Using Non-Windows Systems to Access Exchange Server 2007 : Mac OS X Mail

With the release of OS X, users of Macintosh computers can use the built-in OS X Mail client that provides support for email access and synchronization of email messages, address book information, and calendar information.

Mac OS X Mail uses IMAP as the standard communication method between Mac Mail and Exchange. A Macintosh user can access Exchange content, transfer the information to the Macintosh, or download the information and leave a copy of the information on the Exchange server.

Understanding Mac Mail Support for Exchange

Mac OS X Mail is simply an IMAP mail client for Exchange and requires the Macintosh computer to have TCP/IP connectivity to the Exchange server and Active Directory authentication to the Active Directory network in which Exchange resides. This allows for the support of Mac-to-Exchange integration while a Macintosh is on the local area network (LAN) backbone or while the Macintosh user is mobile.

To access the Exchange server on the LAN, a user needs to have TCP/IP access to the Exchange server, whether that is directly on the network subnet as the Exchange server, or with appropriate routes from where the user is connected to the Exchange server.

While mobile, the TCP/IP access of the Macintosh user is handled through the same network connection address as OWA. OWA should be configured with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)–encrypted access for improved security. As long as users can access their mailbox externally using OWA, they can configure their Macintosh to access the OWA port to download and synchronize mail to the Mac OS X Mail client.

Configuring Mac Mail Support on Exchange Server 2007

To configure support for Mac Mail on the Exchange 2007 side, all the organization needs to do is set up Exchange 2007 to support OWA and enable IMAP on Exchange. OWA is configured by default in Exchange 2007, and most organizations already have OWA operating in the environment. With OWA already functional in an Exchange 2007 environment, all that needs to be done is to configure and enable IMAP support on Exchange.

Unlike previous versions of Exchange that supported IMAP from the graphical user interface (GUI), Exchange 2007 does not have a GUI option within the Exchange Management Console to enable IMAP support. Configuration of a user client in Exchange 2007 requires the use of the Exchange Management Shell. The script to enable a user’s mailbox to support IMAP is as follows:

set-CASMailbox testmbx -ImapEnabled:$True

where testmbx is the name of the mailbox being enabled for IMAP support.

Configuring Mac Mail on a Mac OS X System

With IMAP support enabled on Exchange 2007, the user just needs to configure the Mac Mail client on OS X. To configure the Mac Mail client on Mac OS X, do the following:

1.	Launch Mac Mail on an OS X system.
2.	Click Mail, Preferences, and then click Accounts.
3.	Click Add Account.
4.	When prompted to choose an account type, click up and down on the scroll option and select Exchange, similar to what is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Configuring Mac Mail for Exchange support.
5.	On the Accounts Information page, type the name of the Outlook Web Access server used by users to access Outlook Web Access in the Incoming Mail Server field (such as owa.companyabc.com).
6.	Enter the user’s logon name and password to access Exchange.
7.	In the Outlook Web Access Server field, type the name of the Outlook Web Access server, which will likely be the exact same name as referenced in step 5.
8.	Click OK and then click OK again to save the settings.

After the Mac Mail configuration settings have been set, the user can now synchronize with the Exchange server to download Exchange content information with the network.

Because of the simplicity of the Mac Mail client, and also because it is included free with the Mac OS X operating system and provides direct support right to Exchange, most organizations use the Mac Mail client as a simple and effective mail client for Exchange.