Typically, Mailman is installed into a single directory, which includes both
the Mailman source code and the run-time list and archive data. It is
possible to split the static program files from the variable data files and
install them in separate directories. This section will describe the
available options.
The default is to install all of Mailman to
/usr/local/mailman2. You can change this base installation directory (referred to here
as $prefix) by specifying the directory with the
--prefixconfigure option. If you're upgrading from
a previous version of Mailman, you may want to use the --prefix
option unless you move your mailing lists.
Warning:
You cannot install Mailman on a filesystem that is mounted with the
nosuid option. This will break Mailman, which relies on setgid
programs for its security. If this describes your environment, simply install
Mailman in a location that allows setgid programs.
Make sure the installation directory is set to group mailman (or
whatever you're going to specify with --with-groupname) and has
the setgid bit set3. You probably also want to guarantee that this
directory is readable and executable by everyone. For example, these shell
commands will accomplish this:
Warning:
The installation directory, $prefix, cannot be the same directory
that the source tarball has been unpacked to and in which you run
configure, but it can, if you wish, be a subdirectory, e.g.,
$prefix/src.
You are now ready to configure and install the Mailman software.