SMTP Authentication

SMTP Authentication provides an enhanced level of security for inbound and outbound SMTP traffic.

• Inbound - enable SMTP authentication for a Connection Profile (connection) and set the authentication credentials that are required by senders. This is done through the Manage Connections page.
• Outbound - apply the authentication credentials, which have been specified by the recipient. This is done through the Mail Domains and Routing page.

It is recommended that you only apply SMTP Authentication to an inbound connection if TLS is enabled. If TLS is not enabled, SMTP Authentication credentials are carried in plain-text.

Tell me about...

• Connections

  Connections are unique configurations that determine how traffic is decrypted and authenticated. You can create multiple connections, and configure certificate A digital means of proving your identity. When you send a digitally-signed message, you are sending your certificate and public key. Certificates are issued by a certification authority and can expire or be revoked. recognition and inbound SMTP Authentication settings for each profile. See Create a connection for more information.

• Inbound Authentication

  When setting up a Connection Profile for inbound SMTP authentication, user names apply across all Connection Profiles. You can also see if specific user names fail during authentication in message tracking. If the domain is not provided, the host name is automatically added to the Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) user name. See Track Messages for more information.

  You can use a simple user name, for example user1, but you can also specify a domain name, for example user1@companyname.com. If you use a domain name as the user name, you need to provide this to the manager of the client MTA. Note that if you use a simple user name, when viewed in message tracking the user name has the host name appended but this is transparent to the client MTA.

• Outbound Authentication

  You can send outbound mail with the appropriate credentials for authentication by the client server. See Mail Domains and Routing for more information.

How do I...

• Configure a connection?

  To find out more about configuring hosts and certification for a Connection Profile, see Create a Connection.

• Recover SMTP authentication credentials?

  The Gateway securely stores your settings for each connection. If you need to recover the credentials that you specified for inbound traffic, you can email them in plain-text (user name and password) to the Administrator account.

  1. Navigate to the Connections page, select a connection, and click Edit.
  2. Click Send Credentials in the Task Panel and confirm.

If you change any configuration or policy settings, you must Apply Configuration for the new settings to take effect. You can do this either from the Changes Made panel, or System > Configuration > Apply Configuration. See Apply new configuration for more information. If you use Peer Gateways (i.e. when multiple Gateways are peered), any configuration changes from a local Gateway can then be applied to all the peers at the same time. See Configure Peer Gateways for more information.

See also...

• Create a Connection
• Apply the new configuration