If the server used by GSX Monitor to route emails has been down or unreachable, then there may be a large queue of alerts waiting to be sent.
This article describes how to use the Pending Mail Viewer to get an overview of what is yet to be routed, or discover underlying issues with your email alerting configuration.
When the email server used to send alerts comes back online, there may be a large volume of unwanted message sent. You may receive continuous alerts. Below we will look at Mail View and how to delete a queue of pending messages.
Symptoms
- A large Queue of Alerts.
- Email "storms": you are still receiving alerts long after the issue on your monitored server has been fixed.
- Missing alerts: alerts are not routing by email at all. One of the servers you monitor has been down but you did not receive the alert via email while you received it through other means, like an SNMP Trap for example.
- The alert server has timed out, causing pending mails.
- An envelope symbol in the bottom right corner of the GSX Monitor UI indicating presence of pending alert emails.
How it Works
To verify you have configured alert messages routing properly:
- Go to GSX Monitor Preferences - Alerts.
- Select the E-mail tab of the Alert Preferences window.
- Verify you have configured at least one messaging server to send alert emails.
- GSX highly recommends configuring an alternative messaging server to be used if the default server is not available.
If both servers are unreachable, GSX Monitor stores messages locally until one of the servers becomes available again to route alert emails.
If the alert emails cannot be sent immediately, they are stored locally as XML in sub-folders, named following the "x_x" convention, located under the \GSX Monitor\Data\"UNID"\Memo\ parent folder. So, if the connection to the alert routing server(s) is lost, you will notice messages stored here:
How to Troubleshoot the Issue
First, ensure that the messaging servers set the in E-mail tab of the Alert Preferences window are available to route emails by using the test buttons available for this purpose.
In case of delayed alert mail storms or alerts that have not yet been received by email, the easiest way to troubleshoot the issue is to take a look at pending alert emails.
In GSX Monitor, from the Reports menu, select Pending Mail Viewer:
Please be aware that the Pending Mail Viewer may take some time to process all the relevant information. It may take a few minutes to complete and the UI may appear unresponsive while loading.
Pending mails:
The pending mail viewer shows all alerts that are yet to route via email. Take a detailed look here to find out what is actually happening with your alert emails.
The possible causes of pending mails are:
- The mail server used to send alerts is down or busy.
- At least one recipient of an email is invalid.
Mail Storms:
In case you keep receiving alerts for a server that has been back on-line for some time, you may use the the delete button as highlighted below to remove any undesirable email.
Another way to proceed is to simply delete subfolders contained in the \GSX Monitor\Data\"UNID"\Memo\ main folder as described above. Note that this will delete all memos and you will not be able to select emails that have to be sent.
You will find more information on the GSX Monitor Interface components in our Information Bar description section of the Online Help.