# SMTP Configuration
##### last updated on: July 10, 2023
An SMTP server must be configured in order for Access Anywhere to send emails.

Emails are used to:

 * Confirm email addresses
 * Notify users of monitored events
 * Send share links and verification codes 
 * Send daily reports and error notices

The SMTP server is configured by the appliance administrator (appladmin) under **Settings > Email & Filebox**.

Here are a couple of examples:

## Gmail

Below is a sample what the configuration looks like, for an SMTP setup using a Gmail account. You will have to ask your email administrator for your specific details, or sign up for a free Gmail address:

{{ :server:applinstallv1901:smtp-configuration.png?nolink&700 |}}  

The “Notification Email” address will receive emails from the system warning of license expiration etc. You should enter your email here.

Use **Test SMTP options** to test the settings and also check that the test email was received since Azure silently discards emails sent to unsupported servers.

## SendGrid

Some clouds block outgoing connections to ports 25 and 597 for security reasons, as these are used to communicate with SMTP servers. Azure recommends using an SMTP relay service such as SendGrid. See [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sendgrid-dotnet-how-to-send-email|Sending Email from Azure with SendGrid]]. SendGrid also helpfully offers a TLS connection on port 2525 which is less likely to be blocked.

The SMTP configuration for SendGrid would be:

{{ :azure-gettingstarted:smtp-sendgrid.png?nolink&700 |}}

Use **Test SMTP options** to test the settings and also check that the test email was received since Azure silently discards emails sent to unsupported servers.



## AWS Simple Email Service 

Below is what the screen looks like for an SMTP setup using the AWS Simple Email Service (SES).

{{ ::smtp-config-aws-ses.png?nolink&800 |}}