Connecting to GMail with Agent 8

[Paul S Person]

So, I find myself in a bit of a pickle.

The credit card Earthlink uses to charge for keeping my emails alive
was recently replaced by a new one with a new expiration date. But
Earthlink will not let me see the stored payment information they
have, never mind update it.

My current ISP turns out to not be actually able to provide email, as
it cannot be set up. It insists I give it a mobile phone number that
it can send a message to, and I have no such thing available.

So, I have set up a GMail account just in case I need it. (Amazon
turned out to already have the new expiration date when I checked so
it is possible that Earthlink has it as well; Netflix, OTOH, did not
and I had to update it on-line myself). I will need it if their next
charge is rejected.

The problem is, although I set it up according to the GMail help
article, Agent isn't working. Agent does work with Earthlink, so the
TLS should be high enough. Gmail does recommend a time-out setting,
but I haven't found where to set it. And Agent may well be exceeding
it anyway.

Any ideas on how to use Agent to handle email through the GMail
server?

The current settings, all mixed together, with notes:
SSL required
Simple username and password
the credentials are the email I just created and the password
(which I have tested by logging out and logging in in Edge)
the Ports specified are the default Ports used by Agent
the connection type is Connect securely on standard mail submission
port
this is the only choice that does not cause a timeout except
Do not use secure connection
which produces a message stating that a secure connection is required
using either Connect with TLS on SMTP port connection
causes a timeout

Or is this simply not possible?

In that case, what free/or even not free 3rd party email servers are
known to work with Agent 8?

TIA for any response
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

[Ralph Fox]

I presume that is your main Google account password.

> the Ports specified are the default Ports used by Agent
> the connection type is Connect securely on standard mail submission
> port
> this is the only choice that does not cause a timeout except
> Do not use secure connection
> which produces a message stating that a secure connection is required
> using either Connect with TLS on SMTP port connection
> causes a timeout
>
> Or is this simply not possible?

Gmail is working in Agent 8 here.

The catch is that Gmail will _not_ accept authentication from email
programs using your main Google account password.

To make _Agent_ work with Gmail, you must get an 'app password' from
Google and use that in Agent in place of your main Google account
password.

Instructions for getting an 'app password' are here:

"Sign in with App Passwords"
<https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833>


IMPORTANT:

1) You need to turn on 2-Step Verification before you can create a
Gmail 'app password' for Agent.

2) You need to keep 2-Step Verification turned on or else Google
will disable your Gmail 'app password'.

3) If you change your main Google account password, Google says
you will need to create a new 'app password'.


--
Kind regards
Ralph Fox
🦊

He that will not go over the stile must be thrust through the gate.

[Ralph Fox]

On Fri, 26 Jan 2024 19:43:48 +1300, Ralph Fox wrote:
> On Thu, 25 Jan 2024 19:19:17 -0800, Paul S Person wrote:
>>

...

>> Any ideas on how to use Agent to handle email through the GMail
>> server?

...

> The catch is that Gmail will _not_ accept authentication from email
> programs using your main Google account password.

One more catch with Gmail that you might not be aware of...


If you want to download email from Gmail in more than one email
program using POP3, then you must use Gmail's "recent mode".

For details, go to this Gmail support page and look in the
section "I want to download emails on multiple email clients".
<https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7104828#zippy=%2Ci-want-to-download-emails-on-multiple-email-clients>

Also see <https://support.google.com/a/answer/6089246>.

This only affects programs (like Agent) which use POP3 to download email.
It does not affect programs which use IMAP to download email.


(FYI the trade-off is that Gmail's "recent mode" will not download
emails which are more than 30 days old.)

--
Kind regards
Ralph Fox
🦊

One bird i'th' hand is worth two in the bush.

[Paul S Person]

On Fri, 26 Jan 2024 21:05:50 +1300, Ralph Fox <-rf-nz-@-.invalid>
wrote:

Apparently I /was/ using a general Google Account password. I set it
up through Gmail, but apparently that is the result.

