X.500 is an international standard for electronic online directory services. The X.500 service is like a worldwide "phone book," and serves as an online directory for electronic mail (e-mail) delivery systems and other applications that need directory service. People at the University of Michigan and many other organizations use X.500 to look up e-mail addresses, postal addresses, and phone numbers. U-M students, faculty, and staff can use X.500 to retrieve information about friends and colleagues locally and around the world.

The X.500 Online Directory at the University of Michigan is based on the X.500 standard, and uses X.500 workstation clients to connect to Internet directory servers running the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). LDAP is compatible with the X.500 standards, and by using one of the X.500 workstation clients, you will be able to find, view, and (if you have permission) modify information about people, organizations, groups of people, and other objects stored in the X.500 Online Directory or in any LDAP-based directory.

Here at the University of Michigan, the Information Technology Division (ITD) provides and maintains the X.500 Online Directory service. The U-M portion of the directory contains entries for most students, faculty, and staff members.

The basic information listed for all faculty and regular staff is the same "white pages" information as that published once a year in the printed campus telephone book, The University of Michigan Directory. This information includes your name, business address and phone number, job title, and home address and phone number (if you want them published). Faculty and staff entries in the X.500 Online Directory are updated monthly from the Personnel Office’s Staff Database.

Student entries also contain name, campus address and phone number, publishable home address and phone number, and title. Student information is updated several times a term from the Office of the Registrar’s Student Characteristics Database.

You can also select not to have your entry updated automatically and, instead, make any necessary changes yourself. See the section "Disabling Automatic Updates to Your Entry" for further information.

ITD encourages everyone at U-M who uses electronic mail to register a current e-mail address in the X.500 Online Directory. Adding your e-mail address to this directory can make it easier for people on or off campus to contact you.

Please note, if you use an ITD e-mail service, your e-mail address has already been added to the directory as part of the subscription process. There is no need for you to enter it yourself. You may, however, want to display your entry to verify that your e-mail address is there. For example, if you use an ITD IMAP e-mail program, such as Pine, you will see an address in the form: bjensen@b.imap.itd.umich.edu

See the section "Adding Your E-Mail Address to Your X.500 Entry" for more information.

If your department uses a Local Area Network (LAN) based e-mail system (for example, one that runs on a Banyan VINES network), your e-mail system may have its own local directory. Contact your departmental system administrator for further information.

The X.500 Online Directory at the University of Michigan contains both individual and group entries.

Individual entries contain a variety of information about that individual, including name, uniqname, title, business address and phone number, and more. By displaying your individual entry in the directory, you can add or change the information contained there. See the section "Individual Entries in X.500" for more information.

Whereas an individual entry in the X.500 directory contains information associated with one particular individual, a group entry contains a collection of individual names or names of other groups. Once you create a group in the X.500 directory, an e-mail message sent to this group will be delivered to each member of the group. The "Group Entries in X.500" section in this document provides more information about working with groups in the X.500 Online Directory.

"Authenticating" is the process of identifying yourself to the X.500 Directory. Much of the information stored in X.500 is readable by everyone who accesses the directory. However, if you want to make changes to entries or to add new entries to the directory (such as groups you create and maintain), you will need to authenticate. As part of the authentication process, you will be asked to enter your uniqname and UMICH password. (For more information on uniqnames and passwords, refer to the section, "Obtaining a Uniqname and Password.")

X.500 uses the Kerberos authentication system to provide secure, authenticated access to the directory. Kerberos is designed to allow people to use the same password to access many different services. For example, at the University of Michigan, Kerberos is also used to authenticate to the Institutional File System (IFS) or to allow access to a computer at the Campus Computing Sites.

A uniqname is a personal identifier that is required for many computing services on campus, such as using the Campus Computing Sites, dial-in access to the Network Access Servers (NAS), logging in to the ITD Login Service, and changing your X.500 entry.

When you obtain a uniqname, it is automatically added to your entry in the X.500 Online Directory. This means that people looking in the X.500 Online Directory will be able to look you up using your real name or your uniqname.

