A Guide to Your Lehigh Email Account

November 2010


Table of Contents

  1. About this guide
  2. Lehigh Email Settings/ Configuration
  3. Disk quotas
  4. Lehigh email options
  5. Managing your mail


1. About this guide
This guide is intended as a general overview of electronic mail (email) services and options at Lehigh. Faculty, staff, and students can use this guide to learn the basics of setting up and using email; select among email alternatives (e.g., what email to use when travelling vs. on campus); and understand different approaches to managing email.

Other sources of help
For topics not included in this guide, one of the best sources to consult is the Help menu within the application you are using. Another good resource is the Help Desk at Lehigh -- contact us by phone (610-758-4357, email (helpdesk@lehigh.edu), or by chat during regular hours (http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk).


2. Lehigh Email Setup/Configuration
Depending on the type of email application you use, you may need to configure it for Lehigh's mail server and set up other mail-related services. Below are instructions for configuring and using the most common mail packages used at Lehigh. Note that only Mozilla Thunderbird and IMP are fully supported by Library and Technology Services.

Choosing an email application
Select an email application based on your needs:
Mozilla Thunderbird -- our preferred, most sophisticated and fully supported email application. Best for personal machines.
IMP Mail -- best for travel. It requires no configuration. LDAP included.
Lehigh Gmail -- recommended for first year students that have no existing folders. There is no migration tool for existing folders from the Lehigh mail server. LDAP is supported.

Recommended mail applications
Mozilla Thunderbird : http://www.lehigh.edu/computing/docs/thunderbird3/CustomizingandUsingThunderbird3.1.htm
IMP (FAQ): http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk/faq/qa/imp2.html
Address books in IMP: Address books in IMP
Mac OS X: http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk/thunderbird.html
To use IMP to check your email from any PC with internet connection, go to http://www.lehigh.edu/imp and log in with the normal Lehigh username and password.


Mail server and LDAP (email directory) settings

Incoming Server:
Server Type: IMAP Mail Server
Server Name: mail.lehigh.edu
For reading mail, SSL on port 993 is preferred.

Outgoing Server (SMTP):
Server Name: mail.lehigh.edu
Port 587 with TLS Encryption and Authentication is recommended for people configuring all client (MUA) computers which relay traffic through Lehigh.
Secure Outgoing Mail: http://www.lehigh.edu/lts/updates/mailsend/

LDAP (“Lightweight Directory Access Protocol,” or email directory) settings:
Name: Lehigh LDAP
Hostname: ldap.lehigh.edu
Base DN: dc=lehigh,dc=edu
Port number: 389
LDAP directory searching, or pinpoint addressing, makes it easier to identify and key in Lehigh users' email addresses. The LDAP (“Lightweight Directory Access Protocol”) directory is a regularly updated database of email addresses and contact information for Lehigh users.

About the security (challenge) questions
When you open your account, you are asked to create three security questions. Your security questions are similar to the standard "mother's maiden name" that banks and other services use to verify that you are who you say you are. The security questions should be questions that only you know the answer to, such as “What was my favorite Halloween costume?” or “my best friend in first grade?”

Change your password
You can change your own password at any time by going to https://www.lehigh.edu/change. All Lehigh users must change their passwords every six months.

If you forget your password
If you forget your password, avoid making multiple attempts to log in. After a certain number of attempts your account will be disabled for a period of time. There are two ways to reset your password:

Account/Mail Maintenance Web page
The Account/Mail Maintenance page is at http://www.lehigh.edu/account. This page allows you to view your disk space usage, increase your disk space temporarily, create an email alias, set vacation mail or mail forwarding, and perform other maintenance tasks.   


 3. Disk Quotas
A disk quota refers to limits placed on the amount of disk space available to a given user for a particular purpose. Lehigh users have more than one quota, and quotas are assigned to different types of storage on different servers. View the quota table for specific information about quotas and limits.
How do quotas work?
All users with Lehigh computing accounts potentially have access to five different areas where they may store files, each with its own quota:

1GB soft / 1GB hard (students)
2 GB soft / 2 GB hard (staff/faculty)
40MB soft / 50MB hard (department)

20MB soft quota (all users)
25MB hard quota (all users)
More about soft vs. hard quota can be found here:
http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk/quotatable.html



Checking your disk space
You can check your current disk usage for the first four areas by going to http://www.lehigh.edu/account and clicking on "Manage Your Email Account" and following the "Disk Quotas" link. This link does not include the LAN, or Home server space. To check LAN usage, right-click on the H: drive and view Properties.

