CIT's Old Postoffice Email System and Services
Frequently asked questions about...
 CIT's Postoffice
servers
How do I know which postoffice (e-mail
server) I'm on?
What's the difference between postoffice6, postoffice7,
postoffice8, postoffice9, and postoffice10?
How do I make sure all my mail "finds"
me?
How do I decide which CIT e-mail client to
use to read my mail?
Which non-CIT e-mail clients work?
Why do I have to use Kerberos, CUWebLogin,
or TLS (SSL) to check my e-mail?
What is TLS and when would I use it?
Kerberos and SideCar don't work on
my computer. What can I do?
Can I use Microsoft Outlook or Netscape Communicator?
Can I use Apple's Mac OS X Mail?
How much mail can I store on the server and
for how long?
I got a message that my storage space
is full or almost full. But when I try to delete messages, I get a
message saying I don't have enough space! HELP!
What's the biggest attachment I
can send or receive?
How can I check my special mailbox
messages?
Thunderbird
Eudora via POP
or IMAP
What is Eudora?
Eudora isn't working right. How
can I figure out what's wrong?
Doesn't Eudora's "Leave on Server"
option accomplish the same goal as Eudora via IMAP?
Is it true that Eudora via POP is being
replaced by Eudora via IMAP?
How do I decide whether to set up Eudora
for POP or IMAP?
uPortal.Cornell E-mail Channel
What is the uPortal.Cornell E-mail Channel?
WebMail
What is WebMail?
Can I upload an address book to
WebMail?
I'm using AOL and WebMail won't work.
What can I do?
PureMessage
What is PureMessage?
How do I know who the original sender of a virus-infected
message was?
Cornell Postoffice
servers (postoffices 6-10)
CAUTION: This is FAQ is outdated in many ways.
The FAQ for Student Email or the FAQ for Faculty/Staff Email may be more useful.
How do I know which postoffice (e-mail server) I'm on?
Go to Cornell's Electronic
Directory on the web and enter your NetID (for example, ewe2). Your
current postoffice is shown in the "Mail Routing" line.
If you're on CIT's postoffice system, you'll see postoffice6, postoffice7,
postoffice8, postoffice9, or postoffice10.
To change how your e-mail is routed, go to Who
I Am.
What's the difference between postoffice6, postoffice7, postoffice8,
postoffice9, and postoffice10?
Nothing. There is no difference. These five postoffices offer exactly
the same services. The plan is for each postoffice to host about 10,000
e-mail accounts, so additional postoffices will be opened up as needed.
How do I make sure all my e-mail "finds" me?
It will happen automatically if you've been using the simple "NetID@cornell.edu"
as your e-mail address. You can tell in a couple easy ways. When you're
typing a new message, check what the "From" line says. Or
send a message to yourself and see what the "From" line says.
To change the setting in Eudora, go to the Tools menu (Special
on Macintosh) and choose Options (Settings on Macintosh).
Click the Getting Started icon. In the Return Address box, type
your NetID, followed by @cornell.edu (for example, ewe2@cornell.edu).
Click OK.
Using the simple "NetID@cornell.edu" format is important
for three reasons:
- You will receive your messages no matter which postoffice is hosting
your e-mail account.
- You can set up mail forwarding (through Who
I Am) when you want to have your e-mail directed to more than
one e-mail account.
- There's absolutely no advantage to having people send messages directly
to your postoffice account, instead of to "@cornell.edu"
-- the messages won't get there any faster.
How do I decide which CIT e-mail client to use to read my mail?
These choices only apply to CIT's postoffice system. There are different choices for the Exchange system and for students.
It boils down to your personal preferences and where you tend to read
your e-mail. These choices are fully supported by CIT:
- Thunderbird
-- you access your e-mail on your own computer, you send or receive
attached files, you can install the Thunderbird application, and you
may want to organize your mail using filters and mail folders
- Eudora
(via POP or IMAP) -- you access your e-mail on your own computer,
you send or receive attached files, you can install the Eudora application,
and you may want to organize your mail using filters and mail folders.
(If you want to use IMAP features,
CIT recommends Thunderbird over Eudora.)
