SSL/TLS for SMTP on Exchange 2010 but not using STARTTLS

exchange-2010

I am forced to use an old legacy system that apparently is never going away which requires an SSL/TLS connection but then transmits the information through the TLS tunnel plain text. The most common thing I am finding for using TLS with exchange 2010 is to have a plain text connection and then use STARTTLS to begin encryption and send your message encrypted after the original plaintext connection. Can someone help me de-cypher the settings inside exchange 2010's receive connector settings to accomplish this?

Best Answer

Ahh, yes-- the old "SMTPS", or SMTP with implict SSL. Outlook Express was notorious for doing this.

I'm having trouble finding authoritative documentation on this. Per the first question from this old Technet Magazine Q&A article, Exchange 2007 didn't support implict SSL. I can't imagine the functionality was added in Exchange 2010 since it wasn't in any prior version.

Were I in your shoes, I'd grab a copy of stunnel for Windows and configure it to listen for your legacy system's traffic (probably on TCP port 465-- that was the old "SMTPS" port) and proxy it to the SMTP server on the server. You could run it on the Exchange Server computer itself or, if you'd prefer to keep that machine stock, on the legacy system (if it runs an OS that stunnel builds on), or on some other box.