+--------------------------------------------------+ | Accessing The Internet By OLC E-mail | | Guide to Online Internet Access | | Version 3 - April 05, 2006 | +--------------------------------------------------+ Copyright (c) 2004, 2005, 2006, Brett Bump bbump@olc.edu All rights reserved. Permission is granted to duplicate and distribute copies of this document provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. A Brief History -------------------- The last couple of years that I have been running email for the college we have gone through at least three (3) different user name schemes for our users. At the beginning of this semester we again decided to reorganize the list to be more compatible with the system that the registrar is currently using. Another reason that this change was made was because of many of the long and same names that we had to deal with. The addition of the student id at the end of the student email accounts should make this much easier to deal with. This Mini FAQ is not meant to be a general reference for email questions for the Internet, there are many others with much more information and elaborate than this one. I suggest for further FAQs, you visit www.faqs.org or use one of the many search engines on the Internet to find out more. The Basics -------------------- 1. What is this Mini FAQ about and, who should be reading it? This FAQ was written to answer most of the email questions we get regarding the email server for Oglala Lakota College, it's Staff, Faculty, Students, and anyone else that has an account on the college's email server. This FAQ was also written because the email server has gone through two (2) major design revisions within the last month, so many of the new features will not be apparent until the user reads this FAQ. 2. I am a new employee at the college, how do I get an email account? Hate to say it, but the fastest way is to send us an email. You can send an email to postmaster@olc.edu or support@olc.edu and most likely get a reply within an hour. If we don't know who you are we will most likely ask Jonnie Clifford, she is our resident expert on who the new people are so that we can get you an account as soon as possible. You can also call the switchboard at: (605) 455-6000 and ask for computer support, or call the tech line directly at (605) 455-1713. That will likely get you routed to someone that will get your account set up. 3. I am a new student at the college, how do I get an email account? If you have gone through the registration process, you already have an account on the system. The new student email accounts all use the same format. The first letter of your first name followed by your last name, followed by your student id number. The total length of your account cannot exceed sixteen (16) characters, and your last name will be trimmed if it is too long in order to fit your student id number. In the case of a last name with hyphens or multiple words, only the first word will be used. An example: John Doe From-Albuquerque with student id #1234 would be: jdoe1234@olc.edu 4. I am a student/faculty, I have my account, what is my password? All student email account passwords are initially setup using the same user name id as the account password. John Doe (from above) would use the password: jdoe1234 to log into the email server. Faculty and staff accounts will usually have their password passed to them by word of mouth from an associate, or by a technician over the phone. 5. I am on one of the college center computers, how do I setup an email client (such as Microsoft Outlook) so that I can access my email? The short answer is YOU DON'T. The only time you should setup an email client for your account is if you own the computer, or you have a computer that has been assigned to you or your office. If you are on one of the college center computers you should always use the web client to access your email. 6. What is the Internet address of the Oglala Lakota College Email server? This one is easy. From any web browser: http://mail.olc.edu or if you are setting up an email client to use imap or pop3 protocols, set your incoming email server as mail.olc.edu and your outgoing smtp server as mail.olc.edu. 7. I can get connected to the email server with a browser, but I get the message "Authentication failed". Why can't I log in? Make sure that your caps lock key is not pressed. Make sure that you are using just your login name: jdoe1234 in the login field. Make sure that there are no spaces in your login name. Make sure that you have typed in your password correctly as you will not see it in the password field. If you are still having problems, give us a call (605) 455-1713 or send an email (if you can) to: postmaster@olc.edu or support@olc.edu. 8. I've logged into my account using the web client and there are two (2) folders already in my account. Should I delete them, why do I have spam/virus folders? NO! There are special features that you can read about later in this FAQ that will let you do this, but now is not the right time. Let the protection mechanisms that are in place work for you until you know more about the system before you unleash Internet viruses onto your computer. Every account on the system is created with these two (2) default folders that exist only on the email server (not your computer). These folders are placed there to reduce the amount of spam that you may receive and to protect the computer that you are working on from email that is sent to you with embedded viruses. You should occasionally check the contents of these folders to reduce the email in them and to make sure that there isn't something in there that you actually needed. 