User Settings

To receive email notifications, Kanboard users must:

• Enable notifications in their profile.
• Provide a valid email address in their profile.
• Be a member of the project that triggers notifications.

Note: The logged-in user performing the action does not receive notifications, only other project members do.

Email Transports

Kanboard supports several email transport methods:

• SMTP
• Sendmail
• PHP’s native mail function
• Other methods provided by external plugins (e.g., Postmark, Sendgrid, Mailgun)

Server Settings

By default, Kanboard uses PHP’s built-in mail function to send emails. This typically requires no configuration if your server is already set up to send emails.

However, you can configure other methods like SMTP or Sendmail.

SMTP Configuration

Rename the file config.default.php to config.php and update the following values:

// Use "smtp" as the mail transport
define('MAIL_TRANSPORT', 'smtp');

// Define server settings
define('MAIL_SMTP_HOSTNAME', 'mail.example.com');
define('MAIL_SMTP_PORT', 25);

// Credentials for SMTP server authentication (optional)
define('MAIL_SMTP_USERNAME', 'username');
define('MAIL_SMTP_PASSWORD', 'super password');

The MAIL_SMTP_ENCRYPTION option accepts only the following values:

• null: No encryption.
• ssl: Use TLS encryption (commonly used with port 465).
• tls: Use STARTTLS encryption (commonly used with port 587).

Ensure you select the appropriate value based on your SMTP server’s requirements.

Example to use the port 465 and TLS:

define('MAIL_SMTP_PORT', 465);
define('MAIL_SMTP_ENCRYPTION', 'ssl');

Example to use the port 587 and STARTTLS:

define('MAIL_SMTP_PORT', 587);
define('MAIL_SMTP_ENCRYPTION', 'tls');

Some servers reject emails based on the hostname transmitted with the HELO (EHLO) command (see RFC 5321). You can explicitly set the hostname used in the HELO command:

define('MAIL_SMTP_HELO_NAME', null); // Valid: null (default) or FQDN

Sendmail Configuration

By default, the Sendmail command is /usr/sbin/sendmail -bs. You can customize it in your config file.

Example:

// Use "sendmail" as the mail transport
define('MAIL_TRANSPORT', 'sendmail');

// Customize the Sendmail command if needed
define('MAIL_SENDMAIL_COMMAND', '/usr/sbin/sendmail -bs');

PHP Built-in Mail Function

This is the default configuration:

define('MAIL_TRANSPORT', 'mail');

The PHP built-in mail feature relies on the configuration in the php.ini file. For more details, refer to the official PHP documentation: PHP Mail Configuration.

Sender Email Address

By default, emails use the sender address notifications@kanboard.local. This address is not configured to receive replies.

You can customize the sender address by changing the MAIL_FROM constant in your config file:

define('MAIL_FROM', 'kanboard@mydomain.tld');

This is useful if your SMTP server does not accept the default address.

Troubleshooting

If no emails are sent and you are confident that everything is configured correctly:

• Check your spam folder.
• Enable debug mode and check the debug file data/debug.log for errors.
• Ensure your server or hosting provider allows outgoing emails.
• If you use SELinux, allow PHP to send emails.