SmarterMail Help
Community Knowledge Base

SmarterMail and WHMCS

Overall Description

SmarterMail for WHMCS consists of two complementary open-source modules, developed in PHP, that integrate SmarterMail as an add-on into WHMCS. It includes the ability to create packages based off specific SmarterMail features such as mailbox counts, disk space allocations, etc. It also offers domain administrators and end users some management capabilities. For example, domain administrators can add users, add aliases, and more while end users can see some basic information about their accounts as well as log directly in to SmarterMail.

This is a brand new set of modules developed by SmarterTools that replace the two previous WHMCS modules SmarterTools developed. As a result, anyone transitioning to the new modules will need to create new products within WHMCS. Customers who use products configured using the older module can coexist with customers created using the new modules, but for the sake of consistency we recommend those customers be moved over to new products created using this newly developed solution.

NOTE: As both modules work together they both need to be installed.

Goals

The primary goals of the integratino of Smartermail are twofold:

  1. Allow businesses to create email packages based off configurable options within SmarterMail, such as individual mailbox size, the ability to synchronize to email clients and mobile devices with Exchange-like features, etc., and
  2. Reduce both domain and server administrator labor. With the module installed, the process of setting up a SmarterMail server, then managing domains and accounts on the server, is automated through WHMCS.

The package provides the following services:

Admin Area Features

  • Create Domain
  • Suspend Domain
  • Unsuspend Domain
  • Terminate Domain
  • Change Package
  • Change Password

Client Area Features

  • Manage Mailboxes: Add, delete, modify settings, change passwords
  • Manage User Aliases: add/delete

    • Prerequisites

    • Existing installation of WHMCS
    • Existing installation of WHM/CPanel
    • Licensed installation of SmarterMail Build 100.0.8495 or above

    Installing the SmarterMail Module

    Installing the SmarterMail module is no different than installing any modules within WHMCS. Below are the steps necessary to get a SmarterMail installation added to WHMCS.

    1. Extract the SmarterMail module
    2. Place contents in your WHMCS directory under "..modules/addons/smartermail"
    3. Navigate to http(s)://your_WHMCS_hostname.com/admin/configaddonmods.php
    4. Click "Activate" next to the SmarterMail Provisioning Module
    5. Go back to http(s)://your_WHMCS_hostname.com/admin/configaddonmods.php
    6. Click "Add New Add On"
    7. Set desired add-on settings and make sure you attach to at least one product/service
    8. Next, find the Addon ID
      • If this is the first add-on created in this WHMCS instance, then the ID will be 1.
      • If there are multiple add-ons in WHMCS, you may need to look in the database to find out the SmarterMail add-on ID.
        • To find the add-on ID in the database, use a MySQL database tool like MySQL Workbench
        • Connect to your database and run the following query: 
          SELECT addontable.id FROM yourDatabaseName.tblAddons as addontable WHERE addontable.name=yourAddonName
          Make sure you replace 'yourDatabaseName' with the name of your database and 'yourAddonName' with the name of the add-on you created in Steps 6 - 7.
    9. Go back to http(s)://your_WHMCS_hostname.com/admin/configaddonmods.php
    10. Click "Configure" (it's to the right of "Activate")
    11. Fill in the Addon ID you found in Step 8
    12. Check "Module Logging" (you can turn this off later when everything is running smoothly or simply leave it running indefinitely)
    13. Check "SSL" if your WHMCS address begins with 'https://'
    14. If you want to give specific Roles the ability to modify the SmarterMail servers from within the management interface of WHMCS, select them from the list
    15. Click "Save Changes" and that's it! The SmarterMail module is installed and you can now configure SmarterMail servers

    Configuring Servers

    Once the SmarterMail module is installed, you can begin adding new mail servers to your WHMCS installation and begin provisioning domains and mailboxes within SmarterMail.

    1. Navigate to http(s)://your_WHMCS_hostname.com/admin/configaddonmods.php?module=smartermail
    2. Here, you're presented with the SmarterMail server interface. This is where you create, suspend, set max domain counts and delete SmarterMail servers
    3. Click "New Server"
    4. Fill in the following settings:
      • Server Name - The friendly name for your SmarterMail server within WHMCS
      • Server URL - The domain name and URL of the server. (E.g., https://mail.YourDomain.com)
      • Domain Path - The path on the server where you store the Domain folders. (E.g., c:\\SmarterMail\Domains)
      • Server Admin Username - The administrator username for this server
      • Server Admin Password - The password associated with the Server Admin Username
      • Max Domains - The maximum number of domains allowed on the server
      • Status - The status of the server. Note: Only "Active" servers will allow provisioning of domains
    5. Click "Submit" to create the new server
    6. You can now test provisioning domains and accounts in SmarterMail
    7. If you experience problems, and Module Logging is enabled, you can go to http(s)://your_WHMCS_hostname.com/admin/addonmodules.php?module=smartermail to check the error logs
    Copyright © SmarterTools Inc. All rights reserved.