Checking E-mail via PINE

Logging in through SSH

On a Windows machine, install SSHWinClient from the Wesleyan Software Servers. Alternatively you can download a free ssh client called Putty. Run it by going to the Start Menu, Programs, SSH Secure Shell. Hit the Quick Connect button in the upper left corner. A dialog box should appear. In the hostname box, type pine.wesleyan.edu. In the username box, type your e-mail username. Hit connect. Another dialog box should appear, type your password and hit OK.

On a Mac, open up a Terminal window (found under Applications, Utilities). Type ssh username@pine.wesleyan.edu, where username is your e-mail username. Hit enter. Type "yes" if it asks if you want to continue. Type in your password at the next prompt, hit enter, and you should be logged in.

Once you login, you will see the following screen:

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Select one of the following by entering menu number or two letter option:
   1 (pi) - Pine E-Mail client
   2 (pa) - Password change for mail server
   3 (ftp) - FTP attachments to other computers
   4 (di) - Disk Usage Information
   5 (ly) - Lynx Text-based Web Browser
   9 (lo) - Logout
Enter selection number or option:
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Using Pine

Type "1" or "pi" and hit enter to check your e-mail. When you access Pine for the very first time, an online help menu will pop up. You can either explore it or just exit the browser by pressing "x". Version 3 and 4 are basically the same, but the latter offers more commands. For instance, in v.4, pressing ";" allows you to select multiple e-mails and apply further commands on the selected mails. Such command also exists in v.3, but you have to enable it in the Setup --> Configuration before you can use it.

Changing your Password

Type "2" or "pa" and hit enter. Then type in your old password (i.e. [first initial][last initial][wesid#]). Type in the new password, make sure it is at least 8 characters with at least one number. Re-type the password to confirm and hit enter.

Printing in PINE from a PC or Mac.

While viewing the e-mail you want to print, type "o" to view other options, and then type "%" for print. This will automatically print the e-mail to your selected default printer.

Listing the Print queue names

Type "3" or "li" and hit enter. If you are networked, you can use this information to print your mail. Use the space bar to scroll down the list of printers, when you find the one closest to you, either copy it to the clipboard by highlighting it with your mouse and selecting copy (only on some programs), or write down the exact name with the correct caps underscores and numbers. This can be used to list the printer you want to print to.

Printing in PINE from a Unix Machine

You can insert this in your printer setup file in PINE under "S" (setup) and then "P" (printers). When in the printer setup menu, scroll down to the end by hitting the space bar. Type "a" to add a printer and then type in the name of the printer exactly as you saw it in the list. Hit enter and then type "lp" to select the default printer command and hit enter again. Hit "e" to exit the setup. And answer "y" to save the changes. Once you've done that, any time you want to print in pine just type "%" when reading your message.

Using FTP

Type "4" or "ftp" and hit enter. You will find your self at the "ftp> prompt. This is where you can take files you exported from pine, and move them to another server.

Exporting Messages in PINE

To export a message in PINE, just type "E" when reading it. Give the message you exported a filename when PINE asks you for it and hit enter. The message is now saved in your home directory on mail under the name you gave it.

At the prompt, type "open <machinename>" and hit enter. (For example if you want to connect to fs4 you will type "open fs4").

Type your "full-context" username and password for the server you just connected to. (For example John Doe '98's username for fs4 will be .jdoe.j.s98.wu and his password will be his Netware password.)

Once you do that you can "get" or "put" files from or into the connection you just opened.

To move the exported file from your mail server to the remote server just type at the ftp prompt put ../<filename> <filename2>. To clarify, you are putting an exported file <filename1> from your home directory on username.mail.wesleyan.edu into the directory on your remote account with the new filename <filename2>.

To import a file from the remote server when you are using ftp just type at the ftp prompt get <filename1> ../<filename2>. This will take a file from the remote server and put it into your home directory and call it <filename2>, which you can then attach to an e-mail in PINE.

At the prompt type close and then hit enter.

Note: It is generally easier to use IMP, the new web-based e-mail client, so transfer messages and attachments. We recommend this method over text-based file transfer.

Sending attachments in PINE

When you want to send a complex file, such as an application, graphic, spreadsheet or word processed document, you need to attach it. To attach a file in pine to the e-mail you are composing, move your cursor to the attachment line in the message header. Then type Ctrl-J, which will ask you what file you want to attach. To browse your directory for the file, type Ctrl-T and select the file you want to attach and hit enter. Type in a comment to go with the file and hit enter again or just leave the comment line blank. Then send your mail.

Checking Disk Usage

To prevent being locked out of your mail account, it is important to maintain your disk space usage under 5 megabytes. To check your usage type in "5" or "disk". If it looks like you are getting close to the 5 meg limit, you may have to start deleting attachments and received messages. Check out the tipsheet on Quotas for more information.

Logging Out

To exit your mail server, type "9" or "lo" and hit enter.