How to Publish POP3 Client Settings to Users with Exchange 2010 SP1

When you are deploying POP3 for Exchange Server 2010 it is useful to have a way to publish the correct server settings that users should configure their email client to use.  Exchange Server 2010 SP1 has a neat way of publishing this information in the Exchange Control Panel (in OWA).

The first thing you’ll need to know is the POP and SMTP server settings that you want clients to use.  In this example we’ll use these server names:

• pop.exchangeserverpro.net
• smtp.exchangeserverpro.net

These names will both need public DNS records created on your DNS servers.  The POP3 server name (pop.exchangeserverpro.net in this case) should also have a valid SSL certificate installed and enabled for POP with a matching name so that you can use secure POP3 access.

Checking the Client Access server in this example I can see that the X509 certificate name configured for POP3 is not the correct one I want.

[PS] C:\>Get-PopSettings | fl x*

X509CertificateName : esp-ho-ex2010a

To change it we can use the Set-POPSettings cmdlet.

[PS] C:\>Set-PopSettings -X509CertificateName pop.exchangeserverpro.net

Next we need to look at the SMTP server. On the Hub Transport server there are two Receive Connectors configured by default.

[PS] C:\>Get-ReceiveConnector

Identity                                Bindings                                Enabled
--------                                --------                                -------
ESP-HO-EX2010AClient ESP-HO-EX2010A    {:::587, 0.0.0.0:587}                   True
ESP-HO-EX2010ADefault ESP-HO-EX2010A   {:::25, 0.0.0.0:25}                     True

It might seem logical to use the “Default ” connector because it is bound to TCP port 25 (SMTP). However is actually the “Client ” connector that is intended for this use. Here is what TechNet says about these two Receive Connectors.

Client Servername – This Receive connector accepts SMTP connections from all non-MAPI clients, such as POP and IMAP.

Default Servername – This Receive connector accepts connections from other Hub Transport servers and any Edge Transport servers you have.

The “Client ” Receive Connector is bound to TCP port 587. It is also configured by default to respond to new connections with the FQDN of the server itself.

[PS] C:\>Get-ReceiveConnector "Client ESP-HO-EX2010A" | fl fqdn

Fqdn : esp-ho-ex2010a.exchangeserverpro.net

We can change that to the desired name using the Set-ReceiveConnector cmdlet.

[PS] C:\>Set-ReceiveConnector "Client ESP-HO-EX2010A" -Fqdn smtp.exchangeserverpro.net

Now that all of the information has been gathered and the correct settings applied we can publish the information to users in Exchange Control Panel.  This is what a user would normally see in ECP.

When they click on the link there are no settings displayed by default.

We can see that no external connection settings have been configured to be published.

[PS] C:\>Get-PopSettings | fl external*

ExternalConnectionSettings : {}

[PS] C:\>Get-ReceiveConnector "Client ESP-HO-EX2010A" | fl adv*

AdvertiseClientSettings : False

To publish the settings to this location we can run the following commands.

[PS] C:\>Set-PopSettings -ExternalConnectionSettings {pop.exchangeserverpro.net:995:ssl}

In the example above the port and security settings from the previous article on securing POP3 for Exchange 2010 have been used.

[PS] C:\>Set-ReceiveConnector "Client ESP-HO-EX2010A" -AdvertiseClientSettings $true

To apply the change reset IIS on the Client Access server.

[PS] C:\>iisreset

Attempting stop...
Internet services successfully stopped
Attempting start...
Internet services successfully restarted

Now when we return to the Exchange Control Panel the users can see the published settings.