This document is intended for owners and prospective owners of mailing lists at Harvard Business School. Details on how to use majordomo to inquire about, add yourself to or remove yourself from mailing lists are given in the user guide.
Majordomo is the name given to a widely used list management package. This software is used to manage the mailing lists at Harvard Business School. The name is chosen because the software can carry our various mailing list management tasks on behalf of people who own mailing lists. Majordomo was written by Brent Chapman of Great Circle Associates and is made available for use free of charge.
The software is accessible by sending email to it (majordomo@listserv.hbs.edu) containing requests or commands. Note that email should be sent to "majordomo" and not "majordom", as "majordom" is an alias for the "owner" of majordomo and email sent to it is forwarded to IT staff who are responsible for maintaining the email software.
top of pageEvery list created must have a list owner. The owner of an HBS list should normally be a member of the faculty or staff, and his/her HBS email address is used as list-owner address. Lists owned by off-campus users (such as alumni), if approved, will require dual ownership along with an HBS faculty or staff person, so that the latter will be aware of any list problems that arise.
The owner of a list is responsible for the administration of the list. All error messages generated by activity on the list are forwarded to the list owner. List owners have the power to add and remove list members, whatever the membership policy of the list.
top of pageThe main use of lists is to allow distribution of email to a group of people with a common purpose or interest. This can range from discussion of a subject area with international membership to matters concerning an internal departmental committee. Lists may be used to facilitate discussion among the subscribers, or may be set up solely to allow distribution of materials from the owner to the subscribers.
Whatever the list is used for, the procedures for creating and administering them are the same.
top of pageThe following list outlines the steps you should take if you wish to set up a mailing list list.
Each list has an information file associated with it. All lists are created with a default file which contains basic contact information about where to get help. This file is available to anyone who requests information about the list from majordomo. It is also sent to anybody who joins the list. It is recommended that you tailor this file to contain some information about the purpose of the list and membership policy as soon as possible after the list is created. Instructions on how to do this are included later in this document.
top of pageOnce the list is created, you may wish to add some users to the list. Instructions on how to do this are included later in this document. If you have a pre-existing list of email addresses to subscribe, such as an entire class, see the instructions for pre-subscribing users. You may also wish to publicize the list in appropriate places, depending on the nature of the list.
top of pageAll commands sent to majordomo are sent in email messages. The commands are sent either to majordomo@listserv.hbs.edu or listname@listserv.hbs.edu. Some commands are available to all users. These allow submission of requests to join and leave lists, listing the contents of a list, listing the names of lists and viewing information files. These are also useful to list owners but are documented in the user documentation.
There are some commands which are only available to list owners and allow you to carry out various other tasks. These are described below. The sample mailing list called "trees" used in the examples does not actually exist. If any command fails, an error message is returned which may include the general help file. Multiple commands can be given in the same email message. If you have a "signature" which is automatically appended to outgoing email messages, you should terminate commands with an "end" command. This will prevent majordomo from generating error messages when attempting to use your signature as input. Some of these commands may also be executed via web pages designed by HBS to steamline list adminsitration; links to these pages are included where appropriate in these instructions.
top of pageEvery list has a password which controls administrative access to the list. This password is generated automatically and is sent to you in the email message that confirms creation of the list. You may change this password at any time by sending email to majordomo@listserv.hbs.edu containing the command
passwd <listname> <oldpass> <newpass>
where <listname> is the name of the list, <oldpass> is the current password and <newpass> is the new password. For example, if the listname is "trees", the old password is "xyzzy" and you wish to set a new password of "brt6yhjui", the command would be
passwd trees xyzzy brt6yhui
A default information file is created for each list containing basic contact information for the list and the list server. This file is automatically sent to everyone who joins the list, regardless of how they joined the list (either automatically or as a result of an "approve" command). It is also available by sending email to majordomo@listserv.hbs.edu containing the following command
info <listname>
where listname is the name of the list. For example to fetch the information file for a list called "trees", the command would be
info trees
The default information for this file would look like this
>>>> info trees
[Last updated on: Fri Apr 4 11:50:45 1997]
This is a default information file for the HBS Majordomo listserver.
For information about this specific list, please send email to
owner-@listserv.hbs.edu
where is the name of this list (do not include the "<>"s).
For technical questions about using Majordomo commands, please see
the Majordomo List User Guide at
http://listserv.hbs.edu/list_user.html
HBS List Manager
In order to tailor this file to contain information about the list, it is recommended that you fetch a copy of this file and edit it using a suitable text editor or mail interface. The information should be plain ascii text with line breaks, preferably with 75 characters per line or less. You should not include any special formatting or fonts. You can then install the new information file by sending email to majordomo@listserv.hbs.edu containing the command
newinfo <listname> <password>
where listname is the listname and password is the password. Any text which follows this command will be used to create the new information file, so include the text of your new file at this point. A line containing just the letters EOF must be used at the end of the information. It is important that these letters are in upper case. Once you have installed the new information file it is wise to fetch a copy and check that it has been installed correctly. An example of a message to create a new file for the list "trees" with a password of "brt6yhui" follows.
newinfo trees brt6yhui Information file for email list: trees This mailing list is primarily for the discussion of trees. Related issues such as shrubs may also be discussed on the list, but this is not an appropriate forum for the discussion of bonsai, topiary and other forms of tree art. Please contact trees-owner@listserv.hbs.edu for further list details or queries concerning the list. Technical queries concerning the operation and use of the majordomo software at this site should be sent to list-master@listserv.hbs.edu EOF
In an open list, users are normally added automatically. If the list is closed, or the request to join the list originates from an address other than the address to be added the request is referred to the list owner, with brief instructions. You may also wish to add users to certain types of list from time to time. This is often done when the list is created.
