Setting Up Email Alerts for Backup Notifications in Proxmox VE

Why Set Up Email Alerts in Proxmox?

Running backups is only half the job—knowing if they succeed or fail is critical. Whether you're managing a homelab or production servers, setting up email notifications in Proxmox VE ensures you're immediately informed of backup outcomes and other system events.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to configure Postfix to send Proxmox notifications via SMTP through a email relay

What You'll Need

• A working Proxmox VE host (any version 6.x or newer)

• An SMTP relay server (e.g., your company’s mail server or a service like SendGrid, Mailgun, etc.)

• A valid SMTP username & password

• Internet access from the Proxmox node

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Install Required Email Packages

apt update

apt install postfix mailutils libsasl2-modules postfix-pcre -y

2. Configure Postfix to Use SMTP Relay

nano /etc/postfix/main.cf

Append or update the following:

myhostname = <Your Hostname Here>
relayhost = [your email relay server e.g.: smtp.gmail.com]:587

# Optional: Rewrite sender address

sender_canonical_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/sender_canonical

# Optional: Rewrite email headers

smtp_header_checks = pcre:/etc/postfix/smtp_header_checks

# Optional: Define per-host TLS policy

smtp_tls_policy_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/tls_policy

3. Define SMTP Credentials

nano /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd

[<yourrelayhost>]:587 <youremail>:<yourpassword>

Then:

chmod 600 /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd

postmap /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd

4. Rewrite the Sender Address (Optional)

To ensure emails are sent from a valid address:

nano /etc/postfix/sender_canonical

root@<your-hostname> <youremail>

Then:

postmap /etc/postfix/sender_canonical

5. Tidy Up Email Headers (Optional)

nano /etc/postfix/smtp_header_checks

/^From:.*/ REPLACE From: Backup Alerts <youremail>

Then:

postmap /etc/postfix/smtp_header_checks

6. Set TLS Encryption Policy

nano /etc/postfix/tls_policy

[<yourrelayhost>]:587 encrypt

Then:

postmap /etc/postfix/tls_policy

7. Reload Postfix to Apply All Changes

systemctl reload postfix

 Send a Test Email

echo "This is a test from Proxmox" | mail -s "Proxmox Email Test" yourname@example.com

Check /var/log/mail.log for any errors.

🔔 Enable Backup Email Notifications in Proxmox

1. Navigate to Datacenter > Backup

2. Edit or create a backup job

3. Scroll to "Send email to", and enter your email address

4. Set "Email notification" to Always or On failure only

With this setup, your Proxmox VE server will send reliable email alerts for backup tasks and system errors, helping you stay informed and proactive. A small bit of effort today could save hours of recovery tomorrow.