314 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
314 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
# Reply by email
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GitLab can be set up to allow users to comment on issues and merge requests by
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replying to notification emails.
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## Requirement
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Reply by email requires an IMAP-enabled email account. GitLab allows you to use
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three strategies for this feature:
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- using email sub-addressing
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- using a dedicated email address
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- using a catch-all mailbox
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### Email sub-addressing
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**If your provider or server supports email sub-addressing, we recommend using it.**
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[Sub-addressing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_address#Sub-addressing) is
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a feature where any email to `user+some_arbitrary_tag@example.com` will end up
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in the mailbox for `user@example.com`, and is supported by providers such as
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Gmail, Google Apps, Yahoo! Mail, Outlook.com and iCloud, as well as the Postfix
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mail server which you can run on-premises.
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### Dedicated email address
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This solution is really simple to set up: you just have to create an email
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address dedicated to receive your users' replies to GitLab notifications.
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### Catch-all mailbox
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A [catch-all mailbox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-all) for a domain will
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"catch all" the emails addressed to the domain that do not exist in the mail
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server.
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## How it works?
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### 1. GitLab sends a notification email
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When GitLab sends a notification and Reply by email is enabled, the `Reply-To`
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header is set to the address defined in your GitLab configuration, with the
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`%{key}` placeholder (if present) replaced by a specific "reply key". In
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addition, this "reply key" is also added to the `References` header.
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### 2. You reply to the notification email
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When you reply to the notification email, your email client will:
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- send the email to the `Reply-To` address it got from the notification email
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- set the `In-Reply-To` header to the value of the `Message-ID` header from the
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notification email
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- set the `References` header to the value of the `Message-ID` plus the value of
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the notification email's `References` header.
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### 3. GitLab receives your reply to the notification email
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When GitLab receives your reply, it will look for the "reply key" in the
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following headers, in this order:
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1. the `To` header
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1. the `References` header
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If it finds a reply key, it will be able to leave your reply as a comment on
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the entity the notification was about (issue, merge request, commit...).
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For more details about the `Message-ID`, `In-Reply-To`, and `References headers`,
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please consult [RFC 5322](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5322#section-3.6.4).
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## Set it up
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If you want to use Gmail / Google Apps with Reply by email, make sure you have
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[IMAP access enabled](https://support.google.com/mail/troubleshooter/1668960?hl=en#ts=1665018)
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and [allowed less secure apps to access the account](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6010255)
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or [turn-on 2-step validation](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185839)
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and use [an application password](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/185833).
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To set up a basic Postfix mail server with IMAP access on Ubuntu, follow the
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[Postfix setup documentation](reply_by_email_postfix_setup.md).
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### Omnibus package installations
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1. Find the `incoming_email` section in `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`, enable the
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feature and fill in the details for your specific IMAP server and email account:
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```ruby
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# Configuration for Postfix mail server, assumes mailbox incoming@gitlab.example.com
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_enabled'] = true
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# The email address including the `%{key}` placeholder that will be replaced to reference the item being replied to.
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# The placeholder can be omitted but if present, it must appear in the "user" part of the address (before the `@`).
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_address'] = "incoming+%{key}@gitlab.example.com"
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# Email account username
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# With third party providers, this is usually the full email address.
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# With self-hosted email servers, this is usually the user part of the email address.
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_email'] = "incoming"
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# Email account password
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_password'] = "[REDACTED]"
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# IMAP server host
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_host'] = "gitlab.example.com"
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# IMAP server port
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_port'] = 143
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# Whether the IMAP server uses SSL
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_ssl'] = false
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# Whether the IMAP server uses StartTLS
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_start_tls'] = false
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# The mailbox where incoming mail will end up. Usually "inbox".
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_mailbox_name'] = "inbox"
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# The IDLE command timeout.
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_idle_timeout'] = 60
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```
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```ruby
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# Configuration for Gmail / Google Apps, assumes mailbox gitlab-incoming@gmail.com
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_enabled'] = true
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# The email address including the `%{key}` placeholder that will be replaced to reference the item being replied to.
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# The placeholder can be omitted but if present, it must appear in the "user" part of the address (before the `@`).
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_address'] = "gitlab-incoming+%{key}@gmail.com"
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# Email account username
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# With third party providers, this is usually the full email address.
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# With self-hosted email servers, this is usually the user part of the email address.
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_email'] = "gitlab-incoming@gmail.com"
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# Email account password
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_password'] = "[REDACTED]"
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# IMAP server host
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_host'] = "imap.gmail.com"
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# IMAP server port
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_port'] = 993
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# Whether the IMAP server uses SSL
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_ssl'] = true
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# Whether the IMAP server uses StartTLS
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_start_tls'] = false
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# The mailbox where incoming mail will end up. Usually "inbox".
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_mailbox_name'] = "inbox"
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# The IDLE command timeout.
