3/28/2017 InboundEmailActionsServiceNowWiki

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InboundEmailActions
Home>Administer>ServiceAdministration>Notifications>InboundEmailActions

Contents
1Overview
2CreatinganInboundEmailAction
3MatchingIncomingEmailtoanInboundActionType
3.1SpecifyingRecognizedReplyPrefixes
3.2SpecifyingRecognizedForwardPrefixes
3.3ProcessingForwardsasReplies
3.4MatchingIncomingEmailtoExistingRecords
3.4.1ExamplesofMatchingWatermarksintheSubjectLineorBody
3.4.2ExamplesofMatchingRecordNumbersintheSubjectLine
4MatchingEmailtoExistingUsers
4.1ImpersonatingUserstoRunInboundActions
5CreatingUsersfromIncomingEmail
5.1EnablingAutomaticUserCreation
5.2UpgradingtheUserCreationMethodtoUsetheFullEmailAddress
6AccessingEmailObjectswithVariables
6.1ProcessingRecipientsinInboundEmail
7SettingFieldValuesfromtheEmailBody
7.1MatchingtheSender'sEmailAddresstoaUser
8AssignmentofTasksviaEmail
9RedirectingEmailstoDifferentAssignmentGroups
10Attachments
11CharacterEncoding
12SettingMaximumBodySize
13PreventingUntrustedUsersfromTriggeringInboundActions
14AllowingLockedOutUserstoTriggerInboundEmailActions
15Usingsys_email
16Troubleshooting
16.1Logging

1Overview
InboundemailactionsenableanadministratortodefinetheactionsServiceNowtakeswhenreceivingemail.Inboundemailactionsaresimilarto
businessrules,usingbothconditionsandscripts.Theinboundemailactioncheckstheemailforawatermarkthatassociatesitwithataskandchecks
forotherconditions.Iftheconditionsaremet,theinboundemailactionrunsthescript.

Bydefault,ifanemailhasnoidentifiablewatermark,aninboundemailactionattemptstocreateanewincidentfromthemessage.Iftheemailhasa
watermarkofanexistingincident,aninboundemailactionupdatestheexistingincidentaccordingtotheaction'sscript.Fordetailedexamplesofemail
actionsthatinteractwithincidents,problems,andchangerequests,seeExamplesofInboundEmailActions.
Thesystemignoresthedomainthattheinboundemailactionrecordisinwhenitcreatesarecordbasedontheinboundemailaction.Keepinbound
actionsintheglobaldomain.Forexample,ifyourinboundemailactioncreatesanincident,thesystemcreatestheincidentinthesamedomainasthe
userintheCallerfield.IfthatuserisnotintheUser[sys_user]table,theincidentisintheglobaldomain.

2CreatinganInboundEmailAction
Toaddaninboundemailaction:

1.NavigatetoSystemPolicy>Email>InboundActions.
2.ClickNew.
3.Completethefieldsontheform(seetable).

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TheCreateIncidentinboundaction

Note:Youmightneedtopersonalizetheformtoseeallthefieldsbelow.

Field Description

Name Enteradescriptivenameforthisemailaction.

Target Selectthetablewheretheactionwilladdorupdaterecords.
table

Type Selectthemessagetyperequiredtoruntheaction.Theactionrunsonlyiftheinboundemailisoftheselectedtype.Availabletypes
are:
New:Anemailthatisnotrecognizedasareplyorforward.
Reply:AnemailwithawatermarkwithanInReplyToemailheader,orwhosesubjectlinebeginswitharecognizedreply
prefix.
Forward:Anemailwhosesubjectlinebeginswitharecognizedforwardprefix,eveniftheemailalsocontainsawatermarkor
InReplyToheader.
Note:Bydefault,inboundemailsoftheForwardtypealwaysgeneratenewincidentsregardlessofthepresenceofa
watermark.Ifthisbehaviordoesnotmatchyourbusinesslogic,youcanchangetherecognizedreplyandforwardprefixesto
treatforwardslikereplies.

Condition [Optional]Enterastatementthatdetermineswhentheinboundemailactionruns.Ifaconditionisentered,theactionrunsonlywhen
theconditionstatementevaluatestotrue.Forexample:
email.subject.startsWith("chg:")

Active Selectthischeckboxtoenabletheaction.Clearthecheckboxtodisabletheaction.

