Updated: 2009-04-09

In this article:

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 includes the ability to automatically configure user accounts. Office Outlook 2007 uses one of two discovery mechanisms to automatically configure accounts: Autodiscover and Common Settings Discover.

Autodiscover is a standards-based XML file that can be configured by an administrator for an Internet service provider (ISP) or a corporation, or dynamically generated by a service, such as the Client Access Server role in Microsoft Exchange 2007. This is the preferred mechanism for settings discovery, because it provides optimal performance. It also minimizes the possibility of configuration error on the client computer, because the settings are defined explicitly and deliberately by the administrator of the mail servers.

Common Settings Discover is less configurable, and less sophisticated, but configures most mail servers around the world based on common settings. It attempts encrypted connections first. If these connections fail, it prompts the user to try unencrypted connections, and tries the same servers again without encryption. Many ISPs today do not require encryption, but have it enabled so that users can configure their accounts with encryption.

Overview of using Autodiscover with DNS

Autodiscover in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 is an XML file placed in one of two locations, based on the domain name provided by the user. For the Internet, Autodiscover relies on the Domain Name System (DNS) to find the XML file. The XML file location is based on the e-mail address that the user provides. For example, if barbara@contoso.com is entered as the user's e-mail address, Office Outlook 2007 looks for the XML file in the following locations and in the following order:

https://contoso.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml
https://autodiscover.contoso.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml

If your company also has a Web site at the root domain (for example, contoso.com), the second option (the Autodiscover "host (A) resource record" solution) allows you to run the Web server and the Autodiscover file or service on separate servers. For smaller companies, the additional management of having separate DNS records can be ignored, and a single server can run both the Web site and the Autodiscover service (for example, the option 1 listed previously).

The connection must be established by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), and a valid SSL certificate must be present. SSL is required because a company or an Internet service provider (ISP) could choose to provide only encrypted access to their mail servers. In this scenario, if Office Outlook 2007 first checks non-SSL locations or allows failover to a non-SSL location, and a user types an e-mail address and password in a vulnerable security situation such as a main-in-the-middle attack, the automatic configuration service in Office Outlook 2007 could weaken security by being the weakest link in the connection chain if a non-SSL connection is allowed. Without an encrypted connection, the automatic configuration service could allow a non-encrypted Web site to configure mail server settings and allow authentication with a user name and password to the non-encrypted site. Instead, SSL is required by the Autodiscover protocol to maintain the compatibility with companies and ISPs that demand secure configuration routines.

However, if a company or an ISP chooses to host many e-mail domains, Office Outlook 2007 can follow an unencrypted HTTP redirect or DNS SRV resource record (this DNS SRV record lookup functionality is included in Office Outlook 2007 Service Pack 1) to a secure Web site that stores the settings. For example, suppose that contoso.com is a hosted e-mail domain, and that the hosting service runs the Autodiscover file at hoster.com. In this scenario, the autodiscover prefix can be used by the hosting company to direct Office Outlook 2007 to a secure site that contains the Autodiscover settings.

HTTP redirect: http://autodiscover.contoso.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml --> redirects to https://autodiscover.hoster.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml
DNS SRV: _autodiscover._tcp.contoso.com --> points to https://autodiscover.hoster.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml

In both of these examples, users will see a warning dialog box in Office Outlook 2007 stating that they are being redirected to autodiscover.hoster.com for server settings. The dialog box provides the option to allow the redirection and allows users to ignore future prompts about the redirect site (in this example, autodiscover.hoster.com).

Autodiscover protocol details

The first connection attempt is always an HTTPS POST verb to domain, where the user has entered the e-mail address e-mail@domain. If the settings are successfully retrieved, no additional network calls are made. If the settings are not retrieved, an HTTPS POST verb is performed to autodiscover.domain. If settings are not retrieved from this site, a final HTTP GET and DNS SRV record lookup is performed only to the autodiscover.domain site. This HTTP GET and DNS SRV record lookup can only redirect to a secure site. (If settings are present at the HTTP location, Office Outlook 2007 will not configure them because the connection was not encrypted.)

Office Outlook 2007 can follow up to 10 redirects of any type. That is, you can follow an HTTPS POST redirect, HTTP GET redirect, or use the Autodiscover redirect XML schema tags detailed later in this article. After 10 redirections fail to obtain the settings, the settings discovery fails.

