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Email (SMTP) setup

MultiTaction Canvus Server sends email through an SMTP server that you provide. Configure email if your users sign in with local accounts (email and password).

What Canvus Server uses email for

The server sends these messages:

  • Email confirmation when a user registers a new account.
  • Email change confirmation when a user changes their email address.
  • Password reset when a user asks to reset a forgotten password, or when an administrator sends a reset from the admin area.
  • New user invitation. When an administrator creates a user in the admin area, the server sends a password reset email so the user can set their own password.
  • Test email from Admin > Settings > Email.

If all your users sign in through SAML single sign-on, you do not need email.

Without email

Email is off while the SMTP host or the sender address is empty. Then:

  • When an administrator creates a user in the admin area, the server assigns a random password and shows it once to the administrator. Copy it before you close the message, it cannot be shown again. This applies from Canvus Server 26.10.4.
  • People who register on the sign-in page cannot confirm their email address, so they cannot finish signing up. Turn off self-registration, or configure email.
  • Users cannot reset a forgotten password themselves. Reset it from the server command line with --change-password, see Command-line arguments.

Configure email in the admin area

  1. Sign in to the Canvus Server web UI as an administrator.
  2. Open Admin > Settings > Email.
  3. Enter the SMTP host and port of your mail server.
  4. Choose the Security mode: None, STARTTLS or TLS (see Security modes).
  5. If your SMTP server needs a login, enter the Username and Password. Leave the password field blank to keep the stored password.
  6. Enter the Sender name and Sender address that messages come from.
  7. Optionally, enter a Reply-to name and Reply-to address.
  8. Click Save changes.
  9. Click Send test email. The server sends a test message to the email address of the administrator who is signed in. Save your changes before you send the test.

The server writes the settings into mt-canvus-server.ini and uses them immediately. It refuses to save when the SMTP host is empty, when the sender address is empty or not a valid address, or when a reply-to name is set with a missing or invalid reply-to address.

Self-signed SMTP certificates

If your mail server uses a self-signed certificate, tick Allow self-signed TLS certificates. Leave it off when your mail server has a certificate from a public or company certificate authority.

Configure email in the configuration file

You can set the same values in the [smtp] and [mail] sections of mt-canvus-server.ini, then restart the server. See Server configuration for every key.

[smtp]
host=smtp.example.com
port=587
security=starttls
username=canvus@example.com
password=your-smtp-password
; allow-self-signed-certificate=false

[mail]
sender-address=canvus@example.com
sender-name=Canvus
; reply-to-address=it-support@example.com
; reply-to-name=IT support
Key Default
[smtp] host empty (email off)
[smtp] port 25
[smtp] security none
[smtp] allow-self-signed-certificate false
[mail] sender-address empty (email off)

Security modes

Mode Behaviour
none The connection to the SMTP server is not encrypted, even if the SMTP server supports STARTTLS.
starttls The connection starts unencrypted and switches to TLS with STARTTLS. If the SMTP server does not support STARTTLS, messages are not sent.
tls The connection is encrypted with TLS from the moment it opens.

Use starttls or tls when your SMTP server supports them. Port 587 usually goes with STARTTLS and port 465 with TLS, but use the values your mail provider gives you.

Troubleshooting

  • The test email does not arrive. Check the server log for the error, see Audit log and server logs. Check that the server can reach the SMTP host and port through your firewall, and look in the recipient's spam folder.
  • Messages stop when you choose STARTTLS. Your SMTP server does not offer STARTTLS on that port. Use the port and security mode your mail provider documents.
  • The log says email sending is disabled. The SMTP host or the sender address is empty, or the sender address is malformed.