Use AWS SES (Simple Email Service) as the email provider for Qlik Cloud & Qlik Application Automation

[DaveChannon]

AWS SES (Simple Email Service) is a scalable, consumption-priced email provider compatible with Qlik Cloud.

This article covers configuring AWS SES to use with Qlik Cloud, as well as some considerations if you wish to use standard IAM users rather than the users generated via AWS SES.

Content:

• A note on cost
• Configurating SES
• Set up a verified identity & request production access
• Configure SMTP settings
• Configure Qlik Cloud
• Configure Qlik Application Automation

A note on cost

AWS SES generally operates on a consumption price model. You can estimate the cost of leveraging this service with your Qlik Cloud deployment using the AWS price guide, which currently lists the cost per email at $0.0001. Consult the AWS price guide or your AWS account manager for current pricing.

Configurating SES

To configure SES, you need to:

1. Set up an AWS SES identity in the relevant region, verify the identity, and request production access in AWS to raise the sandbox limits
2. Configure SMTP settings (& optionally, set up a normal IAM user) to allow Qlik Cloud to auth to SES
3. Configure Qlik Cloud
4. Configure Qlik Application Automation

Set up a verified identity & request production access

It is possible to leverage tools such as SES without hosting the rest of your mail with that provider. Refer to your IT team for more information on how to do this, and whether your organization has specific rules which apply to mail delivery.

1. In the AWS console, navigate to AWS SES, and select the region in which you have deployed your Qlik Cloud tenant. You can find a list of AWS region mappings in this help document. In this case, our tenant is in the EU (Ireland) region, which corresponds to AWS region code eu-west-1.
   
   
   
   
2. Once configured, continue in the SES console, and you'll be prompted to verify your identities. You can verify just an email, or a full domain if you wish to have flexibility in your from address. Verification methods vary between the types of identity.
   
   
   
   
3. Once verified, you can request production access using this panel. Initially, each new SES region is deployed in sandbox mode, with very low limits. Enter justification for production access when submitting the request (such as "providing internal mail deliverability for notifications, alerts, subscriptions and integrations via our enterprise data and analytics platform"), and request access.

Configure SMTP settings

Each AWS region provides a different SMTP endpoint and will require either SMTP credentials in that region or an IAM user with appropriate access.

While the easiest option is to use SMTP credentials generated via the SES console, some organizations may leverage credential management tools which require the use of IAM users or roles for all services. If your organization requires the use of a standard IAM user, you can create your own IAM user and handle generating the SMTP credential yourself.

If you create your own IAM user rather than use the SES console wizard, you cannot directly use an access key generated for an IAM user as the SMTP credential - an additional step is required to convert it into the correct format.

If you are using standard SMTP credentials, you can generate these through the SES console. The result will be a newly created IAM user with a policy attached, and a credential generated for that user.

Configure Qlik Cloud

Now that you have:

• Added and verified an identity (either a single email address or a full domain)
• Received production access in SES
• Generated SMTP credentials (either via SES console or via a user created separately)

You're ready to configure Qlik Cloud.

1. Open the Qlik Cloud Management Console
2. Go to Settings
3. Set the Email server as follows:
   • Server Address (SMTP): per the AWS region you selected above, e.g. email-smtp.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
   • Port: 2465
   • Security: SSL/TLS
   • Sender email address: per the identity you verified above. If you verified a single email address, then this should match the email address. If you verified a whole domain, then this can be any email address on that domain.
   • Username: Uncheck Same as sender email address, and enter the access key name (will have been presented during credential creation)
   • Password: Enter the SMTP credential (note, not the same as access key secret)
     
     

You will now be able to test the connection & send your users the notifications, alerts, subscriptions, and reports they deserve!

Configure Qlik Application Automation

Use the same settings as above to configure Qlik Application Automation.

1. Open or create an Automation
2. Drag the Send Mail block onto the workspace
3. Select the block and select Connections to list connections
4. Enter the same details as in the previous Qlik Cloud setup steps, but select SSL as the Security option

You will now be able to send mails as part of your automation workflows via AWS SES.

Environment

Qlik Application Automation 
Qlik Cloud 

The information in this article is provided as-is and to be used at own discretion. Depending on tool(s) used, customization(s), and/or other factors ongoing support on the solution below may not be provided by Qlik Support.