How to use e-mail?

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How to setup e-mail system (Netscape mail, k-mail, dt mail)?
What is MIME, IMAP, SMTP and POP3?
How to leave or delete e-mails in server?
Message Editing Commands in PINE
Using PINE address book
Signature file
How to set up e-mail forwarding?
How to set up bogofilter to filter out spam?
How to cancel e-mail forwarding (and procmail and bogofilter)?
How to set up vacation e-mail?
How to turn off the vacation feature?
What is spam mail?
How to use procmail to filter spam mail?
How do I do to download the elm messages in a file I can later, if needed, open again using elm?
To/Cc/Bcc/Fcc/Lcc in PINE
Email Aliases. How to figure out who lives at students@stat.ubc.ca?
Using Outgoing mailserver from outside StatNet
Webmail certificates

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How to setup e-mail system (Netscape mail, k-mail, dt mail)?
When we first time to use Netscape mail, k-mail or dtmail, we need to configure the settings so that we can receive and send e-mails.
First we need to tell the e-mail system who we are (name, organization, e-mail address, reply-to address, etc.).
Next we need to tell the e-mail system our outgoing accounts and incoming accounts.

For outgoing accounts:
We use the default "smtp" type.

Name:
localhost
Host:
localhost
Port:
use default value

For incoming accounts:
We use the default "pop" type.

Name:
your name
Login:
your login name
Password:
blank or any password you want to set.
Host:
mailhot at stat at ubc at ca (when typing, replace "at" with ".").
Port:
use default value

For Dtmail users, you can first login to Hajek or Newton, then setup Dtmail as follows:
```
If you use the CDE desktop dtmail reader,( Hajek and Newton only)
you must change this setup
Start dtmail from command line (/usr/dt/bin/dtmail)
or click an icon on your CDE toolbar (Small envelope icon).
Under
Options --- Advanced   

You will see  in the box  
Outgoing mail (SMTP) server   
Enter:  smtp.stat.ubc.ca

It should look like this

Outgoing mail (SMTP) server       smtp.stat.ubc.ca
```

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What is MIME, IMAP, SMTP and POP3?
MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) is an Internet standard which allows transfer of binary files (word-processing documents, spreadsheets, images, sounds, etc.) between any compliant mailers, such as Pine.
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is a method of accessing electronic mail or bulletin board messages that are kept on a (possibly shared) mail server. In other words, it permits a "client" email program to access remote message stores as if they were local.
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is the standard protocol used for sending email.
POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) is an older protocol for downloading electronic mail from a mail server. POP3 is gradually being replaced by IMAP.

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How to leave or delete e-mails in server?
It depends on the e-mail system you used.
For Netscape's default e-mail system:
1. Select the "Preferences" submenu from the "Edit" menu.
2. From the option "Mail & Newsgroups" select suboption "Mail Servers".
3. From the "Incoming Mail Servers" box highlight "pop" item.
4. Click the "Edit" button.
5. Select the "POP" tab.
6. Check or uncheck the option "Leave messages on server" and/or the option "When deleting a message locally, remove it from the server".
For Kmail:
1. From the menu "Settings" select submenu "Configure Kmail..."
2. Select "Receiving" Tab.
3. Highlight the "Incoming accounts" you want to configure. Then click the "Modify" button.
4. Check or uncheck the option "Delete mail from server".

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Message Editing Commands in PINE

Ctrl+v
Page down.
Ctrl+y
Page up.
Ctrl+e
Moves the cursor to the end of the line.
Ctrl+a
Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line.
Ctrl+k
Delete the current line and copy it to the clipboard. The text can be restored by using Ctrl+u.
Ctrl+u
paste the text in the clipboard to the current position.
Ctrl+^
Start marking the text. Next, you use the arrow keys to move around the text and then use Ctrl+k to kill the block of text.
Ctrl+x
Send the message.
Ctrl+c
Cancel the current message.
Ctrl+o
Postpone the current message. Next time when you compose a new message, PINE will ask you "Continue postponed composition (answering "No " won't erase it)?". If you want to continue to compose the postponed message, type "y".
Ctrl+t
Spelling Check.

