XADM: Verifying Basic IMAP Connectivity Using Telnet

ID: Q189326

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5

SUMMARY

Follow the steps below to ensure that you have proper IMAP4 connectivity to a mailbox located on Microsoft Exchange.

NOTE: Press ENTER after you type each line:

Start a Telnet session using the following command:

Telnet <IP address of Mail server (Exchange)> 143

If this works, you see the following response from the server:
```
    +OK Microsoft Exchange IMAP4rev1 server version x.x.x (F.Q.D.N.) ready
  
```

? LOGIN <NTDOMAIN/NTACCOUNT/ALIAS> <PASSWORD>

This begins the communication by initiating a login to the mailbox. Do not forget the "?" and (space) before the commands.

You should see this response:
```
    +OK LOGIN completed
  
```

? Select <Folder> (that is, Inbox or "Deleted Items")

This selects the appropriate mailbox.

You should get the following response (this varies, depending on the number of messages in the mailbox):


      * <#> EXISTS
      * <#> RECENT
      * FLAGS (\Seen \Answered \Flagged \Deleted \Draft)
      * OK [PERMANENTFLAGS (\Seen \Answered \Flagged \Deleted \Draft)]
      * OK [UNSEEN <#>] Is the first unseen message
      * OK [UIDVALIDITY 73] UIDVALIDITY value.
      ? OK [READ-WRITE] SELECT completed.

? FETCH <message number, [that is, 1, 2, 3, and so on]> <All, Body>

This retrieves a message. You should see the message you selected via "message number" response:


         * 1 FETCH (FLAGS ( )  INTERNALDATE "25-JUN-1998 10:57:38 -500"
   RFC822.SIZE 417 ENVELOPE 9"Thu, 25 Jun 1998 10:57:33 -500" "Test"
   (("Administrator" NIL "Administrator" "microsoft.com"))
   (("Administrator" NIL "Administrator" "microsoft.com"))
   (("Administrator" "microsoft".com")) NIL NIL NIL
   "219876E11AFBD111A43F00C04F8FECCA33D4@mail2.dns.microsoft.com"))
         * ? OK FETCH completed.

If you can complete the above steps without error, any IMAP4 client conforming to RFC 2060 should be able to connect to the mailbox on the Exchange Server computer.

Keywords : XADM
Version : WinNT:5.5
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbhowto