Question Possible to optimize SpamAssassin?

[manni]

Server operating system version

CentOS 7

Plesk version and microupdate number

18.0.58

Hello out there,

independent of plugins like Magic Spam and Plesk Email Security I am wondering how you optimize your SpamAssassin configuration? Are you using external databases eg.?

Thx
Manni

 

[Kaspar]

Over the course of many years I've created a set of custom SpamAssassin rules and plugins, which together with additional blacklists does a pretty solid job. I also configured SA to use a server wide Bayes databases But it ain't perfect and requires a lot of time to keep up to date.

SA plugins I find to be working pretty well are DCC and Spamhaus DQS. However both have restrictions on commercial use, so these might not be a viable option for some users. The KAM ruleset also works well, but it mainly it effectiveness diminishes for spam written in anything other then English.

 

[3rKaN_BRATTE]

Over the course of many years I've created a set of custom SpamAssassin rules and plugins, which together with additional blacklists does a pretty solid job. I also configured SA to use a server wide Bayes databases But it ain't perfect and requires a lot of time to keep up to date.

SA plugins I find to be working pretty well are DCC and Spamhaus DQS. However both have restrictions on commercial use, so these might not be a viable option for some users. The KAM ruleset also works well, but it mainly it effectiveness diminishes for spam written in anything other then English.

Hi Kasper,

Do you happen to have any guides or tips on setting this up — especially DQS from Spamhaus? There’s barely any documentation available on configuring this with SpamAssassin in Plesk.

I’m coming from an Rspamd-based setup, so I’m a bit unsure about the best approach here, particularly when it comes to integrating it properly in SpamAssassin within Plesk.

Thanks in advance!

 

[manni]

Same here, this would be super helpful. My problem is, that learning from users is simply not working. Our clients receive their mails via POP, there is no chance to mark them as spam and to learn... :-/

 

[Kaspar]

Do you happen to have any guides or tips on setting this up — especially DQS from Spamhaus? There’s barely any documentation available on configuring this with SpamAssassin in Plesk.

I’m coming from an Rspamd-based setup, so I’m a bit unsure about the best approach here, particularly when it comes to integrating it properly in SpamAssassin within Plesk.

Using and configuring SpamAssasin on a Plesk server is no different from using it on a server without Plesk. Any customization to the configuration has to be done via command line. But if you don't like or want to use command line, I recommend using the Warden Anti-spam and Virus Protection extension. Which is by far the best anti-spam extension for Plesk, allowing you to do everything via the GUI in Plesk and includes a lot of additional features.

Here are some useful links to documentation if you want to customize the SpamAssasin configuration yourself.

Writing your own spam rules

WritingRules - SPAMASSASSIN - Apache Software Foundation

cwiki.apache.org

(If you want to write and test rules locally on a Windows computer, JAM software SpamAssasin for Windows can be useful.)

Configuring Spamhaus DQS

GitHub - spamhaus/spamassassin-dqs: Spamhaus code for the Spamassassin plugin. See https://docs.spamhaustech.com/40-real-world-usage/SpamAssassin/000-intro.html

Spamhaus code for the Spamassassin plugin. See https://docs.spamhaustech.com/40-real-world-usage/SpamAssassin/000-intro.html - spamhaus/spamassassin-dqs

github.com

Configuring Abusix Guardian Mail
(I can highly recommend using this blacklist. I've found it to be pretty effective.)

SpamAssassin

Setup SpamAssassin to work with Guardian Mail

abusix.com

Installing and configuring DCC

DCC | Warden Anti-spam and Virus Protection Documentation

Warden Anti-spam and Virus Protection

docs.danami.com

Configuring the KAM ruleset

The McGrail Foundation - Kam.cf Channel

mcgrail.com

Hope this helps