Article
09/09/2016

How to Customize Message Content for Notifications

Updated: May 13, 2016

Applies To: System Center 2012 R2 Operations Manager, System Center 2012 - Operations Manager, System Center 2012 SP1 - Operations Manager

In System Center 2012 – Operations Manager, you can customize the format that will be used for messages that notify you of alerts. The format of an alert notification is determined by the channel by which the notification is sent. Each channel type has a default format, as shown in the following examples.

Note

The command channel type is not mentioned because it generates a command rather than a notification message.

Channel type	Default notification format
Email	Subject: Alert: alert name Resolution state: new or closed Alert: Source: Path: Last modified by: Last modified time: Alert description: Alert view link: Notification subscription ID generating this message:
Instant message (IM)	Alert: alert name Path: path to managed entity Resolution state: new or closed Last modified by:
SMS (text message)	Alert: alert name Resolution state: new or closed

You can change the format on the Format page of the channel type wizard when you create the channel or after the channel is created. The procedure is the same for all three channel types.

To configure notification format

On the Format page of the channel type wizard, in the message box for the channel type (or subject box for the email channel), delete any information from the default format that you do not want to include.
Position your cursor in the location of the box where you want to add information.
Type any non-variable text that you want in the message.
Click the button to the right of the box to display the information you can add to the subject or message for notifications, as shown in the following illustration.
Click any item in that list to add the corresponding variable to the notification message. For example, if you click Alert Severity, the following variable will be added to the box:

$Data[Default='Not Present']/Context/DataItem/Severity$

Note

When a default value for a parameter is included, such as [Default=’Not Present’] in the preceding example, it indicates the text to provide when the alert does not contain data for that parameter.
When you are done, click Finish. All notification messages that use the same channel will be formatted the same way.

Customizing a Channel for a Subscription

When you create a subscription, you can copy an existing channel that you can customize for that subscription.

To customize a channel for a subscription

In the Notification Subscription Wizard, on the Channels page, click New, and then click Create Customized Copy.
In the Channel Search window, use Filter by and Search to locate the channel you want to copy. Select the channel in Available channels, click Add, and then click OK.
The notification channel wizard for the selected channel opens. You can change the name, description, settings, and message format on the corresponding wizard pages. As a best practice, change the name of the channel to distinguish it from the original channel. Click Finish when you are done making changes.

How to Customize Message Content for Notifications

To configure notification format

Customizing a Channel for a Subscription

To customize a channel for a subscription

See Also

Additional resources