---
title: "Configuring Email and SMS Settings"
slug: "configuring-email-and-sms-settings-6"
tags: ["8.2", "Portal"]
updated: 2026-02-22T06:10:10Z
published: 2026-02-22T06:10:10Z
canonical: "kb.ctera.com/configuring-email-and-sms-settings-6"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.ctera.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Configuring Email and SMS Settings

You can configure global email and SMS settings that will be inherited by all servers. For information on overriding these settings on a per-server basis, see [Editing Server Settings](/v1/docs/editing-server-settings-5).

**Warning**

Microsoft have announced that they are phasing out support for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) connections that use basic authentication; username and password authentication. Attempting to send email using just a username and password, even with TLS, will fail and only modern authentication (OAuth 2.0) will be valid. To send mail through Microsoft 365 without basic authentication, you need to authenticate with Azure Entra ID and obtain an OAuth token. To resolve this change, CTERA requires [setting up an SMTP relay server](/v1/docs/setup-smtp-relay-server) to act as an intermediary mail server.

**To configure email and SMS settings:**

1. In the global administration view, select **Settings** in the navigation pane. The **Control Panel** page is displayed. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-HFXBSG6Q.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A28%3A14Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A28%3A14Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=dJlfutE0qiQzOHNmkCf2HyickokR56VaCHG0siSrkho%3D)
2. Select **Email and SMS** under **NOTIFICATIONS AND LOGS** in the **Control Panel** page. The **Email and SMS** window is displayed. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-B54P9R2F.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A28%3A14Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A28%3A14Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=dJlfutE0qiQzOHNmkCf2HyickokR56VaCHG0siSrkho%3D)
3. Complete the fields. **Enable Email Messaging** – Enable sending email messages from the CTERA Portal to users. The **SMTP Server**, **SMTP Port**, and **Sender Email** fields are enabled.

**Enable TLS** – Use Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption for sending email messages from the CTERA Portal to users. **Server requires authentication** – The SMTP server requires authentication. The **Username** and **Password** fields are enabled.

**Enable SMS Messaging** – Enable sending passcodes via text message to protect access to guest invitations. To effectively enable SMS messaging, you must register with an SMS gateway and then enter the sender email and destination domain in the fields below. SMS messaging must be enabled here in order for the **SMS** option to be displayed among the authentication options in the [Collaboration](/v1/docs/configuring-default-settings-for-virtual-portals-2) section of the **Virtual Portal Settings** page.
  - **SMTP Server** – The outgoing mail server address for sending email messages from the CTERA Portal to users.
  - **SMTP Port** – The port number for sending email messages from the CTERA Portal to users.
  - **Sender Email** – The email address to use in the From field of notifications sent to global administrators by the global portal.  

For example: "support@example.com".
  - **Username** – The user name that the CTERA Portal uses when authenticating to the SMTP server.
  - **Password** – The password that the CTERA Portal uses when authenticating to the SMTP server.
  - **Sender Email** – The sender email address registered with the SMS gateway.
  - **Destination Domain** – The DNS suffix of the sender email.
4. Click **Save**.

**To validate SMTP mail server settings:**

1. Click **Test Email** to send a test email. Verify that you receive the test mail at the email address defined in your administrator user account.
2. If you changed the SMTP settings, restart the portal servers in order for the changes to take effect.