How to Configure SSL Certificates for EA SMTP Server¶

Steps to Configure a Trusted SSL Certificate¶

1. Obtain a trusted SSL certificate from a recognized Certificate Authority (CA). You will typically receive a certificate file and a private key file.
2. The certificate dns name should match the domain name used by your EA SMTP Server for sending and receiving emails. This ensures that clients connecting to your server will trust the SSL certificate.
3. Install the SSL certificate to local machine certificate store.
4. Open the EA SMTP Server Manager and select your Receive Connector.
5. Select the SSL Certificates from the certificate list directly.
6. Save the changes, no restart is required for the new SSL certificate to take effect.

Select certificate based on Server name (FQDN) automatically¶

EA SMTP Server can automatically select the appropriate SSL certificate based on the server name (FQDN) used by the client to connect. Ensure that the certificate’s DNS name matches the server’s FQDN to enable this feature.

The advantage of this feature is that it simplifies SSL certificate management, especially when your server hosts multiple domains. You do not need to manually select the certificate for each connector; the server will automatically choose the correct one based on the server name specified in the Receive Connector.

Or the certificate is renewed, the server will automatically use the updated certificate as long as the DNS name matches the server’s FQDN. This removes manual steps for certificate renewal and replacement in EA SMTP Server. But you still need to renew the certificate in the certificate store manually.

Create Self-Signed SSL Certificate for Internal Use¶

If you only use EA SMTP Server internally within your organization and do not require a trusted SSL certificate from a recognized CA, you can create a self-signed SSL certificate for internal use.

You can use PowerShell to create a self-signed SSL certificate. For example:

# Create a self-signed SSL certificate for internal use
$cert = New-SelfSignedCertificate -HashAlgorithm sha256  -KeyAlgorithm RSA -KeyLength 2048 -Subject "OU=Network Security,O=Your company,CN=your.internal.domain" -DnsName "your.internal.domain", "localhost" -CertStoreLocation "Cert:\LocalMachine\My" -NotAfter (Get-Date).AddYears(20)

# Show certificate thumbprint
$cert.Thumbprint

# Export the cert to a cer
Export-Certificate -Cert "Cert:\LocalMachine\My\$($cert.Thumbprint)" -FilePath "your.internal.domain.cer"

Replace “your.internal.domain” with the internal domain name used by your EA SMTP Server. This command will generate a self-signed certificate and store it in the local machine certificate store.

The exported .cer file can then be used to install the certificate on the client machines that need to trust the internal SSL certificate.

# Import the exported certificate on the client machine
Import-Certificate -FilePath "your.internal.domain.cer" -CertStoreLocation "Cert:\LocalMachine\Root"

Above steps will require administrative privileges on both the server and client machines to create, export, and import the SSL certificate.

Finally, you can select the SSL certificate you created in the Receive Connector settings of the EA SMTP Server to enable secure communication.

Free for non-commercial use¶

EA SMTP Server is free for non-commercial use. You can request a trial license every 60 days, and each trial license is valid for 90 days. When your trial license is close to expiring, you can apply for a new one to continue using the server for non-commercial projects.

Free Email Support¶

Not enough? Please contact our technical support team.

Support@EmailArchitect.NET

Remarks

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