ARCHIVED: How can I forward my mail to an address outside of IU?

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To forward your mail to an account outside of Indiana University, you can change your preferred address to that outside account. This will ensure that any mail addressed simply to your username@indiana.edu or username@iupui.edu address will be sent to the account where you're reading mail.

Here's a brief synopsis of what you need to do (more detailed instructions are provided below):

  1. Select the one outside account where you'll read mail. This will be your preferred address. Make sure that there is no forward set on that account.
  2. Use the Account Management Service (AMS) to notify the IU mail servers that any mail addressed to username@indiana.edu or username@iupui.edu (where username is your username) should be delivered to your preferred address.
  3. Forward all of your IU accounts, including the IU account that was your preferred address, to username@indiana.edu or username@iupui.edu (where username is your username).

    Note: If you have an Exchange account, it should be forwarded to username@mail-relay.indiana.edu or username@exchange.iupui.edu.

Warning: The changes you make using the UITS AMS may not take effect until noon the following day. Until these changes are made, mail sent to you at username@indiana.edu or username@iupui.edu (where username is your username) will continue to go to your previous preferred address. To avoid creating a mail loop, you should take one of the following measures:

  • Leave your previously preferred address unforwarded until the next day.
  • Forward your previously preferred address to your new preferred address instead of @indiana.edu or @iupui.edu, and then revise its forwarding to @indiana.edu or @iupui.edu the next day.

A more detailed explanation of these three steps follows:

Unforward mail at your preferred address

Log into the system you wish to use as your preferred address to ensure that mail is not forwarded from there to other email systems, as follows:

  • If your preferred account is on a Unix system, at the Unix prompt, enter:
      mv -f ~/.forward ~/.forward-old
    This will remove a .forward file, if it exists. This command will work on most Unix systems.
  • If your preferred account is on the Shakespeare or Jewel systems, at the Main Menu in Pine, press ! (the exclamation point) to exit to the Unix prompt. At the prompt, enter:
      forward off
  • In Microsoft Outlook or Exchange, select Tools, then Inbox Assistant. If you wish to receive mail on your Exchange account, make sure the Forward box is not checked. For more information on forwarding your Microsoft Exchange mail, see the Knowledge Base document Forward your IU email to another address using Microsoft Outlook or Outlook on the web
  • For other mail systems, such as web-based or LAN-based packages, consult your documentation or technical support for instructions on how to stop forwarding your mail.

Use the UITS Account Management Service to select your preferred address

Use the AMS via the web to direct where mail goes if it is addressed to username@indiana.edu or username@iupui.edu. Visit:

  https://itaccounts.iu.edu/

Note: You must use a web browser capable of making a secure connection (one that supports SSL [Secure Socket Layer]), such as Netscape Navigator 1.2 or higher, or Internet Explorer.

Select your status, click the radio button next to Create more IU computing accounts, set email forwarding, and manage my existing accounts and passwords, and click Continue. Log in with your Network ID username and password, and click forward your email. On the page that appears, your email address and your current delivery information will be displayed. Click the radio button next to Set delivery for this address to:, and enter the address of the account outside IU to which you'd like your IU mail forwarded. Click Forward email.

Note: When you change your preferred address with the AMS, the change does not take effect until noon the next day, when the database is updated.

Note:
For departmental, student organization, or group accounts, you can change the passphrase if you know the current one. Other account settings must be handled by the account owner.

Forward mail on non-preferred accounts (and the IU account which was your preferred account) to @indiana.edu or @iupui.edu

Here's how to forward mail from each major UITS mail system:

You should test that your email is being properly forwarded by sending test messages to the appropriate address below:

At IUB:

  username@node.ucs.indiana.edu 

At IUPUI:

  username@node.iupui.edu

Replace username with your username, and node with each computer where you have an account, and where email could possibly be delivered. At IUB, these accounts are Exchange, Iago, Kate, Lear, and Ariel. At IUPUI they are Jade, Pearl, and Exchange.

Your preferred address account must not forward mail. If it does, you may create an endless loop and lose mail messages. As a precaution, you should log into all of your other accounts and verify that they all have the mail forwarded to username@indiana.edu or username@iupui.edu (where username is your username).

The best way to verify that your mail forwarding is working correctly is to send yourself test messages to and from each of your accounts.

This is document adzy in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 12:27:25.