- uPortal.Cornell
e-mail channel -- using a web browser, access your messages
from any internet-capable location
- WebMail
-- you access your e-mail from multiple locations, you prefer to use
a web browser to read your messages, you want to send or receive attached
files, and you may want to organize your mail using filters and mail
folders
- Combinations -- you routinely access your e-mail on your
own computer(s), but also regularly travel or use someone else's computer
- It's best to set up Thunderbird via IMAP in this case. Thanks
to IMAP, you can use WebMail, the uPortal.Cornell e-mail channel,
and Thunderbird via IMAP interchangeably. Create a folder in one,
and the other will automatically update itself. You can also have
filters and address books in all three, though you'll need to
create and maintain these independently.
- You can use WebMail or the e-mail channel in combination with
Thunderbird via POP or Eudora via POP if you're only interested
in mail you haven't read since you last used Thunderbird/Eudora,
or if you set up Eudora/Thunderbird to "leave mail on server."
To get all the details, see the chart
comparing the e-mail tools CIT supports.
Which non-CIT e-mail clients work?
E-mail clients that CIT doesn't support, but that do work with CIT's
e-mail system, include:
- Apple's Mac
OS X Mail (via Kerberos 5 or TLS/SSL)
- Cyrusoft's Mulberry (via Kerberos 5 or TLS/SSL)
- Microsoft Outlook (via TLS/SSL)
- Microsoft Outlook Express ( TLS/SSL)
- Microsoft Entourage (via TLS/SSL)
- Netscape Communicator (via TLS/SSL)
- Pine (current versions only; via TLS/SSL)
NOTE: If you choose to use an e-mail tool that CIT doesn't support,
you will need to do your own troubleshooting and configuration to make
it work with CIT's e-mail system.
Why do I have to use Kerberos, CUWebLogin, or TLS (SSL) to check my
e-mail?
The short answer is that you need to protect your password using one
of these security methods to avoid compromising your private information
as well as the university's data and networks.
Whenever a NetID password is sent insecurely (via "clear text"),
it is transmitted over the network in such a way that network "eavesdroppers"
could easily intercept it. This is a critical issue because NetID passwords
permit access to many restricted services as well as private information
about individuals (and possibly others as well). Cornell's audit department
has made the following recommendation regarding the use of clear-text
passwords:
"Unencrypted passwords can cripple the integrity of the password
system and expose applications to fraudulent use. For example, an employee
could detect a supervisor's NetID and use it to approve a false time
record within the COLTS timekeeping system. We recommend that CIT ensure
that applications, such as Eudora, which use NetIDs for authentication
purposes be prevented from transmitting passwords in clear text."
With this statement in mind, CIT has implemented the postoffice system
with Kerberos,
SideCar/CUWebLogin,
and TLS (SSL) as the authentication methods.
What is TLS and when would I use it?
TLS is another way (besides Kerberos or SideCar/CUWebLogin) to protect
your password when you use CIT's e-mail system. It's the next generation
of SSL, which is what protects credit-card and other sensitive information
on the web.
Having both Kerberos and TLS available gives you maximum flexibility
without compromising the security of the university's data and networks.
You can use TLS exclusively, Kerberos exclusively, or both at the same
time. Kerberos is still the preferred method of authentication (your
password never travels over the network -- encrypted or otherwise),
but TLS provides a secure secondary method for those who cannot use
Kerberos.
TLS makes it easy to monitor special mailboxes and supports Outlook,
Communicator, and other e-mail tools that don't work with Kerberos.
Kerberos and SideCar don't work on my computer. What can I do?
Please call or e-mail CIT's Contact Center (HelpDesk) (255-8990 or
helpdesk@cornell.edu). If
you prefer to do your own troubleshooting, you can check these HelpDesk
resources first:
If you and the HelpDesk pursue every possibility with no success (very
unlikely), you can still use the postoffice system with TLS
(SSL). Although TLS is better than the alternative (sending passwords
without any protection at all), it's still not as secure as Kerberos
and SideCar. So the time you spend troubleshooting is worth it.
Can I use Microsoft Outlook or Netscape Communicator?
Yes, once you configure it to use TLS (SSL). You'll just need to look
in the settings for a selection that says "use
SSL" or
something similar.
Can I use Apple's Mac OS X Mail?
Yes. Since Mac OS X Mail can be set to use Kerberos, it will work with
the postoffice system. Although CIT does not support OS X Mail itself,
CIT does provide configuration
instructions.