When you are over quota
If you are over your mail quota, you may experience a loss of email functionality (e.g., the contents of your inbox in IMP cannot display). The fastest way to restore your email functionality is to use the "Bump Quota" function which is available at http://www.lehigh.edu/account then clicking on "Manage Your Email Account". "Bump Quota" temporarily increases your quota for a period of four hours. Ten minutes after you perform "Bump Quota" you should be able to see your inbox/delete messages. During this time you should delete and/or move files to reduce your quota.

 

4. Lehigh email options

Mail forwarding
Mail forwarding allows you to have your Lehigh mail forwarded to another account.
To set up mail forwarding:

  1. Go to the Account page at http://www.lehigh.edu/account/ .
  2. Click on "Manage your E-mail account". You will be prompted for your Lehigh username and password.
  3. On the Account page, select the option for "Mail Forwarding" (Set up Email forwarding and Vacation processing).
  4. On the next page, click on the "Update Forwarding" button.
  5. In the field provided, enter the full email address to which you want your mail forwarded. If you want to enter multiple accounts, put a comma between the accounts. Tip: Forward to your own account as well as your forwarding account to keep a copy on Lehigh’s server.
  6. Click on the "Update .forward file" button.
  7. As soon as you do this, all new email coming in to your account will be forwarded on to that email address. All of your old email will stay where it is, but no copies of new mail will be put in your Lehigh account.

To remove mail forwarding:

Note: you cannot have both a vacation mail message and mail forwarding on at the same time in the same account.

Vacation mail
When you are away from your email for an extended period of time, you can set up vacation mail to alert those who send you mail that you are unavailable. While vacation mail is enabled, anyone who sends you mail will receive an automatic reply that you are not available. You can customize the message sent in the auto reply. To set up vacation mail:

  1. Go to the Account page: http://www.lehigh.edu/account/ .
  2. Click on "Manage your E-mail account". You will be prompted for your Lehigh username and password.
  3. On the Account page, choose the "Mail Forwarding" option.
  4. On the resulting page, click on the "Set up Vacation" button.
  5. In the fields provided, enter the subject line and text for the message you wish to have automatically sent back to people who send you email while you are away.
  6. Click on "Set up Vacation Processing." As soon as you do this, people sending mail to your mail box will automatically be sent a copy of the response you entered.
  7. Your email will continue to accumulate in your Inbox normally.

When you return, follow these steps to stop the vacation message:

Email Alias
To make it easy to remember an email address, Library and Technology Services creates a standardized email alias for students, faculty, and staff. Your default alias is in the form of "firstname.lastname@lehigh.edu." Anyone who knows this alias can use it to send you mail. The alias is optional, but even if you create an alias your original user id will still work.
 While an email alias can make it easier for others to remember your email, you'll want to select your alias carefully and avoid changing it.
See http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk/faq/qa/emailalias.html for more detail about selecting an alias.
If you want to change your personal alias go to the Account page: http://www.lehigh.edu/account/ .

Signature files

To set up a signature file using Mozilla Thunderbird, see: http://www.lehigh.edu/computing/docs/thunderbird15/thunderbirdmail.html. These instructions show you how to save a signature file to your C: drive. Note that you can also save it to your H: drive, which will make it accessible from any campus computer.

 

5. Managing Your Email

 Sending attachments

Most email applications let you attach files, such as images, documents, and data, with your message. This feature is frequently misused. Large attachments can take a long time to download and may put the recipient over his/her mail quota. Finally, sending large files (more than two megabytes) to an unsuspecting recipient is considered poor email etiquette. Before you send an email attachment, read the guidelines below:

Most email packages make it easy to send attachments, and the process is self-explanatory. IMP requires an extra step which is sometimes omitted, so instructions are provided at: http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk/faq/qa/imp/imp_attach.html

Phishing (link to phishing page) http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk/phishing.html
Phishing is the criminal practice of trying to acquire personal information such as usernames, passwords, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, and date of birth, etc. by presenting themselves as a trusted source.  Make sure to avoid phishing, i.e. someone you don’t know or someone pretending to be someone else requesting sensitive and personal information from you. They will often send you to a site that resembles and looks like the legitimate one.