Visit any of the locations listed below and apply for your uniqname by completing the Uniqname Application and Compliance Agreement, Reference R1133. You will need to show valid picture identification (such as U-M ID, passport, driver’s license, or State Police ID card) and identification to prove you own your University ID number (such as a valid U-M ID or your Social Security card).

Some departments have either a Uniqname Administrator who is authorized to issue uniqnames and reset passwords or a person who is authorized by the ITD Accounts Office to assist departmental faculty and staff with these services. Call the ITD Accounts Office (764-8000) for more information.

U-M students, faculty, and staff can access the X.500 Online Directory in several ways. The maX.500 program provides an easy-to-use interface to the X.500 Online Directory for Apple Macintosh users. A program called waX.500 provides a standard Windows interface to the directory for Windows users.

There is also a program called "ud," which features a simple command-line interface that allows any terminal emulation user to access the X.500 Online Directory.

maX.500 is an X.500 Online Directory client program for the Macintosh that allows users to access the directory using the familiar Macintosh desktop interface.

Using maX.500, you can quickly locate a colleague and find information such as an e-mail address, campus address, or telephone number in either the campus or worldwide portion of the directory. maX.500 also has excellent online help, which will address many of the questions you might have and assist you in using the program.

maX.500 is available for use on Macintosh computers in all of the Campus Computing Sites. To use maX.500 at the computing sites, double-click the following series of folders: Applications, Communication, maX.500. Finally, double-click the maX.500 icon to launch the program.

maX.500 is included with ITD’s Macintosh Internet Access Kits that can be downloaded from the "bundles" folder in the swdist directory on IFS. The Authentication Manager, which allows you to authenticate or prove your identity to the directory, is also included with maX.500 when you download the ITD Macintosh Internet Access Kit. (See the section "Authentication Manager" for more information.)

In addition to maX.500, the ITD Macintosh Internet Access Kit also includes MacTCP, Fetch, Netscape Navigator, and more—all of which are configured for use in the U-M Computing Environment. For more information about the kits, refer to the ITD publication Installing the Macintosh Internet Access Kit for Dialing In to a NAS and Ethernet Connections, Step-by-step S4199.

If you don’t want the entire ITD Macintosh Internet Access Kit, you can also obtain a copy of just the maX.500 program (including Authentication Manager) from the swdist directory in IFS or on the World Wide Web using the URL http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/ldap/max500/ For information on obtaining software from swdist, refer to the ITD publication QuickNote: Obtaining Software From U-M, Step-by-step S4147.

Many Macintosh workstations also come with Apple’s Internet Connection Kit. The Apple kit will allow you to connect to the U-M Computing Environment, but does not include maX.500 (so you will have to obtain it from IFS or the Web as described above). For information on configuring Apple’s Internet Connection Kit for use with the U-M Computing Environment, refer to the ITD publication, QuickNote: Installing and Configuring the Apple Internet Connection Kit for Dialing In to a NAS, Step-by-step S4241.

You will need one of the following Macintosh system configurations in order to use maX.500:

If you’re not sure what version of the Macintosh system you are running, switch to the Finder, pull down the Apple menu, and select "About this Macintosh." A dialog box will appear telling you information about your Macintosh, including the system version number.

To determine which control panel you have, pull down the Apple menu again, highlight Control Panels, and then scroll through the list looking for TCP/IP. If you do not see it, your machine is using MacTCP.

To use maX.500 with a modem, you also need MacPPP or FreePPP to establish your TCP/IP dial-in network connection. FreePPP is included with the ITD Macintosh Internet Access Kit and is installed by default when you run the installer that comes with the kit. (MacPPP is also included in the kit, and can be installed separately if you prefer). FreePPP is also included with Apple’s Internet Connection Kit.

MacPPP is also available from the Merit/U-M Software Archives and through anonymous FTP in the file /internet.tools/ppp/mac/macppp2.0.2.hqx from the host nic.merit.edu. Installation instructions are in the ITD publication Installing MacPPP for NAS Access: High-Speed Dial-In Connections to the Internet, Step-by-step S4122.

