Section 8
Settings for Maestro User Interface

To select settings for the Maestro User Interface, click on the Global Component Setting icon from the home page of the Administration User Interface. Next, click on the Maestro User Interface link. From this page it is possible to choose:

• General Settings – Defines a backup time and date, number of previous backups to be kept, the port number for transferring Maestro Tracker data, and the log level.
• Default LISTSERV Connection – Defines the default LISTSERV connection including client address and password. The default setting is used for all accounts that do not have single user or group LISTSERV connections defined.
• Default Tracking URL – Generates the tracking URL for all accounts where no explicit tracking URL is defined on either the single user or group level.
• Database Connection – Defines an external database connection that has been configured to work with Maestro.
• Database Plugins – Provides access to different JDBC drivers available to the Maestro User Interface.

Figure 10 Global Component Settings for Maestro User Interface

8.1 General Component Settings for Maestro User Interface

Similar to the General Component Settings for the Administration Hub, the General Component Settings for the Maestro User Interface set the backup folder, the number of previous backups to be kept, and the log level. It is also necessary to set the port number for the port that Maestro Tracker will use to transfer tracking data. The standard port to receive tracking events collected by Maestro Tracker is 7000. It is possible to use non-standard ports. For more information on configuring port usage see Section 10 Using Non-Standard Ports.

Figure 11 General Component Settings for Maestro User Interface

8.2 Default LISTSERV Connection for Maestro User Interface

The default LISTSERV connection settings are used for all accounts that do not have individual user or group LISTSERV settings defined. By setting a default LISTSERV connection, all the other LISTSERV connection entries for single users and groups should be left blank if those accounts are to use the default connection. The default setting will be used as long as no other LISTSERV connection settings are defined at the user or group level. LISTSERV settings defined at the user or group level will override the default settings for only those users or groups. As a result, it is possible to have some users and groups using the default LISTSERV settings and other users and groups using settings defined at the user or group level.

Figure 12 Default LISTSERV Connection

8.2.1 Preparing LISTSERV^® to Process Jobs from LISTSERV^® Maestro

LISTSERV^® Maestro distributes the e-mail jobs that are prepared in the Maestro User Interface via an instance of LISTSERV^®. To do this, the Maestro User Interface sends a special "envelope" e-mail message to LISTSERV^®. This "envelope" contains the actual e-mail that will be delivered (including recipients and sender information) as well information about how to distribute it.

The "envelope’s" content is something similar to this:

"Mail to LISTSERV from Maestro: This mail contains another e-mail message which LISTSERV shall distribute to the following recipients (...) with the following sender (...) and the following mail body (...)"

What LISTSERV^® Maestro is really distributing is an "e-mail message inside another e-mail message". The inner e-mail contains the actual body, recipients and sender information defined in the LISTSERV^® Maestro e-mail job. The outer e-mail is only an envelope that transports the inner e-mail from LISTSERV^® Maestro to LISTSERV^®. Because this outer e-mail is also a normal e-mail message, it requires a recipient address (a "TO" value) and a sender address (a "FROM" value), just like any other e-mail message.

The recipient address is the one that is configured as the "LISTSERV Address" in the Administration Hub - the address that always ends with "...@LISTSERV-Host", with the correct LISTSERV host name. The sender address is also configured in the Administration Hub; it is the "LISTSERV Client Address".

When LISTSERV^® Maestro needs to transfer an e-mail job to LISTSERV^®, it wraps all of the data of the job in one of these "envelope" e-mail messages and sends it to the "LISTSERV Address", using the "LISTSERV Client Address" as the sender's address of the "envelope".

The "envelope" contains all the information from the e-mail job. It also contains a command to LISTSERV^® to create many individual messages and distribute them to their recipients, using the "inner" sender information specified in the e-mail job (not the "LISTSERV Client Address"), as the sender's address and name.

To avoid misusing LISTSERV^® for spamming and other unethical purposes, LISTSERV^® normally does not accept "distribute" commands from anyone. Only if the "envelope" e-mail message is sent with a sender address that is configured in LISTSERV^® to have the right to DISTRIBUTE jobs, will LISTSERV^® accept this command. As a result, the address that is given as the "LISTSERV Client Address", and which will serve as the sender address of the "envelope" must have the DISTRIBUTE right granted in LISTSERV^® (not LISTSERV^® Maestro).

As a final safeguard against the misuse of LISTSERV^®, the "envelope" e-mail message must contain a password for the sender address. This password must previously have been configured in LISTSERV^® and must have been associated with the e-mail address. In LISTSERV^® Maestro (in the Administration Hub), this password must be given in the "LISTSERV Client Password" field.

Prepare LISTSERV^® and LISTSERV^® Maestro for sending e-mail jobs as follows:

1. In LISTSERV^®, configure an e-mail address to have the DISTRIBUTE right.

2. In LISTSERV^®, configure a password for this e-mail address.

3. In the Administration Hub, use the e-mail address as the "LISTSERV Client Address" and the password as the "LISTSERV Client Password".

