Post-Installation: Configuring Exchange accounts in Outlook for Mac 2011

Office for Mac 2011 will reach end of support on October 10, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see these resources.

 

Applies to: Office for Mac 2011

Topic Last Modified: 2016-12-16

Users can set up Microsoft Exchange accounts automatically or by manually by typing in the account information. For users of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 with Update Rollup 4 (KB952580) or later and Outlook for Mac 2011, the Autodiscover service, which supports automatic discovery of account settings, makes it easier for users to configure Exchange accounts in Outlook for Mac.

Preparing the infrastructure

Before you provide your users with instructions to set up a Microsoft Exchange account, you must understand the different server and server roles that Outlook for Mac connects to in your organization's Microsoft Exchange Server environment. For information about Exchange server requirements, see Outlook for Mac 2011 features supported by different versions of Exchange Server.

• Microsoft Exchange Server, Mailbox server, and Client Access server must be running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 with Update Rollup 4 (KB952580) or later.

• Users must have valid e-mail addresses. The Autodiscover service uses the e-mail addresses to automatically configure the user profiles on the Exchange server.

• When a user configures an account, Outlook for Mac queries the DNS server to locate a domain controller. Next, it finds the Exchange server that hosts the user's mailbox and then connects to the server to begin synchronization. The mailbox contains private data that belongs to an individual user and contains mailbox folders that are generated when a new mailbox is created for that user. For more information about the mailbox server, see the Exchange Server page on the Microsoft TechNet Web site (technet.microsoft.com).

  To perform the DNS Server query, Outlook for Mac uses a DNS server that is configured in Mac OS X System Preferences under Network. It is important that the user's network settings are properly configured with the appropriate search domains and DNS server because Outlook for Mac uses this information to find servers on a network.

• Outlook for Mac connects to an LDAP server, which is the Global Catalog server in an Active Directory-based environment. The Global Catalog server is a distributed data repository in an Active Directory environment that hosts the Global Address List (GAL) of your Exchange server organization.

• Outlook for Mac uses the Client Access server as the connection point to connect to the Exchange 2007 server. In addition to being the connection point for client applications, the Client Access server supports the following Exchange 2007 Web Services: Autodiscover service and Availability service. The Autodiscover service enables automatic detection of client profiles during the Microsoft Exchange account setup in Outlook for Mac. The Availability service retrieves free/busy information.

  When connected to an Exchange 2007 SP1 Client Access server, Outlook for Mac also supports the delegate management service.

  Note

  Outlook for Mac uses Port 80 (without SSL) or 443 (with SSL) depending on the related configuration of the Exchange 2007 Client Access server. For more information on the default port requirements for Outlook for Mac, see Default ports for Outlook for Mac 2011.

• If you enable Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) in Outlook for Mac for a server that is associated with a Microsoft Exchange account, all Outlook for Mac communications with the SSL-enabled server are encrypted.

  For more information about how to configure SSL on Exchange 2007, see the Exchange Server page on the Microsoft TechNet Web site (technet.microsoft.com).

• Outlook for Mac supports Kerberos protocol as a method of authentication with Exchange Server and standalone LDAP accounts. For more information about Kerberos authentication in Outlook for Mac, see Using Outlook for Mac with Kerberos authentication.

Users can set up their Exchange accounts automatically by performing the following steps.

Note

To set up a Microsoft Exchange account automatically, users must know their Exchange account e-mail address.

Configuring an Exchange account in Outlook for Mac

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.

2. In the lower-left corner of the Accounts dialog box, click Add , and then click Exchange.

3. Enter your e-mail address.

4. On the Method pop-up menu, do one of the following:

   To authenticate with	Do this
   User name and password	Click User Name and Password, and then enter your credentials.
   Kerberos authentication	Click Kerberos, and then select an ID on the Kerberos ID pop-up menu. To create a new ID, click Create a New ID.

5. Do one of the following:

   To	Do this
   Have Outlook try to automatically detect your Exchange server	Click Username and Password, and then enter your credentials.
   Enter your Exchange server address manually	Clear the Configure automatically check box, enter the server address, and then click Add Account.

6. When the process of adding the account is completed, the account appears in the left pane of the Accounts dialog box, and Outlook begins downloading your messages and other items. A green indicator next to the account name shows that the account is connected.

    

   

Tip

• Your user name is usually your domain name followed by a backslash and your account ID. For example, if your domain name is "example" and your account ID is "someone," you type example\someone. However, for some accounts, your user name is your complete e-mail address.

• To enter additional settings for the server, delegates, or security, click Advanced, and then click the tab that you want.

• To add a client certificate for two-factor authentication, click Advanced, click the Security tab, and then under Certificate authentication, select the certificate. If your authentication certificate is located on a smart card, make sure that the card is inserted into the reader.

• To delete an account, in the left pane of the Accounts dialog box, select an account, and then click . Be aware that if you delete an account, you will lose any account information that is not synced with the server.