The purpose of this message is to remind the Hamline community of GroupWise users of the existing policy of message autodeletion and the proper use of archiving.
Hamline's email system currently processes roughly 100,000 messages daily. It is clearly impossible and unsustainable to save every one of those messages. As do all organizations, therefore, Hamline has developed a policy for managing this information essentially by limiting the time a message can be kept to 6 months.
As an email system, GroupWise is feature-rich. Included is the ability to create and manage a sophisticated folder system for organizing messages. Precisely because of the autodelete policy, we recommend that this capability be used ONLY for management and control of day-to-day message traffic (e.g., messages to follow-up, personal, urgent, etc.). We do NOT recommend that it be used as a long-term file cabinet.
If there are messages that for legal or critical historical purposes must be kept, they must be archived, a process which moves them to an area not affected by the autodelete policy. Here again, however, unlimited use of this feature would, overtime, be unsustainable because of the disk space required. Indeed, messages are archived on the users I: drive, thereby counting against the 200M quota allowed for that area. We therefore recommend judicious use of the archiving feature.
Please note that the auto-delete process was implemented quite a few years ago to provide relief to a clogged and unreliable Groupwise email system. Since the auto-delete process was implemented, the Groupwise system has become much more stable and easier to manage.
Why must we delete old messages?
We need to delete old Groupwise messages so that we can keep the amount of space the groupwise system uses within a reasonable amount. This will allow the system to process messages quicker, as well as allow us to make backups of the system in a reasonable amount of time.
How will this affect me using my Groupwise?
All groupwise items (mailbox, sent mail, cabinet, calendar) will be deleted when they are 6 months old.
When exactly, and how often does the autodelete delete my messages?
Every time you log in to your groupwise account, the system checks for items that are 6 months old or more, and deletes them.
What if I want to keep a few messages?
Novell Groupwise has a builtin archiving function. Using this feature, users can archive messages out of their Groupwise account, and store them in a different location. The ITS department has set up this feature to archive to the "I" drive for staff and faculty. You may change this location to any path you wish, but it is not recommended.
OK, how do I archive my messages?
First, you may want to check where your archive directory is set, just to make sure you know where it is putting your messages. Goto Tools->Options, select Environment, then click on the "File Location" tab. Make sure there is an entry in the "Archive Directory" box. More than likely, this will be set to "i:\grpwise\" but it may be set to whatever you chose. This is where Groupwise will store your archive files. After you set your archive location you can archive your messages by simply clicking on the message with your right mouse button, and select "Archive" from the little popup list.
Do I have to archive my messages in my folders?
Yes. All groupwise items, whether they are stored in your cabinet or in your mailbox will be deleted after they are 6 months old. When you archive a message in a folder, it will automatically be placed in a folder of the same name in your archive!
So, I can just archive all my messages, right?
No - Please don't. The purpose of setting up this procedure is to clean out messages, not to just make more work for you. Please only archive the messages that you need. Keep in mind that any messages archived to your "I" drive will count against your user quota on your "I" drive.
I keep running out of space on my "I" and "U" drives...
This is because you have too much stuff saved there (including messages stored in your archive. Please cleanup all files and groupwise messages on these drives (only delete those files that you know what they are - don't delete ANYTHING under the i:\grpwise directory). If you have a question whether you should delete a file or not, consult help.
How do I access my messages once I archive them - where did they go?
To switch between your archive and your "normal" mailbox, simply go to File->Open Archive. You should then see something that looks similar to your normal groupwise mailbox, but up on the top title bar, it should say (Archive) - Groupwise - Mailbox. To go back to your "normal" mailbox, simply go to File->Open Archive again, and that should bring you back out of your archive. It should then say Groupwise - Mailbox in the top title bar.
Why can't I access my archived messages from home?
Your archived messages are stored in your home directory on a server here on campus, totally separate from your messages in your groupwise mailbox. In order to get to those messages, you need access to your "I" drive, and we cannot provide that capability from off campus. Even if we could, it would be too slow to be beneficial. Remember - only archive messages that you think you may need. Most messages aren't needed after 6 months, and should need to be archived. You can simply place them in a folder, and archive them at a later date if you decide you need them. Otherwise, you can just delete them yourself, or allow the autodelete process to delete them after 6 months.
Oops, a message was deleted - I really need it...
No, we cannot retrieve these for you. Sorry.
If you would like assistance with the procedures described above, please contact Software Support Services at 2782.
Need more help? Please contact the Help Desk by email or by phone at 651-523.2220
