The mailing list for listmasters using Sympa

[Johann Spies <address@concealed>]

Hallo Olivier,

> The 'cookie' parameter (in the sympa.conf file) is a salt used by Sympa 
> to encrypt passwords in its database in a not prectable way. Therefore 
> if you change this parameter in sympa.conf, it could existing password 
> recognition.
> 
> Sympa.pl triggers this warning whenever a change of this parameter is 
> detected. The cookies.history is maintained to helkp you recover a 
> previous value of the cookie parameter. If you don't have it, then you 
> should think about restoring your /etc/sympa.conf file.

Thanks for the explanation.  What is strange to me is that the md5sum
of /etc/sympa.conf is the same as a backup of 2005-02-05.  So nothing
has changed.  And /etc/cookie is also the same as the backup one of
2004-06-23.  In /etc/sympa.conf the cookie configuration is:
`bin/cat /etc/sympa/cookie`.  

It is possible that the warning appeared earlier and that I just did
not see it. I have a previous version of /etc/cookie which was created
on 2004-05-26.  If I would overwrite the present one with that one,
what will break?

Regards
Johann
-- 
Johann Spies          Telefoon: 021-808 4036
Informasietegnologie, Universiteit van Stellenbosch

     "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the 
      life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, 
      yet shall he live."          John 11:25