Configure Outgoing Mail - Product Documentation

Configure the BatchMail Task

ExtraView will generate outbound email messages when issues are created or updated, when escalation routines are triggered, or when the Ad Hoc Email feature is used. These email message files are saved to a folder on the application server, defined in the EMAIL_DIRECTORY behavior setting. There is only one EMAIL_DIRECTORY location per ExtraView application – regardless of whether you are running a single instance, or if you are clustered or load-balanced across one or more servers.

The BatchMail task is a utility that polls the EMAIL_DIRECTORY location on a timed basis, and if it finds any email messages in the folder, it uses your SMTP mail server to deliver the email message to the recipients specified.

To configure the BatchMail utility, you must set the SMTP server and mail directory locations. Within the ExtraView administration screens, you will then create and configure a BatchMail Task, and configure the application to write the email messages in the EMAIL_DIRECTORY location.

You must also set up the BatchMail Task. In the ExtraView administration section, go to Administration –> Operational Tasks –> Task Manager.

First, verify that you currently have at least two SESSION_MONITOR and two TASK_CONTROL_TASK tasks in the list, and that at least one of each of these tasks has a current status of STARTED. If this is not the case, please contact ExtraView support.

Click on the Add a new task button. From the Task name selection list, select BatchMail.

Enter a title for the task. From the Node ID selection list, select the node on which you wish to run the BatchMail task. Even if you are running on a clustered application server environment, you only need run the BatchMail task on a single node.

A configuration text entry area will appear, with sample properties configured. At a minimum, you must configure the MAIL_SERVER and MAIL_DIR settings to provide valid values for your system.

old line –> MAIL_SERVER=mail.yourdomain.com
new line –> MAIL_SERVER=<name of a valid SMTP server>

old line –> MAIL_DIR=C:/ExtraView/Tomcat/webapps/evj/WEB-INF/mailbox
new line –> MAIL_DIR=<path to where ExtraView will write email messages>

A default location is provided for the mailbox directory under tomcat/webapps/evj/WEB-INF/mailbox, but you can provide any absolute path.

In order to activate email notification, the following behavior settings must be configured from the ExtraView web interface. In ExtraView administration section (Administration –> Email Settings), set the following behavior settings:

EMAIL_DIRECTORY	Must be set to the same value as MAIL_DIR in BatchMail configuration file, C:/ExtraView/Tomcat/webapps/evj/WEB-INF/mailbox in the example above. Both the application servers and the BatchMail services must have read and write access to this location.
EMAIL_FROM_USER_ID	Must be set to a valid email address
EMAIL_NOTIFICATION	Must be set to YES for email notification to be turned on

You can get more information about the other settings in the ExtraView Administration Guide.

You must also set up the BatchMail Task. In the ExtraView administration section, go to Administration –> Operational Tasks –> Manage Tasks and Threads.

First, verify that you currently have at least 2 each of SESSION_MONITOR and TASK_CONTROL_TASK tasks in the list, and that at least one of each of these tasks has a current status of STARTED.

Click on the Add a new task button. From the drop down Task name list, select BatchMail. Enter a title for the task. From the Node ID drop down list, select the node on which you wish to run the BatchMail task.

If you have a standard installation, the current node id will be WS_A (this is the WEB_SERVER_NAME value from the Configuration.properties file for the current instance).

If you are running in a clustered or load-balanced environment, if all of the instances (nodes) are on the same server, you can set up one BatchMail task to be shared by all nodes. If each node is on a separate server, you can either set the MAIL_DIR to a location accessible by all nodes, and have a single task on one node, or you can build a location mapping to MAIL_DIR on each node, and have each node running its own BatchMail task.