Customer Level 2 Training: Service Groups, Alerts and Dependencies

SolarWinds® Level 2 Training
Advanced Alert Manager
August 23, 2012

COPYRIGHT © 2012, SOLARWINDS WORLDWIDE, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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» Hosts
 Jason Ferree –Support Supervisor
 Mark Wiggans – Information Development

Are you Certified?

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Agenda

 Introductions & Housekeeping
 A Look Under the Hood
 Condition Groups
 Suppression
 Service Groups
 Alert Actions and Variables
 Troubleshooting
 Q&A

© iStockphoto

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Introductions and Housekeeping

» Today’s Content will Focus on Orion® Advanced Alert
Manager and Dependencies
 We only have an hour
» Ask questions!
 Don’t be afraid to ask deeper questions
 Don’t wait until the end – ask away
» Today’s session is being recorded
 Recorded session on SolarWinds.com
 Slides available on slideshare.com

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» How Alerts Work – A Look Under the Hood.

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» Launching the Alert Manager Interface - Quick Tour

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» Understanding Condition Groups
 All = logical AND
 Any = logical OR
 Not all and None - Use very carefully
» Embedded condition groups
 Follow the left alignment for embedded conditions

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» Suppression - Example 1, Direct Suppression
 Alert condition: Node down
 Suppression condition: node name = Lab router
 Desired Result – Alert on all devices down except Lab router
 Actual Result - if a node exists in SQL database with the name “Lab
router”, then all node down alerts will be suppressed.

If a suppression condition is true, alerts will be suppressed regardless of
the trigger condition.

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» Suppression - Example 2, Embedded Suppression
 Alert condition: Simple Condition Group
• Trigger alert when all if the following apply
• Node status is equal to down
• Node name is not equal to Lab router
 Suppression condition: None
 Desired Result – Alert on all devices down except Lab router
 Actual Result - Alert on all devices down except Lab router

To embed a suppression condition, flip the logic and add the condition to
the trigger.

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» Suppression - Example 3, “Suppression” using Groups and
Dependencies

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» Example 3 Explained – “Suppression” Using Groups and
Dependencies
 Create a service group and add site 1 remote devices
 Create a service group for the data center routers
 Create a dependency - site 1 group dependent on data center group
 Set datacenter status rollup to mixed
 Create an alert for data center group
• Trigger - Group status is equal to down
• Default reset – Condition no longer exists
• No suppression

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» Example 3 in Action
 Alert for data center group when both routers are down
• Site 1 devices status set to unreachable
 Existing node down alert fires for parent device down

Alert!

Status set to
unreachable

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» Alert Actions
 Send an email
• Trouble ticket integration point!
 Send a message via syslog or trap
 Execute a program or script
 Send Windows® Net message
 Tons more

» Variables
 What triggered the alert, when, what was affected, status….

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» Troubleshooting Alerts
Issue will most likely be in one of three areas
1 - Alert or Suppression Condition
Errors in condition logic
Logical contradictions
Other conditions not logically possible
Suppression killing all triggers
2 - Alert Action
Error in external program or script
Email issues
3 - Alert is OK but test is invalid
Check test logic, timing, and alert criteria

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» Other Alert Types
 Basic Alerts
• Most all functionality exists in Advanced Alerts
 Syslog Alerts
• Defined in Syslog Alerts/Rules UI
 Trap Alerts
• Defined in Trap Alerts/Rules UI
• Allows for filtering, parsing, thresholds and alert actions

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Summary and Q&A

» Thank you for attending!
» Additional Resources
 Understanding Orion Advanced Alert Manager
• http://www.solarwinds.com/documentation/Orion/docs/UnderstandingOrionAdvancedAlerts.pdf
 Using Orion Groups and Dependencies
• http://www.solarwinds.com/documentation/Orion/docs/Groupsanddependencies.pdf
 Thwack® Alert Lab
• http://thwack.solarwinds.com/community/labs_tht/alert-lab

COPYRIGHT © 2012, SOLARWINDS WORLDWIDE, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Customer Level 2 Training: Service Groups, Alerts and Dependencies

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