ATI2011 build 6696 Notifications not working

No, doesn't work

jehosophat wrote:

Does anyone have notifications working in ATI 2011 build 6696?

I do... but only if using an SMTP outbound mail server that requires authentication with userid and password.  Sending unauthenticated outbound SMTP has been broken in all previous 2011 builds I've tried it in.

There is a way to manually edit the backup script XML file to make it work, but I haven't had the energy to futz with it.

I have it working using encrypted email using my ISP's secure email server, port 465 and SSL and include my email logonid and PW. ATIH 2011 build 6696 will also work (for me at least) without encryption. I use my ISP's standard email server, port 25 and no encryption. You can leave out the logonid and PW or include the correct values for both. Both alternatives work for me. If you leave out the logonid and PW then the email has no sender name when it is received. Some ISPs may not like sending an email with no sender name. Also if you leave out the logonid then ATIH 2011 build 6696 will complain but it will still send the test email successfully. I dont know if it will work that way in production. I always use encryption.

My ISP does not allow userid or password when sending via its SMPT on port 25. So no matter what I do in Acronis, the test email fails, and acronis won't let me off the configuration screen unless I put in some values in the userid and password fields. Its a catch-22. It worked well in ATHI 2010, but someone decided to get cute in 2011 and decided to make it work ass-backwards. Now it just doesn't work. It seems to depend on how the ISP has their server set up. Some say they can get it to work, others can't. I'm one of the "can'ts".

James, have you considered getting Gmail so you can just send these messages, if nothing else? Gmail default is using encryption. It will work without but why would you and it's free. If you also have an email client like Outlook then Gmail will work with that also using smtp, pop3 or IMAP protocols.

I use Gmail as my main email and I use it to pick up mail from my 3 hotmail addresses via pop3 and it all comes into Outlook on the one pipe. It has a very good spam filter which you can easily modify. Best of all, since Gmail is independent of my ISP it is like Herpes, you can have it forever, lol.

I was able to get notifications working via the Gmail SMTP server using the SSL settings. Gmail's settings for TLS do not work and crash TIH, at least when you try to test the settings.

I am completely unable to get notifications working over an unauthenticated, unencrypted SMTP server on port 25. It simply does not work. I have no idea why. It worked fine in TIH 2010 and the first build of TIH 2011 I was using. Hasn't worked in at least two builds now.

Thanks !!! I appreciate the suggestion. Maybe I wasn't clear earlier. My ISP supports both unencrypted / unauthenticated outbound SMTP on port 25 as well as an authenticated / encrypted SMTP on port 465. In earlier releases of ATIH 2010, the email setup allowed me to send unauthenticated / unencrypted email through the SMTP server on port 25... ATIH did not require me to enter a userid and password. In current ATIH it will not permit you to send unauthenticated email on port 25 because it DEMANDS that you put in a username and password.... Then the email always fails.

So ATIH forced me to switch to my ISP's authenticated / encrypted SMTP server to send notifications (or switch to some other server like GMAIL to do it). My ISP works fine as long as I use authentication. I can certainly go get a gmail account... Thats not the point at all. The point is Acronis BROKE their email notification setup and need to fix it so users don't have to resort to all manner of kludges to get their notifications.

Thanks for all the replies.

Going forward, what is discouraging is that this issue obviously an old issue from what you say, but it is not mentioned in the release notes for the latest build as something that is not working yet.

So has Acronis aver acknowledged that there is a problem?

Acronis said they know about the Gmail issue here
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/17210

jehosophat wrote:

Thanks for all the replies.

Going forward, what is discouraging is that this issue obviously an old issue from what you say, but it is not mentioned in the release notes for the latest build as something that is not working yet.

So has Acronis aver acknowledged that there is a problem?

In addition to the Gmail issue, they have also acknowledged the issue with unauthenticated SMTP settings not working. Sadly, it looks like this issue has been occurring since at least two builds prior to the current one (v6696).

What I don't get is this should be a simple thing to fix, yet it is not.

I suspect the list of bugs is pretty long for ATIH 2011 (judging by all the posts on this forum) and they just haven't gotten around to working the fixes for them into a released build yet (assuming they have fixes in testing).

On a related topic... Have any of you looked closely at the email notifications (and Log entries) for backups and seen that they are missing information (like file names)... and when they do include file names, they are sometimes don;t match what the backup actually created? If not... take a close look and report back. This is yet another set of bugs I've found.

I don't usually look closely at the e-mailed log. I will do so and let you know what I find.

Here's my original post on that topic: http://forum.acronis.com/forum/17178

I don't have any major problems with the emails but the content is a bit casual. I always do a Custom Differential backup and I manage the generations by means external to Acronis. I don't trust ATIH (any version) to manage that. I always do Differential rather than Incremental because if an Incremental won't restore then you have lost all backups back to the one before the failure. I always do a Validate as part of the backup.

