Specifying an SMTP server to route mail to the Internet

By default, the service routes mail that service users send to external users over the Internet. You have the option to route this mail through a company-controlled SMTP host server instead.

Before you begin

Prepare your on-premises environment. For more information, see Preparing to use a company SMTP server to route outbound Internet mail.

About this task

Skip this procedure if you want the service to handle routing the mail that is sent to external users. In this case (default behavior), the service filters the messages for virus and spam before routing them to the Internet.

By using a company SMTP host server for external routing, you can act on messages before routing them, for example, filter or audit messages. When you use this feature, the service filters messages for viruses and spam and then routes them directly to your designated SMTP host server. Messages addressed to any domain that is not an internal, service-verified domain are routed to the SMTP host server.

IBM uses SPF record definitions to identify the SmartCloud Notes® servers that can send mail to the Internet on behalf of our customers. Create Domain Name Service (DNS) Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records to identify all of the Internet domains you use in SmartCloud Notes Internet addresses. Then, you can easily include the IBM SPF record definitions in your domain-specific SPF records. For more information, see the topic Using DNS SPF records for Internet addresses.

The service uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) to route mail to the SMTP host server if the host server uses TLS. The connection is made using STARTTLS over SSL TCP/IP port 25.

If your organization is required to use TLS for email sent to recipients in specific domains, you can specify that enforced TLS is used for the SMTP server. Then SmartCloud Notes ensures that TLS is used for SMTP mail transfer to the SMTP servers. If TLS cannot be used for the SMTP transfer, the email is not delivered and a non-delivery report is returned to the sender. The reason for the delivery failure indicates the Remote server does not support TLS.

Note: If you are not using a company-controlled SMTP server for all outbound mail, but your organization is required to use TLS for email sent to recipients in specific domains, see Using enforced TLS for outbound mail.

Perform the following steps to specify the name of your SMTP host server in Account Settings.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the service as an administrator.
  2. If your account also has the User role, click Admin > Manage Organization.
  3. In the System Settings section of the navigation pane, click IBM SmartCloud Notes.
  4. Click Account Settings > Email Management.
  5. In the SMTP server field under Manage Routing to External Internet Domains, enter an SMTP host name to use for routing.
  6. To use enforced TLS delivery, select Enforce TLS for this SMTP server.
  7. Click Save.