9. There is an email from my friend in my virus folder, should I open it? NO! All of the latest virus email are designed to infect your friends computers and then spread to his friends (that's you). They also use fake headers that say "Email scanned, no virus found." so that you will open it and infect your computer. If your friend really wanted to send you a file that has an executable attachment, they should point you to an ftp site. 10. I don't like my password, don't think the default password that was given to me is safe enough, don't remember my password. Can you tell me what my password is, change my password for me, help me to change my password myself? If you have never changed your password it is most likely the same one that we originally gave you, or you gave us. Try that first before you call to ask what your password is. We don't know your password (it is encrypted) so if the original doesn't work then it is lost. Yes, we can put a new password in for you, or better yet you can change your password yourself at: http://mail.olc.edu/passwd.php Intermediate Email -------------------- 11. Are there special email accounts that I can send email to if there are needs that I have that this FAQ does not address? Yes, we have all of the normal accounts that most Internet service providers would have, plus a few they might not have. These email accounts are available for technical service issues: abuse@olc.edu (for abusive or threatening email you receive) blackboard@olc.edu (for administrative help on http://bb.olc.edu) moodle@olc.edu (for administrative help w/http://moo.olc.edu) postmaster@olc.edu (for email accounts on http://mail.olc.edu) support@olc.edu (for general computer support from TSS dept) webmaster@olc.edu (for web design help on http://www.olc.edu) 12. Is there a headstart/staff/student email list that I can use so that I can start sending email to other faculty/students etc.? Yes, the main web page at http://www.olc.edu has links on the left side under "College Information" to all of these pages, however you will need the "User Name" and "Password" for each one if you intend to view them. This security measure was put in place to reduce the amount of outside spam into the system. These pages are updated every night and the passwords will be changed every semester (consult Jonnie, Billie, or your dept chair for access). The direct links to these pages are: http://mail.olc.edu/~bbump/users/headstart(Headstart Program) http://mail.olc.edu/~bbump/users/staff (Adjunct/Faculty/Staff) http://mail.olc.edu/~bbump/users/students (Students) http://mail.olc.edu/~bbump/users/listserv (Listserv Lists) 13. What is a listserv and why should I be concerned with listserv email? A listserv is a mailing list program for communicating with other people who have subscribed to the same list. Using email, you can participate in listservs pertaining to your topics of interest. When you submit a message to the server, your message is relayed to all those on the listserv. You receive messages from other participants via email. You should be concerned with listserv email because you already belong to at least one listserv on the system. As an adjunct instructor you can send and receive email from the listserv that is sent to the adjunct instructors. As a full time employee you will belong to the allstaff listserv which can send and receive email to both the adjunct and allstaff listservs. 14. Why do I have an email in my inbox that is addressed to someone other than myself? Normally, email in your inbox that has a different email address other than yours is considered spam. But it could also be that this email was sent from a listserv that you are subscribed to, or email from someone sending an email through the BlackBoard server. An email that is addressed To: allstaff@olc.edu that arrives in your inbox comes from the listserv that you are subscribed to. Email that comes From: jdoe1234@olc.edu and sent To: jdoe1234@olc.edu is actually coming from the BlackBoard server (check the header). This is not a very good design, but that is the way BlackBoard is currently sending the email out and I've had to modify our systems to work within those limitations. It will be confusing the first time you see this so be on the lookout for it when it happens. 15. Is there a list of listervs and listserv users for the email server and the topics that they discuss? Yes, see question number 12 above. These are the current listservs on the email server: Activities Committee accommittee@olc.edu Adjunct Instructors adjunct@olc.edu All Staff/Faculty allstaff@olc.edu All Student Accounts allstudents@olc.edu Assessment Committee ascommittee@olc.edu Bookstore at Piya Wiconi bookstore@olc.edu Bush Grant Committee bush@olc.edu College Department Chairs chairs@olc.edu College Center Counselors counselors@olc.edu College Center Directors directors@olc.edu Distance Learning dlsubcommittee@olc.edu College Full Time Faculty faculty@olc.edu College Faculty Discussions faculty_forum@olc.edu Graduate Department graduatedept@olc.edu Nursing Health Advisory healthadvise@olc.edu He Sapa Staff hesapa@olc.edu He Sapa Instructors hesapainstructors@olc.edu He Sapa Students hespastudents@olc.edu NASA Honors Program honorsprogram@olc.edu Instructional Affairs Committee iacommittee@olc.edu Institutional Development Committee idcommittee@olc.edu Institutional Review Board irb@olc.edu Information Technology Dept itdept@olc.edu KOLC-TV Media Center kolc@olc.edu Nursing Staff nursing@olc.edu Pejuta Haka Students pejutahakastudents@olc.edu Personnel Office personnel@olc.edu Registrar Office registrar@olc.edu Rural Grant Committee ruralgrant@olc.edu Strategic Planning splanning@olc.edu Student Services Committee sscommittee@olc.edu Technical Support Committee techcommittee@olc.edu Web Designers webdesigner@olc.edu Committee listservs are open to subscription requests. 