Re: [Evolution] I don't understand evolution's use of ports

[Pete Biggs <pete biggs org uk>]

> Can anyone explain what is going on, and/or refer me to a document whih
> clarifies the matter?

Port 25 is the SMTP port - it is commonly only used these days for
moving mail between servers/MTAs.

Port 587 is the "submission" port - i.e. the port that users (or MUAs)
use for putting mail into the system.

The difference these days is that mail is usually accepted on port 25
from anywhere, but only for mail destined for local users - i.e. mail
relaying is denied. Mail is usually only accepted on port 587 for
authenticated users, but relaying is then allowed to elsewhere.

Port 465 is legacy SSMTP - i.e. SSL encrypted SMTP.  It is, however,
usually better to use TLS to the standard SMTP ports if encryption is
desired.

Wikipedia on SMTP is an OK place for a simple explanation.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Mail_Transfer_Protocol

As to why your servers stopped when specifying port 587, then I suspect
it's because you weren't authenticating properly or you had set it to
use SSL rather than TLS.  If you are still having problems look at the
debugging bit in the FAQ to try and see what the conversation between
Evo and the server is.

P.