This documentation applies to NMS version 5.4. An online version of the software can be found here.
The Alerts page enables you to display the current, active alerts in the system. Alerts are messages such as threshold violations, trap notifications, or web site errors you define on the Policy Browser and the Threshold Browser.
To access the Alerts page from the navigation bar, click the Events menu and select Alerts.
The Welcome Dashboard also provides access when you click Alerts in the Manage Events section.
The following appears by default when the Alerts page initially appears.
Browser Tab Display
The browser tab displays the number of alerts for the highest severity level to enable you to view basic alert information at a glance. The Cluster Manager Cluster Settings tab enables you to choose to not display alerts in the tab title.
The title bar displays the number of alerts that appear on the page and the total number of alerts.
The title bar contains the following icons to enable you to export the alerts you select in the list. A message appears to indicate how many alerts you select as you select the check boxes next to alerts.
When you select the check box in the header row, the alerts on the current page display a check mark in the check box but alerts on other pages are not selected.
- Select the check box for the alerts to include in a .csv file and click to export the alerts you select to a .csv format.
- Select the check box for the alerts to include in a .pdf file and click to export the alerts you select to a .pdf format.
- Click to add the alerts report as an attachment in a report on a new browser tab. You can detach the entire alert list or you can select the check box for each alert to include in the report to detach specific alerts. You can modify reports to add other attachments and you can save reports to the Report Manager. Report workflows enable you to designate reports to be your favorite reports and to define one report to appear as your custom dashboard.
The Grouping drop-down is set to Alerts and the alerts sort by severity. See the Group Alerts section below.
The Filter section is hidden. See the Alert List Filters section below.
The Time Span is set to All Time and displays the time span as a blue font link. The drop-down and the link enable you to define a time span.
Click the Refresh Rate drop-down and select the frequency to have the alert display refresh or click Refresh to refresh the alert data.
Filters enable you to focus the alerts display. Filters are optional and cumulative.
Click Show Filter to display the Filter section that contains four tabs. After you define the alerts list filters, the following controls enable you to apply the filters.
Click Hide Filter to close the filter section.
Click Apply Filter to apply the filters. When you apply filters, a red message appears next to the Clear Filter button.
Click Clear Filter to return the alerts list to the default filter settings.
The following filters appear on the General tab.
Clear the check box for the Severity levels to remove from the alerts list.
Emergency - System is unusable.
Alert - Action must be taken.
Critical - Critical condition.
Error - Error condition.
Warning - Warning condition.
Notice - Normal but significant condition.
Info - Informational message.
Debug - Debug level message.
In the Message field, enter message text on which to filter alerts.
Click the Assigned drop-down and select the name of a person or role to display alerts assigned to that person or role.
In the Search ID field, enter an alert identifier and select Alert ID, enter a threshold identifier and select Threshold ID, or enter a policy identifier and select Policy ID to search for an alert by ID. You must enter the full ID and wild cards are not allowed.
Click the Show drop-down.
Select Active Only to display only active alerts.
Select Ignored Only to display only ignored alerts.
Select Both to display active and ignored alerts.
The Devices tab enables you to filter alerts for specific devices. Alerts for the devices you move to the field on the right display in the alerts list. Leave the right side field clear to display alerts for all devices.
The Device Groups tab enables you to filter alerts for specific device groups/device types. Click the Device Groups drop-down and select the check box for each device group/device type for which to display alerts. Leave all check boxes clear to display alerts for all device groups/device types.
The Object Groups tab enables you to filter alerts for specific object groups. Alerts for the object groups you move to the field on the right appear in the alerts list. Leave the right side field clear to display alerts for all object groups.
You can group alerts to display different levels of alert granularity. The Grouping drop-down enables you to manage the alerts and alert detail that appears in the list.
Click the Grouping drop-down and select Alerts. Alerts is the default grouping setting when the Alerts page initially appears. The Alerts grouping level is the most granular alerts display and this grouping level enables you to manage the individual alerts.
ID - Displays the internal tracking number for each alert.
- The alert is unassigned.
- The alert is assigned.
Device - Displays the name of the device that triggered the alert.
First - Displays the date and time that the alert was first reported to SevOne NMS.
