lines. The first means create a lock file before running the rule, the second means don't bother with a lock file.
I suspect that your edited file was saved in Windows format (guaranteed to kill procmail) and when WH looked at it, they saved it in Unix format. just a guess.

Hmmmm, you might be right about the actual problem being the
format I saved the procmailrc file. I used either Notepad or Wordpad.
I've always edited my files on my Windows PC and uploaded them
with no problems. What would you suggest I use, Notepad or Wordpad?

---pete---

[jalal]

No idea... you'll need to ask someone who uses Windows...

I'm sure someone will drop by shortly.

[PeteF]

No idea... you'll need to ask someone who uses Windows...
I'm sure someone will drop by shortly.

jalal, you were correct, it was the file format that I saved the
procmailrc file that caused my mail to stop working. I did some
experimenting and found out what's happening.

The original procmailrc file that Westhost created was 708 K
and I assume UNIX format. I tried saving the procmailrc file using
both WORDPAD and NOTEPAD.

Using WORDPAD, if I saved as.. "Text Document" or..
"Text Document - MSDOS Format", my Email would stop working.

Using WORDPAD, if I saved as.. "Unicode Text Document"
my Email worked normally.

Using NOTEPAD, if I saved as.. ANSI , my
Email would stop working.

Using NOTEAD, if I saved as.. "Unicode"
my Email worked normally.

Final note about file size:
The original procmail file in unix format was 708 k.
Saved in WORDPAD Unidode format is was 1918 k.
Saved in NOTEPAD Unicode format is was 2010 k.

Bottom line, if you edit your procmailrc file in Windows and then
upload the file to your website, you may use either NOTEPAD
or WORDPAD, but you must save the file using UNICODE format.

My final quesstion is...
What is a better text editor application to use in Windows for
editing procmailrc and similar fiiles that will always, by defaut,
save in the proper format?

---pete---

[wildjokerdesign]

I use EditPlus to do all my editing of files for my website. It was developed for such things.

Normally it is suggested that if you do not have something like EditPlus that you use Notepad and not Wordpad for editing files.

[torrin]

What is a better text editor application to use in Windows for
editing procmailrc and similar fiiles that will always, by defaut,
save in the proper format?

What's the best text editor to use? Wow, that's a question to start a flame war. My favorite is gvim. Gvim is the "graphical" version of vim.

[PeteF]

Thanks guys, for the Editor suggestions.
I'm going for VIM, its' simple and the price is right.
(Donationware)

I can't see paying $30 for a text editor when all
I need is very simple text editor.

Thanks again!

---pete---