Service Desk Knowledgebase: Mail Support

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This is the Mail Support content page of the CL Wiki Service Desk Knowledgebase. Its purpose is to provide information to the Service Desk team on how to handle problems and requests about this CL service. If you are involved with the provision of this CL service please feel free to add to the knowledge about that it.

If CL staff need to tell the Service Desk team about problems with this service please email
sys-admin-aside@cl.cam.ac.uk.

Return to the Service Desk Knowledgebase SERVICE PORTFOLIO

Key Service Description & URLs

CL Customer Documentation

Further CL Sys-Admin Resources

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/local/sys/mail/ has:

"user@cl.cam.ac.uk — mostly a mail router (like @cam), but for a few users a Mail Store, provided by the Laboratory; such accounts are available to staff, visitors and research students"

"If the user is a student on a ‘taught’ course (currently, any part of the Tripos and the ACS MPhil), the address is merely a “stub” pointing at the student’s “@cam” address. These stub addresses are automatically generated and the student has no control over them."

"If the user is a member of academic or assistant staff, forwarding of the address is initialised to be sent to cam, but is under the user’s control using the user mail administration web page."

"Hermes mail readers

Many users of Hermes will use the Computing Service’s Web mail system; this is a highly efficient service, and will appeal to most who like that sort of service…

Most (if not all) Linux distributions offer the text-based pine mail reader, which may be used for access to Hermes; visually-based mail readers are available in abundance: consult the Computing service advice on settings before proceeding."

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/local/sys/microsoft/email/ for Windows options.

Underpinning Services

  • ??? - Any supporting or underpinning services

Customer-base for this Service

Costs

SLA

  • N/A

Service Desk Call Handling Procedure

  • RT tickets can be escalated from the sys-admin queue to the Postmaster by changing the Queue to email-admin with the Owner set to Nobody & Status set to new AND emailing postmaster@cl.cam.ac.uk (using CC in a Comment). Tell the requestor:
    I am passing this request over to our Email team who, I'm sure, will be in contact shortly.

Processing Frozen Messages on the Mail Queues

Vince Woodley (9/1/2014)

Process email-admin RT "Message to building-users being frozen for moderation on mta?.cl.cam.ac.uk" tickets for spam and held messages Some of these will be held items to mail lists. If these come from members of staff they should normally be thawed and delivered. It is best to check if they are replies to a message to a list in which case you might wish to check with the sender that they meant to reply to everyone! Any spam to the mailing lists should be removed.

See also Running tools to view the queue

This requires your CL account and PuTTY on your desktop computer account to have been setup with the correct CL.ppk private key file before hand...

When you see an RT ticket on the email-admin queue To: email-admin@cl.cam.ac.uk From: exim@cl.cam.ac.uk like
Message to teaching-research being frozen for moderation on mta0.cl.cam.ac.uk
take the following steps:

1. Make sure Pageant.EXE is running and has your private key - by double clicking on CL.ppk or similar.

2. With it running in the system tray launch PuTTY and go to the CL's slogin-serv.cl.cam.ac.uk

3. Type kinit & press [Enter]

4. Enter your CL Password for CRSid@AD.CL.CAM.AC.UK & press [Enter]

5. Use ssh -K laira & press [Enter] to get the laira:~$ prompt

6. Refer to the RT ticket at "Message to building-users being frozen for moderation on mta?.cl.cam.ac.uk" to find which mta queue the email is stuck on.

7. Use the appropriate command based on the number ?:
sudo ssh -t mta0.cl.cam.ac.uk /usr/exim/setup/cmds/mailproc -Lf
sudo ssh -t mta1.cl.cam.ac.uk /usr/exim/setup/cmds/mailproc -Lf
sudo ssh -t mta3.cl.cam.ac.uk /usr/exim/setup/cmds/mailproc -Lf

8. If you get something like: 

 The authenticity of host 'mta1.cl.cam.ac.uk (128.232.25.21)' can't be established.
 RSA key fingerprint is 8e:f8:7c:10:79:85:02:07:e7:04:8d:2d:ca:31:ca:71.
 Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

Type yes and [Enter]

9. Click back in the PuTTY window and right-click to paste the above command & press [Enter]

10. Give your CL [sudo] password for CRSid: & press [Enter]

11. You will now start scrolling through the pending email one (of the three) mail server at a time. Some will simply be passing through the mail server at the time whilst others will be marked as ** message frozen ** and require action based on assessing the email.

