path: root/doc/administration/reply_by_email.md

# 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).

### Security Concerns

**WARNING:** Be careful when choosing the domain used for receiving incoming
email.

For the sake of example, suppose your top-level company domain is `hooli.com`.
All employees in your company have an email address at that domain via Google
Apps, and your company's private Slack instance requires a valid `@hooli.com`
email address in order to sign up.

If you also host a public-facing GitLab instance at `hooli.com` and set your
incoming email domain to `hooli.com`, an attacker could abuse the "Create new
issue by email" feature by using a project's unique address as the email when
signing up for Slack, which would send a confirmation email, which would create
a new issue on the project owned by the attacker, allowing them to click the
confirmation link and validate their account on your company's private Slack
instance.

We recommend receiving incoming email on a subdomain, such as
`incoming.hooli.com`, and ensuring that you do not employ any services that
authenticate solely based on access to an email domain such as `*.hooli.com.`
Alternatively, use a dedicated domain for GitLab email communications such as
`hooli-gitlab.com`.

See GitLab issue [#30366](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/30366)
for a real-world example of this exploit.

### 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.