Email settings for Off-Campus: using SSL


Here are specific instructions for each of the email programs currently supported at UVM.

Apple Mail (This is the OSX Apple Mail, not the Mail icon under OS 9 or below)

  1. Start Apple Mail.
  2. Select Preferences from the Mail menu.
  3. Select your account in the list of Accounts, then click the Edit button.
  4. In the Account Information tab, click on the "Options..." button (lower right)
  5. Make sure "Outgoing Mail Server" is set to: smtp.uvm.edu
  6. Check the box next to "Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)"
  7. In the "Advanced" tab, check the "Use SSL" box
  8. Click "OK" to save changes, then click the red Close button in the Preferences window.
If the above steps don't work, compare your settings to the recommended settings for Apple Mail. You will probably have to type your password in when prompted.

Netscape Mail 7.x (for Classic or OSX)

Start Netscape 7.x
  1. Run netscape
  2. open the mail client (click on the envelope in the lower left) or select Mail & Newsgroups from the Tasks or Window menu
  3. Choose "Mail and Newsgroup account settings" from the Edit menu
  4. Click on "Server Settings" from the menu on the left
  5. Check the box labelled "Use secure connection (SSL)"
  6. Choose "Outgoing Server (SMTP) from the menu on the left
  7. Where it says, "Use secure connection (SSL): click on the "When available" button
  8. Click OK

Stuff from Andrew's document:

Outlook Express Windows (MacOS versions look very much the same)


1.  Start Outlook Express.
2.  Select Accounts from the Tools menu.
3.  Select your account in the list of Accounts and click the Properties button.
4.  Change the Email address field on the General panel to match "firstname.lastname@uvm.edu" substituting your first name and last name where appropriate.
5.  Click the Ok button to save the changes.

Eudora for Mac OSX 5.2 (If you're running Eudora Light 3.x of any flavor, upgrade from http://www.uvm.edu/software). Note: according to Eudora, SSL is not supported when using MacOSX versions 10.0 or 10.1. If you have not upgraded to 10.2 or above, you should do so before attempted to use SSL with Eudora.

  1. Start Eudora.
  2. Select Preferences... from the Eudora menu.
  3. Scroll all the way down the list of icons on the left. Click on the "SSL" icon.
  4. Choose "Optional" under the category "SSL for SMTP". Click OK.
  5. Click the Ok button to save the changes.
  6. If a dialogue box appears saying "You connected to a server which returned this SSL certificate that is not in your keychain. Would you like to add it to your keychain?" Click OK

Eudora for MacOS (Again version 5.x only, upgrade if you're running Eudora Light)


1.  Start Eudora.
2.  Select Settings from the Special menu.
3.  Click on the Getting Started category at the top of the list on the left.
4.  Change the Return Address: field in the right hand panel to match "firstname.lastname@uvm.edu" substituting your first name and last name where appropriate.
5.  Click the Ok button to save the changes.



If you are running any other mailer, please explore the available Help menu or the publisher's support materials for help in making the above changes. 

Courtesy of Andrew Hendrickson, College of Arts & Sciences Computing Services