09/04/2022
For those who missed the email migration letter, here's a generic copy to help you get to sleep. :)
8/30/2022
Re: Migration of .com emails happening this Friday
Dear Customer,
On Friday, Sept 2, 2022 at 8:00pm PDT, we are going to initiate the migration of all email accounts using the gbis.com domain (i.e. [email protected]) to a new server (yay, finally!). To cut to the chase, if you’re a techie and don’t want to read detailed jibber jabber, your new settings are at the bottom of this email.
WHAT’S GOING ON?
The GBIS mailservers have been long in the tooth for well over a decade. It was easy enough to leave things as they were because they worked fine and change can be (and is) quite disruptive. But, many of the newer security protocols couldn’t be implemented on the older servers, and a myriad of new and desirable features are only available with newer systems, so we picked a date and are making the big change this weekend. We think you’re really going to enjoy the new server. It’s much faster, modern, secure, easy to navigate, and gives the user more control over their email environment. The platform we’ve standardized on is called cPanel and is the most popular hosting platform in the world today. Our servers continue to run on the very reliable Linux platform.
UPDATES
We will be providing updates and notices on our page, so please go to http://facebook.com/GBISNV and follow us AND favorite us so you can get timely notifications of important transition information during this process. We will also post updates on our website (see below). If you have an issue, call us 24/7 at 775-348-7299, option 1, and we’ll glady assist you.
NEW WEBSITE
You will notice that we have a new website (https://gbis.com) and https://greatbasin.net now points to it also. The new site has links to the new mailserver as well as the old mailserver. The old mailserver link will go away shortly after the migration is complete and customers no longer need to access the old server.
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If you currently use the POP3 protocol to get email, pay attention to the special instructions below. If
you ignore them, it could result in the loss of existing/old email stored on your computer with no way
to get them back. If you use webmail exclusively (no email clients like outlook, thunderbird, mac mail),
you’re using the IMAP protocol.
If you don’t know which protocol you use (it’s either POP3 or IMAP), call/email us and we’ll let you know.
***********************************************************************************
NEW MAILBOXES ALREADY CREATED WITH SOME MESSAGES ALREADY MIGRATED
Mailboxes have already been created on the new server and email messages from all folders EXCEPT your inbox and Junk/Spam folders have been migrated over. This was done because email in non-inbox folders rarely changes, so moving them now will save on transfer time this weekend. Only the contents of your inbox will need to be moved at that point. We will not be migrating any messages from your Junk/Spam folders (we hope you’re not disappointed, haha). There are NO CHANGES to the folders/emails on the old server right now, so continue using email as you have been for now. You don’t need to delete any messages or folders from your account as it won’t make a meaningful impact on the total time to transfer all mailboxes.
FORWARDERS/ALIASES
If you had multiple email addresses delivering email to one Pusername/Gusername mailbox on the old server, forwarders (also known as aliases) have already been set up for the non-primary email addresses to deliver email to the new mailbox below. If you have questions about which address was set up as the primary and which were set up as forwarders, call or email us. We can switch a forwarder to a primary and vice-versa, but it’s easiest/best if we do it now, rather than after the migration.
OLD USERNAMES vs. NEW USERNAMES
*** DO NOT CHANGE YOUR OLD OR NEW PASSWORD UNTIL AFTER THE MIGRATION IS COMPLETE OR YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR OLD EMAIL TRANSFERRED ***
The old Pusername and Gusername usernames will go away and you’ll use your email address as your username going forward. Passwords are 12 very random characters. You’re welcome and encouraged to change your password (see webmail instructions below), but they will need to meet new strength standards, which are very high. Use uppercase, lowercase, digits, and throw in some special characters like “ #” and “!” to make your passwords stronger. The port numbers are also changing. Reminder: don’t change your password until we’ve finished the migration.
IMAP vs. POP3 PROTOCOLS
We highly recommend using the IMAP protocol now, rather than the older POP3 protocol. This keeps ALL of your email on our server (inbox, sent, drafts, deleted messages, spam/junk and folders you create) and allows you to access your email from multiple devices at any time. Phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, webmail will all have the same shared view. Whereas the POP3 protocol ONLY looked at the inbox and you had to login to webmail separately to view/manage spam. IMAP is the best method to use. The only downside is that if you need to keep large amounts of email on our server, there are added costs to have a larger mailbox, but they’re quite reasonable.
BACK UP YOUR OLD EMAIL NOW
If you’re currently using IMAP protocol on ALL your devices, you can ignore this paragraph as all your email is already stored on our servers.
