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Popfile, GMail & Outlook

HOWTO
Jim
2008-01-14
2013-04-15
  • Jim

    Jim - 2008-01-14

    I have followed all instructions - including addssl.zip, all specified settings in Outlook and Popfile but still no success.  When using the "Test Account Settings" in Outlook, a window pops up asking for login information with the defaults that come from the account settings, ie User id: pop.gmail.com:995:<username>@gmail.com:ssl and password.  Net result - can't log in to incomimg mail server.

    Can anyone help?

    Thanks
    Jim

     
    • Brian Smith

      Brian Smith - 2008-01-14

      Have you enabled POP3 access for your Gmail account?

      By default POP3 access is disabled - you need to login to Gmail and enable POP3 access as described here:

      http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=13273&topic=13293

      Brian

       
    • Jim

      Jim - 2008-01-14

      Brian,

      Thanks for the reply.

      Yes, POP3 is enabled.

      I'm running Outlook 2003 & popfile v1.0.

      Without popfile configured for the gmail account, I can send and recieve through outlook.  But when I try to use popfile, it appears that popfile fails to recognize/initiate a SSL connection.  I have installed SSL using addssl.exe.  During the process there was a message that said basically that no patchable module was found.  I assumed that that was because the patch had already been installed.

      Jim

       
    • Brian Smith

      Brian Smith - 2008-01-14

      >> I have installed SSL using addssl.exe <<

      If you used the 1.0.0 installer to install or upgrade then there was no need to use addssl.exe because the 1.0.0 and 0.22.5 installers are able to download and install the necessary SSL files, as explained in the release notes.

      >> During the process there was a message that said basically that no patchable module was found. I assumed that that was because the patch had already been installed <<

      The addssl.exe utility can be used with POPFile 0.22.0 or later. POPFile 0.22.0 requires a patch to speed up the SSL code so the "no suitable patches" message just means your POPFile installation is newer than 0.22.0.

      >> Without popfile configured for the gmail account, I can send and receive through outlook. But when I try to use popfile, it appears that popfile fails to recognize/initiate a SSL connection. <<

      If you are switching between Outlook using Gmail directly and Outlook using Gmail via POPFile you must ensure that Outlook does not try to use SSL to connect to POPFile. SO you will also need to change Outlook's SSL setting when switching between the direct and POPFile cases:

      Outlook -- SSL -- internet -- Gmail

      Outlook -- POPFile -- SSL -- internet -- Gmail

      If Outlook is configured to use SSL when you try to use POPFile then Outlook will not be able to connect to POPFile.

      POPFile generates a log file containing timestamped entries. If you note the time when Outlook tries to access Gmail via POPFile and then look at the log file you should be able to find an entry like this:

      2008/1/10 17:37:46 903607: pop3: 504: Attempting to connect to SSL server at pop.gmail.com:995

      POPFile's logfiles have names like "popfile1200268800.log" and are normally stored in the POPFile User Data folder. The CONFIGURATION page in the UI contains a link to the current log file.

      By default POPFile's log file does not contain much detail however you should be able to determine whether or not POPFile tried to initiate a connection to Gmail.

      If you find "Attempting to connect to SSL server at pop.gmail.com:995" in the log file, increase the amount of detail in the log file by changing the logger_level setting on the ADVANCED page in the UI (and clicking the "Update" button). Change the value to 2 and then try to access your Gmail account again - this time the log file will contain _much_ more information.

      If you don't find "Attempting to connect to SSL server at pop.gmail.com:995" in the log file then double-check your Outlook settings and check that POPFile is still running.

      You cannot enable concurrent POP3 connections in POPFile if you want to use POPFile's SSL support (by default concurrent POP3 connections are disabled).

      In addition to the log file, POPFile can generate "console" error messages and warnings which are normally hidden. The easiest way to make these messages visible is to shutdown POPFile and the use this Start Menu shortcut:

      Start -- All Programs -- POPFile -- Support -- Message Capture utility

      This will start POPFile and display the console messages in a scrollable window which makes it easy to save the messages.

      Brian

       
    • Jim

      Jim - 2008-01-14

      Brian,

      Thank you for the detail.  After enabling logging in popfile, I noticed that the connection to gamil was successful.  Sending a test message from outlook to my gamil account worked fine.

      It turns out the in Outlook's account setup screen, the button labeled "test account setup" does not function correctly when you test a gmail account.

      Thanks again for the assistance.

      Jim

       
    • Brian Smith

      Brian Smith - 2008-01-14

      >> After enabling logging in popfile, I noticed that the connection to gamil was successful. <<

      The logger_level's default setting is 0 so if you changed it to 2 I suggest you change it back to 0. At level 2 the log will contain a lot of detail, including the full text of all of the messages processed by POPFile.

      >> Thanks again for the assistance. <<

      Glad to hear you can now use POPFile with your Gmail account.

      Brian

       

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