documentation/content/applications/general/email_communication/email_servers.rst
2022-10-20 18:58:12 +02:00

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====================================================
Send and receive emails in Odoo with an email server
====================================================
Odoo Online or Odoo.sh users
============================
Since **Odoo sets up its own mail servers for the database**, outgoing and incoming emails already
work out-of-the-box. So for **Odoo Online** and **Odoo.sh** customers, nothing needs to be done!
Unless an external mail server is required to send large batches of mass mailing, simply use the
standard online Odoo database normally since it has already been preconfigured for email.
Scope of this documentation
===========================
This document is **mainly dedicated to Odoo on-premise users** who don't benefit from an
out-of-the-box solution to send and receive emails in Odoo, unlike `Odoo Online <https://www.odoo.
com/trial>`_ and `Odoo.sh <https://www.odoo.sh>`_.
The following sections below contain information on how to integrate an external email server with
Odoo.
.. warning::
If no one in the company is used to managing email servers, Odoo Online and Odoo.sh are strongly
recommended. Those Odoo hosting types' email systems work instantly and are monitored by
professionals. Nevertheless, a company can use their own email server if they want to manage the
email server's reputation themselves.
.. note::
Office 365 email servers don't easily allow the sending of external emails from hosts like Odoo.
Refer to `Microsoft's documentation <https://support.office.com/en-us/article/How-to-set-up-a-
multifunction-device-or-application-to-send-email-using-Office-365-69f58e99-c550-4274-ad18-
c805d654b4c4>`_ to make it work.
Manage outbound messages
========================
As a system admin, go to :menuselection:`Settings --> General Settings --> Discuss` in Odoo, and
enable the :guilabel:`External Email Servers` option. Then, click :guilabel:`Save`. Next, click
:guilabel:`Outgoing Email Servers` and click :guilabel:`Create` to create a new outgoing mail
server record in Odoo. Reference the SMTP data of the external email server. Once all the
information has been filled out, click :guilabel:`Test Connection`.
Here is a typical configuration for a G Suite server.
.. image:: email_servers/outgoing-server.png
:align: center
:alt: The typical G Suite configuration on Odoo.
Then, go back to :menuselection:`Settings --> General Settings --> Discuss` and set the email
domain name in the :guilabel:`Alias Domain` name. Finally, click :guilabel:`Save` to finish setting
up the email server.
.. note::
If an `[AUTHENTICATION FAILED] Invalid credentials (Failure)` warning appears when
:guilabel:`Test Connection` is clicked for a Gmail address, activate the :guilabel:`Less secure
app access` option. A direct link can be `accessed here <https://myaccount.google.com/
lesssecureapps?pli=1>`_.
In addition to that, enable the :guilabel:`IMAP setting` on the Gmail account.
Use an Office 365 server
------------------------
An Office 365 server can be used if the database's hosting type is **Odoo on-premise**. Office 365
SMTP relays are not compatible with Odoo Online or Odoo.sh unless Odoo is configured to
:ref:`force the outgoing "From" address <email_communication/default_from>`.
Please refer to `Microsoft's documentation <https://support.office.com/en-us/article/How-to-set-up-
a-multifunction-device-or-application-to-send-email-using-Office-365-69f58e99-c550-4274-ad18-
c805d654b4c4>`_ to configure an SMTP relay for the Odoo database's IP address.
Use a G Suite server
--------------------
A G Suite server can be used for any Odoo hosting type. To do so, set up the SMTP relay service.
The configuration steps are explained in `Google documentation <https://support.google.com
/a/answer/2956491?hl=en>`__.
Restriction
-----------
Please note that port 25 is blocked for security reasons on Odoo Online and Odoo.sh platforms. Try
using ports 465, 587, or 2525 instead.
.. _email_communication/default_from:
Use a default "From" email address
----------------------------------
Sometimes, an email's "From" (outgoing) address can belong to a different domain, and that can be a
problem.
For example, if a customer with the email address *mary\@customer.example.com* responds to a
message, Odoo will try to redistribute that same email to the other subscribers in the thread.
However, if the domain *customer.example.com* forbids that kind of usage for security, the email
that Odoo is trying to redistribute would get rejected by some recipients' email servers.
To avoid that problem, make sure all emails use a "From" address from the same authorized domain.
If the MTA supports `SRS (Sender Rewriting Scheme) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender_Rewriting
_Scheme>`_, SRS can be enabled to handle these situations. However, that is more complex and
requires more technical knowledge that is not meant to be covered by this documentation.
Instead, Odoo can be configured to do something similar by itself:
#. Set the :guilabel:`Alias Domain` name in the :menuselection:`Settings --> General Settings
--> Discuss`.
.. image:: email_servers/alias-domain.png
:alt: Setting the domain alias configuration on Odoo.
