Authenticated SMTP Server

Why Use The Authenticated Mail Server?

By using the authenticated mail server, you can submit electronic mail from your laptop or other sites anywhere on the internet. Mail will be accepted for relay to any site, so long as you are authenticated using your Computer Science user name and password.

How Do I Use The Authenticated SMTP Server?

In your mail client, set the SMTP (outgoing mail server) to sabe.cs.wisc.edu. Set the username to your Computer Science username. Enable SSL or TLS.

When you send mail, you will be prompted for your Computer Science password (once per mail session).

NOTE: If your Internet Service Provider blocks SMTP traffic using Port 25, you must configure your email client to use Port 587 instead. Some ISPs block Port 25 in an attempt to reduce spam and viruses. The CSL has made Port 587 (a reserved port for email message submission) available for authenticated SMTP. Please see configuration information for your specific email client below.

We've had some reports that Norton SystemWorks will cause mail to sabe.cs.wisc.edu to fail. If you are using SystemWorks and having problems using sabe.cs.wisc.edu try turning off outgoing mail virus checking.

Configuring Mozilla Thunderbird To Use The Authenticated SMTP Server

1. Open Thunderbird
2. Open Edit  | Account Settings
3. Click on the Outgoing Server (SMTP) at the bottom of the accounts list
4. Set Server Name to sabe.cs.wisc.edu
5. If your ISP blocks port 25, set Port to 587
6. Set User Name to your Computer Science or Statistics login
7. Check Use secure connection: TLS, if available
8. Click OK and close the edit preferneces windows

When you send your first message, you will get a dialog box to accept the server certificate. Click on accept forever, and complete the dialog. You should only see the certificate dialog once.

You will have to enter your Computer Science password once each thunderbird session in which you send mail.

Configuring Outlook To Use The Authenticated SMTP Server

For Outlook:

1. If you are running Outlook for the first time, when it prompts you for your account information, hit More Settings, else go to Tools->Options->Mail Setup tab->Email Accounts and choose to either add a new account or change your existing account. If you create a new account, choose the IMAP option, and enter imap.cs.wisc.edu for your incoming mail server and sabe.cs.wisc.edu for outgoing mail, and your name, email address, and login name in the appropriate
2. Hit the More Settings button. On the Advanced tab, check the "Server requires a secure connection" boxes for both servers to enable SSL. NOTE: If your ISP blocks port 25 traffic, set the Outgoing Server (SMTP) setting to 587. On the Outgoing Server tab, check the "My outgoing server requires authentication" box and enter your CS account information (if you are configuring Outlook to get incoming mail from an account other than your CS account), or you can tell it to just use the same values as incoming mail.
3. After OK'ing the changes, you should be able to connect to the mail servers as normal. The first time you may have to approve the server certificate(s), and you should need to enter your password once per session (if you didn't tell Outlook to remember it).

For Outlook Express:

1. Under Tools->Accounts, choose to either Add a mail account or highlight the account to change and hit Properties. The Add option will step you through account creation and is self explanatory; as above, use imap.cs.wisc.edu for incoming mail and sabe.cs.wisc.edu for outgoing mail. NOTE: If your ISP blocks port 25 traffic, set the Outgoing Server (SMTP) setting to 587. After adding the account you will need to go back and view the account's properties as detailed above.
2. In the Advanced properties tab, check the "This server requires a secure connection" boxes to enable SSL for both servers.
3. In the Servers tab, check the Outgoing Mail Server checkbox "My server requires authentication" and hit the Settings button. Enter your CS account information or tell it to use the same settings as incoming mail, as applicable.
4. After OK'ing the changes, you should be able to connect to the mail servers as normal. The first time you may have to approve the server certificate(s), and you should need to enter your password once per session (if you didn't tell Outlook to remember it).

I'm Getting A Weird Error Trying To Connect To The Server, What's Wrong?

If you're getting an error along the lines of:

Unable to establish a SSL connection with the server. Account: 'Wisc',Server: 'sabe.cs.wisc.edu', Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: '454 TLS not available due to temporary reason', Port: 25, Secure(SSL): Yes, Server Error: 454, Error Number: 0x800CCC7F

...then it may be a problem with antivirus software scanning outgoing mail. This is a known problem with Norton Antivirus and may also happen with other antivirus applications, and disabling scanning of outgoing mail should solve the problem.