need help getting thunderbird to work with a proxy server

[colinm]

i am trying to get my imap mail on a mac through an institutional proxy (and non-dhcp/manually configured connection). mozilla web access works, while virex virus protection e-updates via autotmatic FTP do not (even though i've configured the FTP proxy as well).

most importantly, with tbird, no mail is downloaded and none can be sent - the connection just times out.

i couldn't find many posts on tbird and proxies, except for this thread, which said the proxy function doesn't work and talks about socks (which apparently doesnt work on macs), and potential proxy testing:

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... bird+proxy

any help would be most appreciated.

colin

[Jim D]

Um... Proxies work fine for me, on the Mac, for both Firefox and Thunderbird. There really isn't much to set. I'm also using SwitchProxy extension, but just for convenience.

Sounds like your proxy settings may be wrong.

-Jim

[sproot]

Whether or not you use a proxy is irrelevant to your client app if you know how they work.
The important point is whether your proxy is configured for IMAP. I doubt this very much, most proxies are http only.

Briefly:
Client (Request) --> Proxy (Request) --> Server (Reply) --> Proxy (Reply) --> Client

The client does not need to be aware of the existence of the proxy - setting the proxy ip addy as the default gateway for the client will suffice.
The problem arises because the proxy doesn't forward all protocols. HTTP (browsing) may be fine, but SMTP+POP3 may not.
IMAP is just another protocol - if your proxy doesn't forward it then

SOCKS is slightly different, an ordinary proxy forwards requests on, eg, port 80 (HTTP) to port 80 on the target server.
A SOCKS proxy will listen on a particular port (8080 usually) and forward requests to whatever port you ask it to.
The difference here is that your client must understand it's talking to a SOCKS proxy - on a particular port and address - and know how to encapsulate the request - where it wants to connect to. The other thread you mention implies that TB has SOCKS support, while FF does not.

That would make sense to me, given most proxies are HTTP only. You need to ask your network people if there's a SOCKS proxy you can try.

BTW - that would explain why your ftp AV dl's don't work also, although there are several good o/s SOCKS enabled ftp clients about. Not sure about MAC support tho'

Good Luck!

[Jim D]

Good point. I hadn't made things clear enough. I use the proxy for Firefox, and I use it for Thunderbird in order to be able to get any images that are linked (although I disable image loading by default). I hadn't stopped to think that the proxy isn't needed for basic IMAP/POP access.



-Jim

[colinm]

thanks very much for the concise (and prompt) education. i have a lot to learn, and every bit helps - especially the good ones. at least this way i knew where the problem lay, and was able to pursue a direct connection to do some mailing.

cmm