University Computer Help Desk

Configuring Mail for the first time on Mac OS X 10.3

Configure Mail on Mac OS X 10.3 so you can use it to check and send email with your university email account.

Before You Begin

These instructions explain how to configure Mail in Mac OS X 10.3 with your ULID email account. Follow these instructions if you plan to use Mail primarily from on campus (with the option of using it from off campus). If Mail is already configured with an account and you would like to add another one, see 1083: Adding an email account in Mail on Mac OS X 10.3.

If you plan to use Mail primarily from off campus, refer to 1321: Configuring Mail in Mac OS X 10.3 and 10.4 with MailVPN settings.

Configuring Mail for the First Time

  1. Open Mail. It is located in the Dock or in the Applications folder on the hard drive. 
  2. The Welcome to Mail assistant will open.
  3. In the Full Name field, enter your name as you would like it to appear on email messages.
  4. Enter your email address in the E-mail Address field. Your email address is yourULID@ilstu.edu.
  5. In the Incoming Mail Server field type mail.ilstu.edu.
  6. Select IMAP from the Account Type menu.
  7. Enter your ULID in the User Name field.
  8. We recommend you leave the Password field blank so Mail prompts you to enter your password when you check mail.
  9. In the Outgoing Mail Server field type smtp.ilstu.edu.
  10. Click OK.

You have now configured Mail for use with the University's mail server. You may now use Mail to check and send email.

Off-campus users: To check your email from off campus, you need to first establish a VPN connection using either the Cisco VPN Client or Network Connect in WebVPN. If you use Mail primarily from off campus, you can configure it with MailVPN settings, which eliminates the need for an independent VPN connection.

Article Information

  • Article ID: 1084
  • Last Review: Oct 21, 2009
  • Type: Instructions

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