Static XML vs. Web service XML

The POST verb is used so that Office Outlook 2007 can issue a request to a dynamic Web service, such as the Client Access server role in Microsoft Exchange 2007. However, if a static XML file is sufficient or if you are not running an Autodiscover Web service, the XML response returned in a customized 405 (POST verb not supported) response from any Web server will also work as the configuration XML used by Office Outlook 2007.

Using Autodiscover locally

It is possible to configure the registry on your computer to look for a local XML file that defines the server settings. However, we strongly recommend that the settings be hosted on a live server instead so that they can be easily updated. For testing purposes, adding entries to the registry can force Office Outlook 2007 to use local XML files to configure an e-mail domain that is not configured on the server. The server always overrides the local XML for better security and configuration control.

For example, to provide contoso.com e-mail address settings from a local XML file, you could configure the following registry value:

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[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Autodiscover] "contoso.com"="%PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Office\Office12\contoso.xml"

In this example, the XML settings file is located here: %PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Office\Office12\contoso.xml. A sample XML settings file is provided later in this article.

Precedence for XML settings

Office Outlook 2007 configures the server type based on the order in which servers are defined in the Autodiscover XML settings file. For example, if a mail service provider enables users to log on by using both the POP3 protocol and the IMAP protocol, but prefers that users use the POP3 protocol, the POP3 settings should be listed first in the Autodiscover file.

How Autodiscover works on a corporate network

In a corporate environment where the Domain Name System (DNS) is not used to locate servers, such as a large company running Microsoft Exchange 2007, Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 can locate the Autodiscover service without using DNS. If Office Outlook 2007 is running on a computer that is joined to the domain, Office Outlook 2007 first queries the Active Directory directory service for a service connection point (SCP) object. This object is created by an Exchange administrator, or in simple topologies, it is created when Exchange 2007 is installed. The SCP object defines the Autodiscover server that Office Outlook 2007 should reference for retrieving user settings inside the corporate firewall.

Because Active Directory lookups are performed by using Windows APIs, the Active Directory lookup is likely to fail unless Office Outlook 2007 is running on a computer that is connected to a network that has access to the Active Directory servers.

An SCP object can be one of two types:

A service connection definition object
A service referral object

Service connection definition objects

A service connection definition object is created by the Exchange 2007 Client Access server role during installation. Client Access servers run the Autodiscover Web service. If the name of the Client Access server is "CASserver," a service connection definition object is created in Active Directory that directs Office Outlook 2007 to use https://CASserver/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml as the source for Autodiscover information inside the corporate network.

If multiple Client Access servers are installed, Office Outlook 2007 randomly chooses and connects to one of the service connection definition objects to facilitate network load balancing.

Service referral objects

In some network environments, the client computer is not joined to the domain in which Exchange 2007 is installed. In this scenario, a service referral object can be created in the Office Outlook 2007 computer's network domain to refer Office Outlook 2007 to the correct Exchange environment. For example, if all computers are joined to a User domain, but user mailboxes are included in a separate resource Exchange domain, the service connection definition objects are created in the Exchange domain. However, for Office Outlook 2007 to locate the Exchange domain, service referral objects must be created in the User domain that points Office Outlook 2007 to the Exchange domain. The service referral objects are based on the user's SMTP address. Therefore, an organization could include multiple resource forests that handle many SMTP address suffixes, and the addresses could all be properly referred to the correct domain from within a single master domain.

Automatically discover Exchange e-mail addresses

If Office Outlook 2007 is running on a computer that is joined to a domain, Office Outlook 2007 can automatically discover the user's e-mail address. Office Outlook 2007 looks up the Active Directory contact object for the user who is logged in, and then extracts the primary SMTP address. This information, if available, is prepopulated in the Add new e-mail account dialog box in Office Outlook 2007.

An administrator can require Office Outlook 2007 to configure an account automatically by configuring the option in the Office Customization Tool (OCT) or by locking down the setting by using Group Policy.

To configure the option in Group Policy, load the Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 template (Outlk12.adm). Under User Configuration\Administrative Templates\ Microsoft Office Outlook 2007\Tools | Accounts settings\Exchange, double-click Automatically configure profile based on Active Directory Primary SMTP address. Click Enabled, and then click OK.

To configure the option as a default setting that users can change, use the OCT. The option is in a corresponding location in the OCT, on the Modify user settings page.

For more information about how to use Group Policy with Office Outlook 2007 settings and to download the Office Group Policy templates, see Enforce settings by using Group Policy in the 2007 Office system. For more information about how to use the OCT, see Configure user settings for the 2007 Office system.