16. I have been assigned to one of the allstaff committees that meet each month. Who do I contact to get my name on one of these lists or is there a way that I can do this myself? The listserv software uses the standard request schemes that other popular listserv software (such as majordomo) uses to process user requested email. The quickest way to add your email account to an existing listserv is to send an email to the request address with the Subject: subscribe on the subject line. Example: From: jdoe1234@olc.edu To: sscommittee-request@olc.edu Subject: subscribe You can also send an email to the postmaster@olc.edu account and I will be able to add you to a listserv, but this takes more work for both of us. 17. Is there a way that I can remove myself from a listserv without sending the postmaster an email to do this for me? Yes, again using the request address for the listserv that you are currently subscribed to, only using unsubscribe. Example: From: jdoe1234@olc.edu To: sscommittee-request@olc.edu Subject: unsubscribe 18. Why can't I subscribe to the xyz Department listserv? These committee listservs are open to subscription requests: Activities Committee accommittee@olc.edu Assessment Committee ascommittee@olc.edu Bush Grant Committee bush@olc.edu College Department Chairs chairs@olc.edu Distance Learning dlsubcommittee@olc.edu College Full Time Faculty faculty@olc.edu College Faculty Discussions faculty_forum@olc.edu Instructional Affairs iacommittee@olc.edu Institutional Development idcommittee@olc.edu Strategic Planning splanning@olc.edu Student Services sscommittee@olc.edu Technical Support Committee techcommittee@olc.edu Web Designers webdesigner@olc.edu Some listservs are locked by default (most departments). Check the listserv lists page (number 12 above) to make sure the listserv your are looking at is open to subscribtion requests. If you feel you should be included into a specific department listserv, send an email to postmater@olc.edu with this request and it will be forwarded to that department for approval. 19. Why can't I send email to a listserv that I am not subscribed to? Each listserv is configured to providing distribution to and from their own specific users. There is no reason you cannot subscribe to multiple committees if you feel you have something to share with that listserv. The exception to this are the department listservs that are open to foreign email by default. Bookstore at Piya Wiconi bookstore@olc.edu Bush Grant Committee bush@olc.edu Graduate Department graduatedept@olc.edu NASA Honors Program honorsprogram@olc.edu Institutional Review Board irb@olc.edu Information Technology Dept itdept@olc.edu KOLC-TV Media Center kolc@olc.edu Personnel Office personnel@olc.edu Registrar Office registrar@olc.edu Rural Grant Committee ruralgrant@olc.edu 20. How often are the adjunct/allstaff/allstudent/headstart listservs updated? These are special listservs that are rebuilt every night between 2AM-3AM in the morning. Any new staff or student account that is entered during the day will be updated during the night for those specific listservs. All other listservs are static and need to be updated manually by the user or the postmaster. Advanced Email -------------------- 21. The email that I get from my BlackBoard classes is confusing as I am never completely sure if this is email from a student or spam. Is there a way I can segregate my BlackBoard email from my normal inbox email? Yes. From the web client you can create and delete folders on the mail server for different purposes. Some of these folders have been specifically designed for sorting purposes. To automatically sort your BlackBoard email into a specific folder, create a folder named: blackboard 22. I am on a number of listservs from other organizations. Is there a way to segregate email with a precedence of bulk? Yes. From the web client, create a folder named: bulk Please be advised that listserv email from humserv uses the precedence "bulk" header and will therefore sort your humserv listservs to this folder if you create it. 23. I am on a number of listservs from other organizations. Is there a way to segregate email with a precedence of junk? Yes. From the web client, create a folder named: junk 24. I am on a number of listservs from other organizations. Is there a way to segregate email with a precedence of list? Yes. From the web client, create a folder named: list Please be advised that listserv email from olc uses the precedence "list" header and will therefore sort your olc listservs to this folder if you create it. 25. How am I protected from Internet spam and what classifies the spam that I DO get in my spam folder from everything else I receive? The olc mail server uses a new spam prevention method that was designed by Evan Harris only one (1) year ago called