Configuring incoming mailboxes

Based on the information that you enter in the AR System Email Mailbox Configuration form, the  Email Engine polls incoming mailboxes for new messages, processes the messages, parses the contents if necessary, and performs the actions specified in the messages, such as modifying requests or executing queries.

Incoming mailboxes support the MAPI, POP3, IMAP4, MBOX, and EWS mail protocols.

Configuring basic incoming mailbox properties

Basic configuration for your incoming mailbox consists of you entering the following information in the Basic Configuration tab on the AR System Email Mailbox Configuration form:

• Mailbox information, such as the mailbox name
• Server information, such as the mail protocol associated with the server and the server port number

Incoming mailboxes support the following mail protocols:

• Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI)
• Post Office Protocol (POP3)
• Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP4)
• MailBOX (MBOX)
• Exchange Web Services (EWS)

To create a basic configuration for your incoming mailbox

1. Open the AR System  Email Mailbox Configuration form.
2. Click New request.
3. Enter the following information in the fields above the tabs:
   • Mailbox Name—Enter a name that describes the function of the mailbox. For example, enter ARSystemEmail - Incoming.
   • Mailbox Function—Select Incoming.
   • Status—Select Enabled.
4. On the Basic Configuration tab, select MAPI, POP3, IMAP4, MBOX, or EWS as the Email Server Type, and set the following values in the remaining fields:
   • MAPI (for 32-bit JVM only):
     • Email Server Type—Select MAPI.

     • Polling Interval (Minutes/Seconds)—Select a polling interval for the Email Engine  to check for new incoming email from the mail server.

       The polling interval is treated as minutes or seconds based on the property com.remedy.arsys.emaildaemon.MailboxPollingUnitIsMinutes in the EmailDaemon.properties file. If this property is set to False, the polling interval is treated as seconds. Otherwise, it is treated as minutes.

     • Profile Name—Enter the name of the Microsoft Exchange profile that you created during the product installation.
       This field is required because a profile is used to see the MAPI email account configuration information. For more information about Microsoft Exchange profiles, see your Exchange documentation on the Microsoft Docs website.

       MAPI protocol requires Microsoft Outlook 32-bit client, irrespective of the OS bit size.

   • POP3 or IMAP4 only: 
     • Email Server Type—Select either POP3 or IMAP4.
     • Polling Interval (Minutes/Seconds)—Select a polling interval for the Email Engine  to check for new incoming email from the mail server.
     • Connection Security—Select one of the following options:
       • None—Select this option if you do not want to specify any connection security protocol.
       • SSL—Secure Sockets Layer. This is an open standard that is used to establish and protect web communications and prevent the interception of critical information such as credit card numbers.
       • STARTTLS—Several protocols use the STARTTLS command to upgrade a plain text connection to an encrypted connection instead of using a separate port for encrypted communication. It is basically intended as a countermeasure to passive monitoring.
     • Email Server Name/IP—Enter the name or IP address of your company's mail server.
     • Email Server Port—Enter the mail server port number or click Set Default Email Server Port to accept the default port.
     • Email Server User—Enter the user name of the email account.
     • Email Server Password—Enter the password of the email server user.
       
       

     Important

     If you want to configure a Microsoft Office 365 user in Email Engine by using POP3, select the following values:

     • Connection Security: SSL
     • Email Server Name/IP: outlook.office365.com
     • Email Server Port: 995

   • MBOX only:
     • Server Type—Select MBOX.
     • Polling Interval(Minutes/Seconds)—Select a polling interval for the Email Engine  to check for new incoming email from the mail server.
     • Inbox Path—Enter the complete path to the MBOX file that corresponds to the user email account. For example, enter /usr/spool/mail/ARSystem, where ARSystem is the file name.
   • EWS only:
     • Email Server Type—Select EWS.
     • Polling Interval (Minutes/Seconds)—Select a polling interval for the Email Engine  to check for new incoming email from the mail server.
     • Exchange Service URL—Enter the URL for the Exchange Service.
     • Authentication Type— Select either Basic Authentication or OAuth2 Authentication.
       If you select Basic Authentication, enter the following information:
       • Email Server User—If your mail server requires authentication information before sending email, enter the user name of the email account.
       • Email Server Password—Enter the password of the email server user.
       If you select OAuth2 Authentication, enter the following information:
       • Tenant ID—Enter the tenant ID for Microsoft Exchange configuration.
       • Email Server User—Enter the user name of the email account.
       • Client ID—Enter the client ID.
         After you register a client application on Microsoft Azure, you get a client ID and client secret. This client application must have read and write permissions for email for the user who is added in the mailboxes. For more information about registering a client application on Microsoft Azure, see  Register an app on the Microsoft Docs website.
       • Client Secret—Enter the client secret.
         After you register a client application on Microsoft Azure, you get a client ID and client secret. This client application must have the permissions to read and write emails for the user who is added in the mailboxes.
         
