SpartacusFilter is a self learning spam filter, installable on a single Domino server or in a Domino cluster environment. In any case the filter has to be installed on the server(s) providing the users mail databases!

The filter works for all users accessing the Domino server. Every user can train his/her own filter. So SpartacusFilter conforms to the most precedents.

Installation on a single server

Please note: You need administrative privileges for the installation! If you upgrade the filter shutdown Domino Server first!

  1. Download the appropriate Plugin for Lotus Domino Server from our web site and save it to disk.
  2. A double click on the msi-file starts the Microsoft Windows Installer. Simply follow the on-screen instructions. Install the filter marked 'for everyone'.
  3. After a restart of the Domino Server the Filter is up and running. It creates a 'SpamBox' folder for every user as soon as a new mail arrives for the user.
    Please check your initial settings (see First settings) before you restart the Domino server!

Installation of the filter in a Domino cluster

To install the filter in cluster please run the installation procedure as described above on every server in the cluster environment. I you already run the filter on a single server and want to create a new cluster (or add a server to an existing cluster) please follow these steps:

  1. Set up the cluster member server and install the Filter as described above.
  2. Configure the cluster replication for the user mail databases.

First settings

Use "Junk Mail" folder instead of the "SpamBox"

Depending on the release version of Domino Server the mail databases contains a folder Junk Mail. SpartacusFilter can use this folder instead of the SpamBox for more convenience. Please set the following registry key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Spartacus]
"UseJunkMailFolder"=dword:00000001

DebugLevel - check the filters work

To trace the work of SpartacusFilter and/or debug in error cases set enable debugging by setting the following key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Spartacus]
"DebugLevel"=dword:00000001
(0 = no debug, 1 = minimal debug, 2 = extended debug, 3 = max debug)
You'll find the debug file at C:\Spartacus.log. Trace this file with a tool like tail or open it with notepad.

Alternative path for filter databases

Spartacus Filter stores the users statistics file where the users mail database file (.nsf) is located by default. If you don't want to store these data there you can specify another location using the following registry key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Spartacus]
"StatisticsPath"="S:\SpartacusStatistics\"
The path must exist. Set the permissions to read/write for the domino processes.

Exclude some Mail databases from filtering

To exclude some mail db's from filtering (e.g. MailIn databases) set the following registry key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Spartacus]
"IgnoreMailDB"="Mail\MyMailInDB.nsf;Mail\MySecondMailInDB.nsf"
The string is restricted to 256 characters.

Scan only dedicated databases - Provider Mode

After a fresh installation the filter works on all databases. If you like to include only customers (e.g. as a provider you like to register only customers with premium subscriptions) set the following registry key::
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Spartacus]
"ProviderMode"=dword:00000001
The filter now scans only databases with an existing (related) USERNAME.dat file. To add new Users create a USERNAME.dat.create file in the same folder. The filter will initialize the dat file if a new mail arrives and will delete the .create file. To exclude a user from filtering delete or rename the USERNAME.dat file.

Test the filter

Automatically created Users Manual

After installing, each user will get a short instruction mail (as soon as a new mail arrives) how to use the Spamfilter. But it's a good idea to inform the user before the installation.

The SpamBox / Junk Mail folder

The filter creates a new folder named SpamBox in each user's mailbox. The user has to train the filter by moving all incoming SPAM into the SpamBox.
Please note: Spartacus Filter does not want to modify your servers mail database design template. Therefore the SpamBox folder is being added to each users mail database dynamically. It might not be visible (but existing) at first start of the Lotus Notes client after installing Spartacus Filter on your server If you want SpamBox to be visible immediately for all users just create it within the mail database design template (mailX.ntf or iNotesX.ntf respectively by default). It might be also a good idea to create an Action "Delete Spam" there that moves mails to the SpamBox on users request.

If you set "UseJunkMailFolder=1" in the registry the filter will not create SpamBox. The Junk Mail folder will be used in the sam e way as the SpamBox.

The global spam profile

A global default spam profile is provided by the installation. In addition, the Administrator can provide a globally used customized spam profile for higher detection rate (see FAQ: How to provide a customized profile).