From [Optional]Selecttheuserrequiredtoruntheaction.Ifauserisselected,theactionrunsonlywhentheemailsendermatchestheuser
name.Leavethisfieldblanktoperformtheactionforallusers.

Script Enterthescripttheactionruns.Typically,thisscriptusesthevalidatorsscriptincludeandemailvariables.

Description Enteradetailedexplanationofwhatthisinboundemailactiondoes.

Otherfields

Order Enteranumbertodefinetheorderinwhichthisemailactionshouldbeprocessed.Actionswithlowernumbersareprocessedfirst.
Formoreinformation,seeOrderedEmailProcessing.ThisfieldisnotinstalledbytheOrderedEmailProcessingplugin.

Note:Forsamplescripts,seetheUsefulScriptsportal.

3MatchingIncomingEmailtoanInboundActionType
ServiceNowusesthefollowinglogictomatchanemailtoaspecificinboundactiontype.

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HowServiceNowmatchesemailtoaninboundactiontype

InboundEmailActionType RequiredMatchingCriteria NameofDefaultAction(Incidenttable) ResultofDefaultAction

Forward Theemailcontainsthefollowing CreateIncident(Forwarded) Createnewrecord

conditions:
1.Asubjectstartingwitha
recognizedforwardprefix(evenif
awatermarkoranInReplyTo
headerispresent).
2.From<useremail>appears
anywhereintheemailbody.

Reply Theemailcontainsoneofthefollowing UpdateIncident(BP) Updateexistingrecord

conditionsandthetablespecifiedinthe
emailmatchesthetableoftheinbound
action:
1.Avalidwatermarkthatmatches
anexistingrecord.
2.AnInReplyToemailheader
(whennowatermarkispresent)
thatmatchesanexistingrecord.
3.Asubjectlinestartingwitha
recognizedreplyprefix(when
neitherawatermarknoranIn
ReplyToheaderispresent)anda
validrecordnumberthatmatches
anexistingrecord.

New Theemaildoesnotmeettheconditions CreateIncident Createnewrecord

foreitherareplyorforwardtypeinbound
emailaction

Ifmorethanoneinboundactionisavailableforaparticulartype,ServiceNowusestheTablefieldtomatchtheemailtoaparticulartable.Ifthereisalso
morethanoneactionfortheinboundaction'stable,ServiceNowusestheOrderfieldtodeterminetheorderinwhichtheactionsrun.

3.1SpecifyingRecognizedReplyPrefixes

WhennowatermarkorInReplyToemailheaderispresent,ServiceNowrecognizesemailcontainingaprefixfromthe
glide.email.reply_subject_prefixpropertyasreplyemail.Emailswiththeseprefixestriggerinboundemailactionsofthetypereply.Setthis
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glide.email.reply_subject_prefixpropertyasreplyemail.Emailswiththeseprefixestriggerinboundemailactionsofthetypereply.Setthis
propertyifyouremailsystemusesnonstandardreplyprefixes.

Property Description

glide.email.reply_subject_prefix Specifiesthelistofprefixes(commaseparated)inthesubjectlinethatidentifyanemailreply.
Type:string
Defaultvalue:re:,aw:,r:
Location:AddtotheSystemProperties[sys_properties]table

Note:Prefixesarecaseinsensitive.

3.2SpecifyingRecognizedForwardPrefixes
ServiceNowrecognizesanyemailwhosesubjectlinecontainsaprefixfromtheglide.email.reply_subject_prefixpropertyasforwardedemail.
Emailswiththeseprefixestriggerinboundemailactionsofthetypeforward.Setthispropertyifyouremailsystemusesnonstandardforwardprefixesor
youwantforwardstobehavelikereplies.

Property Description

glide.email.forward_subject_prefix Specifiesthelistofprefixes(commaseparated)inthesubjectlinethatidentifyaforwardedemail.
Type:string
Defaultvalue:fw:,fwd:
Location:AddtotheSystemProperties[sys_properties]table

Note:Prefixesarecaseinsensitive.

3.3ProcessingForwardsasReplies
Youcanforceinboundactionstoprocessforwardedmailasrepliedmailbymodifyingthesubjectprefixpropertiesasfollows.

Property ValueNeeded

glide.email.reply_subject_prefix re:,aw:,r:,fw:,fwd:

glide.email.forward_subject_prefix [anytextthatisnotaforwardprefix]

ThiscausesallforwardedandrepliedtomailtobeprocessedbytheUpdateIncidentinboundaction.
Theglide.email.forward_subject_prefixpropertymustcontainsometextinorderfortheforwardedemailtobeprocessedasaReply.Itcanbe
anytextexceptaforwardprefix(thatis,fw:,fwd:).

