Send server notices via external email account

gwc_wd

• February 18, 2016 12:52

I have spent several days trying to find a discussion of this so if there is a thread I missed please point me to it, but everything I've found that appears related ends up speaking to a different issue. I want the email server disabled on my WHM VPS. I do not server email from it and it simply represents another attack surface. The problem this raises is that cPanel uses the bundled email server to dispatch server notifications. I would like to have it send those notifications by authenticating to a third-party email account. If you are familiar with WordPress, there is a plugin that does this called WP-SMTP. Basically instead of acting like a full blown email server it acts like an email client, using sendmail and not Exim etc. Is there a simple way to do this with cPanel/WHM? Don't be shy about mocking me if it is somewhere obvious. I sometimes look so hard for something that my vision fails. .g.

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  cPanelMichael

  • February 18, 2016 19:07

  Hello :) Have you considered using a service such as PushBullet when configuring notifications via "WMH Home " Server Contacts " Contact Manager"? It's documented at: Thank you.

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  gwc_wd

  • February 18, 2016 20:52

  Have you considered using a service such as PushBullet when configuring notifications via "WMH Home " Server Contacts " Contact Manager"? It's documented at:

  
  Honestly to use the phrase "it's documented at..." attached to the link provided is an abuse of the word "documented." I appreciate your effort to help and I will spend some time looking into this service which is entirely unrelated to the question I asked. Because your nick starts with "cPanel" is it accurate to understand that you work for cPanel? If so, can you find a colleague who knows the answer to my question? I want to have notifications sent from cPanel/WHM, without having to have a full blown email server installed and active, a pretty-small purpose. This means being able to set the credentials for an external email account which will then be used to transmit the notices. I am quite astonished that cPanel, as a business, has never considered the implications of automatically requiring an active email server to accomplish the undemanding task of sending an email notification.

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  gwc_wd

  • February 18, 2016 20:57

  I am quite astonished that cPanel, as a business, has never considered the implications of automatically requiring an active email server to accomplish the undemanding task of sending an email notification. And by that, given the number of years they have been in business, in the specific niche in which they earn their living, I mean they should be embarrassed. This should not be a complicated issue. It should be an obvious one.

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  cPanelMichael

  • February 18, 2016 21:49

  I want the email server disabled on my WHM VPS. I do not server email from it and it simply represents another attack surface. The problem this raises is that cPanel uses the bundled email server to dispatch server notifications. I would like to have it send those notifications by authenticating to a third-party email account. If you are familiar with WordPress, there is a plugin that does this called WP-SMTP. Basically instead of acting like a full blown email server it acts like an email client, using sendmail and not Exim etc. Is there a simple way to do this with cPanel/WHM?

  
  Hello :) I apologize if I misunderstood your initial request. I was under the impression that your first choice was to keep the email service disabled, and was simply offering an alternative that would allow you to do that. Pushbullet will still send you email notifications, but through the PushBullet service and API. As for documentation on PushBullet itself, information is available on the official website: Pushbullet - Your devices working better together That said, if you prefer to enable the email service, I'm happy to point you to the right direction. I would like to have it send those notifications by authenticating to a third-party email account. If you are familiar with WordPress, there is a plugin that does this called WP-SMTP. Basically instead of acting like a full blown email server it acts like an email client, using sendmail and not Exim etc.
  There's no native support for such as feature in cPanel/WHM, however you could consider implementing a custom Exim ACL rule that blocks email activity for all domain names except for your server's root email account (it's the one that handles the notifications). Thank you.

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