Understand what Actions By Email is and how you can configure it in your server environment.
The Actions By Email package sends emails automatically during your Processes' Requests. During a Request, email recipients can make business decisions directly in the email by clicking on a button to indicate that decision. The email response returns to your ProcessMaker Platform instance to acknowledge the decision, then routes workflow for that Request. Use the Actions By Email settings to configure an IMAP server for retrieving these email responses.
The Actions By Email package has the Actions By Email connector that integrates into the Process Modeler. When the Actions By Email connector triggers during a Request, an email is sent to the Request participant to make a decision as part of the Request. This email contains pre-configured buttons for the participant to easily indicate the decision. After the email recipient clicks a button, ProcessMaker Platform receives the response through the IMAP server configured in Actions By Email settings and uses the indicated decision as part of the Request routing.
For detailed information on how to use Actions By Email functionality in your Processes, refer to Actions By Email connector.
To configure your IMAP server, refer to Actions by Email settings.
Display all Actions By Email settings in one location. This makes it easy to manage these settings.
Follow these steps to view all Actions By Email settings in your organization:
Ensure that you are logged on to ProcessMaker Platform.
Click the Admin option from the top menu. The Users page displays.
From the Settings panel on the left, expand the Email section.
Select Actions By Email to view the following details:
Setting: The Setting column displays the Actions By Email Setting name.
Configuration: The Configuration column displays the value of the setting and how it is configured.
Follow the next steps to search for an Actions by Email setting:
In the Search setting, enter the Setting name to filter settings in that Actions by Email's configuration.
To allow access to your IMAP server, the following information is needed:
IMAP server address.
IMAP server port number.
IMAP username and password.
IMAP folder name to use for response emails (Inbox is used by default).
Configure the following Actions By Email settings as necessary:
View your Actions By Email settings. The Actions By Email tab displays.
Enter the address of your IMAP server, and then click Save.
Enter your IMAP port, and then click Save.
Optionally, enter the name or the path to your IMAP folder if you want to retrieve the emails from a different folder, and then click Save.
Enter the username for authentication to your IMAP server, and then click Save.
Enter the password for authentication to your IMAP server, and then click Save.
Enter the polling interval of your IMAP server in the edit box or adjust the slider to select a polling interval. Polling interval determines how often response emails are retrieved from the IMAP server. Click Save to save your settings.
Optionally, enable the Validate IMAP SSL Certificate toggle key to validate the SSL certificate of your IMAP server before response emails are retrieved. The following message displays: The setting was updated. Enabling this option enhances security, but could introduce compatibility issues with some IMAP servers.
Optionally, enable the Reference in Subject Line toggle key to add information about your Process in the subject line of the response emails. The following message displays: The setting was updated. When this option is enabled, a reference in the following syntax is added to the subject line:
PMABEREF <Process ID> <Node ID>
PMABEREF
is an acronym for "ProcessMaker Actions By Email Reference".
Process ID
is the ID of the Process containing the Actions By Email connector.
Node ID
is the ID of the Actions By Email connector in the Process.
For example: PMABEREF 2343 node_6
Click the Test Connection button. The following message displays if the test is successful: Server successfully connected. If a connection to the IMAP server could not be established, the following message displays: Cannot connect to server. Please check your configurations.
Click the Settings icon from the left sidebar to view all settings.
Click the Search icon or press enter to view Actions by Email settings display that match your entered text.
Click the Edit icon to change a setting. For more information on different Actions by Email configurations, see Configure Actions by Email Settings.
Click the Copy to Clipboard icon to copy the value of a setting.
Click the Clear icon to clear the value of a setting.
Click the Edit icon for the IMAP Server setting. The IMAP Server screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the IMAP Port setting. The IMAP Port screen displays. Port 993 is the default value.
Click the Edit icon for the IMAP Path setting. The IMAP Path screen displays. This is the name of the folder from which response emails are retrieved. INBOX
is the default value.
Click the Edit icon for the IMAP Username setting. The IMAP Username screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the IMAP Password setting. The IMAP Password screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the IMAP Polling Interval setting. The IMAP Polling Interval screen displays.
Configure email default settings that are available to all users.
The email default settings allows an Administrator to configure outbound email sending. Outbound emails are available in Requests via Actions By Email connectors, Send Email connectors, Tasks, and emailed user notifications.
