LISTSERV for Unix is available for the operating systems listed here:  LISTSERV Supported Operating Systems.

1.1 Distribution file change from .tar.Z to tar.gz


All LISTSERV for Unix distribution kits built since December, 2018, are compressed with gzip(1), and have extensions like .tar.gz and .bin.gz . This should not cause a problem for our customers as the compress(1) utility formerly used is nearly extinct and gzip(1) is readily available for our supported unix platforms. The main difference is that the distribution kits are significantly smaller due to the superior compression algorithm found in gzip(1).

1.2 LDAP support is required


LISTSERV requires that LDAP support be installed on your machine, whether or not you use LISTSERV’s LDAP features.  For Linux servers, this may not be an issue, as OpenLDAP is generally installed by most distributions by default.  For other unix variants, your mileage may vary.

Note: The config.sh installer will try to identify whether or not your machine has LDAP support before allowing you to add any functionality that requires relinking.


If LDAP is not installed, you may see errors like this at run time:

[root@listserv listserv]# ../go bg

> Starting LISTSERV as a background process

[root@listserv listserv]# ./lsv: error while loading shared libraries:

libldap-2.2.so.7: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory


In addition, attempting to re-link the ‘lsv’ executable manually (i.e., from the Makefile) without having LDAP support installed on the machine will result in compiler errors similar to the following:

ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_next_entry
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_first_entry
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_first_attribute
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_next_attribute
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_get_values_len
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_value_free_len
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_memfree
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ber_free
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_msgfree
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_search_s
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_unbind
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_initialize
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_set_option
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_bind_s
ld: 0711-317 ERROR: Undefined symbol: .ldap_err2string


and any resulting ‘lsv’ will not be executable.

Note: Under newer distributions of Linux, it may be necessary to relink LISTSERV with the default OpenLDAP libraries.  We currently link against OpenLDAP version 2.4.


1.3 Classic Distribution vs. Lite Distribution

Note: Originally, LISTSERV distribution archives were distributed as tar.Z files.  They are now distributed as tar.gz files, making them both smaller and easier to create since the unix ‘compress’ utility is long since deprecated.

1.3.1 LISTSERV Classic Distribution


LISTSERV Classic for UNIX(R) is distributed either as two compressed “tar” archive files (the original method of distribution) or as a single binary installation kit (used in the “simplified” installation), depending on your needs. The installation guide, which is the file you are currently reading, is also available independently of the archives.

In the original distribution scheme, one of the tar files (common.tar.gz) contains data files common to LISTSERV on all UNIX(R) platforms, including the Makefile, and the other (`uname`.tar.gz, where `uname` corresponds to your OS-specific distribution) contains the compiled version of the LISTSERV server, object files for recompilation, and the ‘wa’ CGI for the web archive interface. In order to simplify the process of removing extraneous files created during the installation procedure, you should copy the tar files to a scratch directory, install LISTSERV, and then “rm -fr /tmp/scratch” (or whatever you name the staging area).

The “simplified” distribution is a single binary named `uname`.tar.gz intended to be gunzipped and then run at the shell prompt.  This installer asks a number of questions related to the installation and then installs LISTSERV accordingly.

1.3.2 LISTSERV Lite Distribution


LISTSERV Lite for UNIX(R) is distributed as a single binary installation kit named `uname`-Lite.tar.gz, which is intended to be gunzipped and then run at the shell prompt.  This installer asks a number of questions related to the installation and then installs LISTSERV accordingly.

1.4 For Sites Running Sendmail


For anti-spam and general security purposes, L-Soft strongly recommends that any Unix site running LISTSERV with Sendmail upgrade to at least Sendmail version 8.11.x, and if possible, later versions should be preferred.  As of June 2019, it appears that the latest stable version is 8.15.2, released on 3 July 2015.

Note: By "Sendmail", we mean Eric Allman's Sendmail, not Postfix masquerading as Sendmail for compatibility.


Important: While L-Soft supports Sendmail as an MTA for use with LISTSERV, L-Soft does not provide support for the Sendmail product itself.

1.4.1 Sendmail and restricted shells


If you are running sendmail out of a restricted shell (for instance the smrsh shell), note that the lsv_amin mailer program that you will install below must be registered as a trusted application that may be executed by sendmail, or mail sent to LISTSERV and to lists will be rejected (typically with a sh: lsv_amin not available for sendmail programs error, although this may depend on how you have sendmail set up). Registering an application with the restricted shell typically involves placing symbolic links from /usr/adm/sm.bin/ to the programs which are authorized. If you need more information on restricted shells, please refer to the sendmail documentation.