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Setting up Pine for Remote E-Mail Access

For the small group of Pine users who use IMAP remotely.

Pine has a configuration file, .pinerc, that can be edited either directly or through the configuration interface accessible while running Pine.

Individuals with long-established accounts will mostly be using the old IMAP server: imap.physics.utoronto.ca. Those who have arrived in the last 2 years will have been set up to use the newer IMAP server: maildir.physics.utoronto.ca. The description below assumes maildir, but simple substitution of maildir -> imap will work for access to the older accounts.

The correct inbox setting is

inbox = {maildir.physics.utoronto.ca/tls/novalidate-cert}inbox

The "novalidate-cert" arises from the fact that we are generating our own SSL/TLS certificates rather than buying one from a Certificate Authority. (The additional expense would only purchase an illusion of extra security in our case.)

To access server-side folders, you need to create a folder collection. The .pinerc syntax for a suitable pair of folder collections is

folder-collections=
"Server-side Folders" {maildir.physics.utoronto.ca/tls/novalidate-cert}[],
"Local Folders" localmail/[]

We strongly advise that the Local Folders collection not be set. People store e-mail onto their local computer and then discover that it is not accessible when they are accessing from another computer and think that something is wrong. Only set local folders if you understand the implications.

To send e-mail, you need to set the SMTP server.

smtp-server=smtp.physics.utoronto.ca

If you are configuring a portable computing device that will leave the physics.utoronto.ca network domain (such as a laptop that you take home) you will need to use our authenticated SMTP server to be able to relay e-mail from home to non-Physics destinations.

smtp-server=smtp-auth.physics.utoronto.ca:587/user=*Username*/tls/novalidate-cert

Substitute your username for *Username*.