FAQ - Troubleshooting Alarm Plugins
Quickly resolve common Alarm Plugin issues in Nodinite with this FAQ and troubleshooting guide. Find the guide that matches your error message, fix the cause, and get alerts flowing again.
- ✅ Step-by-step solutions for common Alarm Plugin issues
- ✅ Office365 and SendGrid email troubleshooting and configuration tips
- ✅ SSL/TLS certificate validation and firewall configuration guidance
- ✅ Guidance on customizing alert properties with variables
- ✅ Direct support contact for unresolved problems
If you have any issues that you cannot solve, contact our Support; read more on the Support page.
Find the Right Guide
Start with the error from the Execute Alarm test button, or the error on the entry in the Alarm Queue. Every failed alert waits there and is retried as set by the AlarmQueueSettings System Parameter.
stuck in Alarm Queue"] dns["fa:fa-server No data of the requested type
WSANO_DATA"] o365["fa:fa-cloud Authentication failed
smtp.office365.com"] rev["fa:fa-shield-halved Unable to check revocation"] name["fa:fa-shield-halved RemoteCertificateNameMismatch"] dnsFix["DNS Resolution Errors"] o365Fix["Office365 Email Configuration"] revFix["Certificate Revocation"] nameFix["Certificate Name Mismatch"] start --> dns start --> o365 start --> rev start --> name dns --> dnsFix o365 --> o365Fix rev --> revFix name --> nameFix style start fill:#c33d34,color:#fff style dns fill:#FFD525,color:#000 style o365 fill:#FFD525,color:#000 style rev fill:#FFD525,color:#000 style name fill:#FFD525,color:#000 style dnsFix fill:#2678BD,color:#fff style o365Fix fill:#2678BD,color:#fff style revFix fill:#2678BD,color:#fff style nameFix fill:#2678BD,color:#fff
From the failure (red), match the error text (yellow) to the troubleshooting guide (blue) below.
Common Email Alarm Plugin Problems
DNS Resolution Errors
Problem: Test Alarm fails with "The requested name is valid, but no data of the requested type was found" (WSANO_DATA error) when attempting to send emails.
Root Cause: The SMTP hostname cannot be resolved due to DNS configuration issues, missing DNS records (A/AAAA records), a firewall blocking DNS port 53, or internal DNS zone configuration problems.
Quick Fix: Verify DNS resolution using nslookup smtp.example.com and Resolve-DnsName. Ensure the firewall allows outbound UDP/TCP port 53 to DNS servers.
Read the complete DNS troubleshooting guide →
Office365 Email Configuration
Problem: Emails fail to send through Office365/Microsoft 365 SMTP (smtp.office365.com) with authentication or connection errors.
Root Cause: SMTP Authentication disabled in Office365, MFA blocking password authentication, TLS 1.2 not enabled, expired or changed passwords, or Basic Authentication deprecated by Microsoft.
Quick Fix: Switch the Email with Options plugin to OpenID (OAuth 2.0) authentication. For Basic Authentication, enable SMTP Authentication in the Microsoft 365 admin center and ensure TLS 1.2 is enabled on your server.
Read the complete Office365 configuration guide →
SSL/TLS Certificate Revocation Validation
Problem: Emails fail with "The revocation function was unable to check revocation for the certificate" when sending through SendGrid, Mailgun, or other SMTP providers.
Root Cause: A firewall blocks access to Certificate Revocation Lists (CRL) and OCSP endpoints (crl.godaddy.com, ocsp.digicert.com), CA certificates are missing, or a proxy configuration prevents certificate validation.
Quick Fix: Allow outbound HTTP (port 80) to *.godaddy.com and *.digicert.com for certificate validation. Install missing GoDaddy/DigiCert intermediate certificates. For v7.2+, consider the "Ignore certificate revocation errors" option as a temporary workaround.
Read the complete SSL/TLS certificate revocation guide →
SSL/TLS Certificate Name Mismatch
Problem: Emails fail with "RemoteCertificateNameMismatch" or "The remote certificate is invalid" errors even after enabling the "Ignore certificate revocation errors" option in v7.2+, or the test succeeds but live alarms fail intermittently.
Root Cause: The hostname you connect to (e.g., smtp.example.com) does not match any hostname in the server's SSL/TLS certificate Subject Alternative Name (SAN) list. The revocation ignore option only bypasses CRL/OCSP checks, not hostname verification.
Quick Fix: Use the provided PowerShell script to inspect the certificate's SAN list, then update your SMTP Server configuration to use a hostname that actually appears in the certificate. Alternatively, request certificate re-issuance to include the missing hostname.
Read the complete SSL/TLS certificate name mismatch guide →
Other Questions
Why is an alert stuck in the Alarm Queue?
The Alarm Plugin could not deliver it, usually for one of the reasons above. The entry shows the error. Fix the cause, then delete the entry or purge the queue in the Alarm Queue; entries keep the settings they were queued with, so purge after changing SMTP settings.
Which ports must be open?
The Monitoring Service sends every alert. Its SMTP and HTTPS ports are listed under Between the Monitoring Service and the Alarm Plugin targets.
How do I customize Alert properties?
Use variables and JSONPath in the subject, Event Source, and Event Id. See Variables and JSON Path examples for Alerts, and Stylesheets for the message body.