*** SPECIAL NOTE FOR POP3 USERS ***
If you are switching from POP3 to IMAP, be sure to back up your current email box locally or to the cloud as the 2 protocols are handled completely differently and you CANNOT convert/switch a profile from POP3 to IMAP. You must create a new IMAP profile. To reiterate. You are strongly encouraged to back up your current email before proceeding. If you use Outlook, look for the .pst file and copy that to a safe place in case you need to restore it later. For other email clients, check with the software vendor to locate your email and back it up. GBIS can’t be held responsible for lost email.
SSL ENCRYPTION
We also strongly suggest you use SSL encryption (no reason not to, really), so we’re only showing settings for SSL below.
NEW SETTINGS
Settings for IMAP client using SSL (not valid until 8pm on Fri 9/2/2022):
Incoming Server Name: mail.gbis.com, IMAP Port: 993
Outgoing Server Name: mail.gbis.com, IMAP Port: 465
*** Don’t change old/new passwords until we’re finished migrating ***
Old username: {{OldLogin}} (for reference only – do not use with new server)
New username: {{NewLogin}}
New password: {{NewPW}}
*** POP3 USERS ***
If you wish to continue using the pop3 protocol (which we will continue to support, so it’s fine to do so), user port 995 instead of port 993 for the incoming server. Outgoing server is the same for IMAP and POP3.
WEBMAIL
The new webmail interface fully supports the SSL (secure socket layer) protocol, so no more weird security errors when you go to the webmail site. To view your email on the new server using webmail or to change your email password, go to https://webmail.gbis.com and enter your NEW username and password. The IMAP/POP3 protocol settings don’t matter with webmail. The first time you login, you will see a screen that lets you choose between Roundcube (default and most popular) and Horde for your user interface. Try them both, and after you’ve decided which you like best, check the box “Open my inbox when I log in” to bypass this page and go straight to your email. You can get back to this page by clicking the orange “Webmail Home” button in the webmail interface. From the webmail home page, you can change your password, set up filters, autoresponders, and more. If you are having problems setting up your email client, use webmail in the meantime.
CONTACTS
Many of you have contacts on the old server that you’d like to keep using. We will NOT be migrating those as part of this process as not everyone wants/needs to move these over. Once the migration is done, we’d be glad to assist customers with this process, but if you want to do it yourself to speed things along, login to the old (current) webmail at http://webmail.greatbasin.net. Click on “Address Book” at the top, click the blue download/export button, and save the rcube_contacts.vcf file to your computer (remember the location). You can do this today just to save the file ahead of time. Then, after we flip the switch on Friday night, log into the new webmail server at https://webmail.gbis.com (remember, this won’t work until after Friday at 8pm), click “Contacts”, then click The Import button at the top. Select the file you saved earlier and click Import. Voila! Your contacts have been copied to the new server.
IF YOU NEED MORE HELP
GBIS uses a remote login product called “Splashtop” that allows us to login to your computer using a one-time 9-digit code that YOU generate and give to us over the phone. We log in, take over the mouse while you watch, and we troubleshoot whatever problems you’re having with the migration. Currently, our support is limited to fixing problems with services we provide, but in the future, we’re considering adding full computer support for non-internet issues for a flat monthly or annual charge (limitations would apply). Look for a survey on our page and give us your feedback.
In the meantime, we suggest you download and install Splashtop now, even if you don’t anticipate needing it right away. WE CANNOT ACCESS YOUR SYSTEM WITHOUT YOU PROVIDING US THE 9-DIGIT NUMBER, so it’s totally safe to have Splashtop on your system, but not running. You can get it here: https://sos.splashtop.com. The installation program will automatically start downloading. Click “Run”, accept the questions/terms, and after it’s installed and displaying the 9-digit number, go to the menu and select “Add Splashtop Icon to Desktop” so it’s easy to find when you need it. If you’re not wanting us to login at the moment, close the program to remove it from memory. You can also get the program from our website. Look for the logo in the middle of the main page at https://gbis.com.
AND FINALLY…
We really appreciate your patience with this much needed and long-overdue process. Due to the volume of mail that needs to be copied over from the old servers, and the somewhat smallish internet connection feeding them, the migration will take several days to complete. During the process, all new email will be directed to the new server, and you’ll see that email that’s in non-inbox folders has already been moved, but old INBOX mail will not show up until it’s your turn in the migration queue. Once your personal migration starts, it could take a few minutes or several hours, depending on how much email is in your old inbox. Don’t be surprised to see it “trickle in” if you happen to be refreshing your inbox when it begins. If, after we’ve announced that we’re all done with the migration, you still don’t see some/all of your inbox mail, contact us and we’ll look into it.
GBIS Holdings Inc. (dba Great Basin Internet Services)
775-348-7299, option 1 for support
Support Tickets: Login to your account at https://billing.gbis.com to create or follow up on open tickets.
Email: [email protected]
Splashtop Remote Login Software: https://sos.splashtop.com