If you want to make changes to your X.500 individual or group entries using maX.500, you will also need the Authentication Manager control panel. Authentication Manager, or AuthMan, provides Kerberos authentication to the online directory for maX.500 users.

Authentication Manager is included with maX.500 as part of the ITD Macintosh Internet Access Kit and when you copy maX.500 from the software archives. Refer to the maX.500 Online Help for installation instructions for Authentication Manager. For more information, refer to the ITD publication QuickNote: Getting Started With Authentication Manager (AuthMan), Step-by-step S4167.

The online help for maX.500 will address many of the questions you might have and assist you in using the program. Once maX.500 has launched, you can access online help in a number of ways:

Click specific topics in the index on the left side of the help window, and the corresponding text will appear on the right. Or, if you prefer a paper copy to refer to, choose Print from the File menu.

For information on finding and changing both individual and group entries using maX.500, refer to the maX.500 online help sections on "Finding someone" and "Changing your entry," or refer to the following ITD publications.

QuickNote: Using maX.500 to Find and Change Your Entry in the X.500
Online Directory, Step-by-step S4185

QuickNote: Using maX.500 to Find and Join Groups in the X.500 Online
Directory, Step-by-step S4184

QuickNote: Using maX.500 to Create and Manage Groups in the X.500
Online Directory, Step-by-step S4186

For information on obtaining documentation, refer to the "Additional Resources" section at the end of this document.

The waX.500 program provides a standard Windows interface to the X.500 Online Directory.

Using waX.500, you can quickly locate a colleague and find information such as an e-mail address, campus address, or telephone number in either the campus or worldwide portion of the directory. waX.500 also has excellent online help, which will address many of the questions you might have and assist you in using the program.

To find waX.500 at the Campus Computing Sites, double-click on the IP Clients program group and then double-click on waX.500.

waX.500 is included with the ITD Windows Internet Access Kits (for both Windows version 3.1 and Windows 95) that can be downloaded from the "bundles" directory of the swdist directory on IFS. In addition to waX.500, the kits also include Kerberos authentication software, RapidFiler, Netscape Navigator, and more. For more information about the kits, refer to one of the following ITD publications.

Installing the Windows Internet Access Kit: Dialing In to a NAS
(LAN WorkPlace), Step-by-step S4187

Installing the Windows Internet Access Kit: Ethernet and Direct SCP
Connections (LAN WorkPlace), Step-by-step S4136

QuickNote: Configuring Windows 95 for Dialing In to a NAS,
Step-by-step S4203

You can also obtain your own copy of waX.500 and Kerberos authentication software—along with installation instructions—on the World Wide Web at URL http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/ldap/wax500/ You should refer to this URL for waX.500 update and troubleshooting information as well.

waX.500 can also be copied from the swdist directory in IFS. For information on obtaining software from swdist, refer to the ITD publication QuickNote: Obtaining Software From U-M, Step-by-step S4147.

Kerberos is the software that allows authenticated access to the X.500 Online Directory for waX.500 users. You will need to authenticate to the directory if you want to make changes to your X.500 individual or group entries using waX.500. Kerberos is available on the World Wide Web using URL http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/ldap/wax500/

The waX.500 program has an excellent online help system, which is organized by topic, and can be accessed using one of the following methods:

For information on finding and changing both individual and group entries using waX.500, see "Using a Finder" and "Modifying an X.500 Entry" in the waX.500 online help, or refer to the following ITD publications.

QuickNote: Using waX.500 to Find and Change Your Entry in the X.500
Online Directory, Step-by-step S4212

QuickNote: Using waX.500 to Find and Join Groups in the X.500 Online
Directory, Step-by-step S4213

QuickNote: Using waX.500 to Create and Manage Groups in the X.500
Online Directory, Step-by-step S4214

For information on obtaining documentation, refer to the "Additional Resources" section at the end of this document.

ud is a text-only, command-line client program that runs on unix machines, like the ITD Login Service. Users can access ud using any terminal emulation program. Using the ud client and the ITD Login Service, you can search the X.500 directory as well as make changes to your individual and group entries.

