Monash Email General Questions
This document will hopefully answer any questions you have that do
not fit into any other categories. Please see the main FAQ page for a list of categories.
Contents
The password is case sensitive. Make sure that caps lock is not on
when you are trying to log in.
Netscape and Mozilla are the only clients supported by ITS; however
you may use any client you wish if it provides the functionality. For
more information and settings, see the Monash mail server settings page.
See the following pages for instructions relevant to your client.
Please note that Microsoft Outlook is not supported by
ITS.
Please see the Vacation Message Setup Guide for help.
If you prefer to receive messages sent to your Monash Webmail
account via another account, you can set your Monash account to
forward incoming emails to an alternative email address:
- Log into the Monash Directory Service End User Tool here: http://mdsadmin.monash.edu.au/enduser/.
- From the menu bar on the left, select Email Delivery.
- Enter the email address or addresses that you wish to forward
mail to into the Forwarding Addresses text box.
- Choose your delivery method.
- Click Submit Changes
Please note: This information only applies to the staff email service, not the student service.
Update: Staff should now use port 465 (SSL) for outgoing mail. You can then send mail from home.
Instructions for using port 465 (SSL)
Earlier in 2004, both Telstra and Optus decided to block outgoing
network traffic on Port 25 to control the amount of spam and viruses being sent
directly from systems connected to the Telstra and Optus network.
Port 25 is responsible for a service known as SMTP
(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) which is the method by which emails
are sent from email clients/servers to other email servers.
In a similar way, the Monash outgoing mail server (SMTP) allows full
mail service from Monash systems, ie: from on-campus computers, or when
connected to a Monash modem account. However, it only allows restricted
access from "untrusted" sources, that is, external connections to the
Internet. Monash also blocks all outgoing network traffic on Port 25 except
to the Monash outgoing mail server. This ensures that all emails are scanned
for viruses before being delivered to either local or external accounts.
This does not affect students, or staff who use web-based email clients
(ie: the my.monash portal, or Monash Webmail ), because they are
actually using a Monash web service, no matter how they connect to it.
Does this affect me?
If this affects you, you may see the following error message when
attempting to send email while connected at home:
"Unable to contact your outgoing (SMTP) server.
Protocol: SMTP, Port: 25, Socket Error: 10061"
This message means that your computer cannot contact the Monash SMTP
server to send your email.
Does that mean I can't send email from home?
You have three options to enable your home computer to send email from
your Monash account.
1. Use port 465 (SSL).
Monash strongly advises this option.
Instead of using port 25, you can configure your mail client to use the more secure, port 465 (SSL).
Instructions for using port 465 (SSL)
2. Use your ISP's own SMTP server
This will not affect your outgoing email address (ie:
firstname.lastname@dept.monash.edu), nor will it change the way you
receive email. Also, you will not need to make any changes to any
computers you use on campus - only on your home computer.
Please note, the instructions given here are for Mozilla Mail and
Netscape Messenger only.
How to change your SMTP settings
Mozilla Mail
- Open Mozilla Mail, and go to :
Edit > Mail & Newsgroup Account Settings.
- Click on Outgoing Server (SMTP)
- Change the server name from smtp.monash.edu.au to your ISP's SMTP server.
If you don't know what your ISP's SMTP server settings are, please check with them.
- Click OK.
Netscape Messenger
- Open Netscape Messenger, and go to :
Edit > Preferences > Mail & Newsgroups > Mail Servers
- Change the SMTP server name as below:
- Click OK
3. Use the Monash VPN (Virtual Private Network) Client on your home computer
The VPN Client makes the Monash network believe that your home computer is actually a "Monash computer", and therefore allows you access to the SMTP server as if you were on campus.
You can download the latest VPN client here:
https://secure.monash.edu/its/vpn/
To use it, simply install the VPN client, and have it running while you are connected to your own ISP account.
The theoretical maximum size of an email is 10MB. Please note that this
includes the email body and any attachments. Also, the practical limitation
is a bit smaller than this if the attachment needs to be re-encoded from a
binary format to a text-safe format. Things like html email will also be
larger than plain-text email.
If you need to send an attachment that is larger than this, you have
several options. For example, you could try using a tool like WinZip to
compress the file before you attach it. If you are sending the file to
several people you might consider putting the file on the web and putting
the address into the email (likewise if the file already exists on the web).
You could also burn the file to a CD and give the recipient the CD.
If you cannot compose a new email or reply to an existing email in WebMail, then your browser may have pop-ups blocked.
WebMail opens a new window whenever you compose or reply to an email. Many browsers and browser toolbars (such as yahoo's and google's) block pop-ups.
You will need to configure either the browser or the toolbar to allow pop-ups from Monash's WebMail to open.
Generally, if a website is trying to open a pop-up and it is blocked, you can simply click an "allow pop-ups from this site" button on the browser or toolbar.
Instructions to configure pop-up blocking for the commonly used browsers and toolbars are here:
|