12. At the Action: prompt the commands are single characters and case sensitive (the full range of commands are listed here) most useful are:

  • n for next (e.g. for non ** message frozen ** email passing through)
  • R for Remove, followed by yes or [Enter] to confirm or use no to cancel. (NOTE: email to abuse@cl.cam.ac.uk is very commonly spam. Most of the email marked ** message frozen ** will be spam BUT some may not be!)
  • T to Thaw and send a ** message frozen **, followed by yes or [Enter] to confirm (this takes a long time!) or use no to cancel
  • v to view the full headers (spacebar to scroll & q to quit)
  • V to View the message body (spacebar to scroll & q to quit)

[NOTE: The 5 issues to consider when dealing with suspicious messages are 1. Make sure it is frozen 2. The subject/title 3. That is in the abuse@cl.cam.ac.uk queue 4. Check the headers of above the message for information 5. If it not from a address inside Cambridge]


13. When you see the prompt Message ID: press [Enter]

14. When you return to the laira:~$ prompt you have finished going through the mail queue so type exit & press [Enter]

15. At the ssh-remote-0:~$ prompt type exit & press [Enter]

16. Put in an appropriate RT comment and Resolve the ticket.

Mail Forwarding for @cl.cam.ac.uk

Current Staff, Researchers & Research Students can change the forwarding themselves using the URL below. Once someone has left & lost their Raven account they cannot update their own mail forwarding for their @cl.cam.ac.uk address. Updates are provided only for former Staff, Researchers & Research Students effectively for life. Your account needs to be setup with the correct rights to get the CRSID: feature below.

To view a user's mail forwarding:

  1. Use PuTTY to login to slogin-serv.cl.cam.ac.uk
  2. At the svr-ssh-1:~$ or sandy:~$ prompt give the command:
    cl-ckadr -v CRSid and press [Enter]


To change a user's mail forwarding:

  1. GoTo https://usermailadmin.ad.cl.cam.ac.uk/UserMailAdmin/ChangeMailForwarding.aspx
  2. Enter the user's CRSID: & press [Enter]
  3. Check that you have the right person!
  4. To enter Update mode: click [Enable]
  5. Set Forwarding off-site: to what is requested & click [Update Off-site] (or [Delete] to remove forwarding)
  6. To exit Update mode: click [Disable]
  7. Go to your own CRSID: vrw10 & press [Enter]
  8. Then go back to user's CRSID and check [Show Update History] to check the update has worked okay

Valid users without an email address

All people in the building should have an email address so they can be contacted about safety related issues in the workplace. This ticket is generated if we spot an account or valid user without a valid email.

To resolve this fault you need to set an email address for them.

For visitors/interns etc you should contact the host, ask for an email address and add it to the visit record. Staff etc without a record perhaps indicate a failure of the normal processing and will need a record creating in the database for them.

User's mail not being delivered or backing up

NOTE: In the event of someone going over their mail quota email may start being frozen just because it is sent to that user's mail account...

  1. Connect to the mta (e.g. mta0.cl.cam.ac.uk using ssh) and take a look to see what's in the queue using /usr/lib/sendmail -bpu & press [Enter]
  2. Select an message and try to deliver /usr/lib/sendmail -v -M $Message_id & press [Enter]
  3. If it is for local delivery then check that the users .mail file is not at 2147483647 bytes in length. If it is then contact the user and ask them to rename the file or process the contents. Local delivery is now mainly used as an archive of mail rather than the main mailbox.
  4. If no obvious fault then escalate to postmaster as above.

User requests a friendly mail alias

When a user asks for a friendly mail alias then there are two alternative cases.

First get them to check if the alias they want can be created by them using the mail self-management form.

If that alias is not the one they want then provided their request is a sensible part of their names then it can be granted using the command line interface.

