Alexander Inzinger-Zrock writes:
It seems i set both *facepalm* while doing [1] and then adding changes according to [2]:
It's OK to set both. But you need to coordinate "layout: LAYOUT" and "[paths.LAYOUT]" if you are going to set any paths such as var_dir.
so i have empty logs at /opt/mailman/mm/var/logs and populated log files under /var/tmp/mailman/logs
"var_dir: /var/tmp/mailman" is a good setting for experimenting with Mailman 3 before you're ready for production. But you don't want /var/tmp for production. Your logs and any queued messages will get deleted when the system reboots (for most system configurations).
Now - before changing the /etc/postfix/main.cfg - there is the question that brings us almost back to the start:
For the production system you want main.cf as it is, but change mailman.cfg to
[mailman] layout: local
[paths.local] var_dir: /opt/mailman/mm/var
For an experimental system where you don't care if stuff disappears on reboot, you can comment out the two lines for [paths.local], and change the prefix in the *_maps variables in main.cf from /opt/mailman/mm/var/ to /var/tmp/mailman/.
**what is the recommended place to put the files to?**
Wherever is convenient for you! There are four predefined "selectable layouts", paths.local, paths.dev, paths.here, and paths.fhs based on paths.master. paths.master defines the configurable names, and some more or less convenient defaults. In particular, it chooses a non-destructive (because temporary) var_dir: /var/tmp/mailman, and puts all of Mailman's data in a flat structure underneath.
paths.local is just an alias for paths.master (defined in schema.cfg). paths.dev and paths.here are aliases for paths.master with var_dir set relative to mailman.cfg and the current directory respectively (two configurations some developers find convenient). paths.fhs pretty much ignores paths.master (except that it must use the same directory names) to put the various components in places that conform to the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS), which makes Debian and Ubuntu packagers happy.
You can select any of those by using the "[mailman] layout" setting (I'm not sure if you can use "layout: master", but you're not supposed to). You can further modify them by using the "[paths.LAYOUT] SOME_dir" settings. In production, you almost certainly want either paths.fhs (as is) or paths.local with a var_dir setting either in /opt or in /var.
and that the above specific /opt/mailman -part is just a leftover
"/opt" is not a "leftover", it's a convention where the whole package, including programs and resources, is placed in its own hierarchy (like a macOS application). The "var_dir: /opt/mailman/mm/var" setup is a configuration that Mark Sapiro found convenient and continues to use.
I prefer a different layout, but if I were you I'd stick with layout: local, var_dir: /opt/mailman/mm/var because everybody who answers questions is familiar with it.
If my assumption is correct i would create an issue + merge-request for the docs.
No, the docs are generally fine. I'll check some details later.
-- GNU Mailman consultant (installation, migration, customization) Sirius Open Source https://www.siriusopensource.com/ Software systems consulting in Europe, North America, and Japan