And ... sure enough, creating the App password worked! I tested
downloading, and the POP connection certainly works.

Looks like I'll need to create a new profile to test uploading.

[Paul S Person]

But later in the morning, Gmail was once again rejecting my
credentials. Even after I enabled downloading and verified it was
allowed. Even after I re-enabled two-factor sign-in.

Is the device password, by any chance, a /one-time/ thing? Not valid
after some time has passed?

I still have one thing to check with Earthlink (next week) but, if
that fails, maybe I should try Outlook and see if I can at least get
Agent to connect to and use its servers.

I regard this two-step verification and special passwords as complete
nonsense. Still, at least Google doesn't insist on texting the code
but will read it over the phone instead. This puts it one up on my
ISPs email setup, which was written in the firm belief that everyone
has a cell phone and can receive texts.

But I am still grateful to you for the help, which worked, at least
for a while.

[Ralph Fox]

On Fri, 26 Jan 2024 09:17:06 -0800, Paul S Person wrote:

> But later in the morning, Gmail was once again rejecting my
> credentials. Even after I enabled downloading and verified it was
> allowed. Even after I re-enabled two-factor sign-in.
>
> Is the device password, by any chance, a /one-time/ thing? Not valid
> after some time has passed?

The 'app password' I have in Agent is now several years old and still
working.

Check that Google still has the 'app password' for Agent...
1. Log on to <https://myaccount.google.com/>
2. At the left, click on 'Security'
3. Under 'How you sign in to Google', click on '2-Step Verification'
4. Scroll down to 'App passwords'
5. Click on the '>' to the right of 'App passwords'
6. Look in the box 'Your app passwords' to see if it still
has the app password for Agent.

If you turned off 2-Step Verification, Google may have cancelled your
app password when you did. You can turn 2-Step Verification back on,
but you might still need to create a new app password.

> I still have one thing to check with Earthlink (next week) but, if
> that fails, maybe I should try Outlook and see if I can at least get
> Agent to connect to and use its servers.
>
> I regard this two-step verification and special passwords as complete
> nonsense. Still, at least Google doesn't insist on texting the code
> but will read it over the phone instead. This puts it one up on my
> ISPs email setup, which was written in the firm belief that everyone
> has a cell phone and can receive texts.
>
> But I am still grateful to you for the help, which worked, at least
> for a while.

--
Kind regards
Ralph Fox
🦊

Good riding at two anchors men have told, For if one break 'tother may hold.

[Paul S Person]

n Sat, 27 Jan 2024 07:22:11 +1300, Ralph Fox <-rf-nz-@-.invalid>
wrote:

>On Fri, 26 Jan 2024 09:17:06 -0800, Paul S Person wrote:
>
>> But later in the morning, Gmail was once again rejecting my
>> credentials. Even after I enabled downloading and verified it was
>> allowed. Even after I re-enabled two-factor sign-in.
>>
>> Is the device password, by any chance, a /one-time/ thing? Not valid
>> after some time has passed?
>
>The 'app password' I have in Agent is now several years old and still
>working.
>
>Check that Google still has the 'app password' for Agent...
> 1. Log on to <https://myaccount.google.com/>
> 2. At the left, click on 'Security'
> 3. Under 'How you sign in to Google', click on '2-Step Verification'
> 4. Scroll down to 'App passwords'
> 5. Click on the '>' to the right of 'App passwords'
> 6. Look in the box 'Your app passwords' to see if it still
> has the app password for Agent.
>
>If you turned off 2-Step Verification, Google may have cancelled your
>app password when you did. You can turn 2-Step Verification back on,
>but you might still need to create a new app password.

OK, that makes sense. It might also explain why I had to re-enable
POP, although just doing so was not enough.

And it works: both Agent servers tested working, and downloading email
got the new ones on Gmail.

Thanks again for your help.