📁RAID Monitoring and Email Alerts Configuration for mdadm on AlmaLinux 9 / CloudLinux 9

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This guide explains how to configure RAID monitoring and email alerts using mdadm on AlmaLinux 9 and CloudLinux 9 systems.

📁 Edit the mdadm Configuration File

On AlmaLinux 9 and CloudLinux 9, the configuration file is usually:

/etc/mdadm.conf

Open the File

vi /etc/mdadm.conf

If it doesn’t exist, you can create it manually.

⚙️ Required Configuration Entries

Add or ensure the following lines are present:

DEVICE partitions
MAILADDR your@email.com,admin@yourdomain.com
MAILFROM raidalerts@yourdomain.com

Important: No spaces between email addresses and commas in MAILADDR.

📤 Install Required Mail Agent (Sendmail or Postfix)

To send RAID alerts, install a Mail Transfer Agent (MTA). Choose Sendmail or Postfix.

Option A – Install Sendmail

dnf install sendmail sendmail-cf -y
systemctl enable --now sendmail

Option B – Install Postfix (Recommended for newer systems)

dnf install postfix -y
systemctl enable --now postfix

Ensure your system hostname and /etc/hosts are configured correctly so the MTA works reliably.

🔁 Enable and Start RAID Monitoring Service

Use mdmonitor to manage the RAID monitoring service:

systemctl enable --now mdmonitor

This ensures that RAID monitoring starts on boot and runs immediately.

🧪 Test Email Alerts

Trigger a test alert with the following:

/sbin/mdadm --monitor --scan --test

This will send a test notification email to the address(es) in your MAILADDR entry.

✅ Check mail logs in /var/log/maillog or /var/log/messages to confirm email was sent.

🔒 Firewall and Outbound Mail

Ensure that your firewall and hosting provider allow outbound email traffic on:

  • Port 25 (SMTP)
  • Port 587 (submission)

Some cloud providers block outbound mail by default—check your provider’s policies.

✅ Summary Checklist

TaskStatus
mdadm configured with MAILADDR and MAILFROM✅
MTA (Sendmail/Postfix) installed and running✅
mdmonitor service enabled and active✅
Email test executed via --test✅
Mail delivery verified via logs✅
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