SpamAssassin Setup

We houden spam op twee manieren tegen, eh, sorry: We stop spam in two ways. First, our mail servers refuse mail from servers known as spam senders (they're on the lists of Spamhaus or SpamCop). That already keeps a large part of the spam out. What still gets through after that is assessed by SpamAssassin. This filter gives every message a score: the more spam characteristics, the higher the score. If a message goes above the limit you choose, SpamAssassin treats it as spam.

This filtering happens automatically for all incoming mail. If you want to decide for yourself how strict the filter is and what happens to spam, you do that in DirectAdmin with SpamAssassin Setup (this article) and SPAM Filters (see SPAM Filters: blocking senders, domains and words).

You set up SpamAssassin per domain. If you have several domains in your package, you'll need to do this for each domain separately.

Turning on SpamAssassin

1. Log in to DirectAdmin (see Signing in via My WebOké).
2. In the menu under E-mail Manager, click SpamAssassin Setup.
3. Check at the top right whether the correct domain is selected. If not, choose it there (see Working with multiple domains: the domain selector).
4. If you see the button ENABLE SPAMASSASSIN, the filter for this domain is still off. Click it. The button will then be called DISABLE SPAMASSASSIN (1).
5. Under Blocking strategy, choose where spam should go (see below) and click SAVE CONFIGURATION.

Please note: Right after enabling it, Blocking strategy is set to Inbox. Spam is then recognised, but not yet blocked. So be sure to choose a different strategy, for example User Spambox, and save it.

Where should the spam go? (Blocking strategy)

Under Blocking strategy (2), you choose what happens to a message that's been identified as spam:

Under High score block (3), you can have messages with a very high score deleted immediately. Choose Yes and leave the limit at 15. This keeps your spam folder tidy, while borderline cases still end up in the spam folder.

Then click SAVE CONFIGURATION below this section.

How strict is the filter? (Global threshold)

Scroll to Advanced Configuration. Under Global threshold (1), you choose from which score a message counts as spam.

• Low (5.0): the strictest filter. Most spam gets caught, but occasionally so does a regular e-mail.
• Medium (10.0): more spam slips through.
• High (15.0): only obvious spam is blocked.
• Custom: you choose a number yourself.

Please note: A low threshold is actually strict. The lower the number, the faster a message counts as spam. Start with 5.0. If genuine e-mail regularly ends up in your spam folder, choose Custom with 6 or 7.

Under Rewrite subject (2), you can set a text for the subject of spam, by default *****SPAM*****. This is useful if you work with POP3 or if you want to create a rule in your mail program that recognises spam. Under Spam delivery (3), you choose how the spam message looks: as an attachment to a SpamAssassin report, or as a regular message with extra header lines (Don't use attachments). If you're not sure, leave this as it is. Click SAVE CONFIGURATION.

Blacklist and whitelist

At the bottom of the page are two lists:

• Blacklisted E-mails (1): mail from these addresses always counts as spam.
• Whitelisted E-mails (2): mail from these addresses never counts as spam. Add, for example, a supplier or your accounting software here if their mail keeps ending up in the spam folder.

Type the e-mail address in the field and press Enter. You can specify a whole domain with an asterisk, for example *@supplier.com.

Please note: Don't add addresses from large mail services to the whitelist (such as *@gmail.com). Spammers often send mail with a forged sender address. A rule like that would actually let that spam through.

With DELETE DATA under Bayes Data (3), you clear what SpamAssassin has learned from your mail. This is only necessary if the filter works poorly after a lot of incorrect training.

Making the filter smarter

The spam filter learns from what you do. If spam ends up in your inbox, drag the message to your spam folder. If a regular e-mail is in the spam folder, drag it back to your inbox. This works in any mail program that uses IMAP (see IMAP or POP3: what's the difference?) and in webmail (see Opening webmail). In some programs, the spam folder appears as a subfolder under your inbox.

Frequently asked questions

SpamAssassin is on, but I'm still getting a lot of spam. Check that you haven't selected Inbox under Blocking strategy, and that you've set up the correct domain. Choose a stricter threshold (5.0), add persistent senders to the blacklist, and check whether you have a catch-all enabled: that attracts a lot of spam (see Catch-All E-mail: mail to non-existent addresses). For spam with the same recurring words, the SPAM Filters can help (see SPAM Filters: blocking senders, domains and words).

There's an important e-mail in my spam folder. Drag it back to your inbox, and add the sender to the whitelist.

I don't see a spam folder. If you use POP3, your mail program only retrieves the inbox. Check webmail, switch to IMAP, or turn on Rewrite subject and leave Blocking strategy set to Inbox, so you can recognise spam by the subject.

Where did SpamExperts go? We no longer use SpamExperts, which is why you no longer see that button. Incoming mail is filtered automatically. You can adjust the settings yourself with SpamAssassin Setup and SPAM Filters.

Does the spam folder count towards storage? Yes. Spam takes up space in your mailbox. Empty the spam folder occasionally, or have high scoring spam deleted automatically (High score block).