If you need to add an email address to the list, send the following command to majordomo@listserv.hbs.edu
approve <password> subscribe <listname> <address>
where <password> is the list password, <listname> is the name of the list and <address> is the email address you wish to add. The address must be in the normal email address format, eg. jsmith@mba1996.hbs.edu. Majordomo will send a confirmation message if this command succeeds. If you are adding a new address, take care to specify the address correctly, as the accuracy of the address cannot be checked by majordomo. For example in order to add the address jsmith@mba1996.hbs.edu to the list trees with the password "brt6yhui" the command would be
approve brt6yhui subscribe trees jsmith@mba1996.hbs.edu
A web page, List Owner Subscriber Maintenance, is available to allow you to do the above.
Normally, requests to be removed from a list are processed automatically. Requests to leave will be referred to the list owner if the list has a closed unsubscription policy, or if the request originates from an address which differs from the address to be removed. You may also wish to remove addresses from the list for other reasons, for example if an address in the list is invalid.
If you need to remove an email address from the list, send the following command to majordomo@listserv.hbs.edu
approve <password> unsubscribe <listname> <address>
where <password> is the list password, <listname> is the name of the list and <address> is the email address you wish to remove. Majordomo will send a confirmation message if this command succeeds. For example in order to remove the address jsmith@mba1996.hbs.edu from the list trees with the password "brt6yhui" the command would be
approve brt6yhui unsubscribe trees jsmith@mba1996.hbs.eduMajordomo will send a confirmation message if this command succeeds.
A web page, List Owner Subscriber Maintenance, is available to allow you to do the above.
The address must be in the list and have exactly the same format as the one in the list. If necessary, the list membership can be checked with a "who" command to majordomo@listserv.hbs.edu:
approve <password> who <list> end
Closed lists may also have an associated file of addresses which are allowed to post to the list, but unlike regular subscribers do not receive posts. You must request this feature be made active for your list, and at that time may provide a list of addresses to authorize. Once this is done, you may maintain the list of authorized posters via the web page List Owner Authorized Poster Maintenance.
Majordomo may bounce certain messages (or all messages if the list is moderated - see below) that people attempt to post to your mailing list. These messages may be bounced because they appear to be administrative requests (i.e., someone mailed a request to subscribe or unsubscribe to the posting address rather than to Majordomo@listserv.hbs.edu) , because they are too long, or for any of a number of other reasons.
Majordomo will forward these messages to you in another message whose subject line begins with the word "BOUNCE"; the subject line will also indicate the name of the list the message was bounced from (in case you manage more than one list) and the reason the message was bounced.
If you decide that the message is OK and should not have been bounced, then you can cause Majordomo to post it anyway by sending the message back to the posting address (NOT to the Majordomo address) with a special "Approved: password" header. To do this, follow these instructions (which assume you are reading the message using Eudora):
approved: <password>where <password> is the list password. Note: this syntax differs from the command for approving subscribers.
This time around, Majordomo will notice the "Approved:" line and check it against your list password. If it matches, Majordomo will strip off the header of your message and the "Approved:" line (leaving just the original message, plus the "FROM:" and "SUBJECT::" lines you added), and send the original message on through.
top of pageIf you requested that your list be moderated, then messages without an "Approved:" line (which are all postings except yours, unless you tell others the password - NOT a good idea!) are bounced, just as described above. To cause them to be posted to the list, you add a valid "Approved:" line plus the "TO:", "FROM:" and "SUBJECT::" lines and send them back, just as described above.
Moderated lists may also have Authorized posters (see above) who may post directly without approval. Note that attachments cannot be sent to a Moderated list unless the poster is Authorized; if this will be necessary on your list, ask that at least the list-owner be made Authorized so that s/he may repost a message with attachment without the use of the password (which is what causes the problem).
There is a configuration file associated with each list. This can be used for a variety of configuration options, which are currently set by HBS IT according to the information you supply via the list request form, such as subscription policy, moderated or open posting, and other parameters. Please contact list-master@listserv.hbs.edu regarding configuration changes you desire after the list is set up.
top of pageEach list has an associated set of aliases in the mail tables. These are used by the system to ensure that error messages, requests to join the lists and inquiries are handled correctly. As these aliases are visible in mail headers, a brief explanation of their purpose follows.
This <listname>-owner alias is set up to point to the owner of the list. For example, if the list is called "trees", an alias will be created called "trees-owner". Any request sent to this address will be sent to the list owner.
The <listname>-outgoing alias is an alias for the list. For example, if the list is called "trees", an alias will be created called "trees-outgoing". This alias is not intended for external use, but is used within the system so that error messages are routed correctly.
The <listname>-outgoing-request alias is an alias for the list owner. For example, if the list is called "trees", an alias will be created called "trees-outgoing-request". This alias is not intended for external use, but is used within the system as the sender of email to a list. Any error messages generated by outgoing email to the list will then be sent to the list owner rather than the list itself. The list owner is then aware of any problems with addresses on the list and can take action to rectify them.
End of document.
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