3.4MatchingIncomingEmailtoExistingRecords
Tounderstandhowtheinstancematchingincomingemailtoexistingrecords,seethisgraphic.

Theinstancesearchesforwatermarksintheemailsubjectlinefirst,thenintheemailbody.Ifnowatermarkispresent,theinstancessearchesforanIn
ReplyToemailheaderthatmatchesanexistingrecord.Ifthatisnotfound,theinstancessearchesthesubjectlineforarecognizedreplyprefix.

Note:SomeversionsofMicrosoftExchangeServerrequireahotfixtosupportthe"InReplyTo"headerwhenreplyingtoemailthatoriginates
fromoutsidetheorganization.

3.4.1ExamplesofMatchingWatermarksintheSubjectLineorBody
ThefollowingexamplesillustratehowServiceNowmatcheswatermarksinanemail'ssubjectlineorbody.

SubjectLineorBodyContents Matchingresults

Ref:MSG0000008 ServiceNowrecognizesthisasawatermarkandsearchestheEmailWatermarks[sys_watermarks]tablefora
recordwiththenumberMSG0000008.Ifthiswatermarkexists,ServiceNowmatchestheemailtotheassociated
record.Ifthiswatermarkdoesnotexist,ServiceNowusestheinboundactionfornewemailstocreateanew
incident,andassociatesthenewincidentwiththeemail.

Ref:MSGWTR0000008 ServiceNowrecognizesthisasawatermarkandsearchestheEmailWatermarks[sys_watermarks]tablefora
recordwiththenumberMSGWTR0000008.Ifthiswatermarkexists,ServiceNowmatchestheemailtothe
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recordwiththenumberMSGWTR0000008.Ifthiswatermarkexists,ServiceNowmatchestheemailtothe
associatedrecord.Ifthiswatermarkdoesnotexist,ServiceNowusestheinboundactionfornewemailsto
createanewincident,andassociatesthenewincidentwiththeemail.

Ref:WTR0000008 ServiceNowrecognizesthisasawatermarkandsearchestheEmailWatermarks[sys_watermarks]tablefora
recordwiththenumberWTR0000008.Ifthiswatermarkexists,ServiceNowmatchestheemailtotheassociated
record.Ifthiswatermarkdoesnotexist,ServiceNowusestheinboundactionfornewemailstocreateanew
incident,andassociatesthenewincidentwiththeemail.

MSG0000008 ServiceNowdoesnotrecognizethisasawatermarkbecauseitdoesnotstartwiththeRef:prefix.Itusesthe
inboundactionfornewemailstocreateanewincident,andassociatesthenewincidentwiththeemail.

3.4.2ExamplesofMatchingRecordNumbersintheSubjectLine
ThefollowingexamplesillustratehowServiceNowmatchesrecordnumbersinanemail'ssubjectlinetoanexistingrecordwhennowatermarkis
present.

SubjectLineContents MatchingResults

RE:Example ServiceNowrecognizesthissubjectlineasareplyandrecognizestheINCprefixasbelongingtotheincidenttable.
INC0005574 ServiceNowsearchestheincidenttableforanexistingrecordINC0005574.Ifthisincidentexists,theemailisassociated
withthisincident.Ifthisincidentrecorddoesnotexist,ServiceNowusestheinboundactionfornewemailstocreatea
newincident,andassociatesthenewincidentwiththeemail.

RE:Example Theinstancerecognizesthissubjectlineasareplybutdoesrecognizesthe"INCprefixasbelongingtotheIncidenttable
"INC0005574" becauseofthequotationmark.Thesameerroroccursforanycharacterotherthanaspacebeforetherecordnumber.
RE:Example Theinstanceinsteadusestheinboundactionfornewemailstocreateanincident,andassociatesthenewincidentwith
*INC0005574 theemail.

RE:"Example TheinstancerecognizesthissubjectlineasareplyandrecognizestheINCprefixasbelongingtotheIncidenttable.The
INC0005574" instancesearchestheIncidenttableforanexistingrecordINC0005574",whichitwillnotfindbecauseofthequotation
RE:Example mark.Thesameerroroccursforanycharacterotherthanaspaceattheendoftherecordnumber.Theinstanceinstead
INC0005574* usestheinboundactionfornewemailstocreateanincident,andassociatesthenewincidentwiththeemail.

