For the Send notification email alarm action to work, the vCenter Mail settings must be configured with both the Mail server and the Mail sender address. The Mail sender address is the mail from address included on the vCenter alarm notification. The Mail server is the server that the SMTP mail will be relayed through. The Mail server that's specified must be configured to accept and relay mail from the vCenter Server.

Configured SNMP receivers will receive notifications from alarms that have been configured with the Send a notification trap action. The SNMP configuration includes the receiver URL, the receiver port, and the receiver community string. Multiple SNMP receivers can be configured and enabled.

There is an extensive list of preconfigured Alarm Definitions. Custom alarm definitions can also be created. By default, the Send a notification email action is not configured for any of the preconfigured definitions. When an alarm is triggered and the Send a notification email action is configured, an email will be sent to the email address (or addresses) in the configuration for the action.

Alarms actions can be configured to send a single notification, or to send a repeated notification. Repeated notifications can be configured to repeat over different intervals while the alarm state is triggered.