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Create a Send connector to route outbound email through a smart host

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Applies to: Exchange Server 2013

In some situations you may want to route email through a third-party smart host, such as in an instance where you have a network appliance that you want to perform policy checks on outbound messages.

Note

The third-party smart host must use SMTP for transport. If it does not, you should use a Foreign connector or Delivery Agent connector.

Interested in scenarios where this procedure is used? See the following topics:

What do you need to know before you begin?

  • Estimated time to complete: 15 minutes

  • You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure or procedures. To see what permissions you need, see the "Send connectors" entry in the Mail flow permissions topic.

  • See Deploy a new installation of Exchange 2013 if you are beginning your installation. After the installation you can use the steps in this topic to create your outbound connector.

  • For information about keyboard shortcuts that may apply to the procedures in this topic, see Keyboard shortcuts in the Exchange admin center.

Tip

Having problems? Ask for help in the Exchange forums. Visit the forums at Exchange Server.

Use the EAC to create a Send connector to route outbound email through a smart host

  1. In the EAC, navigate to Mail flow > Send connectors, and then click Add Add Icon..

  2. In the New send connector wizard, specify a name for the send connector and then select Custom for the Type. You typically choose this selection when you want to route messages to computers not running Microsoft Exchange Server 2013. Click Next.

  3. Choose Route mail through smart hosts, and then click Add Add Icon.. In the Add smart host window, specify the IP address, such as 192.168.100.1, or the fully qualified domain name (FQDN), such as contoso.com. Click Save.

    For Smart host authentication, choose the type of authentication required by the smart host. If you choose Basic authentication, you must provide a username and password.

    Note

    If you choose Basic authentication, we recommend that you use an encrypted connection because the username and password are sent in clear text.

  4. Under Address space, click Add Add Icon.. In the Add domain window, make sure SMTP is listed as the Type. For Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), enter * to specify that this send connector applies to messages sent to any domain. Click Save.

  5. For Source server, click Add Add Icon. In the Select a server window, choose a server and click Add Add Icon. Click OK.

  6. Click Finish.

Once you have created the send connector, it appears in the Send connector list.

How do you know this worked?

To verify that you have successfully created a Send connector to route outbound email through a smart host, send a message from a user in your organization (you can use the Outlook Web App) to the domain you specified for the Address space. If the recipient receives the message, you've successfully configured the send connector.

For more information

Create a Send connector for email sent to the Internet

Send connectors