RE:CHG0008593and ServiceNowrecognizesthissubjectlineasareplyandrecognizesone,butnotboth,ofthenumberprefixes.Thereisno
INC000576 waytopredictwhichprefixServiceNowwillmatchfirst.Whicheverprefixitmatches,itsearchesthecorrespondingtable
foramatchingrecord.Iftherecordexists,theemailisassociatedwiththetable.Iftherecorddoesnotexist,ServiceNow
usestheinboundactionfornewemailstocreateanewincidentandassociatesthenewincidentwiththeemail.
Note:ServiceNowdoesnotsupportprocessingemailwithmultiplenumbersinthesubjectlinebecausethereisnoway
topredictwhichrecordServiceNowwillmatchfirst.Forthisreason,ServiceNowdoesnotrecommendcreating
notificationsthatincludemorethanone$numbervariable.

FW:Example ServiceNowrecognizesthissubjectlineasaforwardbecauseoftheFW:prefixandusestheinboundactionfor
INC0005574 forwardedemailstocreateanewincident,andassociatesthenewincidentwiththeemail.

ExampleINC0005574 ServiceNowrecognizesthissubjectasanewemailbecauseitdoesnotcontainamatchingreplyorforwardprefix.Ituses
theinboundactionfornewemailstocreateanewincident,andassociatesthenewincidentwiththeemail.

4MatchingEmailtoExistingUsers
WhenServiceNowreceivesanemailmessage,thesystemsearchesforanexistinguserrecordwiththesameemailaddressasthesender.For
example:

Valueofemail.fromvariable MatchingUserID Emailaddress Name

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] MichaelTossi

"MichaelTossi"<[email protected]> [email protected] [email protected] MichaelTossi

"Tossi,Michael"<[email protected]> [email protected] [email protected] MichaelTossi

"Tossi"<[email protected]> [email protected] [email protected] Tossi

Note:ThisfunctionalityrequiresthatyouactivatetheEmailAutomaticUserCreationplugin.Formoreinformationontheplugin,see
UpgradingtheUserCreationMethodtoUsetheFullEmailAddress.

InboundEmailActionscriptsnolongersupportthegs.createUser()method.Useeithertheautomaticallygeneratedemailvariablesorthe
gs.GetUserID()methodinstead.
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gs.GetUserID()methodinstead.

4.1ImpersonatingUserstoRunInboundActions
Ifthesenderofanincomingemailmatchesanexistinguser,theinstanceimpersonatesthematchingusertocompleteanyinboundemailactions.Ifthe
senderdoesnotmatchanexistinguser,theinstanceimpersonatestheGuestusertocompleteanyinboundemailactions.Iftheimpersonateduseris
lockedout,theinboundemailactionfails.

Note:Ifinboundemailcomesfromanuntrusteddomain,theinstanceimpersonatestheGuestuserunlessyouexplicitlypreventusersfrom
untrusteddomainsfromtriggeringinboundactions.

5CreatingUsersfromIncomingEmail
ServiceNowcanautomaticallycreateusersfromincomingemail.Ifthesearchdoesnotfindauserwithamatchingemailaddress,ServiceNowcan
createanewuserwiththeUserID[sys_user.user_name]settothesender'sfullemailaddress.

Valueofemail.fromvariable UserIDcreated Emailaddress Name

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] NewUser

"NewUser"<[email protected]> [email protected] [email protected] NewUser

"User,New"<[email protected]> [email protected] [email protected] NewUser

"User"<[email protected]> [email protected] [email protected] User

5.1EnablingAutomaticUserCreation
Toenabletheautomaticcreationofuserrecordsfromemail,youmustsettwoemailproperties.
1.NavigatetoSystemProperties>Email.
2.SelectthecheckboxforAutomaticallycreateusersforincomingemailfromtrusteddomains(glide.pop3readerjob.create_caller).

Enablethepropertytocreateusersfromemail

3.EnterthelistoftrusteddomainsinTrusteddomainsforcreatingusersfromincomingemails(glide.user.trusted_domain).

Listoftrusteddomains

4.ClickSave.

Note:Whenthepropertyglide.pop3readerjob.create_callerissettofalse,ServiceNowrunsinboundactionsfromuserswhodonot
matchanexistinguserbyimpersonatingtheGuestuser.Youmaywanttopreventuntrustedusersfromtriggeringinboundactionsbylocking
outtheGuestuser.

