How to Create Notification Channels, Templates and Subscriptions
Applies To: System Center 2012 - Service Manager, System Center 2012 SP1 - Service Manager
Notification channels are the method by which E-mail notification messages are sent to users. By using System Center 2012 – Service Manager, you can make notifications for almost any kind of change. For example, you can configure an E-mail notification to be sent to a tenant administrator when a virtual machine request has been submitted.
There are three procedures involved in creating automated E-mail notifications. First, E-mail notifications must be configured. Then, a template must be created. The notification template determines the type and format of the messages to send. After you have enabled at least one notification channel and created a notification template, you can create an E-mail notification subscription.
To configure E-mail notifications
In the Service Manager console, click Administration.
In the Administration pane, click Cloud Services.
In the Cloud Services pane, in the Optional Configuration Steps area, click Create Notification Channels and Subscriptions.
In the Tasks pane, under E-Mail Notification Channel, click Properties to open the Configure E-Mail Notification Channel dialog box.
Select Enable e-mail notifications.
Click Add. In the Add SMTP Server dialog box, type the fully qualified domain name of the SMTP server that you want to use. For example, type Exchange01.Woodgrove.Com.
In the Port number box, type or select the SMTP port number that you want to use. For example, select 25.
In the Authentication method box, select either Anonymous or Windows Integrated. For example, select Anonymous. Then click OK.
In the Return e-mail address box, type the email address of the service account used during setup. For example, type smadmin@woodgrove.com.
In the Retry primary after box, type or select the number of seconds that you want Service Manager to wait before it tries to resend outgoing email notifications. For example, select 25.
Click OK to close the dialog box.
To create a notification template for a newly assigned activity
In the Service Manager console, click Administration.
In the Administration pane, expand Notifications, and then click Templates.
In the Tasks pane, under Templates, click Create E-mail Template.
On the General page of the Create E-mail Notification Template Wizard, in the Notification template name box, type a name. For example, type New Activity Assigned Received Template. Optionally, in the Description box, you can type a description for the template that you are creating.
Next to the Targeted class box, click Browse.
In the Select a Class dialog box, click Manual Activity, and then click OK.
Make sure that an unsealed management pack of your choice is selected, and then click Next. For example, select the Sample Management Pack.
On the Template Design page, in the Message subject box, type a subject for the email template. For example, type New Activity Assigned with ID#. Then, click Insert.
In the Select Property dialog box, select ID, and then click Add.
In the Message body box, type a description to indicate that an activity has been assigned.
Use the other default values on this page, and then click Next.
On the Summary page, review the settings that you have selected for the template. Then, click Create.
On the Completion page, click Close.
Important
Manually copying and pasting substitution strings from other notification templates will not generally work. Therefore, you should avoid copying them to prevent errors. Instead, you can easily browse for and insert available substitution strings into any notification template that you are creating or updating.
After you create the notification templates, you can use a notification subscription to send email messages based on the templates.To create an E-mail notification subscription
In the Service Manager console, click Administration.
In the Administration pane, expand Notifications, and then click Subscriptions.
In the Tasks pane, click Create Subscription.
On the Before You Begin page of the Create E-mail Notification Subscription Wizard, click Next.
On the General page, in the Notification subscription name box, type a name to identify the subscription. For example, type New request for virtual machine. Optionally, type a short description in the Description text box.
Next to the Targeted class box, click Browse.
In the Select a Class dialog box, choose a class. Then click OK.
In the When to notify box, select When an object of the selected class is created.
Make sure that an unsealed management pack of your choice is selected, and then click Next.
On the Additional Criteria page, select Incident. In the Available Properties list, select Classification Category, and then click Add.
On the Additional Criteria page, click the Criteria tab. In the Criteria area, next to [Incident] Classification Category, select equals. In the list, select E-mail Problems, and then click Next.
On the Template page, next to the E-mail template box, click Select.
In the Select Objects dialog box, in the Templates list, select a notification template, click OK, and then click Next.
On the Recipient page, click Add.
In the Select Objects dialog box, select the appropriate user, click Add, click OK, and then click Next.
Note
The notification address must be configured for the user account of the tenant administrator.
On the Related Recipients page, click Add.
In the Select Related Recipient dialog box, search for the appropriate class, and then select the appropriate substitution string that represents the user. Click Add, click OK, and then click Next. For example, select additional user accounts that you want to send the notification to.
On the Summary page, review the settings that you selected for the notification subscription, and then click Create.
On the Completion page, click Close.