Alert Views
Applies To: System Center Operations Manager 2007
Note
This topic has been updated in the latest version of the System Center Management Pack Authoring Guide on the TechNet Wiki.
Alert views provide a listing of alerts in the Operations Manager database. Columns in the view can include the value of properties of each alert.
Contents
The following properties determine the contents of an Alert view.
Target
All Alert views must specify a target class. An Alert view lists all of the alerts associated with the target class or any classes that the target class hosts. All instances of the target class in the management group are included unless criteria or a group is specified to limit the instance that is displayed. All alerts associated with these objects are included unless you specify criteria to limit them.
Group
An Alert view does not require a group. If a group is specified, only alerts associated with instances of the target class in the group are included in the view. Even though the group might contain objects of different classes, only alerts from instances of the target class are displayed.
Note
If the Entity class is used for the target class, all objects in the group are included in the view. This is because all classes inherit from the Entity class.
Criteria
An Alert view does not require criteria. If it is provided, criteria allows for the included alerts to be limited according to the values of one or more properties. To add or configure criteria, start the external editor from the Authoring console or modify the settings in the view’s Properties dialog box in the Operations console. The properties that you can use in criteria are provided in the following table with a sample of the XML code in the view definition.
| Condition | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
Severity |
One or more values matching the severity of the alert. Valid values are as follows:
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Priority |
One or more values matching the severity of the alert. Valid values are as follows:
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Source |
One or more rules or monitors that created the alert. The value for Type can be Rule or Monitor. The value for Id indicates the specific rule or monitor. If this value is selected in the Operations console, it will be the actual GUID. It should be changed to an $MPElement variable to ensure that it moved between management groups. |
|
Resolution State |
Current resolution state of the alert. This can either be a list of numeric values for specific states or a range of values. If the StateRange element is used, it requires an Operator attribute. The possible values for this attribute are as follows:
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Alert Name |
Name of the alert. Specified text must appear somewhere in the alert’s name. |
|
Alert Description |
Description of the alert. Specified text must appear somewhere in the alert’s description. |
|
Time alert created |
The time that the alert was created. A time range or a relative duration from the current time can be specified. If a relative time is used, the WithinLast element requires a Unit attribute. The possible values for this attribute are as follows:
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Assigned to |
Current owner of the alert. Specified text must appear somewhere in the alert’s owner name. |
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Ticket |
Ticket number of the alert. Specified text must appear somewhere in the ticket. |
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Instance Name |
Name of the instance that raised the alert. Specified text must appear somewhere in the alert’s instance name. |
|
User who last modified alert |
Name of the user who last modified the alert. Specified text must appear somewhere in the alert’s user name. |
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Last time any property of alert was modified |
The time that the alert was last modified. A time range or a relative duration from the current time can be specified. If a relative time is used, then the WithinLast element requires a Unit attribute. The possible values for this attribute are as follows:
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Last time resolution state was modified |
The time that the resolution state of the alert was last modified. A time range or a relative duration from the current time can be specified. If a relative time is used, then the WithinLast element requires a Unit attribute. The possible values for this attribute are as follows:
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Time alert was resolved |
The time that the alert was resolved. A time range or a relative duration from the current time can be specified. If a relative time is used, the WithinLast element requires a Unit attribute. The possible values for this attribute are as follows:
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User who resolved alert |
Name of the user who last resolved the alert. Specified text must appear somewhere in the user’s name. |
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Time alert was added |
The time that the alert was added to the database. A time range or a relative duration from the current time can be specified. If a relative time is used, then the WithinLast element requires a Unit attribute. The possible values for this attribute are as follows:
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Site |
Site of the alert. Specified text must appear somewhere in the site. |
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Custom Fields |
Text in a custom field of the alert. Specified text must appear somewhere in the custom field. An alert has ten custom fields. |
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Columns
Each column in an Alert view is defined with a ColumnInfo element in the Presentation element of the view. The following XML sample shows a column definition.
