I sent a STATS MYLIST-L command to LISTSERV but it came back saying that the STATS command has not yet been ported to this environment.

The STATS command is (as documented) available only for lists running on the z/VM mainframe version of LISTSERV. It is very unlikely that it will ever be ported to non-z/VM servers.

However, under current versions of LISTSERV, you can add

* Change-Log= Yes


to your list header and a special log file will be generated for your list that will monitor all ADD, AUTODEL, BOUNCE, CHANGE, DELETE, POST, RESUBSCRIBE, SET, SIGNOFF, and SUBSCRIBE commands. All abbreviations and synonyms are translated to their "official" forms, i.e., SUB, JOIN, and SIGNON are all translated to SUBSCRIBE for the purposes of the changelog. This makes it easy to write scripts to come up with statistics for a given list--you don't have to take variations of the commands into account.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Before adding "Change-Log= Yes" to your list header, consult your local LISTSERV administrator to make sure LISTSERV has plenty of disk space available. Changelogs can get quite large very quickly if a given list is high-volume or has a lot of subscription activity.

Changelogs can be retrieved and deleted like any other LISTSERV file. To retrieve your change-log, send the command

GET listname CHANGELOG


to LISTSERV. (People running lists on VM need to send the command

GET listname CHANGELG


instead.)

To delete the changelog you simply store a blank copy of the file, ie, send

PUT listname CHANGELOG


(or "PUT listname CHANGELG" for lists on z/VM) without any other text following it in the body of an e-mail message addressed to LISTSERV.

Sample changelog entries are:

20150324100330 ADD xxxxxxx@JPS.NET Lxxxx Pxxxxxxxx

20150329120049 AUTODEL xxxxxxxx@EISA.NET.AU

20150329131221 BOUNCE xxxxxxxx@NONEXIST.COM

20150331214433 CHANGE xxxx@MCS.COM txxx@MCS.NET

20150331214434 DELETE xxxxx@SINGNET.COM.SG

20150331232441 POST xxxxxxxx@M4.SPRYNET.COM Printer Drivers

20150401000400 RESUBSCRIBE xxxx@MAIL.MECHWART.MUMSZKI.HU Mxxxxx Zxxxxx

20150426113947 SET xxxxxx.xxxxxxx@WDC.COM REPRO

20150511082712 SIGNOFF xxxxxxxx@STARNET.NET.AR

20150511085642 SUBSCRIBE xxxxxxxx@LYCOSMAIL.COM Kxx Wxxxxxx


As you see, the SET entry tells you what options were set, and the POST entry tells you what the subject of the posting was. RESUBSCRIBE is a SUBSCRIBE operation that takes place when the user is already subscribed to the list, e.g., to change the real name field in the user's subscription. BOUNCE is a special operation that takes place when using the "no-list" bounce-processing mechanism (described in the Advanced Topics Manual for LISTSERV; however, most list owners will never need or see this operation). Otherwise these entries are fairly self-explanatory.

LISTSERV’s web interface includes a report generator that uses the contents of the changelog files to produce statistical and historical reports.  Or the file may be retrieved with the GET command (as explained above) and parsed manually via third-party methods.