Veeam ONE v13: Reporting and Alerting Setup

Veeam ONE v13 is a substantial release. The monitoring and reporting engine has been rebuilt: a new PostgreSQL-powered reporting database replaces the SSRS-based backend that has been there since the beginning, data collection has shifted from a WMI-and-remote-agent pull model to a push-based Veeam Analytics Service installed on each VBR server, and reports are now accessible directly inside the VBR backup console without opening a separate application. The web client has been redesigned with a visual report catalog, a background report download queue, and three UI themes.

If you are configuring Veeam ONE from scratch against a v13 VBR server, or upgrading from v12 and wondering what changed, this article covers the complete setup sequence: connecting VBR via the new Analytics Service, configuring SMTP and email notifications, setting up and customizing alarms, scheduling report distribution, and the recommended alarm set for a production environment.

1. What Changed in v13: Architecture Overview

Understanding the architecture changes matters because they affect how you connect VBR, what firewall rules are needed, and what you see during setup.

Connection Direction Change

In v12 and earlier, Veeam ONE connected outbound to VBR servers on port 2805 to pull data. In v13, the direction reverses: the Veeam Analytics Service installed on each VBR server connects inbound to Veeam ONE on port 2805. This is a breaking change for environments with microsegmentation or strict firewall rules. If you are upgrading from v12 with a locked-down network, update your firewall rules to allow inbound TCP 2805 to the Veeam ONE server from each VBR server before upgrading.

2. Connecting VBR to Veeam ONE: The Veeam Analytics Service

When you add a VBR v13 server to Veeam ONE, the installer automatically pushes the Veeam Analytics Service to the VBR server. This is distinct from previous versions where you simply entered credentials and ONE connected remotely. The user account you provide in Veeam ONE to connect to VBR must have the Veeam Backup Administrator role on the VBR server.

Adding a VBR v13 Server (Windows)

Adding a VBR Server Running on the Veeam Software Appliance (VSA)

The VSA is a hardened Linux appliance with Zero Trust principles enforced. The automated Analytics Service push requires explicit approval by a Security Officer on the VSA side before the connection is permitted. There are two approaches:

3. VBR Console Integration: Reports in the Backup Console

One of the headline features of v13 is that Veeam ONE reports are accessible directly from the VBR backup console -- both the thick Windows client and the new Web UI. You no longer need to open a separate Veeam ONE window to run a Protected VMs summary or a Backup Job Statistics report. The integration surfaces a Reports tab inside the VBR console that connects directly to the registered Veeam ONE instance.

What Appears in the VBR Console

The Reports tab inside the VBR console shows the same report catalog available in the Veeam ONE Web UI, filtered to the reports most relevant to backup operations: protected workloads, backup job status, backup window compliance, repository capacity, and RPO status. The report viewer is embedded -- you can run, filter, and schedule reports without leaving the VBR console. Reports generated in the background are queued in the Download Queue, allowing you to keep working while large reports render.

4. Configuring Email Notifications

Both monitoring alarms and scheduled reports use the same SMTP configuration. Set this up before configuring any alarm notification settings.

Configuring SMTP (All Authentication Types)

Configuring the Default Notification Group

Rather than specifying recipients on every individual alarm, configure a default notification group that applies to all alarms by default. Any alarm that has "Send email to default group" selected will deliver to every recipient in this group.

In the Veeam ONE Client: Settings > Server Settings > Notification Settings tab. In the default notification group section, add email addresses and assign each one a notification level:

5. Alarm Fundamentals: Severity, States, and Scope

Veeam ONE uses a consistent alarm model across all monitored objects. Understanding it before configuring alarms saves time troubleshooting unexpected notification behavior.

Alarm States

Alarm Scope

Alarms apply to specific object types: virtual machines, backup jobs, repositories, proxies, the backup server itself, etc. Each alarm definition specifies what object type it monitors. You can assign alarms to all objects of a type (global scope), to specific Business View groups (scoped), or suppress alarms for specific objects using exclusions.

All predefined alarms are enabled by default with default thresholds. In most environments you will want to tune thresholds rather than creating alarms from scratch. Suppressing noisy alarms early reduces alarm fatigue and keeps the active alarm list meaningful.

