Products Affected

All ELM Products

Issue

System Administrator wants to setup an alternate SMTP notification to alert by email when the primary SMTP gateway is unavailable.

Considerations

  1. Anytime a port is opened on a server there are security risks. Without setting authentication to the IIS SMTP relay server, an email could be relayed to the configured domain. Refer to Microsoft’s KBA 324285 to setup authentication.
  2. Some email servers are configured to block email based upon failed reverse dns resolution. If the external IP address that the relay server is sending as doesn’t resolve in public DNS systems, email may be rejected.
  3. The relay server will need internet connectivity.
  4. This KBA has been written for Windows 2003 servers, even though the Windows Configuration is different the concept will work on Windows 2008 as well.

Windows Configuration

If a second SMTP gateway is not configured for your environment, a basic one can be setup on Windows 2003 through IIS. Installing IIS with SMTP on Windows 2003 is accomplished through the Add/Remove Windows Components section of Add or Remove Programs in Windows Control Panel.

  1. Start Internet Information Services Manager or open the Internet Information Services (IIS) snap-in.
  2. Expand Server_name, where Server_name is the name of the server, and then expand Default SMTP Virtual Server.
  3. Right-clickDomains, point to New, and then click Domain.
  4. Click Remote, and then click Next.
  5. Type the name of the new remote domain, this is the destination domain that you will relay the email to example: mydomain.com, in the Name box.
  6. Click Finish.
  7. In the right pane, right-click the new remote domain that you just created, and then click Properties.
  8. Click the General tab.
  9. Under Select the appropriate settings for your remote domain, click to select the Allow incoming mail to be relayed to this domain check box to allow the SMTP server to act as a mail relay.
  10. Click OK.
  11. Stop and start the SMTP virtual server. To do so, right-clickDefault SMTP Virtual Server, and then click Stop. After the virtual server stops, right-clickDefault SMTP Virtual Server again, and then click Start.
  12. Verify that SMTP port 25 is open on your firewall to allow this server to email outbound.

ELM Configuration

To be notified of when the primary SMTP gateway is not responding, setup the SMTP Monitor, Alternate SMTP Notification Method, Event Filter, and assign the Notification Rule.

1.SMTP Monitor

In the ELM Management Console | Monitoring | right click All Monitors | New | Monitor Item | select SMTP Monitor in the wizard.

  • Complete the Monitor Item Wizard ensuring the Failed messages are written to the Application Event Log and the Schedule is set to 1 minute.
  • Assign the monitor item to the agent that is your Primary SMTP Gateway.

2.Alternate SMTP Notification Method

In the ELM Management Console | right click Notification | New | Notification Method.
The Notification Method Wizard will appear.

  • Select Mail Notification using SMTP Mail, enter the Alternate Smtp servername and a valid From address in the Enter the SMTP Host Name dialog box.
  • Select Next on the SMTP Server Authentication dialog box. Unless authentication was setup according to Microsoft’s KBA 324285
  • On the Enter the Mail Message Settings dialog box, enter an external email address. Note: this should be the same as the remote domain that was setup in IIS SMTP youremail@mydomain.com . Select Test to verify settings and email connectivity. A test email should arrive at your external account.
  • Skip the Notification Rule dialog box. This will be configured in a later step.
  • Enter preferred Threshold Settings. Recommend setting Disable this notification method when its triggered 2 times with 3 Minutes. Once disabled, re-enable it after 15 minutes. Otherwise, the destination email box will get flooded with alert emails based on your SMTP Monitor item schedule.
  • Select preferred time slots on Create a Schedule
  • Enter a name and description that is appropriate, such as Alternate SMTP.

3.Event Filter

In the ELM Management Console | right click Notification | New | Event Filter.

  • Complete the Event Filter Wizard using Event ID 5509 as the Error event, skip the Notification Rules and Event Views dialog boxes. This will be configured in a later step.
  • Name the Event Filter appropriately, such as SMTP Gateway Down

4.Notification Rule

  • In the ELM Management Console | right click Notification | New | Notification Rule.
  • Complete the Notification Rule Wizard selecting the Alternate SMTP Notification Method and the include the SMTP Gateway Down Event Filter just created.
  • Name the Notification Rule appropriately, such as Alternate SMTP Notification Rule

Revision:  1.1

Last Modified:  12/3/2010

Last Reviewed:  12/3/2010

Article Type:  Informational