Taiga Consulting |
This document is intended for Taiga mail system users. It is provided as a description of services so as to give users sufficient information so that they can configure standalone mail clients for use with this system.
Here, in brief, is the information you need in order to connect to our mail server:
MDA: hostname: mail.taiga.ca protocols: IMAPS (port 993) POP3S (port 995) (avoid POP3S if you also want to use webmail) security: SSLv3 authentication method: plain MTA (optional): hostname: smtp.taiga.ca protocols: SMTP + TLSv1 or TLSv3 (port 25) SMTP + SSL (port 465) authentication method: plain
Do note that the authentication method is plaintext over SSL. If you select options in your client like "CRAM/MD5" or "secure password" then you will not be able to properly authenticate.
Almost all modern mail systems have three main components. They are:
This server provides access to two MDA protocols, which we summarize here:
Note that the download-and-delete mode of POP clients is not compatible with using the webmail interface. If you want to use both your stand-alone email client and the webmail system, then your email client should only use IMAP.
Since we don't provide technical support for your mail client, you're of course welcome to use whatever mail client you want. A generally good client that runs on MacOS, Windows, and a few UNIX variants including Linux and Solaris is Mulberry. Mulberry used to be a commercial product, but is now freely available.
The MTA, in the interests of spam (UCE/UBE) control, has restrictions on the type of mail it will handle. Inbound mail will, in general, be allowed only if it is addressed to taiga.ca or other domains hosted by this site (but see below). Various other types of anti-spam measures are also in place in order to cut down on the crud being delivered to our users. It's not perfect, but it gets rid of most of the junk mail.
In the interest of supporting mobile computing, the MTA will accept arbitrary mail from clients which have logged in. The supported authentication method is plaintext username/password over TLSv1 or TLSv3 on port 25 (which are like SSL except that encryption is negotiated after the SMTP connection has been initiated), or for legacy clients SSL over port 465. If you cannot reach this server on either port 25 or port 465 from your mobile computing device, your ISP is probably blocking these ports. You may wish to check out Loa PowerTools as a solution for sending mail in such circumstances.
Last Updated: 14 Feb 2010 |