The SystemWeaver swNotificationServer is a SystemWeaver client* that automatically sends notification emails to SystemWeaver users (and others) upon certain events, e.g., when the status of a SystemWeaver Issue has been changed. This article describes how to set up the swNotificationServer. 

• Notification Server Installation
• Configuring the Notification Server
• What's Next?

Prerequisites

• It is recommended that you configure in a test environment before moving to production.
• Familiarity with your organization's mail server
• Make sure the correct firewall settings are being used.
• The NotificationServer installation is located on the same server machine as the main server application.
• A valid email address is entered in swAdmin2 for users who need to receive messages, e.g., users who need to be updated when an issue status in updated in a CMS Project.

Notification Server Installation

The following files are required in the notification server installation. The Notification Server directory should be placed on the server machine and on the same local drive as the SystemWeaver main server application.

Configuring the Notification Server

The configuration of the notification server is defined in the swNotificationServer.ini file. The file has the following content:

SystemWeaverServerLocation=
SystemWeaverServerPort=
SystemWeaverLoginName=
SystemWeaverPassword=
MailServerName=
MailServerPort=
MailServerLoginName=
MailServerLoginPassword=
MailServerFromName=
MailServerFromAddress=
MailServerReplyToName=
MailServerReplyToAddress=
ConfigMessage=Do not reply to this message.
UseTLS=

Save the file as swNotificationServer.ini.

swNotificationServer.ini Configuration Options

The swNotificationServer.ini has the following settings:

SystemWeaverServerLocation

The IP or domain name of the computer where the SystemWeaver server is running. Note that when working with a local server installed on the same PC as the swNotificationServer, the logical IP domain name "localhost" may be used in the swExplorer in order to specify the local server.

SystemWeaverServerPort

The port number that the SystemWeaver server is using (this can be found in the swServer.ini file in the server installation).

SystemWeaverLoginName

The user name that the swNotificationServer uses for logging in to the SystemWeaver server. Note that in order to guarantee that the notification server can access and be able to manage any project of the server, we currently require that the special user account 'system' be used. 

SystemWeaverPassword

The password of the SystemWeaverLoginName account.

MailServerName

The SMTP server to be used for sending the emails. Example: "mailhost.example.com".

MailServerPort

The port number used for the connection to the SMTP server. 587 is the usual port when authentication is used, and 25 when no authentication is used. See also UseTLS below.

MailServerLoginName

Defines the account name to be used for the mail server connection, if authentication is used (see UseTLS below).
If no authentication is used, the entry can be left empty.
The MailServerLoginName, or an email address associated with the account, will appear in the "From" field of the sent notification emails, unless the MailServerFromAddress entry is used. (Many email servers (POP3/IMAP) will use the MailServerLoginName even if the MailServerFromAddress is specified.)
Example: "[email protected]".
Note that the MailServerLoginName must include a valid domain name, like @example.com.
Technically, this entry will be included in the From: field of the notification email.

MailServerLoginPassword

The password corresponding to the MailServerLoginName account. If no authentication is used, the entry can be left empty.

MailServerFromName

The 'display name' of the sender, presented as the sender's name, in the receiver's email client. 

Note that, for authenticated email transmissions, there is a chance that the email server (POP/IMAP server) replaces the display name with the one defined for an email account in which case this field can be left blank.
Technically, this entry will be included in the From: field in the body of the notification email.

MailServerFromAddress

The from address of the sender, which is the sender's email address presented in an email client.
Note that, for authenticated email transmissions, there is a chance that the email server (POP3/IMAP server) replaces the address with the one defined for an email account in which case this field can be left blank.
Technically, this entry will be included in the From: field in the body of the notification email, enclosed by pointed brackets.

MailServerReplyToName

The name that will be used by an email client, if a reply is made.
Note that if this entry is not specified, then the MailServerFromName should be used by the email client, in case of a reply.
Note also that for notification emails, it could be useful to use a name that indicates that no replies should be sent, using a name like: "Do Not Reply".
Technically, this entry will be included in the Reply-To: field in the body of the notification email.

MailServerReplyToAddress

The address that will be used as email client, if a reply is made.
Note, If this entry is not specified, then the MailServerFromAddress should be used by the email client, in case of a reply.
Technically, this entry will be included in the Reply-To: field in the body of the notification email, enclosed by pointed brackets.

ConfigMessage

An optional text to be appended to the notification emails. The preceding content of the email will be the history log of the issue. Example: "Do not reply to this message".

UseTLS

Whether TLS security should be used for the SMTP communication.
Check with your SMTP configuration if this is required.
Typically, TLS is required when port 587 is used and not available when port 25 is used.

Valid entries are: 

• "None" when TLS is not used
• "1" when TLS version 1.0 is used
• "1_2" when TLS version 1.2 is used
• "1_3" when TLS version 1.3 is used

Once you have made your selections, be sure to save your changes. 

What's Next?

After setting up the notification server configuration, we recommend using the provided swTestNotificationServer utility so that you can test the configuration parameters. 

We also recommend setting up logging for the notification server. 

* Note that swNotificationServer is actually a client from a SystemWeaver topology aspect, although it acts as a kind of server towards email clients.