Email alerts
Let Genie9 send them to your sign-in address, or use your own mail server. What an alert contains, every field, the test email and the limits.
On this page
An email alert tells you about a backup when you are not at the PC. The background agent sends it, so it goes out with the GBM AI window closed. Email alerts are part of Home and Pro, and the 15-day trial. Set them up under Settings ▸ Notifications ▸ Email.
Choose who sends it#
Under Sent by, pick one:
| Option | Needs | Goes to |
|---|---|---|
| Genie9 sends it | a sign-in and a purchased Home or Pro licence | only the address you signed in with |
| My own mail server | an SMTP account | the addresses you type in To |
During the trial, use My own mail server. The card says which part is missing: Sign in so Genie9 knows where to send, or Genie9 sends notifications for purchased Home and Pro licences.
What an alert contains#
The subject names the job and the result, for example Documents & Desktop failed. The message holds:
- which PC it comes from, and the problem with its error code and what to do, if the run failed;
- when the run started and finished, and how long it took;
- the destination and the backup set;
- the counts: new, updated, unchanged, deleted, skipped and errors; how much was written; and the verification result;
- the paths of any files that were skipped, each with its reason (the first 50).
The run log is attached only if you tick Attach the run log (off by default; cut to the last 1 MB).
With My own mail server the same message goes through your SMTP server and never touches Genie9.
Genie9 sends it#
No mail server to set up. The message goes from the agent to Genie9, which sends it from its own mail service over an encrypted connection to your sign-in address, and to no one else. To send to another address, sign in with that address.
Limits, stated on the card: 20 messages an hour per account and 40 a day per PC. Failures are sent first.
Subject prefix ([GBM AI] by default) starts the subject in both modes.
My own mail server#
Any SMTP account works: Microsoft 365, Gmail with an app password, your provider's server, or a NAS that relays mail.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| SMTP server | the host name or IP address |
| Port | 587 for STARTTLS (the usual), 465 for SSL/TLS, 25 for none |
| Security | None, STARTTLS or SSL/TLS |
| Authentication | None or Password |
| User name and Password | the password is stored encrypted on this PC when you leave the field and is never shown again |
| From | leave empty to send as the user name |
| To | one or more addresses, separated by commas |
| Subject prefix | [GBM AI] by default |
Send on#
- A backup fails (on by default; an interrupted run counts as failed)
- A backup finishes with skipped files
- A backup finishes successfully
- A weekly summary (Mondays)
The weekly summary lists every job with its runs of the past seven days (how many, how many failed, how many had skipped files), its last result and its next run. It goes out on Monday from 09:00. If the PC is off on Monday, it goes out the first time the agent runs by Wednesday. A week the PC is off from Monday to Wednesday is skipped, not sent late. A job that is switched off and did not run that week is left out.
Every email is written in the app's language (Settings ▸ General ▸ Language). Error codes are the same in every language.
Turn it on#
- Fill in the card and tick the events you want.
- Click Send a test email. A failure shows the mail server's own answer, with the code
E-NOTIFY-001. - Turn on Send email notifications. The switch unlocks only after one test email went through, so a wrong port cannot leave you without alerts.
A job can also tick Email me if a run fails on its Settings step. It uses the email set up here, even when A backup fails is not ticked.
Troubleshooting#
Gmail refuses the password#
A Google account needs an app password (Google Account ▸ Security ▸ App passwords), not your normal password.
Microsoft 365 refuses#
Basic authentication may be switched off for your organisation. Ask its administrator, or use Genie9 sends it.
The test arrived, but real alerts do not#
- Check that Send email notifications is on. A passed test unlocks it but does not turn it on.
- Check that the right Send on boxes are ticked.
- Look in the spam folder for the subject prefix.
Quiet hours affect Windows notifications only, never email.