Emailing with AOL after MR

[ChrisH3040]

I just downloaded and installed the new MR. I tried to email a contribution statement to myself using the correct AOL port number of 587. When I did this, I received the message: "Please review the 1 errors detected." When I hit REPORT, I see the message "Client Authentication Required. Use ES"

What does this mean? The email tests positive for connection yet I do not receive the statements.

Thanks,
Chris

[Zaphod]

A little googling found this article:

http://members.aol.com/adamkb/aol/mailfaq/imap/

of particular interest is this comment:

AOL's SMTP server does not permit use of a "From" email address other than the appropriate AOL Screen Name's. An attempt to use any other From address will cause the Send attempt to fail with an authentication error. Note that because of this, one should not use smtp.aol.com with a third-party email account. Better to use some other SMTP server (or the AOL SMTP proxy...whichever is working that day).

also:

Log in to the IMAP server using the appropriate AOL screen name (with any spaces removed -- "John Doe" becomes "JohnDoe" or "johndoe" -- this is what we call "normalizing" a Screen Name) and that Screen Name's AOL (not AIM) Password.

The SMTP server requires authentication in order to send mail through it. Just as with the IMAP server, log in using the normalized AOL Screen Name and its AOL Password.

more from this article:

http://members.aol.com/adamkb/aol/mailf ... party-acct

As an aside, it is entirely possible to access a third-party email account over the AOL TCP/IP connection. All you have to do is sign on with AOL, launch the program, and use it with the appropriate servers that you have an account with.

Sending email with a third-party email account while connected to AOL can be tricky. Even though AOL provides an outgoing SMTP server, it is impossible to send a "forged" email address through this server. For example, if someone is checking their office email account from the road with AOL, they might want messages they send to appear to come from this account rather than their AOL account (just as someone might write and send a personal letter from work without wanting to send it on company stationery with a company envelope). So you do not want to use the AOL SMTP server for non-AOL mail.

In theory, you do not need a third-party SMTP server because AOL is supposed to redirect all attempted SMTP connections to its own special "SMTP proxy" server which will send your message out. This server is strictly rate-limited, and your AOL Screen Name will be identified in an X-Apparently-From header. The server will also perform virus scanning and will prevent you from sending messages it deems as being junk email (which could cause problems for people trying to report junk email).

AOL's SMTP Proxy does not always work, however. In cases where the SMTP proxy does not intercept your connection, you will need to use a third-party SMTP server (preferably one that you have permission to use and has some form of SMTP or POP-before-SMTP authentication). If you do not have access to an SMTP server, and AOL is not redirecting your attempts to its proxy; you'll need to find another method to send your message.

The SMTP proxy's rate limiting has been an issue of heavy contention of late. There is anecdotal evidence that it doesn't work at all with AOL 9.0, although I can't test this. When dealing with the SMTP proxy, it is best to limit the number of times you actually use it. Batch up your outgoing messages and send them at once, rather than after each one is composed. Limit your usage to once every 15-20 minutes.

More information about AOL's SMTP Proxy can be found at Postmaster.info: Third Party Mail Clients. (Thanks to Chris Luth for this link.)

Do not try and use the AOL SMTP server with a non-AOL account. AOL's SMTP server requires you to use your AOL.COM email address.

The AOL SMTP Proxy can be avoided altogether if you have access to an SMTP server that works on a port other than 25. Those experiencing difficulties with AOL's SMTP Proxy can try contacting their providers to request an alternate port. Web access to your mail account is another option.

There seems to be some good info in this article as well, particluarly about AOL's rate limiting policy. http://postmaster.info.aol.com/ipt/ You do have the ability to set up rate limiting in PowerChurch - that's the "send no more than X emails in Y minutes" option.

Basically, the short answer is, make sure you're using a properly formed AOL screen name, your "From" address needs to be a valid AOL address, and the planets have to align to make sure you aren't offending the AOL policy gods.

[jeffkoke]

of particular interest is this comment:
AOL's SMTP server does not permit use of a "From" email address other than the appropriate AOL Screen Name's. An attempt to use any other From address will cause the Send attempt to fail with an authentication error. Note that because of this, one should not use smtp.aol.com with a third-party email account. Better to use some other SMTP server (or the AOL SMTP proxy...whichever is working that day).

This is known as email relaying.

We disallow it on our mail server to prevent spammers from using our service for their distasteful actions.

Jeff

[ChrisH3040]

I'm sorry but I thought I knew more about computers than I apparantly do. I am not following what I need to do to allow me to email statements to members using my AOL account. I am putting in my AOL screen name, without spaces. I have included the AOL port 587 (in this format - smtp.aol.com:587) and still I get the message "CLIENT AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED. USE ES."

Do I need to include my email and password under PREF> SYSTEM SETUP OTPIONS>EMAIL>outgoing email server requires authentication? When I try this, I cannot obtain a connection on testing.

Can someone simply walk me through the steps I need to take in order to make this work?

Thanks for helping this very frustrated church worker in California!

[Zaphod]

You're confused because you're doing everything correctly, and it's still not working!

We've done a little additional research, and there seems to be more to that error message that isn't being reported in the log. The full message (I think) is: "CLIENT AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED. USE ESMTP EHLO AND AUTH." Well, we are using those, because that's the standard. AOL SMTP is failing on the AUTH PLAIN command. Apparently, we're not the only ones with this problem. See: http://journals.aol.com/adamkb/blog/entries/115

Long story short, AOL SMTP doesn't exactly work properly. That's not surprising, actually. When we designed the group email functions, we knew they wouldn't work with the AOL proprietary mail system, and they just opened up their SMTP access earlier this year. The solution I'm seeing in the articles I'm reading is, "Report it as a bug to AOL."

Sorry to get people all excited, but by all rights, it SHOULD work, and whenever AOL gets things straightened out on their end, hopefully, it will. We're not doing anything weird or non-standard on our end.

Sorry.

[NeilZ]

You're confused because you're doing everything correctly, and it's still not working!

We've done a little additional research, and there seems to be more to that error message that isn't being reported in the log. The full message (I think) is: "CLIENT AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED. USE ESMTP EHLO AND AUTH." Well, we are using those, because that's the standard. AOL SMTP is failing on the AUTH PLAIN command. Apparently, we're not the only ones with this problem. See: http://journals.aol.com/adamkb/blog/entries/115

Long story short, AOL SMTP doesn't exactly work properly. That's not surprising, actually. When we designed the group email functions, we knew they wouldn't work with the AOL proprietary mail system, and they just opened up their SMTP access earlier this year. The solution I'm seeing in the articles I'm reading is, "Report it as a bug to AOL."

Sorry to get people all excited, but by all rights, it SHOULD work, and whenever AOL gets things straightened out on their end, hopefully, it will. We're not doing anything weird or non-standard on our end.

Sorry.

It may be easier to get a NetZero or Earthlink account for 9.95 a month, they work like they're supposed to !!

[Zaphod]

Thanks, NeilZ! I didn't want to be the one who had to say that.

[NeilZ]

Thanks, NeilZ! I didn't want to be the one who had to say that.

Unfortunately, its true ... I do not recommend AOL accounts for any business as they really did not have commercial uses in mind when they built their services.

I will say that AOL's Netscape dial-up service should also work fine. And they will transfer you to that from AOL without you losing email as they will forward to the new account.

Just call and tell them that you want to cancel, they'll offer Netscape as an alternative.