If you install the new 2.3.3 version of amavisd-new via the Debian package, you are in for a few (possibly unpleasant) surprises. Among other changes, /etc/amavis/amavisd.conf no longer works.

The new configuration files in /etc/amavis/conf.d there are:

01-debian
05-node_id
15-av_scanners
15-content_filter_mode
20-debian_defaults
30-template_localization
50-user

To my dismay I also found that virus and spam filtering were also rendered inoperative although mail kept passing through Amavis just fine…

The header of 50-user says : “Place your configuration directives here. They will override those in earlier files“. It should have said “Place most of your configuration directives here” because there is another place where a couple of essential configuration parameters must be set, and it is not made obvious nor even pointed to by the documentation or anything encountered on forums and mailing list. The header of /etc/amavis/conf.d/15-content_filter_mode mentions : “You can modify this file to re-enable SPAM checking through spamassassin and to re-enable antivirus checking“. And indeed, commenting out the couple of lines that obviously needed being commented out re-enabled my favorite content filters.

And the lesson of the day : just porting the old configuration does not cut it, you really need to read every new configuration file – RTFC (Read The Fine Configuration)…