How much mail can I store and for how long?
On CIT's postoffice system, you can store up to 300 MB of messages,
for as long as you want.
Note that Exchange accounts allow storage of up to 7 GB of messages.
Each postoffice account at Cornell is allowed 300 MB of storage space on
the postoffice servers. When that space gets 80% full, you will receive
an e-mail message advising you to free up some space (You'll get this
message once a week.) If you storage space is more than 90% full you'll
get a message once a day. If you use all 300 MB, you will not be able
to receive any new messages; all incoming messages will be bounced back
to the sender as undeliverable.
I got a message that my storage space is full
or almost full. But when I try to delete messages, I get a message saying
I don't have enough space! HELP!
We've got a separate page devoted to tips
for freeing up space when it's full.
What's the biggest attachment I can send?
The CIT postoffice system will accept messages up to 50 MB (including any attachments) between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and up to 100 MB at all other times.
Note that the Exchange system has a 50-MB size limit at all times. In addition, messages sent to Cornell mailing lists (lists with names such as Sailing-L@cornell.edu) must be no more than 1 MB in size.
Our web-based e-mail clients have their own, smaller limits.
- WebMail restricts you to 50 MB at all times.
- The uPortal.Cornell e-mail channel restricts you to 3 MB at all times.
Messages that exceed these size limits will be rejected automatically by CIT's postoffice system.
You should also know that when your outgoing message is encoded (transport encodings are the information
that allows your message to be safely sent and read.), the size increases a bit. This means that,
for example, an attachment that is only 45 to 48 MB in size may push the total
message size above 50 MB.
Before you send a large attachment, please also consider these other
factors:
- Many people outside of Cornell have very small mailboxes, especially
people who use "free" e-mail services. Sending a large attachment
is likely to fill up the mailbox and interfere with their ability
to receive other messages.
- All Cornell mailboxes are limited to 300 MB including attachments.
Messages that arrive after this limit has been reached are automatically
rejected.
- CIT's e-list service (Lyris),
which handles all e-lists with addresses such as xxxxxxx-L@cornell.edu,
will reject any e-mail message that exceeds 1 MB in size. Also, mailing
lists that exceed 100 MB of messages within 7 days are automatically
suspended.
- Deliberately sending large attachments in an attempt to interfere
with someone's ability to receive e-mail would violate Cornell policy.
How can I check my special-mailbox messages?
Special
mailboxes work just like regular NetID e-mail accounts on the postoffice system. However, if you use Eudora "personalities"
to check your special mailbox messages, you will need to change the
personality settings to use
TLS (SSL) instead of "password."
Thunderbird
CAUTION: This is FAQ is outdated in many ways.
The FAQ for Student Email or the FAQ for Faculty/Staff Email may be more useful.
What are extensions?
Extensions are small add-ons that add new functionality to Thunderbird.
They can add anything from toolbars to completely new features. Learn
more at the Thunderbird
Add-on pages. Please be aware that anyone can submit extensions,
which means the quality varies greatly.
Will CIT be creating extensions specifically for Cornell users?
No, we don't have any plans to create Cornell-specific extensions at this time. The range of extensions already available is quite remarkable.
Will CIT make recommendations about which extensions are most useful?
Yes, as we get more experience with Thunderbird and collect information from many sources in the Cornell community, we will pass along information about which extensions seem to be helping people the most.
Many extensions break when there's a Thunderbird update; what can CIT do about this?
We hate to pass the buck, but that's out of our hands. Whenever a new release comes out, each extension's developer needs to tweak their extension. Many developers are very conscientious about this. Some, not so much.
How big an attachment can I send with Thunderbird?
The size limit for e-mail messages on CIT's postoffice system, including any attachments, is:
| 50 MB |
between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday |
| 100 MB |
between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m., Monday through Friday
and at all times on Saturday and Sunday |
Note that the Exchange system has a 50-MB size limit at all times. In addition, messages sent to Cornell mailing lists (lists with names such as Sailing-L@cornell.edu) must be no more than 1 MB in size.
How much mail can I store on the server?
You can store up to 300 MB of messages on CIT's postoffice system. Your
mail will NOT be deleted automatically when it gets old, unless you
set your e-mail client to do so.
