VMS Mail Conversion

The new IMAP Server is ready for use, and utilities have been tested for moving old mail from VMS, so users should now migrate from VMS mail.

There are two parts to the process:

• choosing and using an alternate to VMS for current mail
• doing something about your old VMS mail

(1) Deciding which mail system to use

The Computing Division is now recommending strongly that users migrate to IMAP accounts. IMAP3 is working well, and has the capacity to accommodate all D0 users who are not already using IMAP. IMAP mail can be read from UNIX machines, PC's or Macs.

If you want more information on mail accounts, check the Computing Division Email page.

(2) Applying for an IMAP account

To apply for an IMAP account, fill out the online Computer Account Request Form.

(3) Choosing a mail reader

The recommended mail readers for IMAP mail are Netscape Communicator and PINE on UNIX machines, Outlook Express on PC's, and Netscape on Macs. Outlook Express is also approved for Macs, and Netscape can be used on PC's.

Outlook Express is thought to be less buggy than Netscape. Note that PINE supports IMAP as well as non-server mail. PINE is a useful alternative to the web mail readers on machines which have poor Internet connections.

For simplicity it is recommended that you always use the same mail reader, but this is not always practical. If you do use different readers on different machines, you may find that folders appear to get lost. If this happens, refresh the folder list.

(4) Setting up a mail reader

Directions for configuring your mail reader are available:

• For PC's, at NT IMAP Clients
• For Macs, at Macintosh IMAP Clients
• For UNIX machines
  • For Netscape, use one of the above references as a guide.
  • For PINE, at Pine at FNAL.
    Also check the sample .pinerc (PINE configuration file) which is formatted to read native PINE, MH, IMAP and Netscape at the same time. This looks complicated, but most of the parameters are default.

For any of these mail readers, be sure to set the servers as follows:

• incoming mail server = imapserver3.fnal.gov
  (users who have had imap accounts for some time will be on imapserver1 or 2)
• outgoing mail server = fnal.fnal.gov

(5) Setting mail forwarding

• To direct incoming mail to your IMAP account, you must change your mail forwarding on the Fermilab mail server, fnal.fnal.gov (a.k.a. fnal.gov). To do this, telnet to fnal.fnal.gov, and set the forwarding to username@imapserver3.fnal.gov, using the on-screen menu. If you have forgotten your mail server password, or were not even aware that you had one, contact Yolanda Valadez at ext. 8118.
• Then log into each account where you may receive mail, and set forwarding to fnal.gov. To do this on a UNIX node, create a file .forward in your home directory, and put a single line username@fnal.gov into the file.
• Check that the forwarding works.

This sounds complicated, but what it does is to funnel all incoming mail into the Fermilab mail server, which then directs it to your IMAP account. You can then read your mail on any system which has Netscape or any other IMAP mail reader installed.

List your e-mail address as username@fnal.gov. Do not include a node or system name such as username@d02ka.fnal.gov.

(6) Documentation

A variety of useful information can be found on the IMAP Server page.

PINE is well documented, with more references than you could possibly need.

For Netscape and Outlook Express, use the online help.

Links to all the Computing Division email pages, some useful, some obsolete, can be found at the Email page.

Do not move old mail from the Vax until you are satisfied that your new mail account is working properly. It would not hurt to clean up your old mail before you move it anywhere. As there is an individual quota on the IMAP server, you may not be able to store all your old mail there.

You have three options for dealing with old mail:

• Move it to the IMAP Server
• Archive it on UNIX or PC's
• Leave it on the Vax

(1) Moving mail to the IMAP server

The Computing Division has now developed a utility to move mail files from VMS to IMAP. The utility requires the installation of PMDF on the VMS nodes (to be done by the Computer Division), and will be supervised by the mail experts, at least to start with. If you are interested, please send your name and VMS node to Jean Rhoades (jrhoades@fnal.gov). There is a window of about six months for using this utility, after which the PMDF licence will revert to other machines.

Alan Jonckheere and Paul Russo have also written a Mail Conversion utility which moves mail from VMS to IMAP via MH and Netscape.

(2) Archiving mail on UNIX

Mail on the IMAP server can be transferred to the local machine through Netscape (and probably other mail readers). Folders can be opened for Local Mail, individual messages can be refiled, and folders can be dragged to Local Mail. So if you transfer all your mail to IMAP, you can then decide what you want to keep on UNIX, or on a PC if you have a big enough disk.

If you use Alan and Paul's Mail Conversion utility, you have the option of archiving mail on UNIX as a regular text file per VMS mail folder. You are then able to use all UNIX commands on the files, including grep and search.

(3) Leaving mail on the Vax

There will be a remnant VMS core for the foreseeable future, so if you do not expect to need your old mail too much, but would like to be able to access it from time to time, you can leave it on the Vax. However, if you are likely to want to move it eventually, it would be better to do so now while the tools are available.

This page is maintained by Jean Rhoades