Certificate warning in your email client: The target principal name is incorrect
Are you getting this message in Outlook?
The server you are connected to is using a security certificate that cannot be verified. The target principal name is incorrect. Do you want to continue using this server?
Other email programs show similar messages, such as:
- The certificate belongs to a different website.
- This website is attempting to identify itself with invalid information.
- Cannot Verify Server Identity (iPhone and iPad).
- Confirm Security Exception.
This means the server name you entered in your email program doesn't match the server's certificate. Usually you've entered mail.yourdomain.nl as the server and that name isn't in the certificate, or your domain doesn't point to your package with us (yet), for example during a migration.
How to fix it
- Use your package's server name as the incoming and outgoing server, for example linux2023.webawere.nl. It always has a valid certificate. You'll find it in My WebOké under My Products, in the Server column. Also read Which server is my hosting package on?
- Or use your domain name itself, without mail in front of it: yourdomain.nl. This works if your website is hosted at WebOké and your domain has a valid free certificate. Read Activating an SSL certificate.
- Does the certificate show the name of your virus scanner, such as Norton, Avast, AVG or ESET? Then your virus scanner is replacing the certificate. Turn off scanning of encrypted email in your virus scanner, or update the scanner.
It's best not to dismiss the message permanently. If you do, you won't notice when something really is wrong. If you still get a certificate warning when using your package's server name, please contact us.
See also: Certificate warning in your email program in the error messages, and Requesting a free Let's Encrypt certificate in the DirectAdmin manual.
Detailed explanation with screenshots: All settings at a glance: servers, ports and security in the DirectAdmin manual.