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gitlab_rails['incoming_email_idle_timeout'] = 60
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```
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1. Reconfigure GitLab and restart mailroom for the changes to take effect:
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```sh
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sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
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sudo gitlab-ctl restart mailroom
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```
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1. Verify that everything is configured correctly:
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```sh
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sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:incoming_email:check
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```
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1. Reply by email should now be working.
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### Installations from source
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1. Go to the GitLab installation directory:
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```sh
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cd /home/git/gitlab
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```
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1. Find the `incoming_email` section in `config/gitlab.yml`, enable the feature
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and fill in the details for your specific IMAP server and email account:
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```sh
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sudo editor config/gitlab.yml
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```
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```yaml
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# Configuration for Postfix mail server, assumes mailbox incoming@gitlab.example.com
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incoming_email:
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enabled: true
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# The email address including the `%{key}` placeholder that will be replaced to reference the item being replied to.
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# The placeholder can be omitted but if present, it must appear in the "user" part of the address (before the `@`).
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address: "incoming+%{key}@gitlab.example.com"
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# Email account username
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# With third party providers, this is usually the full email address.
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# With self-hosted email servers, this is usually the user part of the email address.
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user: "incoming"
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# Email account password
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password: "[REDACTED]"
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# IMAP server host
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host: "gitlab.example.com"
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# IMAP server port
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port: 143
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# Whether the IMAP server uses SSL
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ssl: false
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# Whether the IMAP server uses StartTLS
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start_tls: false
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# The mailbox where incoming mail will end up. Usually "inbox".
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mailbox: "inbox"
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# The IDLE command timeout.
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idle_timeout: 60
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```
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```yaml
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# Configuration for Gmail / Google Apps, assumes mailbox gitlab-incoming@gmail.com
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incoming_email:
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enabled: true
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# The email address including the `%{key}` placeholder that will be replaced to reference the item being replied to.
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# The placeholder can be omitted but if present, it must appear in the "user" part of the address (before the `@`).
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address: "gitlab-incoming+%{key}@gmail.com"
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# Email account username
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# With third party providers, this is usually the full email address.
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# With self-hosted email servers, this is usually the user part of the email address.
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user: "gitlab-incoming@gmail.com"
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# Email account password
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password: "[REDACTED]"
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# IMAP server host
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host: "imap.gmail.com"
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# IMAP server port
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port: 993
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# Whether the IMAP server uses SSL
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ssl: true
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# Whether the IMAP server uses StartTLS
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start_tls: false
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# The mailbox where incoming mail will end up. Usually "inbox".
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mailbox: "inbox"
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# The IDLE command timeout.
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idle_timeout: 60
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```
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1. Enable `mail_room` in the init script at `/etc/default/gitlab`:
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```sh
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sudo mkdir -p /etc/default
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echo 'mail_room_enabled=true' | sudo tee -a /etc/default/gitlab
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```
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1. Restart GitLab:
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```sh
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sudo service gitlab restart
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```
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1. Verify that everything is configured correctly:
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```sh
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sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:incoming_email:check RAILS_ENV=production
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```
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1. Reply by email should now be working.
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### Development
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1. Go to the GitLab installation directory.
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1. Find the `incoming_email` section in `config/gitlab.yml`, enable the feature and fill in the details for your specific IMAP server and email account:
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```yaml
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# Configuration for Gmail / Google Apps, assumes mailbox gitlab-incoming@gmail.com
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incoming_email:
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enabled: true
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# The email address including the `%{key}` placeholder that will be replaced to reference the item being replied to.
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# The placeholder can be omitted but if present, it must appear in the "user" part of the address (before the `@`).
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address: "gitlab-incoming+%{key}@gmail.com"
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# Email account username
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# With third party providers, this is usually the full email address.
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# With self-hosted email servers, this is usually the user part of the email address.
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user: "gitlab-incoming@gmail.com"
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# Email account password
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password: "[REDACTED]"
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# IMAP server host
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host: "imap.gmail.com"
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# IMAP server port
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port: 993
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# Whether the IMAP server uses SSL
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ssl: true
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# Whether the IMAP server uses StartTLS
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start_tls: false
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# The mailbox where incoming mail will end up. Usually "inbox".
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mailbox: "inbox"
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# The IDLE command timeout.
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idle_timeout: 60
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```
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As mentioned, the part after `+` is ignored, and this will end up in the mailbox for `gitlab-incoming@gmail.com`.
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1. Uncomment the `mail_room` line in your `Procfile`:
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```yaml
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mail_room: bundle exec mail_room -q -c config/mail_room.yml
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```
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1. Restart GitLab:
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```sh
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bundle exec foreman start
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```
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1. Verify that everything is configured correctly:
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```sh
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bundle exec rake gitlab:incoming_email:check RAILS_ENV=development
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```
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1. Reply by email should now be working.
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