In order to access ud using the ITD Login Service, you will need a uniqname and UMICH password (see the section "Obtaining a Uniqname and Password"). To find out how to connect to the Login Service using communications software such as NCSA Telnet, VersaTerm, LAN WorkPlace, or PC/TCP, see the ITD publication QuickNote: Accessing ITD’s Login, Statistics and Computation, and UMCE Subscription Services, Step-by-step S4157. If you are connecting to the Login Service for the first time, you will need to subscribe to the service also. The subscription process is also described in the publication S4157.

If you are using your own Unix system instead of the ITD Login Service and it doesn’t have the ud client installed, your Unix system administrator can obtain ud through anonymous FTP from the URL ftp://terminator.rs.itd.umich.edu/x500/ldap/ldap.tar.Z

For a complete list of commands available for ud, enter help at the ud "*" prompt.

For information on finding and changing both individual and group entries using ud, refer to the following ITD publications.

QuickNote: Using ud to Find and Change Your Entry in the X.500
Online Directory, Step-by-step S4182

QuickNote: Using ud to Find and Join Groups in the X.500 Online
Directory, Step-by-step S4181

QuickNote: Using ud to Create and Manage Groups in the X.500 Online
Directory, Step-by-step S4183

For information on obtaining documentation, refer to the "Additional Resources" section at the end of this document.

Read-only access to the X.500 Online Directory is also available through the World Wide Web via the URL: http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/x500/ On the Web, you will be able to display individual and group entries in both the local and worldwide directory, but you will not be able to make changes to your entries.

The Internet finger protocol has long been used to obtain directory information, from an individual host computer, about users with accounts on that host. ITD provides a server that allows you to have read-only access to the U-M campus portion of the X.500 Online Directory by fingering the Internet host umich.edu.

Finger clients are available for most platforms including Macintosh, Windows, and Unix workstations. For example, many e-mail packages provide a finger command, and finger is also available on the ITD Login Service. To access the U-M X.500 online directory from the login service and search for an individual in the directory (for example, Barbara Jensen), enter a command such as the following at any login service "%" prompt:

If you don’t have access to X.500 through any of the above methods, you can send an e-mail message to x500-query@umich.edu. For example, a message addressed to x500-query@umich.edu with "find Barbara.Jensen" in the subject or text fields will cause the system to search the X.500 Online Directory and return information on all entries that match Barbara Jensen. This access is similar to the finger interface in that it is read-only and displays just campus business addresses.

Or, if you send a message to x500-query@umich.edu with the word "help" somewhere in the subject or text of the message, you will automatically receive a reply that explains how to use the e-mail query service.

Your individual entry in the X.500 Online Directory at the University of Michigan contains a variety of useful information about you. By displaying your individual entry in the directory, you will be able to perform a variety of X.500-related procedures, such as changing the information in your entry, joining groups, or designating a proxy to modify your entries (using maX.500 or waX.500 only). Anyone can send a message to any individual, or group, who has an entry in the directory.

When you display your individual entry in the online directory, you will see a list of fields containing information. A brief description of each of the fields follows. The field name may vary slightly depending on the X.500 client you are using to display your entry.

Sometimes the X.500 Online Directory will contain duplicate entries. For example, if there are two entries with the name "John Smith," X.500 will label one "John Smith 1" and the other "John Smith 2." Because of the duplicate entries, users sending e-mail to John Smith will have to include the number as part of the address, e.g., John.Smith.2@umich.edu

In such cases, in order to avoid potential confusion, it might be better to send e-mail using the uniqname@umich.edu form of address instead. For example, "John Smith 1" might have the uniqname "jbsmith" while "John Smith 2" might have the uniqname "smithj." Using the uniqname form of the e-mail address, you would send mail either to jbsmith@umich.edu or smithj@umich.edu

X.500 allows you to designate one or more proxies who can make changes to your X.500 individual entry. This is useful in situations where you want someone else, such as a departmental secretary, to be able to modify your X.500 directory entry in your absence. For example, you might want a proxy to be able to set a vacation notice for you, change your mailing address, and/or add you to X.500 e-mail groups.

