2 minutes, 55 seconds

This post is a continuation of the my last post on the topic, “Howto: Sympa 6.1 on Ubuntu 16.04“.  It should come as no surprise that this is about installing Sympa on the most recent version of Ubuntu to get the most recent version of Sympa (at the time of this writing).  That’d be Sympa 6.2.16 and Ubuntu 17.04. The steps only vary a little between between the two, but here’s the all them for completeness.

Assumptions/Prerequisites

Like the last post, this one assumes you have root on your box.  It assumes you have Apache2 installed.  It assumes you’re running a stock Ubuntu 17.04 install.  It assumes you want to run Sympa on your server.  It also assumes you’ll be using Postfix as the lists MTA. It assumes you have a DNS entry (A record) for the server.  As well it assumes you also have an MX record pointing to the A record or no MX record so the MX defaults to the A record.  If this doesn’t apply to you, caveat emptor!

To recap, that’s:

• Apache 2 installed and working
• Postfix as MTA
• Ubuntu 17.04 server
• Existing DNS entry
• Run all commands as root

I also was using this server solely to serve Sympa mail and web traffic so if you have a multi-tenant/multi-use server, it may be more complicated.

Steps

These steps assume you’re going to install Sympa on list.example.com.  There’s no reason you couldn’t use example.com instead. Your zero step should be sudo apt-get update&& sudo apt-get upgrade.

1. First step is to install Sympa. As well, we’ll install some packages that are used to fix a bug in 6.2’s GUI where the drop down nav menus don’t work:

   apt-get install -y sympa javascript-common libjs-jquery-migrate-1

2. When prompted during this install:
   1. Choose a good mysql root password and enter it when prompted
   2. Please select the mail server configuration type that best meets your needs: Internet Site
   3. System mail name: list.example.com
   4. Which Web Server(s) are you running?: apache 2
   5. Configure database for sympa with dbconfig-common?: Yes
   6. Database type to be used by sympa: mysql
   7. MySQL application password for sympa: <blank> (will assign random one)
3. Now it’s time to fix that css bug in 6.2 with a copy:

   cp /usr/share/sympa/default/web_tt2/head_javascript.tt2 /etc/sympa/web_tt2

   And then edit /etc/sympa/web_tt2/head_javascript.tt2 and add the jquery-migrate-1.js file after jquery.js:

   <script src="[% static_content_url %]/external/jquery.js"></script>
   <script src="/javascript/jquery-migrate-1.js"></script>

4. Edit /etc/sympa/sympa/sympa.conf to match the following values:

   listmaster listmaster_here@domain.com,other_here@domain.com
   domain list.example.com
   wwsympa_url https://list.example.com/wws
   default_home home
   create_list intranet

   The “intranet” value will prevent some one from signing up and requesting a list with any approval.

   lists.example.com should show the sympa UI, w00t!

5. Ensure Sympa starts at boot:

   update-rc.d sympa defaults
   update-rc.d sympa enable

6. ensure postfix is updated in /etc/postfix/main.cf edit these values to match:

   myhostname = list.example.com
   alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases,hash:/etc/mail/sympa/aliases
   alias_database = hash:/etc/aliases,hash:/etc/mail/sympa/aliases
   mydestination = $myhostname, example.com, list.example.com, localhost.example.com, localhost
   relay_domains = $mydestination, list.example.com
   local_recipient_maps =

7. add default aliases for sympa at the top of /etc/mail/sympa/aliases:

   ## main sympa aliases
   sympa: "| /usr/lib/sympa/bin/queue sympa@lists.example.com"
   listmaster: "| /usr/lib/sympa/bin/queue sympa@lists.example.com"
   bounce+*: "| /usr/lib/sympa/bin/bouncequeue sympa@lists.example.com"
   sympa-request: email1@example.com
   sympa-owner: email1@example.com

8. reboot and rebuild aliases:

   newaliases
   reboot

Sympa should now be up and running at lists.example.com!  All mail in and out should work so you can run your own list server. Please report any problems so I can keep this post updated and accurate – thanks!