Howto: ASSP Installation In CPanel

What is ASSP? ASSP is an Anti-Spam SMTP Proxy . The homepage can be found here. ASSP is a lightweight daemon that can filter mail based on various things such as SPF, RBLs, Bayesian word lists, as well as blocking email addresses from getting mail, or having mail filtered.

This tutorial will walk you through getting the admin interface for CPanel setup for ASSP. Currently, a paid user interface can be obtained here (note that I am in no way affiliated with, nor have I tried to use this UI, I am just offering the link to those that might find it useful)

Firstly, the setup:
You will need to activate Cpanel PRO (pro.cpanel.net/activate) for your server in order for this to fully work. This activation is currently free. Simply go to the previous mentioned URL and enter your IP address if you have not done so already.
Once you have activated CPanel PRO, go into whm->addon modules and check clamav connector, then click on "save". This will install clamav for you to use
Once you have done THIS, go to whm->service manager and UNcheck spamd (it is no longer necessary with ASSP), and again click on save/submit. Note that this IS optional, however the purpose of ASSP is to defeat spam before it GETS to SpamAssassin.
Once you have done THAT, go into whm -> tweak settings and uncheck SpamAssassin and BoxTrapper mail.

Secondly, the requirements:
ASSP needs certain perl modules established To install these, simply login (as root) to your server, and type the following

Code:
/scripts/perlinstaller --force Compress::Zlib
/scripts/perlinstaller --force Email::Valid
/scripts/perlinstaller --force File::ReadBackwards
/scripts/perlinstaller --force File::Scan::ClamAV
/scripts/perlinstaller --force Mail::SPF::Query
/scripts/realperlinstaller --force Mail::SRS
/scripts/realperlinstaller --force Tie::RDBM
/scripts/realperlinstaller Sys::Syslog
/scripts/perlinstaller --force Net::LDAP
/scripts/perlinstaller --force Time::HiRes
/scripts/perlinstaller --force Tie::DBI
Note that the --force is optional, however it will make sure you've got it installed. Do these one at a time as some of these have configurable options to them.
One more perl module is needed. Since the later versions of Net::DNS are known to cause issues with RBLs, SPFs and the like, it is advised to use 0.57 . This can be obtained by doing the following:

Code:
mkdir /usr/local/assp
cd /usr/local/assp
mkdir /usr/local/assp/tmp
cd /usr/local/assp/tmp
wget [url]
tar xzf Net-DNS-0.57.tar.gz
cd Net-DNS-0.57
perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install
Do NOT remove the /usr/local/assp/tmp directory as when you update cpanel, it will try to auto update Net::DNS again, so you will want this intact.

Now, let's get with the program here and install ASSP:

Code:
cd /usr/local/assp
wget [url]
unzip -d /usr/local/assp /usr/local/assp/ASSP_1.2.6-Install.zip
mv --target-directory=/usr/local/assp /usr/local/assp/ASSP/*
mv --target-directory=/usr/local/assp /usr/local/assp/ASSP/.DS_Store
rm -rf /usr/local/assp/__MACOSX
rm -rf /usr/local/assp/ASSP
rm -f ASSP_1.2.6-Install.zip
rm -f Win32-quickstart-guide.txt;rm -f freshclam.bat
cd /usr/local/assp
mkdir pb
cd pb
touch denysmtp.txt
touch exportedextreme.txt
touch pbdb.black.db
touch pbdb.rbl.db
touch pbdb.white.db
cd /usr/local/assp
mkdir /usr/local/assp/notspam
mkdir /usr/local/assp/spam
mkdir /usr/local/assp/errors
mkdir /usr/local/assp/errors/notspam
cd /usr/local/assp
wget [url]
chmod 755 start
wget [url]
chmod 755 stop
cd /etc/rc.d/init.d
wget [url]
chmod 755 assp
The core of ASSP is now installed. However, the development versions have updated functions to use for users. Of course, this is completely optional, but is recommended completely. This can be done by the following in SSH

Code:
cd /usr/local/assp/
mv assp.pl assp.pl_old
mv spamdb spamdb.old
mv rebuildspamdb.pl rebuildspamdb.pl.old
mv repair.pl repair.pl.old
mkdir Data
mkdir Data/Lists
wget [url]
wget [url]
000F4555.2/rebuildspamdb.pl
wget [url]
wget [url]
mv assp.css images
wget [url]
cd Data/Lists
wget [url]
chmod u+x /usr/local/assp/*.pl
Now, let's get it up and running, and configure it, shall we?