Each e-mail account at Cornell is allowed 300 MB of storage space on
the postoffice servers. When that space gets 80% full, you will receive
an e-mail message advising you to free up some space (You'll get this
message once a week.) If you storage space is more than 90% full you'll
get a message once a day. If you use all 300 MB, you will not be able
to receive any new messages; all incoming messages will be bounced back
to the sender as undeliverable.
Note that Exchange accounts allow storage of up to 7 GB of messages.
Why has CIT decided to add support for Thunderbird?
Please see our Thunderbird Overview
page for this information.
Does the addition of Thunderbird mean that
CIT is no longer supporting Eudora?
No. CIT continues to support Eudora. We are, however, recommending
that all new faculty, staff, and students use Thunderbird for their
installed e-mail client.
Will Thunderbird get updated automatically (the way Eudora through uPortal.Cornell or Bear Access does)?
The short answer is yes; CIT will maintain the most current stable release of Thunderbird, and if you launch Thunderbird through uPortal.Cornell or Bear Access, you'll be assured of getting the current version.
The long answer is "yes, but..." As is our practice with all the software for which we provide automatic updates, we don't necessarily release the newest version the same day it comes out. First we test it and pound on it and keep an eye on technical discussions of the product to see if the new release is stable enough for us to support. The other complicating factor is that there is an option within Thunderbird to have it check for a newer version and update if it finds one. If you turn this option on (it is turned off when you install Thunderbird from CIT), you may find yourself running a newer (and possibly not-quite-ready-for-prime-time) version than the one CIT is supporting.
Are there tools to help me migrate from Eudora to Thunderbird?
Indeed there are. Many people find the tools built in to Thunderbird to be sufficient, but they do have a few shortcomings. Please see our Optional Migration Tools for Thunderbird page for more information.
Is migrating quick, easy, and painless?
Um, no, not exactly, but most people do manage to survive [grin]. The amount of time it takes depends on how many thousands of messages you will migrate, how many attachments you migrate, and whether you use the built-in tools or third-party tools. You'll need to set aside time to do a virus scan on both your mail files and attachments BEFORE migrating. A simple migration will only take an hour or so; if you've saved every message you've ever gotten, you can expect to spend several hours (and possibly let the migration run overnight).
How do I connect to the Cornell Electronic Directory through Thunderbird?
If you installed Thunderbird through Bear Access (either with the Bear Access CD or through uPortal.Cornell), you're all set. If you downloaded the Thunderbird installer from Mozilla or elsewhere, you'll need to tweak a few things. Please visit our Tweaking Thunderbird for LDAP page for the complete instructions.
Eudora via POP
or via IMAP
CAUTION: This is FAQ is outdated in many ways.
The FAQ for Student Email or the FAQ for Faculty/Staff Email may be more useful.
What is Eudora?
Eudora is a powerful e-mail application by Qualcomm that is in wide
use at Cornell and around the world. It is distributed free to Cornell
students, faculty, and staff via Bear Access. Among Eudora's features
are organizational tools such as mailboxes and filters, spell-checking,
address books, signatures, and text styling.
Eudora uses Cornell's Kerberos software to protect your NetID password.
(Note that on the old e-mail system, it does not have to use Kerberos.)
Eudora isn't working right. How can I figure out what's wrong?
If you'd like personalized help, please call or e-mail CIT's HelpDesk
(255-8990 or helpdesk@cornell.edu).
If you prefer to do your own troubleshooting, you can check these HelpDesk
resources first:
Doesn't Eudora's "Leave on Server" option accomplish the same
goal as Eudora via IMAP?
Only to a small degree. Eudora's "Leave on Server" option
only lets you use the server to store copies of all the messages you
have received.
Eudora via IMAP takes it several steps further. In essence, it keeps
track --on the server -- of everything you've done with your messages
(whether you've replied to them, forwarded them, deleted them, and so
on). It can also be set up to store -- on the server -- messages that
you've sent out.
Is it true that Eudora via POP is being replaced by Eudora via IMAP?
No. Both POP and IMAP are fully supported, and the choice of which
one to use is entirely up to you.
How do I decide whether to set up Eudora for POP or IMAP?
