Computer Policies & Procedures

IT Information and Resources on the Internet

Due to the rapid changes in computers, technologies and the internet, it is difficult to keep everything current in this handbook. So while the following information should be helpful to you, the most current information can be found at the following websites:

Energy Institute IT Support Page: http://www.energy.psu.edu/it
College of EMS IT Support Page: http://www.ems.psu.edu/facstaff/computer
University IT Support Page: http://www.its.psu.edu

CAC Accounts

All Energy Institute employees & students must apply for and obtain a CAC access account. A CAC access account will enable an employee to gain access to email, Energy Institute networked resources, and numerous Penn State employee online benefits.

Application for a CAC account must be initiated by the Office Manager, Kelly Rhoades, in C203 CUL, and completed by the new employee and submitted directly to the new accounts office in the Computer building. Many EI resources also use your CAC userid and password and since the approval process can take several days, it needs to be completed in a timely manner.

A CAC user id will usually be your initials plus a number up to three digits. For example, a user with the name John Q. Doe might have a user id of jqd123 and an email address of jqd123@psu.edu. The user id and password can be used to access PSU e-mail and Internet sites restricted to employees. You will also use these numbers to fill out your online benefits forms.

You may need to access your e-mail while away from Penn State and to check in over the summer or with your office while on a business trip. By using the following instructions, you can access your e-mail over the summer or any time you are away from Penn State.

Step 1. Before you leave

• Remove mail that you may have been storing on the server.
• Have you signed up for any automatic mailing lists? If you would rather not receive these while away, cancel your subscriptions or put a hold on them. If you leave your subscription services active, and do not check your mail while away, you may have hundreds or even thousands of e-mail messages waiting for you when you return. This may cause problems with software. The "welcome" message you probably received when you signed up should contain instructions.

Step 2. Obtain an Internet connection

• Option 1: Dial into a nearby campus - If you are within the local calling area of a Penn State campus you can connect through its dial-up lines. See http://cac.psu.edu/internet/dialup/ for a list of phone numbers. Once you connect, handle your mail as usual.
• Option 2: Use a new account - If you already have an account at your new location that you can use for e-mail (another university, business, or other Internet Service Provider), you can forward your e-mail to that account. To set this up, go to https://www.work.psu.edu/ and select "Change your forwarding address." You will be prompted for your Access Account user ID and password. After you enter the information, your directory entry will be displayed. It should contain something like "xyz123@email.psu.edu" (where xyz123 is your Access Account user ID). Change this address to your new destination (for example, me123@aol.com.) Be sure to type it correctly! Then submit the change by selecting the "Change" button. Once this is complete, all mail addressed to xyz123@psu.edu will go to your new address. If and when you return to Penn State, you will need to change this entry back to xyz123@email.psu.edu (where xyz123 is your Access Account user ID) so that you can again receive mail through your Access Account. Note that this will forward only e-mail sent to xyz123@psu.edu (where xyz123 is your Access Account user ID). Any mail sent to xyz123@email.psu.edu cannot be forwarded, but will remain on the server until you return (or your account is removed). If you do plan on returning, tell everyone to continue to send mail to you at xyz123@psu.edu (where xyz123 is your Access Account user ID).
• Option 3: Pay for an ISP - If neither of the above options are available to you, connect through a commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP). These services are usually not free, but they often charge a flat rate for unlimited usage and provide a local telephone number. The fees for these services vary, but typically run approximately $20 per month. Before you sign up with an ISP, consider how much time you are going to spend online. If you’re going to connect strictly to check your e-mail, long-distance charges for dialing into Penn State’s modems may be more economical.
• Option 4: Apply for free Web-based e-mail - Free Web-based e-mail is available from companies such as Yahoo and GMail (www.yahoo.com and www.gmail.com respectively.) Your e-mail and address books are saved on their servers and password protected. Since they are on the Web, these accounts can be accessed wherever you can access the Web (for example, home, a friend’s house, community library, Internet cafe). Once you have your web account set up, you can use it to check your mail on Penn State’s server, or you can forward your mail to this web account (see Option 2 above). One caveat: these sites are paid for by advertisements, so there are advertisements on their Web sites and they usually add a one-line advertisement to each e-mail you send using their service.

Step 3. Set up your e-mail software

Once you have your Internet connection, you need to set up whatever software you’re going to use to read your mail. If you don’t have Eudora or a dedicated e-mail program available, you can use Netscape Communicator, which has built-in e-mail capabilities.

The following instructions pertain to using Penn State’s servers for mail access. If you are using a different service, then ask your local network administrator or customer support representative for configuration instructions.