5.2UpgradingtheUserCreationMethodtoUsetheFullEmailAddress
YoucanupgradethemethodServiceNowusestocreateusersbyactivatingtheEmailAutomaticUserCreationplugin.Thepluginmakesthefollowing
changes:
Setsthepropertyglide.email.create_userid_from_emailtotrue.
IncreasesthewidthoftheUserID[sys_user.user_name]columntoaccommodateemailaddresses.
Afteractivatingtheplugin,enableautomaticusercreationfromemail.

Warning:ServiceNow,Inc.stronglyrecommendsreviewingyourexistinguserrecordsto

reconcileanythatcontainidenticalemailaddresses.Ifyouactivatethepluginpriorto
reconcilingemailaddresses,yourinstancecannotdistinguishbetweenuserswithidentical
emailaddressesandwillrandomlyselectoneoftheuserswiththematchingemailaddress.
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emailaddressesandwillrandomlyselectoneoftheuserswiththematchingemailaddress.

6AccessingEmailObjectswithVariables
Aninboundemailactionscripthasaccesstovariouspiecesofaninboundemailthroughscriptvariables.

Variable Contents

email.to ContainsacommaseparatedlistofemailaddressesintheTo:andCc:boxes.

email.direct ContainsacommaseparatedlistofemailaddressesintheTo:box.

email.copied ContainsacommaseparatedlistofemailaddressesintheCc:box.

email.body_text Containsthebodyoftheemailasaplaintextstring.

email.body_html ContainsthebodyoftheemailasanHTMLstring.

email.from Containsanemailaddressaccordingtothefollowingconditions.IftheaddresslistedintheemailHeadersfieldmatchesan
existinguser'sEmailaddress,thisvariablecontainstheuser'sEmailaddress.IftheaddresslistedintheemailHeaders
fielddoesnotmatchanexistinguser'sEmailaddress,thisvariablecontainstheaddresslistedintheemailHeadersfield
(startingwithEurekaPatch5)ortheGuestuser'sEmailaddress(inversionspriortoEurekaPatch5).

email.from_sys_id ContainstheSysIDoftheuserwhosenttheemailtotheinstance.

email.origemail Containstheemailsender'saddressaslistedintheemailHeaders.

email.subject Containstheemail'ssubjectasaplaintextstring.

email.recipients Containsacommaseparatedlistofrecipientaddresses.

email.recipients_array Containstherecipientaddressesasanarray.

email.content_type ContainstheMIMEcontenttypeoftheemail(forexample,text/plaincharset="usascii"ortext/htmlcharset="us
ascii").

email.headers Containsdetailsaboutthesender,route,andreceiverasaplaintextstringintheformatofthesendingemailclient.

Note:ServiceNowfollowsRFC2822(http://www.rfceditor.org/info/rfc2822)(InternetMessageFormat),whichrequiresmultipleemail
addressesinagrouptobeseparatedbycommas,notsemicolons.ServiceNowcansetthevaluesoftheemail.to,email.direct,and
email.copiedvariablesonlyifemailaddressedtogroupsfollowtheexpectedRFCformat.

6.1ProcessingRecipientsinInboundEmail
Therecipientsvariablesallowprocessingofinboundemailbasedontheemailrecipients:
email.recipients:returnsacommaseparatedlistofrecipientaddressesasaplaintextstring.
email.recipients_array:returnstherecipientaddressesasanarray.
Forexample,createascripttoprocessemailbasedonthearrayvalues:

varrarray=email.recipients_array;
for(vari=0;i<rarray.length;i++){
varrecipient=rarray[i];
//dosomethingwithit
}

7SettingFieldValuesfromtheEmailBody
Valuesinaninboundemailcansetfieldvaluesinataskrecord.Anyname:valuepairinaninboundemailbodygetsparsedintoavariable/valuepairin
theinboundemailscript.Thename:valuepairmustbeonitsownline.Notethatmostemailclientslimitthenumberofcharactersallowedperlineand
maytruncateexcessivelylongname:valuepairs.TopopulateareferencefieldusesetDisplayValue()instead.SeeRedirectingEmailsforanexample
ofusingsetDisplayValue()inaninboundemailaction.

Note:Theactionalwaysgeneratesalowercasevariablename.Notealsothatthisfunctionalitydoesnotworkonreferencefields.