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Using PINE address book
It is convenient to have an e-mail address book to record e-mail addresses just like it is convenient to have a telephone book to record telephone numbers. Like many other e-mail systems, PINE provides address book function.
- To add message sender's e-mail address to the address book, enter "T" while you are reading a message (in the Message Text screen) or when a message is selected in the Index screen.
- To open your address book, go to the Mail menu and type "A".
- To add e-mail addresses to the address book, type "@ " (Add New command) in the Address Book screen.
- To delete an e-mail address, first select that e-mail address in the Address Book screen, then type "D" (Delete command).
- To write an message to an address in the address book, you can just type the nickname of that e-mail address in the To or Cc fields in the Compose Message screen. Alternatively, within the Address Book screen you can select a person and press "C" to compose a message to him or her.

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Signature file
A signature file appeared at the end of your message can provide more information about you. In Unix or Linux system, you can create a signature file ".signature" at your home directory by using any text editor, such as vi and emacs. E-mail systems in the Unix or Linux will automatically attach the content of the ".signature" file to the end of the message you are sending.
After editing your ".signature" file, you can send yourselves a few test messages to check if the signature file works correctly.

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How to Setup Automatic E-mail Forwarding?
1. Check if there is a file named ".forward" in your home directory.
```
  $ls -l .forward
```
2. If there is no such file, then use any text editor (e.g. vi, emacs) to create the ".forward" file in your home directory. then enter the e-mail address to which you want your e-mail to be forwarded.
  For example, if you want to forward any e-mail sent to your statlab e-mail address
  abc@statlab.stat.ubc.ca
  to your hotmail e-mail address
  abchotmail@hotmail.com
  meanwhile you want still keep a copy of the message in your statlab e-mail address, then
  1. Log into statlab. At your home directory, use any text editor to create the ".forward" file.
```
  emacs .forward&
```
  2. Type
```
abchotmail@hotmail.com,
abc@statlab.stat.ubc.ca
```
    in the text editor. Notice the comma "," is used to separate the e-mail addresses. You can put as many e-mail addresses in the ".forward" file as possible.
  3. Save the file.
  4. Exit from the text editor.
  Now any e-mail sent to abc@statlab.stat.ubc.ca will be forwarded to abchotmail@hotmail.com.
3. If there already exists the ".forward" file in your home directory, then it means you already setup e-mail forwarding. You can use any text editor (e.g. vi, emacs) to change the destination e-mail address.
  For example, if the destination address in the ".forward" file is abchotmail@hotmail.com, and you want to change the destination address to abcyahoo@yahoo.com. Then you can use any text editor to open the ".forward" file. Then replace
  abchotmail@hotmail.com
  with
  abcyahoo@yahoo.com.

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How to Cancel Automatic E-mail Forwarding (and procmail and bogofilter)?
Just delete the ".forward" file from your home directory.
```
  rm .forward
```
or rename the ".forward" file, e.g.
```
  mv .forward .forward.bak
```

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How to Setup Vacation E-mail?
If you are using Bogofilter for spam filtering, read here instead.
The unix command
```
  vacation
```
is used to setup automatic response to e-mail sent to you.
The "vacation" command will generate two files in your home directory:
```
  .vacation.msg
```
and
```
  .forward
```
The file ".vacation.msg" contains the message which will be automatically sent out. The file ".forward" activates the vacation program.

If you already have the ".forward" file, then you need to rename it since the "vacation" command will overwrite the current " .forward" file.

