Mailcow and autodiscovery for Outlook

mickeypl

Hi,

I have a server available at mail.server.co.uk.
This server supports several domains:
domain1.co.uk
domain2.co.uk
domain3.co.uk
domain4.co.uk

I tried configuring autodiscovery for Outlook using various guides and ChatGPT, but it wouldn’t work properly.

Do you know of any reliable guides or can you help me with the configuration?

Thanks!

esackbauer

mickeypl tried configuring autodiscovery for Outlook using various guides and ChatGPT

What exactly did you try? How shall we guess what went wrong?
Check that all DNS records are set up properly for each mail domain:
https://docs.mailcow.email/getstarted/prerequisite-dns/

mickeypl but it wouldn’t work properly.

Thats a too specific error message 😉

mickeypl

esackbauer Check that all DNS records are set up properly for each mail domain:

I apologize for not adding DNS records right away.

DNS records for the email server domain:
`;; SOA Record
servr.co.uk 3600 IN SOA paige.ns.cloudflare.com. dns.cloudflare.com. 2050528234 10000 2400 604800 3600

;; NS Records
server.co.uk. 86400 IN NS paige.ns.cloudflare.com.
server.co.uk. 86400 IN NS watson.ns.cloudflare.com.

;; A Records
autoconfig.server.co.uk. 1 IN A xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx ; cf_tags=cf-proxied:false
autodiscover.server.co.uk. 1 IN A xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx ; cf_tags=cf-proxied:false
mail.server.co.uk. 1 IN A xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx ; cf_tags=cf-proxied:false

;; MX Records
server.co.uk. 1 IN MX 10 mail.server.co.uk.

;; SRV Records
autodiscover.tcp.server.co.uk. 1 IN SRV 0 0 443 mail.server.co.uk.

;; TLSA Records
25.tcp.server.co.uk. 60 IN TLSA 3 1 1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

;; TXT Records
dkim._domainkey.server.co.uk. 1 IN TXT “v=DKIM1;k=rsa;t=s;s=email;p=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx” “xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”
_dmarc.server.co.uk. 1 IN TXT “v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:postmaster@server.co.uk”
server.co.uk. 1 IN TXT “v=spf1 ip4:xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -all”
server.co.uk. 1 IN TXT “google-site-verification=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”
`

DNS records for the domain served by the mail server
`;; SOA Record
domain1.co.uk 3600 IN SOA paige.ns.cloudflare.com. dns.cloudflare.com. 2050530725 10000 2400 604800 3600

;; NS Records
domain1.co.uk. 86400 IN NS paige.ns.cloudflare.com.
domain1.co.uk. 86400 IN NS watson.ns.cloudflare.com.

;; CNAME Records
autoconfig.domain1.co.uk. 1 IN CNAME mail.server.co.uk. ; cf_tags=cf-proxied:false
autodiscover.domain1.co.uk. 1 IN CNAME mail.server.co.uk. ; cf_tags=cf-proxied:false

;; MX Records
domain1.co.uk. 1 IN MX 10 mail.server.co.uk.

;; SRV Records
carddavs.tcp.domain1.co.uk. 1 IN SRV 0 1 443 mail.server.co.uk.
imaps.tcp.domain1.co.uk. 1 IN SRV 0 1 993 mail.server.co.uk.
imap.tcp.domain1.co.uk. 1 IN SRV 0 1 143 mail.server.co.uk.
pop3s.tcp.domain1.co.uk. 1 IN SRV 0 1 995 mail.server.co.uk.
pop3.tcp.domain1.co.uk. 1 IN SRV 0 1 110 mail.server.co.uk.
submissions.tcp.domain1.co.uk. 1 IN SRV 0 1 465 mail.server.co.uk.
submission.tcp.domain1.co.uk. 1 IN SRV 0 1 587 mail.server.co.uk.

