The messaging system of the University of Lorraine is based on Zimbra, a web client that goes far beyond just sending emails. Behind the usual interface lie settings and interconnections that most users, both staff and students, do not take advantage of.
Zimbra Sending Alias: Choose the Address That Appears in Every Email
By default, the sender address displayed in Zimbra is a technical address, often made up of an unreadable identifier. Since the end of 2024, the University of Lorraine has enabled the option to configure an alias in the format [email protected] as the default sender address.
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This option is not directly visible in the account settings. It can be obtained upon request from the DN-UL support. Once the alias is activated, each sent message displays a clear professional address, which avoids confusion among recipients outside the university.
The benefit goes beyond mere aesthetics. When communicating with research partners, a CNRS laboratory, or a foreign campus, a readable address enhances the credibility of the message and reduces the risk of it being filtered as spam. Notifications received in response from UL messaging on Net Work also gain clarity when the alias is properly configured.
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Rocket.Chat Connector and Cross Notifications in UL Messaging
The University of Lorraine has deployed Rocket.Chat as an instant messaging service for quick exchanges between students and researchers. What is less known is that Zimbra and Rocket.Chat have been interoperable since 2024 thanks to a dedicated connector.
Rocket.Chat channels for courses or projects can automatically send daily summaries or alerts directly to the UL mailbox. A teacher managing a practical work channel no longer needs to check two platforms in parallel: priority messages arrive in Zimbra as consolidated notifications.
Fine-Tuning Rocket.Chat Alerts in Zimbra
Unsubscribing from these summaries is managed in the notification preferences of Rocket.Chat, not in Zimbra. The distinction is subtle but can be frustrating when trying to stop a flow of messages without finding the right menu.
- To stop daily summaries from a specific channel, open the channel settings in Rocket.Chat, then disable the “email summary” option.
- To reduce frequency without completely cutting off, change from “daily” to “weekly” in the same preferences.
- To block all Rocket.Chat notifications to Zimbra, modify the global setting in the Rocket.Chat user profile, under “Email notifications.”
This cross-notification system transforms Zimbra into a centralized hub, even for informal exchanges that usually go through instant messaging.
Alert Banner for External Messages: A Discreet Anti-Phishing Filter
Since the 2024 cybersecurity campaign, Zimbra displays a “[EXTERNAL]” warning banner at the top of messages coming from outside the University of Lorraine network. This mechanism has significantly reduced the number of account compromise cases reported to CERT-RENATER for the institution.
The banner is not just a simple visual marker. It is accompanied by an alert text reminding users not to click on links or open attachments if the sender is unknown. For research staff who regularly receive solicitations from scientific publishers or fake funding organizations, this visual signal serves as a first line of defense.
What the Banner Does Not Filter
The banner does not replace the antivirus or antispam already active on UL servers. It acts as a complement, on a behavioral level. A phishing email that passes technical filters will still be flagged as external, providing the recipient with an additional clue to assess its legitimacy.
The messaging data remains hosted on the servers of the University of Lorraine, a point that distinguishes this service from third-party cloud solutions. Control of the infrastructure allows for the application of these filtering rules without relying on an external provider.
Zimbra Storage Quotas and Space Management for Each Profile
The allocated storage capacity varies according to the user’s status. Staff have a substantial space, while students receive a more limited allocation. Staff identified as VIPs benefit from the highest quota.
- VIP Staff: 100 GB of messaging storage.
- Staff: 50 GB.
- Students: 10 GB.
- Partners: variable quota according to agreement.
- Maximum size of an email sent: 20 MB, including attachments.
When the quota approaches its limit, Zimbra does not always send a clear warning. The mailbox may simply refuse incoming messages. Regularly emptying the “Trash” and spam folders frees up space without having to delete archived emails. The advanced search function also allows sorting messages by size to locate large attachments buried in old discussion threads.
Access to the messaging system is done after UL authentication, via the ENT (Messaging tile), directly from the service address, or by syncing on a smartphone using the UnivLorraine app. The latter option allows checking emails, the calendar, and the shared address book without opening a browser.
Sharing calendars and address books among colleagues in the same laboratory or faculty remains one of the most underutilized features of Zimbra. Setting up a shared calendar with read or write permissions takes just a few minutes in the calendar preferences and avoids back-and-forth emails to schedule a meeting.
UL messaging is not just about sending emails. Between the sender alias, the Rocket.Chat connector, the security banner, and collaborative sharing tools, Zimbra covers a scope that most users at the University of Lorraine are unaware of, due to a lack of easily accessible documentation.