How to add Interface Description in DOM TX/RX Sensor Alerts

KOHLIfied

Hi folks,

I wanted to check if it’s possible to include the interface description in hardware health DOM TX/RX sensor alerts.

Currently, whenever an alert is triggered for DOM TX/RX errors, we receive an email with only the port number (for example: Ethernet 3/1). However, I would like the respective interface description to also be displayed in the alert email for better context.

cnorborg

Hmm… Most of those alerts I've seen were fairly ugly in terms of information. ie: you don't just get "Ethernet 3/1", you get "Ethernet 3/1 Lane X Transceiver …", or for other brands of hardware it might be "DOM RX Power Sensor for Ethernet14", so no real consistency. Plus I've also noticed that it will tend to alert on SFP's that are plugged into the box, but don't have a cable plugged into them unless you shut them down.

That being said, if your environment is more consistent than mine it might be easier to work with. If you can figure out a regular expression to whittle down the variable that the alert uses, which I believe is the "Orion.HardwareHealth.HardwareItemBase" table, the "FullyQualifiedName" column, you can do a custom SWQL query to join this table with the Interfaces table using the "HardwareInfoID" to the "NodeID" on the Interfaces table (Orion.NPM.Interfaces).

You know, it's actually not as hard as I would have thought if you just reverse what I'd consider to be the "normal" way of comparing. Forget the regex to whittle down the FullyQualifiedName field, and instead turn the "Orion.NPM.Interfaces.Name" field into a string comparison. Like this:

SELECT HIB.UniqueName, HIB.Name, HIB.FullyQualifiedName, HIB.StatusDescription, HIB.Description, I.Alias

FROM Orion.HardwareHealth.HardwareItemBase HIB

JOIN Orion.NPM.Interfaces I ON ((I.NodeID = HIB.HardwareInfoID) AND (HIB.FullyQualifiedName LIKE '%' + I.Name + '%'))

WHERE (HIB.StatusDescription IN ('Warning', 'Critical'))

This returns a table of hardware sensors and the interface descriptions that should correspond to the interface from them. YMMV.

Modify this to better suit your needs and only bring back the one interfaces description, and couple it with this article on how to use Custom SWQL variables in an alert, and you should be golden.

https://thwack.solarwinds.com/discussion/93650/how-to-create-and-use-your-own-define-sql-swql-variable-advanced-within-an-alert