Working with Monitor Alert Sources

Monitor alert sources raise alerts when a system component reaches a specific severity. For example, a monitor alert source can raise an alert if the host running the RunMyJobs server is running out of swap space, or a Queue is held.

Note: To enable monitoring, you will need to create the registry entry below and set it to true:
/configuration/jcs/monitoring/enabled

Creating a Monitor Alert Source

To create a monitor alert source:

  1. Navigate to Alerting > Monitor Alert Sources.
  2. Click .
  3. Choose a Partition and enter a Name.
  4. Choose the monitor you want to alert on from the Monitor dropdown list.
  5. On the Rules tab, click Add for each monitor alert source rule you want.
  6. Click Save & Close.

Tabs and Fields

Note: For tabs and fields that are common to all objects, see Object Tabs.

Tab Field Description
Monitor Alert Source Raise an alert for monitor Select a monitor node.
Monitor Alert Source Raise alerts only at certain times Time Window and Time Zone let you specify that alerts should only be fired when a specific Time Window is open or closed (depending on the Time Window Status).
Monitor Alert Source Raise a custom Operator Message

Lets you specify the following:
Monitor Alert Source Sent to

Specify an Address and a Default Alert Escalation. The Address can use substitution parameters and is resolved by an Email Alert Gateway. The alert will be sent to the specified address and escalated, if necessary, using the specified escalation.

If you do not provide a Default Alert Escalation, you must specify an Escalation Expression under Use a dynamic escalation path.

Note: The Escalation Expression field is evaluated before the Default Alert Escalation field. If the Escalation Expression field results in a match, the Default Alert Escalation is ignored.
Monitor Alert Source Use a dynamic escalation path Lets you specify an alert escalation using substitution parameters. If no matching escalation can be found, the Default Alert Escalation is used.
Rules Processing Order The order in which the rule is processed.
Rules Severity The severity level that triggers the alert.
Rules Rising If this is checked, the alert will be triggered only when the severity has risen (not fallen) to the specified Severity.
Rules Delay Amount The number of Delay Units to wait until the alert is sent. The system will only raise the alert if the process is still in the status mentioned after the specified delay.
Rules Delay Units The units of time used in the Delay Amount.
Rules Operator Message Expression A status-specific Operator Message expression. If specified, this overrides the default Operator Message.
Rules Alert Escalation Lets you specify a rule-specific escalation. If you specify an option, this overrides the alert source's default escalation.
Alert Source Email Body The body of the email to send, see Customizing email messages for information on how you can customize it.
Actions Type The type of action to take when an alert needs to be fired. The only valid option for alert sources is Post Alert. Any action you define here will be executed after the alert is sent. You must reply to the Operator Message and delete it if you want to suppress it.
Actions Enabled Lets you enable or disable the action.
Actions Library The user under which the code in the action is performed. You must set this if you want to use jcsSession.
Actions Action Subject Lets you specify a library containing methods you want to use in the Source field.
Actions Source The source code of the script.

Promotion, Deletion, and Renaming

If you promote a monitor alert source, the watched monitors must exist on the target system prior to importing the alert source. For example, if you have a monitor alert source that uses a monitor node belonging to a Process Server, you will have to import the Process Server separately before you import the monitor alert source or the import will fail.

If you delete an object which you are watching with a monitor alert source, the monitor of that object will NOT be deleted immediately and a warning will be logged. The monitor path of the alert source will NOT be updated. You must update it manually.

If you rename an object for which a monitor alert source is watching a monitor node, the path to the monitor node will change independently of the monitor alert source. For example, if your monitor alert source is watching System.ProcessServer.MSLN_WINS3 and you rename the Process Server MSLN_WINS3 to MSLN_WINS16, the monitor node will not change to System.ProcessServer.MSLN_WINS16 automatically. You must update it manually.

Operator Message Reply Expressions

The Operator Message Reply Expression works the same way as the reply expression for the System_OperatorMessage Process Definition. This can be specified at the alert source level, and overridden per severity level. If no reply expression is specified, the default reply expression is Acknowledge.

You can use the following substitution parmeters in the Operator Message Reply Expression.

  • ${data}: The current severity.
  • ${alertSourceType}: The type of alert source.
  • ${alertSourceUniqueId}The unique ID for the alert source.

Procedure

Creating a Queue Alert Source

  1. To enable monitoring, you will need to create the registry entry below and set the value for the entry:
    /configuration/jcs/monitoring/enabled
  2. Navigate to Configuration > Registry and choose New > Registry by path from the context menu of configuration.
  3. Click Save & Close.
  4. Restart the environment.

Example

Prerequisite

  • Active Monitoring is configured and has been tested to work.
  • For email, email is configured and an email alert gateway has been configured for the address to use; both have been tested to work.

Tip: If you need to set up active monitoring, see the Active Monitoring JumpStart Guide.

Creating the Monitoring Alert Source for the Queue

  1. Navigate to Configuration > Registry and choose New > Registry by path from the context menu of configuration.
  2. Click Save & Close.
  3. Restart the environment.
  4. After the environment has been restarted, in the UI navigate to Monitoring > Monitor Tree and make sure you can navigate to /System/Queue/<queue_name> where <queue_name> is the <partition>.<name> of the Queue to be monitored.
  5. Choose the Queue, choose "New Monitor Alert Source" and specify a name on the Rules tab, then add a rule with the below properties.
  6. Click Save & Close.
Processing Order: 1
Severity: 75
Rising <true> (activate box)
Delay Amount: 0 (Default)
Delay Units: Minutes (Default)
Select an Alert Escalation:  jdoe@example.com

Validate the Alert Source is Functional

  1. Navigate to Environment > Queues.
  2. From the context menu of your Queue to be monitored, choose Hold.
  3. Wait 30 seconds and navigate to Monitoring > Monitor Tree, then navigate to your Queue: /System/Queue/<queue_name>.
  4. Make sure the Severity field reads 75 for your Queue.
  5. Navigate to Monitoring > Operator Messages, you should see an Operator Message with Title Acknowledge from Sender /System/Queue/<queue_name> Severity rising to or above 75.
    Active Monitoring is working.
  6. Check your email client for an email.
  7. Navigate to Environment > Queues.
  8. From the context menu of your Queue to be monitored, choose Release.