When Office Outlook 2007 is configured to automatically configure user profiles, users are not prompted for an e-mail address when Office Outlook 2007 starts. Instead, Office Outlook 2007 configures the account without prompting and connects to the mailbox. This automatic configuration will work well for many corporate scenarios; starting Office Outlook 2007 on a new computer automatically starts into the correct mailbox for every user with no user interaction.

Automatic configuration with older Exchange Server computers

In an Exchange environment that does not include Exchange 2007, Office Outlook 2007 still attempts to locate Exchange mailboxes. Active Directory includes a mailbox server property that can be set for each user. If standard Autodiscover attempts fail, Office Outlook 2007 tries to configure simple Exchange connections to an earlier version of Exchange Server by using the Exchange mailbox server property. For a simple server topology with one domain and all Office Outlook 2007 computers joined to the domain, Office Outlook 2007 queries Active Directory for the Exchange Server computer defined for the user logged in to the computer.

Autodiscover transaction summary

The order of operations for Autodiscover settings discovery in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, as described in Overview of using Autodiscover with DNS and How Autodiscover works on a corporate network, is summarized as follows:

Automatically retrieve the e-mail address from the Active Directory directory service if the computer is joined to a domain.
Retrieve the name of the Exchange Server computer if found, and store the name for later.
Look for service connection point (SCP) objects or SCP pointer objects that correspond to the user's e-mail address, and find the correct Autodiscover server to connect to; then, connect to the server and retrieve the settings.
If the previous step fails, attempt DNS discovery of Autodiscover XML (allowing for 10 redirects).
1. HTTPS POST: https://domain/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml
2. HTTPS POST: https://autodiscover.domain/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml
3. HTTP GET: http://autodiscover.domain/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml (only to follow redirects, not to get settings)
4. DNS SRV lookup: _autodiscover._tcp.domain (only to follow the redirect to which the SRV resource record points)
If the previous step fails, attempt local XML discovery and use the XML found on the local computer, if applicable.
If the previous step fails but the name of the Exchange Server computer is found in step 2, configure the Exchange account based on the name of the Exchange Server computer.
If the previous step is not applicable, attempt Common Settings Discover, as described in Overview of Common Settings Discover.

The Autodiscover XML schema

The XML schema for Autodiscover in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 is described in the following sections.

POST request sent by Outlook

When retrieving XML settings to configure an e-mail account, Office Outlook 2007 always uses a POST verb. The HTTP POST is as shown in the following code sample.

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P POST is as follows: <!-- REQUEST TO SERVER. In HTTP POST DATA --> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <Autodiscover xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/requestschema/2006"> <Request> <AcceptableResponseSchema>http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/responseschema/2006a</AcceptableResponseSchema> <!-- EMailAddress: Optional This tag indicates the user's email address. --> <EMailAddress>JohnDoe@sample.com</EMailAddress> </Request> </Autodiscover>

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P POST is as follows:
<!-- REQUEST TO SERVER. In HTTP POST DATA -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Autodiscover xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/requestschema/2006">
<Request>
<AcceptableResponseSchema>http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/responseschema/2006a</AcceptableResponseSchema>

<!-- EMailAddress: Optional
This tag indicates the user's email address.
-->
<EMailAddress>JohnDoe@sample.com</EMailAddress>
</Request>
</Autodiscover>

XML response schema

A server might respond to an Office Outlook 2007 POST in several ways. If a static XML file is sufficient, such as a POP3 service provided by an Internet service provider (ISP) where the server names are the same for all users, a customized 405 POST error message with the XML content will suffice. If an Autodiscover service is running, the response might be dynamically calculated based on the user's POST shown in the previous section. Regardless, the response schema is as shown in the following code sample.

