Email client setup
Setting up for imap access to the Central Email Service (aka Microsoft Exchange)
If you are not using Outlook, then the settings below will give you access to the Exchange Server via “imap”.
If you are using Outlook, setup is dependant on what version you are using, but it mainly involves adding a “new account” which may be semi-automatic if you are in “Exchange Mode” (probably you are not ) or manual using the settings below.
Incoming server: imap.campus.gla.ac.uk using TLS on port 143 or using SSL on port 993
Outgoing SMTP server: smtp.campus.gla.ac.uk using TLS on port 587
For Thunderbird 3 users, use the SSL/TLS option for the Incoming server on port 993 and use the STARTTLS option for the Outgoing Server on port 587.
You must use your GUID and associated password - nothing else will work.
Jamie Scott has done an overview of the whole thing:
(Note that Jamies’ offer of help is only for IGR people!)
Hi all,
Some people have asked me about Shane's message from Friday, so
here's an attempt to clarify a few points. Note that if you already get
your mail redirected to some other account you can probably ignore this.
Feel free to ask me about any of this - I'm bound to miss out some vital
point somewhere, and fully expect to have to clarify this clarification.
**** 1. Background ****
The responsibility for email provision is moving to IT services, as a
result of some high-level skulduggery and empire building. For your
comfort and convenience, you will be assimilated. Resistance may be
satisfying, but ultimately futile. There is a logical argument to be
made that IT services benefit from economies of scale when running such
things as email servers, and thus ought to be able to do a better job
than a physics-only solution. At least in theory...
**** 2. Summary of actions required ****
a) Find out your GUID login username/password, and verify it works.
b) Verify that you can access your email account on the central systems
using your GUID
c) Set up your computers, phones, iPads etc to access this account
(optional, but recommended)
d) Notify Shane that you want to flick the switch (no rush for this, the
deadline is the 15th July)
e) Copy mail from the old to the new account (optional, long term)
**** 3. Details ****
---- 3a. GUID ----
If you are a member of staff or a student (that is, if HR or Registry
know you exist), you have a GUID. You may already know this - for
example, if you use Moodle, Websurf etc. The list of services that use
the GUID are listed at:
http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/it/forstaff/guid/
If you don't know your password, there is a password self-service page at:
https://selfservice.gla.ac.uk/IDM/jsps/pwdmgt/Login.jsf
Failing that, contact the helpdesk:
http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/it/helpdesk/
Telephone: 4800
Visit: Level 3 in the Library
If you don't know your GUID username, there are several ways to find
this out. For students, your GUID is your registration/matriculation
number followed by the first letter of your surname. For staff you can
use the registration page at:
https://milngavie.cent.gla.ac.uk/cgi/usr/cred
which should get your username and a temporary password sent to your
email. Or, if you think you might have set a password in the past but
can't remember the username, we can look it up using Enlighten (you need
someone else [guess who?] to do this, as you need a GUID to log into
enlighten). If anyone knows another way to do this I'd be interested.
For students, if all else fails you can go up to the IT helpdesk on the
3rd floor of the library with your registration/matriculation card and
get them to do a password reset.
To verify that your details are correct, try logging into a service that
requires the GUID, for example Moodle, or the HR services site
https://physci.moodle.gla.ac.uk/login/index.php
https://frontdoor.spa.gla.ac.uk/login/
---- 3b. Verify account details ----
As per Shane's instructions, the easiest way to check your account has
been correctly set up is to use the webmail application. The login page
for this is at:
https://mail.campus.gla.ac.uk/
Don't worry about the public/private computer choice - according to the
text this only alters how long a period of inactivity is permitted
before you are disconnected (it would be nice if it said what the
timeout values are. Oh well.)
If you use Internet Explorer you also get a choice between the light or
full-fat interface. With any other browser you only get the light
interface. Again, this isn't worth worrying about at the moment. The
full interface does give you a few more buttons to play with (most
significantly it allows you to set up server-side filtering rules), and
it does look almost exactly like Outlook. Whether you see this as a good
thing is up to you...
If everything has been set up correctly you should get an account screen
with a completely empty inbox. Enjoy the sight while it lasts.
---- 3c. Set up email clients ----
This step is optional - you can just use the webmail interface if you
want (which is at least somewhat nicer than Squirrelmail. Not that
that's a high bar to clear). However, if you get your various clients
set up now it makes it easy to monitor both old and new inboxes when the
switchover happens (see section 3d. below for the reasons why). I am of
course available for setup, head-scratching and looking puzzled duties.
