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Lamar E-mail Migration Overview

Contents


Resources


Lamar Migration News and Updates

  • 3/11/2015 - Lamar to Office 365 Notification E-mail Sent: ACNS sent an e-mail to all Lamar only users and owners of secondary eIDs letting them know that we will begin moving Lamar only accounts to Office 365 in the coming weeks. If forwards were set on Lamar accounts in the list, the message would have been redirected to recipients specified in the forward as well.
  • 3/3/2015 - Lamar to Exchange Migration Completed
  • 1/22/2015 - Lamar to Exchange Migration Started: During this phase, users who have both a Lamar account and Central Exchange account will have the contents of their Lamar account migrated to a _FromLamar folder in their Central Exchange account.
  • 12/29/2014 - eID Update and Modify Processes Updated to Stop Creating New Lamar Accounts: The options presented via the "Change E-mail Address" form at the eID will be updated as Exchange eligibility is extended to include to all eIDs except for undergraduate students, whose e-mail accounts are provided by Google Apps. Central Exchange mailboxes will automatically be created for new eIDs (including graduate students and secondary eIDs) created on or after December 29. This change is the first step in decommissioning Lamar and is necessary to stop the creation of new Lamar accounts

Background

Lamar is a first generation central Unix server that was first brought online circa 1990. Today, Lamar is primarily used for email and hosting websites. The server hardware is so old neither the hardware nor the operating is supported by IBM. Furthermore, limitations of the underlying system software prevents CSU from acquiring InCommon Level of Assurance (LoA) 2 designation, critical to our continued use of grants.gov by our research community. For these reasons, coupled with the fact that excellent resources exist in the cloud for hosting email and websites, Lamar has served is useful life and will ultimately be retired.

Lamar e-mail services will be migrated to Office 365 mailboxes. The information below summarizes the populations of users impacted by the Lamar e-mail migration and also provides answers to common questions.

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Migration Schedule

Lamar migrations are scheduled to begin January 21st for users who have both a Lamar account and a Central Exchange account - i.e. Population 1 users as described in the Lamar E-mail Migration Process and User Impact section of this page. Lamar migrations for Population 2 users are scheduled to begin moving to Office 365 in March 2015. In both cases we are planning to migrate accounts based their department affiliation.

Migration Schedule for Population 1
(Lamar + Central Exchange) Users

Employee Department
Number Range
  Scheduled Move Date  
8001-8032 1/20/2015
8033-8105 1/22/2015
1001-1063 1/27/2015
1065-1371 1/28/2015
1372-1476 1/29/2015
1480-1570 2/3/2015
1571-1586 2/4/2015
1588-1675 2/5/2015
1678-1680 2/10/2015
1681-1771 2/11/2015
1773-1802 2/12/2015
1870-1874 2/17/2015
1875-2001 2/18/2015
2002-4040 2/19/2015
5060-6028 2/24/2015
6030-7140 2/25/2015
0001-0170 2/26/2015


Migration Schedule for Lamar Only Users (Population 2)

Employee Department
Number Range
  Scheduled Move Date  
 
1018, 1019, 6000-6030,
& 8000-8031
Pre-4/7/2015
1005-1120 4/7/2015
1170-1172 4/8/2015
1173-1272 4/9/2015
1275-1371 4/13/2015
1372-1373 4/14/2015
1374-1476 4/15/2015
1480-1601 4/16/2015
1620-1681 4/20/2015
1682-1776 4/21/2015
1778-1785 4/22/2015
1787-1872 4/23/2015
1873-1875 4/27/2015
1876-1878 4/28/2015
2001-5060 4/29/2015
6012-9079 4/30/2015
Unaffiliated eIDs 5/4/15-5/7/2015
Grad Students 5/19/2015-5/27/2015
0000-1001 5/28/2015

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Lamar E-mail Migration Process and User Impact

Lamar e-mail migration will be handled in phases that align with two populations of users defined below. The migration process, along with anticipated user impacts are summarized for each population. Please note that delivery of e-mail for Lamar users, using the addresses currently in use today, will continue to work during and after the transition. With either population, users will be notified via e-mail when the migration is to take place, and will be provided instructions on how to access their e-mail after the migration.

Population 1: Users with both a Lamar and Central Exchange Mailbox

Example Users: Faculty, staff and associates for whom a Lamar mailbox was created by eID provisioning processes. Note that most faculty and staff have a Lamar mailbox even if they have opted to use Central Exchange for e-mail.

