From: "Ben Parker" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2005 11:34 PM

> I think that in most cases (the CHANGE command is a known exception), the
> From: address used for the OK-Confirm operation need not match the
> address-mailed-to by LISTSERV as long as the cookie code does match.

Unfortunately, the Confirm command for subscription renewal doesn't use the
OK-Confirm technique. There's no correlator number.

> >When a Probe is sent to a nonworking address, the error goes undetected.
>
> You have mentioned something like this before.  This would suggest some
> possible problem with your installation that prevents such bounces from
> getting back to LISTSERV.  If they do get to LISTSERV the bad addresses
> will be auto-deleted (assuming you have sensible autodel settings).
>
> Probe messages (both passive probe and active probe) go out with a
> modified Return-Path address:
>
> Return-Path:
<owner-listname*bparker**BESTEFFORT*[log in to unmask]>

Aha! this is perhaps the hint I need.

I cannot find any Return-Path: header entry on the active probe messages
sent to me. Also, I cannot see any on my list email, though I have checked
enough that I should (in my test setup) have received a passive probe. I
also cannot see any in the non-probe type of renewal notice, although when
one of those bounces from a bad address, an error is detected.

Maybe these are stripped off by my email interface (Outlook Express). But
that seems unlikely, because I can view the full trail of Received: header
entries, which are (according to the RFCs) in the same class (Trace) of
header fields.

You describe known problems with messages coming back via the probe's
Return-Path: address. Are there known problems affecting that field
outbound? It's possible our site administrator needs to deal with this, but
unless I can recite chapter and verse when I report a problem, those guys
are amazingly unhelpful.

Is there any passive probing on THIS list (LSTOWN-L)? Maybe scanning
received messages from a different server will be helpful.

Hal Keen