This page last changed on Apr 18, 2010 by mmcgarry.

You assign actions to an alert definition on the Alert Definition page, which appears when you save a new alert definition or edit an existing alert definition.

The Alert Definition page is similar to the New Alert page, with the addition of Edit controls in the "Alert Properties" and "Condition Set" sections, and tabs at the bottom of the page for defining alert actions.

You can specify multiple actions to be performed automatically when an alert fires. The types of actions available in the Alert Definition page vary based on: (1) the type of resource the alert applies to, (2) your version of HQ, and (3) whether you've configured HQ for the types of actions that must be enabled before you can use them, such as escalations, OpenNMS trap actions, and in HQ Enterprise, SNMP notifications.

To define an alert action, select one of the tabs and supply the required information:

Escalation

Select an escalation from the "Escalation Scheme" pulldown; the tab refreshes and shows the escalation steps. You must define an escalation before you can assign it to an alert definition. Using an escalation that is configured to repeat until the alert is fixed is a good way to prevent redundant alerts firing for the same problem. To create an escalation, click Escalation Schemes Configuration on the Administration tab. For more information about escalations, see Understanding Escalations.

Control Action*

In HQ Enterprise, you can define a resource control action for HQ to perform when the alert fires. The control action can target the current resource (the one to which the alert definition is assigned) or a different resource on the same platform, as long as the resource type has HQ-supported control actions. To configure a control action for the alert, select the Control Action tab, click Edit, and follow the instructions on the associated help page. You can only assign a single control action to an alert definition. Note: You cannot assign a control action to a resource type alert.

Notify Roles*

In HQ Enterprise you can specify one or more HQ roles as notification recipients. HQ users with a role you specify will be notified when an alert is fired.  Click Add to List on the Notify Roles tab.  On the roles selection page, choose the role(s) to be notified when the alert fires. The help page has instructions. 

For information about creating roles specifically for use in notification actions, see in Role-Based Alert Notifications.

Notify HQ Users

Click Add to List on this tab to specify one or more HQ uses as notification recipients. On the user selection page, choose the users to be notified when the alert fires. The help page has instructions. 

Notify Other Recipients

Click Add to List on this tab to specify non-HQ user email recipients for alert notifications.  The help page has instructions. 

Script*

In HQ Enterprise, to assign a script action to the alert definition, click the Script tab, enter the full path to the script, and click Set.  HQ will run the script when the alert fires. Scripts can reference alert-related HQ environment variables to perform custom notification logic. For information, see Define a Script Action for an Alert.

OpenNMS

If HQ Server must be configured for OpenNMS integration, you can use this tab to configure HQ to send an SNMP trap to OpenNMS when the alert fires. The notification will be generated by opennms_notify.gsp alert notification template.

To configure an OpenNMS trap action, enter:

  • Server - Listen address for the OpenNMS server
  • Port for the OpenNMS server.

For more information, see Enabling OpenNMS Integration.

SNMP Notification*

If the HQ Server is configured to send SNMP notifications to your NMS, you can use this tab to configure a trap notification action. See SNMP Server Configuration Properties for more information.

The notification sent when the alert fires will contain three variable bindings:

  • sysUptimeOID.0 - No configuration is required for this binding.
  • snmpTrapOID.0 - This binding is configured on the HQ Server settings page.
  • A variable binding for the alert data specified in the snmp_trap.gsp alert notification template - the alert definition name and the "short reason" for firing. Note that Alert templates may be customized, as described in Tailoring Alert Notification Templates.
Including more variable bindings in SNMP messages
For richer capability, you can configure a SNMP notification as a step in an escalation. An SNMP notification in an escalation can be configured with additional variable bindings. For more information, see Understanding Escalations

To configure an SNMP notification action on HQ Enterprise 4.3, enter:

  • IP Address - the address and port of the target NMS.
  • OID - The OID of the notification to send, which will contain the alert details specified in the snmp_trap.gsp, template.
  • Notification Mechanism - The type of SNMP notification to send:
    • v1 Trap
    • v2c Trap
    • Inform

To configure an SNMP notification action on HQ Enterprise 4.2 and earlier, enter:

  • Address of the target SNMP engine.
  • OID - The OID of the notification to send.
Document generated by Confluence on Apr 20, 2010 15:01