Administrators

SmarterMail allows a single installation to have multiple system administrator logins, each with their own unique login and password. Once the page loads, you'll see a list of the administrators that are set up for the SmarterMail installation.

Administrators

Initially, there will be a single "Primary" administrator showing. As new administrative accounts are created, they will also be displayed. By default, the following columns are displayed:

Account - The login name associated with the account.
Name - The friendly name associated with the account.
Type - The account type: Primary Administrator or Administrator.
Manage Admins - If the administrative user has been granted permissions to create/manage other administrative accounts, a checkbox will appear next to their name.
IP Restrictions - If the administrative user is restricted to connecting from a specific IP address, or an IP range, a checkbox will appear next to their name.
Created - The creation date/time of the administrative user.
Enabled - Whether the specific user is enabled or disabled. No checkmark means disabled.
Last Login - The date/time the specific user last logged into.

Password Requirements

SmarterTools gives primary system administrators the ability to set password requirements for any other system administrator that's created. This can help ensure that administrators create strong passwords since their accounts hold the keys to the entire SmarterMail system.

Requirements

Minimum Password Length - Enter the minimum number of characters the password must have.
At least one number - Select this option to force users to include a number in the password.
At least one capital letter - Select this option to force users to include a capital letter in the password.
At least one lowercase letter - Select this option to force users to include a lowercase letter in the password.
At least one symbol - Select this option to force users to include a symbol in the password.
May not match username - Select this option to ensure that the username and password do not match.

Options

Prevent common passwords - Select this option to prevent users from configuring passwords that are included in the list of commonly used, insecure passwords.
Prevent previous passwords reuse - Select this option to prevent users from using any previously used passwords.

Previous Passwords to Block - Some administrators will allow re-use of passwords after a certain amount of time, or after some number of rotations. This number reflects the number of times a new password needs to be used before a password can be re-used. By default, this is set to 0, meaning passwords can never be re-used.

Skip enforcement for existing passwords - Select this option to skip existing users when making changes to password requirements — meaning the changes will only affect new users or new passwords.
Enable password retrieval - Select this option to allow users to reset their password if they forget it.

note: In order for users to utilize password retrieval, they must have a Recovery Address configured in their account settings.

Adding New Administrators

To create a new administrator, click the New button.

Note: Only the primary administrator and secondary administrators with 'Manage secondary administrators' permission can create new or modify existing administrators.

When adding or editing an administrator, the following settings will be available:

Options

Username - The identifier used to log in to SmarterMail.
New Password - The password used to log in to SmarterMail.
Confirm Password - Re-type the password used to log in to SmarterMail.
Display Name - A friendly name for the administrator. For example, "Dan Henderson".
Status - Enabled or Disabled.
Language - The language to be used by the system administrator. The language set for a system administrator is EXTREMELY important. That's because it's much more than simply what is seen in the webmail interface. SmarterMail's language selection is the basis for everything: the things seen in the webmail interface as well as what's returned to an email client when connecting using Outlook, eM Client, iOS Mail and more. That includes things like settings labels, folder names, calendars and calendar appointment, contact groups, email message content, log files and essentially everything within SmarterMail.

Therefore, it is extremely critical that whatever language is set in SmarterMail is the exact language the system administrator is going to use.

Manage secondary administrators - Select this option to allow the administrator to create new and modify existing administrator accounts. This setting is dependent on "Allow system settings management", so if that is disabled, this setting is as well. A system administrator is not able to manage secondary administrators if they do NOT have the ability to manage system settings.
Allow impersonation - Select this option to allow the administrator to impersonate a user. Impersonating a user opens a new browser session that allows an administrator to be "logged in" as that user.
Allow show passwords while impersonating - User passwords are hidden, by default. Select this option to allow an administrator with impersonation permissions to also view the passwords associated with users. This option also allows the administrator to retrieve passwords via the API.
Note: The primary system administrator can view and retrieve user passwords and app passwords by default. In addition, when using Active Directory authentication, passwords are NOT displayed.
Restrict login access by IP - Select this option to only allow the administrator to log in from certain IP addresses. Then enter the authorized IP address(es) on the IP Restrictions card.
Force two-step authentication - Select this option (if not already set for all administrators) to enable two-step authentication for this administrator.

Two-Step Authentication

Two-Step Authentication is a great way to further secure the logins for system administrators.

IP Restrictions

If an administrator has "Restrict login access by IP" enabled for their account, this is where you add any IP addresses that are allowed access to the SmarterMail server.

Change Password

Administrators can reset their password at any time by logging into the web interface. In addition, the primary system administrator and administrators with "Manage secondary administrators" permission can modify another administrator's password. To modify an administrator password, select the administrator and click the Change Password button. Then enter and confirm the new password that will be used.

Note: Secondary administrators cannot modify any settings for the primary administrator.

Primary administrators who cannot remember their password can find instructions to reset their username and password in the SmarterTools Knowledge Base.