Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > comp.sys.mac.system > #87289 > unrolled thread

Mail app using gmail smtp without a password?

Back to article view | Back to comp.sys.mac.system

Contents

  Mail app using gmail smtp without a password? John Somerset <somerset@nospam.com> - 2016-01-20 17:38 -0500
    Re: Mail app using gmail smtp without a password? Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2016-01-21 01:52 +0000
      Re: Mail app using gmail smtp without a password? John Somerset <somerset@nospam.com> - 2016-01-21 01:13 -0500

#87289 — Mail app using gmail smtp without a password?

I have sometimes had trouble getting Mail.app to work with google's 
outgoing server after a system update.

I happened to check the account preferences in Mail.app. They said 
smtp.gmail.com requires no authentication. I switched it back to 
password authentication.  When I sent a test message, it didn't ask my 
password.  I checked preferences.  They'd been switched back to no 
authentication.

I can send test messages from that account.  According to the headers, 
they come from the gmail smtp server.

I can't account for it. How does google know I'm not a spamming impostor?

Mail.app still needs to supply my password to the gmail pop server.

[toc] | [next] | [standalone]

#87299

On 2016-01-20, John Somerset <somerset@nospam.com> wrote:
> I have sometimes had trouble getting Mail.app to work with google's 
> outgoing server after a system update.
>
> I happened to check the account preferences in Mail.app. They said 
> smtp.gmail.com requires no authentication. I switched it back to 
> password authentication.  When I sent a test message, it didn't ask my 
> password.  I checked preferences.  They'd been switched back to no 
> authentication.
>
> I can send test messages from that account.  According to the headers, 
> they come from the gmail smtp server.
>
> I can't account for it. How does google know I'm not a spamming impostor?
>
> Mail.app still needs to supply my password to the gmail pop server.

AFAIK, Google does require authentication. So if you can send, then
apparently authentication is indeed working. It's probably just a bug in
Mail. Mail will pull the password from your key chain. If you open
/Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access and search for "gmail" you
should find an entry for the account with the corresponding password.

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#87321

On 1/20/16 8:52 PM, Jolly Roger wrote:
> On 2016-01-20, John Somerset <somerset@nospam.com> wrote:
>> I have sometimes had trouble getting Mail.app to work with google's
>> outgoing server after a system update.
>>
>> I happened to check the account preferences in Mail.app. They said
>> smtp.gmail.com requires no authentication. I switched it back to
>> password authentication.  When I sent a test message, it didn't ask my
>> password.  I checked preferences.  They'd been switched back to no
>> authentication.
>>
>> I can send test messages from that account.  According to the headers,
>> they come from the gmail smtp server.
>>
>> I can't account for it. How does google know I'm not a spamming impostor?
>>
>> Mail.app still needs to supply my password to the gmail pop server.
>
> AFAIK, Google does require authentication. So if you can send, then
> apparently authentication is indeed working. It's probably just a bug in
> Mail. Mail will pull the password from your key chain. If you open
> /Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access and search for "gmail" you
> should find an entry for the account with the corresponding password.
>
I remember now. A year or two ago, I discovered that Mail app wasn't 
able to send through the gmail smtp server. I hadn't been aware of it 
because Mail app was automatically using an smtp server from another 
account.

I discovered that google now required an authentication token.  I got 
that straightened out, and now I don't remember if it was tricky.

My keychain has passwords for pop and smtp.  It has an authentication 
token for smtp but none for pop.  Maybe google doesn't require a 
password to authenticate smtp with the token.

I could delete the smtp password from my keychain and see if it Mail app 
could still send.  The trouble is that I don't understand authentication 
tokens. Maybe I should let well enough alone.

[toc] | [prev] | [standalone]

Back to top | Article view | comp.sys.mac.system

csiph-web