  • Using appropriate values for the parameters in red:-
 /usr/groups/eximcf/setup/cmds/SQL-cmd friendly CRSid friendly.alias RT#nnnn
  • If it fails reporting a duplicate, the old one can be deleted before trying the above command again, using the web interface or using the command
/usr/groups/eximcf/setup/cmds/SQL-cmd unfriendly CRSid
  • then check it is correct by looking for the line after 'eximcf..user_friendly_aliases ...' in
/usr/groups/eximcf/setup/cmds/SQL-cmd info CRSid
  • Either crank the exim rebuid handle or wait about 30 mins, and then check that the alias works
cl-ckadr -v friendly.alias
  • When all is OK, inform the user and close the ticket.

User requests a change to mailing list membership

If the list is one processed by the lists.cam.ac.uk server then the requestor should be told to email one of the list administrators which are shown by entering the list name in the search page.

User requests a CL mailing list

When a user asks for a new list, the sequence is:

Mailman List:

  1. Ensure the name is valid: it needs to be of the form n-m (so, for example, dtg-weather), and it must be unique. [NOTE: If they only require a mailing list @lists.cam.ac.uk then it can be of the form cl-name@lists.cam.ac.uk (i.e. without the hyphen) and no CL Alias needs to be set up.]
    1. On laira:
      cd /usr/groups/eximcf/setup/src
      view lists
      Use / to search for the name.
    2. Go to the Mailing List server at https://lists.cam.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo and [Search Advertised]
  2. Request a list of the for cl-n-m using the UIS group resources form with self as manager and the user as an additional manager, try to give a good description of the list's purpose. Most lists are Security:Closed and Access:Private.
  3.  When the list is created, used the emailed link to add the following CL postmasters as "sleeping managers" under:
    The list administrator email addresses. Must be @cam.ac.uk email addresses. Multiple administrator addresses on separate lines okay. (Details for owner)
    • gt19@cam.ac.uk
    • pb22@cam.ac.uk
    • djsd100@cam.ac.uk
  4. Don't forget to [Submit Your Changes]
  5. Use Membership Management... to remove yourself from the distribution (but leave as a manager) and [Submit Your Changes]
  6. If only a Mailman @lists.cam.ac.uk is required then that's it so tell the requestor that it's been setup and resolve the RT ticket.
  7. If it needs an @cl alias (do not ask if an alias is required, only do it if requested), add it as below. If it is moving an existing list to Mailman, make sure to comment out the old list in src/lists

CL Alias:

For historical reasons, there are two files which may host an alias: 'posts' and 'lists'. If the alias is for a role address (e.g. 'webmaster', 'chief-secretary'), use the file 'posts'. If it is for a email list it will normally have the format of 'cl-n-m@lists.cam.ac.uk'. If it is for a list then use 'lists', but if it is for a role address change all instances of 'lists' below to 'posts'.

  • On laira, to make an entry for the alias change directory and check out the file using:
 cd /usr/groups/eximcf/setup
 co -l src/lists
    • If it is moving an existing list from local processing to @lists.cam.ac.uk, comment out the old list entry in lists using:
 vi src/lists
    • ElseIf a "simple alias" without using an editor input it into the file using a command at the rjt58@laira:/usr/groups/eximcf/setup$ command prompt something like:
 echo "alias from=n-m to=cl-n-m@lists.cam.ac.uk # RT#12345 for CRSid" >> src/lists
    • ElseIf an "in-line alias" with multiple recipients without using an editor input it into the file using a command at the rjt58@laira:/usr/groups/eximcf/setup$ command prompt something like:
 echo "list name=list-name recipients=address1,address2 # RT#12345 for CRSid" >> src/lists
  • To check what changes have actually been made use:
 rcsdiff src/lists
  • To check back in the update with the RT ticket number as a comment, at the rjt58@laira:/usr/groups/eximcf/setup$ command prompt use:
 ci -u src/lists
 >> RT#12345 add list-name for CRSid
 >> .
  • Push the update on an omnipotent server using:
 make dist
  • Check the list using:
 cl-ckadr -v n-m
  • If you get
    cl-n-m@lists.cam.ac.uk
    tell the user that the list is now available and resolve the ticket.
  • Otherwise, check everything and if you see no obvious mistake, escalate the problems to backoffice. The normal error is
    n-m@cl.cam.ac.uk failed to verify: Unrouteable address

