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What is
Mozilla Thunderbird, and How Do I Use It with The Rutgers Network?
Mozilla Thunderbird is an open-source, stand-alone e-mail program that
functions much like like Netscape and Mozilla Mail. It many features
include junk mail ("spam") filtering, a spell-check program, and much
more. However, as with all e-mail programs in use at Rutgers,
Thunderbird also requires enabling security features, in particular, TLS
(Transport Layer Security) and SMTP Authentication
(or "SMTP Auth," for short).
TLS encrypts and protects messages while in transit between computers
and prevents electronic "eavesdropping." It does not protect
information while it resides on a machine, just while it is in transit.
SMTP Auth enables mail systems to verify that any mail it is instructed
to deliver is
actually originating from a valid Rutgers user account
Most newer versions of e-mail
software utilize SMTP Auth, which can be configured in e-mail settings
by sending an e-mail username and encrypted password before
transmitting outgoing messages. It also helps protect e-mail from
viruses and hackers who are looking to steal people's private
information.
The Rutgers University Office of Information Technology (OIT) also
strongly recommends the IMAP
(Internet Message Access Protocol) protocol be used for sending and
receiving e-mail. IMAP permits a "client" e-mail program like
Thunderbird to retrieve and manipulate messages from a desktop computer
at home, a workstation at the office, or a laptop computer while
traveling without the need to transfer messages or files back and forth
between those computers as required by the older and less effective POP
protocol.
Obtaining and installing Thunderbird
For Windows
- Use a web browser to go to the Thunderbird
home page at
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/. The page
changes from time to time but the download link is easy to find:
- Click on the link. The installation file should
automatically be saved to your computer:
- Double-click the icon
to begin installing the
software. You may need to approve its activation.
- After the program extracts, the Welcome
screen
will appear:
- Click Next to continue.
After you review and agree
to the Mozilla licensing agreement, Thunderbird will ask you to select
the setup type you prefer. Click the Next
button:
- Thunderbird will create a folder for itself (or
re-use an existing Thunderbird folder, if you are installing a newer
version). Click Install
to continue.
- Thunderbird will install on your computer. At
the Completing ... dialog box, click Finish
to start using the program:
- Thunderbird is almost ready to use, but
you still need to configure the
software to read your Rutgers e-mail. See How
Do I Set Up Thunderbird to Read my Rutgers E-mail?
below.
For Macintosh
- Use a web browser to go to the
Thunderbird home page at
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/. The page
changes from time to time but the download link is easy to find:
- Click on the link. The installation
file should
automatically be saved to your computer:
- Double-click the icon
to begin installing the
software.
- When the Thunderbird window opens, drag
the Thunderbird icon to your Applications folder.
- If you are replacing an existing copy of
Thunderbird, click Replace
to complete the installation.
How Do I Set Up Thunderbird to Read my Rutgers E-mail?
- Start Thunderbird if you have not already done so.
On the menu bar, select Tools then Account
Settings to open the Account Settings
dialog box.
- In the new window, go to the bottom of
the left-hand column and open the Account Actions pull-down menu.
Select Add Mail Account.
- Enter
your name and full Rutgers e-mail address in the appropriate boxes.
Rutgers does not recommend that you save your password in any
mail program. If you do, and someone else uses that program,
they will be able to read your mail. If you leave the Password box empty
during account setup, you will be prompted for your password each time
you restart Thunderbird, which is safer. Uncheck the Remember password
box. Click Continue
when done.
- Thunderbird will automatically attempt to fill in
the server information based on your e-mail address and will display
various Looking up
configuration messages. This
attempt will fail, which is normal, since Rutgers requires higher
security on
its mail servers. When the "Thunderbird failed to find the
settings for your email account" message appears, check the settings
below that. Make sure IMAP is selected as the Incoming server
type. Make sure the server hostname is one of the following servers, as
is
appropriate for your campus:
- eden.rutgers.edu (New Brunswick/Piscataway
students)
- rci.rutgers.edu (New Brunswick/Piscataway
faculty/staff)
- pegasus.rutgers.edu (Newark students)
- andromeda.rutgers.edu (Newark faculty/staff)
- clam.rutgers.edu (Camden students)
- crab.rutgers.edu (Camden faculty/staff
- Enter smtp.rutgers.edu as the Outgoing
Server (RCI and Eden only; users on other campuses should
also use the Incoming Server Name as the Outgoing Server).
Click the Re-test
button, and Thunderbird will update some settings automatically. Click
the Advanced config
button to continue.
- When you return to the other window, you'll see an
account for your e-mail address. If sub-entries are not
showing, click the symbol to the left of the e-mail address to show
them. Select the Server Settings sub-entry for your e-mail
address. Under Security
Settings, make sure the following is set:
- Connection security is set to STARTTLS
- Authentication
method is set to Normal
password
You may also adjust the settings under Server Settings, but
Rutgers recommends you accept the defaults, shown above.
- Select Outgoing Server (SMTP)
in the left-hand column. If you previously set up an account
in Thunderbird, or if you have imported a profile from Mozilla Mail or
Netscape Mail, Thunderbird will show the outgoing mail server for that
earlier account. If you wish to keep that server, you may
later switch between your outgoing mail servers as needed.
You still need to adjust the settings for smtp.rutgers.edu.
