Mailman Web§

To install and run the web UI for the Mailman 3 suite using Unit:

1. Install Unit with a Python 3.7+ language module.

2. Follow Mailman’s guide to install its prerequisites and core files, but stop at setting up a WSGI server; we’ll use Unit instead. Also, note the following settings (values from the guide are given after the colon):

   • Virtual environment path: /opt/mailman/venv/
   • Installation path: /etc/mailman3/
   • Static file path: /opt/mailman/web/static/
   • User and group: mailman:mailman

   These are needed to configure Unit.

3. Run the following command so Unit can access Mailman’s static files:

   # chown -R unit:unit /opt/mailman/web/static/
   

   Note

   The unit:unit user-group pair is available only with official packages, Docker images, and some third-party repos. Otherwise, account names may differ; run the ps aux | grep unitd command to be sure.

   Alternatively, add Unit’s unprivileged user account to Mailman’s group so Unit can access the static files:

   # usermod -a -G mailman unit
   

4. Next, prepare the Mailman configuration for Unit (use values from Step 2 for share, path, and home):

   {
       "listeners": {
           "*:80": {
               "pass": "routes"
           }
       },
   
       "routes": [
           {
               "match": {
                   "uri": "/static/*"
               },
   
               "action": {
                   "share": "/opt/mailman/web/$uri"
               }
           },
           {
               "action": {
                   "pass": "applications/mailman_web"
               }
           }
       ],
   
       "applications": {
           "mailman_web": {
               "type": "python 3.X",
               "path": "/etc/mailman3/",
               "home": "/opt/mailman/venv/",
               "module": "mailman_web.wsgi",
               "user": "mailman",
               "environment": {
                   "DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE": "settings"
               }
           }
       }
   }
   

5. Upload the updated configuration. Assuming the JSON above was added to config.json:

   # curl -X PUT --data-binary @config.json --unix-socket \
          /path/to/control.unit.sock http://localhost/config/
   

   Note

   The control socket path may vary; run unitd -h or see Startup and Shutdown for details.

   After a successful update, Mailman’s web UI should be available on the listener’s IP address and port: