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Troubleshooting Account Activation and Login

New users sometimes can't activate their account, or an activation or password reset link seems invalid. In almost all cases the link has expired, was already used, or was replaced by a newer email. This article explains how to send a new email and how to find the cause, so most of these cases are solved without a support ticket.

How activation works

When you add a user to an environment, one of two things happens:

  • The person has no Aero account yet. A welcome email is sent to the user's Global Email. Clicking the button in that email lets the user choose a Username and a Password. This completes the activation.
  • The person already has an Aero account (for instance from another environment). The environment is added to their existing account and no welcome email is sent. The user logs in with their existing username and password.

Resetting a password works in a similar way: the user receives an email with a link and chooses a new password.

Welcome and password reset links are valid for 7 days and can be used once. Only the link in the most recent email works.

Adding the user again does not send a new email

Saving a user again, or adding an existing user through a script such as bizzStream.addUser, does not send a welcome email and does not renew the link. Use Reset Password instead.

Sending a new email

Send a new email when the user has not completed the activation or reset, and one of these applies:

  • The user was added, or the last email was sent, more than 7 days ago. The link has most likely expired. This is the most common cause.
  • The user already used the link, or can't find the email.
  • The user received several emails and is not sure which one is the latest.

Sending a new email is always safe. The previous link stops working, so the user must use the new one.

An administrator can send a new email:

  1. Go to Users in the setup section.
  2. Check the box in front of the user.
  3. Click Reset Password.

Users can also do this themselves with Forgot password on the login page, by entering their Global Email.

Which email is sent depends on the state of the account:

  • The user has not activated yet: a new welcome email. The user chooses a username and password from it.
  • The user has activated: a password reset email.

Checklist

If a new email did not solve it, go through these steps.

Welcome, password reset and email verification links are valid for 7 days. Compare the date of the last email with today. In the user's profile, Created On shows when the user was created, which is when the welcome email was sent unless a new one was requested since. If this is more than 7 days ago and the user never completed the activation, the link has expired. An empty Last Login in the Users overview means the user has never logged in.

Send a new email as described above.

Is the user opening the most recent email?

Every time a new welcome or reset email is sent to a user, the link in the previous email stops working. This also applies when an administrator triggers a reset shortly after the user requested one themselves. Ask the user to look for the newest email.

A welcome or reset link can be used once. As soon as the user has submitted a username and password (or a new password), the link is no longer valid. Opening the link again, for example from the browser history or an old email, leads to a "page not found" screen.

Just opening the link does not use it up. The link is only used when the form is submitted, so reloading the page is not a problem.

Is the Global Email correct?

Welcome emails and password reset emails are always sent to the Global Email of the user, not to the environment-specific Email. Check the Global Email in the user's profile for typos.

A user who requests a password reset on the login page has to enter their Global Email as well. Capitalization does not matter. If the address is not known to Aero, the page still shows the same confirmation as for a known address, but no email is sent.

Did the email arrive?

Check the spam or junk folder of the recipient. If your environment uses a custom Welcome Email Template, make sure the template contains the activation link by using {{ENROLLMENT_URL}}. A template without it sends an email without any way to activate.

Is the email verified?

Every Global Email has a verified status:

  • A new user starts as not verified.
  • The email becomes verified once the user completes the activation from the welcome email.
  • When a user changes their Global Email, the new address is pending verification until the user clicks the link in the verification email that is sent to the new address. In the user's profile this address is shown as Global Email (pending verification).

The verified status is not checked when logging in. A user that is "not verified" has simply not completed the activation yet. There is no separate step to verify an address manually: the user completes the activation from the welcome email, or confirms the new address through the verification email. If the original email is lost, send a new one.

Pending address and password resets

As long as a changed Global Email is pending verification, password reset emails are still sent to the previous address.

Is the user part of the environment, and active?

Open the user in Users in the setup section and check that the user is Active in the environment. A user that is inactive in all of their environments can't log in and receives the generic message Invalid username and/or password.

Is the user logging in with the right username?

The user logs in with the Username chosen during activation, not necessarily with their email address. The username is not case sensitive. If a user forgot it, you can look it up in the user's profile.

After 20 failed login attempts the account is locked for 15 minutes. Wait before trying again.

Is the user synchronized from an identity provider?

Users that are added by an external identity provider such as Microsoft Entra don't receive a welcome email and don't have an Aero password. They sign in through their identity provider.

Changing the Global Email of a user that has not activated yet

Avoid correcting the Global Email of a user who has not activated yet. Saving a new Global Email starts the email verification process, which replaces the pending activation. The link in the original welcome email stops working.

If this happened:

  1. Ask the user to click the link in the verification email that was sent to the new address.
  2. Once the new address is verified, use Reset Password to send the user a link to choose a password.

The username of the user remains the address the account was originally created with.

Before you create a ticket

Make sure the user has actually clicked the link in the last email, and preferably watch them do it:

  1. Send a new email.
  2. Ask the user to open that email, and only that one, while you watch, for example in a video call.
  3. Have the user click the button and complete the form.
  4. Note what the user sees if it fails: the page and any message.

A link that fails when you watched it being opened straight from the newest email is a real problem. A link that "didn't work" without this check is, in most cases, an old, used or replaced link.

Still not working?

End users should contact their administrator or Customer Care. Consultants can create a support ticket and should include:

  • The environment ID and the ID or URL of the user in the setup section.
  • The Global Email address of the user.
  • When the last email was requested or sent, and from where (administrator action or the login page).
  • What the user sees when clicking the link: the page and any message. Mention that you watched the user click the link in the newest email.
  • Which of the steps above you already tried.