Ubuntu Server Cookbook

Mail filtering with spam-assassin

In this recipe, we will learn how to install and set up a well-known e-mail filtering program, spam-assassin.

Getting ready

You will need access to a root account or an account with sudo privileges.

You need to have Postfix installed and working.

How to do it…

Follow these steps to filter mail with spam-assassin:

1. Install spam-assassin with the following command:

   $ sudo apt-get update
   $ sudo apt-get install spamassassin spamc
   

2. Create a user account and group for spam-assassin:

   $ sudo groupadd spamd
   $ sudo useradd -g spamd -s /usr/bin/nologin \
   -d /var/log/spamassassin -m spamd
   

3. Change the default settings for the spam daemon. Open /etc/default/spamassassin and update the following lines:

   ENABLED=1 SAHOME="/var/log/spamassassin/" ...