summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/doc/administration/reply_by_email.md
blob: e99a7ee29cc7d0d898151a13053ee5163fb4ea80 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
# Reply by email

GitLab can be set up to allow users to comment on issues and merge requests by
replying to notification emails.

## Requirement

Reply by email requires an IMAP-enabled email account. GitLab allows you to use
three strategies for this feature:
- using email sub-addressing
- using a dedicated email address
- using a catch-all mailbox

### Email sub-addressing

**If your provider or server supports email sub-addressing, we recommend using it.
Some features (e.g. create new issue via email) only work with sub-addressing.**

[Sub-addressing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_address#Sub-addressing) is
a feature where any email to `user+some_arbitrary_tag@example.com` will end up
in the mailbox for `user@example.com`, and is supported by providers such as
Gmail, Google Apps, Yahoo! Mail, Outlook.com and iCloud, as well as the Postfix
mail server which you can run on-premises.

### Dedicated email address

This solution is really simple to set up: you just have to create an email
address dedicated to receive your users' replies to GitLab notifications.

### Catch-all mailbox

A [catch-all mailbox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-all) for a domain will
"catch all" the emails addressed to the domain that do not exist in the mail
server.

## How it works?

### 1. GitLab sends a notification email

When GitLab sends a notification and Reply by email is enabled, the `Reply-To`
header is set to the address defined in your GitLab configuration, with the
`%{key}` placeholder (if present) replaced by a specific "reply key". In
addition, this "reply key" is also added to the `References` header.

### 2. You reply to the notification email

When you reply to the notification email, your email client will:

- send the email to the `Reply-To` address it got from the notification email
- set the `In-Reply-To` header to the value of the `Message-ID` header from the
  notification email
- set the `References` header to the value of the `Message-ID` plus the value of
  the notification email's `References` header.

### 3. GitLab receives your reply to the notification email

When GitLab receives your reply, it will look for the "reply key" in the
following headers, in this order:

1. the `To` header
1. the `References` header

If it finds a reply key, it will be able to leave your reply as a comment on
the entity the notification was about (issue, merge request, commit...).

For more details about the `Message-ID`, `In-Reply-To`, and `References headers`,
please consult [RFC 5322](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5322#section-3.6.4).

## Set it up

If you want to use Gmail / Google Apps with Reply by email, make sure you have
[IMAP access enabled](https://support.google.com/mail/troubleshooter/1668960?hl=en#ts=1665018)
and [allowed less secure apps to access the account](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6010255)
or [turn-on 2-step validation](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185839)
and use [an application password](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/185833).

To set up a basic Postfix mail server with IMAP access on Ubuntu, follow the
[Postfix setup documentation](reply_by_email_postfix_setup.md).

### Omnibus package installations

1. Find the `incoming_email` section in `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`, enable the
  feature and fill in the details for your specific IMAP server and email account:

    ```ruby
    # Configuration for Postfix mail server, assumes mailbox incoming@gitlab.example.com
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_enabled'] = true

    # The email address including the `%{key}` placeholder that will be replaced to reference the item being replied to.
    # The placeholder can be omitted but if present, it must appear in the "user" part of the address (before the `@`).
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_address'] = "incoming+%{key}@gitlab.example.com"

    # Email account username
    # With third party providers, this is usually the full email address.
    # With self-hosted email servers, this is usually the user part of the email address.
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_email'] = "incoming"
    # Email account password
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_password'] = "[REDACTED]"

    # IMAP server host
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_host'] = "gitlab.example.com"
    # IMAP server port
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_port'] = 143
    # Whether the IMAP server uses SSL
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_ssl'] = false
    # Whether the IMAP server uses StartTLS
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_start_tls'] = false

    # The mailbox where incoming mail will end up. Usually "inbox".
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_mailbox_name'] = "inbox"
    # The IDLE command timeout.
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_idle_timeout'] = 60
    ```

    ```ruby
    # Configuration for Gmail / Google Apps, assumes mailbox gitlab-incoming@gmail.com
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_enabled'] = true

    # The email address including the `%{key}` placeholder that will be replaced to reference the item being replied to.
    # The placeholder can be omitted but if present, it must appear in the "user" part of the address (before the `@`).
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_address'] = "gitlab-incoming+%{key}@gmail.com"

    # Email account username
    # With third party providers, this is usually the full email address.
    # With self-hosted email servers, this is usually the user part of the email address.
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_email'] = "gitlab-incoming@gmail.com"
    # Email account password
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_password'] = "[REDACTED]"

    # IMAP server host
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_host'] = "imap.gmail.com"
    # IMAP server port
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_port'] = 993
    # Whether the IMAP server uses SSL
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_ssl'] = true
    # Whether the IMAP server uses StartTLS
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_start_tls'] = false

    # The mailbox where incoming mail will end up. Usually "inbox".
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_mailbox_name'] = "inbox"
    # The IDLE command timeout.
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_idle_timeout'] = 60
    ```
    
    ```ruby
    # Configuration for Microsoft Exchange mail server w/ IMAP enabled, assumes mailbox incoming@exchange.example.com
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_enabled'] = true

    # The email address replies are sent to - Exchange does not support sub-addressing so %{key} is not used here
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_address'] = "incoming@exchange.example.com"

    # Email account username
    # Typically this is the userPrincipalName (UPN)
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_email'] = "incoming@ad-domain.example.com"
    # Email account password
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_password'] = "[REDACTED]"

    # IMAP server host
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_host'] = "exchange.example.com"
    # IMAP server port
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_port'] = 993
    # Whether the IMAP server uses SSL
    gitlab_rails['incoming_email_ssl'] = true
    ```

1. Reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect:

    ```sh
    sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
    ```

1. Verify that everything is configured correctly:

    ```sh
    sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:incoming_email:check
    ```

1. Reply by email should now be working.

### Installations from source

1. Go to the GitLab installation directory:

    ```sh
    cd /home/git/gitlab
    ```

1. Find the `incoming_email` section in `config/gitlab.yml`, enable the feature
  and fill in the details for your specific IMAP server and email account:

    ```sh
    sudo editor config/gitlab.yml
    ```

    ```yaml
    # Configuration for Postfix mail server, assumes mailbox incoming@gitlab.example.com
    incoming_email:
      enabled: true

      # The email address including the `%{key}` placeholder that will be replaced to reference the item being replied to.
      # The placeholder can be omitted but if present, it must appear in the "user" part of the address (before the `@`).
      address: "incoming+%{key}@gitlab.example.com"

      # Email account username
      # With third party providers, this is usually the full email address.
      # With self-hosted email servers, this is usually the user part of the email address.
      user: "incoming"
      # Email account password
      password: "[REDACTED]"

      # IMAP server host
      host: "gitlab.example.com"
      # IMAP server port
      port: 143
      # Whether the IMAP server uses SSL
      ssl: false
      # Whether the IMAP server uses StartTLS
      start_tls: false

      # The mailbox where incoming mail will end up. Usually "inbox".
      mailbox: "inbox"
      # The IDLE command timeout.
      idle_timeout: 60
    ```

    ```yaml
    # Configuration for Gmail / Google Apps, assumes mailbox gitlab-incoming@gmail.com
    incoming_email:
      enabled: true

      # The email address including the `%{key}` placeholder that will be replaced to reference the item being replied to.
      # The placeholder can be omitted but if present, it must appear in the "user" part of the address (before the `@`).
      address: "gitlab-incoming+%{key}@gmail.com"

      # Email account username
      # With third party providers, this is usually the full email address.
      # With self-hosted email servers, this is usually the user part of the email address.
      user: "gitlab-incoming@gmail.com"
      # Email account password
      password: "[REDACTED]"

      # IMAP server host
      host: "imap.gmail.com"
      # IMAP server port
      port: 993
      # Whether the IMAP server uses SSL
      ssl: true
      # Whether the IMAP server uses StartTLS
      start_tls: false

      # The mailbox where incoming mail will end up. Usually "inbox".
      mailbox: "inbox"
      # The IDLE command timeout.
      idle_timeout: 60
    ```
    
    ```yaml
    # Configuration for Microsoft Exchange mail server w/ IMAP enabled, assumes mailbox incoming@exchange.example.com
    incoming_email:
      enabled: true

      # The email address replies are sent to - Exchange does not support sub-addressing so %{key} is not used here
      address: "incoming@exchange.example.com"

      # Email account username
      # Typically this is the userPrincipalName (UPN)
      user: "incoming@ad-domain.example.com"
      # Email account password
      password: "[REDACTED]"

      # IMAP server host
      host: "exchange.example.com"
      # IMAP server port
      port: 993
      # Whether the IMAP server uses SSL
      ssl: true
      # Whether the IMAP server uses StartTLS
      start_tls: false

      # The mailbox where incoming mail will end up. Usually "inbox".
      mailbox: "inbox"
      # The IDLE command timeout.
      idle_timeout: 60
    ```

1. Enable `mail_room` in the init script at `/etc/default/gitlab`:

    ```sh
    sudo mkdir -p /etc/default
    echo 'mail_room_enabled=true' | sudo tee -a /etc/default/gitlab
    ```

1. Restart GitLab:

    ```sh
    sudo service gitlab restart
    ```

1. Verify that everything is configured correctly:

    ```sh
    sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:incoming_email:check RAILS_ENV=production
    ```

1. Reply by email should now be working.

### Development

1. Go to the GitLab installation directory.

1. Find the `incoming_email` section in `config/gitlab.yml`, enable the feature and fill in the details for your specific IMAP server and email account:

    ```yaml
    # Configuration for Gmail / Google Apps, assumes mailbox gitlab-incoming@gmail.com
    incoming_email:
      enabled: true

      # The email address including the `%{key}` placeholder that will be replaced to reference the item being replied to.
      # The placeholder can be omitted but if present, it must appear in the "user" part of the address (before the `@`).
      address: "gitlab-incoming+%{key}@gmail.com"

      # Email account username
      # With third party providers, this is usually the full email address.
      # With self-hosted email servers, this is usually the user part of the email address.
      user: "gitlab-incoming@gmail.com"
      # Email account password
      password: "[REDACTED]"

      # IMAP server host
      host: "imap.gmail.com"
      # IMAP server port
      port: 993
      # Whether the IMAP server uses SSL
      ssl: true
      # Whether the IMAP server uses StartTLS
      start_tls: false

      # The mailbox where incoming mail will end up. Usually "inbox".
      mailbox: "inbox"
      # The IDLE command timeout.
      idle_timeout: 60
    ```

    As mentioned, the part after `+` is ignored, and this will end up in the mailbox for `gitlab-incoming@gmail.com`.

1. Uncomment the `mail_room` line in your `Procfile`:

    ```yaml
    mail_room: bundle exec mail_room -q -c config/mail_room.yml
    ```

1. Restart GitLab:

    ```sh
    bundle exec foreman start
    ```

1. Verify that everything is configured correctly:

    ```sh
    bundle exec rake gitlab:incoming_email:check RAILS_ENV=development
    ```

1. Reply by email should now be working.