Email default settings are default configuration options for a mailer driver to work within server mail apps.
ProcessMaker Platform provides mailer drivers for the following services:
Follow these steps to view the email server default settings:
Ensure that you are logged on to ProcessMaker Platform.
Click the Admin option from the top menu. The Users page displays.
From the Settings panel on the left, expand the Email section.
Select Email Default Settings to view the following details:
Setting: The Setting column displays the name of the default email server settings.
Configuration: The Configuration column displays the setting value and how it is configured.
Follow these steps to create or edit an email server configuration:
View your email server default settings. The Email Default Settings tab displays.
Click on the +Mail Server button at the top of the Email Default Settings panel. A new option displays below to the Email Default Settings option called Email Server N, where N is a number of the created email server.
Optionally, change the name of this email server's alias name. Follow these steps:
Change the name for this email server's alias, and then click on Save.
Optionally, change which mail driver this email server uses. Follow these steps:
Select one of the following options that represent supported mail drivers:
smtp: Click on the smtp option to use the SMTP mail driver.
sendmail: Click on the sendmail option to use the Sendmail mail driver.
mailgun: Click on the mailgun option to use the Mailgun mail driver.
postmark: Click on the postmark option to use the Postmark mail driver.
ses: Click on the ses option to use the Amazon SES mail driver.
Click Save. Subsequent settings for that email server change based on the selected mail driver. Follow the instructions below for your selected mail driver
Edit an email server based on the selected mail driver and the mail driver.
Simple Email Service (SES) is a cost-effective, flexible, and scalable email service that enables developers to send mail from any application. A widely used service in this category is Amazon Simple Email Service.
To configure an Amazon SES email server, the following information is needed:
Amazon access key ID
Amazon secret access key
Amazon default region
To generate or locate your Amazon access key ID and secret access key, refer to Understanding and getting your AWS credentials. For details on Amazon regions, refer to Regions and Amazon SES.
Configure the following Amazon SES settings as necessary:
Create a new email server configuration. The settings for the new email server display. By default smtp is selected as the mailer driver.
Select the ses option, and then click Save. The settings for SES mailer driver display.
Enter your Amazon access key ID, and then click Save.
Enter your Amazon secret access key, and then click Save.
Enter your Amazon region, and then click Save.
Enter the email address that this server uses to send emails, and then click Save.
Enter the person or company name that sends the email, and then click Save.
Consider the following example that stores all settings for an Amazon SES mail server configuration:
Mailer driver: ses
Amazon Access Key ID: AmazonExampleID
Amazon Secret Access Key: ••••••••••••••••••
Amazon Default Region
: us-west-2
Sender Email: LouisCanera@BigCompany.com
Sender Name: LouisCaneras
Google Gmail is one of the most widely use email services in the world. Configure an email server to authenticate with Gmail Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) from which to send emails.
Refer to the following sections in this order to configure an email server for Gmail SMTP authentication:
Follow these steps to enable SMTP authentication for the Gmail email server settings:
Create a new email server configuration. Email server settings display. The settings for the SMTP mailer driver display.
Select the tls option if it is not currently selected. Click Save if you changed this setting.
Enter 587
, and then click Save.
Enter smtp.gmail.com
, and then click Save.
From the Gmail Redirect URI setting, copy the redirect URI for creating the Gmail SMTP OAuth integration. This redirect URI is automatically configured for this email server after selecting the SMTP Authentication Method setting. Google calls back to this URL after Google authenticates a valid Google app in ProcessMaker Platform.
Follow these steps to create Google credentials for the Gmail email server's OAuth client:
Log on to Google Cloud Console.
In the Name setting, enter a name for the credential. This name displays only in the Google Cloud console.
The URIs 1 setting displays to enter a valid URI from a Web server.
In the URIs 1 setting, enter the Gmail Redirect URI copied from your ProcessMaker Platform instance.
Click Create at the bottom of the page. Note that it may take between five (5) minutes to a few hours for Google Cloud to enable this OAuth client.
From the Your Client ID setting, copy the client ID, and then save it for later configuration in the Gmail email server.
From the Your Client Secret setting, copy the client secret, and then save it for later configuration in the Gmail email server.
Click OK to close the OAuth client created screen.