The profile will increase the detection rate of the filter for the first time (learning phase) and will be disabled after an amount of collected SPAM mails. Set the following registry key if needed:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Spartacus]
"ProfileIgnore"=dword:000000fa (decimal 250)
To disable the use of the profile set this value to 0.

The WhiteList function

In Domino Server environment the filter can use the server address book as White List. This is pretty self-explanatory. Whitelist checking is turned off by default due to performance reasons. We recommend to turn it on. Please note that the processing performance of the filter can decrease severely in large enterprise networks especially. To enable/disable WhiteList checking set the following registry key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Spartacus]
"ABasWL"=dword:00000000
(0 = disable address lookup, 1 = enable lookup

Internal Mails are HAM

The filter will parse all internal mail (arriving from a Domino Account) as HAM. To filter all mails (e.g. you get your mail as a forward) set the following registry key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Spartacus]
"IntasWL"=dword:00000000
(0 = filter all mails, 1 = all internal mail is HAM)
If the key does not exist, the default is 1 (all internal mail is HAM).

How does the filter works? Some Implementation details

When the Filter is running it is examining the content of each incoming email (separately for each user) and gathering data that will be used to analyze new mail as it arrives. The user trains the filter by moving SPAM into his (user related) SpamBox. The more spam the user deletes, the better Spartacus is at identifying it.

Please note: All mail content residing outside the SpamBox is identified as GOOD, all content residing in the SpamBox is identified as BAD. So the users Inbox must not contain any new received spam mails if the filter should be working properly!

Whenever new mail is received, Spartacus checks each one and determines whether or not it's spam. If it's spam, it is automatically moved into the SpamBox folder. Otherwise it remains in the Inbox.

Please note: The filter starts to move SPAM automatically into the SpamBox after 20 HAMs are received. This prevents from a higher False Positives rate at startup (training phase).

The following chart shows the behaviour of the Filter without any profile.
detection rate without a profile

Spartacus is implemented as so called Lotus Domino Extension Manager. Extension Manager applications are built as dynamic link libraries. They allow to perform database shadowing or add additional access controls. The dynamic link library must be identified for an extension in the notes.ini file by adding an EXTMGR_ADDINS entry.

Supported protocols

  1. Domino / Notes native
    SpartacusFilter supports the access from Notes Clients
  2. HTTP - Domino Web Access
    SpartacusFilter supports the access from Web-Clients
  3. IMAP - Imap Clients (experimental)
    SpartacusFilter supports the access from Imap-Clients, e.g. Firebird, under following restrictions:
    Cluster environment is not supported
    Please note: After the first access from a Imap client the filter creates an additional "FalsePositivesBox" folder. If needed add this folder to your folder subscription (see documentation for your Imap client). Move all possible misidentified mails (False Positives) back to this folder - not back to the Inbox! This is because of a Limitation of Domino. Please inform your users about this limitation.

Glossary of registry keys

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Spartacus]
"UseJunkMailFolder"=dword:00000001 (0=SpamBox (default), 1=$JunkMail folder)
"ProfileIgnore"=dword:000000fa (0=no profile, 250=use until 250 Mails)
"ABasWL"=dword:00000000 (0=no white list, 1=use Addressbook as white list)
"IntasWL"=dword:00000000 (0=parse all mails, 1=all internal mails are HAM)
"DebugLevel"=dword:00000000 (0..3 see above)
"NotesIniPath"="C:\\Lotus\\Domino" (used by installer)
"ProfilePath"="C:\\Program Files\\Spartacus\\profile.def" (alternative profile name)
"StatisticsPath"="" (default "", see above)
"IgnoreMailDB"="MyMailInDB.nsf" (default "", see above)
"ProviderMode"=dword:00000000 (0=scan all data bases (default), 1=scan dedicated data bases)

How to uninstall the filter / temporary disable the filter

To completely uninstall the filter use Add/Remove Software from the Control Panel. The filter databases will not be deleted.

To disable the filter edit your notes.ini file and comment out the "ExtMgr_AddIns=Spartacus" in section "[Notes]".

Update of the filter engine

We do not release separate updates for the filter engine. You can install a newer version (see download site) without uninstall the old version. All settings and the filter databases will be preserved.

Please note: The filter does not need any regulary updates (like black or white lists) to work.