How to Add Failure Email Alerts to MongoDB Backup Using Amazon SES

In the previous blog automated mongodb backup to aws s3, we configured automated MongoDB backups to AWS S3 on Ubuntu.

However, in production systems, backups without monitoring are risky. If a backup fails and nobody knows, your data protection strategy fails silently.

In this guide, we will enhance the backup system by adding automatic failure email alerts using Amazon Simple Email Service (SES).

This is optional — but highly recommended for production environments.

Architecture Overview

MongoDB
→ mongodump
→ Upload to S3
→ If failure occurs
→ Send Email Alert via Amazon SES

Step 1: Set Up Amazon SES

1. Login to AWS Console

2. Open Amazon Simple Email Service (SES)

3. Go to Verified Identities

4. Click Create Identity

5. Choose Email Address

6. Enter sender email (example: alerts@yourdomain.com)

7. Click Create

8. Verify the email from your inbox

Important:

If SES is in Sandbox mode, you must also verify the recipient email address.

For production systems, request Production Access inside SES.

Step 2: Add SES Permission to IAM User

Go to:

IAM → Users → Select your backup IAM user → Attach policy

Add the following permission:

{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ses:SendEmail",
"ses:SendRawEmail"
],
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}

This allows your server to send emails using SES.

Step 3: Test SES from Ubuntu Server

Run:

aws ses send-email \
--from alerts@yourdomain.com \
--destination ToAddresses=your@email.com \
--message "Subject={Data=SES Test Email},Body={Text={Data=Amazon SES is working successfully}}" \
--region ap-south-1

If configured correctly, you should receive a test email.

If you receive an error:

• Verify email identities
• Check IAM permissions
• Confirm correct region

Step 4: Update MongoDB Backup Script

Edit your script:

nano /home/ubuntu/mongo-backup.sh

Replace content with:

#!/bin/bash

MONGO_URI="mongodb://localhost:27017/mydatabase"
BACKUP_DIR="/home/ubuntu/bkp"
DATE=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S")
S3_BUCKET="s3://your-bucket-name"
BACKUP_NAME="backup-$DATE.gz"
RETENTION_DAYS=7"

SES_FROM="alerts@yourdomain.com"
SES_TO="your@email.com"
AWS_REGION="ap-south-1"

LOG_FILE="/home/ubuntu/mongo-backup.log"

send_failure_email() {
aws ses send-email \
--from "$SES_FROM" \
--destination ToAddresses="$SES_TO" \
--message "Subject={Data=Mongo Backup FAILED},Body={Text={Data=Backup failed on $(hostname) at $DATE. Check logs at $LOG_FILE}}" \
--region "$AWS_REGION"
}

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

echo "Starting backup: $DATE" >> "$LOG_FILE"

# Run mongodump
/usr/bin/mongodump --uri="$MONGO_URI" --archive="$BACKUP_DIR/$BACKUP_NAME" --gzip >> "$LOG_FILE" 2>&1

if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Mongo dump failed" >> "$LOG_FILE"
send_failure_email
exit 1
fi

# Upload to S3
/snap/bin/aws s3 cp "$BACKUP_DIR/$BACKUP_NAME" "$S3_BUCKET/" >> "$LOG_FILE" 2>&1

if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "S3 upload failed" >> "$LOG_FILE"
send_failure_email
exit 1
fi

# Cleanup old local backups
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -type f -mtime +$RETENTION_DAYS -delete

echo "Backup completed successfully: $BACKUP_NAME" >> "$LOG_FILE"

Step 5: Make Script Executable

chmod +x /home/ubuntu/mongo-backup.sh

How It Works

If mongodump fails → Email is sent
If S3 upload fails → Email is sent
If everything succeeds → No email is sent

This ensures alerts are triggered only when necessary.

Production Best Practices

• Use IAM Role instead of access keys if running on EC2
• Restrict SES permissions to specific verified identities
• Add S3 lifecycle rule for automatic cleanup
• Periodically test restore process
• Review logs weekly

Final Result

You now have:

• Automated MongoDB backup
• Cloud storage in S3
• Automatic failure detection
• Email alert system
• Production-ready monitoring