In order to be designated as a proxy, a person must also have his or her own individual entry in the X.500 Online Directory, as well as a uniqname and password. Please be careful to designate only someone you trust as a proxy. Once someone has proxy access to an X.500 entry, that person can change all of the fields that the owner of the entry can change.

In order for a proxy to modify your entry, that person must first authenticate (using his or her own uniqname and password) before making changes. A proxy has permission to change all the same fields as the owner of the X.500 entry.

Also note that the person(s) who administer computing services for your department may already be designated as a proxy for your entry, but you can designate additional proxies as well. If you prefer that the system administrator not have proxy access to your entry, you can use maX.500 to remove that person from your list of proxies. Check with your departmental system administrator if you have questions or concerns.

Currently, you can only designate a proxy using maX.500 or waX.500 (if you also obtain the distmpl patch available from the Web page at URL http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/ldap/wax500/). Later versions of waX.500 will have this patch built in, and there will be no need for users to obtain it separately and, eventually, ud will also provide functionality that allows you to designate proxies. However, once a proxy has been designated, that person can authenticate and modify entries using either maX.500, waX.500, or ud.

To learn how to designate a proxy, refer to the ITD publication QuickNote: Using maX.500 to Find and Change Your Entry in the X.500 Online Directory, Step-by-step S4185.

An important feature of the X.500 Online Directory at the University of Michigan is that it allows you to create and use groups. While an individual entry in the X.500 directory contains information associated with that one particular individual, a group entry contains a collection of individual names or names of other groups. Once you create a group in the X.500 directory, an e-mail message sent to this group will be delivered to each member of the group. Anyone can send a message to any group, or individual, who has an entry in the directory.

You can create and maintain groups in the X.500 Online Directory using maX.500, waX.500, or ud.

There are two ways you can be a member of a group in X.500:

Three kinds of entries may appear in the member list of an X.500 group:

When adding people (or other groups) to your group, you should add them as X.500 members whenever possible. Individuals or groups stored as "X.500 members" in the group point to the individual or group’s X.500 entry; this ensures that e-mail will be delivered even if the e-mail address for the individual or group should change. Also, if a name changes in an X.500 individual entry, X.500 will make that change to the "X.500 members" list in the group, but not to the e-mail address entries.

The limit on the size of an X.500 group (i.e., the number of members it contains) varies depending on which client you used to create the group.

Another way to get around these group size limits is to create a group that contains a collection of subgroups as its membership. For example, in maX.500, the 200-member limit applies to subgroups as well. Therefore, a group created using maX.500 that contains a collection of subgroups can include up to 200 subgroups, each of which can contain 200 members.

X.500 also allows groups to be designated as "moderated groups." In a moderated group, messages sent to the group are received by the moderator, who then decides whether to forward them to the larger group. This approach can be used for filtering out inappropriate or redundant messages.

The group owner can designate one or more moderators for a group by entering the e-mail addresses for the moderators in the group’s "Moderator:" field. When designating a moderator, be sure to include the Internet format of the moderator’s address, as provided by his/her mail system. For IMAP mail users, this will be in the form youruniqname@umich.edu (for example, bjensen@umich.edu). Non-IMAP users will probably have a longer address that includes the name of the machine where their mail is delivered (for example, bjensen@terminator.rs.itd.umich.edu).

If you do not know the proper e-mail address for a moderator, please have that moderator follow the procedure described in the section "Finding Out Your E-Mail Address."

In order to ensure that the moderator designation has been correctly set up, the moderator should try forwarding an incoming message to the entire group and then check that group members actually receive the message.

If you are the owner of a large group, which contains subgroups, and you want the large group to be moderated—add a moderator address to each of the subgroups in the form of large.group-errors@umich.edu. Replace "large.group" in this example with the name of your group.

If you (the group owner) want to be able to send messages to the subgroups individually, then you should make yourself the moderator of each of the subgroups as well. That way, messages you send will be delivered to the subgroups.

If you are designated as the moderator of the large group, you will get two copies of every message sent by someone outside the group: one for the moderator and one for the "errors-to" address.

