Setting Up SSH Tunnels Using PuTTY

In order to send mail through Silvertree’s SMTP server, you must use a SSH tunnel. At this time, we do not support SMTP AUTH (it may be in the future, but the tunnel is the preferred method). By sending SMTP traffic through the SSH tunnel you will not notice any noticeable performance degradation. We also recommend setting up a SSH tunnel to read your IMAP/POP3 Mail (if you are not using SSL to access your mail). Those instructions are listed here as well.

In order to set up a PuTTY tunnel perform the following steps:

1. Download the PuTTY client from http://www.silvertree.org/mirror/putty/download.html (Silvertree is an official PuTTY mirror). These screen shots are of the Windows Client installed by the installer.
2. Configure the Silvertree SSH connection
   
   
3. Add the Tunnels you need
   In the “source port” box type in the port number (25 in this case)
   In “destination” type “smtp.silvertree.org:25
   Click “Add”
   
   You should now have a screen like above
   
   To set up the IMAP port, do the following:
   In the “source port” box type in the port number (143 in this case)
   In “destination” type “mail.silvertree.org:143
   Click “Add”
   
   Your dialog box should look like the above
   To add POP3 support do the following:
   In the “source port” box type in the port number (110 in this case)
   In “destination” type “mail.silvertree.org:110
   Click “Add”
   
   This screen shot shows all three tunnels needed for mail: IMAP, POP3 and SMTP.
4. Save the session
   
5. Your PuTTY setup is complete.

In order to use the tunnels you must do the following:

1. Set your mail client to use localhost as the SMTP server
2. Set your mail client to use localhost as your POP3/IMAP server
3. PuTTY (or your SSH application with the tunnels set up) must be running in order for your mail client to work.

If you have any questions, please e-mail archon@silvertree.org