Select it in the list of servers on the right, then click the Edit
button.
- Under Security Settings,
make sure the following is set:
- Connection security is set to STARTTLS
- Authentication
method is set to Normal
password
The port
will automatically be set to
25, which should work in most cases. If you are unable
to connect with 25, try 587.
- Click OK. Thunderbird will
return to its main window. If your Rutgers account is not
selected on the left, select it and click the Read messages link
on the right.
- Enter your account password when prompted and click
OK.
The Thunderbird
mail screen should reappear, and the program should be ready to receive
and send messages.
Important Notes for Sending Mail:
- Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) require
outgoing mail to go through their own SMTP servers.
In
such cases, you must use the ISP's SMTP server, and your ISP username
and password, to send mail. Contact your ISP for the details of setting
up such servers; the Rutgers Help Desks can only provide support for
the Rutgers side of the connection.
- Some people at Rutgers have multiple
e-mail accounts
(e.g. on both Eden and RCI). If you are such a person, always use your
faculty/staff password when prompted for a password to send e-mail,
even when sending a message from your student account. The table below
lists the order in which passwords are used for SMTP Authentication:
|
Priority
|
Machine
|
Campus
|
| 1 |
RCI |
New Brunswick |
| 2 |
Eden |
New Brunswick |
| 3 |
Crab |
Camden |
| 4 |
Clam |
Camden |
| 5 |
Andromeda |
Newark |
| 6 |
Pegasus |
Newark |
- Authorized
users of departmental (on RCI) or organizational (on Eden)
accounts should use to enter their
personal RCI or Eden NetIDs, and the case-sensitive password associated
with
each account, when
sending e-mail.
That is, they should
not use the departmental or
organizational account name (with its
associated special password) for sending, although it should be used
for receiving mail from that account.
Short video tutorials are available, showing how to configure
Thunderbird to read mail on
Eden and
RCI
. The
Shockwave Flash Player
plugin for your web browser is required to view these.
Enabling Junk Mail Controls
What is "Spam"?
Generally,
"spam" is computer slang for the electronic equivalent
of junk mail. Spam floods message boards, newsgroups, mailing lists,
and Rutgers e-mail accounts with unwanted, unsolicited and often
repugnant messages--usually advertisements, promotions or deliberate
disruptions. It is also a flagrant violation of membership agreements
with most Internet Service Providers. While spam is often identified as
large numbers of messages, even just one unwanted message to someone
can be considered spam. The term is attributed to a sketch performed by
the British comedy troupe Monty Python in the 1970s about a repetitive
breakfast menu in which each item has more Spam (the canned meat
product) than the previous.
Thunderbird can be configured so its e-mail reading software can
perform a specific action on the spam, such as to automatically delete
it. A junk mail message can be marked as "junk," and from that point on
all messages from the sender will be considered junk mail and placed
into a designated folder, such as the Trash folder, and deleted upon
closing the program. Legitimate messages sent to that folder can be
mark as "Not Junk" and "rescued" from designation as junk mail.
However, Mozilla junk mail controls work independently from the Rutgers
spam filters OIT implemented to help catch and remove spam. OIT
strongly recommends that all messages the Rutgers spam filter places
into the Trash folder or other folder be reviewed for a few weeks to
ensure no legitimate messages were placed there by mistake; if so,
adjustments to the Rutgers spam filer may be needed. More information
about using the spam filters, along with other helpful Web-based tools,
is available for RCI at
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/tools.php and for Eden at
http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/tools.php.
Enabling Junk Mail Controls in Thunderbird
- Click on Tools on
the
menu then choose Junk Mail Controls:
- The Junk Mail Controls
dialog box will open. Select
the desired means to handle junk mail. OIT recommends these settings:
- Under White Lists
check the box by Do not mark messages as junk mail if the
sender is in my address book
- Under Handling make
sure Move incoming messages determined to be junk to:
is checked.
- Select Other then
use the pull-down menu to select the RCI or Eden account, followed by Local
Folders and Trash)
- OIT suggests the Automatically
delete messages older than X days be
selected to help keep the account under disk quota. Those who choose to
utilize the option to move them to the "Junk" folder
should monitor their disk use, as well as watch for legitimate messages
that may get filtered sothey can be rescued and not permanently lost.
- Click OK
- Note: Depending upon
the amount
and content of e-mail received
Thunderbird may need up to three or four weeks to "learn" what spam is
and what is not. Checking the folder to which junk mail is routed to
ensure any legitimate messages did not end up there during that time is
a good idea.
Importing Address Books
Netscape or Mozilla users will find their address books automatically
accessable through Thunderbird. The program also offers easy importing
of address books from most major e-mail programs such as Outlook
Express, Outlook and Eudora. Please note that messages and settings for
those programs are also available for importing for use in Thunderbird:
- In Thunderbird, select Tools
then Import:
- Select the Address book
option:
- Click Next.
- Select the e-mail program from which you wish
to import an existing address book (in this example, Outlook Express):
- Click Next. Thunderbird will
import the address
book then present a Finished dialog box:
- Click Finish and the
Thunderbird main screen should
reappear. The address book is available by clicking on the Address Book
button while composing a message. Click To
to add entries as addressees and for carbon copy or blind carbon copy
as desired.
Need Help with Firefox and Thunderbird?
Contact the Help Desk on your campus:
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