Outgoing Mail Configuration / Email Configuration / Email Setup / Allow Mail

If your farmerswife system is being hosted in the cloud by farmerswife, please identify yourself and provide your own configuration info for the following items to support@farmerswife.com:

• Outgoing Mail Server - This is generally the SMTP address / IP of your outgoing mail server
• Outgoing Port Number - The port number tied to the Outgoing Mail Server
• Email address to send emails from - You may want to use an account that is used solely for this purpose - e.g. farmerswife@mycompany.ex
• Username & Password - These are the authentication details of this bespoke email account to be used by the farmerswife server to connect to and send outgoing emails through. Please do not use } in the password.

⚠️ When using Gmail:

NEW with v7.1 Q3 2024:

For "Allow Mail" implemented "Gmail API" integration using "impoersonation" and "OAuth2 Google Cloud authentication" using a "Google Service Account" for any Email send-out from the fw Server app!

Background: Gmail has deprecated "basic" authentication! The previously working "App Password" no longer works!

Requires: You need to use a "Google Business" account in order to be able to use the Google API.

Short setup info:

Create a Google Cloud Platform Service Account and download the JSON private key via "IAM". 

Save and Rename the generated private JSON file to "google-service-private-key.json" and upload it to your fw Server app's  "system" folder.

You need to use the optional "server.cfg" file and modify these 2 new variables:

GMAIL_OAUTH2_ENABLED 1
GMAIL_OAUTH2_IMPERSONATIONEMAIL example@farmerswife.com

Not working anymore since Q3 2024: OLD / Legacy until v7.0 / Q2 2024: You need to generate an App Password and for this special Google-generated password to work, your farmerswife system needs to be running on v6.8. ⚠️

For self-hosted systems

If your farmerswife Server app is being hosted within your organization, and not by farmerswife, please follow the below to set up your "Allow Mail > Outgoing Mail Server":

1. Set Allow Mail to Yes.

2. Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP): Define here the IP Address or domain name of the your (SMTP) Outgoing Mail Server (e.g. check your local email application for this info). Also: You may want to use an account which is used solely for this purpose - e.g. farmerswife@mycompany.ex.
   Some SMTP Servers have anti-spamming countermeasures implemented, which require ‘HELO handshaking’ from a fully qualified domain name or IP address before they send out an email.
   To set the domain or IP address, click the drop-down arrow and select the Set "HELO" String.
   Define the domain or IP address as required by your Internet Service Provider.
   
   

3. Set the Port: Define the port number for outgoing email (default is 25).
   This port is used to specify the connection to your own separate (local or remote) mail server (SMTP) for “outgoing emails”.
   This port and its related settings are used by the WIFE Server to authenticate and send emails. This is not a ‘listening’ port of the WIFE Server.
   
   

4. See above: 

   NEW with v7.1 Q3 2024:

   For "Allow Mail" implemented Gmail API integration over OAuth2 using a Google Service Account for any Email send-out.

   
   OLD / Legacy until v7.0 / Q2 2024:
   Define the User Name and Password. ⚠️ When using Gmail, please generate an App Password. ⚠️ For the WIFE Server to be allowed to send emails using YOUR outgoing mail server, you most likely have to use the authentication credentials of an existing email account. Please do not use } in the password.
   Consider creating an email account for the WIFE Server, for example, "fw_info_dont_reply@MyCompany.ex". And this email account then will need to have a password set, e.g. 123456. Using these examples you then need to populate these fields in the following way:
   User Name: fw_info_dont_reply@MyCompany.ex
   Password: 123456
   
   
   

5. Test the SMTP service by selecting "Test" option through the drop-down menu.
   By default this test-email will be sent to the email entered in the System Administrator Mail Address field (see next step). If not set yet, it can be typed into the pop-up window while using it.
   The drop-down menu also contains this additional options:
   Set "HELO" String - This is e legacy SMTP feature not widely used anymore; typically this should remain empty.
   Delay Between Mails - This settings is set to 3000 Miliseconds by default. When batch emailing multiple emails at the same this, this therefore leaves a pause of 3 seconds between each email. This can be increased, should emails from your farmerswife system get flagged as "spam" and fail to be sent.
   MAIL DEBUG - Enable this feature to get step-by-step handshake information from the SMTP connection process logged within the fw Server app's "log.txt", which is located within the fw Server app's installation folder/package within the "system" folder. Once this option is enabled, use the "Test" option to send another test email. If it still fails to be sent, then close the fw Server app's "Setup" by using the "OK" button in the bottom right corner, for the debug information to be flushed into the log.txt. Review the information; this typically contains usable debug info. farmerswife support will also need this same information, to try and help on persistent email issues.
   
   

6. Set the System Administrator Mail Address: this email address will receive server related email notifications, such as license expiry reminders.
   
   

7. Set the Daily Mail “From” Address: this address will be used as the sender email address of the Daily Email Sendout.
   
   

8. The Force Send All Emails From Address overrides the Daily Mail “From” Address, and various other hard-coded sender email addresses throughout farmerswife.
   This setting was introduced due to the fact that traditionally farmerswife has used a mix of email addresses in the "From" header of the emails that it sends.
   In some cases it has been the "System Administrator” address [license expiry], in others it has been hard-coded addresses such as "bookings@(domain)" [Schedule Changes Email, Timereport Reminder, ], "reminder@(domain)", "alarm@(domain)" [Alarms,...], "username@(domain)" [Global Notifications, Send Email from Tree, Booking Report Email] etc.
   This used to work ok but in recent years the war against spam has led to SMTP servers rejecting emails if they don't come from the expected sender (typically when combined with SMTP authentication).
   If an email address is entered in the ”Force Send All Emails From”, it will override all other "From" addresses.
   If it is left blank, it will behave as before.