Do I need an SMTP Relay when setting up an Outgoing Mail Server for Confluence?

[George Baier IV]

We're using Exchange to setup a mail account for Confluence. Does this need to be an SMTP Relay? I can't find specific mention of this in the Confluence Server documentation.

I'm also wondering how people are getting around an expiring password.

[no_longer_in_sudoers_file · Accepted solution]

@George Baier IV,

I've been where you're at and would recommend against an SMTP Relay.  Instead, configure your Confluence server to smarthost the email through Exchange:

1. Create a service user account on Exchange (This is just a normal mail user dedicated to the confluence system).
2. Configure Confluence to use the servername, username and password just like you would do for any Mail client (e.g. Outlook).
3. Test and verify the emails relay just fine.

SMTP relays can be abused in so many ways I always recommend against them.  Having an authenticated smarthost, allows Confluence to send as an auditable user which you can track on the Confluence and the Exchange side for troubleshooting.

--Sam

[George Baier IV]

We ended up using SMTP.com because Confluence is hosted on an outside server. Our company policy is to not let outside servers use our Exchange server directly. So SMTP.com worked out perfectly for this.

[Boris Berenberg]

Your Exchange server must be configured to accept SMTP connections. I am not sure if that means a "relay" in exchange terms, but it is not a relay in SMTP terms.

When you say expiring password, I assume you mean for the email account sending the email? I would disable an expiring password on this account and set it to only be allowed to login from the IP of your Confluence server.