Configuring e-mail notifications for Microsoft Exchange Server

This article will walk you through the configuration process, enabling Alloy Navigator Express to send automated outgoing e-mail notifications for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Before you begin:

1. All e-mail notifications are sent by the Automation Server, so make sure that the Automation Server is configured and started. For details, see Starting and stopping the Automation Server.

2. Choose what Microsoft Exchange account Alloy Navigator Express will 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 special Exchange mailbox account for this task, or use an existing one.

   NOTE: Typically, it is enough to use a single Microsoft Exchange account for both outgoing and incoming e-mail. For details on incoming mail, see Configuring Mail Connector settings.

3. 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. For details, see Configuring the Automation Server.

4. If you plan to use MAPI:
   On the Automation Server computer, create an e-mail profile for the Microsoft Exchange account. The profile must be created using a 64-bit edition of Microsoft Outlook. For details, see MAPI e-mail profile for integration with Microsoft Exchange.

To configure e-mail notification settings:

1. Mandatory: Go to Notifications > E-mail Notifications > Settings and choose the protocol to use:

   • Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) - MAPI is a standard method of e-mail integration for all versions of Microsoft Exchange. Using this method requires an e-mail profile for the Microsoft Exchange account on the Automation Server computer. For details, see MAPI e-mail profile for integration with Microsoft Exchange.

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

2. Optional: Specify additional message options in the Notifications > E-mail Notifications > Settings section.

• Type the default sender's e-mail address in the 'From' e-mail address field. This address will appear in the From header of outgoing e-mail notifications.

TIP: You can overwrite this default address later when you configure individual E-mail Notifications for your workflow. For details, see Configuring E-mail Notifications.

• To send messages in plain text format, select the Send all e-mail messages in plain text format check box.

• To limit the allowed size of file attachments, 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, correspondingly, will not be sent. During the execution of a workflow Action resulting in such a notification, Alloy Navigator Express displays an error to the user who initiated the Action.

3. Mandatory: In the Notifications > E-mail Notifications > Settings section, specify the connection details:

   • For MAPI:

     • 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, select the Use default profile check box.

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

     IMPORTANT: The profile must be created using a 64-bit edition of Microsoft Outlook. For details, see E-mail profile for integration with Microsoft Exchange.

   • For 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 in the URL path (the default URL is https://hostname.domain.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx). Alternatively, you can type in just the server name, and the system will suggest you the full URL path.

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

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

     3. By default, Alloy Navigator Express automatically detects the version of your Microsoft Exchange Server. In some situations you may need to manually specify your MS Exchange Server version. To do this, choose the necessary option in the Version field.

     4. If you want to prevent communication with the Microsoft Exchange Server when a certificate validation error occurs, select the Reject invalid certificates check box.

4. By default, all notifications will be sent from the Microsoft Exchange account, i.e. will have its address in the From field. If you want to enable Alloy Navigator Express 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 when configuring e-mail notifications must grant your Microsoft Exchange account a permission to send e-mail messages on her/his behalf. For instructions, see How to allow sending notification on behalf of another person.

5. To verify your settings, click Test Settings. Alloy Navigator Express will send a test message using the specified parameters to confirm the ability to communicate with the mail server. When the Send Test Message window opens, enter a valid e-mail address to send the test message to and click OK.

6. Click Test Settings to test the connection and send a test message. For details, see Testing outgoing e-mail settings.

7. Click Save on the toolbar.

NOTE: The appearance of HTML E-mail Notifications depends on the CSS styles configured for outgoing e-mail notifications. For details, see Customizing E-Mail Notification styles.