If you are anything like me, then every now and then you want to access a mail (POP3) server directly to sort out a problem without having a "helpful" email client get in the way. In these cases connecting to port 110 with telnet is the way to go.

But what about when the mail server has been set up to not allow plan-text connections (i.e. an SSL connection must be used)?

While you could use telnet to connect directly to port 995, the thought of attempting SSL key exchange using only the keyboard fills me with all kinds of dread, not to mention the work involved in doing the on-the-fly encryption and decryption of the data stream. [shiver]. No, telnet is a non-starter here.

Turns out there is an easy way. One of openssl's more obscure options (well, it was obscure to me) comes to the rescue.

openssl s_client -connect <server_name>:995

Using the above command will get openssl to setup a secure, interactive, SSL tunnel between your terminal and the server on port 995 (the port normally used for POP3+SSL).

Very useful.