University Computer Help Desk

Configuring Mail for the first time on Mac OS X 10.4

Configure Mail on Mac OS X 10.4 so you can use it to check and send email with your university email account.

Before You Begin

This document explains how to configure Mac OS X Tiger Mail 2 for the first time. If Mail is already configured with an account and you would like to add another one, see 1079: Adding an email account in Mail on Mac OS X 10.4.

Follow these instructions if you plan to use Thunderbird primarily from on campus (with the option of using it from off campus).

If you plan to use Thunderbird 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. When the New Account assistant opens, click Continue.
    • If you are asked whether or not you want to use SSL, click No.
  3. Select IMAP from the Account Type menu and enter My ISU Email in the Account Description field.
  4. In the Account Description field, type ISU IMAP Account.
  5. In the Full Name field, enter your name as you would like it to appear on email messages.
  6. Enter your email address in the Email Address field. Your email address is yourULID@ilstu.edu.
  7. Click Continue.
  8. In the Incoming Mail Server field type mail.ilstu.edu.
  9. Verify that the User Name field contains your ULID.
  10. We recommend you leave the Password field blank so Mail prompts you to enter your password when you check mail.
  11. Click Continue.
    • Mail will now test your connection to the server. This may take several minutes. If you did not enter your password you will receive a message that says, Trying to log into the IMAP server "mail.ilstu.edu" has failed. This is normal. Click Continue again.
  12. Select Password from the Authentication menu.
  13. Click Continue.
  14. In the Outgoing Mail Server field type smtp.ilstu.edu.
  15. Click Continue.
    • Mail will now test your connection to the server. This may take several minutes.
  16. The next window shows the Account Summary. Click Continue.
  17. Click Done. 

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 to use MailVPN settings, which eliminates the need for an independent VPN connection.

 

Article Information

  • Article ID: 1104
  • Last Review: Oct 21, 2009
  • Type: Instructions

Print this articleEmail this articleShare this article on Facebook

Article Feedback