BlitzMail or UNIX Mail?
BlitzMail
The primary mail server provided at Dartmouth is
Blitzmail.
This is a client-server
system initially designed for Macintosh clients, now also available for Windows
clients.
In general, UNIX mail programs are designed to read mail sent to the UNIX
system, not mail on remote blitzmail servers. There are
limited UNIX clients available, and ways to use other UNIX mailers
with Blitzmail in a restricted compatability mode. These are described below.
The recommended method of using Blitzmail (including off-campus use) is with the
supported Mac and Windows clients. The machine must be connected to the campus network,
or to the internet by some other mechanism, and have TCP/IP networking configured and
enabled.
Blitzmail software may be downloaded from the PUBLIC appleshare fileserver, or the
the Dartmouth FTP server (ftp or Fetch) at:
ftp://ftp.dartmouth.edu/pub/software/mac/BlitzMail/Export/ or
ftp://ftp.dartmouth.edu/pub/software/win95/
You can get more help on this from the Kiewit Help Desk.
BlitzMail from UNIX
New accounts set up at Dartmouth initially have mail going to Blitzmail. If you
primarily read mail on a Mac or PC, but occasionally need access from a UNIX
account, you can use the textblitz program.
Simply type the command
textblitz when logged in to any of the central UNIX systems or
Northstar workstations. Even if you don't have a UNIX
account, you can log in via ssh to
nimbus.dartmouth.edu
with username blitz to read your mail. textblitz has
minimal functionality but you can read and send mail.
Hints on using textblitz
There are also UNIX blitzmail clients which require X-windows to run.
Jblitz is a graphical client written in Java.
The Blitzmail servers also understand a subset of the POP protocol for remote mail
access. Since there are several available mail readers which can use POP, this provides
another way to get limited access to Blitzmail. In general, you are limited to reading
the InBox, and cannot use folders or enclosures. The netscape
and pine programs are examples of POP-capable mail readers.
To use pine for Blitzmail, follow these steps:
- first find out the name of your Blitzmail server, by running
dndlookup -f blitzserv full.name
e.g.
dndlookup -f blitzserv r.brittain
returns "vixen.Dartmouth.EDU"
This doesn't change - you need only look it up once.
- run
pine, go to the folder selection screen and press "g" for "goto
folder". You are prompted for a folder name. Type:
{blitzserver.dartmouth.edu/pop3}INBOX
(replacing blitzserver with the name you found in step one)
You will be prompted for a Blitzmail name and password, and then be
connected to the inbox of that account. The success of this method of
sending or reading Blitzmail is not guaranteed.
UNIX mail
If you have a UNIX account, you can
forward all your new incoming mail to your UNIX account if you wish.
In the Mac Blitzmail program, go to the BlitzMail:Edit DND Entry menu item, and
type in a UNIX email address (in the form username@somehost.dartmouth.edu)
as the preferred E-mail address. All mail arriving for
your.full.name@dartmouth.edu
will now be diverted by the mail hub to the address you gave.
Always test this yourself after making any changes, or you may lose mail.
To use the Northstar system for your
mail, specify username@northstar.dartmouth.edu
- do not use the individual workstation
names since they may change over time.
Old BlitzMail will not be affected and will remain on the BlitzMail servers.
From your UNIX account you can choose from a variety of mail programs, such
as pine, which is a nice menu driven
program. (UNIX mail programs).
Back to RC Help/FAQ page