Email Notification Setup

[jconk711]

We just received our beta and have configured a test job. In going through the settings we want to setup email notifications to a central mailbox for monitoring that can be used by different mail servers for our different clients. In setting this up we have discovered that there is no way to specify a to/from address. It appears that whatever is specified in the "Email Settings" fields is what is used both for the from and to address.

Being that we have multiple clients that we may want to utilize this for backup monitoring we would like to be able to specify a specific from address to be able to know which agent it is referring to rather than relying on parsing the subject line and having a separate to address to monitor this from our centralized backup monitoring mailbox. Is there a way to do this that we are overlooking or is this planned to be implement like with the notification for Veeam B&R?

Thanks!

[Dima P.]

Hi Jesse,

Thanks for the feedback. We do not have this option is UI but it’s possible to configure different from / to addresses via API.

1. Open cmd
2. cd C:\Program Files\Veeam\EndPoint Backup
3. Run Veeam.Agent.Configurator.exe -export
4. Go to C:\ProgramData\Veeam\EndPoint\!Configuration
5. Find the Config.xml and open it (notepad works)
6. Edit this part:

Code: Select all

<NotificationSettings Enabled="True">
<Header To="myfist@email.com" From="mysecond@email.com" Subject="[%JobResult%] %ComputerName% - %CompletionTime%"/>
<Conditions Failure="True" Warning="True" Success="True"/>
<Smtp SecureConnection="True" Port="25" Server="smtp.mail.com"/>
</NotificationSettings>

7. Import config back via Veeam.Agent.Configurator.exe -import
8. Good to go, but dont change the values via UI

[jconk711]

Dima,

Thanks for the response. I was able to modify the from section to put in the address I would like it to show from and after restarting the Veeam Agent service I am assuming it worked as now when i go to modify any of the SMTP options in the GUI I get an error access is denied. Just curious if you guys plan on implementing these fields in the GUI down the road?

Thanks,
Jesse

[Dima P.]

Hi Jesse,

Once setting was changed via API its not recommended to change it via UI. We’ll check the error you shared, thanks.

Just curious if you guys plan on implementing these fields in the GUI down the road?

Maybe later, but not in upcoming VAW 2.0 release.

[Didi7]

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Program Files\Veeam\Endpoint Backup>veeam.agent.configurator.exe -export
Veeam.Endpoint.Tray.Core.EndpointServiceException: Service is not available.
at Veeam.Endpoint.Tray.Core.EndpointServicesController.InitializeSync(TimeSpa
n timeout)
at Veeam.EndPoint.Configurator.ServiceHandler..ctor()
at Veeam.EndPoint.Configurator.Program.MainInternal(String[] rawCommandLine)
at Veeam.EndPoint.Configurator.Program.Main(String[] rawCommandLine)

C:\Program Files\Veeam\Endpoint Backup>

*********************************************************************************************************************

This is what I get, when I try to export configuration data in Veeam 2.2.0.589, so it seems this is no longer possible and a redesigned SMTP-configuration is still not available in this version of Veeam Agent for Windows, sender and receiver are still the same, unlike products like Veeam Backup & Replication or Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365.

Regards,
Didi7

[Dima P.]

Hi Didi7.

Is that licensed agent or free agent? Thanks!

[Didi7]

Free, in this case.

Regards,
Didi7

[Dima P.]

Didi7,

Configuration Import/Export requires license to be installed, so I believe that's the reason your are getting this error code.

[Didi7]

Makes sense then

Time for an update in the free version of Veeam Agent for Windows!

Regards,
Didi7

[SBarrett847]

Any chance of seeing the ability to set the "To" address in the GUI yet? I can get the Config Hack to work for Paid licences for our customers but it is pain to do, but for smaller sites we have no way to get alerts for the free VAW.

[Dima P.]

Hello Stephen,

Thank you for the question but the UI for Free version remains the same. May I ask what backup target your free customers are using? Thanks!

[SBarrett847]

Depends on the Customer really, some are going to Local USB Hardisks, some to Network shares or some to Onedrive

[Dima P.]

Stephen,

Thanks for the clarification. In case of standalone deployment, indeed, Configuration API would be the only option. When agent is managed by Veeam B&R you can create an email report based on Veeam B&R job (or protection group). Cheers!

[Zoli]

Hi,
Can I use this method to configure the SMTP notification engine to send the host's FQDN instead of the NetBIOS name? Would it work for Community Edition also?

Thank you.

[Dima P.]

Zoltan,

You mean to change the content of the email report (the way how machines are displayed)? Thanks!

[Didi7]

Ok, I am finally again at the step, where I try to setup SMTP mail notification in Veeam Agent for Windows (Free Edition) and to me it seems, as if at least the Free Edition is not designed to send SMTP mails in companys, especially if companys span their email system across multiple email domains.

The only thing you can configure, is the email address where SMTP mails should be send to. Unfortunately you cannot configure, from which email address those SMTP mails are sent. This leads to an SMTP mail, where the recipient gets the sender in the email and the recipient gets the common name of the sender.