Configuration guides are given for staff and students respectively at:
http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/it/forstudents/email/clients/
http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/it/forstaff/usinge-mail/exchange/2007/clients/
If you are using Seamonkey, Thunderbird etc. you want to use the IMAP
setup, similar to the current physics server setup. Note the port
numbers! I'm not sure there's any difference between using TLS (143) or
SSL(993) for the incoming server - SSL might be slightly more universal,
but that's a guess.
Also, the latest versions of Thunderbird are a bit annoying in that if
forces you to go through the wizard - you want to hit the 'manual setup'
button as soon as it appears.
For mobile devices, there can be a choice between using IMAP or Exchange
ActiveSync (e.g. on the iPhone you can set up the account as an Exchange
account, or 'other' which allows IMAP accounts). In theory the native
Exchange protocol is a bit more efficient than IMAP, and it also allows
you to sync calendars and contacts, use remote wipe for stolen devices
etc. How well this works depends on the implementation of the Exchange
client on the device in question. The iPhone/Pad/Touch seems to be
fairly good. Windows phones should be ok (at least, you'd expect them to
be...). The Android native Exchange client seems to be a bit iffy, so it
might be safer sticking to IMAP in that case. Blackberrys can only use IMAP.
---- 3d. Taking the plunge ----
Once you are happy that your new account exists and is accessible by
your preferred route(s), you can ask to start getting mail delivered to
it. Currently, if you have a @glasgow.ac.uk address mail to that address
is automatically forwarded to your @physics (or @astro) account. The
switchover involves two steps:
* Removing the @glasgow --> @physics forwarding rule on the central server
* Adding a @physics --> @glasgow forwarding rule on the current physics
server
These steps will not occur simultaneously - there could potentially be a
gap of up to a few hours between the first and second steps. During that
time you should still get mail, but @glasgow mail will go to the new
server and @physics to the old. Hence the recommendation to have your
email client monitoring both at the same time.
All accounts without forwarding rules already in place will be switched
over on July 15th.
--- 3e. Long term ----
The deadline for the switchover is July (Friday 15th). After this date
email on the old physics server will still be readable - you should
still be able to see it in your email client - but no new mail will be
delivered on this system, and you won't be able to make changes to the
email store (setting messages read, moving/deleting messages and folders
etc.) In principle access to the old system should be available for at
least the next 5 years.
If you want to transfer messages from the old to the new systems we
recommend using the filter function in your email client and
transferring chunks of email at a time, particularly for large
mailboxes. Of course, this may be an opportune time to split archive
folders up into more manageable chunks. Feel free to ask me about this.
Cheers,
Jamie
-- Dr Jamie Scott IT Administrator
And some older information for the Physics servers which may be relevant if you need to set up your email client to access the Physics servers again.
Some quick information to get you going:
The incoming server is an IMAP server called imap.physics.gla.ac.uk
The outgoing server is an SMTP server called mail-relay.physics.gla.ac.uk
We do not use POP email at all.
We use only secure IMAP (IMAPS) which requires the IMAP port to be set to 993.
This happens automatically in some email clients when ssl is selected, in others you have to set it explicitly.
Historically, sending mail from anywhere to a mail server used port 25. Then spam became prevalent and an authentication method was needed. Two methods evolved over time. Accordingly, what works depends on what email client program you use.
There are two ports and two security types in common use. The ports are 465 and 587. The security types are TLS and SSL.
Some programs will work with port 465 and TLS, some use port 587 and SSL and some will use 465 and SSL, others 587 and TLS. Use what works for your email program - Thunderbird works with 465 and SSL, macmail works with 587 and SSL. Experiment until you find a working combination.
When asked for your email name/password or email account name/password, supply your departmental Unix user name/password (obtained from the Faculty IT Office).
Laptop users should follow the above settings, and then you should be able to send and receive mail from anywhere without changing those settings. Desktop users from within the department may use port 25 unauthenticated, but I recommend using a secure port as above as it is authenticated, encrypted and secure.
For IT Techs setting up servers that send email, please use the smarthost feature of the MTA of your choice, setup with the smarthost as mail-relay.physics.gla.ac.uk on port 25.