If you do not know what your Internet e-mail address is, send a message to my.address@umich.edu

You will receive a machine-generated reply from the Postmaster telling you what your address is. For example,

ITD IMAP users who do this will receive a reply in the form "youruniqname@umich.edu." This form of address is the correct one to use when designating a group moderator; however, it is not the correct form to add to the "E-mail address:" field of a person’s individual X.500 entry. IMAP users will have an e-mail address in the form of jsmith@j.imap.itd.umich.edu

In addition to choosing an appropriate name for the group (see the section "Naming a Group" for additional guidelines), group owners have certain other responsibilities.

Mailing groups are, in many ways, communities and, therefore, group owners and members should uphold community standards. Like all communities, each one has its own rules and its own ways of enforcing those rules. Also, like all communities, the members of an e-mail group are best able to police themselves. A gentle reminder that certain behavior is not appreciated is usually sufficient. Sometimes, stronger measures are required—up to and including removing someone from a mailing list. The responsibility for exercising those measures usually lies with the group owner; however, members of the e-mail group sometimes also take the initiative to address inappropriate behavior.

Some other guidelines regarding group ownership and use include:

Each group can contain two elements: a "requests to" and an "errors to" address. Each of these can be an X.500 entry reference or an e-mail address.

"Requests to" is a commonly known and widely used Internet feature. For example, e-mail sent to the group abc.letters-request@umich.edu will be sent to the "requests to" address rather than to the entire "abc.letters" group. The types of messages that go to this address are usually requests for adding people to and deleting them from the group.

The "errors to" address is internal to the e-mail transport system. In e-mail systems that provide this feature, if any errors occur when e-mail is delivered to the group, the error messages will be sent to the "errors to" address. This prevents all the members of a large group from having to see error reports.

In some cases, particularly with local area network (LAN) e-mail systems, the system will not recognize the "errors-to" address or handle it properly. In these situations, the rejected mail or error messages will be sent back to the sender instead.

A group name in the X.500 Online Directory can be up to 64 characters long, including spaces. Although X.500 will allow you to use punctuation marks when creating names in the directory, it may be best to avoid them altogether. This is because punctuation marks in entry names may cause confusion with different mail systems. For example, there is an e-mail convention that replaces spaces with periods ( . ); therefore, you should not use periods as part of your group name (use spaces instead).

Group names should not use the same name as an individual entry in the directory. For example, if a group chooses to name itself "bjensen" and an individual entry for "bjensen" already exists in the directory, mail sent to bjensen@umich.edu will be delivered to the individual entry, rather than the group entry.

Not only that, individual entries have precedence over group entries. This means that if you create a group, and an individual later wants to use that same name for his/her uniqname, the group will have to relinquish the name to the individual.

Keep in mind that short group names (three to eight characters) are more likely to conflict with people’s uniqnames, and X.500 will warn you if you attempt to create a group with such a name. To avoid confusion with uniqnames, group names should be longer than eight characters or include at least two words. When you create a group, you won’t see name conflicts until you use the name to send e-mail to the group.

Group names in the X.500 Online Directory should be descriptive and easy to remember. Please resist the urge to be cute and avoid choosing a name that might be offensive to others. In addition, try to avoid names that are too generic. Because X.500 is a worldwide directory, a name such as "Admin" is not very descriptive or helpful. A name such as "UM Server Administrators" might be a better choice.

When you send e-mail to the group, use periods ( . ) to replace spaces between words. For example, if a group is named "network users group" then e-mail sent to that group should be addressed to network.users.group@umich.edu

Because personal uniqnames take precedence over group names in the X.500 Online Directory, you may want to consider reserving a name for your mail group. For example, if there is a group named "wireless" and then an individual wants the name "wireless" for a uniqname, the group must relinquish the name to the individual, unless it has reserved the name. Once you reserve a name for your group, no other group or individual will be able to reserve that name.

If you want to reserve a name for your group, contact the ITD Accounts Office via e-mail to itd.accounts@umich.edu or call 764-8000 with your request.

When you display a group entry in X.500, you will see a list of fields containing information about the group. A brief description of each of the fields that may be included with an X.500 group entry follows. The field name may vary slightly depending on the X.500 client you are using.

