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DriveWorks Pro 21
Email Notifications

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Email Notifications

Pro Server can send Email Notifications when any connected DriveWorks Autopilot agent disconnects unexpectedly (for example when the machine hosting the Autopilot agent powers off).

Please Note

Any changes to the settings require saving and the Pro Server Service stopped (if running) and restarted.

Enable Notifications

Check this setting to enable Pro Server to send email notifications.

Notification Settings

These settings control how often agents are monitored, when to resume monitoring and how many emails are sent.

Check Heartbeat CRON Expression

This CRON expression defines when Pro Server should check for an Autopilot heartbeat.

CRON expressions are used to describe the timing of an event (checking for an Autopilot heartbeat).

The default value:

* * * * *

Will check for a heartbeat every minute.

For help setting up more complex schedules please see crontab guru.

DriveWorks Pro Server will classify a connection as failed after 2 minutes without a response.

The check heartbeat CRON expression result will begin after this time.

For example when the CRON expression is set to check every minute (the default), the failure notification will be sent between 2 and 3 minutes after.

Failed Heartbeat Limit

The number of failed connection attempts before Pro Server sends a notification email.

The default value of 1 will send a notification immediately a failed connection occurs.

This setting is intended to prevent notifications being sent for events other than a computer crash, for instance a network drop that could correct itself.

If you experience frequent network drops consider increasing this value.

Resume Monitoring CRON Expression

A CRON expression representing when to resume heartbeat monitoring after an email has been sent.

The default value:

* * * * *

Will resume monitoring one minute after the previous email has been sent.

Emails Per Agent

The maximum number of emails to send out per agent before stopping the monitoring process.

The default value of 1 will send one notification only.

To resume monitoring an agent that has stopped, launch the failed DriveWorks Autopilot, log in to the required Group, and click Start.

Email Server Settings

Pro Server uses a more modern SMTP Client than Email Settings (for Autopilot) to send emails.

Settings applied to allow DriveWorks Autopilot to send emails will be different to Pro Server Email Server Settings.

Please check with your mail provider for recommended SMTP settings.

Server

This is the name of the SMTP server which will be used to send the email.

For example:

  • smtp.mycompany.com
  • smtp.gmail.com
  • smtp.office365.com

Please check with your mail provider for SMTP settings.

Authentication Protocol

Select from:

  • Auto
  • SSL
  • TLS
  • None

Please check with your mail provider for SMTP settings.

Port

This is usually:

  • 587 (when using TLS or Auto in authentication protocol)
  • 465 (when using SSL or None in authentication protocol)

Please check with your mail provider for SMTP settings.

Username

The username used to log in to the mail server.

Password

The password used to log in to the mail server.

When using a mail provider that requires 2FA see Two-factor authentication below.

Email Settings

Email Address (From)

The email address for the account the notification will be sent from.

Email Address (To)

The email address to send the notification to.

Multiple addresses can be applied by separating each address with a semi-colon (;).

For example:

me@myemail.com ; you@youremail.com

Subject

The text to include in the subject line of the email.

Body

The text to iclude in the body of the email.

The following special variables are available for use in the email body:

  • AGENT_NAME

    References the agents name that cannot be contacted.

    This will comprise of the following:

    <domain>\<user>@<machine name>

  • MACHINE_NAME

    References the machine running the agent that cannot be contacted.

  • USER

    References the user running the agent that cannot be contacted.

  • HEARTBEAT_TIME

    References the time the heartbeat that failed was requested.

    This is given as the date followed by the exact time.

Two-factor authentication (or 2-Step Verification)

If the account has Two-factor authentication (also known as 2-Step Verification) an App Password will need to be generated in the mail account.

For Gmail:

  1. Go to the Security page for the Google Account the mail is to be sent from.
  2. In the Signing in to Google section click on App passwords (log in to the account to verify).
  3. Click Select app and choose Mail.
  4. Click Select device and choose Windows Computer.
  5. Click Generate.
  6. Copy the App password and paste into the Password field of the Email Settings.

Port

The Port number, when using 2FA for Gmail is 587.

Windows Event Viewer

Pro Server email notifications are logged in the Windows Event Viewer.

View DriveWorks Pro Server Event logs

  1. Start Windows Event Viewer.

    From the Windows search bar type Event Viewer and click the Event Viewer app.

  2. Select Windows Logs> Application from the view on the left of the Event Viewer window.
  3. Logs created by DriveWorks Pro Server will be listed as DriveWorksProServer<version number> in the source column.

Pro Server will create an Information log for each Autopilot agent being monitored.

Information Logs

An Information log will be created for any Autopilot agent where monitoring has stopped.

Monitoring will stop when the Emails Per Agent setting has been reached.

To resume monitoring an agent that has stopped, launch the failed DriveWorks Autopilot, log in to the required Group, and click Start.

Error Logs

An Error log will be created if there was a problem sending an email notification.

The log will contain information for the error encountered, to view the information:

  1. Select the Error log from the list of events in the Windows Event Viewer.
  2. The information will appear in the panel below the event list.

Testing Email Sending

To trigger an email notification a DriveWorks Autopilot Agent needs to unexpectedly fail.

To replicate a sudden crash, please follow the steps below:

  1. On the DriveWorks Pro Server machine open Windows Event Viewer (see Windows Event Viewer above).

    This will allow the messages that DriveWorks Pro Server posts to be viewed.

  2. Ensure Email notifications have been enabled in DriveWorks Pro Server, and the service is running.
  3. Launch DriveWorks Autopilot and connect to a Group hosted by the DriveWorks Pro Server.
  4. Start DriveWorks Autopilot.

    DriveWorks Autopilot must be started for monitoring to commence.

    The Windows Event Viewer, on the Pro Server machine, will update with an entry that displays the message "Starting to monitor Autopilot Agent...".

  5. On the DriveWorks Autopilot machine launch Windows Task Manager, in the Processes tab select the DriveWorks Autopilot app and click End Task (replicating a crash in the application).
  6. (After a minute or so) The Windows Event Viewer, on the Pro Server machine, will update with an entry that displays the message "Stopping monitoring Autopilot Agent...".
    • If the Email Notification failed the Windows Event Viewer will update with a message that details why the email failed.
    • If the Email Notification is successful you will receive the email in the account specified in the Email Address (To) field.