Send Email from off-Grounds with Authenticate Before Send

Authenticate Before Send (ABS) is a method you can try as an alternative to SMTP Auth when you are off-Grounds and need to send email messages from your Central Mail Service (CMS) or unix.mail account through a UVa server.

Who needs to use Authenticate Before Send?

If you try to send an email message when you are not at UVa, you may receive an error message that sending has failed. The precise text of the error message may be cryptic, and depends on which email program you use, but if the problem you are having is caused because you need to login to your UVa email server before you can send your email message, then the error message will always contain the number 5.7.1.

If you see an error message with this number when you try to send an email, it means that you do not have a direct connection to the UVa network (i.e., you are not connected through a wired or wireless connection, or by a UVa-Anywhere connection), and your UVa email server does not know that you are authorized to send a message. To work around the problem, you must either log into your UVa email service, or else configure your email program to use SMTP Auth.

How do I log in?

With most email programs, simply check for new incoming messages. Doing so will connect you with the server. If you are not already logged in, the program will then prompt you for your computing ID (e.g., mst3k) and password. You must log in each time you want to send email. If you would prefer not to have to log in each time you send email from off-Grounds, you can configure your email program to use SMTP Auth instead.

© 2008 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia.

The information contained on the University of Virginia’s Department of Information Technology and Communication (ITC) website is provided as a public service with the understanding that ITC makes no representations or warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability or suitability of the information, including warrantees of title, non-infringement of copyright or patent rights of others. These pages are expected to represent the University of Virginia community and the State of Virginia in a professional manner in accordance with the University of Virginia’s Computing Policies.