Coping with Spam
The term spam refers to the practice of flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it. Some spam can be stopped through filters and through a Lehigh-supported application called Spam Assassin. For more information, see http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk/faq/qa/spamassassin.shtml

Mail Filters
Mail filters help to manage mail by automatically sending a message to a specific mail folder based on characteristics of the message (e.g., subject line contents, sender, etc). When you create a message filter, it will move any message that meets the filter criteria to the folder you designate. When an email message meets the criteria, it bypasses the Inbox and is moved directly to that folder. The following directions will instruct you how to create a mail filter for messages.

Note that the filters are commonly used to manage spam, so the instructions are written with this in mind. You can also use filters for routine mail, such as putting email from your boss in a mail folder called "boss."

Where to store your mail
You can store your mail on the mail server (a central location on the network), on your local hard drive, or on the H: drive.
 
 Group Mailings

When you need to send mail to multiple people, numerous methods are available. A few of these are: address book mailing lists; LU News and Bulletins; listservs; and portal groups. Other options are available if these don’t meet your needs. Talk to the help desk or your computer consultant for assistance in selecting the right option.

Address book mailing lists
Most email applications have a facility for creating mailing lists. If you need to communicate to small groups of people whose membership is relatively stable, and if the communication does not routinely generate responses from and among the recipients, this type of mailing list is ideal. For larger lists that otherwise fit this description, it is possible to import mailing lists from Microsoft Excel and other applications. Below are instructions for creating a mailing list in Mozilla Thunderbird:
Creating a New Address Book Mailing List:

  1. Click on the “Window” menu.
  2. Click “Address Book.”
  3. Click once on the address book where the new list will appear.
  4. Click on the “New List” button.
  5. Type a name for your list. (Filling in the list nickname and description is optional).
  6. Type the first email address for your members of the list.
  7. Press the “Enter” key to move to the next line.
  8. Type the next email address for the list.
  9. Click “OK” when the list is finished.

While simple, this option may not be feasible for large groups whose membership changes frequently, or when recipients frequently "chime in" with responses, questions, and general discussion. If this is the case, other options are available.

Listserv mailing lists
Listservs are ideal for communicating with large groups of people who need a forum for sharing information with one another. Listservs are set up to handle changing membership easily (members can join or leave the group in a few simple steps). They can accommodate a large number of postings and multiple topics. For more information about listserv mailing lists go to: http://listserv.lehigh.edu/lists/

Lehigh news and bulletins
Lehigh offers formal channels of communication that reach all or some of Lehigh's faculty, staff, and/or students. You can send an announcement through a bulletin board system called LUNA. Among the various groups (e.g., housing, sale, etc.) are several related to news. These are NEWS (general news), NEWS-S (staff news), NEWS-G (graduate news), and NEWS-U (undergraduate news). Lehigh users can post to these groups by going to http://www.lehigh.edu/~www/cwis.html or selecting LUNA from the Bulletin Boards category on the Lehigh Home page. Instructions for posting are below:

  1. Choose LUNA (network server).
  2. Choose “Manual login as valid user.” You will need to enter your user id and password.
  3. In the box next to “Find topic,” type “news” (do not type “bulletin”).

You will get a list of four areas: NEWS, NEWS-G, NEWS-S, NEWS-U. You can choose your target audience from among these options.

  1. After you have made a selection, scroll down to the bottom of the first message that is displayed.
  2. Choose “Post Bulletin.” Type the headline in long box and type or paste message in message box.
  3. Press “Send” to submit the message.


6. Need more assistance?

Contact the Help Desk for further assistance.
Lehigh's Help Desk
http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk
helpdesk@lehigh.edu
610-758-4357 (HELP)
Live chat: http://www.lehigh.edu/library/onlineref.html