How to send emails from an Outlook/Microsoft 365 account using Automation Anywhere Community Edition?

Hi everyone,

I am currently using Automation Anywhere Community Edition (Free version) and I am trying to learn how to send an email from an Outlook/Microsoft 365 email address using Automation Anywhere.

I would appreciate a step-by-step explanation of the recommended way to configure this in the Community Edition, because I am not completely sure whether I should use the Microsoft 365 Outlook package or the Email package.

1. Microsoft 365 Outlook package

I found the native Microsoft 365 Outlook package, which seems to be the recommended option for Microsoft 365.

I understand that I first need to use the Connect action.

However, when configuring it, I see several options that I am not completely sure how to configure:

• Azure Cloud:

  • Azure Global

  • Azure US GCC High

• OAuth2 Authentication mode:

  • Authorization Code with PKCE

  • Client Credentials

  • Control Room managed

• Client ID

• Tenant ID

• Redirect URI

• Username

I understand that these settings are related to Microsoft Entra ID / OAuth 2.0, but I am not sure how to configure them specifically in the Automation Anywhere Community Edition (Free version).

For example, I selected Azure Global, since I am using a regular Microsoft 365/Outlook environment, but I am not sure how I should obtain/configure the Client ID, Tenant ID, Redirect URI, and OAuth permissions.

I also noticed that the Control Room managed option appears to require a connection configured in the Control Room. In my Community Edition Control Room, I don't see an option to configure these OAuth connections.

2. Email package

I also tried using the Email package, specifically the Send action.

I configured the email server as follows:

Email server host:
smtp.office365.com

Email server port:
587

Authentication mode:
Basic

For the username and password, I tried both:

• Insecure string using variables

• Credentials stored in the Credential Vault

However, when I execute the bot, I receive the following error:

"There was an error in sending the email message. Please check your connection details provided and try again"

I have double-checked the host, port, username, and password, but I still receive the same error.

I also found some older discussions mentioning that different versions of the Email package behaved differently with smtp.office365.com on port 587, so I was wondering whether this could be related to the package version.

My current Email package version is:

3.33.7

What I would like to know

Could someone please provide a step-by-step guide for Automation Anywhere Community Edition showing the recommended way to send an email from an Outlook/Microsoft 365 account?

In particular:

1. Should I use the Microsoft 365 Outlook package or the Email package?

2. If using Microsoft 365 Outlook, how should I configure the Connect action in Community Edition?

3. How should I configure Azure/Entra ID, OAuth2, Client ID, Tenant ID and Redirect URI?

4. If using the Email package with SMTP, is smtp.office365.com:587 with Basic authentication still supported for Microsoft 365?

5. If Basic authentication is no longer appropriate, what is the correct authentication method for Community Edition?

6. Is there any specific limitation in the Community Edition (Free version) that prevents this configuration?

I am mainly trying to get a simple test working: send one email from an Outlook/Microsoft 365 address to another email address.

Any step-by-step guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!