Introduction
This how-to goes through the steps of setting up, configuring, and testing the email capability of Delta Watch. Emails in Delta Watch can be used for items like:
- Information on Delta Watch activities
- Warnings on, for example, data flows or, more important, exceeding of user set limits
- Automated reports
Within Delta Watch, a list of contacts' details can be maintained. For critical monitoring it is even possible to use SMS text messaging directly from Delta Watch. Setup and use of this is covered in another article. For sending emails or using the SMS function, the email server details need to be configured in Delta Watch. The email server could be an Office 365 account or other. This article covers configuration of Delta Watch for both Office 365 and Google mail (Gmail) accounts.
Pre-requirements
Before configuring Delta Watch mail server settings, you need to have the email account login and mail server details. It is strongly recommended to create a special account for your Delta Watch messages, preferably a so-called “no-reply” address. Consult your IT department on this. It is also possible to use a "free" email service as long as it supports sending emails from third party or unsecure applications. Google mail is such a service that can be used. Below are some typical mail server details for both Office 365 and Gmail.
| Office 365 | Google Mail (Gmail) | |
|---|---|---|
| Server (SMTP) | smtp.office365.com | smtp.gmail.com |
| Port | 587 | 587 |
| Secure connection | STARTTLS | STARTTLS |
Additional Gmail configurations
Gmail is a web-based service and, by default, can only be used as such. However, by changing some security settings it can also be used by applications such as Delta Watch to send emails. Login to your Google account, and navigate to Account Settings and then the Security page. See item 1 in the image below.
Now some adjustments need to be made in the Security section so that Delta Watch can use the service.
- Review the Signing in to Google options. Ensure any additional signing in options are turned OFF. See item 2 in the image below.
- Turn ON the setting Less secure app access. See item 3 in the image below.
Mail server settings in Delta Watch
With login and mail server details at hand, Delta Watch can be configured. Navigate to Administration > System configuration, and open the item Mail server. See the image below, section 1.
In this section, enter all the server details and the Sender email address. This email address is normally the email that is linked to the email account.
For testing purposes also input a Test receiver email address (item 2 in the image below). Preferably this is different than the address under Sender.
Save the settings by clicking Apply.
To test if all is configured correctly, use the Send test mail button at the top, item 3 in the image above. If successful, then Delta Watch will almost immediately return with a success message, item 4. Now check the inbox of the Test receiver for the email. It will have a subject line like: DeltaWatch Test Mail.
If the email is not received:
- Check the spam folder.
- Check the email details in Delta Watch.
If Delta Watch fails to send:
- Attempt to login to the mail server via a web browser from the Delta Watch computer.
- Check the mail server details in Delta Watch.
- Check details and settings of the service provider. Do they allow an external application to send mail?
- If the mail server is within the same domain as the Delta Watch computer, then check with your IT department about all mail server details, as they might be slightly different compared with access over the internet.
Further configurations
Once the mail server is working, further configuration of Delta Watch can be done.
The first thing that would need to be done is to add contacts to the Contacts list. In the Contact type field, enter details that could be specific for a project only or Delta Watch globally.
When adding contacts, if you check the Public option, this contact's details will be visible in any Delta Live! access. This could be used to show a list of contacts within Delta Live! with people that can be contacted by any user. See image 1 below as an example of the Contacts list.
Image 2 below shows an example of how to enable email notification if new points were found while processing. There is the option to check Carbon copy (cc a recipient), but at least one Send to contact needs to be selected.
Further configurations can now be done, such as:
- SMS text messaging can be configured. See the separate article on this (link at the bottom).
- Sending of general project messages can be enabled.
- Warnings about alarm limits can be sent to people.
- Automatic reports can be emailed.
- Warning or info messages for data transfers could be sent.
- Processing info and warnings (successful or failed epoch calculation, for example) could be sent.