using shared mailboxes in office365 for tickets

arielzusya

Anyone know if it is possible (and if so, how) to use shared mailboxes in office365 for ticket tracking in OST? I'd rather not have to purchase a new license for each address I use to segregate different functions in OST. I know that on my android devices I can setup imap by using something like this:user@contoso.com <-- user accountsharedmb@contoso.com <--shared mailboxIMAP/SMTP settings:address: user@contoso.comusername: user@contoso.com/sharedmbpassword: <user's password>IMAP server: outlook.office365.comsecurity type: SSLport: 993SMTP server: outlook.office365.comsecurity type: TLSport: 587smtp UN: user@contoso.comsmtp PW: <user's password>I think what I need is the ability to provide separate credentials for IMAP and SMTP. Any thoughts on how to do this with OSTicket? Much appreciated!

arielzusya

Still looking for an answer to the original query but I came up with a work around. I created a local SMTP relay that is only opened to specific IP addresses and that doesn't use authentication. Rather than use MS's SMTP server directly, I relay through that and I am able to rock and roll.

ntozier

My understanding is that the answer to your original question is No. You cannot used shared mailboxes for osTicket.

blueyeguy

As @[deleted] stated, shared mailboxes are not supported in osTicket. That said, another user back in November created a mod that he says worked for him, so use at your own risk.http://forum.osticket.com/d/discussion//office365-shared-mailbox-read/p1If it works for you then great, if not maybe you can message the mod writer directly for help.

arielzusya

Thanks, guys. For now having the anonymous relay is working but I'll check out the mod. I'm new to OSTicket. Is this something I should submit for a future feature? It would be simply that the system have the ability to have separate credentials for IMAP and SMTP for a given address. Then shared mailboxes would work (and would be a really cheap...as in free... way to set up ticketing segregation by address).

Synt4xError

From the looks of it, you do not setup a username and password for the shared mailbox, just an email and associate users to it who can access it. I believe then they see it as if they were a delegate. Maybe that's the reasoning it isn't supported?https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Create-shared-mailboxes-in-Office-365-for-Small-Business-ecacf5b0-b5c8-449f-a89a-b7e87dcb55d4

arielzusya

MS doesn't seem to broadcast the feature but the procedure I described above works. I use it on my mobile to pull shared mailboxes. That said there is a typo above. Here's the correction:user@contoso.com <-- user accountsharedmb@contoso.com <--shared mailboxIMAP settings:address: sharedmb@contoso.comusername: user@contoso.com/sharedmbpassword: <user's password>IMAP server: outlook.office365.comsecurity type: SSLport: 993SMTP settings:SMTP server: outlook.office365.comsecurity type: TLSport: 587smtp UN: user@contoso.comsmtp PW: <user's password>Note that the SMTP server is outlook.office365.com not smtp.office365.com as suggested on the MS site. When you setup a normal office365 IMAP account you'd use smtp.office365.com for the SMTP server but when you setup a shared mailbox you use the above procedure. What I'm told is that because shared mailboxes don't have their own IMAP and SMTP credentials, you have to tell MS on your way in (IMAP) that you are accessing the shared mailbox using the user account and on the way out (SMTP) using the user account without reference to the shared mailbox.

ntozier

Thanks for following up and letting us know. :)

Synt4xError

Yeah, seriously thank you, this is great info.

blueyeguy

arielzusya

My pleasure.

rohithathie

arielzusya , So how did you get this working exactly?

i made an shared mailbox named Ticket.

arielzusya

In OSTicket I had to rely on a local SMTP relay, which allows all mail from a specified IP to pass through without credentials, because there isn't (yet) a way to specify different mail credentials for send and receive. The rest works as described above though.

mandonBlawser

Is this solution still working for people? I'm trying right now and ripping my hair out trying to figure out what I'm missing. I have my setup identical to what you have outlined arielzusya, but unforunately an AUTHENTICATE FAIL is returned when I go to save the config. I have verified that the parent mailbox works just fine when not trying to point to the Shared Mailbox that the user has permissions to. Are there any additional settings that need to be in place on the Shared Mailbox before the authentication will work successfully? I'm also using a local SMTP relay which seems to work just fine, it's just the IMAP config that is failing, and only for the Shared Mailbox. I would love to get it working instead of having to pay for an extra full user license in Office 365

Synt4xError

If it says authentication fail, it's either not hitting the point to where it authenticates (something is blocking this maybe?) or it is an incorrect password/username being used (Maybe the permissions are not setup properly on Office365 side?). I am not pro with Office365 and do not have an environment to test in, but that's my two cents. Wish I could be more helpful.

mandonBlawser

No problem. Thanks for the input. It's bizarre and I haven't been able to find an answer yet. I have ensured that the base account is able to authenticate if i set it up as a separate email account within OSTicket, but when trying to access the Shared Mailbox is fails with the authentication error.I've also ensured that I can configure a standard mail client with an IMAP connection pointing to the Shared Mailbox with the exact same settings I'm putting into OSTicket with the same base account for authentication. I'm going to see if I can dig into any sort of Office365 logs to get more info other than "Authentication Failed"

Synt4xError

@[deleted] any chance you can chime in and possible help out?

tha

looking forward to a fix for this also. Authentication fails all the time as well / imap settings not right...working fine on Android / ios.We have around 6 mailboxes we want to use, but we arent going to buy subscriptions for office365 as well.A shame it so hard to fix shared mailboxes on osticket.are there any devs looking in to this?

ntozier

Q: are there any devs looking in to this?A: Not to my knowledge. I would hazard a guess (opinion) that since Shared Mailboxes violate HIPAA account guidelines I rather doubt that they will.