A
common client used by many users to access Exchange Server from a
non-Windows perspective has been the use of the Outlook Express client
shown in Figure 1.
However, a few years ago, Microsoft chose to abandon the further
development of Outlook Express and focused their support in development
of the Outlook client for Windows, as well as a better OWA client for
non-Windows users. Outlook Express remains a viable remote client
solution for Exchange Server supporting IMAP and POP3 access, and
Outlook Express is available for Macintosh, UNIX/Linux, and Windows
support.
With Microsoft not
advancing the development of Outlook Express, organizations can choose
other IMAP or POP3 clients available on the marketplace, such as the
free Mac Mail utility found directly in the operating system on
Macintosh systems, or any of a number of IMAP/POP3 clients for Linux
(see http://www.emailman.com/unix/clients.html for a series of mail clients downloadable off the Internet).
However, because Outlook
Express is still a commonly used client, some features/functions of
Outlook Express are covered here in this section. Outlook Express offers
support with the basic needs for mail and address books, such as the
following:
Email support— Access to Exchange Server email using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and Post Office Protocol (POP).
Address books— Email addresses are stored in address books locally and within the Outlook Express client.
Note
Messages
accessed through Outlook Express via POP3 are downloaded to the local
client and, by default, are removed from the local server. Because
client messages, by default, are downloaded and stored on the local
client only if a user wants to keep their mail on the Exchange server,
choose the option in Outlook Express (varies by Outlook Express
versions) that typically resides in the account settings or profile
configuration option of Outlook Express to Keep a Copy of Mail on the
Server.
Contact address list—
Outlook Express supports contacts and address lists, which can be used
to select addresses when creating and sending messages and to store
personal contact information.
LDAP support—
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) support enables an Outlook
Express client’s access to view information such as the Global Address
List (GAL) of an Exchange Server 2010 organization.
POP support—
POP is the primary method of supporting Outlook Express clients when
accessing Exchange Server from the Internet. This option requires POP to
be enabled on Exchange Server 2010 and might require additional
configuration of the firewall to enable pass-through of POP.
Password support—
Usernames and passwords can be configured in advance, enabling users to
open Outlook Express and access mail with a preconfigured account name
and password.
Installing and Enabling Support for Outlook Express
This section
reviews the tasks required to configure Outlook Express to support
communication with Exchange Server 2010 from the internal network
location and the Internet. Although each version of Outlook Express,
depending on the operating system, is slightly different, the
instructions might also be a little different; however, for the most
part, these instructions provide general installation and configuration
guidance.
One common task
when enabling support for Outlook Express is to enable support for the
client to use TCP/IP to communicate with and access Exchange Server
mail.
Note
Using TCP/IP enables
client access from the internal network and from the Internet. This
configuration is not the same as the protocol that will be used to
access Exchange Server 2010 mail.
When installing Outlook Express, the installation file can be downloaded free from the Microsoft website at www.microsoft.com/downloads/Search.aspx?displaylang=en.
Configuring POP Access with Outlook Express
In this scenario,
you can configure the Outlook Express client to connect to Exchange
Server 2010 through an Internet connection using the Post Office
Protocol. This enables Outlook Express to access the Exchange Server
2010 server and authenticate downloading messages.
Note
Before configuring
client connectivity to Exchange Server 2010 using POP, additional
configuration of the Exchange server is required to enable the protocol
for the individual mail and server. In addition, if accessing with POP
from the Internet, the network firewall should be configured to enable
POP access, and the domain name for the Exchange Server 2010 POP server
should be populated to the Internet.
For information
on configuring your firewall and security best practices when enabling
support with POP, consult the firewall manufacturer’s product
information.
To configure Outlook
Express to connect an Exchange Server 2010 server using POP, begin by
opening Outlook Express and follow these steps:
1. | From the Tools menu, select Accounts.
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2. | On the Internet Accounts tab, click the Mail tab and select New.
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3. | To
create a new email account, enter the name for the account in the
Display Name dialog box, enter the name for the account being created,
and click Next.
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4. | On
the email screen, select the I Already Have an Email Address That I’d
Like to Use option, and enter the email address for the user being
configured. Click Next to continue.
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5. | At the Email Server Information page, type POP under the My Incoming Mail Server selection.
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6. | Enter the fully qualified mail server name as listed in the following example; then click Next to continue.
Example:
Incoming Mail Server = Mail.CompanyABC.com
Outgoing Mail Server = SMTP.CompanyABC.com
Note
The incoming and outgoing mail server names should be added and populated to the Internet for proper DNS name resolution.
When configuring
this option for Internet access, the outgoing mail server might need to
be configured to point to the outgoing mail server of the Internet
service provider (ISP) being used.
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7. | At
the authentication screen, enter the logon name and password for the
account accessing the Exchange Server 2010 POP server, as shown in the
following example.
Example:
Account Name = User@CompanyABC.com
Password = ***********
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8. | To
enhance security and limit the ability of others to access the Exchange
Server POP account, uncheck the Save Password check box and click Next
to continue.
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To enhance security,
leave the password entry blank; this requires users to enter the
password each time they access Exchange Server.
In addition, when
accessing Exchange Server through POP, it is best practice to use strong
passwords to enhance security. Use the Active Directory Users and
Computers management console to create a strong password for accounts
using this method of access.
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9. | Complete
the installation by entering the account name for the account being
used, and then click Next to complete the installation.
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10. | Test accessing the Exchange Server 2010 POP services by selecting Send/Receive on the Outlook Express toolbar.
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Migrating and Backing Up Personal Address Books
One of the most common
tasks when managing Outlook Express clients is backing up the contacts
from the Outlook Express 5 client. When performing this task,
administrators can export contact information and create comma-separated
files for import into other mail programs and Outlook clients.
To
complete the export of contact information for backup and migration
reasons, follow the example in the next section. In this scenario, you
back up the Outlook Express 5 contacts to a comma-delimited CSV file.
Backing Up Outlook Express Contacts
To begin, open the
Outlook Express 5 client and complete the following steps to create a
full backup of all the contact information:
1. | From the File menu, select the Export Contact option.
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2. | In the Save dialog box, select the location where the export file will be saved by modifying the default Desktop location.
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3. | In the Name dialog box, enter the name for the Export file to create.
Note
By default, export files are created as comma-delimited files only and are placed on the desktop.
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4. | Click the Save button to create the export file and back up the Outlook Express contacts.
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