Code:
cd /usr/local/assp
/etc/init.d/assp start
You'll see ASSP sending out some messages and then doing nothing. This is ok, and it's the expected response. Now, we need to edit some stuff. Hit ctrl-c (cancel) to shut down ASSP
once it's stopped, you'll see the following file in the assp directory - assp.cfg . Edit that with whatever you want for an editor, something like:

Code:
nano assp.cfg
You want to change a few options immediately just to get it working
Look for the lines that are something like:

Code:
runAsGroup:=
runAsUser:=
and change them to be:

Code:
runAsGroup:=root
runAsUser:=root
Then look for the line that is

Code:
AsADaemon:=
and change it to

Code:
AsADaemon:=1
Now, let's change the password just so that we're secure:
look for the line that is

Code:
webAdminPassword:=nospam4me
and change that to

Code:
webAdminPassword:=insertrandompasswordhere
Now, let's tell ASSP to setup and accept mail for our domains. Look for the line something like

Code:
localDomains:=
and change that to be

Code:
localDomains:=file:/etc/localdomains
Almost there, just a couple more changes needed.
Look for the line that is something like

Code:
smtpDestination:=127.0.0.1:225
and change that to be

Code:
smtpDestination:=127.0.0.1:125
(or another port instead of 125, just REMEMBER the port!)
and one more change
change the line that looks like

Code:
listenPort:=125
to

Code:
listenPort:=25
Now save and exit the file. If you're using nano/pico, that would be ctrl-x , just make SURE to save the file before you exit!
Now, let's get ASSP fired up again

Code:
/etc/init.d/assp start
let's make sure you have assp starting on system boot:

Code:
chkconfig --add assp
Let's add a crontab to make sure that ASSP rebuilds the bayesian spam list

Quote:

crontab -e

Code:
10 4 * * * cd /usr/local/assp;/usr/local/assp/rebuildspamdb.pl
Occasionally, what I've seen is ASSP will get "hung" on certain things and just kill itself. This fix will work for this, and make sure your ASSP installation is running smoothly

Open up another file on the server, my example will be /bin/asspcheck. In this file, add the following contents

Code:
assplog=/usr/local/assp/check.log
DATE=`date "+%m-%d-%y [%k:%M]"`
pidof=/usr/local/assp/pid
thispid=`cat $pidof`
if [ ! -d /proc/$thispid ];then
rm -rf $pidof;
/etc/init.d/assp start
echo "$DATE - ASSP - restarted" >> $assplog
else
echo "$DATE - ASSP - ok" >> $assplog
fi
Now, chmod the file itself

Code:
chmod u+x /bin/asspcheck
Now, make sure it's called every 60 seconds. Add this to your root crontab

Quote:

crontab -e

Code:
* * * * * /bin/asspcheck
Now, let's go BACK into WHM and setup the variables needed to get exim to use ASSP
In exim configuration editor, click on "advanced editor"
Clear out EVERYTHING from all of the existing boxes. Keeping these with data can cause ASSP to not function as it should
When you've done that, add the following to the top box:

Code:
# assp
local_interfaces = 127.0.0.1.125
If you changed this variable to something else

Code:
smtpDestination:=127.0.0.1:125
put in the other port, NOT 125, so it would look like 127.0.0.1.whateverporthere

Click on Save
Exim will restart and you now have a working installation of assp

Now, let's go to it and work with it a bit, shall we?
go to [url], enter the user admin and the password you changed nospam4me to. This will get you logged in and you can tweak the settings as you feel necessary.

ASSP is a great and powerful proxy for any mail server, which blocks using RBLS, whitelists, etc. It is advisable to setup the email interface and let your customers know of this so that you can get them to help you in reporting and addressing spam.

Parts of this howto were taken from this page, however much of that data has been found to be outdated as far as downloads from CVS and the like go, and I've added quite a bit of useful information into it as well.

Go through the ASSP configuration VERY carefully, and ONLY change what you're sure of.

Start with the RBLs, increase the list to 5 and max hits to 2 as suggested.

If you notice problems with this or know how it might be better, hey, feel free to post in here and I'll keep it as updated as possible :)