ARCHIVED: Using Majordomo, what can I do if I'm having difficulty unsubscribing from a mailing list?

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UITS has retired the Majordomo list server at Indiana University Bloomington. If you were the primary owner of an IUB Majordomo list, you can no longer use it to send mail. If you'd like to create a new mailing list, anyone with an IU Network ID username and passphrase can request a LISTSERV list. For instructions, see ARCHIVED: At IU, how do I request a new LISTSERV list? Also, for a collection of documents with general LISTSERV information, and information about owning and subscribing to LISTSERV lists at IU, see the Knowledge Base menu ARCHIVED: LISTSERV, distribution lists, and mass mailing.

When you attempt to unsubscribe from a Majordomo mailing list, the "From:" line at the top of your mail message must match your email address as it appears on the mailing list. If it does not match, you will have problems unsubscribing. This frequently happens when people have changed email systems. This problem can also occur if the list owner subscribed you to the list using an incorrect or incomplete address.

To find out how your address appears on the Majordomo list, request the list of subscribers. To do this, send a message to the administrative address of your Majordomo list. In the body of the message, type:

  who listname

Replace listname with the name of the list you are subscribed to.

Note: You should never send commands to the address of the Majordomo mailing list (e.g., to listname@host.domain, where listname is the name of the list, and host.domain is the name of the computer where the list resides); only messages intended for members of the list should be sent to the list's address. Rather, send commands to the administrative address of your Majordomo list (e.g., to majordomo@host.domain). Additionally, send all commands in the body of the message; commands in the "Subject:" line of messages are ignored.

Majordomo will reply with a list of current subscribers. If your current address does not match what is on the list, you cannot unsubscribe yourself. You will need to write the list-owner and request that you be unsubscribed from the list. Address your message to owner-listname@host.domain (replacing listname with the name of the list, host.domain with the name of the computer where the list resides).