The followings describe the procedure:
1. Enter the unix command
```
  vacation
```
2. The unix will give the following information:
```
  This program can be used to answer your mail automatically
  when you go away on vacation.
  You have a message file in /home/yourusername/.vacation.msg.
  Would you like to see it?
```
3. Type the character "y" and the "Enter" key.
4. The unix will give the following information:
```
  Subject: away from my mail

  I will not be reading my mail for a while.
  Your mail regarding "$SUBJECT" will be read when I return.
  Would you like to edit it?
```
5. Type the character "y" if you want to change the default automatic response message. Type the character "n" if you want to use the default message.
  - It is customary to tell people either how long you will be gone or when you plan to return.
  - Do not edit the lines beginning with the text "From:" or "Subject:".
  - Leave at least one blank line between the "Subject:" line and the body of your message.
  - Do not remove "$SUBJECT" text from the message.
6. If you type "y", then the Unix will give the following information:
```
  You have a message file in /home/yourusername/.vacation.msg.
  Would you like to see it?
```
7. If you type "y" to the above question, then the Unix will give the automatic response message again:
```
  Subject: away from my mail

  I will not be reading my mail for a while.
  Your mail regarding "$SUBJECT" will be read when I return.
  Would you like to edit it?
```
8. Type "n" and the Unix will give the following information:
```
  To enable the vacation feature a ".forward" file is created.
  Would you like to enable the vacation feature?
```
9. Type "y" to enable the vacation feature. And the Unix will give the following information:
```
  Vacation feature ENABLED. Please remember to turn it off when
  you get back from vacation. Bon voyage.
```
Now everyone who sends you an e-mail will receive the automatic response.

If you use "dtmail", then you can setup vacation feature easily.
- At unix prompt "$" type:
```
  /usr/dt/bin/dtmail&
```
- From the Option menu, select the Vacation Message... submenu.
- A dialog window will pop up. Turn on the Vacation option and other features you like.
- Click the Ok button.

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How to turn off the vacation feature?

To turn off the vacation feature, just re-run the "vacation" program.

Type the Unix command:
```
  vacation
```

The Unix will give the following information:

  This program can be used to answer your mail automatically
  when you go away on vacation.
  You have a message file in /home/yourusername/.vacation.msg.
  Would you like to see it?

Type "n" and the Unix will give the following information:
```
  Would you like to edit it?
```

Type "n" and the Unix will give the following information:

You have a .forward file in your home directory containing:
    \yourusername, "|/usr/bin/vacation yourusername"
Would you like to remove it and disable the vacation feature?

Type "y" to disable the vacation feature. The Unix will show the following information:
```
Back to normal reception of mail.
```

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What is spam mail?
The following definition is cited from http://www.centralscotland.police.uk/faq/internet.html.
Unsolicited e-mail, sometimes referred to as 'spam' or 'unsolicited commercial email' (UCE), is electronic mail which is unwarranted and sent for the purpose of selling the recipient goods or services. It is most often used for multi-level marketing schemes, get-rich-quick schemes, and work-at-home schemes or for questionable products or pornography.
Several years ago 'spammers' developed software that could lift all the email addresses from web pages. The software is similar to that used by search engines to index websites.
Automated 'robots' follow links from one website to another and trawl pages looking for any text that contain the @ symbol. These are assumed to be email addresses and are taken for later use in mass e-mailing.

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How to use procmail to filter spam mail?

Here is how you can screen out spam email. Create 2 files in your home directory:

a) .forward which has

"|exec /usr/local/bin/procmail"

Notes the double quotes

b) .procmailrc which has these lines

PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin
MAILDIR=$HOME/Mail
#LOGFILE=$MAILDIR/LogFile
#DEFAULT=/var/mail/$USER
#VERBOSE=no
#LOCKFILE=$MAILDIR/.lockmail


:0 H
*@boss.com
/dev/null

:0 H
*refiyourhome*@netscape.net
junk-mail

:0 H
*refiyourhome2@netscape.net
junk-mail

:0 H
*homesavailable*u@netscape.net
junk-mail

:0 H
*Joanniege@private.*cn.com
junk-mail

:0 H
*roessingsheilah@jammin.es
junk-mail

:0 H
*^From mylove4u@
junk-mail

:0 H
*^From viagra@
junk-mail


# Used during vacation: forwards to vacation, then makes a cc for myself
#:0 c
#|/usr/bin/vacation -t1d tha

Notes:

Hash (#) are used to inactivate command.
This procmail program will move all of the spam mail into a file call "junk-mail" or "/dev/null".
You can check these e-mail by running your e-mail software (e.g. PINE) and entering the folder "junk-mail".

