Industry guru Dave Taylor offers tech support on technical and business topics, including iPhone, iPod, Microsoft Windows, Sony PSP, cellphones, online advertising, CSS, Web design, business, Unix, Linux, SEO, Mac OS X, and shell script programming.     


Why is Mailman complaining "Site list is missing: mailman"?

I've been running the Python-based "mailman" mailing list management program for quite a while with good results, but all of a sudden when I try to start it up I get the error "Site list is missing: mailman" and it won't start. What the heck? How do I fix this?


Dave's Answer:

I encountered this problem recently too and it took a lot of digging around to find out what was really going on. Apparently, when Mailman upgraded from 2.1b to 2.1.2 it suddenly required the creation of a list on the server called "mailman".

Logically enough, the error message is accurate. The problem is, it's just a bit too succinct to help you figure out what's going on and how to fix it!

To remedy the situation, you need to log in through ssh (you'd never use telnet, right?) to your server, switch to the root administrative account, then find your "newlist" command. This can most easily be done with the wonderful locate command:

# locate newlist | grep -v template
/usr/local/mailman/bin/newlist

(trust me, you want to use the 'grep' to filter out the zillion templates that Mailman includes).

Now, with that command location known, create a "mailman" list:

# /usr/local/mailman/bin/newlist mailman
Enter the email of the person running the list: demo@demosite.com
Initial mailman password:
To finish creating your mailing list, you must edit your /etc/aliases (or
equivalent) file by adding the following lines, and possibly running the
`newaliases' program:

## mailman mailing list
mailman: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman post mailman"
mailman-admin: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman admin mailman"
mailman-bounces: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman bounces mailman"
mailman-confirm: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman confirm mailman"
mailman-join: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman join mailman"
mailman-leave: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman leave mailman"
mailman-owner: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman owner mailman"
mailman-request: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman request mailman"
mailman-subscribe: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman subscribe mailman"
mailman-unsubscribe: "|/usr/local/mailman/mail/mailman unsubscribe mailman"

Hit enter to notify mailman owner...

Now you need to actually copy and paste that block of aliases into your /etc/aliases file, or equivalent, then run the newaliases command to rebuild the alias database with the new list included.

That's just about it. You can now restart Mailman gracefully by using the command mailmanctl which you might again need to dig up using the locate command:

# /usr/local/mailman/bin/mailmanctl start
Starting Mailman's master qrunner.

Up and running!

One last step: log in to the new list's administrative interface and make sure that you go to "Privacy" and turn the list off from your publicly advertised lists and also require approval for anyone to join and membership for anyone to send to the list.

Hope that gets you up and running.


More Useful Unix and Linux Help Articles:
✔   Copy and Paste from the Mac OS X Command Line?
I am constantly running commands in Terminal.app on my MacBook and then copying and pasting the results into email messages or documents. Yes,...
✔   Shell script to convert lowercase to title case?
As part of a project I'm working on, I find myself deep in a Linux shell script, needing to have a subroutine that...
✔   Can I script renaming files based on an XML data map?
I have a folder full of files which are named with four digits and a file extension e.g. 0312.file and an XML-file describing...
✔   Test for valid numbers in a Bash shell script?
In a different discussion on this site [see Redirecting input in a shell script] a visitor commented that "I was too busy trying...
✔   Review: iSSH for the iPad/iPhone
If you're running an online business like I am, there are times when you need to connect and log in to the server...

Let's stay in touch!
Sign up for my weekly AskDaveTaylor Newsletter and you'll receive even more tech and gadget help right to your inbox, along with exclusive news and industry updates. It's good stuff. I promise!
    Enter your name: and your email addr:  




Categorized: Unix and Linux Help   (Article 6377, Written by )
Tagged: linux, mailing list management, mailman, unix admin
Previous: Why do my FTP transfers all freeze up?
Next: Jargon question: URLs, blogs, spillover pagerank, etc.?




Reader Comments To Date: 3

Chris Hesseltine said, on January 16, 2007 10:30 PM:

Will this cause all the mailman list to be reset? How about all the settings that my users had set in mailman?
I am new at this so could you explain in a little more detail of what needs to be done. I am using c-panel not sure if that makes a difference or not.

This is where my mailman is located: /usr/local/cpanel/src/3rdparty/gpl/mailman-2.1.9/bin/newlist

Or does it have to be done in the /var/mailman/bin dir?

Thank you for your help.

David Black said, on January 16, 2007 10:52 PM:

Will this mailman fix require all my users to be added back to the distribution list?

Kurt Plaatjes said, on March 17, 2010 12:46 AM:

Thanks bro, this site is really helpful!

Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











I will never send you any unsolicited email. Ever.






Check This Out Too...

 
Look for Answers
Need Help? Ask Dave Taylor!
Powered By
Linux Journal: Free Issue!


Follow Me on Pinterest

Find Me on Google+
ADT on G+
© 2002 - 2013 by Dave Taylor. All Rights Reserved.

Note: This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this web site or on any linked site. Further, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to my terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site. My lawyer says "Thanks".
"Ask Dave Taylor®" is a registered trademark of Intuitive Systems, LLC.