Email server down: send sms

This guide explains how you can setup the alarm system to check your email server periodically to see if it is operational. If the alarm system detects an error it will send an SMS to your mobile. This article shows tutorial steps and the necessary information to help you create this setup efficiently. We will use Ozeki Alarm System. It is a useful tool that makes it possible to to send alarm notifications in various environments. In this example we use it to notify users when an email server is down via SMS. This guide requires basic knowledge of email and SMS technology. You will be provided some important information and detailed step by step instructions. We hope you will find the presented insights beneficial. Let's get started!

What is an email server?

An email server is an application or computer in a network whose purpose is to act as a virtual post office. The server stores incoming mail for distribution to local users and sends out outgoing messages. This uses a client-server application model to send and receive messages using Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Your business very likely operates an e-mail server, and the purpose of this solution, is to alert you if your email server goes offline.

What is a monitoring mobile?

The monitoring mobile is an Android Mobile Phone that does the email server monitoring. You need to install the Ozeki Alarm App to this Android phone and configure the email server to watch. If the email server goes down, this mobile will send the sms to your mobile.

What is a monitoring pc?

Since Ozeki Alarm runs on both Android Mobile phones and Desktop PC-s, you can use a Monintoring PC instead of a Monitoring mobile. The monitoring PC is computer that does the email server monitoring. You need to install the Ozeki Alarm App on this computer, and configure the email server to watch. If the email server goes down, this pc will send the sms to your mobile. You can connect the monitoring pc to the mobile network in various ways.

What is an sms alert?

SMS alerts, also known as SMS notifications or text alerts, are messages sent automatically to the configured recipients, indicating if the e-mail server is experiencing downtime. Employing a text alert system enables businesses to send these alerts to large groups of people simultaneously.

How do I check if my email server is down (Easy guidelines)

To check if my email server is down:

1. Install the Ozeki Alarm App on Android
2. Login to the Ozeki Alarm App from your PC
3. Install Email server offline source
4. Configure the SMS notification channel
5. Go to the Configure tab page's Advanced tab
6. Tick all the check boxes in Log level group box
7. Create a new routing rule
8. Test the system

How does the system work

Ozeki Alarm System allows users to send an SMS automatically, if the email server is down. It performs checks periodically to detect downtime (The default time period is 5 minutes). You can configure the alarm to send text messages automatically if it detects that the e-mail server is not working. This is incredibly helpful in notifying the users of the email sever if this happens.

Methods of email server monitoring

This solution offers two ways of monitoring your email server. Monitoring can be done through mobile or PC using periodic health checks. Notification is performed using SMS alerts in both cases. You may use the desktop or mobile application to operate Ozeki Alarm System. Both options feature the same tools, making the choice come down to user preference.

Email server down using Mobile Monitoring ping SMS alert

This down detector system works in a way that it constantly monitors your email server. Your monitoring mobile performs a "health check" every 5 minutes (Or the number of minutes you set the frequency to) on your e-mail server (Figure 1). If the health check fails, the alarm system detects that the server is not working. When this happens, the Ozeki Alarm sends an SMS alert to your mobile device. This text message tells you that your email server is down.

Email server down using PC Monitoring ping SMS alert

The PC variant of the system works in the same way as the mobile version. Your monitoring PC performs a "health check" every 5 minutes (Or the number of minutes you set the frequency to) on your e-mail server (Figure 2). If the health check fails, the alarm system detects that the server is not working. When this happens, the Ozeki Alarm sends an SMS alert to your mobile device. This text message tells you that your email server is down.

Checking if my email server is down (video tutorial)

This video tutorial shows how the user can verify if the email system is experiencing downtime. Ozeki Alarm System allows users to send an SMS automatically, if the email server is not working. This can be done by installing Ozeki Alarm System on your Android mobile for convenience you can access the alarm system in your desktop borwser, and configuring a route through the routing system. The video tutorial shows you how to setup this alarm notification. It only takes 4 minutes to watch.

