Migration of CalMail system to bMail

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Revision as of 09:59, 17 May 2013 by Igor (talk | contribs) (→‎I am no longer with the department. My mail to jdoe@math.berkeley.edu is forwarded to another account. Will this move affect me and do I need to do something?)
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Plan and schedule of our move to bMail

Below are dates and specifics about how the migration will affect you, your email access, and our department.

Scheduled move date
Friday, May 17 at 5:00 pm

It will take most of the weekend to move all the department’s mail from CalMail to bMail, but please understand that you will always have access to email. You will be able to send using bMail and receive messages using either CalMail or bMail service throughout the weekend while the migration is underway. It is hard to say when exactly your CalMail account will stop receiving new messages. Based on experience of other departments, the incoming mail switchover may happen sometime on Sunday, May 19. In any case, you won't lose any messages. The migration will be completed by Monday morning, May 20.

Summary of changes

  1. Existing CalMail accounts @berkeley.edu will be moved to bMail (hosted by Google). All messages will be copied to Google. Old Calmail messages will be kept in read-only mode for 60 days after the move.
  2. People who do not have a CalMail account @berkeley.edu will get bMail one before the move.
  3. Existing CalMail (subdomain) accounts @math.berkeley.edu will be merged with the primary ones @berkeley.edu. Both @berkeley.edu and @math.berkeley.edu addresses will stay valid but will point to the same (bMail) mail box. No old mail will be lost except very large attachments (larger than 25 MB).
  4. The email server storage quota will increase from 10 to 25 GB.
  5. The web interface of bMail will look quite different from CalMail SquirrelMail and RoundCube. However, it is designed for best user experience and is recommended by campus IT team as a preferred email application.
  6. The IMAP desktop and mobile access (using Thunderbird, Apple Mail, MS Outlook, alpine, mutt, etc.) to bMail will require a separate password (a.k.a. bApps Google key) that has to be setup at https://idc.berkeley.edu/mmk/bapps. The incoming and outgoing mail server should be set to imap.gmail.com and smtp.gmail.com, respectively.
  7. Some CalMail settings will not be migrated. Most notable setting that will get dropped is CalMail forwarding. You will have to reconfigure the forwarding after the move using either the IST administrative web page https://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/account or the bMail account settings page at https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#settings/fwdandpop. Other settings that need to be re-established may include filters, vacation message, and authorization (mail delegation).
  8. Personal address books will not be migrated to Google contacts as well. This is because a personal address book is not a part of CalMail system, but rather a part of email client software — each application (Thunderbird, alpine, SquirrelMail, etc.) may have its own address book. However, in bMail web interface, typing a name, a portion of name, even a single letter in the address field will bring up a list of bMail addresses. Recently used addresses will be at the top of the list.
  9. Existing CalMail (IMAP) folders will be translated to so-called Gmail labels. The main difference between a label and a folder is that a message can be tagged by several labels and, thus, can appear in multiple "folders" (without being duplicated) in contrast to CalMail in which a message may belong to only one folder (though may be copied to others).
  10. bMail comes with a couple of predefined labels, namely "All Mail" and "Important", which may confuse a beginner and cause troubles for IMAP users. "All Mail" is an archive place for all the mail one's ever sent or received, but has not deleted. It is not recommended to "subscribe" to this "folder" from a desktop/mobile IMAP client. "Important" label is automatically assigned to incoming messages based on Google importance ranking. Such messages are marked by a small yellow "sticker" in Gmail interface. Of course, not every message marked as "important" is really one, and vice versa.

Accessing bMail after migration

Accessing bMail via web interface (recommended)

  1. Open your web browser (Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, etc.) and type in http://bmail.berkeley.edu/ in the address field.
  2. You will get redirected to the CalNet authentication page (if not authenticated already).
  3. Login with your CalNet ID and pass-phrase.
  4. Now, you should see the bMail web application interface with the bConnected logo at the top-left and your primary email address at the top-right of the browser tab.
  5. At this point, you can start using the bMail web application. The web interface is intuitive, but you can always get help from http://learn.googleapps.com/gmail.
  6. Your bMail browser session may stay open for several days until you quit the browser.

Common configuration for all IMAP clients (Thunderbird, Apple Mail, MS Outlook, alpine, mutt, etc.)

