How to set up SpamAssassin on Smartermail 16

Question asked by Michael Robinson - 12/9/2017 at 10:41 PM

Answered

I've just had SmartMail purchased and installed on my main production server, but SpamAssassin is not yet set up.

I have a sys admin account. So how to I get SpamAssassin to start working?

Looks like it needs an IP and a port for a SpamAssassin Server ?

Can anyone advise?

Thx

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Scarab Replied

12/11/2017 at 1:11 PM

Marked As Answer

Smartermail has a basic version of SpamAssassin that is already built-in (it has a limit of approximately 40,000 messages per day) that you can enable just by going to SETTINGS > ANTISPAM > SPAM CHECKS and enable the SpamAssassin-based Pattern Matching. There is nothing further to be done to enable the built-in SpamAssassin.

If you want to use a full version of SpamAssassin that you have installed to run externally from SmarterMail then you would go to SETTINGS > ANTISPAM > OPTIONS and in the SpamAssassin section click on the [+ NEW SERVER] button and give the server a name (or just use the FQDN) and enter the IP Address & Port (783 by default). You would then enable this check under SETTINGS > ANTISPAM > SPAM CHECKS by selecting REMOTE SPAM ASSASSIN and enabling it (you would also want to make sure to disable the SpamAssassin-based Pattern Matching to prevent running both the internal and external SpamAssassin checks on messages).

Michael Robinson Replied

12/11/2017 at 3:30 PM

OK, I found the pattern matching settings - thank you

But, it only works on outgoing messages in the spool. Is says "not available" for incoming smtp.

I'm confused. I want spam assassin to filter the incoming mail before all that spam gets to my cell phone and laptop mail.

Can u she some light on this?

Thx

Scarab Replied

12/11/2017 at 4:08 PM

Michael,

You control how the Antispam Checks are applied by clicking on the Antispam Check to configure the settings for that item. In the settings for SpamAssassin-Based Pattern Matching you would toggle "Enable Spool Filtering" to the right (to the "On" position). When enabled the weight(s) assigned for this Antispam Check is added to the message and used as part of its overall spam score. Smartermail then handles the message based on the Antispam Filtering Options configured for the server (or for a domain if the domain has overridden the server settings).

See below for how your settings for SpamAssassin-Based Pattern Matching should look for filtering Incoming Mail:

The option "Enable Incoming SMTP Blocking" to entirely block incoming emails that fail Antispam Checks is not available for message content filters and is only available for those Antispam Checks that are IP based. Basically, in order for a message to be blocked this has to occur before it is accepted for delivery, which can easily be done based on the IP Address of the sender's Mail Server. However in order for the message content to be scanned it has to be accepted for delivery and thus can no longer be blocked (only bounced), which is why this option is not available on SpamAssassin-based Pattern Matching (of course, you can Enable Outgoing SMTP Blocking because if blocked it would just go right back to the local sender's Inbox with a NDR bounce-back message). If you have toggled "Enable Spool Filtering" then the message will still be filtered by this Antispam Check according to the actions you have set for Low, Medium, and High Probability of Spam in the Filtering settings found in Antispam Options (I think by default they are set to "Add Text to Subject: Junk E-Mail:" for Low, and "Move to Junk Email Folder" for Medium and High Probability).

Michael Robinson Replied

12/13/2017 at 9:40 AM

Thanks Scarab - excellent answer that I can understand - much appreciated

philip Replied

7/3/2019 at 8:58 PM

how to i setup this on SM v14.5? i didnt see any option for SETTINGS > ANTISPAM > SPAM CHECKS and enable the SpamAssassin-based Pattern Matching?

Employee Replied

8/20/2019 at 12:07 PM

Employee Post

Hi Philip,

If you are still looking for this option in SmarterMail 14.x you will need to go to Security > Antispam Administration. You can enable the SpamAssassin-based Pattern Matching there.

Alfred Lim Replied

8/22/2020 at 9:10 PM

Hi i m had go SETTINGS > ANTISPAM > SPAM CHECKS and enable the remote SpamAssassin-server ,but compare to ver 14. how we know the REMOTE SPAM ASSASSIN STATUS Active or down ?

for version 11/12 we can see the status , for ver 16 we can not find , we don't know the remote server status.

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