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  3. Setting Up Your Mail Client

Setting Up Your Mail Client

This page explains how to set up your mail client to ensure you have access to your mail as well as being able to send email.

Accessing Mails using POP3 or IMAP4 #

When accessing your mail with an mail client, there are usually several methods to choose from. Ability Mail Server supports both POP3 and IMAP4, which are the standard methods of access and which all good mail clients support. The best method for you depends on your needs and how you intend to access your account. The easiest way to decide is to ask yourself: 'Will I by accessing my mail from multiple computers?' If the answer is no then most likely POP3 will be fine. However, if the answer is yes, IMAP4 may be the wiser choice. POP3 is only designed to allow simple and quick access to an account by quickly downloading and deleting the new emails. This is ideal for single computer access and the connection between the client and server may be slow (e.g. dial-up connections). IMAP4 is designed to keep the mails on the server and so all computers logging into the same account remain synchronized. IMAP4 also supports hierarchies of folders and state flags, such as the 'Read' status of a mail, ensuring that all computers will share the same folders and will also be made aware if a mail is read, replied to or deleted.

Creating a Mail Account in Your Client #

Most mail clients are designed for access to multiple accounts and/or multiple mail servers. So before you can access your mail you will need to create a new account in the client. The first step in creating the new account involves choosing the method of access, which is usually POP3 or IMAP4. The next step then involves entering the following information:

  • Email Address - This should be exactly the same as the email address used by the account on the mail server.
  • Name - This can be anything you choose including your name or company.
  • User Login or Username - This can be either the same as the email address or just the user component (the text before the '@' symbol in the email address).
  • Password - This is the password for the account on the mail server.
  • Incoming Mail Server / POP3 Server / IMAP4 Server - This is usually the host address of the mail server and can be any domain or computer name which converts to the IP address of the server, or even the server's IP address directly. If you have set any bind IPs then you will need to enter the same IP here.
  • Outgoing Mail Server / SMTP Server - If you wish to use Ability Mail Server to act as your outgoing mail server then this is usually the same as above. For more information on this setting please read the next section.

Outgoing Mail and SMTP Authentication

If you have enabled SMTP Authentication on the mail server, you will also need to set your mail client to 'log in' to the SMTP to be able to send mails correctly. If you fail to configure this correctly then often you will receive an 'Account does not exist.' error message when trying to send mail. This setting is usually located along with the 'Outgoing Mail Server' options. If you enabled 'Allow Any Accounts Login Details' for SMTP Authentication then it should be sufficient to use the same login details as the 'Incoming Mail Server'. If you are using Outlook then the SMTP Authentication options are usually located in the 'More Settings...' dialog, under the Outgoing Server tab.

Searching for User Information using LDAP #

Most mail clients will support LDAP, which stands for Light Directory Access Protocol. This is very useful for searching a mail server for users matching certain search criteria from one or more LDAP databases on the mail server.

Creating an LDAP Account in Your Client #

Most mail clients are designed to access to multiple LDAP accounts and/or multiple LDAP servers. When creating an LDAP account you will need to enter the following information:

  • Server - This is usually the host address of the mail server and can be any domain or computer name which converts to the IP address of the server, or even the server's IP address directly. If you have set any bind IPs then you will need to enter the same IP here.
  • Use Login - This enables whether you are trying to login to a particular LDAP database on the mail server. If you don't provide any login information, this is classed as an anonymous bind (login). Anonymous binding will only succeed if the mail server contains a default database that requires no password. If a specified login fails the mail server may choose to authenticate you to access a default database that requires no password if one is available.
  • User - This must be the name of an LDAP database on the mail server.
  • Password - This is the password for the account on the mail server. If no password is required you may not need to specify this information.