My emails are sent via my ISP but destined for my Gmail where I use a filter to analyse the mail for success or failure. The successful backup emails go into the Gmail Trash bin but the failures are allowed to proceed through to my Outlook and they get actioned immediately. I never empty my Gmail Trash and it auto deletes emails after 30 days. When emails are forwarded to Outlook they also get sent to the Gmail Trash. So I have 30 days of Acronis emails in my Gmail Trash.

The Gmail filter looks for T​ask completed successful​ly. in the subject and Operation has succeeded. in the body and not Failed in the body of the email. If it gets all three conditions then the email is tagged with Backup OK and deleted. If it does not satisfy all 3 conditions then it forwards to Outlook.

I have had backup emails in the past that have said they were successful but they had failed a step in the backup which completely ruined the backup. The last line in my emails which says Information 22/02/2011 6:40:48 AM Operation has succeeded. seems to only refer to the status of the Validate and it seems to be the status of the Validate which is reflected in the subject of the email. Very casual and misleading which is also why I get Gmail to check the email also for the word Failed.

Also in the line to note the commencement of the Differential backup it includes the variable names in the statement, not the content of the vars; example Information 22/02/2011 6:32:35 AM Create Differential Backup Archive From: Win7Pro (C:) To file: "E:\Acronis\Win7Pro\WEEK1\Win7Pro_(C)_@time@_@date@.tib" . When it does the validate it manages to include the content of the vars; example Information 22/02/2011 6:34:59 AM Validate Backup Archive Location: "E:\Acronis\Win7Pro\WEEK1\Win7Pro_(C)_0632_2011-02-22.tib" It's all a bit inconsistent. In Australia we do our dates (DD/MM/YYYY) differently from some other locations but Acronis is inconsistent in that too. It dates the message according to local settings but not the filename which it does as YYYY/MM/DD. I prefer the latter as it makes the filenames self sorting in date order which DD/MM/YYYY can never do.

It would be nice if they could fix these problems but I'm not counting on it.

Bob,

In my testing, I discovered several issues linke to the use of time stamps (@date@ and @time@) with ATI. These issues appear during regular file operations from the ATI UI (like deleting, moving, modifying backups). In some cases, ATI doesn't recognize the stamps.

I recommend you do not use these stamps in the current build (this is where I am now).

It offends me to have to create my own work-a-round for an obvious Acronis problem. Especially when the work-a-round involves setting up an additional Email account that still may not work.

Email notification worked well in Home 2010 because Acronis setup provided for servers requiring unencrypted authentication. I agree with James Simmons that "someone decided to get cute"; probably a technical Geek who does not understand 'User Friendly' and had a personal opinion that his/her idea should work. What happened to the tried and true theory of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it?'

I am on the latest build of Home 2011, 6696; use TWC Roadrunner, a major player in the Email world which requires unencrypted authentication. Email notification simply does not work in Home 11 build 6696 for a TWC Roadrunner subscriber. I do not believe it works for any Mail Server requiring unencrypted authentication.

This issue requires me to take time each morning to manually check and ensure my data was successfully backed up. Sorry, but that is NOT my definition nor understanding of User Friendly.

Acronis, this is not a new problem --- FIX IT or refund my subscription and reimburse me for the many hours I have spent on the issue.

Totally Agree!! I 'upgraded' from 2009, which worked fine. Now with 2011 this issue has still not been fixed after so long and numerous patches. I argued with support over weeks over email who told me there was no issue - clearly not! I won't bother with '2012'!

Acronis --
You have not responded to my post #16. The least you could do is reply with either an acknowledgement of the problem or offer to refund my investment.

What annoys me even more is that (based on Acronis Home 2010) I have recommended your product to several of my Clients, some of whom purchased multiple licences for their Business, and are now contending with the same notification issue (among others).

I am aware you will not refund my investment, but you could at least acknowledge the issue as being legitimate and tell us what you intend to do about it, if anything.

By the way, 'notification' is not your only problem; 'Cleanup' is very erratic and mostly fails. Posts to this forum suggest this is because of Acronis scripts that the user can manually remove by following a sequence of technical steps.

You folks seem to make a habit of passing work-a-rounds to technical/structural issues along to the User for resolution. I am through with Acronis unless there is substantial improvement of your attitude toward 'User Friendliness'.

Hello all,

Thank you for your comments and for sharing your concerns with us.

Joe, I understand your concern. I've checked our internal resources, and the issue is reported to be fixed in the upcoming update. We do not have ETA regarding its release date available, but you can subscribe to our newsletter and receive a notification once it's out.

Please also note that Forum is a Community, not a support channel, so for emergency cases or questions we recommend to contact our Support directly. 

Should you need anything else or have any further questions - feel free to contact us at your earliest convenience, we will be happy to help you!

Thank you!

Thank you Yana. I will not post any messages that are directed to Acronis; I get it.

I accessed the 'Subscribe to our Newsletter' link, but found nothing relating to a newsletter. There were three options relating to 'offers' or to 'beta opportunities'.

The latest build 6857 0did not fix this issue.
So after another 3 months Acronis could not fix something that was working and they broke.

No hope for Acronis. It is definitely time to purchase an alternative.