Overview

Autodiscover simplifies the configuration of desktop applications and mobile devices that support communication using Microsoft Exchange or other web-based protocols (like Exchange ActiveSync). Applications use this feature to obtain parameters associated with the account. This allows users to set up the account with only an email address and password without needing to insert additional mail server information.

Here are the applications that support Autodiscover:

• Kerio Connect Client desktop application
• Microsoft Outlook
• macOS applications (Apple Mail)
• Most mobile devices implementing Exchange ActiveSync (iOS, Android devices)

Prerequisites

Your configuration must meet the following requirements for proper work of the Autodiscover process:

• Secure connectivity (HTTPS) to your Kerio Connect server is accessible from the internet. For more information, refer to the Securing Kerio Connect article.
• Your Kerio Connect server's SSL certificate is signed by a trusted certificate authority (CA) such as  InstantSSL or RapidSSL or even Let's Encrypt. For more information, refer to the Configuring SSL certificates in Kerio Connect article.
• All web servers that are accessible via HTTPS, when connecting to the root level of your domain (e.g., example.com), must provide an SSL certificate that is signed by a trusted CA and matches with the root domain name. You can use online tools such as SSL Shopper to test the accessibility and validity of your server's SSL certificate.
• You do not have a CNAME or any host record for your domain that resolves autodiscover.
• The Internet hostname of your Kerio Connect server matches the name on your SSL certificate. 
• All users in Kerio Connect have a full name assigned to their account (the full name must not be empty).
• Your DNS hosting provider supports SRV (Service Record) configuration. 

Process

1. Make sure you meet the above requirements before proceeding to the configuration.
2. Add a Service Record (SRV) to your domain's DNS using the following parameters and values:
   

   Parameter	Value
   Service	_autodiscover
   Protocol	_tcp
   Name (your email domain name)	example.com
   Priority	0
   Weight	5
   Port	443
   Target (your Kerio Connect server's Internet hostname)	mail.example.com

   
   Here is a sample configuration using the Cloudflare DNS manager:

   
   

3. Add a CNAME to your domain's DNS using the following parameters and values:
   

   Parameter	Value
   Name	autodiscover
   Alias to:	mail

   
   (TTL = 1800)
   Here is a sample configuration in dnsmadeeasy:

   
   

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Additional Information

• You can verify your Autodiscover configuration using the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync testing tool.
• You can also enable automatic configuration for instant messaging applications that use XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol).
• Autodiscover uses several methods to locate the responsible server for an email address. Refer to the Microsoft Documentation for full details.
• After locating the responsible server for an email address, the application opens a secure connection to the mail server to download an XML file containing the connection parameters for the mailbox account.