;; TXT Records
cf2024-1.domainkey.domain1.co.uk. 1 IN TXT “v=DKIM1; h=sha256; k=rsa; p=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”
dkim.domainkey.domain1.co.uk. 1 IN TXT “v=DKIM1;k=rsa;t=s;s=email;p=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx” “xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”
_dmarc.domain1.co.uk. 1 IN TXT “v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:postmaster@server.co.uk”
domain1.co.uk. 1 IN TXT “v=spf1 ip4:xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -all”
domain1.co.uk. 1 IN TXT “google-site-verification=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”
`

I created the autodiscover.xml file in the /opt/mailcow-dockerized/data/web/autodiscover folder.
Its contents are as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Autodiscover xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/responseschema/2006"> <Response> <Account> <AccountType>email</AccountType> <Action>settings</Action> <Protocol> <Type>IMAP</Type> <Server>mail.server.co.uk</Server> <Port>993</Port> <DomainRequired>off</DomainRequired> <LoginName>{EMAILADDRESS}</LoginName> <SPA>off</SPA> <SSL>on</SSL> <AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired> </Protocol> <Protocol> <Type>SMTP</Type> <Server>mail.server.co.uk</Server> <Port>465</Port> <DomainRequired>off</DomainRequired> <LoginName>{EMAILADDRESS}</LoginName> <SPA>off</SPA> <SSL>on</SSL> <AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired> </Protocol> </Account> </Response> </Autodiscover>
I didn’t change anything in Mailcow.

mlcwuser

mickeypl I created the autodiscover.xml file in the /opt/mailcow-dockerized/data/web/autodiscover folder.
Its contents are as follows:

Why? Did ChatGPT tell you to do that?

Please read the following, especially the very first sentence: https://docs.mailcow.email/manual-guides/u_e-autodiscover_config/

esackbauer

mickeypl
And the autodiscover SRV record is missing for your second domain.

mickeypl

mlcwuser Why? Did ChatGPT tell you to do that?
Yes, that’s what ChatGPT wrote to me

esackbauer And the autodiscover SRV record is missing for your second domain.
I changed this in the data/web/inc/vars.local.inc.php file.

‘autodiscoverType’ => ‘imap’
‘useEASforOutlook’ => ‘yes’
After that I restarted the whole mailcow

I added this DNS entry, but when I try to add an email account from domain1.co.uk in Outlook, the incoming mail server is automatically set to: imap-mail.outlook.com
and the outgoing mail server is set to: smtp-mail.outlook.com

When I add an email account from domain2.co.uk, the incoming mail server is set to: imap.domain2.co.uk
and the outgoing mail server is set to: smtp.domain2.co.uk

EDIT:

I guess I also need to add subdomains for all supported domains in the ‘ADDITIONAL_SAN=’ section of the mailcow.conf file?

So autodiscover.domain1.co.uk, autoconfig.domain1.co.uk, autodiscover.domain2.co.uk, autoconfig.domain2.co.uk, autodiscover.domain3.co.uk, autoconfig.domain3.co.uk

mlcwuser

First of all, which version of Outlook are you using? If it’s newer than Outlook 2019, autodiscover won’t work anymore: https://docs.mailcow.email/client/client-outlook/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

If you’re using Outlook 2019 or older, or for any other email clients, the general idea is that they always use the primary server name, e.g mail.domain1.tld, even when connetcing to accounts from domain2, domain3 etc. So, you’d configure the DNS records for the other domains to point to domain1 like this:

autodiscover.domain2.tld.            IN CNAME mail.domain1.tld.
_autodiscover._tcp.domain2.tld.      IN SRV   0 1 443 mail.domain1.tld.

autodiscover.domain3.tld.            IN CNAME mail.domain1.tld.
_autodiscover._tcp.domain3.tld.      IN SRV   0 1 443 mail.domain1.tld.

mickeypl I guess I also need to add subdomains for all supported domains in the ‘ADDITIONAL_SAN=’ section of the mailcow.conf file?

So autodiscover.domain1.co.uk, autoconfig.domain1.co.uk, autodiscover.domain2.co.uk, autoconfig.domain2.co.uk, autodiscover.domain3.co.uk, autoconfig.domain3.co.uk
Afaik, this should not be necessary, as they get created automatically for every domain.

AFAIK, that shouldn’t be necessary, since those SANs get created automatically for each domain.

However, you could add additional SANs for imap.*, smtp.* and mail.*, as well as additional server names such as mail.domain2.tld, mail.domain3.tld, etc. This can simplify the configuration process for clients that don’t support Autodiscover or Autoconfig, since these clients often default to using the mail subdomain or the smtp and imap subdomains of the email address’s domain.

esackbauer

Sigh. I am really happy when SOGo will stop providing ActiveSync in 2026.
Besides: I have also several domains, just make sure that you have the proper DNS records in place (including the SAN for the certificates). And please, undo all of your changes to the config files. It works out of the box in the default configuration, no need to edit vars.local.inc.php or autodiscover.xml