In order to distribute content of SAP BI BusinessObjects (BO), there are currently several automated options, including send to Inbox, FTP, default location and e-mail.
Regarding the send to e-mail feature, sometimes it is easy to configure — that is the case of big corporations that have their own accounts set up within their domain and unlimited power to administer them — but sometimes it’s not that easy and it involves extra cost.
An alternative way of configuring the send to e-mail feature with SAP BI BusinessObjects (BO) is by using a Gmail account, which is explained in this article.
Introduction
Companies usually have their own corporate SMTP server and it works with unsecured TCP port, but to use a non-corporate SMTP server like Gmail — a 3rd party tool with the configuration of a secured/encrypted TCP port — is needed. The steps to achieve the overall solution for SAP BusinessObjects (BO) are:
- Installation of a 3rd-party tool
- Configuration of SAP BusinessObjects
- Configuration of the Gmail account
In this blog post I will explain step-by-step how to do it.
Step 1 – installation of a 3rd-party tool
First of all, we need to configure the TCP port. There are several tools that can do that I recommend use Stunnel it’s easy to configure and use minimum resource.
- Download Stunnel
https://www.stunnel.org/downloads.html
- Install Stunnel
Run the .exe file
- Configure Stunnel
Find the file Edit stunnel.conf in:
Start menu -> All programs -> Stunnel -> Edit stunnel.conf
Here you will find all the parameters available to configure the tool, the ones that we need for Gmail are highlighted in the image:
The accept parameter is the SAP BusinessObjects (BO) server name, in this case we install Stunnel in the same machine and will use the 25 port to connect to the tool (port needs to be open).
- Install and run the service
1) Start menu -> All programs -> Stunnel -> Service install (You will see a confirmation message)
2) Start menu -> All programs -> Stunnel -> Service Start (You will see a confirmation message)
Step 2 – Configuration of SAP BusinessObjects
1) In CMC, go to Server and then go to Properties of the Adaptive Job Server and click Destination.
2) Under Destination, pull the drop down and select Email then Add
3) Under Domain Name, specify value as gmail.com
4) Under Host, specify the IP address of the machine which has Stunnel installed.
5) Under Port, specify the free available port number that you have already set in the stunnel.conf file.
6) Let Authentication be set as Login
7) User Name: Gmail Account User Name
8) Password
Step 3 – Configuration of the Gmail account
Finally we need to enable the Gmail account to let the tool sign in:
Go to https://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps, select Enable and Done
Now we can schedule reports to any email account!
Benefits
The benefits of this solution for SAP BusinessObjects (BO) are:
- Demo environments can be created with no need of a domain account, making them easier to configure
- Customers have an alternative, easier way to configure the server so they can save resources
I hope that this article is useful to you, if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment below.