MIMEDEFANG.PL(8)

💖 MIMEDEFANG.PL(8) 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the System Manager's Manual entry for mimedefang.pl, and trust me when I say this little Perl script is doing the absolute most 💅

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✨ NAME ✨

mimedefang.pl — a Perl script whose whole job is scanning MIME messages. that's it, that's the vibe 🦋

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

mimedefang.pl [-f filter] dir

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🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

so mimedefang.pl is a Perl script built to run alongside mimedefang(8) — they're a duo, a package deal, the main characters fr fr 👑

it takes exactly one argument, and that argument is a directory. and not just any directory — it needs to be laid out the way mimedefang(8) describes. the layout matters, no cap. 📁

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -f filter — tells it the name of the file that holds your filter. skip this option entirely and it just uses the default filter, /etc/mail/mimedefang-filter, like it's not even stressed about it ✨

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🔥 OPERATION 🔥

here's the tea: mimedefang.pl evaluates the file /etc/mail/mimedefang-filter as a Perl fragment. that file is supposed to define the filter procedure — that's its whole purpose in life, its moment 🫶

then, for each and every part of a MIME message, mimedefang.pl calls filter and disposes of that part exactly the way the filter tells it to. no improvising, no freelancing, it just does what it's told 💁

all the different modes of disposition are described over in mimedefang-filter(5) if you wanna go deep. iykyk 📖

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🧚 TESTING FILTERS 🧚

bestie, listen. you are strongly recommended to test your filter before you install it into /etc/mail/mimedefang-filter. do not skip this step, i am begging 😭

to test it, save your filter in a file (something like test-filter, cute and simple), then run this:

mimedefang.pl -f test-filter -test

this checks the filter for syntactic correctness — just syntax, that's the whole check ✅

if it passes, congrats, you can install it as a production filter and live your truth 🌈

⚠️ but real talk: this test only tests for correct Perl syntax. it does not make sure your filter actually does something sensible. syntax-correct and sensible are two completely different things, and only one of them is being verified here 💀

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🌟 MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS 🌟

there are a few other ways to invoke mimedefang.pl, and they're all lowkey iconic in their own way:

mimedefang.pl -features

this one prints a list of the detected optional Perl modules. the output looks something like this:

SpamAssassin: yes

mimedefang.pl -validate

this one calls the function filter_validate, if it's defined in your filter. filter_validate should return an integer, and that integer becomes the exit code — it's giving "your return value is your destiny" 💫

and if filter_validate does not exist? an error message gets printed and mimedefang.pl exits with an exit code of 1. rude, but fair 🙈

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

mimedefang.pl was written by Dianne Skoll <dfs@roaringpenguin.com> — an absolute legend, we stan 💜

the mimedefang home page is https://www.mimedefang.org/

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• mimedefang(8)
• mimedefang-filter(5)
• mimedefang-protocol(7)
• mimedefang-release(8)

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! this one came from the 4th Berkeley Distribution, dated 8 February 2005 — vintage, nostalgic, still slaying ✨🎀 mwah, go test your filters 💖