SpamTestBuddy 0.95 Copyright (C) 2007 Jem E. Berkes http://www.sysdesign.ca/ This software may be used freely for personal, non-commercial use and educational use. It may not be re-distributed, re-sold, included in a commercial package or modified for redistribution without the author's permission. The user of the software assumes all risk associated with installation and use of this software. The author makes no guarantees of performance or fitness for a particular purpose. There is no warranty. http://www.pc-tools.net/unix/spamtestbuddy/ DESCRIPTION ----------- SpamTestBuddy is a simple, light-weight, multiple-input spam scoring tool. It is standalone and can be used with simple procmail rules without root access or daemons. Features built-in support for simple DNS checks including DNSBL (DNS-based blocklist) queries, and can scan headers from filters such as SpamProbe, QSF, DSPAM that you already use. The configuration is flexible and easy to edit in a human readable file. Different tests can add or remove from the total score. (I am not trying to re-invent SpamAssassin. That is a very powerful piece of software with all the features you need. It is also somewhat large and is a greater challenge to install. SpamTestBuddy will just help you bring together existing scores from filters you already use, with a few useful extra tests thrown in. For an all-in-one solution, try SpamAssassin). COMMON USES ----------- 1) Combining more than one external filter: If you have a number of filters that output a numeric probability or score, you can combine them together using +TestHeaderFloat and make a decision on the total (floating point) score. Examples of filters which integrate seamlessly are SpamProbe, QSF, DSPAM, CRM114. 2) Querying DNSBL (DNS based blocklists, real time lists) or local IP files: Typically this is done by mail servers at the time of mail receipt. However, there are advantages to doing these "RBL" lookups later. SpamTestBuddy will let you query multiple real-time lists for fresh data on known spam sources, abusive networks, etc. You can combine the results with your other statistical body-reading filters. You can also use TestFileIP to look up the IP in a local text file, such as a custom whitelist or blacklist. 3) Reducing false positives from other filters: You can use SpamTestBuddy as a secondary filter to interpret existing scores differently. Alternatively, you can make a more conservative configuration by combining scores. This may be helpful for revisiting classification errors 4) Parsing the IP address of the sender The IP address of the SMTP server which relayed mail is always visible in the Received headers, but parsing and extracting the correct IP address is hard to do reliably with procmail recipes alone. SpamTestBuddy can pick out the correct address. The resulting IP address is conveniently displayed in the new X-SpamTestBuddy header, simplifying your procmail recipes. (See INSTALL for parsing example). CONFIGURING ----------- See INSTALL for how to build and install. See CONFIGURATION for explanation of all features with examples. See CONFIG-SPAMPROBE for example .spamtestbuddy file to use with SpamProbe