#. Turn on :doc:`developer mode </applications/general/developer_mode>`.
#. Go to :menuselection:`Settings --> Technical --> Parameters --> System Parameters`.
#. Add one system parameter from the following list:
* To use the same "From" address for *all* outgoing messages, use the key `mail.force.smtp.from`
and set that address as value (such as `outgoing@mycompany.example.com`).
* To keep the original "From" address for emails that use the same domain, but change it for
emails that use a different domain, use the key `mail.dynamic.smtp.from` and set the value as
the email address that should be used in those cases (such as `outgoing@mycompany.example.com`
).
.. _email_communication/inbound_messages:
Manage inbound messages
=======================
Odoo relies on generic email aliases to fetch incoming messages.
* **Reply messages** of messages sent from Odoo are routed to their original discussion thread (and
to the inbox of all its followers) by the catchall alias (**catchall@**).
* **Bounced messages** are routed to **bounce@** in order to track them in Odoo. This is especially
used in `Odoo Email Marketing <https://www.odoo.com/page/email-marketing>`__ to opt-out invalid
recipients.
* **Original messages**: Several business objects have their own alias to create new records in
Odoo from incoming emails:
* Sales Channel (to create Leads or Opportunities in `Odoo CRM <https://www.odoo.com/page/crm>`__),
* Support Channel (to create Tickets in `Odoo Helpdesk <https://www.odoo.com/page/helpdesk>`__),
* Projects (to create new Tasks in `Odoo Project <https://www.odoo.com/page
/project-management>`__),
* Job Positions (to create Applicants in `Odoo Recruitment <https://www.odoo.com/page
/recruitment>`__),
* etc.
Depending on the mail server, there might be several methods to fetch emails. The easiest and most
recommended method is to manage one email address per Odoo alias in the mail server.
* Create the corresponding email addresses in the mail server (catchall@, bounce@, sales@, etc.).
* Set the :guilabel:`Alias Domain` name in :menuselection:`Settings --> General Settings -->
Discuss`.
* If the database's hosting type is Odoo on-premise, create an :guilabel:`Incoming Mail Server` in
Odoo for each alias. This can be done from the General Settings as well. Fill out the form
according to the email provider's settings. Leave the :guilabel:`Actions to Perform on Incoming
Mails` field blank. Once all the information has been filled out, click on :guilabel:`TEST &
CONFIRM`.
.. image:: email_servers/incoming-server.png
:align: center
:alt: Incoming mail server configuration on Odoo.
* If the database's hosting type is Odoo Online or Odoo.sh, redirecting incoming messages to Odoo's
domain name instead of the external email server is recommended. That way, incoming messages can
be received without delay. Odoo Online only fetches incoming messages of external servers once
every hour. Redirections for all email addresses should be set to Odoo's domain name in the email
server (e.g. *catchall\@mydomain.ext* to *catchall\@mycompany.odoo.com*).
All the aliases are customizable in Odoo. Object aliases can be edited from their respective
configuration view.
.. tip::
To edit catchall and bounce aliases, first activate the :ref:`developer mode <developer-mode>`.
Then, go to :menuselection:`Settings --> Technical --> Parameters --> System Parameters` to
customize the aliases (*mail.catchall.alias* & *mail.bounce.alias*).
.. image:: email_servers/system-parameters.png
:align: center
:alt: System parameters with catchall configuration in Odoo.
By default, inbound messages are fetched every 5 minutes in Odoo on-premise.
.. note::
This value can be changed in :ref:`developer mode <developer-mode>`. Go to
:menuselection:`Settings --> Technical --> Automation --> Scheduled Actions` and look for
:guilabel:`Mail: Fetchmail Service`.
Set up different dedicated servers for transactional and mass mails
===================================================================
In Odoo a separate Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) server can be used for transactional emails and mass
mailings. Example: Use Postmark or SendinBlue for transactional emails, and Amazon SES, Mailgun or
Sendgrid for mass mailings.
.. tip::
A default outgoing email server is already configured. Do not create an alternative one unless a
specific external outgoing email server is needed for technical reasons.
To do this, first activate the :ref:`developer mode <developer-mode>`, and then go to
:menuselection:`Settings --> Technical --> Outgoing` email servers. There, create two email MTA
server settings; one for the transactional emails and one for the mass mailing server. Make sure
to give priority to the transactional server over the mass mailing server by providing a lower
priority number for the transactional MTA server.
Now, go to :menuselection:`Email Marketing --> Settings` and enable :guilabel:`Dedicated Server`.
With these settings, Odoo uses the server with the lower priority for transactional emails, and the
server here selected for mass mails. Note that in this case, the domain's Sender Policy Framework
(SPF) records must be set to include both transactional and mass mail servers.