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<!-- RESPONSE FROM THE SERVER --> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <Autodiscover xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/responseschema/2006"> <!-- Response: Required This tag serves as an indication that the retrieved XML is an Autodiscovery Response --> <Response xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/responseschema/2006a"> <!-- User: Optional This tag gives user-specific information. Autodiscover must be UTF-8 encoded. --> <User> <!-- DisplayName: Optional The server may have a good formal display name. The client can decide to accept it or change it. This will save the user time in the default case. --> <DisplayName>John Doe</DisplayName> </User> <!-- Account: Required This tag specifies the type of account, such as Email vs Newsgroups, vs SIP server, etc. --> <Account> <!-- AccountType: Required This value indicates the type of the account. VALUES: email: The values under this Account tag indicate configuration settings for an email server. nntp: The values under this Account tag indicate configuration settings for a NNTP server. (not used by Outlook 2007) --> <AccountType>email \| nntp</AccountType> <!-- Action: Required This value indicates if the goal of this account results is to provide the settings or redirect to another web server that can provide results. VALUES: redirectUrl: If this value is specified, then the URL tag will specify the http: or https: URL containing the Autodiscover results to be used. In order to prevent the server from being able to send the client into an infinite loop, the client should stop redirecting after 10 redirects. redirectAddr: If this value is specified, then the XML tag will specify the e-mail address that Outlook should use to execute Autodiscover again. In other words, the server is telling the client that the e-mail address the client should really be using for Autodiscover is not the one that was posted, but the one specified in this tag. settings: If this value is specified, then the XML will contain the settings needed to configure the account. The settings will primarily be under the PROTOCOL tag. --> <Action>redirectUrl \| redirectAddr \| settings</Action> <!-- RedirectUrl: Required if ACTION tag has value of 'redirectUrl'. Otherwise this tag must not exist. The value will be a https: URL that the client should use to obtain the Autodiscover settings or a http: URL that the client should use for further redirection. --> <RedirectUrl>redirect.URL</RedirectUrl> <!-- RedirectAddr: Required if ACTION tag has value of 'redirectAddr'. Otherwise this tag must not exist. The value will be an email address that the client should use to rediscover settings using the Autodiscover protocol. --> <RedirectAddr>email@address</RedirectAddr> <!-- Image: Optional This is a JPG picture to brand the ISP configuration experience with. The client can choose whether or not they download this picture to display. (not used by Outlook 2007) --> <Image>http://path.to.image.com/image.jpg</Image> <!-- ServiceHome: Optional This is a link to the ISP's Home Page. The client can choose whether or not they expose this link to the user. (not used by Outlook 2007) --> <ServiceHome>http://web.page.com</ServiceHome> <!-- Protocol: Required if ACTION tag has value of 'settings'. Otherwise, this tag must not exist. The tag encloses the specifications for a single account type. The list of Protocol tags are in order of preference of the server. The client may over ride the preference. --> <Protocol> <!-- TYPE: Required. The value here specifies what kind of mail account is being configured. POP3: The protocol to connect to this server is POP3. Only applicable for AccountType=email. SMTP: The protocol to connect to this server is SMTP. Only applicable for AccountType=email. IMAP: The protocol to connect to this server is IMAP. Only applicable for AccountType=email. DAV: The protocol to connect to this server is DAV. Only applicable for AccountType=email. WEB: Email is accessed from a web browser using an URL from the SERVER tag. Only applicable for AccountType=email. (not used by Outlook 2007) NNTP: The protocol to connect to this server is NNTP. Only applicable for AccountType=nntp. (not used by Outlook 2007) --> <Type>POP3 \| SMTP \| IMAP \| DAV \| WEB \| NNTP</Type> <!-- ExpirationDate: Optional. The value here specifies the last date which these settings should be used. After that date, the settings should be rediscovered via Autodiscover again. If no value is specified, the default will be no expiration. --> <ExpirationDate>YYYYMMDD</ExpirationDate> <!-- TTL: Optional. The value here specifies the time to live in hours that these settings are valid for. After that time has elapsed (from the time the settings were retrieved), the settings should be rediscovered via Autodiscovery again. A value of 0 indicates that no rediscovery will be required. If no value is specified, the default will be a TTL of 1 hour. --> <TTL>168</TTL> <!-- Server: Required. The value here specifies the name of the mail server corresponding to the server type specified above. For protocols such as POP3, SMTP, IMAP, or NNTP, this value will be either a hostname or an IP address. For protocols such as DAV or WEB, this will be an URL. --> <Server>mail.server.com</Server> <!--IP Addr or DNS name of server--> <!-- Port: Optional. The value specifies the Port number to use. If no value is specified, the default settings will be used depending on the mail server type. This value is not used if the SERVER tag contains an URL. --> <Port>110</Port> <!-- LoginName: Optional. This value specifies the user's login. If no value is specified, the default will be set to the string preceding the '@' in the email address. If the Login name contains a domain, the format should be <Username>@<Domain>. Such as JoeUser@SalesDomain. --> <LoginName>johndoe</LoginName> <!-- DomainRequired: Optional. Default is off. If this value is true, then a domain is required during authentication. If the domain is not specified in the LOGINNAME tag, or the LOGINNAME tag was not specified, the user will need to enter the domain before authentication will succeed. --> <DomainRequired>on \| off</DomainRequired> <!-- DomainName: Optional. This value specifies the user's domain. If no value is specified, the default authentication will be to use the e-mail address as a UPN format <Username>@<Domain>. Such as JoeUser@SalesDomain. --> <DomainName></DomainName> <!-- SPA: (Secure Password Authentication) Optional. This value specifies whether or not secure password authentication is needed. If unspecified, the default is set to on. --> <SPA>on \| off</SPA> <!-- SSL: Optional. This value specifies whether secure login is needed. If unspecified, the default is set to on. --> <SSL>on \| off</SSL> <!-- AuthRequired: Optional. This value specifies whether authentication is needed (password). If unspecified, the default is set to on. --> <AuthRequired>on \| off</AuthRequired> <!-- Optional: Is Authentication required? --> <!-- UsePOPAuth: Optional. This value can only be used for SMTP types. If specified, then the authentication information provided for the POP3 type account will also be used for SMTP. --> <UsePOPAuth>on \| off</UsePOPAuth> <!-- SMTPLast: Optional. Default is off. If this value is true, then the SMTP server requires that email be downloaded before sending email via the SMTP server. This is often required because the SMTP server verifies that the authentication succeeded when downloading email. --> <SMTPLast>on \| off</SMTPLast> </Protocol> </Account> </Response> </Autodiscover>

