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openproject/doc/operation_guides/incoming_emails.md

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Incoming Emails

OpenProject is able to receive emails and create and update work packages and reply in forums depending on the content of the email.

Setup

Receiving emails is done via a rake task that fetches emails from an email server, parses them and performs actions depending on the content of the email. This rake task can be executed manually or automatically, e.g. with the help of a Cron job.

IMAP

The rake task redmine:email:receive_imap fetches emails via IMAP and parses them. Example:

bundle exec rake redmine:email:receive_imap host='imap.gmail.com' username='test_user' password='password' port=993 ssl=true allow_override=type,project project=test_project

Available arguments for this rake task that specify the email behavior are

key description
host address of the email server
username the name of the user that is used to connect to the email server
password the password of the user
port the port that is used to connect to the email server
ssl specifies if SSL should be used when connecting to the email server
folder the folder to fetch emails from (default: INBOX)
move_on_success the folder emails that were successfully parsed are moved to (instead of deleted)
move_on_failure the folder emails that were ignored are moved to

Available arguments that change how the work packages are handled:

key description
project identifier of the target project
tracker name of the target tracker
category name of the target category
priority name of the target priority
allow_override specifies which attributes may be overwritten though specified by previous options. Comma separated list

POP3

The rake task redmine:email:receive_pop3 fetches emails via IMAP and parses them. Example:

bundle exec rake redmine:email:receive_pop3 host='pop.gmail.com' username='test_user' password='password' port=995 allow_override=priority

Available options that specifiy the email behavior are:

key description
host address of the email server (default: 127.0.0.1)
username name of the user that is used to connect to the email server
password password of the user
port POP3 server port (default: 110)
apop use APOP authentication (default: false)
delete_unprocessed delete messages that were ignored (default: leave them on the server)

Available arguments that change how the work packages are handled:

key description
project identifier of the target project
tracker name of the target tracker
category name of the target category
priority name of the target priority
allow_override specifies which attributes may be overwritten though specified by previous options. Comma separated list

If you set a default value it will be used when creating a work package.

But then no other value is possible (even when you update the work package) unless you specify this with the use of allow_override. Some attributes (like type, status, priority) are only changeable if you specify this via allow_override. But notice: Some attributes have to specified in another format here, e.g. Assignee can be allowed to be overriden with allow_override=assigned_to.

Format of the Emails

Work Packages

Attributes

The Attributes you can use in your email are the same whether you create or update a work package. Only the project is a bit special: If you create a work package and do not specify the project via an environment variable you pass along to the rake task you have to put it into the email. If you specify it via an environment variable or you update a work package you do not need to specify it.

The subject of the work package that shall be created is derived from the subject of the email. The body of the email gets parsed and all lines that contain recognized keys are removed. What is left will become the description.

Other available keys for the email are:

Key Description Example
Project sets the project. Use the project identifier Project:test_project
Assignee sets the assignee. Use the email or login of the user Assignee:test.nutzer@example.org
Type sets the type type:Milestone
Version sets the version version:v4.1.0
Start date sets the start date start date:2015-02-28
Due date sets the due date
Done ratio sets the done ratio. Use a number Done ratio:40
Status sets the status Status:closed
priority sets the priority priority:High

If you want to set a custom field just use the name as it is displayed in your browser, e.g. Custom field:new value

Notice: The keys are not case-sensitive but the values you want to set are.

Attachments

If you create or update a work package via email the attachments of the email will be attached to the relevant work package.

Watchers

If you create a work package via email and sent it to another email (to or bcc) OpenProject will search for a user with this email and add it as watcher.

Truncate Emails

In the administator's setting you can specify lines after which an email will not be parsed anymore. That is useful if you want to reply to an email automatically sent to you from OpenProject. E.g. you could set it to --Truncate here-- and insert this line into your email below the updates you want to perform.