Migration Overview:

  1. Migrate existing Lamar e-mail to the user's local Exchange mailbox in a folder named "_FromLamar". This will be done automatically, and users may later rename the "_FromLamar" folder to anything they wish.
  2. Update e-mail settings so that e-mail sent to ename@lamar.colostate.edu or ename@colostate.edu address is delivered to the user's Central Exchange mailbox.

User Impact:

  • Other than the appearance of a new "_FromLamar" folder, most users will notice little or no change. Users who selected the Calendar Only option for Exchange and were using Lamar for e-mail are encouraged to have senders start using their first.last@colostate.edu e-mail address
  • Contacts added to an ACNSmail address book at https://acnsmail.colostate.edu will not be migrated. Contacts will need to be exported manually and imported into Central Exchange. Steps to do so are outlined at http://help.mail.colostate.edu/tt_acnsmail_export_csv.aspx.

Special note: this population of users will ultimately be migrated from CSU-hosted Central Exchange to Office 365 Exchange in a later migration. The above is a preliminary step to aid in retiring the Lamar server.


Population 2: Users Only on Lamar

Example Users: Graduate students, secondary eIDs, and Faculty and Staff who didn't select the option to use Central Exchange for E-mail and/or Calendaring

Migration Overview:

  1. Create a new Office 365 mailbox
  2. Migrate existing Lamar e-mail to the new Office 365 mailbox
  3. Take actions based on the value of the user's deliverable e-mail address set in eID:
    1. If the deliverable e-mail address is set to an address other than ename@lamar.colostate.edu: A one-time forwarding option will be set for the Office 365 mailbox to forward e-mail to the deliverable e-mail address specified in eID.
    2. If the deliverable e-mail address is set to ename@lamar.colostate.edu but there is a .forward file on the Lamar account: A one-time forwarding option will be set for the Office 365 mailbox to redirect e-mail to the address(es) specified in the .forward file present on Lamar.
  4. Update the user's e-mail settings in eID to reflect that the user is using Exchange for E-mail and Calendaring.

User Impact:

  • E-mail addressed to the user's ename@lamar.colostate.edu or ename@colostate.edu addresses will be delivered to Office 365 (or redirected to an external address if forwarding options were previously set in eID or via a forward set directly on Lamar). Put simply, final delivery should work just as it did before. Users will be able to modify their forwarding settings via Outlook Web App by updating forwarding settings configured for their mailbox.
  • E-mail will be sent with a From/reply-to address of first.last@colostate.edu (for secondary eIDs the From/reply-to address will be ename@colostate.edu). If users are subscribed to listservs or mailing lists, they will need to update their settings with the respective mailing list so that it accepts e-mail from the user's first.last@colostate.edu address instead of their Lamar e-mail address.
  • E-mail clients (e.g. Outlook, Thunderbird, mobile devices) will have to be reconfigured to connect to an Office 365 mailbox.
  • Users will need to enter their username as ename@colostate.edu (note the inclusion of "@colostate.edu" after the ename) when accessing their Office 365 mailbox.
  • Lamar users not previously using Exchange will now have a calendar as part of their Office 365 Exchange mailbox
  • The user's address book maintained on ACNSMail will not be migrated


E-mail Migration FAQs

  1. What is Lamar and why is it going away?
  2. Who has e-mail accounts on Lamar?
  3. How will Lamar accounts be migrated?
  4. What changes will I notice when my mailbox is moved off of Lamar?
  5. What will replace Lamar to host e-mail for new eIDs – in particular secondary eIDs and graduate students who were automatically assigned a Lamar mailbox?
  6. What will happen to e-mail sent to my ename@lamar.colostate.edu or ename@colostate.edu e-mail address that I've been using (and possibly printed on business cards, posted to web sites, etc.)?
  7. Will I still be able to use my e-mail client (ex: Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora, etc.) to connect to my mailbox after it is moved from Lamar to Exchange or Office 365 Exchange Online?
  8. When will my Lamar mailbox move?
  9. How do I know what my first.last@colostate.edu is set to? Can it be changed?
  10. I received a message stating "One or more folders in your mailbox is named incorrectly". What caused this and/or do I need to do anything to fix it?
  11. My secondary eID is set to move to Office 365 but I don't need it anymore. Can I just close it?

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What is Lamar and why is it going away?

Lamar is a first generation central Unix server that was first brought online circa 1990. Today, Lamar is primarily used for email and hosting websites. The server hardware is so old neither the hardware nor the operating is supported by IBM. Furthermore, limitations of the underlying system software prevents CSU from acquiring InCommon Level of Assurance (LoA) 2 designation, critical to our continued use of grants.gov by our research community. For these reasons, coupled with the fact that excellent resources exist in the cloud for hosting email and websites, Lamar has served is useful life and will ultimately be retired.

