POTE/docs/EMAIL_SETUP.md

Email Setup for levkine.ca (Mailcow)

Homelab POTE sends via Mailcow mail.levkine.ca using the shared alerts@levkine.ca mailbox (same as Kuma/Beszel). See ansible docs/guides/smtp-inventory.md.

✅ Configuration Done

The .env file has been created with these settings:

SMTP_HOST=10.0.10.132
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=alerts@levkine.ca
SMTP_PASSWORD=YOUR_MAILBOX_PASSWORD_HERE
FROM_EMAIL=alerts@levkine.ca
REPORT_RECIPIENTS=idobkin@gmail.com

🔑 Next Steps

1. Add Your Password

Edit .env and replace YOUR_MAILBOX_PASSWORD_HERE with your actual mailbox password:

nano .env
# Find the line: SMTP_PASSWORD=YOUR_MAILBOX_PASSWORD_HERE
# Replace with: SMTP_PASSWORD=your_actual_password
# Save and exit (Ctrl+X, Y, Enter)

2. Test the Connection

source venv/bin/activate
python scripts/send_daily_report.py --to test@levkin.ca --test-smtp

If successful, you'll see:

SMTP connection test successful!
✓ Daily report sent successfully!

And you should receive a test email at test@levkin.ca!

3. Set Up Automation

Once email is working, set up automated reports:

./scripts/setup_cron.sh

This will:

• Use test@levkin.ca for sending
• Send reports to test@levkin.ca (or you can specify different recipients)
• Schedule daily reports (default: 6 AM)
• Schedule weekly reports (Sundays at 8 AM)

📧 Email Server Details (For Reference)

Based on your Thunderbird setup:

Outgoing SMTP (what POTE uses):

• Host: mail.levkin.ca
• Port: 587
• Security: STARTTLS (TLS on port 587)
• Authentication: Normal password
• Username: test@levkin.ca

Incoming IMAP (for reading emails in Thunderbird):

• Host: mail.levkin.ca
• Port: 993
• Security: SSL/TLS
• Username: test@levkin.ca

POTE only uses SMTP (outgoing) to send reports.

🔒 Security Notes

1. Never commit .env to git!

   • Already in .gitignore ✅
   • Contains sensitive password

2. Password Security:

   • The password in .env is the same one you use in Thunderbird
   • It's stored in plain text locally (secure file permissions recommended)
   • Consider using application-specific passwords if your mail server supports them

3. File Permissions (On Proxmox):

   chmod 600 .env  # Only owner can read/write
   

🎯 Change Recipients

To send reports to different email addresses (not just test@levkin.ca):

Option 1: Edit .env

REPORT_RECIPIENTS=user1@example.com,user2@example.com,test@levkin.ca

Option 2: Override in cron/scripts

# Manual send to different recipient
python scripts/send_daily_report.py --to someone-else@example.com

# The FROM address will still be test@levkin.ca

✅ Testing Checklist

• Updated .env with your actual password
• Run python scripts/send_daily_report.py --to test@levkin.ca --test-smtp
• Checked inbox at test@levkin.ca (check spam folder!)
• If successful, run ./scripts/setup_cron.sh to automate

🐛 Troubleshooting

Error: "SMTP connection failed"

Check:

1. Password is correct in .env
2. Port 587 is not blocked by firewall
3. Mail server is accessible: telnet mail.levkin.ca 587

Email not received

1. Check spam folder in test@levkin.ca
2. Check Thunderbird or webmail for the message
3. Check POTE logs: tail -f ~/logs/daily_run.log

"Authentication failed"

• Double-check username is test@levkin.ca (not just test)
• Verify password is correct
• Ensure account is active in mailcow

---

You're all set! POTE will send reports from test@levkin.ca 📧