System SMTP parameters screen

The SMTP screen is accessed by clicking the System tab, and then clicking SMTP. This screen is used to specify the parameters of an SMTP server used by the actions facilities, the E-Mail Report facility, and other locations within BMC Defender Server. The screen permits you to specify the standard parameters associated with most SMTP servers. This screen is depicted as follows:

Before any SENDMAIL action program or E-Mail report can actually send an e-mail message, the BMC Defender Server administrator must first configure valid parameters for the SMTP server that is used in the mail transaction. This screen allows the administrator to configure the address, authentication type, and authentication parameters associated with the SMTP server. BMC Defender Server supports plain text authentication, login authentication, and non-authenticating SMTP servers.

Specific SMTP parameters, available by clicking Edit option on this screen, are described as follows: 

• SMTP Master Enable—This drop-down menu permits the administrator to temporarily (or permanently) disable all e-mail messages sent by the program. The default is enable, that permits BMC Defender Server to send e-mail messages. 
• SMTP Server IP Address—This is the IP address of the SMTP server, expressed as dot-notation. The administrator must specify a valid IP address. BMC Defender Server does not accepts a hostname for this field. 
• Mail From Address—This is the address of the e-mail sender. It is also used to send test messages. The value should be the address of a valid e-mail recipient within the organization. 

• Authentication Type—This is the type of authentication. BMC Defender Server supports three standard authentication types:

  1. Auth-Login is the standard authentication employed by most SMTP servers, requiring a username and password.
  2. Auth-Plain is a less-common type of authentication, requiring a username, password, and account ID.
  3. Auth-None is standard SMTP, but without authentication.

  This value must agree with the settings of the SMTP Server IP Address. 

• Account Username—This is the account username. It is generally (but not necessarily) the e-mail address of a system user. This value is required for both Auth-Plain and Auth-Login type authentication. 
• Account Password—This is the password for the specified account. This value is required for both Auth-Plain and Auth-Login type authentication.
• Account ID—This is the account ID for the specified account. It is used only for Auth-Plain type authentication (that is the less-common form of SMTP authentication.) If you have selected an authentication type of Auth-Login, this value is ignored. 
• Max E-Mail Messages Per Hour—This setting limits the number of e-mail messages per hour to some value, by default 100 e-mail messages per hour. If more than the specified number of e-mail messages are sent, the e-mail throttle value activates for the remaining portion of the hour, and a final e-mail is sent to recipients. You can see the status of the e-mail throttle by clicking the View / Clear E-Mail Throttle link next to this input field. 
• Timeout Seconds—This setting limits the amount of time to establish a connection and send e-mail to the SMTP server. If more than this time elapses during any e-mail message transmission (including connecting time) then the e-mail program terminates and an error is logged. 
• Send Test Message—This tests the connection by sending an e-mail message and displaying the transcript of the SMTP session during this transmission. This provides a simple way to test the SMTP parameters configured here. 

After saving parameters, you can click the Test option to send a test email message to the From Address configured by the dialog. This sends the e-mail message and displays a transcript of the SMTP transaction, that can be used to debug the connection. 

The system limits the number of e-mail messages that are sent each hour. By default, this is 100 e-mail messages per hour. The administrator can change the value to some other suitable value as previously described. 

Once the maximum number of e-mail messages is sent during a one-hour interval, no further e-mail is sent. Instead, a final e-mail message is sent, and an error is logged. You can view the state of the e-mail throttle via the View / Clear E-Mail Throttle link, that accesses a special screen showing the throttle time, throttle state, a number of messages bypassed and providing a Clear option to clear the throttle. 

 If the transmission of a test message looks successful, but the e-mail is not received, the administrator should check spam filters of the From Address user, if any.