You can go to Google and lookup for more Howto Procmail

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How do I do to download the elm messages in a file I can later, if needed, open again using elm?
If you want two copies, one in your pc and one on Hajek, do Use Eudora, read your mail as normal, this will save a copy to your pc. Next, login Hajek, start elm, delete all junk and spam mail, then quit elm. It will ask if you want to move your mail to "received" in Mail folder, say "yes". Note: You can rename this file to anything you like. The best is using date so that you can remember. Next time , you want to read old email again, start elm, press "c" to change to new directory, scroll to "Mail" folder, select "received" or whatever file name you saved your old mail to.
In elm, press "h" for more help.

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To/Cc/Bcc/Fcc/Lcc in PINE
In PINE, you can specify the outgoing message header options: To, Cc, Bcc, Fcc and Lcc.

To
Send this message to the following e-mail address (REQUIRED).
Cc (Carbon copy)
Send a carbon copy to the given e-mail address.
Bcc (Blind carbon copy)
Send a blind carbon copy to the given e-mail address. There will be nothing in the message header the that indicates a Bcc: was sent. The To: and Cc: recipients will not know a copy was sent to the Bcc: recipients.
Fcc (File carbon copy)
Save a copy of this outgoing message into a file. The default file is "sent-mail". You may type Ctrl+T to get a list of all your folders and select one to use as the FCC for this message.
Lcc (List carbon copy)
Send a copy of the message to a list of people but avoid having all of their addresses visible, in order to reduce clutter when the message is received.
To create a list of e-mail address, select the ``ADDRESS'' submenu in the main menu of PINE. Then type ``@'' to add new e-mail list.
When you compose your e-mail message, leave the header option To: blank. And type the nickname of the e-mail list in the header option Lcc:. Each recipient in the e-mail list will receive the message without their address being visible.

You need to use Ctrl+R to turn on/off the Bcc, Fcc, and Lcc header options.

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Email Aliases. How to figure out who lives at students@stat.ubc.ca?
1. Login to Hajek which is our main email server (all email processing happens on it).
2. The main configuration file is /etc/aliases. So type:
  hajek$ less /etc/aliases
  and browse through to get necessary information. It will contain lines like these:
  bertrand:riffraff grads:grad students:grad
  which explain that "riffraff" and "bertrand" is just one person and that there is no misterious difference between "grad", "grads" and "students" in our department.
3. Also, there will be lines like the following:
  grad: :include:/etc/stat-mailaliases/grad.list
  which instructs us look at the given file to get the list of people included into "grad" alias. To look at this list just pull this file on your screen by
  hajek$ less /etc/stat-mailaliases/grad.list
  You will see a simple one-name-by-line list of all grad students' emails.

