SMTP Authentication Fails on Port 587 in FID Console

Applies To

FID 7.4.14 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux release 8.9 (Ootpa)

Short Summary

SMTP authentication fails when configuring Email Alerts on the secure port 587, resulting in "Could not connect to SMTP host" and "Unsupported or unrecognized SSL message" errors. The configuration in monitoring.properties must match the console settings and use STARTTLS.

Symptoms

- Error in logs: `javax.mail.MessagingException: Could not connect to SMTP host: smtp.company.com, port: 587`

- Error in logs: `javax.net.ssl.SSLException: Unsupported or unrecognized SSL message.`

- Connectivity works via command line (e.g., telnet or curl to port 587) but fails in the FID console

- The previous non-secure port 25 worked, but the secure port 587 does not

Cause

SMTP settings in the FID console (port, credentials, STARTTLS) do not match the underlying `/radiantone/v1/cluster/config/monitoring.properties` file in Zookeeper, causing connection failures despite network connectivity.

Resolution Steps

1. In the FID console, navigate to **Email Alerts Setting** and update:

- SMTP Host: `smtp.company.com` (or your server)

- Port: `587`

- Enable authentication with a valid username and password

- Enable **STARTTLS** (required for port 587; do not use SSL)

2. Enable **Expert Mode** in Zookeeper, then verify and update `/radiantone/v1/cluster/config/monitoring.properties` to match console values (e.g., correct port 587, credentials, STARTTLS enabled).

3. Restart FID services to apply changes.

4. Send a test email from the console.

Validation / How to confirm

- Send a test email from the FID Email Alerts Setting; confirm success without errors.

- Check logs (`/vds_server/logs/vds_server.log` and `web.log`) for no connection or SSL exceptions.

- Verify `monitoring.properties` reflects port 587 and STARTTLS.

Notes / Known limitations

- Port 587 requires STARTTLS, not implicit SSL (port 465 not supported in this case).

- Credentials do not need to be in the Radiant directory; use SMTP relay account details.

- Ensure the firewall allows outbound port 587 and the server IP is permitted for relay.