The following steps occur when LISTSERV^® Maestro sends out an e-mail job:

1. LISTSERV^® Maestro wraps the job (including mail body, attachments, sender and recipients information) into an "envelope" e-mail message, including the command to distribute the inner e-mail as well as the "LISTSERV Client Password".

2. LISTSERV^® Maestro then sends this "envelope" mail to LISTSERV^® using the "LISTSERV Address" as the "TO"-address and the "LISTSERV Client Address" as the "FROM"-address.

3. LISTSERV^® receives the "envelope" mail and recognizes the "DISTRIBUTE" command inside. It then checks if the address that is used as the "FROM"-address (the sender of the envelope) has the DISTRIBUTE right and if the password given in the "envelope" matches the password that LISTSERV^® has configured for the same "FROM"-address. If all parameters are met the inner e-mail job is distributed.

8.3 Setting the Default Tracking URL

Before a user can send mail with open-up or click-through tracking, the administrator first has to configure the host name and port that LISTSERV^® Maestro will use for the tracking URLs generated for the message. The global default setting is used for all accounts that do not have single user or group settings. The default settings, single user settings, and group settings can be combined to offer separate tracking URL settings for different accounts and groups so that the administrator has greater flexibility in terms of customizing the tracking URL for certain accounts or groups.

When LISTSERV^® Maestro tracks open-up or click-through events, it does so by inserting special tracking URLs into the messages that are delivered. A typical click-through tracking URL looks something like the example below:

http://hostname/trk/click?ref=z4bx39x&

In this URL, the "hostname" points to the server where the Maestro Tracker component is installed. If the Maestro Tracker component is configured to use a non-standard HTTP port, then the tracking URL has to include the HTTP port, like the example below:

http://hostname:port/trk/click?ref=z4bx39x&

All account holders that do not have separate single user or group tracking URLs configured use the default tracking URL. The administrator can also define the tracking URL host and port on an individual account level (for accounts that are not part of a group) or on group level (in which case the settings are shared by all accounts in the group).

To define the tracking URL host and HTTP-port:

Default Tracking URL - For all accounts and groups that do not have individual settings, click Global Component Settings, then Maestro User Interface and then Default Tracking URL. The settings defined here will affect all accounts that do not have a tracker host or HTTP-port configured on a single user or group level.

Single User Tracking URL - For an individual account that is not part of a group, click Administer User Accounts. Click on the user name of the account to be configured (must be an account without a group) then click on Maestro User Interface. The settings defined here affect only the selected account.

Group Tracking URL - For all accounts in a group, click Administer User Accounts and then click on the group name of any account that is a member of the group to be configured. The settings defined here affect all accounts in the selected group.

For all three choices, there are two possible settings selections to make:

Tracker Host: Enter the host name to be used in the tracking URL. Leave empty to accept the default (if any). If left empty with no default given, users of this account or group will not be able to send e-mail messages with tracking.

HTTP Port: Enter the HTTP port to be used in the tracking URL. Leave empty to accept the default.

Figure 13 Default Tracking URL

8.3.1 Multiple Tracking URLs

There are many uses for setting up multiple tracking URLs. One use of multiple tracking URLs is to customize the look of the tracked URL within the message. Another use of separate tracking URLs would be in the case of using a proxy where the host name of the tracker host used in the internal network is different than the host name that external users would have to use.

Customization is useful in an environment where the same LISTSERV^® Maestro setup is shared between several distinct groups that want to differentiate themselves in the tracking URL that is merged into the messages they send. For example, the fictitious organization "MyCorp" has two divisions, one for consumer electronics and one for home appliances. The administrator of MyCorp sets up a single LISTSERV^® Maestro and creates two groups "electro" and "homeapp". In these groups accounts are created to be used by the members of the two divisions (which can also employ team collaboration inside of each group).

The name of the server where the Maestro Tracker component is installed is "tracker.mycorp.com", but the users do not want this host name to appear in the tracking URL in the messages that are delivered. Therefore the administrator also sets up two DNS names "electro.mycorp.com" and "homeapp.mycorp.com" as aliases for the same server. Next, the administrator uses the procedure described above to set the tracker host name of the "electro" and "homeapp" groups to the corresponding aliases. As a result, even though both divisions are sharing the same LISTSERV^® Maestro installation, the tracking URLs generated for the e-mail they send are "customized" to contain a host name that matches each division's name.

Another example is if LISTSERV^® Maestro is installed behind a proxy, where URLs for external access need to use the proxy’s host name and port, which then transparently forwards the requests to the actual tracker host behind it. In this case, the administrator would set the proxy’s host name and the proxy-port that is forwarded to the HTTP port on the tracker host as the default "Tracker Host" and "HTTP Port" setting, to be used by all accounts.

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