BI Publisher analytics report email delivery fails with SMTP authentication error after password policy update

ERP Oracle Fusion Cloud
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1

Our scheduled BI Publisher financial reports suddenly stopped delivering via email last week. All scheduled jobs complete successfully in the BI Publisher interface, but recipients aren’t receiving the reports. When I check the job logs, I see SMTP authentication failures.

We recently updated our email server password as part of quarterly security policy compliance, and I updated the credentials in BI Publisher delivery configuration. However, the authentication still fails. I’ve verified the password is correct by testing it directly against our SMTP server.

This is blocking critical month-end financial report delivery to executives and external auditors. The reports generate fine - I can download them manually from the BI Publisher interface. It’s specifically the automated email delivery that’s broken. Has anyone encountered SMTP auth issues after password updates in BI Publisher?

2

There are actually two places where SMTP credentials live in Fusion. You updated the BI Publisher delivery config, but you also need to update the system-level email configuration in Setup and Maintenance > Manage Email Notification Settings. The BI Publisher config references the system config, so if the system-level password is stale, delivery fails even if BI Publisher config looks correct.

3

Found it! The system-level email config still had the old password. After updating both locations, I’m still seeing auth failures. The password does contain special characters (&, #). How do I properly encode these in Fusion’s configuration?

4

Also check your password complexity. If your new password contains special characters like & or %, they might need URL encoding in the configuration. We had this exact issue where the password worked in direct SMTP tests but failed in BI Publisher because special characters weren’t properly escaped in the XML configuration.

5

Let me address all three focus areas to resolve this completely:

SMTP Credential Update: You need to update credentials in THREE locations, not just two:

  1. BI Publisher Delivery Server (Setup > BI Publisher > Delivery > Mail Server)

    • Update SMTP username and password
    • Verify server address and port (587 for TLS)
    • Test connection using the ‘Test’ button

  2. System Email Configuration (Setup and Maintenance > Manage Email Notification Settings)

    • Update the notification email account credentials
    • This is the system-level config that BI Publisher references

  3. Scheduled Report Definitions (BI Publisher > Catalog > Scheduled Jobs)

    • Some scheduled reports cache delivery credentials
    • Edit each affected schedule and re-save (even without changes)
    • This forces refresh of cached credentials

BI Publisher Delivery Config: Beyond credentials, verify these settings:

  • Enable ‘Use Authentication’ checkbox
  • Set correct encryption: STARTTLS for port 587, SSL for port 465
  • Ensure ‘From’ email address matches authenticated account
  • Check firewall rules allow outbound SMTP from Fusion Cloud IP ranges
  • Verify SMTP server allows connections from cloud-based services

Password Policy Compliance: When updating passwords for compliance:

  • Use app-specific passwords if your email provider requires them (Gmail, Microsoft 365)
  • Avoid special characters (&, %, #, <, >) that require XML encoding
  • If special characters required by policy, use XML entities: & becomes & < becomes <
  • Consider separate service account with simpler password policy for automated systems
  • Document password update procedure to include all three Fusion locations
  • Test immediately after password changes, not just during scheduled run times

For your immediate issue: Reset the BI Publisher service account password to use only alphanumeric characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9). Update all three locations listed above. Then re-save your scheduled reports to clear credential cache. Test by running one report schedule manually before waiting for automated execution.

If authentication still fails, check with your email admin whether your SMTP server recently enabled additional security like IP whitelisting or certificate-based authentication that might block cloud services.

6

Instead of trying to encode special characters, request a password reset from your email admin that uses only alphanumeric characters for the BI Publisher service account. It’s simpler and avoids encoding issues entirely. We use separate service accounts with simple passwords specifically for automated systems to avoid these problems.

7

Check if your SMTP server requires app-specific passwords instead of regular account passwords. Many email providers now enforce this for security. Also verify that BI Publisher’s delivery server settings include the correct port (587 for TLS, 465 for SSL) and encryption method.

8

Good point on app-specific passwords. We are using standard SMTP on port 587 with STARTTLS. I updated the password in Setup > Delivery > Mail Server configuration, but maybe there’s another location where credentials need updating?