Configure Inform SMTP
Inform SMTP configuration consists of two components, the Company Master and User Master. The settings contained in each section allow control over the emails sent from Inform.
Company master
The company master contains the SMTP server Information used throughout the software. Only one email server can be configured, with an unlimited number of email addresses associated with the configured SMTP host.
- Log in to Inform as an administrator.
- Navigate to File > Company > Master.
- Click the SMTP Server Information tab.
- Provide the necessary Values.
- Click Save.
User Master
Inside of the DDI Inform User Master there is the ability to enter a user’s email credentials so they may login to their email server and send emails as themselves. The email accounts added to this section in Inform will use the SMTP port, SMTP Server, and SMTP Secure connection settings from the Company master.
- Navigate to File > Company > User Master.
- Locate the user.
- Click Edit.
- Type values in the Email (Used as the Send as Address), Email Username, and Email Password columns.
- Click Save.
Note
Filling out the Email Username and Email Password fields may be required depending on your mail settings. If left blank, the credentials from the SMTP Settings in the Company Master will be used for authentication.
SMTP Settings
A valid email server and user credentials are necessary to facilitate sending emails directly from Inform. Please provide DDI System with the following mail credentials, which will added to the SMTP Server Information tab of the Company Master.
| Server Address |
The SMTP server, typically provided by your mail provider.
|
| Ports |
The outbound TCP port for mail submission.
|
| User/Pass |
The username and password used to log into the account. Note: Password cannot contain any of the following characters: |
|
The email address used to send mail. In some cases, this will be the same as the username. |
Gmail & G-Suite Settings
Note: Google is removing support for basic SMTP Authentication, but has not provided an official date. If you are using SMTP auth in your organization we recommend migrating to SMTP relay configuration.
G-Suite, is a SAS productivity suite provided by Google which includes cloud hosted enterprise email. G-suite imposes sending limits on their subscribers based on specific criteria any one organization may meet.
Throttling
Depending on your configuration the throttling limits you will be subject to are different. Refer to the below sections for more Information on each method of sending SMTP emails.
Gmail SMTP Server:
https://support.google.com/a/answer/166852
Gmail SMTP relay service:
Gmail SMTP Server
In order to use this method of sending SMTP messages one must turn on less secure apps on the specific accounts that will be used within Inform. They will also need to configure an application password with 2 factor authentication on the account.
For more details on how to configure the GMAIL SMTP Server please refer to the section titled “Use the Gmail SMTP server” in the below link. Within the link below are additional resources associated with turning on the less secure app feature:
https://support.google.com/a/answer/176600?hl=en#zippy=%2Cuse-the-gmail-smtp-server
Inform Configuration for GMAIL SMTP Server
|
Device or Application setting |
Value |
|
Server/smart host |
smtp.gmail.com |
|
Port |
Port 587 (recommended) or port 25 |
|
TLS/StartTLS |
Enabled |
|
Username/email address and password |
Enter the sign-in credentials of the hosted mailbox being used |
Setting up Gmail App Passwords
1. Log in to the Gmail account.
2. Click the profile picture (may be a circle with a letter if no profile picture is loaded).
3. Click on Manage your google account this should bring you to: https://myaccount.google.com/
4. In the left menu click on Security.
5. In the Signing in to Google section, find App Passwords and click the > to continue.
6. If you do not see “App Passwords” that means that 2 factor authentication is not turned on for the account and will need to be setup.
7. Sign into Gmail again.
8. Next generate the app password. Click on Select App and choose Mail, then click on Select device and choose Other. Enter "Inform" for the name and click Generate.
- A yellow box with a 16 character password will appear. Google provides the password in 4 sections of 4 characters but is used as a long 16 character password.
You have completed setting up the app password for Inform. The following instructions are to setup the authentication for the company email and/or individual user email.
Setup Gmail App Password For ALL Accounts/Default
1. Navigate to the Company Master page (File > Company > Master)
2. Navigate to the SMTP Server Information tab then click on the Edit button.
3. SMTP Server Address enter smtp.gmail.com
4. SMTP Communication Port enter 587
5. SMTP Authentication Login enter the Gmail account used in the previous section.
6. SMTP Authentication Password enter the 16 character app password we created in the previous section.
7. Set SMTP Secure Connection Required to Y
8. Test sending an email in Inform. The sender should be the Gmail account email address.
Gmail App Password Setup For A Specific Inform User
Note: If the Inform user is using a different Gmail account then repeat the steps in Setting up Gmail App Passwords for that Gmail account.