All X.500 clients have a "find" feature that allows you to locate people and groups in the X.500 Online Directory. The steps you perform to find information in the directory varies depending on which client you are using. For more information on locating entries in the X.500 Online Directory, consult the online help for your X.500 client or refer to the list of publications found in "Additional Resources" at the end of this document.

In order to locate individual or group entries in the X.500 Online Directory, perform the following steps.

To find a person or group using maX.500, first

To find a person or group using waX.500, perform the following steps

Looking yourself up in the X.500 Online Directory is a useful exercise to ensure that all information about you is accurate and as complete as you want it to be. You may want to change, add, or even delete information listed in the directory; for example, add a fax number or change an address.

You may change most of the information in your entry, except that in the common name and uniqname fields. Your X.500 entry will also be changed, or "overwritten," by automatic updates from the U-M Personnel and Registrar databases. You may prefer to disable this automatic update feature; see the section "Disabling Automatic Updates to Your Entry" to find out how.

You can make changes to your X.500 entry using the maX.500, waX.500, and ud interfaces to the X.500 Online Directory.

Note that changes you make to your X.500 entry are not automatically sent back to Personnel or the Registrar, so you will have to notify them directly if your address, phone number or other information changes. You can do this by submitting a Form 30005 or Change of Address card.

When you make changes to an X.500 entry, you will be asked to "authenticate" to the directory. This ensures that only you, or a proxy you have designated, may modify your entry. As part of the authentication process, you will be prompted for your uniqname and UMICH password.

Follow these steps to reset your computer’s clock in April and October. Refer to the section that describes your workstation and operating system. To determine the correct time, phone 665-1212 in the Ann Arbor area.

Because the X.500 Online Directory is updated regularly by the Personnel and Registrar databases, information in your X.500 individual entry may be "updated," or overwritten, unless you take steps to disable this process. When the update feature is disabled, information from Personnel and the Registrar will no longer be automatically entered into the X.500 Online Directory. If you don’t disable the update feature, the changes you make to your entry will be overwritten the next time X.500 is updated by the Personnel or Registrar databases.

Use one of these methods to disable the automatic update feature:

Your home phone number and address are available in the X.500 Online Directory unless you have told the University that you don’t want this information published. To conceal this information, you can do one of two things:

ITD encourages everyone at U-M who uses electronic mail to include their current e-mail address in the X.500 Online Directory. Having your e-mail address in the directory can make it easier for people on or off campus to contact you. Once your current, local e-mail address is entered in the X.500 Online Directory, you can give correspondents a single, permanent Internet address (in the form of youruniqname@umich.edu) no matter how often you change e-mail systems within the University.

Users of ITD’s IMAP mail services automatically have their e-mail addresses added to their entries in the X.500 Online Directory. However, if you read e-mail on a different system—such as a CAEN machine—you should enter your e-mail address in the directory (for CAEN users, this would take the form: youruniqname@engin.umich.edu). In your X.500 entry, register the one e-mail address where you actually read your mail. If you do not know your e-mail address, ask your system administrator to find out.

If you switch to a different e-mail service in the future, you need only update the "E-mail address:" field in your X.500 entry to have your mail forwarded to the mailbox on the actual computer where you read your mail.

For example, Barbara Jensen recently switched to a new e-mail service that runs on a Unix system. As part of this process, Barbara entered her new local e-mail address (bjensen@terminator.rs.itd.umich.edu) in her X.500 entry. Barbara can now give correspondents her uniqname mail address: bjensen@umich.edu, which is easier to remember than her address on her current Unix mail machine: bjensen@terminator.rs.itd.umich.edu. Later, Barbara receives notification that the machine on which she reads her mail has changed, In order to continue receiving e-mail at the new address, she needs to update the e-mail address field of her X.500 entry to have her mail forwarded correctly. Her correspondents will continue to use the address bjensen@umich.edu, and Barbara will experience no interruptions in her e-mail service.

For more information on using X.500 to direct your e-mail to the proper location, refer to the ITD publication QuickNote: Using X.500 to Forward E-Mail, Step-by-step S4163.

