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CGL E-mail Client Transition Guide

At this point, everyone with a @cgl.ucsf.edu email account should be using plato.ucsf.edu as their mail server. If you have not yet converted, then you need to contact RBVI administrative personnel as soon as possible. UCSF is scheduled to begin blocking access to unencrypted mail servers on May 17, 2010.

Contents

Introduction

In order to provide secure e-mail access and to conform to UCSF campus policy, we are in the process of implementing the recommendations given in RFC: Prohibiting Unencrypted Electronic Mail Protocols. The deadline for implementing those recommendations has been extended to May 17, 2010.

Each user, with an @cgl.ucsf.edu e-mail address, will be notified when their account will be migrated from our old e-mail server to our new e-mail server. It will be necessary to reconfigure your e-mail client to use the new server at the time your account is migrated. The new server will provide secure and encrypted transmission of e-mail messages between the server and your client mail application as well as between other mail servers both within and outside of UCSF (outside encryption depends on the cooperation of the remote computer).

Our new mail server will also support e-mail access using your web browser, a.k.a., webmail. Users can switch to using webmail exclusively if they wish, or continue to use a local or remote e-mail client application, or use a combination depending on circumstances or location (e.g., when traveling without a personal computer).

Webmail

For security reasons, we would rather you not share your password with any outside service, even a trusted service like gmail.com, so we have added web browser access to your cgl.ucsf.edu e-mail account at http://mail.cgl.ucsf.edu/. This provides a convenient way to read e-mail when you are traveling, and some users may even prefer using the web browser interface for everyday use. Here are some Screen Shots of the user interface, and here's the User's Manual if you want to know more.

Local E-mail Clients

For the diehards, classic UNIX text-based e-mail clients are still available, like mail, but you have to remotely login to plato.cgl.ucsf.edu first. Other text-window e-mail clients, like alpine (the pine replacement) and mutt, are available as well.

Remote E-mail Clients

We expect that the most common method of accessing of cgl.ucsf.edu e-mail will be via a remote computer running an e-mail client, e.g. Thunderbird or Apple Mail. Many other e-mail clients should work too.

There are two different protocols for reading e-mail that all remote e-mail clients implement, IMAP and POP. IMAP has several advantages over the older POP protocol, including the ability to have multiple clients simultaneouly connected to the same account — so you can leave your e-mail client running at work and then update it (read e-mail, delete spam, etc.) from home or on the road.

Remote Client Configuration Settings

Reading (Incoming) e-mail

old new
Server socrates.cgl.ucsf.edu plato.cgl.ucsf.edu
Encryption TLS or SSL SSL
Protocol IMAP or POP† IMAP or POP†
IMAP port 143 or 993 993
POP port 110 or 995 995
IMAP server
directory		 ~/Mail empty (implicitly ~/Mail)
† We recommend using the IMAP protocol (see above).
The biggest change is the IMAP server directory for previous IMAP users.

Sending (Outgoing) e-mail

old new
SMTP Server socrates.cgl.ucsf.edu plato.cgl.ucsf.edu
Connection default or port 587‡ port 587‡
Encryption None TLS
Authentication Check e-mail before sending password (if using CGL's Single Sign-On,
use secure authentication)
‡ Port 587 is required for connections from outside UCSF and is now required within UCSF as well.
Disappearing E-mail
It is extremely important that all @cgl.ucsf.edu e-mails originate from a CGL mail server, e.g.,plato.cgl.ucsf.edu, otherwise, your e-mail may disappear. This is because cgl.ucsf.edu and other computers can easily check if the e-mail originates from a CGL mail server, and reject the e-mail if it doesn't. cgl.ucsf.edu always checks and will reject any unauthorized e-mails (e.g., an e-mail bounce). Other computers optionally check, and if they reject the e-mail for that or any other reason, cgl.ucsf.edu will reject the bounce, and you'll never know that your e-mail was never delivered.

Remote Client Setup Notes

For other e-mail clients, use the configuration settings given above.

Need help?

Send e-mail to mail-help@cgl.ucsf.edu or call Susan at 476-5379.