Using TLS encryption with OS X Mail This guide assumes that you have already created an account in Mail. If you have not, you can use the new account wizard. The new account wizard is in the Accounts window of the Preferences screen and is activated by pressing the plus (+) sign at the bottom left corner of the window. Use either beloit.edu or stu.beloit.edu, depending on where your account is, as the POP server and bcmail.beloit.edu as the SMTP server. Doing this does not enable TLS encryption for sending or receiving mail and does not enable authentication on the SMTP server. Encryption and authentication are not required for use on campus, although ISR strongly recommends that you enable them. If you wish to use the Beloit College mail server to send mail from an off campus location, you must enable authentication and encryption. 1. Open the preferences screen by opening the Mail menu and selecting Preferences... 2. Open the accounts page by pressing the Accounts button in the top toolbar. Make sure that your Beloit College account is the one selected in the left pane of the Account window. Under the Account Information tab, look for Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) near the bottom of the screen. Click the Server Settings button.
3. Change the server name to bcmail.beloit.edu. Keep the default port of 25. Under security and authentication, check the box Use name and password. Enter your Beloit College user name (the part of your email address before the @ symbol). Many local ISPs block outgoing traffic on port 25, so ISR strongly recommends that if you are going to use bcmail from an off campus location you change the default port from 25 to 2525. To do this, enter 2525 in the Port field. If you only want to use bcmail on campus, you can leave it as the default of 25. Finally, select the TLS option under Use secure authentication.
4. Click the Advanced tab in the main preferences window. Near the bottom of the window, it will say Check with your system administrator before changing any of the advanced settings below. Check the box that says Use SSL. The Port field next to it will change to 995. Leave it at the default. Make sure that the Authentication option is set to Password. After you are finished, close the Accounts window.
5. Attempt to send a message to yourself. After you click the send button, Mail may warn you about an SSL certificate and prompt you for a password. Click Continue at the SSL prompt and enter your Beloit College account password. The password is the same password used to retrieve your mail and the same password used to login to your account using webmail. 6. Check your mail. You may be prompted again about an SSL certificate and for your password. Simply click Continue at the Verify SSL screen and enter your password again. You should see at least the test message you sent earlier and any new mail you may have received since the last time you logged into your account. Mail is now configured for authentication and encryption. Resolving certificate issues One annoyance of Mail is that it may prompt you to verify the SSL certificates each time you re-open Mail. Mail relies on the system keychain for its certificate management, and has no option to accept the certificate itself. The issue must be resolved in the Keychain Access. The screen that repeatedly pops up is a screen that says Unable to verify SSL server bcmail.beloit.edu, stu.beloit.edu, or beloit.edu. It contains additional warning information about the root certificate being unverified and that you could be connecting to a computer pretending to be bcmail, stu.beloit.edu, or beloit.edu.
You might only get this warning when you are retrieving mail. This is the case if you have previously imported the Beloit College CA certificate. Installing the Beloit CA certificate should be your first course of action. This will resolve most problems. Installing the Beloit CA certificate 1. Download the Beloit College Ca certificate from here. You must right click on it and select either Save Link As or Save Target As. Clicking on the link normally will only cause your browser to try to install it. Save the file to your documents or desktop for easy access 2. Locate the certificate. Double click on it to launch Keychain Access. Keychain Access will ask you which keychain you wish to import it under. Select X509 anchors from the drop down menu. This will require you to enter an Administrator password. If your computer account has administrative access, simply use the account name and password you use to login to your machine. 3. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect. There is a known issue with the beloit.edu root certificate. If you follow the above steps and are still getting warning windows when you check your mail, you can try the steps below. This problem will be corrected by January 2008. By that time, installing the Beloit College CA certificate will be sufficient to cover SSL certificate problems.
1. Attempt to retrieve your Mail. What you are trying to do is bring up is the certificate warning window. If Mail appears to trust it for this session, completely close out of Mail, restart Mail, and try again. Once the Unable to Verify SSL server appears, click Show Certificate at the bottom left corner of the windows. Grab onto the certificate icon and drag it to the desktop. 2. Locate the certificate on your desktop. Double click on the certificate to open it in Keychain Access. Keychain Access wants to know what keychain you want to put it in. Select X509 Anchors from the drop down menu. Click OK. This will require you to enter an Administrator password. If your computer account has administrative access, simply use the account name and password you use to login to your machine.
3. You must restart your computer for the changes to take effect.