The common name or "Also Known As" field of your X.500 entry contains your formal names as you are known by Personnel or the Office of the Registrar. For e-mail security reasons, you cannot edit the common name field, only the staff who maintain the directory can edit this field.

You may want to add your nickname to the common name field so your friends can find you more easily in the X.500 Online Directory. Nicknames can also be used as part of your e-mail address. For example, if you are known officially as Barbara Jensen, but your friends all know you as "Babs Jensen," you may want to have this nickname added to the directory. Then your friends can locate you under "Babs Jensen" in the directory, and they can send you e-mail using the babs.jensen@umich.edu address.

If you want to have your nickname(s) added to this field, you must send a message to nicknames@umich.edu. Be sure to include your uniqname or University ID number with your request to ensure proper identification of your entry.

The X.500 Online Directory provides a vacation notice service, which allows you to inform correspondents that you are on vacation and will read their e-mail when you return. You can also customize your vacation message. For example, you could include the dates that you are out of the office and the name and contact information of a coworker who may be able to handle their inquiry.

You can set a vacation notice using maX.500, waX.500, or ud.

To turn on the vacation notice using maX.500, perform the following steps.

When you return from vacation, display your X.500 entry and uncheck the On Vacation checkbox.

To turn on the vacation notice using waX.500, perform the following steps.

When you return from vacation, display your X.500 entry and type FALSE in the "On Vacation:" field.

To turn on the vacation notice using ud, perform the following steps.

When you return from vacation, display your X.500 entry and set the "On Vacation" attribute to FALSE.

When you leave the University, your X.500 entry will remain in the directory for six months. This service provides you the opportunity to have your e-mail forwarded to your new location during those six months. Keep in mind that as soon as you change your e-mail address in X.500, your mail will be forwarded to the new address.

If for some reason you can’t update your X.500 entry with your new e-mail address (for example, you don’t have access to an X.500 client), include your new e-mail address in a service request to itd.accounts.office@umich.edu and your entry will be updated with the new address for you.

After the 6-month period has ended, your entry will be removed from the X.500 Online Directory.

For more information on forwarding e-mail, refer to the ITD publication QuickNote: Using X.500 to Forward E-Mail, Step-by-step S4163.

For more information on consulting, documentation, and other services available to help you use the X.500 Online Directory, refer to "Computing Help" on the World Wide Web at URL: http://www.itd.umich.edu/help

If you have questions about using the X.500 Online Directory, send e-mail to online.consulting@umich.edu or call the ITD consultants at 764-HELP.

The following publications are available to help you use the X.500 Online Directory. In addition, maX.500, waX.500, and ud all have online help that provides additional information (refer to the sections on online help earlier in this publication).

You can read and acquire most ITD publications and documentation using the ITD Information System on the World Wide Web at URL http://www.itd.umich.edu/itddoc Most are also available free of charge at the larger Campus Computing Sites. You can also send e-mail to itd.doc@umich.edu or call 763-8961 to request copies.

QuickNote: Using waX.500 to Find and Change Your Entry in the X.500
Online Directory, Step-by-step S4212
QuickNote: Using waX.500 to Find and Join Groups in the X.500 Online
Directory, Step-by-step S4213
QuickNote: Using waX.500 to Create and Manage Groups in the X.500
Online Directory, Step-by-step S4214

QuickNote: Using ud to Find and Change Your Entry in the X.500
Online Directory, Step-by-step S4182
QuickNote: Using ud to Find and Join Groups in the X.500 Online
Directory, Step-by-step S4181
QuickNote: Using ud to Create and Manage Groups in the X.500 Online
Directory, Step-by-step S4183

QuickNote: Using X.500 to Forward E-Mail, Step-by-step S4163
QuickNote: Electronic Group Setup Service for Faculty, Reference R1176
QuickNote: Accessing ITD’s Login, Statistics and Computation, and UMCE
Subscription Services, Step-by-step S4157
QuickNote: Getting Started With Authentication Manager (AuthMan),
Step-by-step S4167

If you have comments about any ITD publications, send e-mail to itd.doc.comments@umich.edu