What file types are blocked by UCT's email gateways?
Viruses are known to use specific file types as distribution mechanisms. In accordance with the email RFC (a standard for mail systems) and its recommendations, certain file types are blocked by the UCT email gateways:
| .ani .bat .chm .cmd .cnf .com .cpl .exe .hta |
.ins .jse .lnk .mad .maf .mag .mam .maq .mar |
.mas |
.sct .shb .shs .vbe .vbs .wsc .wsf .wsh .xnk |
How will I know if an email that I am sending contains a blocked file type?
The sender of a message that contains a blocked file type will receive a bounced message that says: "This message contains an unwanted file extension: file_extension".
Does UCT have an email disclaimer?
A disclaimer is included on all email messages sent from UCT's mail servers to external email addresses. You do not have to do anything to enable this to happen, nor will you be able to prevent it from being attached to your messages. The disclaimer will be added to your message after you have clicked Send, so you will not see it in the body of your message. The disclaimer will not affect your email signature.
Who should I direct my complaints or comments to about having a disclaimer?
Please direct all email disclaimer-related queries to the Registrar. All technical calls should be logged with the IT Helpdesk.
What does the disclaimer say?
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN
This email is subject to UCT policies and email disclaimer published on our website at http://www.uct.ac.za/main/
Where can I find a UCT colleagues email address?
The UCT White Pages is a web-based application which accesses a centralised repository of contact information for all staff members at the University of Cape Town.
What is a bounced message?
A bounced message is an email message that a sender receives when the email they sent could not be delivered as a result of an error. The message may have bounced due to an internal or external error (UCT mail server or an external company's mail server) or it may be caused by an error on the sender's side.
What information can you get from a bounced message?
A bounced message tells you why your email message was not delivered. It normally gives the name and a description of the error. Typically, a bounce message will contain several pieces of information to help the original sender in understanding the reason his message was not delivered:
- The date and time the message was bounced
- The identity of the mail server that bounced it
- The reason that it was bounced (e.g. Administrative prohibition)
- The headers of the bounced message
- Some or all of the content of the bounced message
What could be the reason for me getting a bounced email when I send a message?
| Caused by you | ||
| Bounced message | Description | What to do about it? |
| Administrative prohibition | You are using a malformed email address or the email address is in an incorrect format. |
Ensure that:
|
| Message size exceeds maximum permitted | The size of your message, including all headers, text and attachments, exceeds the maximum allowed size as set on the UCT mail server, or the recipient's mail server won't accept your email because it is too big. | Ensure that an email that is sent externally doesn't exceed 10MB. |
| Caused by the UCT mail server | ||
| Sender verify failed | The UCT mail server is unable to identify the person (sender) trying to send the email. | Send an email to the IT Helpdesk and attach the bounced message. |
| Relay not permitted | The UCT mail server cannot pass on the message to the external mail server. | Send an email to the IT Helpdesk and attach the bounced message. |
| Caused by an external mail server | ||
| No such recipient/ unknown user or Sender verify failed |
The recipient's mail server replies that there is no such email address on the system. The recipient must contact their mail server administrators. You may have to send them the email headers. | Note: If it has been confirmed that the error is not on the recipient's side, send an email to the IT Helpdesk and attach the bounced message. |
| Retry timeout exceeded | The recipient's mail server failed to communicate, for a long period of time and the retry period was reached. | The recipient must contact their mail server administrators. You may have to send them the email headers. |
| Retry time not reached | The recipient's mail server failed to communicate; unable to connect to the server. | Send an email to the IT Helpdesk and attach the bounced message. |
Why am I not receiving emails from external senders?
