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office365 mail in openforis arena

· 4 min read
Rok Damjanić
Rok Damjanić
IT, sports, nature

Fixing Office365 Mail in OpenForis Arena with STARTTLS​

The OpenForis Arena platform comes with built-in email support, but the default configuration does not correctly support STARTTLS when using Office365 SMTP servers. This causes the entire mailing service to fail — which means new users cannot register, and existing admins are unable to invite users to join the system.

This guide explains how to patch the email integration to work with Office365 using NodeMailer, configure the necessary environment variables, and deploy Arena using Docker Compose — complete with working email functionality and GitHub package authentication for building the image.

Using default mailer.js component produces errors like this below, even if the config is correctly filled out.

Error screenshot 1

Error screenshot 2

Why this matters​

Office365 requires STARTTLS on port 587 with the correct authentication and TLS configuration. Arena's default mail configuration isn't compatible, leading to failed email deliveries or TLS handshake errors.

We’ll fix that by:

  • Modifying Arena’s mailer.js file
  • Enabling Office365 as a mail provider
  • Setting up appropriate environment variables
  • Building and running Arena via Docker

Step 1: Clone the Arena Repository​

git clone https://github.com/openforis/arena.git
cd arena

Step 2: Patch the Mailer Utility​

Edit the file server/utils/mailer.js and replace its contents with the following:

mailer.js
import * as nodemailer from 'nodemailer'
import * as ProcessUtils from '@core/processUtils'
import * as i18nFactory from '@core/i18n/i18nFactory'
import * as Log from '@server/log/log'

const logger = Log.getLogger('Mailer')

const emailServices = {
  office365: 'office365',
}

const emailService = ProcessUtils.ENV.emailService
const authUser = ProcessUtils.ENV.emailAuthUser
const authPass = ProcessUtils.ENV.emailAuthPassword
const from = ProcessUtils.ENV.adminEmail || authUser

logger.debug('Email configuration:', {
  emailService,
  authUser: authUser ? '[set]' : '[not set]',
  authPass: authPass ? '[set]' : '[not set]',
  from,
})

const transporter = nodemailer.createTransport({
  host: 'smtp.office365.com',
  port: 587,
  secure: false,
  auth: {
    user: authUser,
    pass: authPass,
  },
  requireTLS: true,
  tls: {
    minVersion: 'TLSv1.3',
    ciphers: 'TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384',
    rejectUnauthorized: false,
  },
  debug: true,
  logger: true,
})

transporter.verify((error, success) => {
  if (error) {
    logger.error('❌ Transporter verification failed on startup:', error)
  } else {
    logger.debug('✅ Transporter verified on startup')
  }
})

const sendEmailMSOffice365 = async ({ to, subject, html, text = null }) => {
  try {
    await transporter.verify()
    logger.debug('✅ Email transporter connection verified before send')

    const info = await transporter.sendMail({
      from,
      to,
      replyTo: from,
      subject,
      html,
      text,
    })

    logger.debug('📩 Email sent:', info.messageId)
    return info
  } catch (error) {
    logger.error('❌ Email sending error:', error)
    throw error
  }
}

export const sendEmail = async ({ to, msgKey, msgParams = {}, i18n: i18nParam = null, lang = 'en' }) => {
  if (!authUser || !authPass) {
    const error = new Error('Email auth credentials not configured in environment')
    logger.error(error.message)
    throw error
  }

  const i18n = i18nParam ? i18nParam : await i18nFactory.createI18nAsync(lang)

  const subject = i18n.t(`${msgKey}.subject`, msgParams)
  const html = i18n.t(`${msgKey}.body`, msgParams)

  if (emailService === emailServices.office365) {
    return await sendEmailMSOffice365({ to, subject, html })
  } else {
    throw new Error('Invalid email service specified: ' + emailService)
  }
}

Step 3: Get Your GitHub NPM Token​

To build Arena with Arena’s GitHub Packages, you need a personal access token.

How to get your token:​

  1. Go to GitHub > Settings > Developer settings > Personal access tokens
  2. Click "Generate new token (classic)"
  3. Select the following scope:
    • read:packages
  4. Generate and copy the token. It will look like:
ghp_ze4O1W2hfRTZ878d1Fvnndz4eZUDc

Step 4: Configure Environment Variables​

Create a .env file in the root of the Arena project:

NPM_TOKEN=ghp_ze4O1W2hfRTZ878d1Fvnndz4eZUDc

Then modify the arena.env file for Arena’s runtime environment:

EMAIL_SERVICE=office365
[email protected] (same as in arena.env)
EMAIL_AUTH_PASSWORD=your_office365_password

Step 5: Build with Docker Compose​

Create a docker-compose.yml in the root of your project:

services:
  arena:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
      args:
        - NPM_TOKEN=${NPM_TOKEN}
    container_name: openforis-arena
    restart: always
    env_file:
      - arena.env
    network_mode: "host"

Then run:

docker compose build
docker compose up -d

All Set!​

You now have a working OpenForis Arena deployment that can send emails through Office365 using STARTTLS — complete with logs, error handling, and secure configuration.

No more failed handshakes or broken notifications. 🎉