Configuring email notifications

Before you begin

• Make sure that the following requirements for email addresses are met:
  • The overall length should not exceed 254 characters.

  • The part before and after the @ symbol can contain several periods, but should not start or end with them.

    Examples

    .apexglobal@bmc.com ❌️

    apexglobal@.bmc.com ❌️

    apex.global@bmc.com ✅️

    apex.global@bmc.com.usa ✅️

• As a system administrator in BMC Helix ITSM, verify that users have valid email addresses; see Adding people without using templates.
  Notifications are sent to the email address specified in the CTM:People form. This email is synchronized with the work email address in the user profile. If you enable the User Profile Data Editing setting, users can update their profile information, including the work email address. If a user updates a work email address, the email address in the CTM:People form is updated as well, and notifications are sent to the newly specified email address.

Process to configure the email server and notifications

The following table describes the process to configure the email server and notifications:

To configure the email server for SaaS deployment

BMC activates email servers on behalf of the customer and configures the email server according to customer requirements during the activation time; see Planning email integration with BMC Helix services. To modify the email server configuration settings, customers must contact BMC customer support. 

To configure email server for an on-premises deployment

BMC supports Microsoft Exchange and Google Gmail for on-premises customers. Although other email servers are supported, rich text content in emails might not be rendered correctly for end users. 

Complete the following steps to configure the email server. 

1. Configure the SMTP parameters in the deployment input configuration file as described in Smart applications parameters in the deployment input configuration file. 

2. Get the subtenantID.
   1. As an administrator, log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio. 
   2. On the Workspace tab, click Digital Workplace. 
   3. On the Record tab, select the checkbox next to Subtenant and click Edit Data, as shown in the following image: 
      
   4. Copy the Subtenant ID for reference, as shown in the following image:
      
      
      
3. Paste the Subtenant ID in the SMTPConfiguration record definition.
   1.  As an administrator, log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio. 
   2. On the Workspace tab, click Digital Workplace. 
   3. On the Record tab, select the checkbox next to SMTPConfiguration and click Edit Data.
   4. Click New. 
   5. In Name, type the name of the SMTP protocol for which you are creating the record. 
      For example, SMTP_ENABLED
   6. In SubTenandID, paste the ID that you copied in earlier. 
   7. In Value, type true.  
   8. Click Save. 
      
      The following image shows an example of the SMTPConfiguration record definition:
      
      
      
4. Create one record each for the following SMTP parameters:
   • smtp.host
   • smtp.port
   • smtp.account
   • smtp.pwd
     
     Make sure that the values are the same as the ones configured in step 1.

You have configured the commonly required SMTP parameters for the email server. For additional parameter names and descriptions, see https://javaee.github.io/javamail/docs/api/com/sun/mail/smtp/package-summary.html. 

BMC Helix Digital Workplace Tomcat monitors this record definition and applies changes in real time. 

To configure the email settings in BMC Helix Digital Workplace

After configuring the email server, you must add the email address in BMC Helix Digital Workplace. 

1. As a BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator, select Configuration > Email & Notifications.
2. On the Settings tab, in Sender, specify the email address from which notifications are sent to the end users.
   
   

3. (If you want to change the email subject for service request health notifications) In Service Change Email Subject, specify the custom subject of the email about a service health status change.You can use the $serviceName$, $serviceNewStatus$, $serviceOldStatus$ placeholders. 

   Example: The $serviceName$ and $serviceNewStatus$ display the following email subject to end users: Service health is now Available.

   
   
   

4. (If you want to change the email subject for social notifications) In Microblog Activity Email Subject, specify the custom subject of the email about mentions (with the @ symbol) in posts.

   For example, when an end user mentions a colleague in the feed, an email notification is sent with this custom subject, as shown in the following example:

   
   
   

5. In Backend URL, type the link to your application in the https://hostname:port/dwp format. Email notifications can include deep links that open the application's applicable area.
   For example, an email notification about a service request status change includes a link to the service request profile.

   

To verify the email server connection and notifications

1. To verify the email server connection, as a MyIT Super Admin, in a browser, type the URL in the following format:
   https://hostname:port/dwp/rest/test/smtp 
   
   If the email server is working correctly, the following result is displayed:
   
   
   
2. To verify whether email notifications are being sent, send test notifications from the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console.
   1. As an administrator, log in to BMC Helix Digital Workplace. 
   2. Select Configuration > Email & Notifications. 
   3. On the Templates tab, select Actions > Edit next to any template.
   4.  Click Send test notification. 
   5. On the Send test notification dialog, select the Email checkbox. 
   6. Click Send. 
      
      If the email is sent successfully, the following message is displayed: