Standard Operating Environment (SOE)

The introduction of a Standard Operating Environment (SOE) across the fleet of desktops and notebooks has been one of several sub-projects within the Service Management & Shared IT Utility Services (SMSUS) part of the IT Change Program at UNSW. It's purpose is to increase consistency of IT service across the university. The first stage of migrating Faculty of Medicine staff to the new SOE commenced in mid 2009.

What is a Standard Operating Environment (SOE)?

A SOE is a collection of standards and components that make up the desktop computer environment. The UNSW SOE will include:

A Base Operating system (e.g. Windows XP) - login using the new zPass - see also: IT at UNSW - How to create your own zPass password
Security software (e.g. Anti-virus)
Application sets (e.g. MS Office (includes Outlook for email) and Adobe Reader are part of a base set)
Desktop Customisation and configuration

Note: All internal desktop computer hard drives will be completely wiped (all local data deleted permanently) and the latest versions of software will be installed.

Passwords (UniPass and zPass)

IT at UNSW has introduced a new password system called zPass. zPass is initially being introduced with the specific IT projects, so it will not replace UniPass straight away.

You will need both UniPass and zPass to access ALL University systems.

Need a Password?

Both UniPass and zPass can be self-managed via the Identity manager website.

What are your requirements?

I have a UniPass but not a zPass - you can login here with your UniPass and create a zPass (instructions on how to create a zPass).

I am a New User - no UniPass or zPass - Set your UniPass here and then create your zPass.

Need help? Please contact the IT Service Desk on 9385 1333 or and request assistance in creating these.

New UNSW MS Outlook/Exchange service

The University has provided a new email service using Microsoft Exchange. This service has several advantages over the Unimail service:

No mail quota;
Much better user interface via the web, especially using Internet Explorer;
Calendar with Free/Busy lookup for arranging meetings;
Properly backed up mail – your mail is stored on our server which is rigorously backed up;
Content is the same wherever you log in;
If you delete a message, you have up to 30 days to recover it.

Current known Lotus Notes (LN) migration to MS Outlook Glitches/Issues/Gotchas

Please see: MS Outlook Training

All existing LN email, personal contacts, calendar entries and folders will be migrated across to MS Outlook/Exchange. However, all sent email via LN will only appear in the MS Outlook sent folder - they will not appear in their original LN folders.
All private LN folders (slightly grayed out) will not be migrated. Need to ensure all folders are made public in Lotus Notes before migration.
In MS Outlook, "Send and Save" is not available, must choose "Save sent item" under the "Options" tab first then send email (two steps needed)
MS Outlook web client (Outlook Web Access - OWA) full version only available on Internet Explorer web browser (not supported on Mac OS)
All staff must use the MS Outlook web client (Outlook Web Access - OWA) when accessing special purpose email account to ensure all correspondence appears in the correct mailbox.
All calendar entries (excluding title/description) in LN mail databases are viewable by default to all UNSW staff in MS Outlook
MS Outlook address book is UNSW wide by default (searchable by default on first name taken from NSS HR - which is sometimes different than expected e.g. Raina = Chandini)
When creating your signature, you need to select both "New messages" and "Replies/Forwards" to apply to all emails
School/Faculty based email broadcast lists (Distribution Lists) aren't yet available in MS Outlook
MS Outlook generic email mailboxes: default settings require the end user to change sent properties on each email (sent from, sent out box etc.)
When deleting email in MS Outlook there is no confirmation dialogue box
Personal group contact lists (Distribution Lists - DL) for email broadcasts only have a reliable limit of 125-130 if only names and email addresses are added. Recommendation is 50 – 70 contacts per DL.
MS Outlook folders which contain more that 5000 items will not be indexed and therefore NOT searchable. This means they need to be split into smaller folders.
Deleted items must be manually cleared via right clicking and choosing > Empty "Deleted Items" Folder.

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