How it Works?


There are two use cases of Email Gateway in the Web RA, they are:

  • Sending Notification Emails - To send email notifications against the certificate requests to the requester and the administrators (application and local admins) 
  • Sending OTP via Emails - One Time Password (OTP) is a security layer that requires a new password every time users authenticate themselves, thus protecting them from the intruders replaying an intercepted password.

It is mandatory to have an SMTP Gateway to send the email notifications while it is optional to configure the OTPs.



If OTP via Emails option is enabled but the SMTP Gateway is not configured in the Service Plan then default SMTP Gateway will be used to deliver the OTP.


The OTP via Email authentication can be configured at three levels i.e.:

  • Login to the ADSS Web RA Web
  • Revoking a certificate
  • Renewing a certificate


Create an SMTP Server Connector


  1. Click External Services from the left menu.
  2. Click Connectors.
  3. Click  from the grid header. 
  4. A dialog will appear to add the connector details. The connector dialog consists of two screens, i.e. Basic Information and Details. Specify the basic information and click Next to provide the respective connector details. See the below table for fields description.
  5. A Send Email button will also appear at the bottom of the screen. Click this button to ensure if the SMTP server address and email address are correct. If the configurations are correct, an email will be sent to the email address. 
  6. Click Finish. A new connector will be saved and displayed in the list.


Basic Information

Field

Description

Name

Specify a unique name for this connector, i.e. My SMTP Server. This connector will be used in Global Settings > Default Connectors and in the configuration of service plans.

Provider

Select the provider for this connector, i.e. "SMTP Server".

Active

Tick this check box to make this connector active. Inactive connectors cannot be configured Global Settings or in the service plans.




 Details

Field

Description

SMTP Server Address

Specify the SMTP host server, i.e. mail.example.com

SMTP Server Port

Specify the server port number to connect with Web RA. The default SMTP port is 25.

Use SSL/TLS

Tick this check box to enable the communication over TLS if SMTP server mandates it

Authentication required

Tick this check box to enable server authentication. The system will require User ID and Password to access the SMTP server.

User ID

Specify the User ID that has been provided by the SMTP server to authenticate the SMTP server, i.e. admin@example.com

This is only required if the Authentication is enabled

Password

Specify the password of the above user to authenticate the user on SMTP server.

This is only required if the Authentication is enabled

From Email Address

Specify the email address that will be as used as a "From Address" when the emails will be sent to the end users by Web RA, i.e. noreply@example.com


Configure SMTP Server Connector in Default Settings


  1. Click Configurations from the left menu.
  2. Click Default Settings.
  3. In Email Gateway field under Others section, select an SMTP Server connector which you want to use in ADSS Web RA to send email notifications. Only the active SMTP Server connectors are listed for selection.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Click Publish Changes from the top right corner, to make these configurations effective.


Configure SMTP Server Connector in Service Plan for OTP Emails


  1. Click Service Plan from the left menu.
  2. The "Service Plans" screen will appear.
  3. Click  adjacent to the service plan (from the main grid) in which OTP via Email is required to configure.
  4. Click on Edit option.
  5. A dialog wizard (consisting of 3 sequential dialog boxes, i.e Basic Information, Profile Settings, and Authentications) will appear in editable mode.
  6. Click on Profile Setting tab.
  7. Tick Enable SMTP Server. Email gateway drop down will appear. (Select this option if you want to use service plan based SMTP server instead of default setting SMTP server.)
  8. Select SMTP Server connector for sending OTP emails from ADSS Web RA to the users. Only the active SMTP Server connectors are listed for selection.
  9. Click the Authentications tab.
  10. Tick OTP via Email. The following fields will appear:
    • The OTP Length field to select the total number of digits that are required in an OTP email.  ADSS Web RA currently supports 4, 6, and 9 digits OTP.
    • The OTP Retry Interval field to specify the retry interval in seconds (i.e. 10) after which ADSS Web RA should retry to send an OTP email, in case the email sending is failed in the first attempt due to any technical glitch.
  1. Click Finish.
  2. Click Publish Changes from the top right corner, to make these configurations effective.