Service Keyword

Service= area1,area2,...

This keyword is not available in LISTSERV Lite.

This keyword defines the "service area" outside of which subscription requests must not be accepted. When a subscription request is received, the "Peers=" keyword (if set) is checked first to see if there is a closer peer list in the network. If this is the case, the command is forwarded to this closer peer server. If not, the service area is checked to ensure that the subscriber is acceptable; if it is not, the subscription request is denied. When the command is forwarded to a peer, the destination peer server might still deny access to the list if the subscriber is outside its own service area.

The service area check is made only after the "best placement" check. This allows several servers in the same country to share an identical service area, e.g. "Service= Germany", and still have users subscribed to the best possible server.

For lists running the web interface, it is possible to define "Service=" in terms of IP address blocks in order to limit access to list archives via the web interface. This is implemented as follows:

  • "Notebook= ...,Service"
  • "Service=" can contain entries of the form: [^]IP(a.b.c.d[/e])

Access will be granted if the IP address matches at least one of the entries that do not begin with a ^ (you can also use a minus sign if you prefer) and the IP address does not match any of the negative entries. Otherwise you get a normal login request without any further comment.

LISTSERV does not do a reverse lookup on the IP addresses you code into the "Service=" keyword. When coding IPs into "Service=" you must also code in FQDN values for allowed hostnames. Thus, if you have a list that should be restricted to the 192.36.0.0/16 subnet, which belongs to a domain called FOO.COM, you have to code something like:

  • Service= FOO.COM,*.FOO.COM,IP(192.36.0.0/16)

This will provide access to everyone who needs it in the FOO.COM domain.

The default value is "Service= *", which allows subscriptions from anywhere.



LISTSERV® is L-Soft's email list management software, originally developed by Eric Thomas in 1986. Visit the LISTSERV® Resource Center for more complete documentation.

LISTSERV® is a registered trademark. The trademark identifies LISTSERV® as a brand of email list management software developed by L-Soft.