Error "The connection was reset" when adding a SMTP server to Confluence

[Jeroen van Blitterswijk]

A brand new Confluence installation. Navigate to "General configuration" -> Mail Servers.

Then you will get the view mail servers.

Press "Add a new SMTP mail server" enter the values in the "Create Mail server" form. Press Submit. You will see the webbrowser waiting (hourglass), but nothing happens. After 30 seconds the error message "The connection was reset" will be displayed. SMTP server is not created.

Adding a POP-server is no problem.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Accepted solution]

This means your SMTP server is not responding.  You'll need to look at the SMTP server to see why it is not talking back to your Confluence.  (SMTP servers sometimes break the connection when you fail to log in, rather than respond with a login failed message, so the first thing to check is that you have valid login credentials)

[Jeroen van Blitterswijk]

I captured the network traffic. Confluence it not even trying to connect to the SMTP server. Doesn't matter if I use a JNDI configuration or enter the SMTP details directly. In both ways it is acting similair

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

You can only get a "connection reset" error when a connection has been attempted.  If your network monitoring is saying there was no attempt to connect, then the problem is going to be a firewall or proxy running on the Confluence server stopping the connection leaving the machine.

[Lai Tat Ming_ Ray]

@Jeroen van Blitterswijk I am also facing this problem. May I know how you can fix it?