Creating Header Filters

The Header Filters will be used to determine if an e-mail matching a pattern will be delivered and logged or rejected. To create a new Header Filter, click Define New Header Filter.

Header

A Header must be chosen for the filter. The pull-down menu contains the options To, From, Subject and CC. The pattern specified in the Pattern field will be searched only in the header field specified here.

For example, if From is chosen for the header and a pattern of
john.doe@domain.com then any e-mail sent with a From: field that matches john.doe@domain.com will be caught by this pattern.

Pattern

This is the search pattern to be used for this header check. The pattern does not need to be the complete string but only a portion of it to make a match. For example, ``great offer'' might have also been used. If the Header, described above, is set to Subject then any e-mail where the subject contains ``great offer'' will be flagged.

Action

When an e-mail matches the pattern it will take action against it. The pull-down menu contains the options Reject Message and Log Warning.

Log Warning

allows the e-mail to be delivered to its destination but it will be logged.

Reject Message

will deny the message completely.

Message

When an e-mail matches the pattern and the action is taken, the contents of this Message field will be used in response. If Log Message was chosen as the Action then this message will be stored in the logs. If Reject Message was chosen as the Action then this message will be sent to the sender of the message, and stored in the logs.

This Message field is not required to create the pattern.

Once all the fields are completed click the Create Filter button. The new header filter will appear in the list. Filters configured to reject the message are highlighted in red, filters set to only log the message are highlighted in green.

The order the filters are listed in is also their priority order. To change the priority of a listed filter select the up or down arrow to the right of the filter to move it up and down through the list.

To edit or delete a filter, click on the Edit link to the left of the pattern. This will open a new window displaying the filter's information. Make changes and click Update Filter or choose to delete the filter by clicking the Delete Filter button.