Start the Alarm System

Start by opening Ozeki Alarm System on your Android mobile. Once opened, the application will display a desktop login address. Login credentials will also be shown in form of a username and a password (Figure 3). The desktop login address in our case is https://192.168.232.2:9520. This address varies based on your environment. This as an URL, that can be entered into the address bar of a webbrowser. You can use this URL to login to your mobile phone on your desktop PC.

Log in to the Alarm System from your desktop

If the mobile is setup you can login into the Alarm System from your desktop device. To login you need to enter the login address (Figure 3). The login address (https://192.168.232.2:9520) should be entered into the address bar of your webbrowser. This will bring you to the login screen. On the login screen enter the username and password. The username (admin) and password (xijfuu) is shown on your mobile device (Figure 3). You need to put the username and password into the textboxes (Figure 4). Click 'OK' to submit the form.

Open the Alarm System Application

After successfully logging in, you will be on the Ozeki desktop. To open the Alarm System Application, simply click on the icon labeled "Alarm System", which is located on the top left of the screen below the Recycle Bin (Figure 5). This will bring up the Alarm System window, where you can configure a vareity of settings related to the Alarm System.

Add an email server offline source

To add an email server offline source, click on the toolbar icon labeled "Sources". This will bring you to a screen which lets you install alarm sources. Next, locate the source named "email server offline" (Figure 6). It can be found below the IT Infrastructure Monitoring section as the first option. Then, click "Install" next to it highlighted in blue. This will bring you to the configuration screen.

Configure the email server offline alarm source

Once you're on the configuration screen, enter the IP address of the email server you wish to monitor into the textbox next to "Host" (Figure 7). Your mobile will send an SMS when this email server is down. Note that you are also able to change the frequency in which the email server is monitored in increments of minutes. This can be done by entering a number (minutes) into the textbox next to "Period". You may also get more information by clicking on the Advanced tab and enabling the desired options by clicking on the checkboxes next to them. When all is done, click OK.

Enable email server offline

Click on the switch button next to "Connection" in the Connection section, which is located in the configuration form on the left side of the screen, to enable email server offline (Figure 8). When the switch button is green, it indicates that the Connection is turned on. When the switch button is gray, the connection is turned off.

Enable mobile connection logging

Enable mobile connection logging by clicking the Home icon in the toolbar, then click on a notification channel highlighted in blue on the left side of the screen. This will bring up the details window. Next, click on the Configure tab, then click on the Advanced tab. Then click on the checkboxes next to the options you wish to enable in the Log level section, then click ok (Figure 9).

Add a new routing rule

To create a new route, first click the Routes tab on the toolbar (Figure 10). Then, click on the "Create new Route" button just below the toolbar. Next, navigate to the Route details section on the right side of the screen. Select the email server offline in the "From" combobox and select your notification channel in the "To" combobox, then click OK.

Configure who recieves the message

In order to configure the recipient, you need to click the Advanced button, which appeared next to your newly created route. This will bring you to the details of your route. First click on the Modify tab, then click on "Replace the 'To' address". Finally, enter the desired phone number into the textbox that appears (Figure 11).

View email server offline reports

Click on the Home icon on the toolbar. This will bring you to the home screen. Click on your email server offline alarm source on the right side of the screen. Here you can view the reports sent in the Events tab that pops up (Figure 12).

View SMS alert reports

Click on the Home icon in the toolbar. This will take you to the home screen. In the Home screen click on the notification channel (T-Mobile)." This will open the notification channels event log. This is the T-Mobile event log. You can view the messages sent through this channel in this log (Figure 13).

Conclusion

As you could see in this guide, SMS alerting when your server is down is a very helpful technology when you manage e-mail servers and want to maintain their constant operations. Ozeki Alarm System helps you catch the moments when your e-mail server is unreachable.

Ozeki Alarm System helps your organization in keeping the reputation to a high standard, because if you use this solution, your e-mail distribution will be always continuous. The SMS part has to be heavily underlined because nowadays everyone has a phone and that is the first thing that we use to get important and urgent information. Being able to supervise your e-mail server with a device that can fit in your pocket makes your work easier and faster.

For further useful information make sure that you check the following guides because they also contain relevant information in this topic: Email server chat alert and checking if server is down using ping and send an SMS if not.

Now, it is time to download Ozeki Alarm System for your company and begin your work!