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Email (SMTP) Setup

Your exchange sends emails to users for sign-up, login confirmation, security checks, deposits and withdrawals. Set up email before you open your exchange to users. You have two options:

  • Built-in HollaEx email (recommended): set up on the Hosting page. Emails are sent from your own domain and delivered by Mailgun. You don't need an email provider account.
  • Your own SMTP provider: enter the SMTP details from a provider such as AWS SES, Mailgun or SendGrid in Operator Controls.

Either way, you can then send a test email and customize the emails your exchange sends.

Built-in HollaEx email​

You need:

  • an exchange that is live and running. Before go-live the Hosting page shows "Email configuration is available once the exchange is live", and the Domain tab isn't available while the exchange is stopped;
  • the owner, admin or tech role in the dashboard (other members can only see the email status);
  • a domain you own, with access to its DNS settings. Emails are sent from this domain.

Steps:

  1. Open the Hosting page (Exchange Host in the sidebar) and go to the Domain tab.
  2. Under Set up email, enter your domain in Email domain (for example example.com) and click Register domain.
  3. The Email DNS records window shows the records to add. Each has a Type, Name and Value, with copy buttons. Add all of them at your DNS provider.
  4. Wait a few minutes for DNS to propagate, then click Verify DNS. If you see "Domain not yet verified. Please check your DNS records and try again.", check the records match exactly and try again later.
  5. When the domain is verified, click Apply email settings. The settings can take a few minutes to take effect.

The Domain tab then shows Email active with your domain. To use a different domain, click Change. If you need to restart a setup that hasn't been applied, click Start over.

If you're stuck on DNS records, open a Hosting ticket from Support in the dashboard, or email support@hollaex.com.

Using your own SMTP provider​

If you prefer your own email provider, enter its SMTP details in your exchange:

  1. Open Operator Controls → Exchange → Configuration → Email.
  2. Under Email Configuration, fill in:
    • Sender email: the address your emails come from, on a domain verified with your provider.
    • SMTP server, SMTP port, SMTP username and SMTP password: from your provider.
  3. Click Save. If you see "Provide the password again", re-enter the SMTP password before saving.
  4. Send a test email.

Most providers need you to verify your sending domain by adding DNS records (usually SPF and DKIM) before they deliver mail. The details for common providers are below. Check your provider's own documentation for current values.

AWS SES​

  1. In the AWS console, open Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) and create an identity for the domain you send from. Turn on DKIM.
  2. Add the DNS records SES shows at your DNS provider. The identity is marked verified once SES detects them.
  3. New SES accounts are in sandbox mode, which only sends to verified addresses. Request production access before going live.
  4. Create SMTP credentials in the SES SMTP settings and save them. They are shown once.
  5. In Operator Controls, use:
    • SMTP server: the SES SMTP endpoint for your AWS region, for example email-smtp.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com. See the AWS list of SES endpoints.
    • SMTP port: 587
    • SMTP username and SMTP password: the SES SMTP credentials (not your AWS access keys).

Mailgun​

  1. Sign up at mailgun.com and add your sending domain under Domains. Mailgun recommends a subdomain such as mg.example.com.
  2. Add the DNS records Mailgun shows at your DNS provider, then verify the domain in Mailgun.
  3. Open the domain's SMTP credentials in Mailgun and create or reset a password.
  4. In Operator Controls, use:
    • SMTP server: smtp.mailgun.org (smtp.eu.mailgun.org for an EU-region domain)
    • SMTP port: 587
    • SMTP username and SMTP password: the Mailgun SMTP credentials for your domain.

SendGrid​

  1. Sign up at sendgrid.com and set up Sender Authentication for your domain (recommended) or a single sender address.
  2. Create an API key with at least Mail Send permission and save it. It is shown once.
  3. In Operator Controls, use:
    • SMTP server: smtp.sendgrid.net
    • SMTP port: 587
    • SMTP username: apikey (the literal word)
    • SMTP password: your API key

Gmail (testing only)​

Gmail is fine for a quick test but not for a live exchange: it has low daily sending limits and sends from a Gmail address rather than your domain.

  1. Turn on 2-Step Verification for the Google account.
  2. Create an app password. Google no longer supports "less secure apps", so your normal password won't work.
  3. In Operator Controls, use:
    • Sender email: your Gmail address
    • SMTP server: smtp.gmail.com
    • SMTP port: 465
    • SMTP username: your full Gmail address
    • SMTP password: the app password

Testing your email setup​

  1. Open Operator Controls → Exchange → Configuration → Email. If you were already signed in when you set up email, sign out and in again to see the new settings.
  2. Under Email Configuration, click SEND ADMIN TEST EMAIL.
  3. Enter the address to send the test to and send it. You should see "Your test email is on the way!", and the email arrives from your sending domain.

If the test fails, the error from your mail server is shown. Check the server, port, username and password, and that your sending domain is verified with your provider. For built-in HollaEx email, check the domain shows Email active on the Hosting page. You can also check the API logs on the Hosting page's Monitoring tab: search for SMTP.

Once email works, you can customize your email templates and set up audit copies.