Follow these steps to authorize the Google account for the Gmail SMTP OAuth integration:
In the ProcessMaker settings, access the email server configured for the Gmail SMTP OAuth integration.
Enter the client ID copied from the Google Cloud OAuth client.
Enter the client secret copied from the Google Cloud OAuth client.
Select the Google account with which to allow the Google OAuth client to access your Gmail email server.
Mailgun is a transactional email service used by developers and information technology professionals to send, receive, and track emails using its powerful Application Program Interface (API).
Mailgun requires that your email server be registered with their service. Therefore, prior to configuring your email server to use Mailgun, ensure that have registered with their service and you have received the Mailgun domain name and secret for your email server.
To configure a Mailgun email server, the following information is needed:
Mailgun secret
Mailgun domain
To generate or locate this information, refer to Where Can I Find My API Key and SMTP Credentials?
Configure the following Mailgun settings as necessary:
Create a new email server configuration. The settings for the new email server display. By default smtp is selected as the mailer driver.
Select the mailgun option, and then click Save. The settings for the Mailgun email server display.
Enter your Mailgun domain, and then click Save.
Enter your Mailgun secret, and then click Save.
Enter the email address that this server uses to send emails, and then click Save.
Enter the person or company name that sends the email, and then click Save.
Consider the following example for a Mailgun mail server configuration:
Mailer driver: mailgun
Mailgun Domain: BigCompany.mailgun.org
Mailgun Secret
: •••••••••••••••••••••
Sender Email: LouisCanera@BigCompany.com
Sender Name: LouisCanera
Microsoft Office 365 is one of the most widely use email services in the world. Configure an email server to authenticate with Office 365 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) from which to send emails.
Refer to the following sections in this order to configure an email server for Office 365 SMTP authentication:
Follow these steps to enable SMTP authentication for the Office 365 email server settings:
Create a new email server configuration. Email server settings display. The settings for the SMTP mailer driver display.
Select the tls option if it is not currently selected. Click Save if you changed this setting.
Enter 587
, and then click Save.
Enter smtp.office365.com
, and then click Save.
From the Office 365 Redirect URI setting, copy the redirect URI for creating the Office 365 SMTP OAuth integration. This redirect URI is automatically configured for this email server after selecting the SMTP Authentication Method setting. Microsoft calls back to this URL after Microsoft authenticates a valid Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) application in ProcessMaker.
SMTP authentication must be enabled in Microsoft 365 Admin Center so the Microsoft email address configured in the email server can send emails. Otherwise, Microsoft 365 will block requests to the SMTP server.
Follow these steps to enable SMTP authentication in Microsoft 365 Admin Center:
Log on to Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
The list of active users in your Microsoft 365 account displays.
Select the Mail tab for within that user's information.
Select the Authenticated SMTP option if it is not already selected. Click the Save changes button if you enabled this option.
Follow these steps to create a Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) application:
Log on the Microsoft Azure Portal with the Microsoft email address configured on Microsoft Office 365 Admin Center.
The App registrations page displays.
In the Name setting, enter a name for this application. This is a required setting.
From the Supported account types setting, select which account type this application will support for your organization. If unsure, keep the default Accounts in this organizational directory only (FormShare only - Single tenant) option.
From the Redirect URI (optional) setting, do the following:
To the right of the Select a platform setting, enter the Office 365 redirect URI copied from your ProcessMaker instance.
From the Essentials section, click the Copy to Clipboard icon to copy beside the Application (Client) ID, and then save it for later configuration in the Office 365 email server.
From the Essentials section, click the Copy to Clipboard icon to copy beside the Directory (Tenant) ID, and then save it for later configuration in the Office 365 email server.
The Certificates & secrets page for this Azure AD application displays.
In the Description setting, enter a description for how this client secret will be used.
From the Expires setting, select at which date this client secret expires. After this date, a new client secret should be generated and updated in the PM4 instance 30 days before it is set to expire.
Click Add. A new client secret generates.
Follow these steps to authorize the Office 365 account for the Office 365 SMTP OAuth integration:
Ensure the following:
In the ProcessMaker settings, access the email server configured for the Office 365 SMTP OAuth integration.
Enter the Office 365 tenant ID copied from the Azure AD application.
