Getting started: logging in, email, and accessing resources (Academic Contractors)

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Welcome to RRU.

You may be overwhelmed learning all the new systems and usernames and passwords. We don't want technology to be a challenge. We've designed this page to help you navigate the various IT information and RRU resources available at RRU and invite you to contact us at any time if you have questions. Our contact information is found at the bottom on this page.

We are the Computer Services team and we are here to help!

(We don’t bite)

Tips:

  1. Bookmark this page for easy reference

  2. Right click on the linked pages in this article to open the links in a new tab so you do not lose your place


Your RRU Computer Account (must read!)

As staff or faculty, you have one Academic Account that you’ll use to access resources.

If you area student please note that these two accounts have different resources. The information below ONLY pertains to your role as a staff.

Depending on which resource you’re using, you may be required to enter your Academic Account in one of two formats. No matter which format you use, the password will be the same.

Format

Use this format to log into sites and services like:

Format

Use this format to log into sites and services like:

Your first initial + (maybe a number) + your last name + @royalroads.ca

like: dbrown@royalroads.ca or d1brown@royalroads.ca

This is NOT used as an email address at RRU

(technically called a User Principle Name (UPN), this is the long form of your Academic Account)

 

Your first initial + (maybe a number) + your last name

like: dbrown or d1brown

(technically called a Security Accounts Manager (SAM), this is the short form of your Academic Account)

  • RRU Library

  • If you need to reset your password

  • SurveyMonkey

How will I know which username format to use?

Look for prompts on the login screen that tell you which format to use.

However, a simple rule is: if the site is a Microsoft managed site with a login that looks like this, you should use the long format (i.e. d1brown@royalroads.ca).

image-20240618-030429.png

All others use the short format (like d1brown) unless otherwise directed.

 

  1. The username is created using the first initial of your preferred name + your last name.
    (i.e. for a student named Douglas Brown, the username would be dbrown.)

  2. If the username dbrown has been used previously, the last name is preceded with a number.  Therefore the username would be d1brown.  If that is already used, the system tries d2brown and so on, until it finds an unused username (i.e. d3brown).

  3. The email address is generated based on the username. Using the example above for Douglas Brown, username d1brown, the email address will be: douglas.1brown@royalroads.ca.

We cannot change the name except in very specific circumstances, such as a legal name change.

What is my passphrase?

By now you should have received your username and passphrase from your supervisor. If you cannot find a copy of this username or passphrase, please contact your account supervisor.

You may change or keep it, as you wish.

 

passphrase is another word for a password however it encourages a sequence of words or other text rather then a single word to control access to a computer system, program or data. A passphrase is similar to a password in usage, but is generally longer for added security.  The passphrase at Royal Roads can also contain spaces, numbers and special characters.

Passphrase => Password

Setting up your RRU computer for the first time

If you have been provided with an RRU computer, there can be some initial setup required. We recommend the follow steps in this order:

  • After you have logged in for the first time we recommend you wait about 4 minutes to allow the computer to configure the network and check for updates

  • After the 4 minutes has passed, we recommend that you first open Microsoft Word. It should prompt you to login. You need to use your UPN username. (You might get an error after setting up your Office account. Ignore this error)

  • Close Word, and open Outlook

  • It should connect and show your email. Please allow a couple of hours for everything to sync.

  • Now open Microsoft Teams and log in to Teams. (UPN again). On the confirmation screen, remove the check mark beside “manage this device” and click the link in the bottom right (“…only this device…”) and you should be logged in.

  • Now open Microsoft OneDrive and log in. (UPN again, see a pattern?). On the confirmation screen, remove the check mark beside “manage this device” and click the link in the bottom right (“…only this device…”) and you should be logged in.

  • OneDrive will sync your old desktop (if you had one) with your new desktop. Allow a couple of hours for all files to be sync’d. If you are a brand new staff/faculty, the sync should take less then a minute.

  • If you require additional links or software, please confer with your supervisor.

RRU resources are available on RRU laptops as long as their is an internet connection, regardless of their location.

Please note that these laptops reboot automatically every Wednesday to install updates and refresh resources.

Setting up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (must read!)

Royal Roads University has adopted Microsoft 365 MFA for Webmail, Remote Desktop (for staff only) and Office 365 (currently only for people outside Canada, but soon coming to all accounts). This means you will eventually need MFA to access any Microsoft resource as well as any resource that use Microsoft to authenticate like Avanti, Zoom and many others. In the near future MFA will also be required to log into Moodle.

MFA uses a mobile device to “authenticate” your account. The Microsoft Authenticator application uses minimal data (~<2mb over 3 months) and does not access your personal or private information on your device.

You only have to set this up once and it will work for all the applications listed.

As this procedure is a little longer, we have setup a page all it’s own. Please go here for detailed instructions to setup MFA.

Please do not delay setting up MFA.

Email address (must read!)

image-20240620-213018.png

When your account was created, we automatically created an email address for you. Email addresses at RRU are in the format: preferred-name.last-name@royalroads.ca and may contain a number, like “douglas.1brown@royalroads.ca”.

With few exceptions, you rarely use your email address to log in to RRU resources.

This looks similar to your Academic Account except that your name is spelled out. Many people confuse these two.

There are a few ways to access your RRU email account. (a couple methods require a mobile device)

Outlook on your RRU Computer - This is the primary way you will read your email. It should be working if you followed the instructions above to setup your new computer.

Mobile device - You can setup your email account on a mobile device using the default mail application or using your own email software. You can find instructions to setup this account here.

Webmail access - Once you have MFA setup, you can now log into RRU Webmail at https://outlook.office.com/. (You will also use your long format of your Academic Account (d1brown@royalroads.ca) to log in to this account, not your email address)

Please note that the max file size your RRU email account can send/receive is 20mb uncompressed regardless of you access your email. Also note that PDF/JPG/ZIP documents are compressed so anything over 12-15mb (total) of these file types will probably be too big.

No you cannot forward your RRU email to a personal account except in very specific situations.

Some RRU email going to Hotmail, Outlook, MSN and Live.ca accounts, including RRU passphrase reset and academic account activation emails, are going directly into SPAM folders or not arriving at all for staff/faculty and students that are using Microsoft email accounts like Live.ca, http://Outlook.com and http://Hotmail.com among others. If you are concerned you are missing an email, please check your Junk Email folders. 

We also strongly suggest that you add “http://royalroads.ca ” domain to the Safe Sender's list in your account. 

Please see this page for instructions.

Additional Resources

 

 

Associate Faculty, please see this page on Our People for all the info you need about your RRU Login.

Please note that you must setup Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) before you can access webmail.

 

How to Contact the Computer Services Department


Submit a ticket
To submit a ticket, you will be required to log in using your FULL Royal Roads email address (detailed instructions here)
New! If you do not have a full RRU email address (students not currently in a credit program and/or visitors), you can create a portal account using your personal email address.
Email us at IT Customer Service
Contact Form
Phone: 250-391-2659 Toll Free: 1-866-808-5429
Come visit us in the Sequoia Building
Hours of Operation