If an external person gets a bounced message when sending you an email, the error may be:
| Caused by the sender | ||
| Bounced message | Description | What to do about it? |
| Administrative prohibition | Usually the sender is using a malformed email address or the email address is in an incorrect format. |
The sender must ensure that the
|
| Message size exceeds maximum permitted | The size of sender's message, including all headers, text and attachments, exceeds the maximum size limit per message on the UCT mail server. | Ensure that an email sent does not exceed 25MB. |
| Caused by the external mail server | ||
| Sender verify failed | The sender's mail server is unable to identify the person (sender) trying to send the email. | The recipient must contact their mail server administrators. You may have to send them the email headers. |
Relay not permitted |
The UCT mail server cannot pass on the message to the UCT mail server. | The recipient must contact their mail server administrators. You may have to send them the email headers. |
| Caused by the UCT mail server | ||
| No such recipient/ unknown user or Sender verify failed |
The UCT mail server replies that there is no such email address on the system. The recipient must contact their mail server administrators. You may have to send them the email headers. | Note: If it has been confirmed that the error is not on the recipient's side, send an email to the IT Helpdesk and attach the bounced message. |
| Retry timeout exceeded | The UCT mail server failed to communicate, for a long period of time and the retry period was reached. | Send an email to the IT Helpdesk and attach the bounced message. |
| Retry time not reached | The recipient's mail server failed to communicate; unable to connect to the server. | The recipient must contact their mail server administrators. |
How do I recover deleted mail items using Outlook Web App?
- In your Outlook Web App mailbox, right-click the Deleted Items folder and select Recover Deleted Items.
- In the Recover Deleted Items dialog box select the email(s) that you would like to recover and click Recover Selected Items.
- In the Recover to Folder dialog box select the folder that you would like to move the email to and click Recover.
- The email will appear in the folder that you selected.
How can I send large files?
Send large files up to 100GB via the FileSender web-based service, which is managed by SANReN on behalf of South African universities and the research community. Navigate to filesender.sanren.ac.za/filesender/ then select the University of Cape Town. Log on using your UCT staff/student number and password. View the FileSender knowledge base article for more information about this platform.
Can I create multiple Outlook profiles on a computer?
In some cases, more than one UCT staff member may be using a computer to access their Outlook mailbox. In order to accommodate this, a separate Outlook profile will need to be created for each staff member. To do this, follow the instructions we have provided for Windows users.
- Click Start > Control Panel > Mail (32-bit).
- In the Mail Setup dialog box click Show Profiles > Add in the Mail dialog box.
- In the New Profile dialog box enter Exchange_UCT in the Profile Name and click OK.
- In the Add New Account dialog box enter the staff member's information in the relevant fields:
- Your Name: name and surname.
- Email Address: preferredname.surname@uct.ac.za.
- Password: UCT network password
- Click Next.
- Outlook will search for the user's information. In the Windows Security message click Use another account.
- In the first field, enter wf\user's staff_id, (e.g. wf\01234567).
• In the second field, ask the user to enter their UCT network password.
• Click OK > Finish.
- In the first field, enter wf\user's staff_id, (e.g. wf\01234567).
- In the Mail dialog box select the Prompt for a profile to be used checkbox and click OK
Each time Outlook is accessed, the user will be promoted to enter their log on details.
Under what circumstances can I request a change of my email address?
UCT allows you to change your preferred name/s or surname, e.g. in the case of marriage or if your name was incorrectly captured in SAP or the Third Party system. As soon as the applicable form has been processed, the change will be applied to your email address. You will, however, need to set up a process to notify your correspondents of your new email address. The following is the process you follow to change your email address and to set up a notification rule.
How do I request a change to my email address?
- Permanent or T-contract staff member: You need to complete the HR101 Personal Details form (indicating your current and previous name/s and surname) and submit it to HR. The HR department will capture the new details into the provisioning system.
- Third party member: You need to complete a BAS08 Amendment of Third Party Identification form (indicating your current and previous name/s and surname) and submit it to your department's Third Party System user. The Third Party System user will update the information into the Third Party System.
Once the information has been captured, you will receive a confirmation email containing your new email address and a temporary nickname address, which is only valid for six months. During this time, all mail sent to your old email address will be delivered to your current mailbox until the temporary email address's expiration date.
