SMTP monitor

The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) monitor verifies that the SMTP mail server can accept incoming sessions and respond in a timely manner.

The monitor opens a connection to the targeted SMTP mail server, and then waits for the server to respond with a standard Service Ready Code 220 opening message. When the monitor receives the message, it safely disconnects from the server by sending a QUIT command to terminate the SMTP connection. If the mail server fails to respond or responds with an error code indicating that the service is not available, the test fails.

Use the SMTP Monitor to verify that:

• A mail client can open a connection with an SMTP mail server.
• The server adheres to the SMTP protocol by responding with the correct codes.
• The server responds within a required number of seconds.

Create an SMTP monitor

1. Click Devices in the toolbar.
2. Locate and click the targeted device you want to monitor.

3. In the toolbar, click Add > Add New Monitor.

4. In the Select Monitor menu, click SMTP.

5. Under Identification, enter information about the monitor.

   

   1. Enter a name in the Monitor Name field using up to 64 characters. This name will appear in the monitor list, monitor status, log files, and your reports.

      You can change this name later, if necessary. ipMonitor does not use this field to internally identify this monitor.

   2. Select Enabled to enable the monitor.

      When enabled, the monitor tests the specified resource using the settings you enter under Test Parameters. You can disable the monitor later if required.

   3. Select Store Monitor Statistics for Recent Activity and Historical Reports to enable this functionality.

6. Under Test Parameters, enter the monitor testing parameters.

   

   1. Enter the IP address or domain name of the server you want to monitor.
   2. Enter the TCP port number that the targeted resource responds on. The default is TCP port 25.

7. Under Timing, configure the fields for the monitor testing states.

   

   1. In the Maximum Test Duration field, enter the maximum test duration rate (in seconds) that the monitor times out before the test is considered a failure.

   2. In the remaining fields, enter the number of second between each test while the monitor is in an OK state (Up), a failed state while alerts are processed (Down), and a failed state and the maximum number of alerts have been processed (Lost).

      In the Lost state, no additional failure alerts are processed. However, a recovery notification is sent if the monitor recovers.

8. Under Notification Control, complete the fields to determine how many test failures must occur before an alert is sent.

   

   1. Enter the number of test failures that occur for each alert before ipMonitor generates an alert for the monitor. The default option is 3.

   2. Enter the maximum number of alerts to send before the monitor enters a Lost state.

      The monitor must be assigned to a notification alert to generate an action.

9. Under Recovery Parameters, complete the fields to indicate the corrective action used to automatically restore a resource using the External Process Recovery, Reboot Server Recovery, or Restart Service Recovery action.

   

   1. Enter the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), NetBIOS, or IP Address of the machine hosting the service that needs a restart or the machine that needs a restart. You can also click Browse to locate and select the machine.
   2. Select the set of credentials used by the recovery alert. You can select a specific credential to execute recovery alerts that require access to restricted resources, such as Reboot Server, Restart Service, or External Process.
   3. Select the list of services to restart on the target machine specified in the FQDN/NetBIOS/IP Address field. This field is only required for the Restart Service alert. If a service has dependencies, select all dependent services.
10. Click OK.

Minimize the SMTP server load

SMTP servers are configured to perform a reverse lookup on all incoming connections. This process verifies that the IP address of the SMTP client matches the host or domain submitted when establishing the connection.

Because the SMTP Monitor IP address can be verified each time the server is tested, delays can occur when connecting to the server, or the load on your SMTP server can increase if you implement aggressive timing parameters.

To avoid this issue, you can:

• Add a reverse DNS entry for the ipMonitor host machine.
• Adjust the SMTP monitor's timing parameters by increasing the Maximum Test Duration value and the Delays Between Tests parameters.

Configure Gmail as the SMTP relay

You can configure Google Gmail as the SMTP relay for ipMonitor to send email alerts. ipMonitor uses this relay to send out email alerts for the device monitors. Gmail is one of the supported email methods.

1. Ensure that the Less Secure Apps option is disabled in your Gmail account security settings.

   You may receive some messages in our inbox stating that someone attempted to log in to your Gmail account from a specific IP address. This requires you to confirm that this is you and allow the connection.

2. Log in to ipMonitor as an administrator.

3. Click the Configuration tab and then click System Settings.

4. Scroll down to Email Delivery.

5. Enable the SMTP relay server.

   

6. Configure the SMTP relay server.

   1. Enter smtp.gmail.com as the IP address / domain name of the email host.

      

   2. Enter 465 as the TCP port number.

      

   3. Click Select.

      

   4. Click New Credential.

      

   5. In the Credentials Wizard, enter a credential name, and then click Next.

      

   6. Select Clear Text Authentication, and then click Next.

      

   7. Enter your administrator account and password, and then click Next.

      

   8. Select the appropriate default authorization based on your corporate requirements, and then click Next.

      

   9. Review the summary information, and then click Finish.

      

7. In the System Settings page, click Apply.