University Computer Help Desk

Configuring Mail in Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 with campus mail settings

Configure Mail so you can use it to check and send email with your university email account from on campus.

Before You Begin

These instructions explain how to configure Mail in Mac OS X 10.5 and Mac OS X 10.6 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). These instructions use IMAP mail settings.

If you plan to use Mail primarily from off campus (or as a mobile user who will roam between on campus and off campus), refer to 1454: Configuring Mail in Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 with MailVPN settings.

Important: If you have an account on the campus Exchange server, Mail will detect this and automatically configure itself for Exchange. To force Mail to allow you to select IMAP, you must hold down the option key on your keyboard while clicking Continue on the "Welcome to Mail" screen. Follow the instructions below.

Configure Mail

To configure Mail in Mac OS X 10.5 and Mac OS X 10.6 for use with your ULID email account, do the following:

  1. Open Mail.
    • If this is the first time Mail was opened, the Add Account wizard will open. Skip to step 3.
  2. Click File > Add Account....
  3. Type your name in the Full Name: field.
  4. Type your email address in the Email Address: field.
    • Your email address is yourULID@ilstu.edu.
  5. Type your password in the Password: field.
  6. Click Continue.
    • Important: To prevent Mail from automatically setting itself up for Exchange, click Continue while holding down the option key on your keyboard. This is only necessary if you have an Exchange account at Illinois State University.
  7. Click the Account Type: drop-down menu and choose IMAP.
    • Do not choose Exchange IMAP.
  8. Type ISU Email in the Description: field.
  9. Type mail.ilstu.edu in the Incoming Mail Server: field.
    • Your ULID and password should already be present.
  10. Click Continue.
    • If you get a message that says, "Mail cannot send your password securely to the server," click Continue.
  11. Enter ISU Email in the Description: field.
  12. Type smtp.ilstu.edu in the Outgoing Mail Server: field.
    • Leave the Use only this server option selected with a check mark.
    • Leave the Use Authentication option unselected (without a check mark).
  13. Click Continue.
    • Mail will now test your connection to the server. This may take several minutes.
  14. If you are presented with an "Outgoing Mail Security" screen, leave Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) unselected (without a check mark) and Authentication: set to None.
  15. Click Continue.
  16. click Create. 
You can now use Mail to check and send email from on campus. If you want to use Mail from off campus, you need to first establish a VPN connection (see below).

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 regularly use Mail from off campus, you can configure it to use MailVPN settings, which eliminates the need for an independent VPN connection.