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An important note on the upcoming changes to email.

by Stacey, Craig

Last week, these changes were announced for Microsoft 365, the service that provides our e-mail (Outlook), Teams, OneDrive, and other Microsoft tools.  These changes are required by Argonne’s management to comply with DOE directives.  I want to provide a summary of what this means for you.  For CELS, the implementation is currently planned for June 20, 2024.

After this change, the only way you’ll be able to access M365 data (including email) will be via a Microsoft application (e.g. Outlook) on certified Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), or via a web browser.  If you currently use something else to access your email such as Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or anything that isn’t Outlook, it will cease to be able to connect.  This also applies to calendar applications such as BusyCal and Fantastical.  I encourage re-reading the linked announcement at the top for further details on the effects.

If your computer is managed by Argonne (either BIS or CELS Systems), your computer is certified GFE, and Outlook and other Microsoft apps will work as you are accustomed to.  You have no action.  If you’re wondering if your computer is certified GFE, read on to determine how to be sure.

If your computer is self-managed/co-managed it may or may not be certified GFE, depending on how it’s configured. I want to provide some guidance on how to tell if you have any further action to take based on the operating system of your computer.

Linux:

The only way to access your email will be via Outlook Web Access (OWA) via https://outlook.office365.com/mail/inbox.  If the connection is coming from an Argonne IP address, it will be certified GFE and you will have the ability to save locally, print, or copy content.  If the connection is coming from a non-Argonne IP address, you will not be able to locally save, copy, or print.

Mac:

If your computer has the Self Service app on it, and you are able to successfully run it, your computer will be certified GFE and the Microsoft applications will work as expected.  You will not be able to use third party applications, as noted above.

If your computer does not have the Self Service app on it, we can help you get that set up.  Please follow the instructions here (I recommend “The Easy Way.”)

Windows:

Chances are good if you’re running a Windows computer and it’s not managed by CELS or BIS, then it’s not going to be certified as GFE without some changes.  The method for Windows computers to be certified GFE is to be properly bound to the anl.gov domain.  There are a few ways to check this, but the simplest is to open a command prompt and run the command

systeminfo | findstr /i "domain"

If this comes back with anything other than “Domain: anl.gov”, then it’s not going to be certified as GFE.

We’re finalizing the process of binding these machines to the anl.gov domain, but we’ve worked out a minimally invasive solution.  If you wish to have your computer be certified GFE (required for Outlook to work), please send a request to [email protected] and let us know.  We’ll work out a time with you to handle the operation after the steps have been fully tested.

If your Windows computer is not certified GFE, you will have to use the web interface to access your mail and other M365 data.

There will be more communication on this both from BIS and from me as we get closer to implementation. Thanks for your patience as we try to deal with this!