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<!-- RESPONSE FROM THE SERVER -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Autodiscover xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/responseschema/2006">
<!-- Response: Required
This tag serves as an indication that the retrieved XML is an Autodiscovery Response
-->
<Response xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/responseschema/2006a">
<!-- User: Optional
This tag gives user-specific information.  Autodiscover must be UTF-8 encoded.
-->
<User>
<!-- DisplayName: Optional
The server may have a good formal display name.  The client can decide to accept it or change it.  This will save the user time in the default case.
-->
<DisplayName>John Doe</DisplayName>
</User>

<!-- Account: Required
This tag specifies the type of account, such as Email vs Newsgroups, vs SIP server, etc.
-->
<Account>
<!-- AccountType: Required
This value indicates the type of the account.
VALUES:
email: The values under this Account tag indicate configuration settings for an email server.
nntp: The values under this Account tag indicate configuration settings for a NNTP server. (not used by Outlook 2007)
-->
<AccountType>email | nntp</AccountType>

<!-- Action: Required
This value indicates if the goal of this account results is to provide the settings or redirect to another web server that can provide results.
VALUES:
redirectUrl: If this value is specified, then the URL tag will specify the http: or https: URL containing the Autodiscover results to be used.  In order to prevent the server from being able to send the client into an infinite loop, the client should stop redirecting after 10 redirects.
redirectAddr: If this value is specified, then the XML tag will specify the e-mail address that Outlook should use to execute Autodiscover again.  In other words, the server is telling the client that the e-mail address the client should really be using for Autodiscover is not the one that was posted, but the one specified in this tag. 
settings: If this value is specified, then the XML will contain the settings needed to configure the account.  The settings will primarily be under the PROTOCOL tag.
-->
<Action>redirectUrl | redirectAddr | settings</Action>

<!-- RedirectUrl: Required if ACTION tag has value of 'redirectUrl'. Otherwise this tag must not exist.
The value will be a https: URL that the client should use to obtain the Autodiscover settings or a http: URL that the client should use for further redirection.
-->
<RedirectUrl>redirect.URL</RedirectUrl>

<!-- RedirectAddr: Required if ACTION tag has value of 'redirectAddr'. Otherwise this tag must not exist.
The value will be an email address that the client should use to rediscover settings using the Autodiscover protocol.
-->
<RedirectAddr>email@address</RedirectAddr>

<!-- Image: Optional
This is a JPG picture to brand the ISP configuration experience with. The client can choose whether or not they download this picture to display. (not used by Outlook 2007)
-->
<Image>http://path.to.image.com/image.jpg</Image>

<!-- ServiceHome: Optional
This is a link to the ISP's Home Page. The client can choose whether or not they expose this link to the user. (not used by Outlook 2007)
-->
<ServiceHome>http://web.page.com</ServiceHome>

