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Home > Department Resources > Computing > Migrating E-Mail

Migrating E-mail from Astro to CalMail

  • Introduction

  • Frequently Asked Questions

  • Detailed Migration Instructions
    •


    Introduction

    On July 1st, 2009, the astronomy department IMAP server will be turned off as a consequence of budget cuts. After that date, all incoming mail will be forwarded to the CalMail service.

    Letter from the Chair

    Dear Colleagues:

    In an effort to streamline computing within the department, I asked the Computer Committee to consider alternative plans for providing services to users, especially those that duplicate campus-provided services. In consultation with the computer staff we have decided that to move individual email to the campus Calmail service effective July 1.

    If you are not familiar with Calmail you can find information at: https://calmail.berkeley.edu/

    Please note:

    + You can keep your existing email address (it will remain username@astro.berkeley.edu) but you will be asked to create a Calmail (usename@berkeley.edu) address if you do not have one already.

    + The default interface to Calmail is a web interface. However, we expect that most users will want to continue to access email using their favorite reader (Pine, Thunderbird, Mail in Mac OS X, &c.). Calmail provides both POP3 and IMAP services. Therefore, this will take only a few minutes to configure.

    Many of us already use Calmail exclusively, and the Statistics Dept. has just taken the step of migrating to Calmail, so we have confidence that this action can be executed with minimal disruption. The positive effects of this move will be to decrease the time that our hard-working computer staff spends maintaining local mail services, including hardware and software upgrades. You should also experience better reliability and less spam, thus making mail a more dependable tool for your work. There are some downsides, such as limits on maximum attachment sizes (35 Mb) and total storage sizes (1Gb), although these can be easily mitigated, including the purchase of more disk space on the Calmail server on a case-by-case basis.

    In the coming weeks you will be getting a letter from our computer staff pointing to a tutorial for making this transition. In the interim, please let me know if you have any concerns.

    James Graham


    Frequently Asked Questions

    1. Will I Retain My username@astro.berkeley.edu Address?

      2. Yes. Mail sent to your username@astro.berkeley.edu address will be forwarded to your CalMail account. You must send your CalMail address to central@astro.berkeley.edu before July 1, 2009 to activate forwarding.

    2. Can I still use pine to read my mail?

      3. Yes. See these migration instructions.

    3. How do I set up my mail client (Mac Mail, Thunderbird, etc.) to use CalMail?

      4. See these migration instructions.

    4. How do I create a CalMail account?

      5. First of all, you need to know your CalNet username and passphrase. Bill or Kelley can help you set your CalNet passphrase. Once your CalNet passphrase is set, see these instructions.

    5. When I try to delete a CalMail message using Mac Mail, I get a "null mailbox" error. How can I fix this?

      6. You need to make a small configuration change. Please follow these instructions.

    6. Will I be able to read my old IMAP mail folders with Mac Mail or Thunderbird?

      7. No. They are on the astronomy department server and will not be accessible via IMAP. They will still exist in your home directory mail folder and can be seen with pine when it is run on a department computer. If you need to have these files available via IMAP, you can always copy them to the CalMail server. If you simply want to see them locally, copy them to a Local folder.

    7. Will I still be able to read mail using the department's SquirrelMail (webmail) service?

      8. No. Our SquirrelMail (webmail) service will be shut down. Any folders visible via the department's SquirrelMail interface will be inccessible except with pine running on a department computer. CalMail has a SquirrelMail interface. You should copy any mail folders to the CalMail server if you want to access them via SquirrelMail after July 1, 2009.

    Detailed Migration Instructions


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