MIT Kerberos Account Deactivation FAQ

MIT Kerberos accounts are deactivated annually in January or February. This page contains some information about the deactivation process.

Users can always be directed to contact User Accounts at servicedesk@mit.edu or x3-1101. (see also When are Athena accounts deactivated?)

Contents:

Deactivation Notifications

When will accounts be deactivated?

The deactivation process is annual and typically occurs in January or February. The process begins in the fall, typically in November or December, with IS&T contacting full-time faculty and staff members actively sponsoring accounts.

Who is on the list?

• Students who graduate in January or June.
• According to the Registrar's Office, Students who are not registered for the current term.
• Guest accounts with sponsored accounts, and the sponsor did not respond to a renewal request from IS&T.
• Visiting scholars who do not have an appointment for the fall semester before the annual deactivation.
• Former staff whose account wasn't deactivated at the end of their appointment over the past year.

(September degree candidates appear on the following year's list.)

When was the list generated?

The initial list was generated 30 days after the Add Date (see the academic calendar for Add Date). People whose status changed after the list was generated will still appear on the initial list. However, the list is re-checked before each email warning is sent out, and people whose status has changed in the meantime will be safe.

What is the difference between suspension and deactivation?

Suspension prevents you from logging into your account; deactivation gets rid of the account (and automatically removes the mailbox a month later). We start by suspending the account so that if there is a mistake, it can be easily fixed without your mail bouncing or your web pages being removed; after a month of suspension, we convert the account into complete deactivation.

When were users notified?

Account sponsors are first sent a warning email, usually in November or December, asking them if they'd like to continue sponsoring the guest accounts they're the listed sponsor of. A second warning email, usually sent in January, goes to guest account holders set to expire that have not been re-sponsored by their listed sponsors. The notification process concludes with a third email, usually sent in February, to guest accounts that have not secured a sponsor following the previous two notifications.

How can users who are still at MIT keep their accounts?

Faculty or staff can sponsor a user's account by visiting Sponsoring an Account or sending an email to account-renewal@mit.edu, telling us who they would like to sponsor.

• If a student was not registered but is still at MIT, the professor they are working with should send an e-mail.
• Temporary staff and contractors should have their supervisor send an e-mail.
• Students taking a leave of absence should have their advisor or a CSS dean sponsor their account.

Is there a charge for sponsoring an account?

No.

How long are accounts sponsored for?

They can be sponsored for one year and renewed again the following year. To maintain the account, the IS&T accounts team must hear from the sponsor at least once a year. Accounts should only be kept for individuals conducting active work with faculty or staff at MIT.

How can I tell if someone else's account has been deactivated?

If you run the following commands on Athena:

add consult
hes USERNAME

Then, a deactivated user will have an entry like this:

FILSYS: ERR Locker deactivated: contact the service desk for help.

Can users who are no longer at MIT keep their accounts? Can they pay to do so?

Unfortunately, for both technical and legal reasons, we cannot provide continuing accounts for people who have left MIT and are no longer affiliated with it. We do not offer a paid version, either. 

Can users keep their accounts while on a leave of absence?

Our information comes from the Registrar's Office, so if they are not a registered student, their account will be flagged for deactivation. The user should have their advisor, departmental administrator, S^3 dean, or other suitable person send an e-mail to accounts@mit.edu requesting that the account is sponsored until they return. They should also provide the estimated date of return. This must be done manually - we have no other source of information about medical leaves or leaves of absence.

Can users keep their accounts for access to MIT libraries resources or to finish out their thesis?

Alumni can still visit the MIT Libraries and access some electronic resources on-site without an Athena account. See "Library Services for MIT Alumni/ae" for more information.

Resources for Deactivated Users

Recently graduated students

If you are a recently graduated student, please visit the alumni website to learn how to establish an alumni email account.

E-mail Forwarding for Life (EFL, alum.mit.edu)

E-mail forwarding for life creates a new @alum.mit.edu address; it does NOT extend the user's @mit.edu address. Users who want to sign up for EFL should visit http://alum.mit.edu and register for the Infinite Connection.

Users who are currently forwarding their e-mail to another address (chpobox)

Forwarding will continue for one month after deactivation while the account is suspended. After that, when the account is fully deactivated, mail that is addressed to the account will be bounced back to the sender, regardless of whether the user is currently forwarding their mail or not. We notify account holders several months before deactivation so they can contact their email correspondents to let them know about a change of address.

Getting a copy of all their e-mail

Any e-mail client (Apple Mail, Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.) should be able to copy folders to the local computer. More detailed information on backing up emails and files can be found here.

Getting a copy of their files in their Athena account

They can use SecureFX or Fetch to transfer files to their Windows or Mac. We do not provide backup services for deactivated users. More information on backing up files in an Athena account can be found here.

Copying all their existing e-mail to Gmail

We no longer encourage this migration directly. Instead, users should configure an e-mail client (Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc.) on their personal computer and copy their mail to that computer. They can then upload to Gmail using IMAP at a later date. If they try to send their entire Inbox directly from MIT to Gmail, it will be very slow, possibly getting their account blocked, rate-limited, or not working.

What if a deactivated user returns to MIT? Will their files be gone?

This depends on how long a user is gone from MIT before returning. While the account can always be reactivated, different apps and services, especially third parties, have different data retention policies.

Will their email be lost?

Once your MIT account is deactivated, its mailbox will be permanently deleted, and data recovery will not be possible. This typically occurs one to two months after the account suspension. To avoid losing a copy of critical data, users should create a backup before the account is suspended.

What about MIT Dropbox?

After an account is deactivated, the user can no longer use Touchstone to log into their MIT Dropbox for Business account, the MIT Dropbox folder will be shut down, and the data will be permanently deleted after seven days. Shared folders others can access will still be available in their own Dropbox accounts. If a user wants us to transfer the contents of their MIT Dropbox folder to another MIT Dropbox user or a new personal Dropbox account, they can let us know by contacting the Service Desk. Team folders are another option for groups wishing to avoid data loss during account deactivation. For more information on Dropbox team folders, please contact the Service Desk at servicedesk@mit.edu.

What about MIT GitHub Accounts?

After an account is deactivated, GitHub repositories will no longer be available. Please see this article: Github Accounts After Graduation or Leaving MIT for more information on transferring ownership to another account.

What about Google Workspace accounts?

Google Workspace accounts are suspended when your Kerberos account is suspended. You should back up any files in Google Drive to your personal Google Drive, Personal Dropbox, or another personal storage system.