[rt-users] Creating tickets from email without creating new users but still able to reply to originating address

[Steve Scaffidi]

I've looked extensively through the mailing list archives and searched
google but I feel like I have not found a definitive answer for what
it is I want to do.

We have an old instance of RT (2.0.14) that creates tickets when
customers send email and this has resulted in over 400,000 user
records in the system. Tickets containing spam are deleted by the
staff each morning, but of course the user records for those messages
still remain. Some analysis of the system showed that even with the
spam users removed there are still nearly 170,000 'legit' user
records.

I am now setting up a new instance of RT (3.6) with spam filtering in
front of it, but I still do not wish to have so many users in the
system - it slows things down greatly and since they do not need *any*
privileges I am hoping I can forgo creating accounts entirely.

I wish to set it up so it works as follows:

  1. If an email is from an email address that matches an existing
user that exists in RT, a ticket is created with that user as the
requestor.
  2. If an email is from an email address that does not match any
user, a ticket is created with a special 'email user' as the requestor
  3. When someone replies to a ticket created via email as per #2 the
reply is sent to the original email address but still does not create
a user in RT.

It seems at least one other person has tried to set up something
similar: http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/rt/users/55657#55657

If this is just impossible or would take a foolish amount to do,
please let me know. However if someone out there has done this or
knows how I would be greatly obliged!

-- 
-- Steve Scaffidi <stephen at scaffidi.net>