  1. Get your bApps Google key if you have not done so already. You can use a pre-generated key or define your own. The key will be used as a password for your bMail (and other bConnected applications) account. Note the key is not set up until you click on the blue button "Set Key" at the bottom of the page.
  2. Configure your incoming server as follows:
    • Server name: imap.gmail.com
    • Protocol: IMAP
    • Connection security: SSL/TLS (port 993)
    • Authentication method: normal password
    • User name: jane.doe@berkeley.edu (your full email address)
  3. Configure your outgoing server as follows:
    • Server name: smtp.gmail.com
    • Protocol: SMTP
    • Connection security: SSL/TLS (port 465)
    • Authentication method: normal password
    • User name: jane.doe@berkeley.edu (your full email address)

Configuring bMail account in Thunderbird

Follow the step-by-step instructions below depending on your situation. The instructions apply to Thunderbird version 17 or later on Mac, Windows and Linux platforms.

If you do not have a pre-configured Thunderbird email account yet

  1. If you open Thunderbird first time and get a dialog box called "Welcome to Thunderbird", then click on the "Skip this and use my existing email" button. The dialog box "Mail Account Setup" should appear.
  2. Type in your first and last name (e.g. Jane Doe), your primary bMail address (e.g. jane.doe@berkeley.edu), and your bApps Google key as password, then click on the "Continue" button.
  3. Click on the "Manual config" button and select following settings, click on the "Re-test" button when done:
    • Incoming: IMAP server imap.gmail.com with SSL/TLS option (port 993) and normal password
    • Outgoing: SMTP server smtp.gmail.com with SSL/TLS option (port 465) and normal password
    • Username: jane.doe@berkeley.edu (your full email address)
  4. Do not go any further if you see the message "Thunderbird failed to find the setting for your email account". Carefully check the settings and try again. If nothing helps, try accessing your bMail account via web interface (see above).
  5. Click on the "Done" button to close the account setup dialog.

If you have a pre-configured Thunderbird account already

  1. If you have a pre-configured (CalMail) account, e.g. "jdoe@math.berkeley.edu", that has been migrated to bMail, then you need to reconfigure the incoming and outgoing servers and use your bApps Google key as password. Click on the existing account name (marked in bold letters) on the lest-side folder view, then click on the "View settings for this account" link on the right side. The "Account Settings" dialog window should pop up.
  2. Click on the "Server Settings" label on the left side and change the following settings in the right side of the dialog window:
    • Server Name: imap.gmail.com
    • User name: should be "jane.doe@berkeley.edu" (your primary email address)
    • Connection Security: SSL/TLS (port 993)
    • Authentication method: normal password
  3. Click on "Outgoing server (SMTP)" label on the left side, then click on the "Add..." button on the right side. Fill in the following fields in the pop-up dialog window "SMTP Server":
    • Server name: smtp.gmail.com
    • Connection security: SSL/TLS (port 465)
    • Authentication method: normal password
    • User name: jane.doe@berkeley.edu (your primary email address)
  4. Click on the "OK" button to close the dialog window. Make the newly added SMTP server default (click on "Set Default" button).
  5. Finally, click on the "OK" button to close the "Account Settings" dialog window.

Configuring bMail account in Apple Mail

Follow the step-by-step instructions below depending on your situation. The instructions apply to MacOS 10.7 (Lion) or later.

If you do not have a pre-configured Apple Mail account yet

  1. If you start the Mail application first time and get a dialog box called "Welcome to Mail", then type in the following fields and click on the "Continue" button:
    • Full Name: Jane Doe (your full name)
    • Email Address: jane.doe@berkeley.edu (primary email address)
    • Password: (your bApps Google key)
  2. In the next dialog box "Incoming Mail Server", fill in the following fields, then click on the "Continue" button:
    • Account Type: IMAP
    • Description: jane.doe@berkeley.edu (full email address)
    • Incoming Mail Server: imap.gmail.com
    • User Name: jane.doe@berkeley.edu (full email address)
    • Password: (same as in the previous step)
  3. In the next dialog box "Outgoing Mail Server", fill in the following fields, then click on the "Continue" button:
    • Description: jane.doe@berkeley.edu (full email address)
    • Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.gmail.com
    • User Name: jane.doe@berkeley.edu (full email address)
    • Password: (same as in the previous step)
  4. In the next dialog called "Account summary" you should see the following settings:
    • Account Description: bMail
    • Full Name: Jane Doe (example)
    • Email Address: jane.doe@berkeley.edu (example)
    • User Name: jane.doe@berkeley.edu (example)
    • Incoming Mail Server: imap.gmail.com
      • SSL:on
    • Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.gmail.com
      • SSL:on
    • Take account online (checked)
  5. Do not go any further if you get any errors. Carefully check the settings and try again. If nothing helps, try accessing your bMail account via web interface (see above).
  6. Click on the "Create" button. At this point you should be able to connect to your bMail account.

