Online Help | Network Inventory

Configuring outgoing e-mail

Updated in 2021.1

The Services > E-mail Settings section allows you to specify mail service settings that Alloy Discovery uses for sending outgoing alerts (for details, see Configuring alerts).

Before you begin:

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

  2. ClosedAdditional steps for integration with Microsoft Exchange:

    1. Choose what Microsoft Exchange account Alloy Discovery will use for sending alerts. 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.

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

    3. If you plan to use MAPI:
      On the Inventory 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.

  3. ClosedAdditional steps for integration with Microsoft Exchange Online:

    • Choose what Microsoft account Alloy Discovery will use for sending alerts. Since Exchange Online is a part of the Office 365 suite of products, by Microsoft account here we understand the account you use to work with your Microsoft 365. This Windows account will be used by the Mail Connector so it must have sufficient permissions to work with your Microsoft mailbox. You can create a special mailbox account for this task, or use an existing one.

To configure e-mail settings:

  1. Choose the mail service: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), Exchange Web Services (EWS), or Microsoft Exchange Online with OAuth authentication.

  2. Specify settings for the chosen service:

    • ClosedFor SMTP:

      1. Optional: 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.

      2. Optional: If you need to change the default Unicode (UTF-8) character set, select the desired one in the Character set list.

      3. Type the server name of your outgoing SMTP mail server in the Outgoing mail server field, and its port number in the Outgoing mail server port field. The default port number is 25; for secure connection via SSL, the default port number is 465.

      4. If your SMTP server requires users to authenticate, select the My outgoing (SMTP) server requires authentication check box and enter the user name and password.

      5. If your SMTP server requires Security Password Authentication, select the Require Secure Password Authentication (SPA) check box.

      6. Select one of the following options under Secure Connection:

        • None - This establishes an insecure (plain text) connection.

        • STARTTLS, if available - This establishes a secure connection using the STARTTLS extension if it is supported by the mail server. If the server does not support STARTTLS, an insecure connection is established.

        • STARTTLS - The Mail Connector will attempt to establish a secure connection using the STARTTLS extension. If the mail server does not support STARTTLS, a connection is not established.

        • SSL/TLS - The Mail Connector will attempt to establish a secure connection. If the mail server does not support SSL/TLS, a connection is not established.

      1. If you want to prevent communication with the mail server via a secure connection when a certificate validation error occurs, select the Reject invalid certificates check box.

    • ClosedFor Microsoft Exchange:

      1. Specify the connection details:

        • ClosedFor MAPI:

          • Specify the Outlook profile that you have created for the Inventory Server startup account:

          • If the Inventory Server computer has a single mail profile or when Microsoft Outlook on the Inventory 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 MAPI e-mail profile for integration with Microsoft Exchange.

          IMPORTANT: When you have multiple Inventory Server instances, the Mail Profile list includes profiles that exist on all of the instances.

        • ClosedFor 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 Discovery automatically detects the version of your Microsoft Exchange Server. However, 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.

      1. 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 Discovery 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.

    • ClosedFor Microsoft Exchange Online:

      1. Choose one of the API options:

        • MS Graph (recommended) - MS Graph is the gateway to data and intelligence in Microsoft 365. Microsoft Graph API usage ensures the latest Microsoft standards in Office 365 Email protocols for very latest in security and connectivity.

        • Exchange Web Services (EWS) - EWS was launched as a part of Microsoft Exchange 2007 as a SOAP based API that allows access to Exchange Online data.

      1. Click the Sign in hyperlink to sign in to your Microsoft account. If you're already signed in with one account, you can change it by clicking the Change hyperlink and choosing another account.

      2. By default, all notifications will be sent from the Microsoft Exchange Online account, i.e. will have its address in the From field. If you want to enable Alloy Discovery 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 Online account a permission to send e-mail messages on her/his behalf.

  1. To verify your settings, click Test Settings. Alloy Discovery 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, choose the Inventory Server instance (if you have more than one), and click OK.

  2. Click Save on the toolbar.

In order to send an alert notification, the Inventory Server connects to the specified outgoing mail server, and the outgoing mail server will send out the message. Make sure the Inventory Server is configured and started. For details, see Inventory Server Manager.

NOTE: In case you configure the e-mail settings after audit data has been uploaded, the alert record appears in the Alert Log (for details, see Viewing Alert Log) but the alert notifications can not be sent out.

Related Information for Administrators:

Managing Inventory Servers

Inventory Server Manager