Using Mail Client Software with CIS Unix

This document describes the use of "mail client" software on your own computer to access your CIS Unix e-mail. Examples of such programs include Microsoft Outlook (for Windows), Apple's Mail program (for MacOS X), and Mozilla Thunderbird (for Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux); there are many others.

We won't go into details on how to configure your client software; good software has good documentation, good support, and an active and helpful user community that is easy to find via Google. Instead, we'll offer general guidelines and advice.

It's also possible to configure an external service (like Google's Gmail, or Blackberry) to periodically access your CIS Unix mail. We briefly describe that in the last section.

Encrypt!

The CIS Unix servers offer encryption of both your incoming mail connections (POP3 or IMAP) and outgoing mail connections (SMTP). All decent mail clients will allow you to take advantage of this feature.

All incoming (POP3/IMAP) connections to the CIS Unix servers must be encrypted. (See the "Incoming Server" section below.)

If you want to use the CIS Unix servers to send mail when you are using a non-UNH network, and not on the UNH Virtual Private Network, encryption is required. (See the "Outgoing Server" section below.)

We strongly recommend you use encryption when connecting to the CIS Unix systems. If a miscreant has gained access to one of the network links between your computer and ours, he or she will be able to discover your username, password, and the contents of any messages that you might read or send. This risk is small if you're on the wired UNH network, or the secured wireless UNH network. It's much greater elsewhere.

Incoming Server (POP3 or IMAP)

Mail clients will allow you to access the mail on your CIS Unix account via either POP3 or IMAP protocols, your choice. Guidelines:

In order to configure either a POP3 or IMAP client, you need to provide your CIS Unix username and password. The software may also offer to "remember" your password so you don't have to keep typing it in. You should only type your password this on a computer which you trust. "Remembering" your password is even more risky, since it, and hence your e-mail, will probably be retrievable by anyone with access to your computer.

You will also need to provide the POP3 or IMAP server name: use cisunix.unh.edu.

As noted above your POP3/IMAP access must be encrypted.

Outgoing Server (SMTP)

You will need to specify an "outgoing" server that will accept mail that you compose and relay it to your recipients. A server that accepts mail from your computer's mail software uses the "Simple Mail Transfer" protocol (SMTP), and hence often called the "SMTP" server.

The CIS Unix servers accept incoming mail on both ports 25 and 587. Internet Service Providers (however) increasingly prohibit outgoing connections from their customers' machines to port 25 on remote systems. If your computer is sometimes used on off-campus networks, your best bet is to specify port 587 for your outgoing mail connections.

The easiest thing to do (therefore) is to specify cisunix.unh.edu as the SMTP server, port 587, and to specify both encryption and authentication be used for the connection. This should whether your computer is attached to the UNH network, to a non-UNH network, or is attached to UNH's virtual private network (VPN).

If your computer is always on-campus, we suggest specifying cisunix.unh.edu as your SMTP server. (And, if you can specify a port number, use 587.) Authentication and encryption are optional from the on-campus network. But encryption is, as noted above, a pretty good idea.

Off-campus customers of a non-UNH internet service provider (ISP) can also use cisunix.unh.edu as the SMTP server, but need to specify both authentication and encryption. Alternatively, many ISPs will allow you to use their own SMTP service; consult your ISPs support channels for details.

Alternatively, you can use the UNH virtual private network (VPN) when you are connecting from off-campus; if you're logged into the VPN, you can specify cisunix.unh.edu as your SMTP server.

LDAP Server

You might find it useful to look up e-mail addresses from our CIS Unix LDAP service from within your mail program. You can only use this service from a UNH host (or if you're logged into the UNH virtual private network.

Specify cisunix.unh.edu as your LDAP ("directory") server. The "Base DN" should be specified as ou=People,dc=cisunix,dc=unh,dc=edu

The default is probably OK for other items.

External Services

External (non-UNH) services may provide an option to fetch your CIS Unix mail via their own servers. In this case, the external service runs mail client software on your behalf. Popular examples are Blackberry, and Google's Gmail.

Use of this option requires that you disclose your CIS Unix username and password to these services. Please be sure that you are aware of the risks involved in doing so, and what other information (besides your e-mail) might be disclosed to someone who knows your username and password. While Google and Blackberry are (relatively) reputable organizations with a good security record, other services may be less so. Again: If in doubt, err on the side of caution.

In addition to your username and password, services will also need to know the server name from whence your mail can be fetched via POP3 or IMAP: you should specify cisunix.unh.edu.

Page Maintenance:
Paul A. Sand <pas@unh.edu>
Last modified: 2013-03-11 9:00 AM EDT
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