Using IMAP on the Grad/Research Network

To receive CS e-mail using IMAP, you must set your mail client to use Secure IMAP.

Configure the following settings on your mail client:

  • Server Name: imap.cs.jhu.edu
  • Port: 993
  • Security Settings: SSL (Checking SSL will probably automatically set the correct port number of 993 for you, depending upon your e-mail client.)

Also, you'll want to set your inbox to be cleaned of mail you marked for deletion. Different email clients handle this function differently.

For example, under Thunderbird, select:

Clean up ("Expunge" Inbox on Exit.)

The above should allow you to receive mail from the server. You'll be prompted for your Grad/Research net password as needed.

You now create new mail folders as part of your IMAP environment. For example, under Thunderbird, use the Subscribe menu option.

IMPORTANT: Please keep your inbox small. Remove e-mail that you no longer need, and file needed e-mails into mail folders.

Tell the IMAP Server Where Your Mail Folders are Located

Note: This section applies mostly to older accounts with mailboxes in the account's home directory. People with newer accounts shouldn't need to do this, and for owners of older accounts we recommend changing your mailbox location.

Depending upon what mail client you use, if you have mail folders (not referring to your inbox here) that you want access to, you need to set some kind of IMAP prefix path or root path. For example, Thunderbird calls it Mail Root Directory.

Mac Users Who Have Issues with Server-reported "Empty/Blank IMAP Path Prefix" Messages Using Mail.app

Note: This section applies mostly to older accounts with mailboxes in the account's home directory. People with newer accounts shouldn't need to worry about this problem, and for owners of older accounts we recommend changing your mailbox location.

Generally, on your Mac, if you're using the standard Mail.app client, you set your IMAP Path Prefix to wherever your mail folders (not inbox) reside, and things work fine. However, if, while connecting to our IMAP server, you experience a message indicating Empty or Blank IMAP Path Prefix, you've then experienced a similar situation that another CS user has experienced. His solution follows:

I think I found the solution. I created a mail directory and then moved all of the various mboxes into that directory. I set the imap path prefix to ~/mail and then told my client to use particular mailboxes for particular things (e.g., use the "Drafts" mailbox for drafts). Now, when I send a message, it doesn't tell me that the server is reporting that I should have an empty imap path prefix and offering to set it for me which is what it was previously doing.

In his case, the particular mboxes he put into his mail folder are:

  • Apple Mail To Do
  • Deleted Messages
  • Drafts
  • Sent Messages