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This guide will show you how to set up Thunderbird to access your Zimbra account if you are using Enhanced Security. This guide assumes that you have already installed Kerberos and acquired a new ticket.
The site http://www.getthunderbird.com always has the latest edition of Thunderbird for Windows or Mac OS.
When the "Account Settings" window opens up, click on the "Add Account..." button in the lower left hand corner to bring up the Account Wizard. The Account Wizard may appear automatically if this is the first time you have opened Thunderbird. Make sure that "Email account" is selected in the "New Account Setup" window and click "Next."
Enter your name as you would like it to appear when you send email to others. Enter the email address you would prefer others to contact you at. This address will be the one people reply to and add to their address books when they receive email from you. When you're done, click "Next."
Both your incoming and outgoing servers need to be set to "zimbra.upenn.edu" regardless of the email address you chose in the prior step. It is highly recommended that you select IMAP as your incoming server type. If you think you need to use POP, or are unsure of the difference between POP and IMAP, please contact your LSP who can help you make an informed decision. When you are done with this step, please click "Next."
It should be your PennKey user name. Click "Next."
By default, the account will be named after your email address. If you would prefer to use a different name to refer to this account, please enter it here. When you are finished, click "Next."
You are finished with basic setup, but you need to remain in the "Account Settings" window to change a few more important settings. Click "Finish" to go back to the Account Settings window.
On the left hand side of the "Account Settings" window, choose "Server Settings" under your new account name. Under "Security Settings" in this window, choose "TLS." Check the "Use secure authentication" checkbox. The next step will be to set up your outgoing server.
The Zimbra server should already be in your Outgoing Server list. Select the zimbra.upenn.edu server from the list and click the "Edit..." button on the right hand side.
Type a description for this server in case you add another one at a later time. Verify that the server name is zimbra.upenn.edu. It is recommended that you use port 587 to send email if you are off campus. Make sure that the "Use name and password" box is checked, and that your username is entered in the field. Finally, make sure TLS is selected and click OK.
These next steps are very important. If you do not do this, Thunderbird will not be able to use Kerberos. Go to the "Tools" menu and choose "Options." When the "Options" window appears, choose the "Advanced" tab in the upper right corner. Next, click on the "Config Editor..." button.
In the "Filter" field, type: "sspi" as shown above. Only one term should appear: "network.auth.use-sspi." If its value reads "true" on the right hand side, double click anywhere on the term to make it switch to false. Once the value reads false, you may close the dialog box and click "OK" to leave the "Options" window.
Thunderbird will now use Kerberos to access your email. If Thunderbird does not begin downloading your email right away, try closing and re-opening the program.