1. Navigate to File > Company > User Master.
2. Look at the list of users and select the one you want to setup Gmail app password
3. Scroll to the Email column and enter the Gmail address associated with the App Password, for instance first.last@gmail.com
4. Email Address enter the Gmail address.
5. Email Password enter the 16 character app password we created in Setting up Gmail App Passwords section.
6. Click Save
7. Test sending an email while logged into inform as the username you just modified. The sender should be the Gmail account email address.
The following steps will need to be repeated for each Inform user that you want to use the newly created Gmail App Password
Gmail SMTP Relay Service
This is the recommended method to use G-suite for sending SMTP messages from Inform.
It uses the static IP address in front of the Inform Server to authenticate the messages. It does not require a hosted mailbox.
On your G-suite tenant, follow the instructions provided by Google in the below link to configure this method of sending SMTP. Refer to the section titled “Use SMTP relay service (recommended).”
https://support.google.com/a/answer/176600?hl=en#zippy=%2Cuse-the-gmail-smtp-server
Inform Configuration for GMAIL SMTP Relay Service
|
Device or Application setting |
Value |
|
Server/smart host |
smtp-relay.gmail.com |
|
Port |
Port 587 (recommended) or port 25 |
|
TLS/StartTLS |
Enabled |
|
Username/email address and password |
Static IP address or a valid user sign-in. |
Office 365 Settings
Some additional steps are required if Office 365 (a Microsoft product) is being used as your mail provider. Settings must be changed to allow email sending on behalf of another user if the Email column in the User Master is not the same as the credentials used to authenticate. By default this is disabled and will prevent users from sending mail through another account. Follow the link below to learn how to change this setting.
Enable-sending-email-on-behalf-of-another-user-in-Office
Note
For Office 365 or Exchange servers, outgoing emails will not automatically be saved into the Sent folder (history will be available in the Exchange server logs). Alternatively, consider creating rules and connectors in Exchange.
If you have questions, contact DDI Customer Care.
SMTP Microsoft 365
Note: Microsoft 365 is removing support for basic SMTP Authentication on October 1, 2022. If you use SMTP auth in your organization you will have to migrate to SMTP relay configuration.
Microsoft 365, also known as Office 365, is an SAS productivity suite provided by Microsoft, which includes cloud hosted enterprise email. The cloud hosted email server provided by Microsoft is called Exchange. There are different tiers of service offered that affect the number of emails that one can send and there are also multiple ways to send emails using their service.
Service Tiers and throttling
Microsoft has 6 different tiers of Exchange (email) service. Refer to the table below to ensure you will not exceed the throttling limits imposed by Microsoft
Table 1: SOURCE - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptions/exchange-online-service-description/exchange-online-limits
|
Feature |
Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Standard |
Microsoft 365 Business Premium |
Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3/E5 |
Office 365 Enterprise E1 |
Office 365 Enterprise E3/E5 |
Office 365 Enterprise F3 |
|
Recipient rate limit |
10,000 recipients per day |
10,000 recipients per day |
10,000 recipients per day |
10,000 recipients per day |
10,000 recipients per day |
10,000 recipients per day |
|
Recipient limit |
Customizable up to 1000 recipients |
Customizable up to 1000 recipients |
Customizable up to 1000 recipients |
Customizable up to 1000 recipients |
Customizable up to 1000 recipients |
Customizable up to 1000 recipients |
|
Recipient proxy address limit |
300 |
300 |
300 |
300 |
300 |
300 |
|
Message rate limit |
30 messages per minute |
30 messages per minute |
30 messages per minute |
30 messages per minute |
30 messages per minute |
30 messages per minute |
Client Submission with Basic SMTP Authentication
Client submission is the most popular method of using SMTP with Microsoft 365 because of the simplicity to configure the feature on 3rd party software. The majority of Microsoft’s users are utilizing Basic SMTP Authentication to validate the email messages at this time. On October 1st 2022 basic SMTP Authentication will be sunset forcing all of their users to use an alternate method of authentication to continue using Client Submission. The new authentication is called OAuth. Inform does not plan to support OAuth at this time and as a result we will recommend not implementing this method. The documentation in this section will be viable until October 1st 2022 at which time our recommendation is to configure SMTP Relay instead.
Enable Basic SMTP Authentication
To utilize Client Submission until October 1st 2022 you must enable basic SMTP Authentication through the organization or on specific mailboxes you would like to send emails with. The link below has instructions on how to enable and disable this feature within your Microsoft 365 tenant.