Request from admin staff for a list update

Lists may be managed centrally, delegated to users on Lab systems, delegated to users on the UIS @lists system, or may be centrally managed 'in line' extended multi-user role aliases. For the list '$list', try the tests below in order:

  • To see which are managed centrally, check for the existence of the data file using
 ls /usr/groups/eximcf/lists/postmaster/$list
  • If not centrally managed, see if it managed by someone else (the email address after the '/usr/groups/eximcf/lists/') using
 ls /usr/groups/eximcf/lists/*/$list
  • If not a full list, see if it is an 'in line' list using
 grep =$list /usr/groups/eximcf/setup/src/posts
  • If not mentioned, if there is a '-request' list, pass it on to that address
 cl-ckadr -v $list-request
  • If that fails, escalate the ticket to backoffice.

If the list is managed by someone else, pass the request on.

If the list in 'in line' or an alias, see CL Alias

If it is a dynamic list, then make sure that the lists is pushed to the MTAs after update by doing 

make -C /usr/groups/eximcf/setup dist

Otherwise, it should be migrated to the lists.cam.ac.uk server as part of the process. To do this treat it as a new list request (see User requests a CL mailing list) with the following differences

  1. The lists file will need the old list entry replacing with an alias entry
  2. The current membership modulo any changes requested should be set as the initial membership.
  3. Set the posting restriction initially to @cam addresses accepted.


IF you get a request like: 


 "Please can you just confirm which students are on the list: students-acsas@cl.cam.ac.uk?"
  • Then on laira got to:
  cd /usr/groups/eximcf/setup

And search using cl-ckadr -v n-m(adding the name of this list at the end of the command) 

 cl-ckadr -v students-acsas

Copy the output and return to the the RT# ticket for the requestor to see. 

 jg632@cam.ac.uk
 jz390@cam.ac.uk
 ds755@cam.ac.uk
 pwo22@cam.ac.uk

Type exit log out of cd /usr/groups/eximcf/setup file.

Request from admin staff for a ad-hoc list (e.g. staff member leaving collection)

  • Ask them who they want by top level category such at teaching staff, SRAs etc.
  • cl-ckadr -v can be used to check who's included in a top level category with verbose info. For example: cl-ckadr -v lab-officers
  • Go to laira and cd /usr/groups/eximcf/setup/src
  • Add at the end of the file lists (without checking it out) a line like:
# RT#96015
list name=staff-kmc42 recipients=lab-officers,lab-ras,lab-fellows,kw10006@cam.ac.uk,clc32@cam.ac.uk,jf382@cam.ac.uk
,jm896@cam.ac.uk,ncc25@cam.ac.uk,claccnts@hermes.cam.ac.uk,tnh23@cam.ac.uk,clstores@hermes.cam.ac.uk,mjm65@cam.ac.u
k,clfacman@hermes.cam.ac.uk,nb110@cam.ac.uk,cs219@cam.ac.uk,clugadm@hermes.cam.ac.uk,lmg30@cam.ac.uk,cb210@cam.ac.u
k,clrecept@hermes.cam.ac.uk
  • Don't check it in
  • cd ..
  • make install
  • Inform the requestor of the list name
  • When they no longer need it remove it form the file

Contacts

Primary

Availability

  • N/A

Hints, Tips & Known Issues

CL-* Mailing Lists

Vince Woodley (9/1/2014)

If a University mailman mailing list starting with CL- then the expectation is that the requestor will be the main manager and a colleague will be an additional manager but that CL postmasters will be as managers but not members. A volunteer postmaster is thus required. If the second manager is a Sys-Admin in RT then change the ticket owner to them with the status as New.

Autodiscover Service

Vince Woodley (9/1/2014)

The CL Exchange setup uses the Autodiscover Service to automatically confgure Outlook clients. Normally this will not be obvious to the user but if the virtual machine is not running correctly there may see a pop up asking if they want to allow https://svr-win-mta1.ad.cl.cam.ac.uk/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml to configure my settings. Allowing it is perfectly okay (when the system is working).

Categorising Keywords

  • Mail Email E-mail Exchange Outlook
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