<!-- Protocol: Required if ACTION tag has value of 'settings'. Otherwise, this tag must not exist.
The tag encloses the specifications for a single account type.  The list of Protocol tags are in order of preference of the server.  The client may over ride the preference.
-->
<Protocol>
<!-- TYPE: Required.
The value here specifies what kind of mail account is being configured.
POP3: The protocol to connect to this server is POP3. Only applicable for AccountType=email.
SMTP: The protocol to connect to this server is SMTP. Only applicable for AccountType=email.
IMAP: The protocol to connect to this server is IMAP. Only applicable for AccountType=email.
DAV: The protocol to connect to this server is DAV. Only applicable for AccountType=email.
WEB: Email is accessed from a web browser using an URL from the SERVER tag. Only applicable for AccountType=email. (not used by Outlook 2007)
NNTP: The protocol to connect to this server is NNTP. Only applicable for AccountType=nntp. (not used by Outlook 2007)
-->
<Type>POP3 | SMTP | IMAP | DAV | WEB | NNTP</Type>

<!-- ExpirationDate: Optional.
The value here specifies the last date which these settings should be used. After that date, the settings should be rediscovered via Autodiscover again. If no value is specified, the default will be no expiration.
-->
<ExpirationDate>YYYYMMDD</ExpirationDate>

<!-- TTL: Optional.
The value here specifies the time to live in hours that these settings are valid for. After that time has elapsed (from the time the settings were retrieved), the settings should be rediscovered via Autodiscovery again. A value of 0 indicates that no rediscovery will be required. If no value is specified, the default will be a TTL of 1 hour.
-->
<TTL>168</TTL>

<!-- Server: Required.
The value here specifies the name of the mail server corresponding to the server type specified above.
For protocols such as POP3, SMTP, IMAP, or NNTP, this value will be either a hostname or an IP address.
For protocols such as DAV or WEB, this will be an URL.
-->
<Server>mail.server.com</Server> <!--IP Addr or DNS name of server-->

<!-- Port: Optional.
The value specifies the Port number to use.  If no value is specified, the default settings will be used depending on the mail server type.  This value is not used if the SERVER tag contains an URL.
-->
<Port>110</Port>

<!-- LoginName: Optional.
This value specifies the user's login.  If no value is specified, the default will be set to the string preceding the '@' in the email address.  If the Login name contains a domain, the format should be <Username>@<Domain>.  Such as JoeUser@SalesDomain.
-->
<LoginName>johndoe</LoginName>

<!-- DomainRequired: Optional.  Default is off.
If this value is true, then a domain is required during authentication.  If the domain is not specified in the LOGINNAME tag, or the LOGINNAME tag was not specified, the user will need to enter the domain before authentication will succeed.
-->
<DomainRequired>on | off</DomainRequired>

<!-- DomainName: Optional.
This value specifies the user's domain. If no value is specified, the default authentication will be to use the e-mail address as a UPN format <Username>@<Domain>. Such as JoeUser@SalesDomain.
-->
<DomainName></DomainName>

<!-- SPA: (Secure Password Authentication) Optional.
This value specifies whether or not secure password authentication is needed.
If unspecified, the default is set to on.
-->
<SPA>on | off</SPA>

<!-- SSL: Optional.
This value specifies whether secure login is needed.
If unspecified, the default is set to on.
-->
<SSL>on | off</SSL>

<!-- AuthRequired: Optional.
This value specifies whether authentication is needed (password).
If unspecified, the default is set to on.
-->
<AuthRequired>on | off</AuthRequired> <!-- Optional: Is Authentication required? -->

<!-- UsePOPAuth: Optional.
This value can only be used for SMTP types.
If specified, then the authentication information provided for the POP3 type account will also be used for SMTP.
-->
<UsePOPAuth>on | off</UsePOPAuth>

<!-- SMTPLast: Optional.  Default is off.
If this value is true, then the SMTP server requires that email be downloaded before sending email via the SMTP server.  This is often required because the SMTP server verifies that the authentication succeeded when downloading email.
-->
<SMTPLast>on | off</SMTPLast>
</Protocol>
</Account>
</Response>
</Autodiscover>

Sample XML responses

The XML response that is returned depends on the configuration defined by the ISP.

ISP with POP3 and SMTP service

The following XML file would be configured as a custom 405 error response at either https://server.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml or https://autodiscover.server.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml.

