Change Backup Subject "vzdump backup status"

[Nerion]

Hello,

I want to change the email backup subject from vzdump backup status (node1): backup successful
I went to file /usr/share/perl5/PVE/VZDump.pm and changed the line:

FROM:
my $subject_template = "vzdump backup status ({{hostname}}): {{status-text}}";

TO:
my $subject_template = "Backup Status: {{status-text}}";

But it is not working.
Do I need to restart some service?

Thanks
Best Regards

Marco

 

[Nerion]

Hello,

I want to change the email backup subject from vzdump backup status (node1): backup successful
I went to file /usr/share/perl5/PVE/VZDump.pm and changed the line:

FROM:
my $subject_template = "vzdump backup status ({{hostname}}): {{status-text}}";

TO:
my $subject_template = "Backup Status: {{status-text}}";

But it is not working.
Do I need to restart some service?

Thanks
Best Regards

Marco

After a reboot it is working.
But the question is now. How to apply changes to this file, without a reboot?
Which service need to be restarted?

 

[sb-jw]

I would strongly advise you not to manipulate system files, this may lead to subsequent errors and is also not persistent.

You can find all services here: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Service_daemons#Proxmox_VE_Services
It's best to start one at a time, I'm guessing pveproxy.

 

[Nerion]

Hello,

it's the pvedaemon which need to be restarted.

I know that it's not good to edit a file.
But I do not edit it manually. I wrote a script, that checks every night, if the line

my $subject_template =

must be changed again.

It's the only way if you want to modify the backup email.

 

[sb-jw]

It's the only way if you want to modify the backup email.

My question would be, why do you want to do that? Any mail program or script can handle RegEx or Contains/Does not contain.

 

[ku4eto]

My question would be, why do you want to do that? Any mail program or script can handle RegEx or Contains/Does not contain.

Because its counterintuitive to do so.
Its 2024, and having hard-coded mail templates with us needing to do some script magics, just to change the subject, based on a Regex... is pretty backwards. That regex could change in future, and we will have to modify those scripts again.

And you cant specify for which mail to use that script, it runs against ALL outgoing mails, so you may end up modifying the subject of something else.

There is also the current state of the subject, being totally useless for anything other than "OK/NOT OK" state.
You get some info like "vzdump backup status {{node}} : backup successful".
It could be "PVE {{guestname}} on {{node}}: Backup OK".
Shorter and more informative.

Having being forced to use a single hard coded template leaves bad taste.

 

[Lukas Wagner]

Because its counterintuitive to do so.
Its 2024, and having hard-coded mail templates with us needing to do some script magics, just to change the subject, based on a Regex... is pretty backwards. That regex could change in future, and we will have to modify those scripts again.

And you cant specify for which mail to use that script, it runs against ALL outgoing mails, so you may end up modifying the subject of something else.

There is also the current state of the subject, being totally useless for anything other than "OK/NOT OK" state.
You get some info like "vzdump backup status {{node}} : backup successful".
It could be "PVE {{guestname}} on {{node}}: Backup OK".
Shorter and more informative.

Having being forced to use a single hard coded template leaves bad taste.

Feel free to show your support in our Bugtracker in this issue:
https://bugzilla.proxmox.com/show_bug.cgi?id=4526

Customizable templates are on the roadmap, but there is no ETA yet.

 

[arhimede]

Hello,

it's the pvedaemon which need to be restarted.

I know that it's not good to edit a file.
But I do not edit it manually. I wrote a script, that checks every night, if the line

my $subject_template =

must be changed again.

It's the only way if you want to modify the backup email.

Are you sure is pvedaemon that need to be restarted ?

Is not working in my case ...

 

[arhimede]

In PVE 8.2.4, the new file that need to be edited in order to change the email subject is

/usr/share/pve-manager/templates/default/vzdump-subject.txt.hbs

 

[Lukas Wagner]

In PVE 8.2.4, the new file that need to be edited in order to change the email subject is

Yes, but keep in mind that this file might be overwritten after a package update. We plan to add a more permanent mechanism soonish, extracting the templates to files was a preparatory step for that.