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Who has e-mail accounts on Lamar?

Lamar hosts e-mail accounts for a wide range of users including faculty, staff, retirees, associates, graduate students and secondary eIDs. In many cases, people may not be aware they have a Lamar mailbox because it was created automatically for them when their eID was created. You can check if you have a Lamar mailbox by logging onto Lamar's web client at https://acnsmail.colostate.edu using your eID. Additionally, you can check forwarding settings for your Lamar mailbox by clicking the "Change Lamar E-mail Options" link at https://eid.colostate.edu (note: the Lamar E-mail Options link will be taken away from the eID website at the start of Lamar migrations).

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How will Lamar accounts be migrated?

There are two populations of users impacted by the Lamar migration and the migration process for each group varies accordingly. Please refer to the Lamar E-mail Migration Process and User Impact section of this page for more information about the steps involved for the two populations of users.

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What changes will I notice when my mailbox is moved off of Lamar?

The impact to a user who had a Lamar mailbox depends on what category the user fits into as well as the e-mail settings the user had selected in eID. Please refer to the Lamar E-mail Migration Process and User Impact section of this page for more information.

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What will replace Lamar to host e-mail for new eIDs – in particular secondary eIDs and graduate students who were automatically assigned a Lamar mailbox?

Ultimately, e-mail will be migrated to Microsoft's Office 365.

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What will happen to e-mail sent to my ename@lamar.colostate.edu or ename@colostate.edu e-mail address that I've been using (and possibly printed on business cards, posted to web sites, etc.)?

Delivery of e-mail sent to ename@lamar.colostate.edu and ename@colostate.edu will continue to deliver to your mailbox on Exchange or Office 365 Exchange Online. However, when a user's mailbox moves to Exchange or Office 365, e-mail will be sent from first.last@colostate.edu (or, for secondary eIDs, ename@colostate.edu). We strongly encourage Lamar users to inform senders that they should direct e-mail to the user's first.last@colostate.edu e-mail address rather than continuing to use ename@lamar.colostate.edu.

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Will I still be able to use my e-mail client (ex: Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora, etc.) to connect to my mailbox after it is moved from Lamar to Exchange or Office 365 Exchange Online?

Yes, Exchange and Office 365 Exchange Online both support connecting to mailboxes using various e-mail clients including Outlook for Windows and Mac and mobile devices. Connections via secure IMAP are supported. Secure IMAP is supported by most modern e-mail clients including Thunderbird.

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When will my Lamar mailbox move?

Lamar mailboxes are scheduled to be moved in phases that align with the user groups mentioned in the Lamar E-mail Migration Process and User Impact section. The exact start date of the migration hasn't been set but is tentatively slated to begin in January, 2015. Announcements will be made to campus as dates are determined. E-mail notifications will be sent to Lamar users before and after their mailbox has been migrated.

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How do I know what my first.last@colostate.edu is set to? Can it be changed?

Users can check what their first.last@colostate.edu e-mail address is set to using the steps below:

  1. Go to https://eid.colostate.edu.
  2. Click the "Show my Information" link and log in using your eName and ePassword.
  3. Look for the Your First.Last Alias row under the "Personal data that you can change using this website" section of the resulting page.
Steps to change the first name and/or to request a professional/preferrered last name for use in your first.last@colostate.edu address are provided in the FAQs section.

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I received a message stating "One or more folders in your mailbox is named incorrectly". What caused this and/or do I need to do anything to fix it?"

The utility used to copy the contents of a user's Lamar mailbox to Exchange or Office 365 during the migration uses an IMAP connection to connect to Exchange. If Exchange detects an IMAP connection to a mailbox, it scans the the folders in the mailbox and reports folders that won't be accessible to the e-mail client making the IMAP connecting - in this case the migration process. This does not affect the migration of Lamar to Exchange or Office 365. If you are not planning to use an IMAP client such as Mozilla Thunderbird to connect to your Exchange mailbox, you can safely ignore this message. Most Central Exchange users would be in this category as the default connection methods for Outlook and Mac Outlook do not use IMAP to connect to Exchange servers. Optionally, you can update the folders listed in the message so that folder names comply with the requirements of an IMAP client.

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My secondary eID is set to move to Office 365 but I don't need it anymore. Can I just close it?

If you no longer need a secondary eID account, it can be closed after the migration process has completed by submitting a request to close it to the Central IT Help Desk (help@colostate.edu; 970-491-7276).

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