Autodiscover for Windows 10 Mail not working

Andrew Newby

1/5/24, 7:09 AM

I'm not sure if this question is best suited for here, or StackOverflow. I'm trying to get autodiscover working for Windows 10 mail (just a standard IMAP/SMTP type - not Exchange). According to the documents, I need a /autodiscover/autodiscover.xml file on autodiscover.ultranerds.co.uk. So I have:

https://autodiscover.ultranerds.co.uk/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml

Which is:

<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>IMAP</Type>
<Server>mail.ultranerds.co.uk</Server>
<Port>993</Port>
<SSL>on</SSL>
<AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired>
</Protocol>
<Protocol>
<Type>POP3</Type>
<Server>mail.ultranerds.co.uk</Server>
<Port>995</Port>
<SSL>on</SSL>
<AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired>
</Protocol>
<Protocol>
<Type>SMTP</Type>
<Server>mail.ultranerds.co.uk</Server>
<Port>465</Port>
<SSL>on</SSL>
<AuthRequired>on</AuthRequired>
</Protocol>
</Account>
</Response>
</Autodiscover>

I can see the requests coming in on the log file:

52.125.138.6 - - [05/Jan/2023:07:03:16 +0000] "GET /autodiscover/autodiscover.json?Email=test%40ultranerds.co.uk&Protocol=ActiveSync&RedirectCount=1 HTTP/1.1" 404 1434 "-" "OutlookMobileCloudService-Autodetect/1.0.0"
52.125.138.6 - - [05/Jan/2023:07:03:16 +0000] "POST /autodiscover/autodiscover.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 305 "-" "OutlookMobileCloudService-Autodetect/1.0.0"
52.125.138.6 - - [05/Jan/2023:07:03:16 +0000] "POST /autodiscover/autodiscover.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 305 "-" "OutlookMobileCloudService-Autodetect/1.0.0"
52.125.138.6 - - [05/Jan/2023:07:03:16 +0000] "GET /autodiscover/autodiscover.xml HTTP/1.1" 301 162 "-" "-"
52.125.138.6 - - [05/Jan/2023:07:03:16 +0000] "GET /autodiscover/autodiscover.xml HTTP/1.1" 301 162 "-" "-"

When I try and add the account in Windows Mail, I just get:

What am I missing? I've even tried adding DNS SRV records, as apparently that works in some programs? (I wish they all just had a fixed standard they all used!)

UPDATE: After disabling auto-https redirection, I get:

52.125.138.6 - - [05/Jan/2023:07:37:44 +0000] "GET /autodiscover/autodiscover.json?Email=test%40ultranerds.co.uk&Protocol=ActiveSync&RedirectCount=1 HTTP/1.1" 404 1434 "-" "OutlookMobileCloudService-Autodetect/1.0.0"
52.125.138.6 - - [05/Jan/2023:07:37:44 +0000] "POST /autodiscover/autodiscover.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 305 "-" "OutlookMobileCloudService-Autodetect/1.0.0"
52.125.138.6 - - [05/Jan/2023:07:37:44 +0000] "POST /autodiscover/autodiscover.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 305 "-" "OutlookMobileCloudService-Autodetect/1.0.0"
52.125.138.6 - - [05/Jan/2023:07:37:44 +0000] "GET /autodiscover/autodiscover.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 305 "-" "-"
52.125.138.6 - - [05/Jan/2023:07:37:44 +0000] "GET /autodiscover/autodiscover.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 305 "-" "-"

I guess the 2 versions are http:// and https:// calls - but it still doesn't accept the autodiscover params :(

UPDATE 3: Still no joy. I'm even trying it via the DNS SRV records - but it still doesn't seem to take the values:

So infuriating!

138

0 + 7

windows-10

autodiscover

Esa Jokinen

1/5/24, 7:20 AM

Is your HTTP & HTTPS logs going into the same log file? The last two lines are redirects, and apparently Windows 10 Mail does not follow them...

Andrew Newby

1/5/24, 7:24 AM

@EsaJokinen thanks. Yes, both HTTP and HTTPS go into the same log. I do have a redirect from http:// to https:// - http://autodiscover.ultranerds.co.uk/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml - is it better to disable auto-redirect to https?

Andrew Newby

1/5/24, 7:40 AM

@EsaJokinen I have disabled auto-redirect, and they all show as 200 codes now. Without splitting http/https logs into separate files, I'm confident the 2 requests are one or the other. I just don't get why its not accepting the file I'm providing. According to the M$ help pages its the right format

Esa Jokinen

1/5/24, 8:09 AM

I would not recommend plain HTTP, but for debugging purposes you could temporarily try it.

Andrew Newby

1/5/24, 9:14 AM

@EsaJokinen nothing seems to work it seems :( Out of desperation I've even tried the SRV records - but even that doesn't work. There doesn't seem to be a way to debug what its getting / why its saying there is an issue. Its a shame there isn't a local log file (on the PC) showing what is being returned, and why its a problem

Esa Jokinen

1/5/24, 9:35 AM

Can you test with a domain that works and see what's different?

Andrew Newby

1/5/24, 2:02 PM

@EsaJokinen the problem is I only have domains on my own server, so none of them have it. The stupid thing is that Thunderbird works perfectly with http://autoconfig.ultranerds.co.uk/mail/config-v1.1.xml ... just M$ stuff thats not playing ball

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