pmg-docs/pmg-mail-filter.adoc

[[chapter_mailfilter]]
Rule-Based Mail Filter
======================

{pmg} ships with a highly configurable mail filter. It’s an easy but
powerful way to define filter rules by user, domains, time frame,
content type and resulting action.

[thumbnail="pmg-gui-mail-filter-rules.png", big=1]

Every rule has 5 categories ('FROM', 'TO', 'WHEN', 'WHAT' and
'ACTION'), and each category may contain several objects to match
certain criteria:

'Who' - objects::

Who is the sender or recipient of the email? Those objects can be used
for the 'TO' and/or 'FROM' category.
+
====
Example: EMail-object - Who is the sender or recipient of the email?
====

'What' - objects::

What is in the email?
+
====
Example: Does the email contain spam?
====

'When' - objects::

When is the email received by {pmg}?
+
====
Example: Office Hours - Mail is received between 8:00 and 16:00.
====

'Action' - objects::

Defines the final actions.
+
====
Example: Mark email with “SPAM:” in the subject.
====

Rules are ordered by priority, so rules with higher priority are
executed first. It is also possible to set a processing direction:

'In'::	Rule applies for all incoming emails

'Out'::	Rule applies for all outgoing emails

'In & Out':: Rule applies for both directions

And you can also disable a rule completely, which is mostly useful for
testing and debugging. The 'Factory Defaults' button alows you to
reset the filter rules.


[[pmg_mailfilter_action]]
'Action' - objects
------------------

[thumbnail="pmg-gui-mail-filter-actions.png", big=1]

Please note that some actions stop further rule processing. We call
such actions 'final'.

Accept
~~~~~~

Accept mail for Delivery. This is a 'final' action.


Block
~~~~~

Block mail. This is a 'final' action.


Quarantine
~~~~~~~~~~

Move to quarantine (virus mails are moved to the “virus quarantine”,
other mails are moved to “spam quarantine”). This is also a 'final' action.


Notification
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Send notifications. Please note that object configuration can use
xref:rule_system_macros[macros], so it is easy to include additional
information. For example, the default 'Notify Admin' object sends the
following information:

.Sample notification action body:
----
Proxmox Notification:
Sender:   __SENDER__
Receiver: __RECEIVERS__
Targets:  __TARGETS__
Subject: __SUBJECT__
Matching Rule: __RULE__

__RULE_INFO__

__VIRUS_INFO__
__SPAM_INFO__
----

Notification can also include a copy of the original mail.


Blind Carbon Copy (BCC)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The BCC object simply sends a copy to another target. It is possible to
send the original unmodified mail, or the processed result. Please
note that this can be quite different, i.e. when a previous rule
removed attachments.


Header Attributes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This object is able to add or modify mail header attributes. As with notifications above, you can use xref:rule_system_macros[macros], making this a very powerful object. For example, the 'Modify Spam Level' actions adds detailed information about detected Spam characteristics to the `X-SPAM-LEVEL` header.

.'Modify Spam Level' Header Attribute
----
Field: X-SPAM-LEVEL
Value: __SPAM_INFO__
----

Another prominent example is the 'Modify Spam Subject' action. This
simply adds the 'SPAM:' prefix to the original mail subject:

.'Modify Spam Subject' Header Attribute
----
Field: subject
Value: SPAM: __SUBJECT__
----


Remove attachments
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remove attachments can either remove all attachments, or only those
matched by the rules 'What' - object. You can also specify the
replacement text if you want.

You can optionally move those mails into the attachment quarantine, where
the original mail with all attachments will be stored. The mail with the
attachments removed will continue in the rule system.

NOTE: The Attachment Quarantine Lifetime is the same as for the Spam Quarantine.


Disclaimer
~~~~~~~~~~

Add a Disclaimer.


[[pmg_mailfilter_who]]
'Who' - objects
---------------

[thumbnail="pmg-gui-mail-filter-who-objects.png", big=1]

This type of objects can be used for the 'TO' and/or 'FROM' category,
and match the sender or recipient of the email. A single object can
combine multiple items, and the following item types are available:

EMail::

Allows you to match a single mail address.

Domain::

Only match the domain part of the mail address.

Regular Expression::

This one uses a regular expression to match the whole mail address.

IP Address or Network::

This can be used to match the senders IP address.

LDAP User or Group::

Test if the mail address belongs to a specific LDAP user or group.

We have two important 'Who' - objects called 'Blacklist' and
'Whitelist'. These are used in the default ruleset to globally block
or allow specific senders.


[[pmg_mailfilter_what]]
'What' - objects
----------------

[thumbnail="pmg-gui-mail-filter-what-objects.png", big=1]

'What' - objects are used to classify the mail content. A single
object can combine multiple items, and the following item types are
available:

Spam Filter::

Matches if detected spam level is equal or greater than the configured value.

Virus Filter::

Matches on infected mails.

Match Field::

Match specified mail header fields (eg. `Subject:`, `From:`, ...)

Content Type Filter::

Can be used to match specific content types.

Match Filename::

Uses regular expressions to match attachment filenames.

Archive Filter::

Can be used to match specific content types inside archives.
This also matches the content-types of all regular (non-archived) attachments.

Match Archive Filename::

Uses regular expressions to match attachment filenames inside archives.
This also matches the filenames for all regular (non-archived) attachments.


[[pmg_mailfilter_when]]
'When' - objects
----------------

[thumbnail="pmg-gui-mail-filter-when-objects.png", big=1]

'When' - objects are use to activate rules at specific daytimes. You
can compose them of one or more time frame items.

The default ruleset defines 'Office Hours', but this is not used by
the default rules.


[[pmg_mailfilter_regex]]
Using regular expressions
-------------------------

A regular expression is a string of characters which tells us which
string you are looking for. The following is a short introduction in
the syntax of regular expressions used by some objects. If you are
familiar with Perl, you already know the syntax.

Simple regular expressions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In its simplest form, a regular expression is just a word or phrase to
search for. `Mail` would match the string "Mail". The search is case
sensitive so "MAIL", "Mail", "mail" would not be matched.

Metacharacters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some characters have a special meaning. These characters are called
metacharacters.  The Period (`.`) is a commonly used metacharacter. It
matches exactly one character, regardless of what the character is.
`e.mail` would match either "e-mail" or "e2mail" but not
"e-some-mail" or "email".

The question mark (`?`) indicates that the character immediately
preceding it shows up either zero or one time. `e?mail` would match
either "email" or "mail" but not "e-mail".

Another metacharacter is the star (`*`). This indicates that the
character immediately preceding it may be repeated any number of times,
including zero. `e*mail` would match either "email" or "mail" or
"eeemail".

The plus (`+`) metacharacter does the same as the star (*) excluding
zero. So `e+mail` does not match "mail".

Metacharacters may be combined. A common combination includes the
period and star metacharacters (`.*`), with the star immediately following
the period. This is used to match an arbitrary string of any length,
including the null string. For example: `.*company.*` matches
"company@domain.com" or "company@domain.co.uk" or
"department.company@domain.com".

The book xref:Friedl97[] provides a more comprehensive introduction.