Defining alert definitions for environmental metrics changes

About this task

You can define alerts that are triggered when the power and temperature of a resource changes.

Procedure

  1. To define alerts for resources, choose one of the following options:
    Option Steps
    Define alerts for a policy
    1. Go to Configuration > Alert Policies.
      Attention: Default alert policy cannot be edited. To create the editable alert policy, right-click the default alert policy and select Copy Policy. The copied policy can be edited as needed.
    2. Double-click the policy.
    3. Click Edit Alert Definitions on the Alert Definitions tab.
    Define alerts for a resource that is not managed by a policy
    1. Go to the resource list page for the resource. For example, to define alerts for a block storage system, go to Resources > Block Storage Systems.
    2. Right-click the resource for which you want to define alerts, then click View Alert Definitions.
    3. Click Edit Alert Definitions.
  2. Click the type of resource that you want to alert on. For example, click Storage System
  3. Click the Environmental category.
  4. To enable the alert for an attribute, click the check mark for the attribute.
    The advanced options for the alert, such as notification frequency, are displayed on clicking View Additional Options.
  5. Specify the conditions for generating an alert.
    Conditions include an operator and a threshold value.
    1. Select an operator.
      An operator determines whether an alert is triggered when the performance of a resource is greater than or equal to or less than or equal to the specified threshold value.
    2. Enter a threshold value.
      For example, to trigger an alert if the Total Power Consumed for a storage system is greater than or equal to 70 Watts, enter the value 70.
      Tips for threshold values:
      • IBM Storage Insights Pro provides recommended values for threshold values that do not vary much between environments.

        However, for metrics that measure throughput and response times, thresholds can vary because of workload, model of hardware, amount of cache memory, and other factors. In these cases, there are no recommended values. To help determine threshold values for a resource, collect performance data over time to establish a baseline of the normal and expected performance behavior for that resource. After you determine a set of baseline values, define alerts to trigger if the measured performance behavior falls outside the normally expected range.

  6. Assign a severity to an alert.
    Assigning a severity can help you more quickly identify and address the critical conditions that are detected on resources. The severity that you assign depends on the guidelines and procedures within your organization. Default assignments are provided for each alert.
    Option Description
    Critical alert icon
    Critical    		 Alert is critical and needs to be resolved. For example, alerts that notify you when the amount of available capacity on a file system falls below a specified threshold.
    Warning alert icon
    Warning    		 Alerts that are not critical, but represent potential problems. For example, alerts that notify you when the status of a data collection job is not normal.
    Informational alert icon
    Informational    		 Alerts that might not require any action to resolve and are primarily for informational purposes. For example, alerts that are generated when a new pool is added to a storage system.
  7. Optional: If you want to send email notifications of alert violations to contacts other than the policy contacts or global alert notification addresses, enter the email addresses in the Email Override field.
    Tip: If you enter an email address in the Email Override field, only that email address receives notifications for the alert. The following contacts do not receive notifications:
    • Any email addresses that are specified as policy contacts, if the alert is in an alert policy.
    • Any global email addresses that are specified for alert notifications. To view the global alert notification addresses, go to Configuration > Settings.
  8. Optional: Click View Additional Options to specify how frequently you are notified of alerts.
    Use these settings to avoid triggering too many alerts for some conditions.
  9. Optional: To send the alert to the selected webhooks, and override the configuration set in the Settings > Integrations page, check the box under the Webhook Override field and select the webhooks.
  10. Click Save Changes.

Results

To view all the alerts generated by IBM Storage Insights Pro, go to Dashboards > Alerts in the GUI.

Tip: If data is already being collected, when you add, modify, or remove a performance alert for a resource, changes are applied dynamically.