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <Autodiscover xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/responseschema/2006"> <Response xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/responseschema/2006a"> <Account> <AccountType>email</AccountType> <Action>settings</Action> <Protocol> <Type>POP3</Type> <Server>mail.server.com</Server> <Port>995</Port> <DomainRequired>off</DomainRequired> <SPA>off</SPA> <SSL>on</SSL> <AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired> </Protocol> <Protocol> <Type>SMTP</Type> <Server>mail.server.com</Server> <Port>587</Port> <DomainRequired>off</DomainRequired> <SPA>off</SPA> <SSL>on</SSL> <AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired> <UsePOPAuth>on</UsePOPAuth> <SMTPLast>on</SMTPLast> </Protocol> </Account> </Response> </Autodiscover>

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Autodiscover xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/responseschema/2006">
<Response xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/responseschema/2006a">
<Account>
<AccountType>email</AccountType>
<Action>settings</Action>
<Protocol>
<Type>POP3</Type>
<Server>mail.server.com</Server>
<Port>995</Port>
<DomainRequired>off</DomainRequired>
<SPA>off</SPA>
<SSL>on</SSL>
<AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired>
</Protocol>
<Protocol>
<Type>SMTP</Type>
<Server>mail.server.com</Server>
<Port>587</Port>
<DomainRequired>off</DomainRequired>
<SPA>off</SPA>
<SSL>on</SSL>
<AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired>
<UsePOPAuth>on</UsePOPAuth>
<SMTPLast>on</SMTPLast>
</Protocol>
</Account>
</Response>
</Autodiscover>

ISP with POP3, IMAP, and SMTP services with POP3 preference for clients

The following XML file would be configured exactly as described in the previous section.

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <Autodiscover xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/responseschema/2006"> <Response xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/responseschema/2006a"> <Account> <AccountType>email</AccountType> <Action>settings</Action> <Protocol> <Type>POP3</Type> <Server>mail.server.com</Server> <Port>995</Port> <DomainRequired>off</DomainRequired> <SPA>off</SPA> <SSL>on</SSL> <AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired> </Protocol> <Protocol> <Type>IMAP</Type> <Server>mail.server.com</Server> <Port>993</Port> <DomainRequired>off</DomainRequired> <SPA>off</SPA> <SSL>on</SSL> <AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired> </Protocol> <Protocol> <Type>SMTP</Type> <Server>mail.server.com</Server> <Port>587</Port> <DomainRequired>off</DomainRequired> <SPA>off</SPA> <SSL>on</SSL> <AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired> <UsePOPAuth>on</UsePOPAuth> <SMTPLast>on</SMTPLast> </Protocol> </Account> </Response> </Autodiscover>

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Autodiscover xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/responseschema/2006">
<Response xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/responseschema/2006a">
<Account>
<AccountType>email</AccountType>
<Action>settings</Action>
<Protocol>
<Type>POP3</Type>
<Server>mail.server.com</Server>
<Port>995</Port>
<DomainRequired>off</DomainRequired>
<SPA>off</SPA>
<SSL>on</SSL>
<AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired>
</Protocol>
<Protocol>
<Type>IMAP</Type>
<Server>mail.server.com</Server>
<Port>993</Port>
<DomainRequired>off</DomainRequired>
<SPA>off</SPA>
<SSL>on</SSL>
<AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired>
</Protocol>
<Protocol>
<Type>SMTP</Type>
<Server>mail.server.com</Server>
<Port>587</Port>
<DomainRequired>off</DomainRequired>
<SPA>off</SPA>
<SSL>on</SSL>
<AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired>
<UsePOPAuth>on</UsePOPAuth>
<SMTPLast>on</SMTPLast>
</Protocol>
</Account>
</Response>
</Autodiscover>

XML redirect to a common XML file location

To redirect users to a common XML file location, the following XML file should be configured at a hosted domain location, at an unencrypted URL. Using this XML file causes a message to be displayed to users explaining that they are being redirected to another site for Autodiscover settings.

For example, if the hosted domain location was hoster.com providing contoso.com e-mail addresses, the file would be located at http://autodiscover.contoso.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml. The contents of the file, in this example, would be as shown in the following code sample.

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <Autodiscover xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/responseschema/2006"> <Response xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/responseschema/2006a"> <Account> <AccountType>email</AccountType> <Action>redirectUrl</Action> <RedirectUrl>https://autodiscover.hoster.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml</RedirectUrl> </Account> </Response> </Autodiscover>

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Autodiscover xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/responseschema/2006">
<Response xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/responseschema/2006a">
<Account>
<AccountType>email</AccountType>
<Action>redirectUrl</Action>
<RedirectUrl>https://autodiscover.hoster.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml</RedirectUrl>
</Account>
</Response>
</Autodiscover>

Users can instead be redirected by configuring an ordinary HTTP 302 redirect at the source location. Office Outlook 2007 follows both 302 redirects and redirectUrl tags within an XML response.