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How to set up bogofilter to filter out spam?
We use the term Ham for email you want, spam for email you don't want.
1. Login to Newton
2. cd to your "mail" folder or dir that you store your Ham and Spam.
  cd mail
  .
3. For your 'spam' folder enter the command:
  bogofilter -s < spam
4. For each 'ham' folder:
  bogofilter -n < ham
  It will store your database in your home dir ~/.bogofilter/wordlist.db You need to "train" your spam filter using many "ham" and "spam" folders as possible to make it work well.
5. Edit your .procmail file using pico by typing
  pico ~/.procmailrc
6. Add to content below:
  :0fw | /usr/local/bin/bogofilter -u -e -p :0e { EXITCODE=75 HOST } :0: * ^X-Bogosity: Spam, tests=bogofilter mail/IN.spam :0: * ^X-Bogosity: Unsure, tests=bogofilter mail/IN.unsure # Used during vacation: forwards to vacation, then makes a cc for myself # Unhash 2 lines below to turn on your vacation #:0 c #|/usr/bin/vacation -t1d $USER
  Notes IN.spam and IN.unsure are two "spam" and "not sure" spam folders that you need to check to make sure you don't have false positive or false negative. You need to sort IN.spam and IN.unsure into "ham" and "spam" and re-train your filter to update your database.
7. To enable the filter type:
  pico ~/.forward
  and add this line (Yes, include the " ")
  "|exec /usr/local/bin/procmail"
8. When you need to turn on vacation, do not use the "vacation" command to turn your vacation command. Instead add this line to your .procmailrc
  # Used during vacation: forwards to vacation, then makes a cc for myself :0 c |/usr/bin/vacation -t1d $USER
9. OPTIONAL: Personalize your bogofilter:
  If you want personal configuration for bogofilter, just copy this file /nfs/packages/bogofilter/etc/bogofilter.cf.example to your home dir and rename to bogofilterrc
  cp /nfs/packages/bogofilter/etc/bogofilter.cf.example bogofilterrc
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Using outgoing mailserver from outside of StatNet

If you are using a mail client from outside our network (for example, from a residential DSL, other University, travelling Hotel...), you have several options:
1. Use your ISP's (or local network's) mail server. Most ISPs will provide a mail server for their clients to use as their outgoing mail server. Indeed, some ISP will force their client to use it by blocking all other outbound mail connections in an effort to combat spam and mail worms.
2. Use our authenticated mail service. If you have a StatNet Unix account, then you can set your outgoing mail setting to these values:
  
  Outgoing mail server: mailhost.stat.ubc.ca
  Protocol: SMTP/SSL (port 465, with authentication) or SMTP/TLS (port 587, with authentication). If there is a choice of authentication methods, LOGIN or PLAIN will work.
  Ports: 465(SMTP/SSL) or 587(SMTP/TLS)
  
  When you send mail, your mail reader will ask you for a username and password. You may also be asked whether to accept our SSL certificate. Accept (and store) the certificate for later use.
  
  Using our authenticated mail server is desirable under several circumstances:
  1. You frequently change ISPs: Using our mail server will relieve you of the tiresome bother of changing your mail setting everytime you relocate.
  2. Information about the local mail service is unknown.
  3. You want to send out mail as @stat.ubc.ca without problems. Some mail recipients will refuse mail purportedly coming from @stat.ubc.ca if it does not come from our mail server.
  4. You don't like the outbound Email policy of your ISP but they force you to use their mail server by blocking outbound SMTP (port 25) ports. Our authenticated SMTP ports use ports 465 or 587 and they are less likely to be blocked.
  5. Privacy of mail is essential: since the mail traffic to these alternate ports are encrypted, the entire mail transaction is resistant to tampering or snooping.

Submitted by The Ha, 2005-12-20.

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Webmail Certificates

Question

Accessing dept. Webmail from a mailroom PC at the Stat Dept, using the IE browser, now *requires a second login; and *this 2nd login leads to a "certificate error" message from Microsoft.

Answer

It's because of the Explore7 doesn't like our "home made" secure certificate. Users should use Firefox since it's better in anyway.

To use Explore 7 for webmail, Start IE7, you will see the security error, Click on the Red icon "Continue to this website" It should go to our webmail page.

You will see the red highlight that say "Certificate Error", Single click it, Select "View Certificate" --> Click on "Install Certificate" --> A Wizard come up -- Click Next -- Next -- Finished.

New popup warning windows, Click "Yes" to install the certificate -- OK to finish.

Submitted by The Ha, 2007-05-16.

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How to use e-mail?

Using outgoing mailserver from outside of StatNet

Webmail Certificates

Question

Answer