Alaveteli sends and receives email. You'll need to set up your Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) to handle this properly. We've got examples here for both postfix and exim4, two of the most popular MTAs.
Make sure you follow the correct instructions for the specific MTA you're using: * [postfix](#example-setup-on-postfix) * [exim4](#example-setup-on-exim4) ## Example setup on postfix This section shows an example of how to set up your MTA if you're using **postfix** (running on Ubuntu). See the example for [exim4](#example-setup-on-exim4) if you're using that instead of postfix. ### Instructions For example, with: ALAVETELI_HOME=/path/to/alaveteli/software ALAVETELI_USER=www-data In `/etc/postfix/master.cf`: alaveteli unix - n n - 50 pipe flags=R user=ALAVETELI_USER argv=ALAVETELI_HOME/script/mailin The user ALAVETELI_USER should have write permissions on ALAVETELI_HOME. In `/etc/postfix/main.cf`: virtual_alias_maps = regexp:/etc/postfix/regexp And, assuming you set [`INCOMING_EMAIL_PREFIX`]({{ site.baseurl }}docs/customising/config/#incoming_email_prefix) in `config/general` to "foi+", create `/etc/postfix/regexp` with the following content: /^foi.*/ alaveteli You should also configure postfix to discard any messages sent to the [`BLACKHOLE_PREFIX`]({{ site.baseurl }}docs/customising/config/#blackhole_prefix) address, whose default value is `do-not-reply-to-this-address`. For example, add the following to `/etc/aliases`: # We use this for envelope from for some messages where # we don't care about delivery do-not-reply-to-this-address: :blackhole: ### Logging For the postfix logs to be succesfully read by the script `load-mail-server-logs`, they need to be log rotated with a date in the filename. Since that will create a lot of rotated log files (one for each day), it's good to have them in their own directory. For example (on Ubuntu), in `/etc/rsyslog.d/50-default.conf` set: mail.* -/var/log/mail/mail.log And also edit `/etc/logrotate.d/rsyslog`: /var/log/mail/mail.log { rotate 30 daily dateext missingok notifempty compress delaycompress sharedscripts postrotate reload rsyslog >/dev/null 2>&1 || true endscript } You'll also need to tell Alaveteli where the log files are stored and that they're in postfix format. Update [`MTA_LOG_PATH`]({{ site.baseurl }}docs/customising/config/#mta_log_path) and [`MTA_LOG_TYPE`]({{ site.baseurl }}docs/customising/config/#mta_log_type) in `config/general.yml` with: MTA_LOG_PATH: '/var/log/mail/mail.log-*' MTA_LOG_TYPE: "postfix" ### Troubleshooting (postfix) To test mail delivery, run: $ /usr/sbin/sendmail -bv foi+requrest-1234@localhost This tells you if sending the emails to `foi\+.*localhost` is working. ## Example setup on exim4 This section shows an example of how to set up your MTA if you're using **exim4** (running on Ubuntu). See the example for [postfix](#example-setup-on-postfix) if you're using that instead of exim4. ### Instructions We suggest you add the following to your exim configuration. In `/etc/exim4/conf.d/main/04_alaveteli_options`, set: ALAVETELI_HOME=/path/to/alaveteli/software ALAVETELI_USER=www-data log_file_path=/var/log/exim4/exim-%slog-%D MAIN_LOG_SELECTOR==+all -retry_defer extract_addresses_remove_arguments=false The user ALAVETELI_USER should have write permissions on ALAVETELI_HOME. The name and location of the log files created by Exim must match what the `load-mail-server-logs` script expects, which is why you must provide the `log_file_path` setting. The `check-recent-requests-sent` scripts expects the logs to contain the `from=<...>` envelope information, so we make the logs more verbose with `log_selector`. The ALAVETELI_USER may need to also need to be added to the `trusted_users` list in your Exim config in order to set the return path on outgoing mail, depending on your setup. In `/etc/exim4/conf.d/router/04_alaveteli`: alaveteli_request: debug_print = "R: alaveteli for $local_part@$domain" driver = redirect data = ${lookup{$local_part}wildlsearch{ALAVETELI_HOME/config/aliases}} pipe_transport = alaveteli_mailin_transport In `/etc/exim4/conf.d/transport/04_alaveteli`: alaveteli_mailin_transport: driver = pipe command = $address_pipe ${lc:$local_part} current_directory = ALAVETELI_HOME home_directory = ALAVETELI_HOME user = ALAVETELI_USER group = ALAVETELI_USER And, assuming you set [`INCOMING_EMAIL_PREFIX`]({{ site.baseurl }}docs/customising/config/#incoming_email_prefix) in your config at `config/general.yml` to "foi+", create `config/aliases` with the following content: ^foi\\+.*: |/path/to/alaveteli/software/script/mailin You should also configure exim to discard any messages sent to the [`BLACKHOLE_PREFIX`]({{ site.baseurl }}docs/customising/config/#blackhole_prefix) address, whose default value is `do-not-reply-to-this-address`. For example, add the following to `config/aliases`: # We use this for envelope from for some messages where we don't care about delivery do-not-reply-to-this-address: :blackhole: If you want to make use of the automatic bounce-message handling, then set the [`TRACK_SENDER_EMAIL`]({{ site.baseurl }}docs/customising/config/#track_sender_email) address to be filtered through `script/handle-mail-replies`. Messages that are not bounces or out-of-office autoreplies will be forwarded to [`FORWARD_NONBOUNCE_RESPONSES_TO`]({{ site.baseurl }}docs/customising/config/#forward_nonbounce_responses_to). For example, in WhatDoTheyKnow the configuration looks like this: raw_team: [a list of people on the team] team: |/path/to/alaveteli/software/script/handle-mail-replies with `FORWARD_NONBOUNCE_RESPONSES_TO`: 'raw_team@whatdotheyknow.com'` Finally, make sure you have `dc_use_split_config='true'` in `/etc/exim4/update-exim4.conf.conf`, and execute the command `update-exim4.conf`. Note that if the file `/etc/exim4/exim4.conf` exists then `update-exim4.conf` will silently do nothing. Some distributions include this file. If yours does, you will need to rename it before running `update-exim4.conf`. (You may also want to set `dc_eximconfig_configtype='internet'`, `dc_local_interfaces='0.0.0.0 ; ::1'`, and `dc_other_hostnames='