HowtoForge Forums | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials - Getting sa-update running automatically

In order to get your spam under control (well in the right direction) you can run the sa-update command and keep your 'rules' up-to-date. I'll outline what I have been using and am happy with. This may be obvious for some but hopefully helpful for others.

First, sa-update needs to have two additional perl modules installed that are not needed required for spamassassin to function. These are LWP, Archive::Tar (Nov 2006 bug report). It was also mentioned that UserAgent.pm was not installed by default elsewhere in this forum. In order get all the required perl modules installed use the following command:

Code:

apt-get install libwww-perl libarchive-tar-perl

This will allow the script sa-update to run and update your rules. However who wants to do this manually? I have created by own script that emails me the results of the updates each morning. For me this is preferred as I get many other daily emails from the servers so I can keep an eye on my background tasks.

(I'll assume you know how to create and make executable the sh script)

Code:

#!/bin/sh

PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/home/admispconfig/ispconfig/tools/spamassassin/usr/bin



#########################################################################################################################

#Written by Jason Shewchuk                                                                                              #

#E-Mail: jason <> shewchuk.ca                                                                                           #

#Version: 0                                                                                                             #

#Date Created: Sept. 20, 2006                                                                                           #

#Date Modified: Sept. 20, 2006                                                                                          #

#Feel free to use and modify this script.  Let me know of changes you have made so I can learn and improve this script  #

#########################################################################################################################



#Today's date

today=$(date +%Y_%m_%d)



#Run sa-update

/home/admispconfig/ispconfig/tools/spamassassin/usr/bin/sa-update



exitcode=$?     #Exit code from sa-update



#Find version of sa-update

version=$(/home/admispconfig/ispconfig/tools/spamassassin/usr/bin/sa-update -V | grep "sa-update")



if [ $exitcode = 0 ]; then

        echo "An update was available, and was downloaded and installed successfully.  You are now running $version."  | formail -c -I"Subject: sa-update Updated for $today - Updated" -I"From: sa-update@localhost" -I"To: postmaster@{YOURDOMAIN.TLD}" -I"Received: from {YOURDOMAIN.TLD} ([{IP Address If You Wish}])" | sendmail postmaster@{YOURDOMAIN.TLD}



elif [ $exitcode = 1 ]; then

        echo "No update was available.  You are still running $version." | formail -c -I"Subject: sa-update Update Status for $today - No Update" -I"From: sa-update@localhost" -I"To: postmaster@{YOURDOMAIN.TLD}" -I"Received: from {YOURDOMAIN.TLD} ([{IP Address If You Wish}])" | sendmail postmaster@{YOURDOMAIN.TLD}



else

        echo "An error occured while attempting to download and extract updates.  You are still running $version." | formail -c -I"Subject: sa-update Update Status for $today - Error" -I"From: sa-update@localhost" -I"To: postmaster@{YOURDOMAIN.TLD}" -I"Received: from {YOURDOMAIN.TLD} ([{IP Address If You Wish}])" | sendmail postmaster@{YOURDOMAIN.TLD}

fi



exit 0

You will need to update anything located in the {} brackets.

Once this is done jump into your crontab.

Code:

crontab -e

Then make your entry. My script in this example is located in the root of 'root's' directory. I've also got the script running at 03:00.

Code:

0 3 * * * /root/sa-updater &> /dev/null

If you don't want the emails sent to you daily then just use the following crontab statement.

Code:

0 3 * * * /home/admispconfig/ispconfig/tools/spamassassin/usr/bin/sa-update &> /dev/null

That should be about it.:eek:

Hope this is helpful. I'm running this with Ubuntu 6.06 (PPC and x86) I'd like feedback on how this performs in other environments.