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Chris Wolf <[log in to unmask]> writes: > Could someone from the mail team document for us the order in which > various parts of the mail processing are carried out for incoming > mail? This would include: > > Virus blocking > (Auto)Forwarding > Blocked Domains > Blocked Senders > SPAM processing > Vacation message > Filters > [Any others I've forgotten?] > > At each stage it would be important to know whether a message that is > acted upon in that stage then leaves the processing stream, or if it > continues on to the next stage. > 1. Virus scan: If a virus is found the message does not get delivered (it in fact is rejected during the data ACL of the SMTP transaction). Otherwise, the message goes to step 2. 2. Forward (from the preferences menu): This is "forward file forwarding." If your forward file is not empty (you set it on the preferences page in webmail), the message is sent to the forwarding address without further processing. If the forward file is empty or non-existant, processing continues with step 3. 3. Blocked Domains: If the domain of a sender matches one of the blocked domains in your webmail "blocked domains" preference, the message is delivered to /dev/null, at which point, obviously the delivery process is ended. If the domain does not match one of those in your "blocked domains" it continues to step 4. 4. Blocked/Trusted Senders: Very similar to step 3. 5. Vacation: Regardless of whether or not you have your vacation message turned on, delivery continues. 6. Spam Assassin: There are no drops that happen here, message delivery continues. 7. Filters (set up via webmail): This is the last step before delivery. Obviously a variety of things can happen here, including forwarding to a different address. > I tried to find this information on line but could not. Having this > documented would allow us to answer user questions like "If I forward > my mail, is it still checked for viruses and spam by MSU?" I know these are just examples, but I decided to answer them anyway. It will be scanned for viruses, but not checked by Spam Assassin via the "forward file" mechanism. However, if you have your SPAM filtering or flagging turned on and you forward via a filter, it will be scanned. > "Will my vacation message go to every single message that is addressed > to me?". Only once per week per sender. That is, say you turn on your vacation message on Monday the 18th: 1. On Tuesday the 19th [log in to unmask] sends you a message. 2. [log in to unmask] immediately receives a copy of your vacation message. 3. On Friday the 22nd [log in to unmask] forgets and sends you another message. He does not receive the vacation message. 4. On Wednesday the 27th, [log in to unmask] sends you another message, this time (as it is greater than a week) he gets your vacation message again. > I think some individual questions like this have been discussed here > in the past, but the full processing sequence has never been > documented. Thanks. No problem. I will talk with the proper people about having this documented at http://help.msu.edu/ ./muk -- m. kolb <[log in to unmask]>