Enter the Office 365 client ID copied from the Azure AD application.
Enter the Office 365 client secret copied from the Azure AD application.
Select the email address configured to send emails from the email server.
A Postmark is a fast and reliable application email service and trusted provider for application email needs. Follow Postmark to know more about the process of sending an email with an API.
To configure a Postmark email server, the Postmark token is required.
To generate or locate this information, see What are the Account and Server API Tokens, and SMTP Tokens?
Configure the following Postmark settings as necessary:
Create a new email server configuration. The settings for the new email server display. By default smtp is selected as the mailer driver.
Select the postmark option, and then click Save. The settings for the Postmark email server display.
Enter your Postmark token, and then click Save.
Enter the email address that this server uses to send emails, and then click Save.
Enter the person or company name that sends the email, and then click Save.
Consider the following example that stores all settings for a Postmark mail server configuration:
Mailer driver: postmark
Postmark token
: •••••••••••••••••••••
Sender Email: LouisCanera@BigCompany.com
Sender Name: LouisCanera
Sendmail is an open source software that uses the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) protocol to send emails. The Sendmail application must be installed on your server before you can use it as a mailer driver in ProcessMaker Platform. For more information on Sendmail, refer to Sendmail Open Source.
The Sendmail application must be installed before making these configurations.
Configure the following Sendmail settings as necessary:
Create a new email server configuration. The settings for the new email server display. By default smtp is selected as the mailer driver.
Select the sendmail option, and then click Save. The settings for the Sendmail email server display.
Enter the email address that this server uses to send emails, and then click Save.
Enter the person or company name that sends the email, and then click Save.
Consider the following example for a Sendmail mailer server configuration:
Mailer driver: sendmail
Sender Email: LouisCanera@BigCompany.com
Sender Name: LouisCanera
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an internet standard communication protocol for electronic email transmission. Configure the SMTP email server to use a secure or insecure connection.
To configure a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) mailer driver, the following information is needed:
SMTP server host name
SMTP server port
SMTP account username and password
Configure the following SMTP settings as necessary:
Create a new email server configuration. The settings for the new email server display. By default smtp is selected as the mailer driver and the settings for the SMTP email server display.
Enter the email address that this server uses to send emails, and then click Save.
Enter the person or company name that sends the email, and then click Save.
Enter the host SMTP application or service, and then click Save.
Enter the port number that this email server uses, and then click Save.
Select one of the following connection protocols options that this SMTP email server uses to send and receive emails:
no: Use no secure connection.
tls: Use Transport Layer Security (TLS). This is the default option.
ssl: Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.
Enter an active user account the SMTP email server uses, and then click Save.
Click Save.
Consider the following example for an SMTP mail server configuration:
Mailer driver: smtp
Sender Email: LouisCanera@BigCompany.com
Sender Name: LouisCanera
Server Host: smtp.mailtrap.io
Server Port: 25
Use secure connection: tls
User Account: c5ad636d522571
User Password
: •••••••••••••••••••••
Send a test email using an email server configuration to ensure that your email server configuration sends emails correctly.
Follow these steps to send a test email using an email server configuration:
View your Email Default Settings. The LDAP tab displays.
Locate the custom email server setting's tab if not testing the default email server settings.
In the Recipient's email address setting, enter the valid email address to send the test email. This is a required setting.
Click Test. Any errors that occur display below the Recipient's email address setting. If no errors display, review the Inbox for the email address to which the test email was sent.
Click the Settings icon from the left sidebar to view all settings.
Click the Edit icon to change a setting. For more information on different mail server configurations, see Edit an Email Server Configuration.
Click the Copy to Clipboard icon to copy the value of a setting.
Click the Clear icon to clear the value of a setting.
Click the Edit icon for the Mailer Alias Name setting. The Mailer alias name screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Mailer driver setting. The Mailer driver screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Mailer driver setting. The Mailer driver screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Amazon Access Key ID setting. The Amazon Access Key ID screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Amazon Secret Access Key setting. The Amazon Secret Access Key screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Amazon Default Region setting. The Amazon Default Region screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Sender Email setting. The Sender Email screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Sender Name setting. The Sender Name screen displays.
Click the SMTP Authentication Method setting. The SMTP Authentication Method screen displays.
