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Configuring Macintosh Thunderbird for UW Email

Summary: This document provides specific instructions on how to configure the "Thunderbird" application for use with UW email, directory, and news services.

Topics on this page

These examples were done with Thunderbird version 1.5.

Installing Thunderbird

Thunderbird is available in the UW Internet Connectivity Kit (UWICK) available on CD-ROM at the University Bookstore or Thunderbird can be downloaded from the Mozilla.com site.

Thunderbird Under OS 8-9

Thunderbird requires Mac OS X.  There is no version (nor will there be) for Mac OS 8-9.

Installing Thunderbird Under OS X

On the UWICK CD-ROM find the Thunderbird disk image file as the ".dmg" file down the path: UWICK/Web email and news/Mozilla/OSX/Thunderbird 1.5.x". Double-click the Thunderbird disk image file and agree to the license terms to open it. A "virtual" disk appears on your desktop. Now open that and simply drag the Thunderbird folder to your computer (typically into the "Applications" folder).

Configuring Thunderbird for Use With UW Email and News

After successful installation, further configuration is required if you also wish to use Thunderbird to read or send email, or access network "news".

Be sure your computer has an active Internet connection. If your computer uses a modem to dial in and establish a PPP connection (e.g., using "Internet Connect") be sure to dial in BEFORE running Thunderbird.

For Experienced Users

If you are experienced configuring Web and email client software, just use the values in the Values Summary box below.

Use These Values to Configure Thunderbird
When Mail asks you for the: It is looking for the: You Enter:
Email Address Your "@u." email address your_uwnetid@u.washington.edu*
Incoming Server UW IMAP Server your_uwnetid.deskmail.washington.edu *
 secure connection required
User name your mail account your_uwnetid
Account Path Prefix IMAP directory path mail
SMTP Host UW SMTP server smtp.washington.edu
 authenticated, secured connection required,
port 587 recommended
Address server, Host name UW LDAP server directory.washington.edu
Address server, BaseDN LDAP search root o=University of Washington, c=US

* Where "your_uwnetid" is replaced by your actual UW NetID.

Creating Your UW Account in Thunderbird

Run Thunderbird and select "Mail & Newsgroups" from the Window menu. If you have NO accounts currently defined, Thunderbird may automatically bring up the "add account" wizard, but, if not, click on an existing account then under "Accounts" click on "Create a new account" (you can also use Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings under the Edit menu then "Add Account"). You'll need to use the "wizard" to start setting up your account, but it does NOT give you access to all the options you'll need to setup your UW email account. Any method should bring you to a page similar to the one pictured below.

  1. Click on the button next to "Email account", then continue to the next page, pictured below.

  2. For Full Name, enter your full name.
  3. For Email Address, enter your "@u.washington.edu" email address. (that is, YOUR UW NetID plus "@u.washington.edu" )
  4. Continue to the next page, pictured below.

  5. Select "IMAP"
  6. For Incoming Server, enter your IMAP server as your_uwnetid.deskmail.washington.edu where your_uwnetid is replaced by YOUR real UW NetID.
  7. For Outgoing Server, enter "smtp.washington.edu", unless you are using a non-UW Internet connection and wish to use the SMTP server provided by your ISP.
  8. Continue to the next page, pictured below.

  9. For Incoming and Outgoing User name, enter your UW NetID.
  10. Continue to the next page.
  11. This page asks only for a local "Account Name" (what Thunderbird will use to label the account WITHIN Thunderbird), you can use anything you like (e.g., "My UW email").
  12. Continue to the last page.
  13. Click Done.

    HOWEVER you are NOT finished with the account (yet).

  14. Click on your (new) UW email account in the left column of the Thunderbird Mail window, then click on "View settings for this account" (under Accounts), to bring up a page similar to the one pictured below.

  15. Click "Server Settings" under your account to bring up a page similar to the one pictured below.

  16. Turn ON the option to "Use secure connection (SSL)".
  17. Turn ON the option to "Check for new messages at startup".
  18. Turn OFF(!) the option to "Check for new messages every (some number of) minutes".
  19. To have Thunderbird use the same Delete/Expunge behavior as Pine, select "Mark It as deleted" from the pop-up list next to "When I delete a message" AND turn on the option to "Clean up ("Expunge") Inbox on Exit".
  20. Click "Advanced..." to bring up a page similar to the one pictured below.

  21. For the "IMAP server directory", enter "mail".
  22. Turn OFF the option to show only subscribed folders (at least for now, after you've "subscribed" to some you may want it back on).
  23. Turn ON the option that the server supports sub-folders
  24. Turn ON (!) the option to "use IDLE"
  25. Leave the boxes next to ALL the "namespaces" empty (blank) and turn OFF the option to "Allow server to override these namespaces". Failure to set this can result in lost data!
  26. Click OK to close this window (you return to the Server Settings).
  27. Click "Outgoing Server (SMTP)" under your account to bring up a page similar to the one pictured below.

  28. Click "Add" to bring up a page similar to the one pictured below.

  29. For "Server name", enter "smtp.washington.edu".
  30. For "Port", enter 587.
  31. Turn ON the option to "Use name and password"
  32. For "User name", enter your UW NetID.
  33. Turn on the option to use "TLS, if available".
  34. Click OK to close the account settings window

Whew! OK, Thunderbird is now MINIMALLY configured and should be able to read your UW email, find folders you've created in Pine and send mail.