The choice of which
one to use is entirely up to you. In summary, if you always view
your e-mail on one computer, POP probably meets your needs, and you
may find it simpler to use. If you want to have access to your messages
from more than one computer, IMAP is better able to provide that ability.
Some users have reported problems (like mail suddenly disappearing)
when they use Eudora with IMAP. CIT recommends Thunderbird
if you want to use IMAP features.
If you're accessing your messages from multiple locations, you can
set up Eudora for IMAP on your own computer(s) and use WebMail whenever
you're traveling or on someone's computer. Or you can exclusively use
WebMail.
You can set up Eudora for POP and also use WebMail. If you're only
interested in mail you haven't read since you last used Eudora via POP,
or if you set up Eudora via POP to "leave mail on server,"
you won't have any trouble using WebMail when you need to. Just use
WebMail's Inbox (it's the only one Eudora via POP can read), and be
sure to cc or bcc yourself on messages that you send if you want to
have a copy.
WebMail
CAUTION: This is FAQ is outdated in many ways.
The FAQ for Student Email or the FAQ for Faculty/Staff Email may be more useful.
What is WebMail?
WebMail is an e-mail tool that lets you to use a web browser to send
and receive messages and attachments, and manage your mail online. It
is only available on the postoffice system.You can use WebMail on any
computer with a contemporary web browser (except AOL's
web browser).
WebMail uses IMAP and is based on a service called SquirrelMail. It
protects your NetID password by using either Cornell's Kerberos/SideCar
software, or CUWebLogin, which relies on SSL, the same technology that
protects credit-card and other sensitive information on the web.
Can I upload an address book to WebMail?
Currently, there is no method to import or export address books via
WebMail. If there is enough demand and the technical hurdles are overcome,
CIT should be able to offer this option in a future version of WebMail.
I'm using AOL and WebMail won't work. What can I do?
If you're using the web browser that came with America On-Line (AOL),
that's why WebMail won't work. AOL's browser is incompatible with CUWebLogin,
which is what WebMail uses to accept your NetID and password.
The good news is that you can still use AOL for your Internet connection.
Once you're online, simply launch a different browser -- such as Netscape
or Internet Explorer -- to access WebMail.
uPortal.Cornell
e-mail channel
CAUTION: This is FAQ is outdated in many ways.
The FAQ for Student Email or the FAQ for Faculty/Staff Email may be more useful.
What is the uPortal.Cornell e-mail channel?
A portal lets users go to just one web site to access a whole range
of information and services that they can further customize to suit
their particular needs. Every Bear Access service, for example, will
be accessible via the portal. With this portal, each user can define
a unique and personal view of Cornell's vast array of current web offerings.
It also offers a launching point for services currently included with
Bear Access. And it introduces a new way for faculty, departments, service
providers, associations, and clubs to present information to their particular
audiences, by way of channels.
The uPortal.Cornell eMail channel offers another way to access your
e-mail messages using your browser. This is especially useful when you
want to use a computer without installing any software.
PureMessage
What is PureMessage?
PureMessage is an e-mail service that blocks virus-infected messages
and flags spam. You get it automatically with both the postoffice and Exchange systems. It's
a tool from ActiveState that works at the level of CIT's e-mail servers
and enables CIT to continue its policy of not routinely monitoring an
individual's communications.
- Virus-blocking: With PureMessage, virus-infected messages
are not delivered. CIT will notify you when this happens. (Note: You'll
still need to keep anti-virus
software running on your computer to block viruses that travel
by some route other than e-mail.)
- Spam flagging and blocking: PureMessage adds a special tag
to the Subject line (and an extra header line) to messages which it
determines are probably spam. If the probability is over 90%, the
message is blocked. If the probability is less than 90%, the message
is delivered to you; the subject line and the extra header make it
easy to set
up Eudora, or other e-mail software, to automatically send spam
to the trash or another mailbox.
- Learn more about PureMessage
How do I know who the original sender of a virus-infected message
was?
Look at the "from" line of the message. Although the rest
of the message is generated by PureMessage, the "from" line
still indicates who originally sent the message.
Note that many viruses are able to forge the "from" address,
so it's possible that the apparent sender may not have actually sent
the message and his/her computer may not be infected. If you're up for
a challenge and want to try figuring out who actually sent the message,
CIT has some helpful
pointers.
Last modified: November 06, 2009
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