Diagnosing why VMware vCenter Server is not sending email alerts

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information on eliminating common causes of this issue by verifying the configuration of the mail server, networking, and third-party services.

Symptoms:

• Email alerts are not sent from vCenter Server.
• vCenter Server fails to send email alerts.
• C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\vpxd.log in vCenter Server 5.x and earlier, C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\logs\vmware-vpx\vpxd.log in vCenter Server 6.x shows an error similar to:
  
  [02536 error 'Default'] [VpxdMail] Failed to send the mail to SMTP server mail_server at port 25. Error=The transport failed to connect to the server.
  
  

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.X
VMware vCenter Server 6.X

Resolution

Validate that each troubleshooting step is true for your environment. Each step provides instructions or a link to a document to eliminate possible causes and take corrective action, if necessary. These steps should help isolate the issue and identify the proper resolution.

1. Verify that the mail server configuration set in vCenter Management Server Configuration is correct. For more information, see Configure Mail Sender Settings
   
   
2. Verify that network connectivity exists between the vCenter Server and the mail server that has been configured in vCenter Server. For more information, see Testing network connectivity with the ping command
   
   
3. Verify that you can connect from the vCenter Server to the mail server on port 25. For more information, see Testing port connectivity with Telnet
   
   
4. Verify that the mail server configuration allows email to be sent from vCenter Server. The ability to send mail may be restricted so that anonymous email is not allowed or that specific user accounts are required to send mail. If this is the case a rule must be created to allow the vCenter Server to send email, as there is currently no way to configure SMTP authentication with vCenter Server. In vCenter Server 6.0 entering information into the mail.smtp.username and mail.smtp.password fields does not enable authentication.
   
   
5. Verify that email is not being blocked by software such as antivirus or spyware. To test if email is being blocked, disable any such software and create a condition that generates another alert from vCenter Server. If the email is sent successfully, a rule must be created to allow traffic from vCenter Server. For more information on configuration of any third party service, contact the vendor of the product.

Note: If your problem still exists after trying the steps in this article, you must:

• Gather the Support Bundle. For more information, see Collecting diagnostic information for ESXi hosts and vCenter Server using the vSphere Client
• File a support request with Broadcom Support . For more information, see Creating and managing Broadcom support cases