I got IMAP to work over a secure connection, on my PocketPC!

[Anne P. Mitchell, Esq.]

I am *so* excited about this, I have to tell everyone!

For the past few weeks, I have been rather desparately, and fruitlessly,
trying to come up with a way to use IMAP to connect to a secure mail server
which requires an SSL or SSH connection, using my Casio E-125 (PocketPC,
but *not* PocketPC 2002). The only references I could find in the
newsgroups were basically "it can't be done", because Microsoft has chosen
to not build SSL support into its IMAP client (i.e. the inbox program which
comes standard with PocketPC). There is also no 3rd party IMAP client for
PocketPC, let alone one which supports SSL (at least not one which I could
find anywhere - Ruksun has an "IMAP Force" program, but it doesn't run on
the PocketPC platform). I did find Microsoft's own SSL package, and did
install it, so my Casio now is SSL capable, but of course that turned out
not to help without an SSL capable IMAP client. That SSL package is
available at:
http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/downloads/ssl128.asp

Anyway, the alternative to having an SSL capable IMAP client was to create
an SSH tunnel with port forwarding, but there too I seemed unable to find
anything.

I kept searching and searching, and kept running into a brick wall and
posts saying "it can't be done", at every turn.

Then, just by a total fluke, last night, I ran what was probably going to
be one last search before I gave up, and came upon with PortForwarder, an
open source (free) SSH-based port forwarding program, and there is a
PocketPC version! You can get PortForwarder here:
http://www.fuji-climb.org/pf/index.shtml

Unfortunately, in order to build PortForwarder, you have to have
Microsoft's eMbedded Visual Tools 3.0 package, and while it is free, the
file is *enormous*. You can get the file at
http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/developer/downloads/emvt30/

I was unable to download, let alone install the Visual Tools package, as I
just don't have even close to enough disk space to download it.

In fact, some of you may recall my posting last night, begging some kind
soul to take pity on me and to please let me have a copy of the files if
they had themselves already built PortForwarder for the PocketPC. And some
kind soul did just that, and now I'm up and running! (You know who you
are, and thank you again!!!)

The way this works is that port forwarding creates a secure "tunnel" from
your machine to the mail server machine. So, for example, the IMAP port on
a mail server is typically port 143. Port forwarding (and hence
PortForwarder) creates a *secure* "tunnel" (think of it as a wormhole) from
your machine's port 143 directly to the mail server's port 143. Then, when
you run your mail client, instead of telling it to connect to the mail
server, you tell it to connect to *your* port 143, but your port 143 is
"forwarded" (again, think wormhole) to the port 143 of the mail server on
which you have your IMAP account. There, clear as mud? :-)

Once you have PortForwarder installed on your PocketPC, here is how to make
IMAP work:

First, you need a file called "config.txt" in your Documents directory -
PortForwarder will source this file to figure out to where to connect you,
where to forward your ports, etc.. It is a plain text file. My config.txt
looks something like this (names changed to protect the innocent and all):

Let's say the machine you want to connect to (to get your mail from) is
named "annie", and has an IP address of 111.222.33.44; here is the file:

--- begin config.txt ---

Host annie
HostName 111.222.333.444
# annie's IP address - yeah, I know it says HostName - I
didn't write it, I just drive it.
User shedevil
# User = your login name
LocalForward 143 annie:143
# this is your imap port being forwarded to annie's
imap port - creating the tunnel or "wormhole"
LocalForward 25 annie:25
# this is a tunnel for your smtp port, so you can
send mail as well as receive it.

--- end config.txt ---

Once you have the config.txt file in your Documents directory, start
PortForwarder - if your config.txt file was done properly, it will connect
you to the remote machine, and ask for your password. Once you
successfully enter your password, you are connected via a small SSH window
to the remote machine, and your port is now forwarded.

Now, start up the PocketPC inbox program, and set up a service using IMAP.
Most of the settings are self-explanatory, and you will be able to figure
them out, but the one which is not obvious, and which is critical, is
instead of entering the mail server and smtp server's names, put
"localhost" This tells the mail program to look at *your port 143* for
your mail (remember it will see your mail on the remote server through the
secure tunnel to which your port is connected). If you put the name of
your server, instead of "localhost", it won't work.

I hope this is helpful to someone, and makes sense (I wrote it at 1:00
a.m., on the fly!)

Thank you again, all of you who have helped me!

Anne

I am: Mom, Attorney, Professor, Advocate for Fathers and Against Spam
http://www.annepmitchell.com
Resources on intuitive parenting, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and more

[Peter da Silva]

It looks like there's precompiled binaries at:

http://www.fuji-climb.org/pf/download.html#download_binaries

For example:

http://www.fuji-climb.org/pf/download/PortForwarder-1-1-1_POCKETPC-ARM.zip

Is there something the matter with this file?

--
I've seen things you people can't imagine. Chimneysweeps on fire over the roofs
of London. I've watched kite-strings glitter in the sun at Hyde Park Gate. All
these things will be lost in time, like chalk-paintings in the rain. `-_-'
Time for your nap. | Peter da Silva | Har du kramat din varg, idag? 'U`

[Anne P. Mitchell, Esq.]

Peter da Silva wrote:

>It looks like there's precompiled binaries at:
>
>http://www.fuji-climb.org/pf/download.html#download_binaries
>
>For example:
>
>http://www.fuji-climb.org/pf/download/PortForwarder-1-1-1_POCKETPC-ARM.zip
>
>Is there something the matter with this file?

Weird - is there a way to tell when that was added? I *swear* it wasn't
there the day I was looking - and I did write to the author, and ask if he
had the binaries available, and he responded inviting me to go back and
look at the site again "for something I'd like", but I'd not done so yet,
as I'd already received the binary elsewhere.