greylisting. This is the first line of defense and should reduce the amount of spam and virus email that you receive significantly. Greylisting is not without it's drawbacks however, so I have designed a user configurable function for those who do not receive alot of spam and would like to turn greylisting off. By default greylisting is on. To turn it off, create a mail folder (on the mail server) in your directory called: nogreylist Greylisting will then be disabled for your account the next time the server recycles the greylist (around 3am in the morning). Anything left in your spam folder is classified as spam when it does NOT have your address in the header field. The exception to this rule is email that you receive from the BlackBoard server, or email with precedence bulk, junk, or list. 26. What classifies the email that I receive in my virus folder? Normally, any virus sent to the email server is blocked by the ClamAV anti-virus filtering system and you would never see it. Any executable file that ClamAV believes might be safe would be dropped into your virus folder for the user to check. Any email that is sent with an executable Windows attachment is considered virus and sent directly to your virus folder. This method of prevention is more preferable than scanning your email for a virus as this stops everything executable that is sent. If you really need a Windows executable file, email is the worst way to transmit it, go download it from a reputable site. 27. Can I delete my spam or virus folders and what happens if I do? Just like the blackboard, bulk, junk and list folders from above, if you delete any of these, those email will not be sorted and delivered directly into your inbox. You have been warned. 28. I am still receiving a lot of spam into my inbox, even with all of the preventatives that have been mentioned above. Is there any way that I can eliminate these? If you are still receiving spam email then your email address has been circulated to many lists and you will see that the email is addressed directly to you. There are two (2) methods left at your disposal that you could consider using. The first is to use the qsf (lightweight statistical spam filter) that has been installed on the system and is somewhat complicated to use (you will have to train the filter) and I am currently the only one using it. Email postmaster@olc.edu for more information. The second method is to create a reject list which would normally be reserved for harassing email, but will work just the same. 29. I would like to setup a reject list for email that I receive from users/spammers/domains that I don't want to appear in my inbox. Is there a way that I can setup this reject list? Yes. Create two web folders on the mail server with these names. name: rejected name: rejectsetup The first folder is where the email from your reject list will land once this is correctly enabled. The second folder is just a temporary folder to extract your reject list from. Send an email to your self with a plain text file mime attachment containing the rejects that you want to exclude from your inbox. The rejects can either be a full email address or just the domain. The name of the attachment must be: reject-from File the email with the "reject-from" attachment into the new rejectsetup folder. Send an email to your self with the Subject: reject-request The reject-from file should now show up in your main mail folder and you can delete the rejectsetup folder. If you would like to see an example of the reject-from file that the postmaster is using (for experimental purposes only), please check out the referring page to this FAQ. 30. I am an advanced user, I run my own mail server or filter my own email on another domain somewhere else. I am not worried about any spam or virus email that would be sent through to me from the olc mail server and would like to forward all my email to said domain. Is there a way that I can forward my olc email to get this accomplished? Yes. Create a web folder on the mail server with this name. name: forwardsetup Send an email to your self with a plain text file mime attachment containing the email address that you want your email to forward to. The name of the attachment must be: forward File the email with the email "forward" attachment into the new forwardsetup folder. Send an email to your self with the Subject: forward-request Your email should now forward to the new address and you can delete the forwardsetup folder. Please be advised that once you have forwarded your email to some other location there is no way for "you" to reverse this process. FAQ Disclaimer ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I disclaim everything. The contents of this article might be totally inaccurate, inappropriate, misguided, or otherwise perverse - except for my name (you can probably trust me on that). Copyright (c) 2004, 2005, 2006, by Brett Bump, all rights reserved. This FAQ may be posted to any USENET newsgroup, on-line service, web site, or BBS as long as it is posted in its entirety and includes this copyright statement. This FAQ may be distributed as class material on diskette or CD-ROM as long as there is no charge (except to cover materials). This FAQ may not be distributed for financial gain. This FAQ may not be included in commercial collections or compilations without express permission from the author. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Brett Bump - bbump@olc.edu