Database Management

SMTP mail server for outgoing email from DPA

This article details the features in DPA that send email, including chart mailing, automatic report generation and alerts. To send email messages, DPA requires connectivity to an SMTP mail server.

First published date

10/12/2018 3:21 PM

Last published date

4/25/2022 1:12 AM

Overview

DPA has several features that send email including chart mailing, automatic report generation and alerts. To send email messages, DPA requires connectivity to a SMTP mail server. DPA includes an embedded mail server and also provides the ability to configure an external mail server.

The embedded mail server is typically sufficient for sending emails in most environments. However, there are some environments in which the server is blocked from sending email due to firewalls or other SMTP restrictions.

Product section

Database Performance Analyzer

Cause

N/A

Resolution

NOTE: If you are on DPA 10.2, make sure you are on 10.2.579 or later. That minor version includes a service release with a patch for an SMTP issue introduced in DPA 10.2.

Troubleshooting

If the embedded mail server is not able to send email within the environment that DPA is running, either:

  • An external mail server must be configured as specified in this KB article.
  • The host name of the DPA server is not being resolved correctly. This could happen if the host name contains double-byte characters.

Mail Server Configuration 

  The mail server used by DPA is configured through the mail.properties file located in the directory:

    <dpa_install_directory>/iwc/tomcat/ignite_config/iwc/properties</ignite_install_directory>

 The mail server configuration file contains the following properties: 

  • mail.domain - Mail server domain
  • mail.host - Host name or IP address of mail server (required)
  • mail.port - Port number of the mail server
  • mail.user - User name used to connect to mail server (if server requires authentication)
  • mail.password - Password of user used to connect to mail server (if server requires authentication)
  • mail.from - Return email address (required if mail server has restrictions on return addresses)
  • mail.embedded - "true" indicates that DPA should use the embedded mail server exclusively

Additional properties that are required for a particular mail server may be added to the file.

This file may be changed while DPA is running. The changes will be recognized within a few minutes. 

Mail Server Failover 

When the DPA server is started, the system checks the mail.properties file for a user-defined mail server configuration. If an external mail server has been specified, a connection test is performed to that server. If the connection succeeds, all outgoing mail from DPA will be sent using this server. If the connection fails, DPA will default to the embedded mail server.