Email Service

The Crows Nest Email Service can be installed on on any Windows PC. There are two components installed. The first is a service that will show up in the Services list in Windows. The second is an app that is used to configure the service. The service should start automatically after installation should also be configured to restart after a reboot.

The service has two functions:

Send messages saved in the notification queue to an SMTP server
Generate messages in the notification queue for scheduled Alerts

The message queue is populated from two sources. Some messages are event based and are generated by user interaction with one of the Crows Nest apps. These are configured in the main desktop app under Options->Notification. Other messages are generated by the Email Service after configuring Alerts. Create and configure Alerts in the main desktop app under Settings->Alerts.

If the Email Service is stopped then messages for scheduled Alerts cannot be created until the service is running again. Any Alerts that should have occurred while the service was stopped will not occur.

Installing the Email Service

The Email Service is an optional feature in the same setup file used to install the other desktop apps. While installing Crows Nest, turn on the Email Service feature on the Custom Setup step (see pic)

If you have already installed Crows Nest and did not include this feature you can add it using the following steps:

Navigate: Windows Start Menu > Settings > Apps > Apps & features
Select Crows Nest > Modify
View Crows Nest Setup window > Setup Wizard > Next > Change
Click on Email Service icon > drop-down menu > select Will be installed on local hard drive
Click Next > Change to install

Configure the Email Service

After changing any settings on the configuration window Stop and Start the service for them to take affect.

To open the configuration window find and run Crows Nest Email Service in the Apps list of the Start Menu

Configuration options are explained below:

Option	Explanation

Option	Explanation
SQL Server Settings	The Server address and Database name used to connect to a SQL Server instance and access a message queue. If you don’t know these you can match these settings from the Crows Nest DB Utility or from a Connection on the main desktop App
Send Method	IIS = Connects anonymously to an SMTP server running on the same machine running under IIS. If you’re running a Windows OS version that allows you to install a local SMTP server under IIS then you can configure it to relay emails from the server. You may need to add some SPF records to avoid notifications from being rejected by spam filters. Using this method hides the other settings which are not needed. The ‘From’ and ‘Reply To’ fields will be populated as outlined below if ‘Use as Sender’ is Unchecked. Network = Connects to an SMTP server using an address and port number and entered credentials
Host	The network address of an SMTP server using a domain or IP address
Port	The port number of the Host to connect to
Username & Password	Credentials used to connect to the Host
SSL	Enables Secure Socket Layer security, if supported by your email server.
Use as Sender	Determines how the ‘From’ and ‘Reply To’ fields are populated on the email: Checked = The ‘From’ field of the email will be the same one entered on the service configuration window. If an employee triggers a notification and has an email address configured for their account it will be populated in the ‘Reply To’ field on the email, otherwise it will be left blank. If an Alert is created in this scenario, the ‘Reply To’ field will be blank. Unchecked = The ‘From’ field of the email will be created using the name and email address of the person who triggered the notification. This means the credentials provided in the service configuration window will require relay permissions. If the employee that triggered the notification does not have an email address configured, the name and email address for the ‘From’ field will be what’s configured in the main app under Options->Notification-->Server Name and Server Address. The ‘Reply To’ field is not used. If an Alert is created in this scenario, it will always use the Server Name and Server Address.
Start Service	Click to attempt to Start the Service
Stop Service	Click to attempt to Stop the Service

Troubleshooting

The Email Service will write status and error messages to the Event Log on the PC where it’s installed. To view the messages open the Event Viewer and find the log named Crows Nest under the Applications folder. Other Crows Nest apps also write to this log so look for Crows Nest Email as the Source to identify messages from this service.

If error occur while sending a message to an SMTP server they are also logged in the notification queue and the message will remain in the queue until the issue is addressed. While messages are stuck in the queue all users who log into the main desktop app will receive a popup message after logging in and every hour after until the messages are cleared.

For more information on clearing stuck messages see Messages Not Sent Error