Do I need to inform my contacts about the change to my email address?
Although all emails sent to your old email address is automatically sent to the new email address, it is a good idea to create a rule to send an automated reply to your contacts notifying them of the new email address.
How do I request a shared mailbox?
According to the UCT email naming standard policy, faculties and departments may request generic email addresses provided they abide to these rules. The department and faculty must ensure that their preferred generic email address does not clash with any existing UCT email address. The request must then be authorised by your Dean/Head of Department/ Executive Director as they are held accountable and responsible for generic email addresses within their faculty or department.
Complete the request form and provide the required information.
Is there Outlook training available?
Permanent UCT staff and third parties (T1 and T2) can use the UCT SAP SuccessFactors Learning platform to find, book, and manage their learning development activities.
Contract staff can continue to book training requests at https://ictsapps.uct.ac.za/cbs/. To register, please complete our online course booking form and you will receive a confirmation email indicating that you have successfully registered for the course.
Our Outlook courses are offered as half-day training sessions. Alternatively, you can use our online training resources to learn Outlook at your own pace.
Why do I experience slow access to Outlook folders when in online mode?
Issue experienced by user/affected systems when using, accessing or working with:
- a user's mailbox in online mode
- user's online archive mailbox
- a shared folder in another user's mailbox
Users will experience slow response within the Outlook client. This may result in the Outlook client becoming unresponsive.
Explanation
Any mailbox or folder in online mode works over the Internet, and is accessed over the network to the Cloud data centre. Previously, when UCT's email systems were hosted in our data centre, this behaviour would not have been noticed (or the effect would be much less evident from a user perspective).
Resolution/Workaround
| Explanation | Solution | Links | Workaround |
|
| Mailbox in online mode |
ICTS recommends that a user mailbox should not be used in online mode, but rather in cached mode.
|
KB0010662 - Outlook Cached Exchange Mode | Access your mailbox using Outlook Web App. | |
| Accessing your online archive | Outlook's online archives are primarily used for:
|
There is no current solution.
|
KB0010663 - Inbox rules in Outlook Web App | |
| Shared folder/mailbox in Outlook | Various groups and departments make use of "shared mailboxes" to ensure that common types of communications are stored and processed, and to provide for email to/from a generic email address. | Shared folders can be set to cached mode, but this is strongly discouraged due to the fact that (especially in cases where users transact with the shared resource often and simultaneously) corruption of the data can occur. Users are advised to access shared folders via Outlook Web Access | KB0010662 - Outlook Cached Exchange Mode | ICTS is reviewing the use of shared mailboxes with the view to introducing more options, such as distribution lists, public folders and Outlook groups. |
Additional Technical Information
The online archive has 100GB mailbox space in addition to the 100GB of primary mailbox space. ICTS recommends that you move email to the online archive only if your primary mailbox is running out of storage space or to reduce the file size of the cached copy of your primary mailbox (if you have a small hard drive).
Once a user sets up a mailbox in Exchange Online, the archived mailbox will do auto-mapping via the Auto-discover service as the archive works in online mode. Once you archive an email in the local Outlook client, the email will sync to the online mailbox and be archived in the cloud. It will then sync to the local Outlook client again. If the item is too large, it will take more time.
It is an expected behaviour that access to the archive folder in Outlook clients may be slower than when using Outlook Web App (OWA). For this scenario, there is no setting in Office 365 that can improve this performance.
The online archive feature doesn't create local copies in Outlook 2013. All the data is from Exchange Online. As for OWA, the mechanism to connect to Exchange Online is different from the Outlook desktop client.
Note: The performance can be much better in OWA.
In addition, when accessing online archive folders, Outlook may appear to freeze when updating rules, adding additional mailboxes or adding delegates. All these actions start the sync from the Exchange Online server which may cause temporary slow performance of Outlook clients.
The recommended way to move email to online archive is by using OWA.