University of Kentucky POP Electronic Mail Service

NEW E-MAIL SERVICE

The new U-connect e-mail service replaced the previous system on 6 August 2001. Eudora and POP can still be used, but some settings should be changed and new options are available. (Read more.)

The following pertains to the old POP system.

POP ELECTRONIC MAIL SERVICE

POP (Post Office Protocol) mail is the recommended and supported campus e-mail system. POP mail is delivered using a client program on your personal computer and a centrally located server machine. We support Eudora, a POP client, for Macintosh and Windows. Mail that is sent to you from another person is stored on the central server until your machine requests it. Your mail is then downloaded to your personal computer. You can read, edit, save, and reply to the mail on your machine without tying up the central server. The server then takes care of finding the correct route, sending the letter to its destination, retrying if the destination machine or network is down, etc.

Students can request a POP mail userid online. Faculty and staff must contact the User Accounts Services office in McVey Hall. They can also help you if you forget your password.

SETTINGS - CONFIGURATION

There are several items you must set in the Eudora Settings before you can begin sending and receiving mail.

GETTING STARTED
Real name:	Your real name
User name:	Your POP userid
Mail Host:	pop.uky.edu
Return address:	Usually username@pop.uky.edu

HOSTS
Mail:	pop.uky.edu
SMTP:	pop.uky.edu
Directory services:	ukcc.uky.edu (This is a Ph server.)
Finger:	pop.uky.edu or leave blank

CHECKING MAIL
Username:	Your POP userid
Mail Host:	pop.uky.edu
Check for mail:	15 minutes
Authentication:	Password

SENDING MAIL
Return address:	Don't change
Domain to add to unqualified names:	Leave blank
SMTP Server:	Don't change

Note that some settings are repeated in several places and changing them one place will change them all. Our hints for POP mail have more information about settings. The details of the settings menus are release and platform dependent, so what you see may vary somewhat from this example.

PASSWORDS

It is strongly recommended that you change your password the first time you use it. This can be done through Eudora or by connecting to pop.uky.edu by telnet, logging on with your POP userid and password, and then following the instructions. A password must:

have six to eight characters,
contain at least two alphabetic characters and at least one numeric or other non-alphabetic character (alphabetic includes uppercase and lowercase letters),
differ from the previous password by at least three characters, and
not be the same as the userid or a simple rearrangement of the characters in the userid.

Note that passwords are case sensitive. The passwords Secret, secret and SECRET are all different. However, this difference is ignored in the above tests. For example, if you had the password "Secret" and changed it to "SECRET" it would be different but would fail the differing characters test.

E-MAIL DIRECTORY

Whichever e-mail system you are using, be sure you have your preferred address listed in the campus e-mail directory.

E-MAIL FORWARDING

If you switch from POP mail to some other system or if you leave the University you can have the e-mail that is sent to your old pop.uky.edu address forwarded automatically to your new address. You should only rely on this for a short time. Inform your correspondents of your new e-mail address and update any list subscriptions you have. Forwarding adds a delay to your mail delivery and we cannot guarantee that e-mail forwarding will continue for more than one year.

To set up mail forwarding telnet to pop.uky.edu and login using the same userid and password you use to read your mail. Enter the selection from the menu for creating an alias and follow the prompts. You will need to supply your complete new e-mail address (username@host.name). It's a good idea to test that you've correctly set up forwarding by sending e-mail to your pop.uky.edu address and then checking at your new address.

LIMITS

The limits on the POP mail system conform to the uniform limits on all campus-wide mail systems.

RETENTION PERIOD		Mail that has been read but left on the server will be deleted after seven days. Unread mail older than 30 days will be deleted. No notification is sent regarding deleted mail.
SIZE & NUMBER LIMITS		Each e-mail message, incoming and outgoing, including all attachments, is limited to ten megabytes. The practical limit, particularly if you are using a modem connection, is probably less than five megabytes. Many mail systems will not accept messages larger than one megabyte. See our notes on transferring larger files if you have requirements that exceed those limits. Accumulation of mail on the server beyond 20 megabytes for a single user will be deleted. No notification is sent regarding deleted mail.
INACTIVE USERIDS		Mail userids not used for 60 days will have their mail service suspended. Mail sent to a suspended userid will generate a return message to the sender indicating that mail is not being accepted by the suspended userid because it is inactive. No notification is sent to the userid that is suspended.
CHECKING FOR MAIL		Checking the server (polling) for mail should be at 10 minute or longer intervals. Shorter intervals will first cause a warning to be mailed to the user, while a second offense will cause the userid to have its mail suspended.

This page was last updated on 2001-11-12. Please direct questions and comments regarding this page to webmaster@www.uky.edu.