Outgoing Mail Server Settings - SDP help desk guide

Configure your organization's mail server to send emails and trigger notifications. You can use email protocols (SMTP/SMTPs), Exchange Web Services (EWS), or Microsoft Graph to send emails from ServiceDesk Plus.

Configure Outgoing Mail Server Settings

Configure Mail Server with Email Protocols

Choose the Connection Protocol as SMTP/SMTPS.
Choose the Authentication Type. Use the pointers given below to configure the mail server based on the authentication type:

Field Name	Basic Authentication	OAuth Authentication
Server Name / IP Address	Specify the name or IP address of the server through which all emails must be sent.
Alternate Server Name / IP Address	Provide secondary server details, if available. ServiceDesk Plus will use this server to send emails if the primary server is unavailable. Click here to learn more.
Sender Name	Specify the name to be displayed in emails sent from the application.
Reply to	Specify an email address to be mentioned as From address in outgoing emails. All emails from ServiceDesk Plus will be received from this email address.
Username	-	Enter the username to access the mailbox.
Protocol	Select the protocol to connect to the mailbox: SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol sends emails interacting with multiple clients at the same time. SMTPS - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol secure sends emails interacting with multiple clients with an additional level of security.
TLS Enabled	Select whether Transport Layer Security (TLS) must be enabled.
Port	Specify the port number as per the selected protocol.
Requires Authentication	Provide the necessary login credentials to mandate authentication in the mail server while sending emails.	-
Authorization Server Details (Client ID, Client Secret, Authorization URL, Token URL)	-	Obtain these details from the authorization server.
Scope	-	Define the accessibility of the obtained OAuth tokens in the mailbox. For SMTP/SMTPS protocols running on port 587, scope will be auto-populated for the following mailbox: Office 365: https://outlook.office365.com/SMTP.Send, offline_access Gmail: https://mail.google.com Know more about default values populated as scope.
Redirect URL	-	Use this URL to to register the ServiceDesk Plus and obtain tokens from the authorization server. Ensure the application is accessed using the same host as the redirect URL for OAuth configurations to work.
Enable proxy server	If the application requires proxy settings to send emails, enable and configure the proxy settings. Click here to know more.

After setting up the configuration, click Save.

Secondary Mail Server for Outgoing Mails

In case of connectivity issues with the primary mail server, ServiceDesk Plus will connect with the alternate server and send emails. Once connected, ServiceDesk Plus will continue to send emails via the alternate server. To reconnect with the primary server, you can do one of the following:

Restart the application services
Reconfigure outgoing mail server settings

A UI message will be displayed to inform users as shown in the screenshot:

Configure Mail Server with Exchange Web Services

Choose the Connection Protocol as Exchange Web Services (EWS).
Choose the Authentication Type. Use the pointers given below to configure the mail server based on the authentication type:

Field Name	Basic Authentication	OAuth Authentication
Connect URL	Provide the EWS URL to connect to the server (For example, https://<host_name>/EWS/Exchange.asmx).
Username	Enter the username to access the mailbox.
Password	Enter the password of the mailbox.	-
Sender Name	Specify the name to displayed in emails sent from the application.
Reply to	Specify an email address to be mentioned as From address in outgoing emails. Reply emails will be received from this email address.
Authorization Server Details (Client ID, Client Secret, Authorization URL, Token URL)	-	Obtain these details from the authorization server.
Scope	-	Define the accessibility of the obtained OAuth tokens in the mailbox. For Office365 mailbox, scope will be auto-populated as: https://outlook.office365.com/EWS.AccessAsUser.All, offline_access Know more about default values populated as scope.
Redirect URL	-	Use this URL to register ServiceDesk Plus and obtain tokens from the authorization server. Ensure the application is accessed using the same host as the redirect URL for OAuth configurations to work.
Enable Proxy Server	If the application requires proxy settings to send emails, enable and configure the proxy settings. Click here to learn more.

After setting up the configuration, click Save.

Configure Mail Server with Microsoft Graph

Choose the Connection Protocol as Microsoft Graph.
Microsoft Graph supports only OAuth authentication. Use the pointers given below to configure the mail server:

Field	Explanation
Graph Endpoint	The global graph endpoint will be pre-populated here. Modify the endpoint if your organization comes under a specific national cloud. Click here to view the list of graph endpoints corresponding to various national clouds.
Reply to	Specify an email address to be mentioned as From address in outgoing emails. Reply emails will be received from this email address.
Authorization Server Details (Client ID, Client Secret, Authorization URL, Token URL)	Obtain these details from the authorization server. Microsoft Graph supports Azure as the authorization server. If the same mailbox is configured in both incoming and outgoing mail server settings, ensure the client ID is different to avoid issues due to mail throttling limitations. Learn more.
Scope	Define the accessibility of the obtained OAuth tokens in the mailbox. For Microsoft Graph protocol, scope will be auto-populated as: Mail.ReadWrite,Mail.Send.Shared,offline_access Know more about default values populated as scope.
Redirect URL	Use the URL to register ServiceDesk Plus and obtain tokens from the authorization server. Ensure the application is accessed using the same host as the redirect URL for OAuth configurations to work.
Enable proxy server	If the application requires proxy settings to send mails, enable and configure the proxy settings. Click here to know more.

After setting up the configurations, click Save.

For OAuth Authentication, provide your login credentials and submit your consent for the mentioned permissions. The login credential should be the same as the username configured in the Mail Server Settings. Ensure that you have not blocked pop-ups and redirects in your browser to view the user consent window.

Edit Mail Server Settings

In build 13001 or earlier, stop the mail fetching process and make the necessary changes.

In build 13002 or later, administrators can edit the mail server settings as needed. If a mail fetching process is ongoing, the application will prompt to disable mail fetching temporarily. After saving the changes, enable the fetching process manually.

Check Mail Server Connectivity

The outgoing mail server connectivity can be tested by sending a sample email from the mail server. Mention an email address and click Send a sample mail.

If the settings are configured right and the connection is successful, then a sample email will be sent to the mentioned email address. If not, an error message will be displayed on the screen.

Limitations

Due to severe throttling policies of Microsoft Graph API, ServiceDesk Plus has certain limitations when Microsoft Graph protocol is used for sending emails.

Microsoft has set service limits to only four concurrent API requests. Since ServiceDesk Plus can send emails through multiple threads (user replies, forwards, system notifications, or custom triggers), there might be a delay while sending emails.

On performing a load simulation setup at our end to test the delay, we have verified the following stats:

As per the stats, when the inflow rate surges/an increased number of notifications are configured, there is an evident delay in sending emails.

Therefore, we recommend users not to configure Microsoft Graph protocol as the outgoing mail server in the following cases:

	Email Inflow Rate	Email Outflow Rate	Results
Scenario 1	600 emails per hour where the inflow rate is constant (~10 emails per minute) 10 inline images for every 3 emails	1800 notifications sent from application (3 notifications for each request created) Average time to send an email = 2~3 seconds	Emails were sent without any delays.
Scenario 2	High inflow rate (sudden surge of 100 emails per minute) 10 inline images for every 3 emails	300 notifications sent from application (3 notifications for each request created) Average time to send an email = ~3 seconds	Emails were sent without much delay.
Scenario 3	High inflow rate (sudden surge of 200 emails per minute) 10 inline images for every 3 emails	600 notifications sent from application (3 notifications for each request created) Average time to send an email = 8~9 seconds	Max. of 10 mins delay in sending an email (time difference between 200th request creation and its notification)