6. Configuring Alarms: Per-Alarm Notification Actions

In the Veeam ONE Client, go to Alarms in the left navigation tree. Right-click any alarm and select Edit to open its settings. The Notifications tab is where you define what happens when the alarm fires.

Available Notification Actions Per Alarm

Condition Triggers for Actions

Each action on an alarm can be configured to fire on specific state changes only, rather than all state changes:

You can stack multiple actions on the same alarm with different conditions. For example: send to default group on Errors and Warnings, plus send SNMP trap on Errors Only, plus run a ticketing script on Errors Only. All three actions would be listed under the alarm's notification tab.

Tuning Alarm Thresholds

In the alarm editor, the Alarm Settings tab contains the threshold configuration. Repository alarms have Warning and Error thresholds for free space percentage and absolute free space. Backup job duration alarms have thresholds for job duration and backup window boundaries. Adjust these before going live -- the defaults are conservative and will produce noise in most environments on day one.

7. SNMP Traps and Custom Script Actions

SNMP Traps

Configure SNMP trap delivery in the Veeam ONE Client: Settings > Server Settings > SNMP Settings. Enter the trap receiver hostname/IP, port (default 162), and community string. SNMP v2c is supported. Once configured, add "Send SNMP trap" actions to individual alarms as described in Section 6.

Custom Script Actions

The Run Script action is the most flexible integration point Veeam ONE exposes. The executable must reside on the Veeam ONE server. Veeam ONE passes the following parameters to the command line when calling the script:

A PowerShell wrapper is the most common implementation. Create a .ps1 that accepts these positional parameters and calls your ticketing system API, sends a Teams/Slack webhook, or writes to a log file. Then wrap it in a .cmd or .exe launcher since Veeam ONE requires a direct executable path, not a script path.

8. Working with the New Report Catalog

The report catalog in v13 has been fully redesigned. The old flat list is replaced with a visual tile grid showing thumbnail previews, tags, and purpose labels for each report. A Global Search covers report names, descriptions, dashboards, and widgets -- start typing on the main screen and results appear in real time without navigating the catalog first.

Report Organization

Reports are organized by category. The main categories relevant to VBR environments are:

Customizing Reports

Click any report tile to open it. Reports are interactive -- columns can be shown or hidden, data can be sorted and grouped, and filters can be applied without re-running the report. For VBR reports, you can filter by backup server, job, repository, proxy, or workload. Drag column headers to reorder. Export to PDF, CSV, or Excel from the report toolbar.

The Report Download Queue is new in v13. When generating large reports (organization-wide job history, annual capacity trends), click Generate and continue working. The report renders in the background and appears in the queue in the top-right corner of the web client when ready.

9. Scheduling and Distributing Reports

Schedule any report or dashboard for automatic email distribution. In the report view, click the Schedule icon (clock) in the toolbar. This opens the scheduling dialog.

Recommended Report Schedule for Production Environments

10. Business View: Scoping Reports and Alarms

Business View is Veeam ONE's grouping and organizational layer. It lets you create logical groups of objects -- VMs, backup jobs, infrastructure components -- and use those groups as report scopes, alarm scopes, and notification targets. For MSPs and multi-tenant environments, Business View groups map naturally to customers or service tiers. For enterprises, they map to business units, locations, or application tiers.

Creating Business View Groups

In the Veeam ONE Client, navigate to Business View. Right-click to add a new category or group. Groups can be populated:

Each group can have an owner email address assigned. This owner address is used by the "Send email to Business View group owner" alarm action -- the owner of the group containing the alarmed object receives the notification. This is the right pattern for delegating alarm notification to business unit contacts without giving them access to the Veeam ONE console.

Using Business View for Report Scoping

When running or scheduling a report, the scope filter includes Business View groups as available targets. Run a Protected VMs report scoped to a specific customer's Business View group and you get a customer-specific coverage report without exposing other tenants' data. Schedule it on a monthly cadence and send it to the customer contact's email -- this is the foundation of backup service reporting for MSPs.

11. Recommended Alarms for Production Environments

All predefined alarms are enabled by default. The following are the ones that matter most in practice. Focus on tuning these first rather than trying to review all 200-plus predefined alarms at once.