3.6   About email Problems

(added 11 May 2005)

Here is some info about working with email problems.     (Note: we don't backup people's server-side email (e.g. what's in the webmail user's INBOX file) for reasons of privacy.)

• Has the person exceeded their email quota?

  (This can lead to messages like IMAP connection dropped.   It may also prevent deletion of email in some cases.)

• When was the problem noticed (date and time)?
• What caused the problem to be noticed?
• When was the last time email was used without a problem?
• We'll need to know which email client(s) is being used and what the version of the client is.
• For the email client, which protocol is being used (imap, or pop)?
• Did the person switch between protocols at any point? If so, when?
• Was the email client configured to download messages off the server or would it leave them on the server until explicitly told to delete them?
• Have you deleted any files from your home directory recently? Specifically, a file in your home directory by the name of mbox?
• If the problem was with an attachment ask that the attachment be kept while we look at the problem in case we need to look at it later (we'd of course need permission to look at it first).
• What is the IP address of the machine the mail client (reader) is running on?
• Was email read on a different machine than usual?
• If the connection is from off-campus who is the person's ISP? If the ISP is not the TCC we'll need the ISP's tech support phone number.   It would also be good to have the person's account name with that ISP.
• Be sure to ask if anybody else uses their account? (Be sure to note that this is a policy violation that can cost them their account.)
• If the problem looks like it may be due to a stale certificate on "mailhost" try the following.

  For the most part, (when connecting via ssl to mailhost) people will get a message saying that the mailhost certificate cannot be verified. The option will be given to accept this certificate permanently. Most people will take that option, and will not need to install the Thawte SGC Root Cert.

  In cases where the above doesn't work, the instructions given in email certificate renewal describe

  • how to obtain the certificate
  • general Windows instructions
  • Mozilla Thunderbird instructions.