IMAP SSL Thunderbird

[jphillip]

Under manual settings for email client configuration it states to enter *.hostgator.com as my incoming mail server if I want to use SSL. But, upon doing this thunderbird says it can't contact to the host.

It also says to put *.hostgator.com as the Outgoing Mail Server for SSL, which thunderbird doesn't allow. I can manually edit the thunderbird settings file to change the smtp server to *.hostgator.com. But thunderbird will say it can't connet to the smtp server, when trying to send an email.

Do I need to file a support ticket to get SSL email enabled, or is this an incompatibility with thunderbird?

[GvilleRick]

The asterisk should be your server# which should be listed in your cPanel. If you will provide a domain we can help look it up.

[jphillip]

The domain is jasphi.com. Is the server number "server name" in cPanel?

[GvilleRick]

Yes, the server name is what you should enter. In the case of the domain given it should be gator489.hostgator.com.

[jphillip]

Thank you for all your help. That seemed to do the trick for incoming mail. But, outgoing mail is still failing, stating "… connecting to SMTP server gator489.hostgator.com failed. The server may be unavailable or is refusing SMTP connections…". Again, all the settings are as the mail client configuration states, port 465 and SSL enabled.

If I turn off SSL, and keep all other settings the same, I can send email fine. But, obviously, that is not the desired setting and all the setup pages say it should work with SSL.

[FortErieDave]

I just finished setting this up for my IMAP account and can confirm the settings for outgoing SMTP mail (SSL, port 465, server#.hostgator.com). Perhaps your ISP is blocking port 465 or your firewall is?

[slapshotw]

What happens if you try SSL over port 26?

[jphillip]

SSL over port 26 would not work either. I filed a support ticket. They told me to use secure#.hostgator (where # is the number of my server) which also didn't work. They then said that they opened up port 465 on the server, which was closed apparently, and everything is now working fine. Thank you everybody for your help.

[GatorTeddy]

If anyone has issues with port 465, please send a support ticket in or provide the server you are on here. I will correct this for your server. All servers should have standard secure ports open including 993, 995, and 465.

[stephlivsey]

This may be a ridiculous question, but, by using SSL for the incoming and outgoing server, does that prevent the possibility of people reading mail in transit? Does it send the messages securely to prevent hackers from reading what's in the messages? Thanks

[captainbohica]

Originally Posted by GatorTeddy

If anyone has issues with port 465, please send a support ticket in or provide the server you are on here. I will correct this for your server. All servers should have standard secure ports open including 993, 995, and 465.

im having group configuring my thunderbird client for server gator505

ssl is set up for the incoming mail server, incoming mail server is gator505.hostgator.com

outgoing is the same but for port 465..

what am i doing wrong?

thx for any help

[patwa]

Hi,

Glad I stumbled across this. Could you possibly check out gater219? I was having trouble sending mail over SSL on port 465 today and have checked with the network admins here, it is not blocked at this end.

Thanks.

H.

[GvilleRick]

If you haven't already done so you should submit a ticket and ask the techs to check the firewall to see if the ports are open.

[GatorJacob]

Hi!

I just checked that server, and exim is listening on that port, and it's open. Please send in a support ticket, and we'll be able to get you setup and running.

Originally Posted by stephlivsey

This may be a ridiculous question, but, by using SSL for the incoming and outgoing server, does that prevent the possibility of people reading mail in transit? Does it send the messages securely to prevent hackers from reading what's in the messages? Thanks

Yes, it encrypts the mail transport to the server itself, whereas using something like GNUPG or PGP just scrambles the text and sends it unencrypted. The benefit of this is that people can't get between you and your site and read the mail, however if they are between the receiving server and the receiving user, it is possible they could still read it, if the receiving user isn't using POP3S or IMAPS as well, which is why GPG and PGP exist.

[brettnak]

I too am having a problem with my server.

server: gator592

I've been using secure592.hostgator.com
I tried gator592.hostgator.com

All through port 465. I don't understand what is going on here, the help staff has said it works fine from there end, but both thunderbird and windows mail tell me that there is no smtp server running on that port.

[striddy]

Originally Posted by brettnak

I too am having a problem with my server.

server: gator592

I've been using secure592.hostgator.com
I tried gator592.hostgator.com

All through port 465.

I can't telnet to port 465 on that server. Get support to check it again.

[brettnak]

I've spoken to several support people and one of them was able to fix the problem. I get the feeling that it's an obscure problem. In any case, I have been pretty impressed with the support staff's help and attitudes. Go team.

[striddy]

Originally Posted by brettnak

I've spoken to several support people and one of them was able to fix the problem. I get the feeling that it's an obscure problem

I can now Telnet to port 465 so all should be ok.