---
sourceDocument: Xanadu ServiceNow AI Platform Administration
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/xanadu/platform-administration

 Release :

    - xanadu

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Xanadu ServiceNow AI Platform Administration

ft:clusterId :

    - platadm

bundleId :

    - platadm

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Email administration

# Email administration {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Xanadu
* 
* Updated August 1, 2024
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 3 minutes to read

All email notifications use the email properties that you define for your instance and
the email accounts that you set up. Your email service can also affect the successful
transmission of incoming and outgoing email.

## Email accounts

Email administrators set up [email
accounts](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/V1AggV3Qo4u7SpIDQy0Phg "Email accounts store the connection details and credentials the system uses to access external email servers and services.") to allow the system to connect to external mail services such as POP3,
SMTP, or IMAP servers. You can use the ServiceNow - provided email
accounts or create your own accounts for your own email services.

## Email properties

Use [Email Properties](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/97z48rwFKE~q8yPzk6ovpw "The Email Properties page is where you can configure settings for inbound and outbound email.") to
configure settings for inbound and outbound email. Email properties apply to all email
accounts.

## Email service size restrictions {#c_EmailConfiguration__EmailService}

Your email service, whether you are using a standard ServiceNow email configuration or an alternate email configuration, determines the successful transmission of incoming or outgoing emails based on a maximum email size. An email configuration consists of your instance, email server, and email client.

* [Standard email configurations](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/x2NPngLaPGkKoO4D8U~j8A "All production instances can send and receive email using ServiceNow - provided resources. The instance has an email address of instance@service-now.com.") -- For instances that use the standard email configuration, the ServiceNow mail servers cannot send or receive emails larger than approximately 50 MB (before encoding), including the email header, body text, and attachments. Email messages are encoded by an email client, which increases total email message size. The maximum ServiceNow mail server size restriction is 75 MB (after encoding). The maximum email size limit is enforced regardless of any configured attachment size limits.
* [Alternate email configurations](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/n2g29kCt9KxgBmpCqtgw~w "With an advanced email setup, you can use your own SMTP server, POP3 server, or both.") -- If your email service uses a company-owned or third-party server, the approximate size restriction of 50 MB (including the email header, body text, and attachments) may still apply. However, your service might support different maximum total file sizes for inbound and outbound emails. Check with the email administrator of your email service to verify email size limits.
{#c_EmailConfiguration__ul_gr2_rjj_qdb}

For details on how encoding can affect email message size and email transmission, see [KB0521772](https://support.servicenow.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0521772).

## Email service availability

Email service is intentionally shut down on instance clones to prevent resending already
delivered email. Upgrades no longer require an extended interruption of email service.
Instances continue to process email during an upgrade. For a possible explanation for
undelivered emails, see [this blog post](https://community.servicenow.com/community?id=community_blog&sys_id=4acd62e9dbd0dbc01dcaf3231f961958) by a ServiceNow
Technical Support Engineer in the ServiceNow Community.

For instructions on creating and sending custom emails when events on the instance occur,
see the tasks in [Email and SMS notifications](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/sAtCSIQ_9UOkEV31~_7www "Use email notifications to send selected users email or SMS notifications about specific activities in the system, such as updates to incidents or change requests.").

## Instance-to-instance communication via email

Use [Web services](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=r_AvailableWebServices&version=xanadu&pubname=xanadu-api-reference&ft:locale=en-US)
to communicate between two instances.

## Designate untrusted and trusted email domains {#c_EmailConfiguration__section_xc3_t4l_4gb}

Using Instance Security Center, you can monitor the blocked and allowed incoming email
metrics for your instance. For more information, see [Designate untrusted and trusted email
domains](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=designate-untrusted-trusted-email-domains&version=xanadu&pubname=xanadu-platform-security&ft:locale=en-US).

## Next steps after enabling email {#c_EmailConfiguration__section_yk2_rb3_gjb}

After enabling email on your instance, consider performing several of these important
tasks.  
* Test the email configuration by routing all email to a single user (set the glide.email.test.user property).
* Review the baseline notification categories, email notifications, and templates to determine if they meet your business needs.
* Review the baseline inbound email actions to determine if they meet your business needs.
* Determine if you want to use email layouts to add consistent content elements.
* Determine if you want to use email filters to restrict the email the instance receives.
* Determine if you want to implement a retention policy to archive and destroy email at certain intervals.
* Determine what kind of watermarks outbound email uses to associate records with email messages.
* Determine if you want to create users when the instance receives an email from an unrecognized user.
* Set the precedence of outgoing mail. By default, the instance sends email with a precedence of bulk (set the glide.smtp.precedence_bulk property).
* Consider preventing untrusted users from triggering inbound actions to prevent unwanted email from affecting your instance.
* Implement a spam filter to restrict unwanted messages sent to your custom email addresses.
{#c_EmailConfiguration__ul_u5l_ryl_lp}