Two factor authentication and app passwords
If in your organization you have two factor authentication (2FA) configured and you are using client submission to send emails from Inform you must configure an app password for the accounts used to send emails from Inform. One would configure the app passwords created as the passwords in Inform for sending emails. For more Information on configuring the email password please refer to the section titled Configuration of Inform. Please note that if the user is sending emails as themselves the password would need to be entered into the User Master.
Configuration
Client Submission is configured by default on Microsoft 365. You can find additional Information on the settings and requirements associated with this feature from the below link.
Inform Configuration
Consult the table in this section for the settings you would implement in Inform.
Table 2:SOURCE - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/mail-flow-best-practices/how-to-set-up-a-multifunction-device-or-application-to-send-email-using-microsoft-365-or-office-365#how-to-set-up-smtp-auth-client-submission
|
Device or Application setting |
Value |
|
Server/smart host |
smtp.office365.com |
|
Port |
Port 587 (recommended) or port 25 |
|
TLS/StartTLS |
Enabled |
|
Username/email address and password |
Enter the sign-in credentials of the hosted mailbox being used |
SMTP Relay
SMTP Relay utilizes a connector one configures on their Microsoft 365 tenant. This method of sending SMTP messages bypasses basic SMTP Authentication and is the recommended method to send emails from Inform using Microsoft 365 Exchange. Unlike client submission you do not need an active mailbox associated with the email address designated for sending mail. This works because Microsoft 365 will authenticate your mail based on your IP address. You must have a static IP address associated with your Inform server for this to work. Otherwise, at your own discretion, you can attempt to use a dynamic DNS service, which is an advanced configuration that should be handled by your IT staff, and is not guaranteed to work.
Refer to the below link for Information pertaining to how one would configure SMTP Relay in their organization.
Inform configuration
Table 3: SOURCE - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/mail-flow-best-practices/how-to-set-up-a-multifunction-device-or-application-to-send-email-using-microsoft-365-or-office-365#settings-for-microsoft-365-or-office-365-smtp-relay
|
Device or application setting |
Value |
|
Server/smart host |
Your MX endpoint, for example, yourdomain-com.mail.protection.outlook.com |
|
Port |
Port 25 |
|
Password |
LEAVE IT BLANK |
|
TLS/StartTLS |
Enabled |
|
Email address |
Any email address in one of your Microsoft 365 or Office 365 verified domains. This email address does not need a mailbox. |
DNS
DNS stands for Domain Name System. As it pertains to SMTP emails we are concerned with the DNS settings hosted on your public domain. This hosted service contains the records computers throughout the world associate with your organization. In particular, for the purpose of sending emails, we are concerned with the SPF records and MX records.
SPF
SPF stands for sender policy framework. The function it serves is to identify to the world what machines are associated with your organization based on their unique fully qualified domain names or IP addresses. Below is an example of a SPF record:
v=spf1 ip4:<Static IP Address> include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all
Looking at the above example if we were to configure a SPF record the record would start with v=spf1. Following “spf1” the flag “ip4:” should be included with a static IP. This indicates that the IP you entered following the colon is associated with a device within your organization. (You may put multiple IP addresses by including multiple “ip4: flags. IE: v=spf1 ip4:<Static IP Address> ip4:<Static IP Address>) Lastly, any fully qualified domains that should be associated with your organization must be put into the record with the “include:” flag followed by its’ unique domain name. You may enter multiple include flags just like one would enter multiple ip4 flags.
MX
The MX record is the DNS record that is used by mail clients so the software we all use to send and receive emails knows where to forward the messages to. The MX records are typically setup for you by the email provider or person configuring your email tenant for the first time.
DKIM
If you experience issues with emails going to spam and all other best practices are followed you may want to consider using DKIM within your organization. Unlike using SPF exclusively, DKIM encrypts the message header’s signature further verifying the message as a legitimate email. DKIM adds a digital signature to the message and allows the recipients to verify that it is in fact a legitimate message and in the process helps to stop spoofing. Spoofing is when a non-legitimate sender impersonates your email address or domain when sending a fraudulent email.
If you would like to enable DKIM in your organization refer to the below links.
Office 365 DKIM
G-Suite DKIM:
https://support.google.com/a/answer/174124?hl=en
DMARC
If SPF and DKIM fail DMARC tells the us what to do with the message. DMARC helps the recipient verify that the email came from a verified sender by comparing the sender identity the recipient sees to the identity that is shown to the receiving server. DMARC let’s you decide what to do with messages that are spoofed.
If you would like to configure DMARC in your organization please consult the below links as applicable in your environment.
Microsoft 365:
G-Suite:
https://support.google.com/a/answer/2466580#dmarc-setup&zippy=%2Cvideo-what-is-dmarc