         

       Important

       If you want to use the MAPI protocol, you must use Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 or earlier. However, if you want to use the EWS protocol, you must use Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 or later.

5. Click Save.

Configuring advanced incoming mailbox properties

During advanced configuration, you enter information about associated mailboxes, templates, and forms, and information related to mailbox security. You can do this by using the Advanced Configuration tab of the AR System Email Mailbox Configuration form as shown in the following figure. 

Advanced configuration for incoming mailboxes

For more information about advanced configuration settings, see Creating and using email templates.

To create an advanced configuration for your incoming mailbox

1. In the Advanced Configuration tab of the AR System  Email Mailbox Configuration form, select an outgoing mailbox from the Associated Mailbox Name list to reply to incoming emails that require responses, such as queries.
2. In the Action Configuration section, specify:
   • Email Action—To enable the Email Engine  to detect and process instructions included in an incoming email message, select Parse. If you use templates to perform Submit, Modify, or Query actions, you must select Parse.
     For more information about templates and parsing, see Using label-value pairs in templates and Types of email templates.

   • Use Original Template Format (enabled for upgrades from BMC Remedy Mail Server)—To enable original parsing system processing, select Yes.
     Original parsing ignores special HTML fields, XML formats, and data entered in an invalid format, such as a character string in a number field. If you use this option, the Email Engine  displays an error message when it encounters these types of fields or formats. To use normal parsing, select No.

     If you select No, make sure that multiple lines in emails are encapsulated with the [$$ and $$] multiple-line delimiters.

   • Reply with Result—To enable the Email Engine  to return the results of an action in an email, select Yes.
     This option allows the email sender to know if the incoming email succeeded or failed. 
   • Reply with Entry—To return the complete entry of a submit or modify action, select Yes.
   • Enable Modify Actions—To enable the Email Engine  to modify existing entries, select Yes.

   • Default Workflow Form—Enter the name of the default form on which the Email Engine  executes instructions such as queries, form-entry modifications, and form submittals, from the incoming email message.
     If you define a default workflow form, incoming templates do not require the Form (or Schema) label. For more information, see "Form label" in Using label-value pairs in templates.

   • Force Default Workflow Form—To confine all instructions from the incoming email message to the form that you specified in the Default Workflow Form field, select Yes.
     If an incoming template specifies a schema, the schema will not be processed and the default workflow form will be used instead.

3. In the Incoming Security Configuration section, specify the level of security to be applied to email messages to this mailbox. This information is used to determine which  user information to apply when executing instructions parsed from an incoming email.
   Depending on the level of security that you want, apply one of the following security options:
   • Use Security Key—Select Yes to enable a security key for incoming email.
     The information is added to the Email Security form, so you do not have to supply the user name and password in the incoming email. If you use this option, you must create and configure the security key. See Validating permissions for incoming email actions with security keys.
     If you select No, the security key will be disabled for incoming email containing the modify action. In case of multiple recipients, the outgoing email message for this modify action will not be sent.
   • Use Supplied User Information—To use  AR System server server login information from the incoming email message to execute instructions in the incoming message, such as instructions to modify requests or submit queries, select Yes.
     For more information about login syntax, see Using label-value pairs in templates.

   • Use Email From Address—To use the sender's email address as a form of authentication, select Yes.
     The Email Engine  displays an error message if the sender's email address is different from the email address stored in the AR System User form.

4. Click Save.