The Alert Definitions Page

The Alert Definitions Page provides a tabular overview of the defined alerts. To reach this page, click the Alerts button on the navigation bar. From this page you can create, edit, and delete alerts.

This section describes:

The Alert Definitions Table
Alert Action Links
Creating Alerts
Editing an Alert
Deleting an Alert
Disabling an Alert
Viewing Alert Logs and Other Logs

The Alert Definitions Table

The Alert Definitions table gives you a summary view of the alerts currently defined. The following is an example of the Alert Definitions Page.

Alert Definitions Table view

The columns of the Alert Definitions table display the following information:

On: The status condition under which SiteScope should respond. For example, if this column contains error x 1, SiteScope will respond the first time a selected monitor returns a reading in the error range. It the column contains error x 5, SiteScope will only respond after the monitor returns a reading that indicates an error 5 times. If you have created an alert for several monitors, such as all monitors in a particular group, SiteScope will respond when any monitor in the group meets the indicated status condition.
Group: The name of the monitor group this alert has been associated with. Global alerts are indicated by "all groups".
For: This column lists the monitor or monitors for which the alert status condition must be true. For global alerts this will be any monitor defined on this installation of SiteScope. Group alerts will be for any monitor in the group. Individual alerts will list the name of the specific monitor.
Do: The action that SiteScope should take when the condition is met for the specified monitor(s). For example, this column may contain something like the following:
Send Mail to "sysadmin@thiscompany.com"
which indicates that e-mail should be sent to this address if the appropriate status condition exists.
History: click this link to display a table showing the alerts that were sent during the last day or 24-hour period.
Edit: Selecting this link will take you to the Edit Alert page. This will allow you to make changes in the alert criteria.
Test: Use this link to test an alert with a selected monitor. The Alert Test page is displayed. If the alert is assigned to more than one monitor, you can use the Alert test page to select an individual monitor from a drop-down list. Clicking the Test Alert button completes the action.
Del: Click the X to delete this alert. A confirmation screen is displayed. Clicking the Delete Alert button completes the action.

Alert Action Links

In addition to the alert table, the following Alert Action links are also available on the Alert Definitions page.

Add: Click this link to create a new alert definition.
Disable: Click this link to disable all defined alerts. This is useful in the event of a major failure that you are already aware of and want to suppress an "Alert Storm".
Enable: Click this link to enable previously disabled alerts.
Test E-mail: Click this link to send a test message using e-mail. You can use this to verify that SiteScope will be able to reach you via e-mail in the event of an error or warning. Use the E-mail Preferences link to specify e-mail addresses and servers that SiteScope should use for e-mail alerts .
Test Pager: Click this link to send a test message to your pager. You can use this option to verify that SiteScope will be able to reach you via pager in the event of an error or warning. Use the Pager Preferences link to configure pager settings for SiteScope.
Test SNMP Trap: Click this link to send a test message using SNMP. You can use this option to verify that SiteScope will be able to contact the SNMP console in the event of an error or warning. Use the SNMP Preferences link to configure SiteScope to send messages to SNMP consoles.
Alert Report: Click this link to view a report of alerts that were sent.
Alert Log: Click this link to view Logs page. The Logs page includes a link to the Alert Log which is a tab delimited log file for the alerts that have been sent. Other log files accessible via this link include the log of any errors encountered in sending the alerts, and date coded log files of SiteScope monitor readings.

Index

Creating Alerts

You can create as many SiteScope alert definitions as you want. It is recommended however that you plan and consolidate alerts to keep number of alert definitions to a minimum. This will ease alert administration and help reduce redundant alert messages or actions.

Use the following steps to create a new alert:

On the SiteScope Panel, click the Alerts button on the navigation bar. The Alert Definitions page appears.
Click the Add a new alert link. The Add Alert form appears.
Choose the category of monitor status that activates this alert - error, warning, or OK.
Click the radio button for the kind of alert you want to add - e-mail, pager, script, and so forth.
Click that Define Alert button. The Define Alert form for the kind of alert that you selected will appear.
Complete the form for the specific alert you are creating. Each Define Alert page asks you to select the monitor or monitors that will trigger the alert, details of how and where the alert will be sent, and criteria defining when or how often the alert should be sent. Use the Help button on the navigation bar to see help specific to that kind of alert.
Click the Add this alert link. The new alert is created and the Alert Definitions page is updated.

Index

Editing an Alert

You may edit an alert at any time. Changes go into effect immediately.

To edit an alert:

On the SiteScope Panel, click the Alerts button on the navigation bar. The Alert Definitions page appears.
Click the Edit link in the Alert Definitions Table for the alert that you want to edit. The Edit Alert form appears.
Make the desired changes to the form.
Click the Update this alert link. The alert is updated and the Alert Definitions page appears again.

Index

Deleting an Alert

You may delete an alert at any time.

To delete an alert

On the SiteScope Panel, click the Alerts button on the navigation bar. The Alert Definitions page appears.
Click the X in the Del column of the Alert Definitions Table.
A confirmation screen is displayed. click the Delete Alert button to confirm the action
The Alert Definitions page is updated.

Index

Disabling an Alert

You may disable alerts whenever you do not want SiteScope to notify you of an error.

To disable an alert:

On the SiteScope Panel, click the Alerts button on the navigation bar. The Alert Definitions page appears.
Click the Edit link in the Alert Definitions Table for the alert that you want to disable. The Edit Alert form appears.
Check the disable box located under Advanced Options.
Click the Update this alert link. The alert detail page appears again.

Index

Viewing Alert Logs and Other Logs

You may view a log of all the alerts that have been sent for the last day, a log of failed alert attempts, and date coded monitor logs.

To view the alert logs

On the SiteScope Panel, click the Alerts button on the navigation bar. The Alert Definitions page appears.
Click the View the log of alerts sent link near the bottom of the Alert Definitions page. The Alert Log page appears.
Click the Alert log link to view the details of alerts that were sent. If SiteScope encountered problems executing an alert, a Failed alerts link will be displayed. Click this link to view the details of alerts for which an error was encountered. An example may be that SiteScope was unable to reach a paging service.