This leads me to the assumption that Veeam doesn't want to use the same mechanism it uses for SMTP-configuration in Veeam B&R. The sole purpose of SMTP mail mechanism in Veeam Agent for Windows is to send mails to common mail services, like e.g. GMAIL, where only the subject of the SMTP mail includes the name of the server, where Veeam Agent for Windows is installed.

Is that right? And does Veeam intent to change SMTP mechanism like it works in Veeam B&R ?

Thanks.

[Dima P.]

Hello Didi7,

Indeed standalone agent email notification engine was designed differently, with the thought that home user most probable will use his own email address to get the notifications. When you talk about several agents, definitely notification should be delivered to the admin's mailbox, so whenever you use agent with Veeam B&R (point jobs to a repo or centrally managed those agents) emails are created by Veeam B&R console where you have different set of options. Cheers!

[Didi7]

Allright!

[Brockmire]

Ok, I am finally again at the step, where I try to setup SMTP mail notification in Veeam Agent for Windows (Free Edition) and to me it seems, as if at least the Free Edition is not designed to send SMTP mails in companys, especially if companys span their email system across multiple email domains.

Veeam is the only app I have email sending issues with. I suspect in my case it is related to DirectAdmin shared email hosting (though, works in Thunderbird on same PC), since cPanel shared hosting and gmail works. No useful feedback other then to check the KB article. I just did a Wireshark capture, and the working mail server responds with a SERVER HELO where the failing mail server responds with a 554 Security failure. So the DirectAdmin server is not liking something in the client HELO. *shrug* A quick google search returned this:
"What’s does this 554 error code mean? A confusing query, always.
554 error code means that the receiving server sees something in the From or To Headers of the message, that it doesn’t like.
This can be caused by a spam filter identifying your machine as a relay, or as a machine not trusted to send emails from your domain."

So again, this stupid From spoofing is just causing problems.

The only thing you can configure, is the email address where SMTP mails should be send to. Unfortunately you cannot configure, from which email address those SMTP mails are sent. This leads to an SMTP mail, where the recipient gets the sender in the email and the recipient gets the common name of the sender.

Gmail flags these emails as suspicious of spam and increases the likelihood they show up in Spam boxes rather than Inboxes, which is super fail for backup notification emails (SMH). It's just not normal behaviour to send email this way. Gmail shows the email as:

from: destination_domain.com via sending_domain.com

Be careful with this message
This may be a spoofed message. The message claims to have been sent from your account, but destination_domain.com Mail couldn’t verify the actual source. Avoid clicking links or replying with sensitive information, unless you are sure you actually sent this message. (No need to reset your password, the real sender does not actually have access to your account!)

This leads me to the assumption that Veeam doesn't want to use the same mechanism it uses for SMTP-configuration in Veeam B&R. The sole purpose of SMTP mail mechanism in Veeam Agent for Windows is to send mails to common mail services, like e.g. GMAIL, where only the subject of the SMTP mail includes the name of the server, where Veeam Agent for Windows is installed.

I just assumed it was quickly thrown together and didn't get QA'd properly. No other program behaves this way and not sure why it's thought to be acceptable. The configuration page is just unnecessarily confusing. It really should be this easy:

Recipient (or Destination) Email:
Subject:

Notify on:
boxes...

SMTP Server settings:
Server:
Username:
Password:
Port:
Use Encryption: box
Test Message

[rant] There is no universe where putting the password for the sending SMTP server settings ABOVE the "SMTP server settings:" line makes sense and the QA people need to give their heads a collective shake for not fixing this from the start. [/rant]

[Didi7]

To be honest, I would like to see it reviewed and reprogrammed as well.

The SMTP-mail configuration is confusing (I had the same thought).

Let's wait and see, if Veeam sees the same need!

Regards,
Didi7

[Brockmire]

Coming up on another two years and the unnecessary email notification limitations remain and doesn't appear to be an issue in Veeam's mind like it is for me. The straw that broke the camel's back were the DMARC failures because they use the destination address as the sending address (what is that nonsense?) unlike any other program I've ever seen or used. I lose a lot of confidence in companies when reliably delivered notifications are not considered a top feature. Kneecapping the email to only send/receive to yourself (and not plainly saying that on that screen that you're spoofing email instead of providing a proper config screen) is just a silly decision, IMO. Anyone serious about security is going to give you the side eye for that.

tl;dr Veeam, you're doing it wrong and you're doing it wrong for poor reasons.

[Dima P.]

Hello Brockmire,

Can you please clarify are you using standalone agent deployment or managed by Veeam B&R? If the agent is running standalone can you please let us know if it's licensed or not? Thank you!

[Brockmire]

Dima,

Standalone and free, I've already tried the import config but failed because of paid limitation. This shouldn't be a paywall feature.

[Brockmire]

@Dima,

What is the difficulty in adding in the field for the From address? The whole page needs fixing (the password field should be next to the username field, that much should be obvious to anyone).

Is that on the books TBD? It's one of those "how have they not fixed this by now?!? How has the QA manager not lost his s#it over this?" issues for me.

Regards

[Dima P.]

Hello folks,

We plan to rework the email reporting functionality in the upcoming versions. Stay tuned for updates and thank you for the feedback!

[Didi7]

Bravo