Managing the Email Alarm Plugin
Send real-time email alerts from Nodinite when Monitor View status changes
The Email Alarm Plugin sends an email when the state of Monitor Views changes, according to your configuration, to the Users of the Monitor View that have an email address. Users get access to a Monitor View through their Roles.
Emails can be sent both when errors occur and when issues are resolved (positive and negative ACKs), so your team is always informed.
Warning
OAuth/OpenID Connect Authentication Mode Limitation: The Email alarm plugin requires user email addresses in Nodinite user profiles. When Nodinite uses OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect authentication (Azure AD/Entra ID), user email addresses are not automatically populated in Nodinite user records. This alarm plugin is only fully functional with Kerberos/Windows authentication mode, where email addresses are retrieved from Active Directory. For OAuth/OpenID environments, use the E-mail with options alarm plugin instead, which lets you specify recipients directly. Webhooks through the HTTP Webhook plugin, for example to Microsoft Teams, are another option. See Install Nodinite v7 - OpenID for authentication mode details.
Tip
Use the E-mail with options plugin if possible; it provides more advanced features and flexibility.
Understanding the Email Flow
Alarm Plugin entry"] users["fa:fa-users Monitor View users
with email address"] queue["fa:fa-bell Alarm Queue"] ok --> ms err --> ms ms -->|"State change"| plugin plugin -->|"SMTP"| users plugin -.->|"Send failed"| queue style ok fill:#93d16d,color:#000 style err fill:#c33d34,color:#fff style ms fill:#2678BD,color:#fff style plugin fill:#2678BD,color:#fff style users fill:#93d16d,color:#000 style queue fill:#c33d34,color:#fff
An OK (green) or Error (red) state change reaches the Monitoring Service (blue), which emails the Monitor View's users through the Email entry the Monitor View has selected. A failed send waits in the Alarm Queue (red).
The Email Alarm Plugin comes pre-installed with the Nodinite Core Services. The Monitoring Service sends the emails, so its server must reach the SMTP server (required ports).
Default Entry and Additional Entries
Since Nodinite 7.2.0, every Alarm Plugin is used through Alarm Plugin entries. The Email default entry ships with Nodinite and holds the base settings. You can add more entries built on the Email plugin, for example one per SMTP relay, and each Monitor View selects the entry or entries it uses. The entry concept and the Action menu (Edit, Show in Mapify, Show in Mermaid, Delete, Restore, Permanently Delete) are described once in Add or manage Alarm Plugin.
Open the default entry from "Administration" > "Settings" > "Alarm Plugins" by selecting "Email".
The General tab holds the name and description; the Control panel runs alarm tests, and the Monitor Views panel lists the Monitor Views that use this entry.
The Configuration tab shows the Alarm Plugin Type and five sub-tabs.
The type can't be changed on a default entry; on an entry you added, changing it resets all configuration settings.
Configuration Tabs
Basic Tab
The Web Client URL makes the link in the email open the signaling Monitor View.
| Field | Help text in the Web Client | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Default subject | The default subject for the e-mail (You can use macros like: , , , , , and ) | Default: Status Report from Nodinite - [{Customer} \| {Environment}] - With {Status}. See Working example with data |
| Web Client URL | Embed a link to the signaling Monitor View. Enter the URL to this Nodinite instance (NOTE: Do not use 'localhost') | The address of your Web Client |
| Stylesheet (unlabeled list) | Select the Stylesheet to use when formatting the output of the alarm. | Default: Email Alarm Plugin, an XSLT Stylesheet |
Recipients Tab
Real alarms go to the Monitor View's users; the Test recipient only receives alarm tests.
| Field | Help text in the Web Client |
|---|---|
| Sender address | The e-mail address of the sender |
| Test recipient | The Test recipient field is in use only for testing the Alarm plugin. This e-mail plugin uses the e-mail address for Users associated with a Monitor View |
Important
User Email Addresses Required: Email alarms are sent to Users of Monitor Views who have an email address. In Kerberos/Windows authentication mode, email addresses are retrieved from Active Directory. In OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect mode (Azure AD/Entra ID), they are not automatically available, making this plugin ineffective. Use the E-mail with options plugin instead; see the authentication mode comparison.
Monitoring State Options Tab
Unchecked, an alarm is sent when the Monitor View changes state, not for every Resource.
| Field | Help text in the Web Client | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger on changed Resource state | When checked, trigger an Alarm when any Resource changes its state. Otherwise, trigger an Alarm when the Monitor View changes its monitoring state | ❌ Unchecked |
The Email plugin has no per-state checkboxes; to choose which states send an email, use E-mail with options.
SMTP Options Tab
The password is stored encrypted (Secret Management).
| Field | Help text in the Web Client | Default |
|---|---|---|
| SMTP Server | The SMTP server in use to send or relay e-mails (DNS name or IP-address) | localhost |
| Port | Specify the port to use connecting with the SMTP server. The default is port 25. For encrypted connections, use port 587 or 465 | 25 |
| SSL is required | When enabled, the connection must use SSL. When disabled, the connection will automatically determine whether SSL is required or not. | ❌ Unchecked |
| Force Disable SSL | ⚠️ This option disables SSL/TLS negotiation entirely and is not recommended for security reasons. | ❌ Unchecked |
| Enable Authentication | Check when the SMTP server requires authentication to process requests. | ❌ Unchecked |
Use Force Disable SSL only when a relay's certificate can't be fixed; see FAQ - SSL/TLS Certificate Name Mismatch.
Recurrence Tab
Leave a state empty to send its alarm only once.
| Field | Help text in the Web Client |
|---|---|
| Enable Recurrence | Configure the recurrence for redistributing alarms |
| ✅ Ok Time Interval, ⚠️ Warning Time Interval, 🚫 Unavailable Time Interval, ❌ Error Time Interval, Connection Error Time Interval | A Time Interval per state; "If needed, you can create or adjust Time Intervals here" opens the Time Intervals page |
Using an Email Entry in a Monitor View
A Monitor View doesn't hold its own Email settings. On the External notifications tab of the Monitor View, the administrator selects the Email entry, or several entries, to use. Need a different SMTP server or subject for some Monitor Views? Add another Email entry, check Override … options on the tabs that differ, and select that entry in those Monitor Views (how).
Execute and Restore Alarm Test
The Control panel buttons send a test alarm to the Test recipient address on the Recipients tab (alarm tests).
Important
If you don't receive any emails and there were no errors reported, check the junk mail folder. If the test fails, see the troubleshooting guides.
Stylesheet
The plugin supports Stylesheets of type XSLT. Use the Alarm Plugin Object XML as example input when you preview or modify the stylesheet. Undelivered emails wait in the Alarm Queue and are retried as set by AlarmQueueSettings.
Working example with data
Default subject is: Status Report from Nodinite - [{Customer} | {Environment}] - With {Status}
Variables to use in the subject field:
{Customer}– Customer name of the Nodinite installation (CustomerName){Environment}– Environment name (Prod, Test) of the Nodinite installation (EnvironmentName){Version}– Nodinite version{Status}– List of Monitor View statuses, e.g. Errors, OK{StatusAndCount}– List of Monitor View statuses and the number for each status, e.g. 2 Errors, 1 OK{DateTime}– Date when the alarm was triggered{Alarm.JsonPath:...}– Advanced option using JsonPath to extract data from the alarm object, e.g. the Monitor View names with{Alarm.JsonPath:MonitorViews[*].Name}
The complete alarm object to apply the JsonPath on is on the Variables and JSON Path examples for Alerts page.