Modifying Scoring for the SpamAssassin-based Pattern Matching Engine

System administrators can modify the scoring for the SpamAssassin-based pattern matching engine using the local.cf file. However, this feature is only recommended for experienced system administrators.

The local.cf file is placed in the service's SAData folder. It is used to override existing tests or to create new tests supported by SmarterMail. Note: Any modifications to the local.cf file will not be overwritten when installing a new version.

Overriding an Existing Test's Score

The most common modification to the local.cf file will be to override an existing test's score. For example, if a system administrator notices a lot of spam messages getting into his users' mailboxes that are failing a particular test, he may want to override a that test's score.

To do so, the server administrator would add something like:

score TEST_I_WANT_TO_OVERRIDE 1.3

Here score is the keyword used by the engine, TEST_I_WANT_TO_OVERRIDE corresponds to the existing test they want to override and 1.3 is the new score.

Creating a New Test

If a system administrator notices a new pattern appearing in spam messages that isn't covered by the default files, he may want to create a new test. This would look something like this:

body NEW_TEST /test/ #look for the word test in the body of the email score NEW_TEST 10.3

Here body is the keyword for determining the type of test, NEW_TEST is the name of the new test, /test/ is the perl style regular expression that will be used while scanning the email, and everything after the pound-sign is a comment.

The system administrator will also need to score the new rule so that it has some affect on the final weight.