iDRAC7 and iDRAC8 SMTP email TLS Encryption settings

How does iDRAC7 / iDRAC8 SMTP Encryption work?

iDRAC7 and iDRAC8 controllers allow end-users to enable email alerting through Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) email servers. The following settings to connect to the SMTP email server can be defined to enable this notification method:

• SMTP (Email) Server IP Address or FQDN / DNS Name
• Enable / Disable Authentication
• Username
• Password
• SMTP Port Number

In order to ensure the communication with the SMTP server, there are several considerations that need to be taken into account.

Authentication:

StartTLS cryptographic encryption is frequently enabled on common SMTP servers to ensure encrypted data transfer between mail client and server. Within iDRAC7 and iDRAC8,  authentication must be enabled and user / password must be defined to enable StartTLS encryption on the embedded mail client. Without the "Enable Authentication" option enabled, the iDRAC will send plain text to SMTP servers.

If the SMTP server is not configured to leverage StartTLS encryption, the server must accept unauthenticated connections. On the iDRAC SMTP settings, disable the "Enable Authentication" option to enable anonymous logon.

 

SMTP FQDN / DNS Name:

The iDRAC SMTP settings will support connecting to the mail server via IP address or Domain Name System (DNS). End-users can define the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) to leverage DNS when connecting to the SMTP server. If utilizing a FQDN to define the SMTP server, the iDRAC must be able to resolve the target domain name. In network settings of the iDRAC, please ensure that a valid DNS server is defined.