SmartQuotas Fails to Send Notification Email to Users Outside the System Access Zone
Summary: SmartQuotas fails to send notification email to users outside of the System access zone.
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Symptoms
When a quota is exceeded from a user outside the System access zone, SmartQuotas fails to send a notification email and produces an alert.
For example:
lionfish-1# isi event view 131073
ID: 131073
Started: 10/14 11:56
Causes Long: SmartQuotas notification for quota notify for user {username} failed
Last Event: 2017-01-06T11:11:26
Ignore: No
Ignore Time: Never
Resolved: No
Ended: --
Events: 11
Severity: information
Also, an entry similar to the following appears in /var/log/messages:
2017-01-06T17:13:38-07:00 <3.4> lionfish-1 isi_quota_notify_d[2439]: Failed executing email-owner notify action:
Failed to lookup ID: { type=uid extra=0 id=2001 }: No such file or directory
Cause
This occurs when a quota is configured to notify a user who does not exist in the System access zone. SmartQuotas is not zone-aware and is working as designed.
In this example, SmartQuotas is failing to notify the Active Directory user "example" for a quota with a hard limit that has been exceeded:
lionfish-1# isi quota quotas list --zone=QuotaZone Type AppliesTo Path Snap Hard Soft Adv Used -------------------------------------------------------------------- user OCEAN\example /ifs/data/quotaZone No 5.00M - - 5.62M -------------------------------------------------------------------- Total: 1
The cluster reported the following in
/var/log/messages:
2017-01-06T17:13:38-07:00 <3.4> lionfish-1 isi_quota_notify_d[2439]: Failed executing email-owner notify action:
Failed to lookup ID: { type=uid extra=0 id=2001 }: No such file or directory
When attempting to lookup the reported UID (2001), lookup fails from the System (default) access zone:
lionfish-1# isi auth users view --uid=2001 Failed to find user for 'UID:2001': No such user -- lionfish-1# isi auth users view --uid=2001 --zone=System Failed to find user for 'UID:2001': No such user
The user is only visible from the QuotaZone access zone:
lionfish-1# isi auth users view --uid=2001 --zone=QuotaZone Name: OCEAN\example DN: CN=Example User,CN=Users,DC=ocean,DC=local DNS Domain: ocean.local Domain: OCEAN Provider: lsa-activedirectory-provider:OCEAN.LOCAL Sam Account Name: example UID: 2001 SID: S-1-5-21-1634155094-2401538719-1846518018-1106 Enabled: Yes Expired: No Expiry: - Locked: No Email: example@mail.ocean.local GECOS: Example User Generated GID: Yes Generated UID: No Generated UPN: No Primary Group ID: GID:1000000 Name: OCEAN\domain users Home Directory: /ifs/home/OCEAN/example Max Password Age: - Password Expired: No Password Expiry: - Password Last Set: 2017-01-06T17:11:00 Password Expires: No Shell: /bin/zsh UPN: example@OCEAN.LOCAL User Can Change Password: Yes
SmartQuotas is working as designed.
Resolution
For each user that is not in the System Access Zone, use a Custom Notification Rule and select "Notify Another (email address):"
This circumvents SmartQuotas email lookup feature and would ensure reliable notification when a quota is exceeded.
More information about SmartQuota notification rules can be found in the administration guides available here:
PowerScale OneFS Info Hubs
Affected Products
Isilon SmartQuotasProducts
PowerScale OneFS, Isilon SmartQuotasArticle Properties
Article Number: 000162449
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 19 Dec 2025
Version: 6
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