Alert Types
The Alert Type determines what factor or metric is going to be used to checked to trigger an alert states. Some alerts types will be triggered based on a statistical value of a metric, and others are triggered by a text value matching or not matching a specified value.
Node Type
This section allows you to specify whether you want your alerts to trigger on Catchpoint & Enterprise Node, or Enterprise Branch Nodes.
Trigger
The Trigger options you see will depend on the Alert Type selected. The list below covers common options:
- Byte Length: Uses comparative operators and a variable byte length field.
- Content Match: Uses (not)equals with an input field that supports regex.
- Host/Test Failure: No trigger options apply.
- Timing: Uses comparative operators on specific values or trailing values.
- Insight: Uses comparative operators for Indicators and content match for Tracepoints.
- JavaScript Failure: Uses greater than (>) operator with a variable number input field.
- Ping: Uses comparative operators for % Packet Loss or RTT using specific values, trailing values, or trend shifts.
- Requests: Uses comparative operators for number of specified items specific values, trailing values, or trend shifts.
- Zone: Uses comparative operators for specified Zone metric-specific values, trailing values, or trend shifts.
- Availability: Uses comparative operators for specific values or trailing values.
- Downtime: Uses comparative operators for specific values or trailing values.
- IP Address: Uses content match for the IP address.
- Experience Score: Uses comparative operators for specific values, trailing values, or trend shifts.
- Response Time: Uses comparative operators for specific values, trailing values, or trend shifts
Conditions
There are three condition options in alert settings Average Across Nodes, Node, and Runs .
Node Conditions contains two options. The first, Average Across Nodes, will trigger the alert if the statistical data from the nodes in the test meet the conditions set in the Trigger section - this defaults to average, but if "trailing values" are used, the statistical value will be based on the selection in the drop-down menu. Node allows you to specify the number or percentage of nodes (rounded up) meeting the condition for the alert to be triggered.
Note: The Advanced test setting "Enforce test failure when triggered on a node", when applicable, disables the "Node Threshold" field.
Run Conditions allows you to specify the number or percentage of Runs (rounded up) meeting the condition for the alert to be triggered.
By enabling Consecutive, there must be a succession of specified runs in order to trigger the alert. For example, in the left section of the image above:
Timeframe
The Timeframe specifies the most recent interval time the system needs to look at to detect if the values go above the specified value defined in the trigger section. Setting this to default will use whatever the frequency of the test is.
It can be tricky to understand how alerts will trigger the alert. For example, if you choose to complete one test run every 15 minutes and you have chosen to trigger alert if test failure is on at least 2 runs in simple alerts, it would never be able to get 2 failures within 15 minutes (default Timeframe) because the test will only have run once.
The system will round the time interval to be a multiple of the test frequency to ensure that there is sufficient data for each node. For a test with a frequency of 15 minutes, if the user specifies Timeframe of 10 minutes, the system will treat it as 15 minutes. If the user enters 20 minutes, it will treat it as 30 minutes. This ensures that we have proper data for each node and we can count how many nodes passed the threshold. This does not mean that the system waits 30 minutes to alert; it simply dictates the window of time analyzed for nodes to cross the threshold.
Reminders
This section allows you to set how often you would like to see alert reminders for critical and warning alerts
Scatterplot
This section allows you to specify if you would like a scatterplot included in the alert email.
Instructions
This optional section contains your customized message to the alert recipient(s). If you choose to configure this section, it will appear first in the email message body.
Notifications Settings
This section allows you to specify who receives the alert. You can also choose to not notify anyone but simply log the alert in the Alerts module. There is also an option to send reminders for warning and critical alerts.
The Recipients option will let you create notification groups which will allow you to determine what type of alerts go to which recipients. For instance, one group of recipients can receive warnings, while another group can receive only critical alerts.