<ColumnInfo Index="0" SortIndex="-1" Width="22" Grouped="false" Sorted="false" IsSortable="true" Visible="true" SortOrder="Ascending">
<Name>Severity</Name>
<Id>Severity</Id>
</ColumnInfo>
The content of each column is determined by its Id value with the title of the column defined by the Name element. The possible contents of a state view are identified in the following table.
| Name | ID | Description |
|---|---|---|
Severity |
Severity |
Severity of the Alert |
Icon |
Icon |
Icon representing alert severity |
Path |
MonitoringObjectPath |
Path of the monitoring object that the alert is associated with |
Source |
MonitoringObjectDisplayName |
Display name of the monitoring object that the alert is associated with |
Maintenance Mode |
MonitoringObjectInMaintenanceMode |
Icon indicating whether the object associated with the alert is currently in maintenance mode |
Name |
Name |
Name of the alert |
Resolution State |
ResolutionState |
Current resolution state of the alert |
Created |
TimeRaised |
Date and time that alert was created |
Age |
Age |
Duration of time after alert was created |
Type |
Category |
The category of the rule or monitor that created the alert |
Owner |
Owner |
Current owner of the alert |
Priority |
Priority |
Priority of the alert |
Latency |
Latency |
Duration between the time that the alert was created on the agent and the time that it was written to the database |
Description |
Description |
Description of the alert |
Connector |
ConnectorId |
ID of the connector if the alert is forward to a connector |
Forwarding Status |
ConnectorStatus |
Current forwarding status if the alert is forwarded to a connector |
Class |
Class |
Display name of the target class for the monitor or rule creating the alert |
Time in State |
TimeInState |
Duration of time after resolution state of agent was changed |
Custom Fields |
CustomField1 CustomField2 CustomField3 CustomField4 CustomField5 CustomField6 CustomField7 CustomField8 CustomField9 CustomField10 |
Value of custom fields of the alert |
Resolved By |
ResolvedBy |
User who resolved the alert |
Time Resolved |
TimeResolved |
Date and time when the alert was resolved |
Last State Change |
TimeResolutionStateLastModified |
Date and time when resolution state was last changed |
Last Modified |
LastModified |
Date and time when the alert was last modified |
Last Modified By |
LastModifiedBy |
User who last modified the alert |
Management Group |
ManagementGroup |
Name of the management group the alert is from |
Site |
SiteName |
The site name of the alert |
Repeat Count |
RepeatCount |
Current repeat count for the alert |
Ticket ID |
TicketId |
The ticket ID of the alert |
To specify the order of the columns, modify the settings in the view’s Properties dialog box in the Operations console. This corresponds to the Index attribute in the XML code for the column.
If no columns are specified for the view, by default, the following columns are displayed:
Severity
Icon
Source
Maintenance Mode
Name
Resolution State
Created
Age
Formatting
To format an Alert view, modify the attributes of each column definition. Start the external editor from the Authoring console or modify the settings in the view’s Properties dialog box in the Operations console. The following table lists the different characteristics of each column and their corresponding attributes.
| Characteristic | Description |
|---|---|
Column Order |
The order of how the columns are positioned can be specified with the Index attribute for the column, or you can use the Display tab in the Properties dialog box for the view in the Operations console. |
Column Width |
Each column has a Width attribute defining the width of the column in pixels. The column width in the dialog box is used the first time that you open the Operations console. If you change the width in the Operations console, the new settings are saved on the local workstation. There is no guarantee that the column width in the management pack is retained on any workstation. |
Column Visibility |
Each column has a Visible attribute that defines whether the column is visible in the Operations console. If you do not want to display a column, still include it in the view with the Visible attribute set to false. If the column is not included in the view, it is not available as an option for the user to add it to the view in the Operations console. For this reason, all columns are typically included in the view with the visibility of the columns that you do not want be displayed set to false. |
Sorting |
The alerts listed in an Alert view can be sorted by any of the included columns. The sorting configuration in the dialog box is used the first time that you open the Operations console. If you change the sort order in the Operations console, the new settings are saved on the local workstation. There is no guarantee that the sort order in the management pack is retained on any workstation. The dialog box in the Operations console enables the view to be sorted by a single column. You can sort multiple columns by modifying the XML attributes of the view. Change the value of the Sorted attribute of the column entry to true. The SortIndex attribute defines the order that the columns are sorted, and its value must be changed to a value of 0 or greater. The SortOrder attribute must be either Ascending or Descending depending on which sort order for the column you want. |
Grouping |
Alert views can be grouped by any of the included columns. The Operations console dialog box allows for up to three fields to be used for grouping, but any number can be used by modifying the XML attributes. To use a column for grouping, change the value of its Grouped attribute to true. The SortIndex attribute is used to determine the order for the grouping of multiple columns and must be changed to a value greater than 0. |