System SMTP parameters screen

As an administrator, you use the SMTP tab to specify the parameters of an SMTP server, which are used by the actions facilities, the E-Mail Report facility, and other locations within BMC Defender Server.

Specifying SMTP parameters

Before any SENDMAIL action program or E-Mail report can actually send an email message, the BMC Defender Server administrator must first configure valid parameters for the SMTP server that is used in the mail transaction. The SMTP tab 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.

To specify SMTP parameters

1. Navigate to the System > SMTP tab and click Edit to see the available SMTP parameters.
2. Specify the required values for the following SMTP parameters:

1. • SMTP Master Enable—This list menu permits the administrator to temporarily (or permanently) disable all email messages sent by the program. The default value is enabled, that permits BMC Defender Server to send email 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 accept a hostname for this field. 
   • Mail From Address—This is the address of the email sender. It is also used to send test messages. The value should be the address of a valid email recipient within the organization. 

   • Authentication Type—BMC Defender Server supports three standard authentication types:

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

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

   • Max E-Mail Messages Per Hour—This setting limits the number of email messages per hour to some value, by default 100 email messages per hour. If more than the specified number of email messages are sent, the email throttle value activates for the remaining portion of the hour, and a final email is sent to recipients. You can see the status of the email throttle by clicking the View / Clear E-Mail Throttle link next to this input field. 
   • Account Username—This is the account username. It is generally (but not necessarily) the email 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. 
   • Timeout Seconds—This setting limits the amount of time to establish a connection and send an email to the SMTP server. If the specified time elapses during any email message transmission (including connecting time) then the email program terminates and an error is logged. 
   • Send Test Message—This tests the connection by sending an email message and displaying the transcript of the SMTP session during this transmission. This provides a simple way to test the SMTP parameters configured here. 
2. Click Commit to save your changes.

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

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

Once the maximum number of email messages is sent during a one-hour interval, no further email is sent. Instead, a final email message is sent, and an error is logged. You can view the state of the email throttle via the View / Clear E-Mail Throttle link, which 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 email is not received, as an administrator check the spam filters of the Mail From Address of a user, if any.