Technical Tip: Unable to send reports or activation email from FortiGate

When running the alert email debug, the SMTP server may respond with a 530 error code.

diagnose debug reset

diagnose debug enable

diagnose debug console timestamp enable

diagnose debug application alertmail -1

Sample debug output that reflects the SMTP server response during the time of the issue. 

2024-11-25 13:13:00 session: 0x99fb790, rsp_state: ehlo, code: 250
2024-11-25 13:13:00 session: 0x99fb790, rsp_state: auth, code: 334
2024-11-25 13:13:08 session: 0x99fb790, rsp_state: auth2, code: 535
2024-11-25 13:13:08 session: 0x99fb790, rsp_state: auth, code: 334
2024-11-25 13:13:08 session: 0x99fb790, rsp_state: auth2, code: 334
2024-11-25 13:13:14 session: 0x99fb790, rsp_state: auth2, code: 535
2024-11-25 13:13:19 session: 0x99fb790, rsp_state: mail, code: 530  <----- Server responded with 530 error code.
2024-11-25 13:13:19 _session_on_destroy
2024-11-25 13:13:19 <== send mail failed, m = 0x99beba0 s = 0x99fb790 <----- Email delivery failed. 

To fix this issue:

1. Make sure that the authentication/credential configured under the email setting is correct.
2. The source IP address used by FortiGate to send the email is not included on the SMTP server blocklist. 

Note:

Starting from v7.4.4, the default email server has been switched from notification.fortinet.net to fortinet-notifications.com. This default server is only available to registered devices with an active FortiCare support contract. The reply-to field in the source email is automatically updated to DoNotReply@fortinet-notifications.com for all servers, including custom ones.

Related articles: 

Troubleshooting Tip: Email alert

Troubleshooting Tip: Alertmail queries 

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