Forexample,ifanemailbodycontainsthisline:

Foo:bar

Theinboundemailscriptcreatesthevariableemail.body.foowiththevalueofbar.Youcanusethesevariablestocreateconditionssuchas:

if(email.body.foo!=undefined){
current.[field]=email.body.foo;
}
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}

Inthisexample,thescriptsetsthevalueof[field]tothevaluebar.

7.1MatchingtheSender'sEmailAddresstoaUser
Whenprocessinganemail,ServiceNowsetsthecurrentusertotheuserwhoseemailaddressmatchesemail.from.Inboundactionscanthenreference
thatcurrentuser.Forexample,thebasesysteminboundactionCreateIncidentsetstheincident'scaller_idtothevaluereturnedbygs.getUserID().
Ifmultipleusershavethesameemailaddress,theinstancefirstsearchesforanactiveuserwiththeemailaddress.Theinstancedoesnotmatch
inactiveusers.

Warning:Youshouldhaveauniqueemailaddressesforeachuserrecord.Otherwise,the
instancecannotreliablymatchtheemailtothecorrectuserandunpredictablematchesmay
occur.

Ifprovidingauniqueemailaddresstoeachuserisnotpossible,ServiceNowrecommendsonlyhavingoneactiveuserwiththesharedemailaddress.
ThisconfigurationguaranteesthatServiceNowalwaysmatchesincomingemailfromthisaddresstotheactiveuser.

Note:TheEmailAutomaticUserCreationpluginmustbeactive.

8AssignmentofTasksviaEmail
Thename:valueexampleshowsausefulemailcapabilitythatis,theabilitytosetafieldinarecord.Forexample,thechange.itil.approve.roleemail
templatelistsseveralfieldsintheoutboundnotification.

NoticethelineinthetemplatethatshowsPriority:${sysapproval.priority}.Whenreplyingtothisemail,theapprovercanchangethevalueofthe
Priorityfielddirectlyfromtheemail.Forexample,theapprovercouldsetthepriorityto4Low:

Priority:4

9RedirectingEmailstoDifferentAssignmentGroups
Bydefault,thePOPReaderscheduledjobchecksfornewemailevery2minutes.Itconnectstothemailserverandaccountspecifiedinemail
properties.ThePOPReaderdownloadsanyemailwaitingonthemailserverandcreatesemail.readevents.Aftertheinstanceprocessestheevents,
theinboundemailactionsrun.

ThePOPReadershowsthenumberofemailsprocessedduringthereader'slastrun.Themessageshowsthenumberofemailsthereaderprocessed
or0processedifnoemailswereavailable.Thereaderresetsthestatuseachtimeitruns.
WhileitisnotpossibletospecifymorethanonePOP3accountfortheinstance,youcanhaveothermailboxesforwardtothedesignatedPOP3account.
AddthisscripttotheCreateIncidentinboundemailactiontodifferentiatethecontentbasedontheoriginalrecipientandthensetan
assignment_groupvalue.

if(email.direct.indexOf('[email protected]')>1)
current.assignment_group.setDisplayValue('FacilitiesManagement');

Updatetheemailaddress,originalrecipient,andassignmentgroupnameaccordingly.

10Attachments
Ifaninboundemailcontainsoneormoreemailattachments,theinboundemailactionaddstheattachmentstothefirstrecordtheactionproduces.

11CharacterEncoding
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ServiceNowcheckstheMIMEtypeofincomingemailtoverifythecharacterencoding.IftheemailencodingisASCII7orUTF8,inboundemailactions
preservethecharacterencodinginanyassociatedtaskrecordstheyproduce.IftheemailencodingisISO88591,theinboundemailactionattemptsto
converttheemailtoWindows1252.Inboundemailactionsconvertanyotherencodings(forexample,MacOSRoman)toplaintext,whichmayormay
notbereadable.

12SettingMaximumBodySize
Insomesituations,anemailmessagemaycontainmoreinformationinthebodythantheinstance'sdatapolicypermitsafieldtowritetothedatabase.
Bydefault,aninboundemailactioncanprocessonlyupto16MBworthofinformationinthemessagebody.Iftheemailbodyexceedsthislimit,the
instancetruncatesthemessagebody.
Asystempropertycontrolsthemaximumsizeofamessagebodybeforetheinstancestopsprocessinginboundemailactions.Thedefaultvalueissetto
matchthedatapolicywritelimitof16MB.Youcannotsetahighervaluewithoutconflictingwiththewritedatapolicylimit.Ifyouwanttosetalowerlimit,
youcanaddthissystemproperty.Ensurethelimitiswellbelowthemaximumtotalemailsize.

