Administration Guide

Integration with Microsoft Exchange Server

In order to integrate Alloy Navigator with a Microsoft Exchange Server for sending e-mail notifications, you must perform these steps before configuring mail server settings:

  1. Choose the Microsoft Exchange account Alloy Navigator should use for sending notifications. This must be a Windows account with sufficient permissions to access the Microsoft Exchange mailbox you want to use. You can create a dedicated Exchange mailbox account for this task, or use an existing one.

    Typically, you can use a single Microsoft Exchange account for both outgoing and incoming e-mail.

  2. Configure the Automation Server to run under the Microsoft Exchange account. To do this, start the Alloy Automation Server Manager on the Automation Server computer and change the Automation Server startup account to the Microsoft Exchange account.

    INFO: For details, see Installation Guide: Choosing Startup Account and Authentication.

Alloy Navigator supports both the MAPI and EWS protocols:

  • Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) — MAPI is a standard method of e-mail integration for all versions of Microsoft Exchange.

    IMPORTANT: Using this method requires an e-mail profile for the Microsoft Exchange account on the Automation Server computer. The profile must be created using the 64-bit version of Microsoft Outlook. For more detailed instructions, see How to create MAPI e-mail profile.

  • Exchange Web Services (EWS) — EWS are an enhanced method of e-mail integration for newer versions of Microsoft Exchange, introduced with Exchange Server 2007 SP1. EWS are installed and configured by default if Outlook Web Access is enabled in your environment.

    INFO: For additional information on enabling TLS, see Help: Unable to send or receive e-mail messages using the EWS protocol.

To specify outgoing mail server settings for a Microsoft Exchange Server, follow these steps:

  1. From the Sidebar, navigate to Notifications > E-mail > Settings.

  2. From the Choose e-mail service drop-down list, choose which service to use:

    • Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI)

    • Exchange Web Services (EWS)

  3. Under Message options, optionally specify how e-mail messages should be sent:

    1. If you want a specific e-mail address to appear in the “From” field of outgoing notifications, type it in the 'From' e-mail address field.

      NOTE: You can overwrite this default address later when configuring individual E-mail Notifications for your workflow. For details, see Creating E-mail Notifications.

    2. If you want to change the default character set (UTF-8), choose a different item from the Character set list.

    3. If you want to send messages in plain text format, select the Send all e-mail messages in plain text format check box.

    4. If you want to impose a limit on the allowed size of file attachments (combined), select the Limit the total size of attachments to check box and specify the limit in megabytes.

      NOTE: Notifications with attachments exceeding the specified size limit will not be added to the Notification Queue and, consequently, will not be sent out. During the execution of a workflow Action resulting in such a notification, Alloy Navigator displays an error to the user who initiated the Action.

  4. Proceed as follows:

    • For Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI):

      • Under Microsoft Exchange, specify the Outlook profile that you have created for the Automation Server startup account:

        • If the Automation Server computer has a single mail profile or when Microsoft Outlook on the Automation Server computer is configured to always use the profile you want to use, keep the Use default profile check box selected.

        • If you want to specify a non-default profile, clear the Use default profile check box and select a profile from the Mail Profile list.

          IMPORTANT: The profile must be created using the 64-bit version of Microsoft Outlook. For details, see How to create MAPI e-mail profile.

    • For Exchange Web Services (EWS):

      1. Under EWS connection details, choose one of the following:

        • If Autodiscovery is not enabled, click Specify the Exchange Web Services URL or server name and type the URL path. The default URL is the following:

          https://hostname.domain.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx

          Alternatively, you can type just the server name, and the system will suggest the full URL path.

        • If your EWS server has Autodiscovery configured, click Autodiscover the Exchange Web Services URL using this address and type the e-mail address of the Microsoft Exchange account.

      2. Provide the user name and password for the Microsoft Exchange account.

      3. Alloy Navigator attempts to automatically detect the version of your Microsoft Exchange Server. However, in some situations you may need to specify your MS Exchange Server version in the Version field.

      4. If you want to prevent communication with the Microsoft Exchange Server with an invalid certificate, select the Reject invalid certificates check box.

  5. By default, all notifications will be sent from the Microsoft Exchange account, meaning they will have its address in the From field.

    If you want to enable Alloy Navigator to send notifications on behalf of other users, select the 'From’ address delegation check box.

    IMPORTANT: Sending notifications on behalf of other users requires that every person whose e-mail address you specify in the From field of E-mail Notifications must grant your Microsoft Exchange account a permission to send e-mail messages on their behalf. For instructions, see How To Enable Sending E-mail on Behalf of Another Person.

  6. To confirm that your settings are correct, click Test Settings. Alloy Navigator will send a test message using the specified parameters to confirm the ability to communicate with the mail server. When the Send Test Message dialog box opens, enter a valid e-mail address to send the test message to and click OK.

    When the Test message has been sent message appears, use your e-mail client to access the Inbox of the account you have just sent the message to and review the result.

    NOTE: To view the log data about sending your test message, go to Notifications > Logs and review the most recent entry at the top of the Outgoing Notifications Log. For details, see Alloy Navigator Logs.

  7. Click Save on the Standard toolbar.