Receive Prompt Alerts: Ensure Your Servers Remain Online
IPNetwork Monitor offers diverse automatic responses to changes in monitored resource status. Swift and detailed notifications about monitored resource outages significantly minimize crucial resource downtime, saving users valuable time and boosting administrator efficiency.
The system provides alerts that transmit messages containing problem details via various channels (email, instant messaging, SMS, etc.). Additionally, alerts can launch specified programs (locally or remotely via SSH) or adjust SNMP values. These alerts enable flexible responses to monitor status changes: from starting/stopping remote services to rebooting machines.
Alerts and Basic Operations
All alerts are centrally managed. Any alert can be applied to any monitor. Each alert comprises basic operations (e.g., sending emails, displaying pop-ups) and associated schedules, restricting execution to specific timeframes. IPNetwork Monitor currently supports these basic operations to create alerts:
Send email. Email notifications to relevant personnel. Message templates can include variables like $MonitorName, $CurrentState, etc., enabling a single template for all status updates.
Send SMS via email. Requires email-to-SMS support from your mobile carrier. SMS alerts will be routed to the designated numbers.
Pop-up window. A standard balloon notification linked to the system tray icon, displaying the status change message.
Net Send/MSG. A standard message window on a local or remote machine.
Execute program. Launches an executable or script (in a language supported by Windows Scripting Host). Requires specifying file path, arguments, and optional user account.
Send Jabber message.
Play Sound. Plays MP3 or WAV files when the Windows client application is active or the Alerts tab in the Web interface is open.
Set SNMP value. Enables modifying router settings via SNMP set commands, providing SNMP-based alerts.
Execute script over SSH. Runs shell scripts on remote computers.
Send HTTP(S) request. Sends a GET/POST request to the specified URL, with optional variables in the data.
Execute Python script. Run a python script on a local computer.
Send Push notification. Send Push notification to one or several mobile devices.
Create named alerts by combining these basic actions with time schedules. For instance, an alert could include email notifications to administrators and an HTTP(S) request to a web server for automated ticket creation. This named alert can then be applied to multiple alerting rules associated with different monitors. Modifying the named alert (e.g., adding an email recipient) instantly updates all associated alerting rules.
The complete list of named alerts can be viewed and modified. Access this list via ‘Settings…’ in the ‘Tools’ menu (or the ‘Settings’ button on the toolbar), then select the ‘Alerts’ tab. Note that any changes to an alert will impact all Alerting Rules using it.
Alerting Rule: Defining Notification Recipients and Timing
Alerting rules dictate actions upon monitor state changes or events. Each rule is a reusable template defining the monitoring service’s response. To receive notifications about resource status changes, assign an alerting rule to the resource monitor. New monitors inherit the parent host’s alerting rule by default, simplifying configuration. However, custom rules can be defined for any monitor, host, host group, or remote network agent. Alerting Rules connect alerts to monitor status changes.
Monitors typically inherit the Alerting Rule from their parent host.
Test assigned alerting rules using the ‘Testing’ tab: click ‘Test’ next to the Alert description to verify proper execution. Ensure you receive timely alerts for real-world network issues.
