Email Notification Configuration section of Patch My PC Publisher
Applies to: Patch My PC Publisher V3.x
Important
This article has not been updated for Version 3.x. Once it has, this banner will be removed.
The Email Notification Configuration section of the Email Alerts tab in Patch My PC (PMPC) Publisher allows you to configure Publisher to send notifications when specific publishing events occur. These alerts provide timely visibility into publishing activity, including successes, warnings, and failures, without requiring administrators to actively monitor logs.
Before email alerts can be sent, email settings must be configured. This includes specifying the SMTP server and port or configuring OAuth application details, along with the required authentication settings, sender address, and recipient addresses.
Note
At the end of a publishing sync, the Publisher sends an email containing details about the sync event.
Send email reports
When the Send email reports option is enabled, Publisher sends email alerts and reports based on the configured email settings. When disabled, no email notifications are sent, regardless of the configuration.
Disable email for manual sync
When Disable email for manual sync is enabled, email notifications are sent only for scheduled syncs.
Important
Email notifications are not sent when a sync is initiated manually from the Sync Schedule tab.
Provider
The Provider dropdown lets you select from a list of predefined providers (such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or Exchange Online) to automatically populate the relevant fields on this tab with recommended values for the selected service.
For example, selecting Exchange Online from the Provider dropdown sets the Server to smtp.office365.com, port to 587, and enables Use TLS.
If Custom SMTP Provider is selected, all SMTP settings must be configured manually.
Tip
You can modify any auto-populated values as required to meet the needs of your environment.
Test Email
After configuring the required email notification settings, click Test Email to verify that the message is successfully sent and received by the configured recipient(s).
If the test email fails, the issue is most commonly related to the SMTP or authentication configuration.
Note
See Troubleshooting SMTP Email Report Sending When Using Patch My PC for troubleshooting guidance.
Email Fields
The following fields control the email message details and recipients.
Sender (required)
Enter the email address you want the alerts to come from. e.g. alerts@yourdomain.com
Recipients (required)
Enter the email address(es) that should receive the alerts. You can enter multiple addresses separated by a semicolon. e.g. alerts@yourdomain.com; security@yourdomain.com
CC recipients (optional)
Add any additional recipients if needed. You can enter multiple addresses separated by a semicolon. e.g. alerts@yourdomain.com; security@yourdomain.com
Email subject (required)
The default subject of the email is Report from Patch My PC Publishing Service. You can change this if required.
Additional text (optional)
Enter any additional text you want included at the top of the email report, such as notes or context for your recipients.
Email Authentication
When choosing an authentication method, select the option that aligns with how your mail system accepts SMTP connections.
For internal or on-premises mail servers, Specified user is commonly used when the relay supports authenticated SMTP connections.
For cloud-based email services such as Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online) and Google Workspace, OAuth2 (App Auth) is recommended, as modern cloud providers increasingly restrict or deprecate username and password–based SMTP authentication.
Ultimately, the appropriate option depends on the authentication methods supported by your SMTP server.
You can choose from the following authentication methods:
Anonymous
Use the Anonymous option only if your SMTP relay explicitly allows unauthenticated sending. Most cloud providers, including Exchange Online, do not support anonymous SMTP. This option typically works only with on-premises SMTP relays configured to accept unauthenticated traffic from trusted internal IP addresses.
Note
When Anonymous is selected, the Login and Password fields are disabled, as no credentials are required for authentication.
Server Configuration for Anonymous
If you choose to use the Anonymous option, configure the settings in the Server Configuration section as follows:
Server
Enter the DNS name or IP address of the SMTP server that will relay email messages. This is typically an internal Microsoft Exchange server or an on-premises SMTP relay configured to allow anonymous connections.
Port
Specify the port used to connect to the SMTP server. Anonymous SMTP relays typically use port 25, though this depends on how the relay is configured.
Use TLS
Enables Transport Layer Security (TLS) for the SMTP connection. Enable this if your relay requires or supports encrypted connections.
System account
Use the System account option to authenticate to the SMTP server using the Windows account under which the Publisher service is running.
Choose this option only if your SMTP relay supports integrated Windows authentication using NTLM or Kerberos. This is typically limited to on-premises Microsoft Exchange servers or internal SMTP relays within the same Active Directory domain.
By default, the Publisher service runs under the local SYSTEM account.
Note
When Anonymous is selected, the Login and Password fields are disabled, as no credentials are used for authentication.
Server Configuration for System account
If you choose to use the System account option, configure the settings in the Server Configuration section as follows:
Server
Enter the DNS name or IP address of the SMTP server that will relay email messages. This is typically an on-premises Exchange server or an internal SMTP relay configured to allow integrated Windows authentication.
Port
Specify the port used to connect to the SMTP server. The appropriate port depends on the relay configuration and support for integrated authentication.
Use TLS
Enables Transport Layer Security (TLS) for the SMTP connection. This encrypts the connection to the SMTP server but does not affect authentication. Enable this if your relay requires or supports encrypted connections.
Specific user
Use the Specific user option when your SMTP server requires authentication with a dedicated username and password. This is the most common configuration and is recommended for most environments, including Exchange Online, Google Workspace, and authenticated SMTP relays.
Important
Microsoft Exchange Online has deprecated Basic SMTP authentication and does not support username/password–based SMTP authentication by default. For Exchange Online, OAuth2 (App Authentication) is recommended.
Some providers, such as Google Workspace, may still allow authenticated SMTP using a username and password, but this typically requires additional configuration and may be restricted by tenant security policies.
Specified User Configuration
If you choose to use the Specific user option, configure the settings in the Specified User section as follows:
Login
Enter the username used to authenticate to the SMTP server. This is often a full email address but may vary depending on your mail provider or relay configuration.
Password
Enter the password associated with the specified SMTP account.
Server Configuration for Specific user
If you choose to use the Specific user option, configure the settings in the Server Configuration section as follows:
Server
Enter the DNS name or IP address of the SMTP server that will relay email messages. This is typically an internal Microsoft Exchange server or an authenticated SMTP relay.
Port
Specify the port used to connect to the SMTP server. The appropriate port depends on how the relay is configured and typically supports authenticated SMTP connections.
Use TLS
Enables Transport Layer Security (TLS) for the SMTP connection. This encrypts the connection to the SMTP server and is required by most authenticated SMTP relays and cloud-based mail services.
OAuth2 (App Auth)
Use the OAuth2 (App Auth) option to send email using OAuth 2.0 instead of a mailbox username and password. OAuth2 authenticates using a Microsoft Entra ID app registration and is the recommended approach for modern cloud email services.
Note
See OAuth2 (App Auth) Configuration for detailed guidance on how to configure OAuth 2.0 authentication for email notifications.
Save Email Notification Settings
Click Apply to save the changes. Once the Email Notification settings are saved, Publisher will automatically send an email at the end of each synchronization when any updates or applications have been published.
Note
See Example Email Alerts for examples of the alerts sent by Publisher.
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