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Article Number: 000038389

Avamar: Understanding the differences between EmailHome and DialHome features

Summary: This article discusses the differences between Avamar's EmailHome (also known as Avalanche) and DialHome (also known as ConnectEMC) features.

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Article Content

Symptoms

This article helps the reader understand the differences between the two methods which Avamar uses to communicate system health and status information to Dell.

Avamar has two distinct and separate features which allow it to communicate information to Dell in order to facilitate effective support for the product.
  • EmailHome
  • DialHome
Dell Technologies recommends that both features are enabled as each offers specific functionality and benefits to the end user.
The features are configured and enabled independently. Either (or neither) may be active on a system.

Cause

Not applicable

Resolution

EmailHome:

Function: This is the traditional 'call home' feature used by Avamar and provides support with useful information to help troubleshoot problems with a system.

Configured and managed with:  Avamar Administrator user interface -> Manage Profiles -> High Priority Events.
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EmailHome can be configured using various parameters in the Avamar MCS configuration file. 
/usr/local/avamar/var/mc/server_data/prefs/mcserver.xml file 
 
For example: 
"admin_mail_sender_address" value="administrator@company.com" 
"smtpHost" value="192.x.x.12" 
"email_home_subject_template" value="Avamar HFSADDR VERSION - High Priority Events"
 
How to trigger a test email:  Avamar Administrator user interface >  Edit Profile > Email Notification > Send Email.

What does Dell need in order to confirm that emails are being received?  
The Avamar system ID (obtain with  avmaint nodelist | grep systemid | uniq).
 
Notifications get sent to: 
Dell's EmailHome system (also known as Avalanche)
Notification schedule: Emails are sent twice daily according to a schedule defined for the high priority events.
 
Relies on:  
The Avamar MCS and the High Priority Events profile must be enabled on the Avamar Utility Node. The Avamar system must be able to connect to and be allowed to send emails using the customer's SMTP server.

Emails are sent to:  
emailhome@avamar.com

 

DialHome (ConnectEMC):

Function:
Enables automatic creation of Support SRs when Avamar hardware or critical Avamar services experience issues.
 
Configured and managed with:
Avamar Administrator user interface -> Tools -> Manage ConnectEMC.
 
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How to trigger a test email:
Once configured, either;
a) Use the test button in the configuration user interface.    
b) Run the following command from the utility node to push a test-only connectEMC email from the Avamar server: 
admin@util:~/>: mccli event publish --code=22915
0,23000,CLI command completed successfully.

What does Dell require in order to confirm if emails are being received?  
The Avamar system ID (obtain with  avmaint nodelist | grep systemid | uniq ).  
 
How to troubleshoot:  
Logs are available on the Avamar Utility Node in /opt/connectemc.
 
Notifications get sent to:
The Dell Technologies SYR DialHome system

Notification schedule:
Emails are sent when important events occur. Also, status emails are sent once every 24 hours. The exact time the daily email sent is related to the most recent start time of the Avamar MCS service.
 
Relies on:  
The Linux service connectemc and the ability to connect to and send emails using the customer's SMTP server.
 
Emails are sent to:  
emailalert@emc.com

REFERENCE ARTICLES:

Article Properties

Affected Product

Avamar

Product

Avamar, Avamar Server

Last Published Date

01 Apr 2024

Version

7

Article Type

Solution

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