How to adjust SpamAssassin rule scoring server-wide

Question

How do you adjust SpamAssassin rule scoring server-wide?

Answer

SpamAssassin determines whether or not a message is spam based on the message's final calculated spam score. The overall score is calculated by testing the message against various rules, each assigning a sub-score, and then summing the sub-scores. If specific SpamAssassin rules are weighted too heavily or are not weighted enough, how can their weights be adjusted?

1. Log in to the server via SSH or WHM's Terminal as the root user

2. Backup the /etc/mail/spamassassin/local.cf file:

   # cp -a /etc/mail/spamassassin/local.cf{,.$(date +%s)}

3. Open /etc/mail/spamassassin/local.cf in your preferred text editor

4. Add your custom score configuration using the SCORE $ruleid $scorevalue format.

   Note: The $ruleid and $scorevalue must be replaced with the rule ID of the rule to modify and the new score, respectively.

   For example:

   CONFIG_TEXT: SCORE RDNS_NONE 6

5. Save the changes and exit the text editor

6. Restart SpamAssassin:

   # /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_spamd 

Additional Resources

How to Find SpamAssassin Scan Results

How to adjust the weight of a SpamAssassin Rule

How to edit a file on command-line