Changing default SMTP port in PowerChute V9.1.0 agent?

[BillP]

Hello:

We have several machines on which we have installed the latest PowerChute V9.1.0 agent and would like to configure e-mail alerts.

Alas it appears that the port number can not be set in the agent s/w at least through the web interface ... is there a work-around for this?

We would like to send the alerts to a gmail.com account which requires TLS or SSL authentication on ports 587 / 465

but if going to another POP mail provider would resolve the issue I think I could get that approved  😉

Thanks for any assist!

Jim

[BillP]

Hi Jim,

No, PowerChute 9.1.1 was a very minor release. This addition (SSL/TLS authentication) is supposedly on the road map for 9.2 but I don't have a solid ETA on that.

AP9617 can do email notifications but it does NOT support changing the SMTP port and it does NOT support any type of authentication, not even basic. (Don't know if this helps but here is some information on how it is at all possible to get some popular email services working with the older or newer management cards - How To: Configuring an APC Network Management Card with popular email services such as Gmail, Yahoo!...)

The only current platform that I can say offers all of these things today is AP9630/31.

[BillP]

Angela:

Thanks very much for the speedy reply.

Looking at the link you sent it looks like the NMC1 family is not equipped to handle anything other than port 25, 

and the NMC2 cards would kill the budget... so my idea for a cheap fix will not work... curses 

I will be anxiously awaiting V9.2 and may need to buy some nomex underware in the mean time ...

Jim

[BillP]

Lol, sorry. And yes, NMC1 does not support changing the port from 25 as you noted.

Not sure if AP9630/31 used is an option..

[BillP]

Thanks Angela ... the NMC1 cards used are a very affordable $20 or so,

the NMC2 on the other hand are not really affordable for my customer set. 

Who can I bribe to "accelerate" the release cycle for V9.2 ...

Seriously, I guess I should open a support ticket and at least get a semi-reliable release date for V9.2 and then figure out what to do from there ....

Thanks for all your help!

Jim

[wayne_i_apc]

HI Jim,

I have an AP9619 sending E-mail to me (without authentication) by setting the E-mail Server Settings as follows: Primary DNS Server- , Local SMTP Server- None, From Address- >... I seem to recall I needed to specify my E-mail provider's domain for the "From Address" before the message would get through. Also,the E-mail Recipient settings need to have SMTP Server set to "Recipient". I have also (recently) successfully tested this configuration for sending to other E-mail hosts.

Let me know if I can assist further...

Wayne

[BillP]

Hi Jim - you can open a support ticket but I think you'll get even less information than I provided here to be honest..i went straight to the source on this one.

[BillP]

Hi Wayne - Thanks!

I have a similar setup for two of my customers and it works well as the SMTP server recognizes them as non-foreign ...

or that is "on the home/local ISP network" ... unfortunately I have other customers that can't set up a e-mail account on their OWN ISP's network,

and that seems to be where my problems come in ... when you need to sent e-mail via an SMTP host but are using an IP address that is not within the assigned range of the "home" network that the SMTP server recognizes as one of their own ... then they insist on use of alternat port and SSL / TLS and I'm shot down ...

Hopefully V9.2 is not far away from release!

[BillP]

Just posting back ... to say that I have failed .......... 

I've tired a number of things, but can't get it working ...........

I think Google has stopped supporting un-authenticated SMTP mail, and/or ISPs are blocking use of port 25 for mail transmission.

I'm hopeful the next version of PowerChute will included support for TLS or SSL outgoing mail ...

Jim

[BillP]

Expanding the problem statement a bit ...

It appears that PowerChute only supports "regular" mail  (non-TLS  /  non-SSL),

and can only send outbound mail on port 25.

I'm hoping for a work-around ...

[BillP]

Hello:

We have several machines on which we have installed the latest PowerChute V9.1.0 agent and would like to configure e-mail alerts.

Alas it appears that the port number can not be set in the agent s/w at least through the web interface ... is there a work-around for this?

We would like to send the alerts to a gmail.com account which requires TLS or SSL authentication on ports 587 / 465

but if going to another POP mail provider would resolve the issue I think I could get that approved  😉

Thanks for any assist!

Jim

[BillP · Accepted solution]

What you've found is correct - PowerChute does not support SSL/TLS authentication or changing the SMTP port at this time. The AP9630/31 network management cards do support this today with v6.0.6 firmware and higher as one option if you're interested in purchasing one of those management cards. Otherwise, you'd have to maybe use mail relay and relay your mail to a server over port 25 with plain text email authentication (or no authentication) and then have that server forward it to the actual mail server with SSL/TLS authentication over the port you want.

I believe these features are coming to a future version of PCBE though, just not sure of an ETA.

[BillP]

Angela:

It turns out the software we use for environmental monitoring has the same limitation ...

what luck I have eh?

I will start looking around for a plain-text mail service I can use ...
It seems most of the big-boys are now requiring SSL/TLS as a aid to limiting spam ...

Thank you for you speedy reply!

I have been a big fan of APC for many years now,

both the products and the technical support are awesome

Jim

PS: now go buy the PCBE programmers some coffee

[BillP]

You're very welcome.

I agree on the SSL/TLS requirement nowadays. But hey, I finally got it for Network Management Cards (which is one of the primary products I support) but I don't cover PCBE enough in that regard to chew their ear off on it like I did for management cards.