You need to configure the software with your Access Account information and Penn State’s server information. (See box for Penn State e-mail server addresses.) Then you can simply tell your e-mail software to "check mail." If you use America Online (AOL) as your ISP, you’ll need to either forward your mail from your Penn State account to your AOL account (see Step 2, option 2) or use Eudora, Netscape, or another POP Mail client to check your mail. AOL e-mail software is set up specifically for your AOL mailbox and it can’t be set to read e-mail from elsewhere. After you make the connection to AOL, you can launch your e-mail program (Eudora, etc.) and use it normally.

Whichever option you choose should be set up and tested ahead of time, if possible. If you need assistance call the Help Desk at (814) 863-2494 or 863-1035 or send e-mail to helpdesk@psu.edu.

Penn State E-Mail Server Addresses

If you are continuing to check your mail on our servers (in other words, if you are not forwarding mail elsewhere), then you’ll need to enter Penn State’s mail server information. You won’t need to enter all of the information below. Only enter what your particular mail program needs. Remember that you should replace xyz123 with your Access Account user id or alias.

• E-mail address or Return address: xyz123@psu.edu
• Username: xyz123
• Popmail account: xyz123@email.psu.edu
• Pop (incoming mail) server: email.psu.edu
• SMTP (outgoing mail) server: smtp.psu.edu
• LDAP server: ldap://ldap.psu.edu
• If it asks about POP3 or IMAP, choose POP3.

NOTE: If you are connecting from outside Penn State and you are using our SMTP server, you will have to check your mail before you will be allowed to send any messages. This is a new procedure intended to prevent people from outside the University community (e.g. spammers) from sending mail through our servers. ALSO PLEASE NOTE, MANY OFFSITE CONNECTION PROBLEMS CAN BE RESOLVED BY USING VPN ACCESS. FULL DOCUMENTATION IS AVAILABLE AT: http://aset.its.psu.edu/vpn/

Macs vs. PCs

The preferred/primary office computer used at the Energy Institute is a Macintosh Computer. Our minimum configuration of this computer is a G4 Power Macintosh running Mac OS X.3.9 or later.

Licensing of Software

• All software on all computers must be fully licensed.
• Unlicensed or illegal software will be deleted from all computers.
• All software must be installed by IS support for the Energy Institute. Contact eihelp@ems.psu.edu to schedule a software installation/configuration.

Timbuktu Remote Control Software

Timbuktu is software that can be installed on Macs or PCs. It is used to remotely monitor or control a computer. This software is useful for training, remote software installation, IS Support, and solving/minimizing licensing issues and cross platform challenges. If Timbuktu is not a part of your workflow, inquire about it with your faculty advisor or contact the Energy Institute IS Support at eihelp@ems.psu.edu .

Public Computers

• “Public” access computers are available to Energy Institute Faculty, Staff and Students throughout the Energy Institute. Several Macs and PCs workstations are located in AA402.
• Many of these computers contain software and have capabilities that are beyond that of the typical office computer. These additional capabilities include:
• Scanning
• CD Burning
• Photo Editing
• PDF creation and editing
• Downloading of digital pictures

Printing at the Energy Institute

Numerous networked workgroup printers are placed throughout the Energy Institute. From your office computer you should have several options of places to print: one within close proximity, and others for use as backups in case there is a problem printing to your neighborhood printer. Please keep in mind the following:

• Limited color printing is available at the Energy Institute. The color laser printer is located in 402 Academic Activities Building and should be a print option from your office computer.
• If transparencies are used in the laser printers, that they must be ones that are specifically designed to work with HP LASER (not inkjet) printers.
• Printing on all Energy Institute printers is limited to University/Energy Institute business. Abuse of this policy is subject to disciplinary actions.

Backups

Every user is responsible to personally backup his/her workstation and data acquisition computers. Backups can be made to:

• Energy Institute FileServer, called xbutler.ei.psu.edu, which is backed up each evening
• Writable CDs & DVDs

Energy Institute Server and Domain Accounts

The Energy Institute maintains several servers for file services, printing, and domain services. Accounts to access EI networked resources need to be submitted in writing by the employee’s supervisor by emailing: eihelp@ems.psu.edu. These resources can be accessed worldwide 24/7/365 from Macs, PCs or UNIX clients. Detailed login instructions can be viewed at: http://www.energy.psu.edu/it

Because of security reasons a personal login must be established to use all PC computers at the Energy Institute. For this reason an EI domain has been setup. In order to login to the Institute’s PC computers, please request an account be setup for you by submitting an account access request to: eihelp@ems.psu.edu

Lab Access via ID Card Swipe

Several of the labs at the EI are secured by an ID card swipe system. In order to activate your ID card to access these labs, please submit a copy of your PSU ID card to C211 CUL. Card Swipe access accounts are updated every Friday afternoon.