By default, EmpowerID is configured to use SMTP as the provider for email delivery. However, SMTP is not the only provider option. You can elect to use SendGrid (requires a SendGrid account with an API key), Exchange Web Services (on-premise or Office 365) or both SMTP and Exchange Web Services (EWS). If you choose to use more than one provider, you order the precedence by setting the priority for each. The provider with the lowest priority has the higher precedence. By default, SMTP has precedence. You can change this at any time.
You can configure EmpowerID to process emails differently, depending on your scenario. These scenarios include the following:
Simple SMTP relay – In this scenario, you specify the SMTP server that EmpowerID uses to send automated emails on behalf of the system and the default from address for all EmpowerID notifications. Examples of these types of emails include welcoming emails sent to new employees, emails sent to users when their passwords are reset by the help desk, and pending password expiration notifications, etc.
Authenticated SMTP Delivery – In this scenario, you specify an account that EmpowerID should use to connect to the SMTP server. This account must have password that is vaulted in EmpowerID and becomes the default From address used for any automated emails sent on behalf of the system. When configuring for authenticated SMTP delivery, you have the option to specify whether to use SSL, TLS and the port used for TLS.
Exchange Web Services (EWS) – In this scenario, you specify the account that EmpowerID should use to connect to EWS, as well as the URL to the EWS server. As with configuring EmpowerID for authenticated SMTP delivery, you need to vault the password for the user account.
SendGrid – In this scenario, you specify EmpowerID use SendGrid to send automated emails behalf of the system. To use SendGrid, you need to have a SendGrid account with an API key and set up domain authentication in SendGrid to allow SendGrid to send emails originating from EmpowerID. Please see SendGrid’s documentation for further information on configuring SendGrid before selecting SendGrid for sending emails in EmpowerID.
Email approvals – In this scenario, you configure EmpowerID to give resource owners and other delegated approvers the ability to respond to Access Requests from their email clients, apart from interacting directly with the request in the EmpowerID Web interface. This allows users to respond to requests when away from their desks. To do so, they simply reply to the email with "Approved" or "Rejected." EmpowerID reads the response and submits the decision.
On the navbar, expand Infrastructure Admin > EmpowerID Servers and Settings and select Email Settings.
Select Exchange EWS from the Email Delivery Mode drop-down.
On the Email Settings page, edit the following settings:
Office 365 / Exchange Mailbox for Send and Receive — This specifies the user account EmpowerID uses to authenticate to the EWS server as well as to send automated emails on behalf of the system. This account needs to have its password vaulted in EmpowerID.
Office 365 / Exchange Web Service URL — This specifies the URL to the EWS server. If you are using Office 365, the value of the URL should be
https://outlook.office365.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx.
Click Save.
Prerequisites
In order to use SendGrid as the Email provider, you need to have a SendGrid account with an API key and set up domain authentication in SendGrid to allow SendGrid to send emails originating from EmpowerID. Please see SendGrid’s documentation for further information.
After setting up SendGrid as outlined by their documentation, you can configure SendGrid as the Email provider in EmpowerID by doing the following:
On the navbar, expand Infrastructure Admin > EmpowerID Servers and Settings and select Email Settings.
Enter the following information in the Email Settings form:
Email Delivery Mode – SendGrid
SendGrid API Key – Your SendGrid API key
Click Save.
For EmpowerID to process email approvals, the task or operation being approved or rejected must have the EnableBulkApproval set to true. This is set in Workflow Studio.
If you are using SMTP, follow the procedure outlined in the authenticated SMTP Delivery section, including vaulting a user account; otherwise, following the procedure outlined in the EWS section. After completing those steps, do the below steps.
On the navbar, expand Infrastructure Admin > EmpowerID Servers and Settings and select Email Settings.
On the Email settings page, select Enable Approve by Email Reply.
Click Save.
On the navbar, expand Privileged Access and select Shared Credentials.
Select the All Shared Credentials tab and then click the Add button.
This opens the Password Vault Data dialog.
Enter a name for the shared credential in the Name and Display Name fields.
Click the Shared Credential Policy drop-down and select the appropriate one to link to the credentials. Here are the default options for non-computer credentials:
Non-Computer Creds - Multi-Check-Out - No Password Reset — Select this policy to create credentials for an account where more than one check out is allowed and you do not want EmpowerID to reset the password when a user checks in the credentials.
Non-Computer Creds - No Approval, No Multi Check-Out with Password Reset — Select this policy to create credentials for an account where more than one check out is not allowed, no approval is required, and you want EmpowerID to reset the password when a user checks in the credentials.
Non-Computer Creds - No Multi-Check-Out with Password Reset — Select this policy to create credentials for an account where more than one check out is not allowed and you want EmpowerID to reset the password when a user checks in the credentials. Please note that this policy type is only valid for use with user accounts with passwords that have been vaulted in EmpowerID. The user account must belong to a domain or account store that has been inventoried by EmpowerID.
Service Account with Scheduled Password Reset — Select this policy for credentials for a Windows Service account or IIS App pool identity.
When you select this policy, EmpowerID resets the password against all Windows servers in your environment that have Windows Services or App Pools. Please note that this policy type is only valid for use with service accounts with passwords that have been vaulted in EmpowerID. The service account must belong to a domain or account store that has been inventoried by EmpowerID.
Underneath Location, click Select a Location, then select a location for the credential and click Save.
Enter a description in the Description field.
In the User Name field, enter the user name for the account you are vaulting.
In the Password field, enter the password for the account you are vaulting.
Optionally, enter any notes in the Notes field.
Select Enabled.
Click Save.
If you have not yet entered your master password for this session, EmpowerID prompts you to do so. Enter your master password and click OK.
If you have not yet created a master password for yourself, EmpowerID prompts you to do so. Enter a password in the Password and Confirm Password fields and click OK.