Property Value

Name com.glide.email.max_body_bytes

Description Specifythemaximumsizeofanemailmessagebodyinbytes.Thesizecannotexceedthedefaultvalueof16MB.

Type Integer

Value 16777216

Note:Emailattachmentshaveseparatesizelimits.Formoreinformation,seeEmailAttachmentLimits.

13PreventingUntrustedUsersfromTriggeringInboundActions
Administratorscanpreventusersfromuntrusteddomainsfromtriggeringinboundactions.Forexample,youcanpreventemailfromusersoutsideyour
companydomainfromcreatingincidents.
1.Enableautomaticusercreationandaddalistoftrusteddomains.Forexample,addyourcompanydomainexample.com.
2.NavigatetoUserAdministration>Users.
3.Selecttheuserguest.
4.SelecttheLockedoutfieldtodisabletheguestaccount.LockingoutauserrecordpreventsServiceNowfromprocessinginboundactions.
Whenauserfromatrusteddomainsendsanemailtotheinstance,ServiceNoweithermatchestheemailtoanexistinguserorcreatesanewuser.
Sincetheincomingemailmatchesauserrecord(eitheranexistingornewone),theemailcantriggeraninboundaction.
Whenauserfromanuntrusteddomainsendsanemailtotheinstance,ServiceNowattemptstoimpersonatetheguestuser.Sincetheguestuseris
lockedout,theimpersonationfailsandtheincomingemailcannottriggeraninboundaction.

Warning:Allowinglockedoutuserstotriggerinboundactionsalsoallowsuntrustedusersto
triggerinboundactions.

14AllowingLockedOutUserstoTriggerInboundEmailActions
Administratorscanallowlockedoutuserstotriggerinboundactionsbysettingthesystempropertyglide.pop3.process_locked_out.Thisallows
userswhoneedtoresettheirpasswordtosendanemailmessagetoaninstanceaskingforassistance.

Warning:Enablingthisfeaturealsoenablesusersfromuntrusteddomainstotriggerinbound
actions.

Property Description

glide.pop3.process_locked_out Enables(true)ordisables(false)theabilityforlockedoutuserstotriggerinboundactions.
Type:true|false
Defaultvalue:false
Location:AddtotheSystemProperties[sys_properties]table

15Usingsys_email

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Youcanusetheglobalvariablesys_emailwithinboundemailactions.Thisletsyouaccessthereceivedsys_emailrecordthattriggeredtheinbound
emailaction.Itcanbeusedtoreferencefieldsontheemailrecord,suchasuid,sys_id,content_type,andsoon.

16Troubleshooting
Thefollowingsolutiontothiscommoninboundemailerrorisusefulfortroubleshootingemailactions.Formoreinformation,opentheServiceNow
KnowledgeBaseandaccessthefollowingtwoarticles:
Fortroubleshootinginboundemail,seeKB0524472(https://hi.servicenow.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0524472).
Fortroubleshootingoutboundemail,seeKB0521382(https://hi.servicenow.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0521382).

ErrororSymptom Solution

EmailfromOutlook ConfigurethelocalOutlookclientorExchangeservertonotsendRichTextformatted(RTF)datatoServiceNow
producesanemptyIncident instances.TopreventWindowsemailfromcontainingawinmail.datfile,seeMicrosoftKB278061
recordcontainingan (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278061)forinformationonconfiguringOutlookorMicrosoftKB138053
attachmentnamed (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/138053)forinformationonconfiguringExchange.
winmail.dat.

16.1Logging
Seetheemaillogsforadescriptionofwhatyoucanseeinthesystemlog.
StartingwiththeDublinrelease,youcanusetheseGlideSystemerrormessagestodisplaymessages:
Foraninformationmessage:
gs.log("<INSERTLOGMESSAGEHERE>","EMAIL."+sys_email.sys_id)

Forawarningmessage:
gs.logWarning("<INSERTLOGMESSAGEHERE>","EMAIL."+sys_email.sys_id)
Foranerrormessage:
gs.logError("<INSERTLOGMESSAGEHERE>","EMAIL."+sys_email.sys_id)

Category: NotificationAdministration

Contents>Administer>ServiceAdministration>NotificationAdministration

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