Question about DBMail

Question

Question about DBMail

NewBornDBA2017

SSCarpal Tunnel

Points: 4832
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May 19, 2017 at 2:15 pm

#336992

I just asked my system admin to provide me with the SMTP server details so I can use that info to configure DB mail since we don't have that setup. He asked me how it works like how SQL Server uses this info to send out alerts and I made that "NO CLUE" face. Can someone please help me understand how SQL Server uses DB mail to send out alerts to users? Just curious.

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Henrico Bekker One Orange Chip Points: 27652 More actions · Answer 1

Well, SQL won't *just* send out alerts. You need to set them up.
Configuring SMTP relay in a mail profile is the first step.

Here is how to set up a mail profile: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/database-mail/configure-database-mail

Then you can configure your own alerts to send email using sp_send_dbmail, or configure an Operator in SQL Agent Properties to receive certain alerts.
Setup of built-in SQL Alerts overview here: https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/1523/how-to-setup-sql-server-alerts-and-email-operator-notifications/

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Ed Wagner SSC Guru Points: 287026 More actions · Answer 2

Database mail isn't a mail server - that's Exchange. Database mail needs a mail server because it can't send email. It builds up what it needs and sends it off to the mail server, which is what actually sends the email. You provide the SMTP server as a part of the mail profile. Once you get it set up and tested, you can configure alerts using the link Henrico posted above.

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Lowell SSC Guru Points: 323518 More actions · Answer 3

DatabaseMail , in a way, is exactly like any other mail client...office365,ThunderBird, Google Mail, etc. it just uses a connection to a real mail server to forward an email, which the mail server then distributes.

you provide it with the connection info:

servername
port
http or https
username
password.

if that stuff is set up, then you are able to use it to send mail, and after you set up operators to receive job failures, alerts, or emails you send via sp_send_dbmail

Lowell

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