These are the most commonly used LISTSERV® commands for owners. Each command listed is followed by its syntax - angled brackets indicate a required parameter and square brackets an optional parameter. To issue a command via email, send an email to listserv@jiscmail.ac.uk with no subject and the command in the body of the email.

Please also see subscriber commands.

ADD

Command Syntax: [QUIET] ADD <groupname> <address> [full name]
[QUIET] ADD <groupname> DD=ddname IMPORT

More Details: Add users to one of your groups. The word QUIET, when placed before the command, stops any confirmations being sent out.

Example 1:

ADD jiscmail-newsletter joe.bloggs@somewhere.ac.uk Joe Bloggs - Adds Joe Bloggs to the 'jiscmail-newsletter' group with the email address 'joe.bloggs@somewhere.ac.uk'. A confirmation message would be sent to him.

Example 2:

QUIET ADD jiscmail-newsletter DD=ddname IMPORT
//ddname DD *
j.bloggs@somewhere.com Joe Bloggs
j.smith@anywhere.com John Smith 
/*

This is what's known as a 'Bulk Add'. In this case, 2 subscribers are added to the 'jiscmail-newsletter' without sending them a confirmation.

DEL

Command Syntax: [QUIET] DEL <groupname> <address>
[QUIET] DEL <groupname> DD=ddname

More Details: Delete users from one of your groups. The word QUIET, when placed before the command, stops any confirmations being sent out.

Example 1:

DEL jiscmail-newsletter joe.bloggs@somewhere.ac.uk

Removes 'joe.bloggs@somewhere.ac.uk' from the 'jiscmail-newsletter' group and sends him a confirmation.

Example 2:

QUIET DEL jiscmail-newsletter DD=ddname 
//ddname DD *
j.bloggs@somewhere.com
j.smith@anywhere.com
/*

This is what's known as a 'Bulk Delete'. In this case, 2 subscribers are removed from the 'jiscmail-newsletter' without sending them a confirmation.

GET

Command Syntax: GET <groupname> (HEADER

More Details: Gets the specified group header to enable a group owner to view or change the list configuration. Note: This command locks the list header until either it is replaced using the PUT command, or the UNLOCK command is issued.

Example 1:

GET jiscmail-newsletter (HEADER

Get the 'jiscmail-newsletter' list header.

PUT

Command Syntax: PUT <groupname> GROUP PW=<password>

More Details: Replaces the specified list header. The password is your LISTSERV® password, registered via the web interface or with the PW command. Note: When you perform a GET command the header is sent to you in the correct format for a subsequent PUT. It is therefore strongly recommended that you copy the contents of that email into a new email and amend the relevant parts from there.

Example 1:

PUT jiscmail-newsletter GROUP PW=waterfall
* header line 1
* header line 2
* etc

Replaces the 'jiscmail-newsletter' list header where your LISTSERV® password is 'waterfall'.

UNLOCK

Command Syntax: UNLOCK <groupname>

More Details: Unlocks the specified list header that was locked by a previous GET command.

Example 1:

UNLOCK jiscmail-newsletter Unlocks the 'jiscmail-newsletter' list header.

HOLD

Command Syntax: HOLD <groupname

More Details: Holds (freezes) a group, preventing new postings from being processed until a FREE command is sent. This can be useful if you want to stop postings being delivered to the group while investigating a problem.

Example 1:

HOLD jiscmail-newsletter Holds the group 'jiscmail-newsletter'.

FREE

Command Syntax: FREE <groupname>

More Details: Frees a group that has been held by the HOLD command or by LISTSERV®.

Example 1:

FREE jiscmail-newsletter Frees the group 'jiscmail-newsletter'.

INDEX

Command Syntax: INDEX <groupname>

More Details: Returns a list of available files and archives for the specified group.

Example 1:

INDEX jiscmail-newsletter Returns index for 'jiscmail-newsletter'.

GET

Command Syntax: GET [<groupname>\]<file name>

More Details: Retrieve a file or achive.

Example 1:

GET jiscmail-newsletter\minutes.txt

Request a file called 'minutes.txt' belonging to 'jiscmail-newsletter'.

Example 2:

GET jiscmail-newsletter.log0210 Requests the February 2010 archive file for the 'jiscmail-newsletter' group.

PUT

Command Syntax: PUT <file name> <groupname> PW=<password>

More Details: Update a file or achive.

Example 1:

PUT minutes.txt jiscmail-newsletter PW=waterfall
text
text
etc

Replace the file 'minutes.txt' belonging to the 'jiscmail-newsletter'. Note: The first line of the email must contain the PUT command and the subsequent lines are the actual lines that will appear in the file you are updating.

SEARCH

Command Syntax: SEARCH <groupname> <word1> [word2 etc] [more options below]

More Details: Search a group's message archives.

Example 1:

SEARCH jiscmail-newsletter constable turner - Searches the archives of 'jiscmail-newsletter' for the words 'constable' & 'turner'

.

Additional options can be appended to the above syntax in many combinations. These are:

FROM date1 TO date2	Between and including the specified dates, eg: FROM 01/10/2002 TO 01/11/2002
FROM TODAY	Search only today's posts
FROM TODAY-7	Search in the last 7 days
WHERE SUBJECT CONTAINS xxxxx	Match where subjects contains 'xxxxx'
WHERE SENDER CONTAINS xxxxx	Match where sender contains 'xxxxx'
AND/OR	Can be used to separate multiple WHERE conditions

PW

Command Syntax: PW ADD <password>
PW CHANGE newpassword PW=oldpassword

More Details: Registers a new, or changes an existing, LISTSERV® password, registered against your email address.

Example 1:

PW ADD waterfall - Registers the new password 'waterfall'.

Example 2:

PW CHANGE eclipse PW=waterfall - Changes your existing 'waterfall' password to 'eclipse'.

REVIEW

Command Syntax: REVIEW <groupname>

More Details: Returns a list of subscribers on the specified group.

Example 1:

REVIEW jiscmail-newsletter - Reveals the subscribership of 'jiscmail-newsletter'.

Lists

Command Syntax: LISTS

More Details: Returns a list of non-confidential lists on the JISCMail service.

The full LISTSERV documentation on commands can be viewed in the LSoft manual here.