Upgrade Replacement of the HKUCC System

The previous migration

The previous migration attempt on January 31, 1999 was aborted due to the discovery of serious discrepancies in mail and folder conversions from the VMS environment of the old HKUCC system to the Unix environment of the new HKUCC system. We have tried our best to resolve the observed problems and sought assistance from the software vendors for the past ten days. While we can identify and resolve most of the issues, there is still one outstanding issue that we cannot resolve cost effectively. The outstanding issue is the handling of the VMS distribution list (i.e. @namelist.dis) which is a proprietary feature of the VMS mail. This feature is not supported in the Unix environment of the new system and hence the use of VMS distribution list will not be transferred to the new system. If you have used the VMS distribution list, you can contact our Helpdesk at Room 109, Run Run Shaw Building for assistance.

During the migration, access to services (e.g. email, login etc.) on the HKUCC system will not be available. After the migration, the new system will be assigned the name HKUCC and the old system will be re-named HKUVMS.

After the migration, users will have to use their new password to access the new HKUCC system. The new password has been emailed to your HKUCC accounts on January 27, 1999. If you have not received your new password, you can email to "newpass@hkucc.hku.hk" from your HKUCC system before February 21, 1999 and we shall inform you again of your new password at your HKUCC account. For security of your computer account, you should change the password after you logon to the new HKUCC system. For instructions on how to change the password of your account on the new HKUCC system,  you can send an email to "chanpass@hkucc.hku.hk" and the procedure will be emailed to you.

If you use Eudora, Netscape or PC-pine (and pine) or other PC-based email program, you can continue to read and send your email as before using the new password. If you use VMS mail for email, we recommend you to use PC-pine in either HKUWIN or HKUPPP for email after the migration. Alternatively, you can use the "pine" program on the new HKUCC after you login to the new system. The operation of the PC-pine and pine are basically the same. The PC-pine has an advantage over the pine program as it can access the files on your PC directly so that it is easier to send attachments. For information on the use of pine for email, please refer to the "Pine User Guide" on our web page at url: "http://www.itservices.hku.hk/document/pine/pine.htm".

A mail quota of 4MB will be implemented on the INBOX (the default folder for holding incoming email or read messages until the messages are deleted or moved to other user defined folders) of each user of the new HKUCC system. If your INBOX has used up to 3MB of disk space for email, you are still able to receive new mail but a daily message will be sent to you to remind you that you will soon exceed your quota limit.  If your INBOX has used up to 4MB of disk space, the system will return all incoming email to the sender and you will not receive any new mail until you have deleted some mail in your INBOX and reduced the disk space to below 4MB.
Hence users are advised to read their new mail as often as possible and delete any unwanted messages from their INBOX to avoid exceeding the quota limit of 4MB in their INBOX.

If you use a non-HKU network connection to telnet to the new HKUCC system, you have to first telnet to and login the "hkuccsys.hku.hk" system using your HKUPPP account name and password and then selected the HKUCC system from the displayed list of host names.

Except for the email service, users can continue to run their application programs on the HKUVMS system until they have converted the application programs to the new HKUCC system. We plan to decommission the HKUVMS system after June 30, 1999,  hence users should take steps to convert their application programs to the new HKUCC system now. For conversion, we have set up an "OpenVMS to Digital Unix Migration" webpage at url: "http://www.itservices.hku.hk/ccsystem/vms-to-unix.htm" to provide information for VMS users to use the new Unix system.

We have made special arrangements to provide 24-hour user enquiry service through telephone to assist users to access the new system immediately after the migration on Sunday, February 21, 1999. You can call 2859-2496 anytime and our operations staff will try their best to help you to access the email service on the new HKUCC system. In addition, we have also setup a webpage of FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and anticipated questions related to the HKUCC migration  to the new system at url: "http://www.itservices.hku.hk/ccsystem/cc.html"

For further enquiries and assistance on the HKUCC migration, please contact either Mr. Charles Cheung, tel: 2859-2488, email: cheungyw@hku.hk or the undersigned.

CM Mak
Tel: 2859 2491
E-mail: cmmak@hku.hk