Select the google option, and then click Save. The settings for the Gmail email server display. Until providing the Gmail client ID and Gmail client secret, the label Not Authorized displays in the SMTP Authentication Method setting.
Click the Edit icon for the Use Secure Connection setting. The Use secure connection screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Server Port setting. The Server Port screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Server Host setting. The Server Host screen displays.
From the Google Cloud menu, click APIs & Services, and then Credentials.
The Credentials page displays.
Click +Create Credentials, and then select the OAuth client ID option.
The Create OAuth client ID page displays.
Click the Application type drop-down menu, and then select the Web application option.
From the Authorized redirect URIs section, click the +Add URI button to allow requests from a Web browser.
The OAuth client created screen displays with the client ID and client secret for this Gmail SMTP OAuth integration with your ProcessMaker Platform instance.
Click the Edit icon for the Gmail Client ID setting. The Gmail Client ID screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Gmail Client Secret setting. The Gmail Client Secret screen displays.
Click the Authorize Account button at the top of the email server settings. The Sign in with Google screen displays.
Click the Allow button to grant authorization.
If the Google SMTP OAuth integration is configured correctly on your email server settings, then the email server settings display again, and the SMTP Authentication Method setting indicates that Google authorized this email server to use the Google Cloud Web application.
Click the Edit icon for the Mailer driver setting. The Mailer driver screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Mailgun Domain setting. The Mailgun Domain screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Mailgun Secret setting. The Mailgun Secret screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Sender Email setting. The Sender Email screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Sender Name setting. The Sender Name screen displays.
Click the SMTP Authentication Method setting. The SMTP Authentication Method screen displays.
Select the office365 option, and then click Save. The settings for the Office 365 email server display. Until providing the Office 365 client ID and Office 365 client secret, the label Not Authorized displays in the SMTP Authentication Method setting.
Click the Edit icon for the Use Secure Connection setting. The Use secure connection screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Server Port setting. The Server Port screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Server Host setting. The Server Host screen displays.
From the menu icon in the upper-left, select Users, then the Active users option.
Select the active user from whom to send emails from the email server. Details about that user display in the right-side panel.
From the Email apps column, select the Manage email apps link.
The Manage email apps screen displays.
Search for, and then select the App registrations service.
Below the App registrations page title, click the +New registration button.
The Register an application page displays.
From the Select a platform setting, select the Web option.
Click the Register button. The Azure platform creates the Azure AD application, and then displays information about the application.
From the Manage left-side menu, select the Certificates & secrets option.
Click the +New client secret button.
The Add a client secret screen displays.
Click the Copy to Clipboard icon to copy the client secret value, in the middle column, and then save it for later configuration in the Office 365 email server. Ensure to copy this client secret before refreshing or leaving this page.
Click the Edit icon for the Office 365 Tenant ID setting. The Office 365 Tenant ID screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Office 365 Client ID setting. The Office 365 Client ID screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Office 365 Client Secret setting. The Office 365 Client Secret screen displays.
Click the Authorize Account button at the top of the email server settings. The Pick an account screen displays.
Select the Consent on behalf of your organization checkbox if the Permissions requested screen displays, and then click the Accept button.
If the Office 365 SMTP OAuth integration is configured correctly on your email server settings, then the email server settings display again, and the SMTP Authentication Method setting indicates that Microsoft authorized this email server to use the Azure AD app.
Click the Edit icon for the Mailer driver setting. The Mailer driver screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Postmark token setting. The Postmark token screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Sender Email setting. The Sender Email screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Sender Name setting. The Sender Name screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Mailer driver setting. The Mailer driver screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Sender Email setting. The Sender Email screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Sender Name setting. The Sender Name screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Sender Email setting. The Sender Email screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Sender Name setting. The Sender Name screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Server Host setting. The Server Host screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Server Port setting. The Server Port screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the Use secure connection setting. The Use secure connection screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for for the User Account setting. The User Account screen displays.
Click the Edit icon for the User Password setting. The User Password screen displays.
Enter the password corresponding with the user account that this SMTP email server uses. The password is masked by default. Optionally, click the View Password iconto view the entered password; thereafter, click the Hide Password iconto hide the entered password.
Click the Send Test Email button. The Testing Email Server screen displays.