Normal email servers can be locked down via credentials or by restricting source ip addresses. Most email servers are locked down so they are not open to just anyone using them as a relay. I doubt Google is an open relay.
Smart Call Home devices only contain a simple email client. These clients do not do authentication - think SMTP client using basic port 25. Customers need to use source ip address restrictions instead of credentials for authentication in their enterprise.
The email relay has to be an open relay for Call Home to work. Essentially, it cannot ask for authentication. The way to verify if it is an open relay is by using telnet
. Verifying that email server will relay email from device
telnet mail.myserver.com 25
Trying 10.10.10.10...
Connected to mail.mycompany.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 mail.mycompany.com ESMTP Postfix
helo client.mycompany.com
250 mail.mycompany.com
mail from: name@mycompany.com
250 Ok
rcpt to: callhome@cisco.com
554 : Relay access denied
If you don't even get this far, that's a no-go as well.
Usually when customers want to do email, they own the email server and then use a transport gateway to send it securely across the internet to Cisco Smart Call Home backend.
The transport gateway receives its information by being an email client and pulling email down from the server and then pushing it across the internet to Cisco Smart Call Home via HTTPS. The transport Gateway is also a web server so that Call Home devices can send the information to it via http or https and it will securely forward it across the internet to the Cisco Smart Call Home backend.
We do not recommend sending information from the Smart Call Home devices directly to Cisco Smart Call Home via email because email is sent in the clear across the internet.
Finally, I understand it might be posible to use the linux version of transport gateway on a server and also load a basic SMTP server as well so that the Call Home devices send email to the SMTP server and the transport gateway retrieves the email from the local email server and then uploads it to Cisco Smart Call Home even though the SMTP server co-exists on the same server. This could also be possible for Windows since the Transport gateway email client uses a random port to connect to the email server and uses a web server on ports you set.
NOTE: I have not successfuly tried putting both an SMTP server and a Transport Gateway on the same server. Many virus protection programs prevent applications from connecting from the same server.
Ok let's see if I can get to questions now!
#1. You log into the CLI and send it from there. SEE the quick start guide for UCS
https://supportforums.cisco.com/community/netpro/solutions/smart_services/smartcallhome
#2 No. Gmail does not accept inbound SMTP on port 25.