If you have a pre-configured Apple Mail account already

  1. If you have a pre-configured (CalMail) account, e.g. "jdoe@math.berkeley.edu", that has been migrated to bMail, then you need to reconfigure the incoming and outgoing servers and use your bApps Google key as password.
  2. Start the Mail application and select "Preferences" from the drop-down "Mail" menu (at the top of the screen). In the preferences dialog box, click on the "Accounts" button.
  3. Select the existing account on the lest-side of dialog box, then click on the "Account Information" tab on the right side.
  4. Make sure that the account information matches the steps 1 and 2 from the previous section.
  5. In the "Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)" pop-up list, select "Edit SMTP Server List" and make sure that you have the outgoing server settings match the step 3 from the previous section. Click on the "OK" button when done.
  6. Click on the small round red button at the top-left corner of the dialog box and save the settings. At this point you should be able to connect to your bMail account.

Minimal configuration files for text-based email clients (alpine, mutt, nail)

Please note that you will not realize many of bMail features by using text-based email clients. The configuration files below show only settings related to the bMail incoming mail server; the outgoing mail server is the host where the email client is run (this is the case for all Math department Unix servers). Replace the user name "jane.doe" with your primary user name and use your bApps Google key as password.

Alpine (pine) minimal configuration file .pinerc

inbox-path={imap.gmail.com:993/ssl/user=jane.doe@berkeley.edu}inbox
default-fcc=[Gmail]/Sent Mail
folder-collections=Math.Berkeley.EDU {imap.gmail.com:993/ssl/user=jane.doe@berkeley.edu}[]

Note: Please comment out or delete the lines 2-3 above if you are not interested in using IMAP server folders.

Mutt minimal configuration file .muttrc

set spoolfile="imaps://jane.doe@berkeley.edu@imap.gmail.com/"
set folder="imaps://jane.doe@berkeley.edu@imap.gmail.com/"
set record="=[Gmail]/Sent Mail"
set postponed="=[Gmail]/Drafts"

Note: Please comment out or delete the lines 2-4 above if you are not interested in using IMAP server folders.

Nail (Heirloom mailx) configuration file .mailrc

set folder=imaps://jane.doe@berkeley.edu@imap.gmail.com

Frequently asked questions

Will my existing addresses john.doe@berkeley.edu and jdoe@math.berkeley.edu remain valid as they are?
Yes, they will, though the mail boxes will merge into one. The address john.doe@berkeley.edu will become primary in bMail. However, you may make jdoe@math.berkeley.edu your default "From:" address.
Why do you call my address john.doe@berkeley.edu primary (in previous answer)?
Because it will show up first if someone looks "John Doe" up in the bConnected directory. Keep in mind that bConnected is a suite of three Google Apps — bMail (email), bCal (calendar), and bDrive (cloud storage). While your subdomain address jdoe@math.berkeley.edu can be used in email, it won't be visible in the calendar and cloud storage applications.
Can I change my email address assigned to me in bMail?
Not now. The deadline for change was Feb 27. Please wait till migration is over.
I use "nail". Will it still work? What about "pine" and "mutt"?
Yes, it will, but only after you set up a bApps Google key and change the IMAP server in "nail" to imap.gmail.com. This applies to "pine" and "mutt" as well.
Mail sent to my address jdoe@math.berkeley.edu is forwarded to my personal address john.doe@gmail.com. When I send mail from Gmail, it appears to come from jdoe@math.berkeley.edu. Will this still work?
Yes, but you will have to re-establish the forwarding in your bMail account.
My bMail account has been activated already and is forwarded to my personal address. What will happen after migration?
If you have a math subdomain account, then it will get merged with your bMail one. The forwarding will stay in place and will apply to both @berkeley.edu and @math.berkeley.edu addresses.
Can I forward mail sent to only one of my addresses, e.g. jdoe@math.berkeley.edu and not john.doe@berkeley.edu?
Yes and no. bMail forwarding setting is meant for sending all incoming messages to another account. However, you can also forward only some of your mail by creating a filter!
I am no longer with the department. My mail to jdoe@math.berkeley.edu is forwarded to another account. Will this move affect me and do I need to do something?
No. The address jdoe@math.berkeley.edu is not associated with any account; it is merely a redirect and will stay in place after the move.
I am checking my email over the weekend of migration. When should I do the switch in my IMAP email client?
You should reconfigure the incoming mail server when you stop receiving new mail. You may send a test message to your address @math.berkeley.edu from time to time to see if the switchover has happened already. You may reconfigure the outgoing mail server now.
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