AutoSupport transport protocols

AutoSupport supports HTTPS, HTTP, and SMTP as the transport protocols for delivering AutoSupport messages to NetApp technical support. If you enable AutoSupport messages to your internal support organization, those messages are sent by SMTP.

•	If you enable AutoSupport to send messages to NetApp technical support, you can use any of the following transport protocols:

Protocol and port	Description
HTTPS on port 443	This is the default protocol. You should use this whenever possible. The certificate from the remote server is validated against the root certificate, unless you disable validation. The delivery uses an HTTP PUT request. With PUT, if the request fails during transmission, the request restarts where it left off. If the server receiving the request does not support PUT, the delivery uses an HTTP POST request.
HTTP on port 80	This protocol is preferred over SMTP. The delivery uses an HTTP PUT request. With PUT, if the request fails during transmission, the request restarts where it left off. If the server receiving the request does not support PUT, the delivery uses an HTTP POST request.
SMTP on port 25	You should use this protocol only if the network connection does not allow HTTPS or HTTP, because SMTP can introduce limitations on message length and line length.

•	If you configure AutoSupport with specific email addresses for your internal support organization, those messages are always sent by SMTP.

For example, if you use the recommended protocol to send messages to NetApp technical support and you also want to send messages to your internal support organization, your messages would be transported using both HTTPS and SMTP, respectively.

•	If you use HTTP or HTTPS to send AutoSupport messages to NetApp technical support and you have a proxy, you must identify the URL for that proxy.

•	If you use SMTP to send AutoSupport messages either to your internal support organization or to NetApp technical support, you must have an external mail server.