Attachment limit properties
Summarize
Summary of Attachment Limit Properties
This document outlines the properties that control email attachment limits within ServiceNow, specifically for inbound and outbound emails. Understanding these settings is crucial for maintaining optimal system performance and ensuring successful email operations.
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Key Features
- Inbound Email Attachment Limits:
- Maximum Attachment Count: Defined by
glide.email.inbound.maxattachmentcount(default: 30). - Maximum Total Attachment Size: Defined by
glide.email.inbound.maxtotalattachmentsizebytes(default: 18,874,368 bytes).
- Maximum Attachment Count: Defined by
- Outbound Email Attachment Limits:
- Maximum Attachment Count: Defined by
glide.email.outbound.maxattachmentcount(default: 30). - Maximum Total Attachment Size: Defined by
glide.email.outbound.maxtotalattachmentsizebytes(default: 18,874,368 bytes).
- Maximum Attachment Count: Defined by
- Attachment Size Control: The property
com.glide.attachment.maxsizesets the maximum file size for any attachment, overriding the email-specific limits.
Key Outcomes
For inbound emails, if attachments exceed the specified limits, they are discarded, and a record of the discarded file is created. Users can configure notifications for discarded attachments.
For outbound emails, if the limits are exceeded, the email will be sent with only the allowed number or size of attachments, and a warning will be logged. This also applies to notifications, scheduled reports, and exported records to ensure email delivery without exceeding limits.
Several properties control email attachment limits.
To see the status of all email attachments, go to the Email Attachments [sys_email_attachment] table.
Properties
All the properties are located in the System Property [sys_properties] table. Setting any of the following properties to an excessively large value may cause performance issues.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| glide.email.inbound.max_attachment_count | Sets the maximum number of attachments allowed per inbound email.
|
| glide.email.inbound.max_total_attachment_size_bytes | Sets the maximum total attachment size in bytes allowed per inbound email.
|
| glide.email.outbound.max_attachment_count | Sets the maximum number of attachments allowed per outbound email.
|
| glide.email.outbound.max_total_attachment_size_bytes | Sets the maximum total attachment size in bytes allowed per outbound email.
To send an email, the system must encode the contents of the email. This process
may significantly increase the size of the email, including any attachments. It is
best to set this property to a value well below the maximum email size.
|
Inbound email attachment processing
For inbound emails, the system enforces the maximum number and size of attachments as set by the glide.email.inbound.max_attachment_count and glide.email.inbound.max_total_attachment_size_bytes properties. When an attachment for an inbound email exceeds either value, the attachment is discarded. A record is created in the Email Attachments [sys_email_attachment] table containing the discarded file name and the reason it was discarded. The discarded file remains in the Email [sys_email] record. The order in which the system processes the attachments determines which attachments are discarded. This order may not be consistent from email to email.
When an inbound email attachment is discarded, the system also fires the inbound.email_attachments.discarded event. You can use the event to trigger a notification that alerts the email sender. For an example of a notification that can be triggered by the event, see the inactive "Demo Email Attachment(s) Discarded" notification.
Inbound email attachments are prevented from attaching to the target record if an identical attachment exists.
Outbound email attachment processing
For outbound emails, the system enforces the maximum number and size of attachments as set by the glide.email.outbound.max_attachment_count and glide.email.outbound.max_total_attachment_size_bytes properties. Email records are created from various sources and may exceed the configured attachment limits.
Emails that are ready to be sent from the Email [sys_email] table are subject to the outbound attachment limits. Emails that exceed either limit trigger a warning in the email system log and are sent with attachments up to the maximum number or total file size.
The log message for such an email might look like this: Maximum combined attachment size exceeded. (max:15728640 bytes). One or more attachment records ignored.
Emails for notifications, scheduled reports, and exported tables
Notifications can be set to include all the attachments from the record that triggers the notification. If the attachments exceed either of the outbound email attachment limits, the system excludes the excess attachments from the email and logs a warning message.
Reports can be scheduled for email distribution as attachments. Large reports may exceed the outbound attachment size limit. In this case, the system sends the scheduled report email without the report attached and logs a warning message. To avoid the issue, send links to large reports instead of sending the reports as attachments.
If a user attempts to export numerous records from a list that exceeds a configured warning threshold, a dialog box offers the option to email the exported records as an attachment. If the attachment exceeds the outbound attachment size limit, the system sends the email without the exported record list attached and logs a warning message.