Last - Displays the date and time that the alert was last reported.
Severity - Displays the alert severity level.
Message - Displays the message the threshold generates.
The Alerts grouping setting provides the following controls to enable you to view alert details and to manage alerts.
Click on an alert row to display the following additional information for the alert you select below the alert list.
Device - Displays the name of the device that triggered the alert. Click the device name to display a link to the Device Summary and links to the report templates that are applicable for the device.
Object - Displays the name of the object that triggered the alert. Click the object name to display a link to the Object Summary and links to the report templates that are applicable for the object.
Threshold or Trap - Displays the name of the threshold or trap that triggered the alert. Click the threshold name to display the Threshold Editor or click the trap event name to display the Trap Event Editor.
Severity - Displays the alert severity level.
Message - Displays the message the threshold generates.
First - Displays the date and time that the alert was first reported.
Last - Displays the date and time that the alert was last reported.
Occurrences - Displays the total number of times the alert triggered in the time frame between First and Last. The alert engine runs every three minutes. A policy based threshold requires ten minutes to gather enough data to trigger an alert. Therefore it can take up to thirteen minutes for the first alert for a new policy to appear.
Assigned To - Displays the name of the person or role to whom the alert is assigned. The default is for alerts to be unassigned.
Log Analytics - Click the Check for Device Logs link to display log data related to the alert. This appears when your cluster has a Performance Log Appliance (PLA).
Select the check box for each alert to acknowledge and click Acknowledge to acknowledge the alerts you select. Acknowledged alerts permanently move to the Alert Archives. A pop-up appears to enable you to enter an explanation for the acknowledgment.
Select the check box for each alert to test and click Retest to see if the threshold a trigger condition still exists for the alerts you select. The alert engine runs every three minutes to retest all thresholds. If a threshold does not have a clear condition, the alert displays on the Alerts page until the alert is acknowledged. When you retest an alert that is triggered by a threshold with no clear condition, even if the trigger condition is no longer met, the alert continues to display on the Alerts page but the Last date and time does not change.
Select the check box for each alert to ignore and click Ignore to ignore the alerts you select. A pop-up appears to enable you to define the time span for which to ignore the alert and to enter a note. Filters enable you to not display alerts you ignore on the Alerts page. No emails and traps are sent from ignored alerts for the time span you enter.
Select the check box for each alert to assign, click the drop-down next to the Assign button and select the name of the person to whom to assign the alerts you select, and then click Assign to assign the alerts you select to the person or role you select from the drop-down list.
Click the Grouping drop-down and select Devices.
Device - Displays the name of the device that triggered alerts.
First - Displays the date and time that the first alert for the device was first reported.
Last - Displays the date and time that the last alert for the device was last reported.
Highest Severity – Displays the highest severity level of the alerts on the device.
Message - Displays the total number of alerts the device triggered and the highest severity level of the alerts on the device.
Click on either a device name or on a message to display the alerts list with the Alerts grouping setting and filters applied to display alerts for only the device you select. See the Grouping - Alerts section above.
Click the Grouping drop-down and select Device Groups to display the following alert information.
Device Group - Displays the name of the device group/device type that triggered alerts.
First - Displays the date and time that the first alert for the device group/device type was first reported.
Last - Displays the date and time that the last alert for the device group/device type was last reported.
Highest Severity – Displays the highest severity level of the alerts in each device group/device type.
Message - Displays the total number of alerts the device group/device type triggered and the highest severity level of the alerts in the device group/device type.
Click on either a device group/device type name or on a message to display the alerts list with the Devices grouping setting and filters applied to display alerts for only the devices in the device group/device type you select. See the Grouping - Devices section above.
Click the Grouping drop-down and select Object Groups to display the following alert information.
Object Group - Displays the name of the object group that triggered alerts.
First - Displays the date and time that the first alert for the object group was first reported.
Last - Displays the date and time that the last alert for the object group was last reported.
Highest Severity – Displays the highest severity level of the alerts in each object group.
Message - Displays the total number of alerts the object group triggered and the highest severity level of the alerts in the object group.
Click on either an object group name or on a message to display the alerts list with the Devices grouping setting and filters applied to display alerts for only the devices in the object group you select. See the Grouping - Devices section above.