Advantages of configuring a local SMTP server

FotoWeb requires an email server for many of its core functions. FotoWeb does not support Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encrypted authentication to Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) servers, so you must set up an SMTP service on the FotoWeb server that can relay all emails sent by FotoWeb to your primary SMTP server.

Additionally, setting up a relay server ensures that all emails from FotoWeb are delivered, as the relay server receives all outgoing emails from FotoWeb and keeps trying to relay them if the main mail server is down for maintenance.
 

Choice of email service

Any SMTP service that supports relaying can be installed on the server. The following documentation describes how to configure the SMTP service in Internet Information Services (IIS) on Windows.

Alternatively, you can use a third-party SMTP service that supports relaying, such as:

• An on-premises mail server (for example, MailEnable or similar solutions)
• A cloud-based SMTP service (for example, Microsoft 365, SendGrid, or other SMTP providers)
   

Adding the IIS SMTP feature to your server

The following steps describe how to install and configure the IIS SMTP service for email relaying.

1. Open the Server Manager and select Add roles and features.
2. Select Role-based or feature-based installation and select Next. Choose your server in the next window and select Next.
3. Select Web server (IIS) from the list of roles and select Next. Confirm any additional features that need to be enabled.
4. Select the SMTP Server feature in the list of features. Confirm any additional features that need to be installed.
5. Select Next to start configuring the web server role.
6. Select Next to proceed with the default web server settings. IIS will now also be installed and configured to use web services on port 80.
7. Select Install to add the roles and features to the server.
    

Configuring the SMTP server

1. Open IIS Manager 6: Select Windows-R, enter inetmgr6, and select OK.
2. In IIS Manager, select SMTP Server and choose Properties.
   
   
    
3. On the General tab, leave the settings as they are so that the IP address is set to All unassigned.
   
   
    
4. Open the Access tab.
   
   
    
5. Select Authentication and make sure Anonymous access is selected. Select OK.
   
   
    
6. Open the Access tab and select Connection.
7. Select Only the list below and select Add. Enter 127.0.0.1 as the IP address and select OK. This connection setting controls which computers can connect to the SMTP server and send emails. By allowing only localhost (127.0.0.1) access, only the server itself (and FotoWeb running on it)  can connect to the SMTP service.
   
   
    
8. Select OK to return to the Access list tab. Select Relay. Enter 127.0.0.1 as the IP address here and select OK. The relay setting controls which computers can relay mail through this SMTP server. Giving localhost this permission means only the server itself can relay mail.
   
   
    
9. Open the Messages tab and enter an email address to which reports of undelivered emails will be sent. This way, an administrator can be alerted if the server cannot connect to the main SMTP server and successfully send emails. The other settings can be left as they are.
   
   If FotoWeb workflows are configured to deliver files via email, you might need to increase the maximum message size to accommodate attachments (see the example above).
   
   

10. Open the Delivery tab.
    
    

11. Select Outbound Security and set the authentication mode required by the destination mail server.
    In this example, we're relaying emails through another mail server, so the screenshot shows Basic authentication as required by the relaying mail server. The mail server you use may require another type of authentication.
    
    
    The destination mail server in this example requires the TLS encryption option to be enabled, as shown above.

12. Select OK to save the settings, then return to the Delivery tab and select Outbound Connections.
    
    
13. Set the TCP port to the value specified by your primary SMTP server. The default port number is 25, but the screenshot shows this set to 587, which is the correct setting for the destination mail server in this example. 
14. Select OK to save and return to the Delivery tab, and then select Advanced.
    
    

12. Set the Smart host to the destination SMTP server's hostname, then select OK to save the settings. This is the address to which the SMTP server will forward emails. The destination SMTP server will then deliver the emails to the intended recipients.

Testing the connection

Using Windows PowerShell, you can test if emails are relayed correctly using the syntax below:

Replace the-To and -From  parameters with valid email addresses and execute the command in PowerShell to test the email.

Setting the SMTP service to automatic startup

After configuring the SMTP server, ensure it is set to automatic startup: Open the Windows Services control panel and locate the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol service. Double-click it and set it to Automatic startup. Select OK to save. 

Configuring FotoWeb to use the local SMTP server

1. From the Tools menu (cogwheel icon), go to Site Configuration > Server Configuration > E-mail Server.
2. Enter 127.0.0.1 as the Server name and leave Username and Password empty (since the SMTP server was configured for anonymous access from the localhost above).
3. Enter the Sender name, Sender email address, and, optionally, a Reply to address.

For more information about configuring a default email subject, see Configuring email notifications.