Email Notifications Troubleshooting

Summary

Steps to troubleshoot Unitrends Backup System failure to send email notifications.

Issue

Email notifications need to be set up or are not functioning with the current configuration.

Office 365 Considerations

Office 365 supports three options for sending emails from an application:

1. SMTP Client Submission
   Authenticate your device or application directly with an Office 365 mailbox.

2. Direct Send
   Send mail directly from your printer or application to Office 365.

3. SMTP Relay
   Configure a connector to send mail using Office 365.

For Option 1 (SMTP Client Submission), SMTP AUTH must be enabled for the mailbox.
More details: Microsoft Article: SMTP Setup.

For Options 2 and 3 (Direct Send & SMTP Relay), refer to Unitrends Blog: Office365 Notifications.

SMTP Traffic Blocked by Environment & Gmail

To configure the Unitrends Backup System to relay mail through an external SMTP server (port 587):

1. Configure SMTP Server:

   • Navigate to: Configure > Appliances > Edit Appliance > Email tab.
   • Fill in the SMTP server details.
   • Check the box for 'SMTP Server Authentication Required' if necessary, and provide the username and password (required for Gmail).
   • Fill in the Test Email Address field.
   • Note: Changes to the 'from' address won't reflect in UI test emails.
   • Click Confirm.
   • Connect to the appliance via the console (Alt+F2) or SSH using port 22 (requires root OS password).

      

2. Edit Sendmail Configuration:

   • Connect to the appliance via the console (Alt+F2) or SSH using port 22 (requires root OS password).

   • Edit the sendmail configuration file:

     vi /etc/mail/sendmail.mc

   • Locate the line:

     define(`SMART_HOST', `smtp.gmail.com')

   • Replace smtp.gmail.com with the configured SMTP server.

   • Add the following lines after the SMART_HOST line:

     define(`RELAY_MAILER_ARGS', `TCP $h 587')

     dnl define(`ESMTP_MAILER_ARGS', `TCP $h 587')dnl

   • Save the file.

   • Run the following command to apply the changes:

     m4 /etc/mail/sendmail.mc > /etc/mail/sendmail.cf

     service sendmail restart

Domain Alias Configuration in /etc/hosts

1. Log into the Backup System interface.
2. Go to: Clients > Networks > Hostname.
3. Change the Fully Qualified Hostname to a full hostname (e.g., backup.domain.com).
4. Navigate to: Networks > Hosts and remove any aliases for domain.com.

Test Email Transport

1. Connect to the appliance via the console (Alt+F2) or SSH.

2. Send a test email:

   echo Subject: test; echo; echo test | /usr/sbin/sendmail -Am -i -f sender@domain.com -v user@domain.com
   • Add -f sender@domain.com to test changing the sender address.
   • If the message sends successfully, you'll see "Message queued for delivery" or "OK SENT" (depending on the SMTP server).

3. Tail the mail log for detailed output:

   tail -f /var/log/maillog

4. To view incoming mail, run:

   mail

Additional Troubleshooting

• Gmail Unlock: Google accounts may need to be unlocked. Visit: Google DisplayUnlockCaptcha.
• More on Gmail SMTP Issues: Google Support: Gmail Account Issues.

Network Restrictions

• Many firewalls and ISPs block outgoing SMTP traffic on port 25 to prevent spam. This can cause email failures in Unitrends systems.

• Gmail Considerations:
  Gmail requires port 587, authentication, and both "Less Secure Apps" turned ON and 2-Step Authentication turned OFF.
  Note: As of May 30, 2022, Google no longer supports "Less Secure Apps" for free Gmail accounts. This does not affect Google Workspace.

• Google Apps (GApps):
  Use Gmail (not GApps) for relay from Unitrends devices.

Miscellaneous

• Top-Level Domain Alias:
  Misconfiguring the Fully Qualified Host Name field can cause mail to be sent to the wrong domain, resulting in errors like "User unknown".

• Sendmail Passwords:
  Sendmail doesn't support special characters like #, =, or : in passwords. Avoid using these characters or quotation marks (") in passwords.