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Sending Email Through UAlberta SMTP Server

Modified on: Fri, 4 Oct 2024 9:09 AM

Introduction

This article provides information on how to configure a software service or application to be able to send authorized email from an @ualberta.ca email address.


Applicability

This service is available to approved university digital services and applications only. The UAlberta SMTP service is intended for services and applications that need to send approved email from an @ualberta.ca email address. Email from individual/personal email accounts should be sent using the Gmail web interface. Support is not offered for personal email accounts.


Details

Email servers that are not authorized by university DNS records to send email on behalf of the ualberta.ca domain will be treated by email providers as potentially malicious and will typically be flagged as such in an account holder’s inbox. See fig 1 for an example.

Fig 1.

If you operate a software service or application that needs to send email, the following options available to you:

Send Email Using UAlberta SMTP Server

Access to smtp.ualberta.ca is automatically permitted for systems on U of A networks if they are sending under 75 emails/hour. If your service/software is not located within a U of A network, OR will be sending more than 75 emails an hour, please contact IST to request access to smtp.ualberta.ca. 

NOTE: Requests to access and use the UAlberta SMTP server may be subject to review and approval by the Office of the Chief Information Security Officer.

To send signed emails from an @ualberta.ca email address, your service or application must send email through smtp.ualberta.ca on port 587. Off-campus systems will also need to authenticate using a CCID & password provided by IST. Messages sent through smtp.ualberta.ca will be signed via DKIM.

How to request access?

Email ist@ualberta.ca with the following information:

  1. Business use case of application and who will be receiving emails from it
  2. The IP address(es) that will be using smtp.ualberta.ca
  3. The CCID of the technical contact that will own the CCID used for authenticating to the SMTP server

Use a non-ualberta.ca email address 

Change the "from" address in the application to a non-ualberta.ca email address and use an email server that is authorized to send on behalf of that email domain.

NOTE: The university will not add IP addresses to ualberta.ca SPF records.


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