Reading your UW Email

Click on "Inbox" under your UW email account in the left column of the Thunderbird Mail window.

At this point enough of the configuration should be done to let Thunderbird find your Inbox and folders (if any) on the UW email server. When you've closed the account configuration panel you should see a new "UW" account in the column to the left of the messages window. Click on the INBOX under that to open your UW email inbox (you should be prompted for a password). Your UW email folders will appear. This may take some time, especially if you have a large inbox, lots of folders and/or a slow connection. The list of messages in your Inbox appears in the right pane, it may look something like the picture below.

Additional Optional Configuration Information

Configuring Thunderbird and Pine to Share Folders

By setting the "Account Prefix Path" to "mail" you've already got Thunderbird and Pine (WebPine, etc.) looking at the same starting place for folders. You should probably also configure Thunderbird so that it uses the same folder pine does for copies of sent mail.

Note: Perform this configuration ONLY AFTER getting the basic Thunderbird configuration above done and having seen a list of your UW email folders from within Thunderbird.

  1. If it isn't already running, run Thunderbird (be sure you have an active Internet connection first...).
  2. Click on your UW email account in the left column of the Thunderbird Mail window, then click on "View settings for this account" (under Accounts).
  3. Click on "Copies and Folders" under your account to bring up a page similar to the one pictured below.

  4. In the section on "When sending messages, automatically:" be sure the option to "Place a copy in" is turned on, then click "Other" and (from the pop-up list next to that) select your "sent-mail" folder on your UW email account.
  5. Click OK.

Note that Thunderbird and Pine(s) cannot usefully keep a shared "Drafts" folder, so you can put the Thunderbird Drafts wherever you like. The default ("Drafts" on your UW email account) is fine, and makes the Drafts folder available to different Thunderbird sessions.

Configuring Thunderbird to Use the UW Directory (LDAP)

  1. If it isn't already running, run Thunderbird (be sure you have an active Internet connection first...).
  2. From "Window", select "Mail & Newsgroups".
  3. Click on your UW email account (ABOVE the inbox for this account) in the left column of the Thunderbird Mail window, then click on "View settings for this account" (under Accounts).
  4. Click on "Composition and Addressing" under your account to bring up a page similar to the one pictured below.

  5. Turn OFF the option to "Compose messages in HTML" (only send using HTML when you have confirmed with your recipient that this is acceptible).
  6. Click the option, under "When looking up addresses", to "Use a different LDAP server", then click on "Edit Directories" to bring up a page similar to the one pictured below.

  7. Click "Add", to bring up a page similar to the one pictured below.

  8. For "Name", you can enter any label you prefer (e.g., "UW directory").
  9. For "Hostname", enter directory.washington.edu
  10. For "BaseDN", enter o=University of Washington, c=US
  11. Click OK (to close the "add directory" window).
  12. Click OK (to close the "edit directories" window).
  13. Optionally, you can now select the UW directory from the pop-up list next to "Use a different LDAP server".
  14. Click OK (to close the "Accounts settings" window).

Now that the UW LDAP directory is defined in Thunderbird there are several ways to use it. Here's one way:

  1. From "Window", select Address Book
  2. In the Address Book window click on Search Addresses (under the Edit menu), to bring up a page similar to the one pictured below.

  3. In the top/left corner be sure you have the UW Directory selected in the pop-up list under "Search in".
  4. Customize the search as desired (if needed) and enter the text to be searched for in the text box, click on "Search" to conduct the search. Results are returned in a list in the bottom pane. You can then select the desired entry and click "Compose" to compose a message to that address.

Converting Your Pine Address Book

There is currently no single easy and reliable method to convert Pine address books to Thunderbird.

Configuring Thunderbird for Use as a News Reader at the UW

  1. If it isn't already running, run Thunderbird (be sure you have an active Internet connection first...).
  2. From "Window", select "Mail & Newsgroups".
  3. Under "Accounts", click on "Create a new account" to bring up the new account wizard, as pictured below.

  4. Click on "Newsgroup account" and continue to the next page, as pictured below.

  5. Thunderbird will suggest the name and email address you entered earlier when setting up your UW mail, and this is probably exactly what you want here (but, if you need to you CAN use an alternate email address when sending "news"), edit if needed. Continue to the next page, as pictured below.

  6. For the Newsgroup Server, enter "news.u.washington.edu". Continue to the next page, as pictured below.

  7. You can enter any label you like for the Account Name (e.g., UW news). Click the right arrow to continue to the next page, as pictured below.

  8. Click Done.
  9. Now find your UW news account in the left pane of the Thunderbird mail and news window. Click on it, then click on "Subscribe to newsgroups" to start reading news.

NOTE! If connecting from a non-UW provided network connection (3rd party ISP) then you will need to "authenticate" to the UW news server to see all the groups there.

  1. If it isn't already running, run Thunderbird (be sure you have an active Internet connection first...).
  2. From "Window", select "Mail & Newsgroups".
  3. Click on the arrow next to your UW news account so the arrow points down (details exposed).
  4. Click on Server Settings to bring up a page, similar to that pictured below.

  5. Turn ON the option to "Use secure connection".
  6. Turn ON the option to "Always request authentication".
  7. Click OK.