Note that the XML file contents for all Autodiscover responses must be named Autodiscover.xml.

Overview of Common Settings Discover

If the required settings for automatically configuring a user account in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 cannot be found by the methods described in the previous Autodiscover sections, a fallback algorithm is used to detect servers by using common names and well-known ports.

The more common incoming protocol worldwide is the POP3 protocol. Therefore, if POP3 settings work, they are configured for the user. If users prefer IMAP settings, they can manually adjust the protocol settings after the settings are determined by Office Outlook 2007. To make this selection straightforward for users, mail service providers that provide both POP3 and IMAP protocols should use the same server names for each protocol. Then, the user needs only to change a selection box, switching from POP3 to IMAP.

Office Outlook 2007 tries a variety of incoming and outgoing server settings in parallel to maximize performance and minimize wait time for the user. The settings that Office Outlook 2007 attempts to configure for users are listed in the following tables. All encrypted settings are tried first, and mutually exclusively. Then, unencrypted settings are tried, if the user consents.

POP3 settings

First, encrypted settings are tried. For a POP3 server, the connection permutations are as shown in the following table.

Server	User name	Port	TLS/SSL	SPA
mail.domain	email@domain	995	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	110	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	995	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	110	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
pop3.domain	email@domain	995	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	110	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	995	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	110	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
pop.domain	email@domain	995	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	110	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	995	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	110	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
domain	email@domain	995	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	110	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	995	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	110	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA

Next, unencrypted permutations are tried, after the user is asked to continue with unencrypted connection attempts. The unencrypted POP3 settings that Office Outlook 2007 attempts to configure are as shown in the following table.

Server	User name	Port	TLS/SSL	SPA
mail.domain	email@domain	110	Clear	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
pop3.domain	email@domain	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
pop.domain	email@domain	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
domain	email@domain	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA

IMAP settings

First, encrypted settings are tried. For an IMAP server, the connection permutations are as shown in the following table.

Server	User name	Port	TLS/SSL	SPA
mail.domain	email@domain	993	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	143	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	993	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	143	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
imap.domain	email@domain	993	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	143	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	993	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	143	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
domain	email@domain	993	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	143	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	993	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	143	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA

Next, unencrypted permutations are tried, after the user is asked to continue with unencrypted connection attempts. The unencrypted IMAP settings that Office Outlook 2007 attempts to configure are as shown in the following table.

Server	User name	Port	TLS/SSL	SPA
mail.domain	email@domain	143	Clear	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
imap.domain	email@domain	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
domain	email@domain	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA

SMTP settings

First, encrypted settings are tried. For an SMTP server, the connection permutations are as shown in the following table.

Server	User name	Port	TLS/SSL	SPA
mail.domain	email@domain	587	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	25	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	587	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	25	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	Anonymous	587	SSL	n/a
	same as above	same as above	TLS	n/a
	same as above	25	SSL	n/a
	same as above	same as above	TLS	n/a
smtp.domain	email@domain	587	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	25	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	587	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	25	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	Anonymous	587	SSL	n/a
	same as above	same as above	TLS	n/a
	same as above	25	SSL	n/a
	same as above	same as above	TLS	n/a
domain	email@domain	587	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	25	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	587	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	25	SSL	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	same as above	same as above	TLS	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	Anonymous	587	SSL	n/a
	same as above	same as above	TLS	n/a
	same as above	25	SSL	n/a
	same as above	same as above	TLS	n/a

Next, unencrypted permutations are tried, after the user is asked to continue with unencrypted connection attempts. The unencrypted SMTP settings that Office Outlook 2007 attempts to configure are as shown in the following table.

Server	User name	Port	TLS/SSL	SPA
mail.domain	email@domain	25	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	Anonymous	same as above	same as above	n/a
smtp.domain	email@domain	25	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	Anonymous	same as above	same as above	n/a
domain	email@domain	25	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	email	same as above	same as above	SPA
	same as above	same as above	same as above	no SPA
	Anonymous	same as above	same as above	n/a

Download this book

This topic is included in the following downloadable book for easier reading and printing:

Messaging guide for the 2007 Office release

See the full list of available books at Office Resource Kit information.