Ada Security
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6.6 Email (SMTP)

Administration → Settings → Email (SMTP). Defines the one SMTP server Ada uses to send mail, and the default alert recipients.

Ada sends these mails through it:

Mail Sender name Recipients
Alerts (categories and custom rules from Reports → Alerts) ADA Alert Default recipients + opted-in users (see below); a custom rule may replace them with its own list
Report e-mails and scheduled reports ADA Reports Recipients chosen in Reports
Password-setup and password-reset links for local console users — The user’s e-mail address
Outage mails of the host watchdog — Default recipients
Settings → Email (SMTP).

What the page shows

The SMTP server card shows one row (or No SMTP server yet… and + Add server): the display name or host, a badge with host, port and number of recipients, a disabled badge when off, an on/off switch (applies immediately), Edit and Delete. Below: Changes are saved immediately. and Send Test.

Configure SMTP

  1. Click + Add server (or the pencil).
  2. Fill in the fields below and click Save (applies immediately).
  3. Click Send Test. A sample alert (ADA Alert — Test) goes to the default recipients and opted-in users. The result appears under the button: green (Email test — sent), yellow (Email is off…) or red with the SMTP error.
SMTP server drawer.
Field What it does Default / allowed values
Display name Labels the server in this list only; not the sender name. Optional.
SMTP server (host / IP) Mail relay. Required for a working configuration.
Enabled When off, no alert e-mails are sent. On for a new server.
Port SMTP port. Default 587. Ticking TLS does not change the port; set 465 yourself.
TLS (465) Implicit TLS from the first byte. Off. Off = plain connection upgraded with STARTTLS when offered.
User SMTP authentication user. Empty = anonymous relay.
Password SMTP password. Shown masked. While User is set, empty or masked keeps the stored password; clearing User removes the stored credentials.
Sender (from) From address. If empty, the User value is used.
Default recipients (comma-separated) Recipients of category alerts. List of addresses.

TLS rules

  • With User set and TLS (465) off, STARTTLS is required: a server that does not offer it is refused instead of receiving the password in plain text. The drawer warns: Credentials require TLS — the server refuses to send them in clear text…
  • An anonymous relay without TLS keeps working.
  • The SMTP server certificate is always verified. A certificate from a private CA is trusted only if that CA was added at installation (ADA_EXTRA_CA_CERTS in the server’s .env); there is no console switch to skip the check.
  • The host watchdog follows the same rules.

Who receives alert e-mails

The default list, plus, de-duplicated:

  • local console users with an e-mail address and Send alert emails to this address ticked (Users or Account);
  • AD user targets under Users → Active Directory access with ✉ alerts ticked (the address from the AD mail attribute).

A custom alert rule with its own recipient list sends only to that list.

Behaviour

  • Delete asks for confirmation and clears the whole SMTP configuration; alert e-mails stop.
  • Storm protection: an ordinary alert mail is suppressed if another went out less than 3 seconds earlier (noted in System → Email log). Alerts of severity error or worse, and certificate, disk and container alerts, are never suppressed.
  • The SMTP connection is checked every 15 minutes and right after each change; failures appear in System and Status and write service_down / service_restored (service SMTP).
  • Changes write alert_config_changed (password changes are noted, never the password).