Question
When some of my users attempt to collect their email, or logon via the web interface, they get an error from the server that the logon failed. Why is this?
Answer
There are many reasons why someone can’t log on to their account. This entry lists some to check:
- Check that the user account exists.
- Check that the password is correct. Try changing it to a new one and check the logs. Remember passwords are case specific.
- If the user is in a Virtual Domain, check that they are using their full email address.
- If APOP is enforced and the user’s mail client is not using APOP authentication, every attempt to logon will fail.
- If the user already has a POP3 or IMAP4 client logged in from the same machine, this may prevent another connection being made *even if* the account details are different. Change the maximum number of connections per IP Address to resolve this.
- Verify that the mailbox is enabled.
- Verify that the user has access rights for the access method they are using. For example, make sure that someone who is using GMS Webmail has access via GMS Webmail.
- If your system is multi-homed (i.e. supporting more than one domain), then make sure that they are using the right domain and account name. For example, if a system has the account a@a.dom and b@b.dom (on different IP addresses), then user a can use just his name (‘a’) to log on to a.dom’s IP address. If he wishes to use b.dom’s IP address, the user will need to specify his name and domain (‘a@a.dom’).
Keywords:POP, logon, failed logon, POP error, Logon error