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Alert suppression and dependencies

I am busy setting up ipmonitor v9 to monitor our environment. I need to know the correct way on how to suppress alerts.

For example, I have a 2003 Server, where I am monitoring disk space, windows services and ping. When the server is rebooted or goes offline, I only want the ping alert to come through once when it goes down, and once when it is back up.

How do I achieve this?

Thanks

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Accepted answers

AllisonB

SolarWinds provides current support (i.e. updated and maintained) for alert suppression and group dependencies in the ipMonitor Admin Guide. You can also use the online help included with ipMonitor to look up this information under the "Add Groups" heading.

All comments

RhodanNZ

We are using WMI for the monitors. WOuld this affect how the dependency / alert supression functions?

The reason I ask is because, say we have the ping monitor setup as a depency. We also have another monitor for a Windows service. The monitor for the Windows service checks in and cannot reach the server, therefore it fails and sends an alert because the ping monitor has not checked in yet to fail.

How can I solve this?

Peter.Cooper

Here's an document that covers the entire subject (it's for a previous version but the content is quite useful). Have a quick read on the section "Effective Timing and Notification Control Parameters". It discusses making the ping monitor test & fail faster than the other monitors (by polling at half the frequency of your service monitor).

ipMonitor, Configure Groups and Dependencies Tutorial

simonpt

Hi Peter

Do you recommend the values given in that document? They're quite a bit smaller than the default values, aren't they?

Rgds, Simon

RhodanNZ

Thanks for the reply Peter. I have it working as per the document.

One question I have now is related to the Maximum Test Duration. What is the recommended setting for that? Does it affect the test times of up/warn/down etc. if it's sent too long / too short?

Peter.Cooper

Hello Simon,

Do you recommend the values given in that document?

Even though this document was created a while ago, I believe the recommended values in the document are perfect for lightweight dependency monitors. Any monitor that's responsible for alert suppression should reach "down" well before all the other monitors. The goal is to have dependency monitors reach "down" in half the time it takes the other monitors. This will eliminate race conditions. (Also, you're going to get a few minutes warning before the board starts showing lots of red.)

I don't think these values in the document are good for just any monitor though. The defaults are good the way they are, especially now that we do "unlimited" monitors. If a WMI or RPC monitor is going to be set as a dependency, start a new thread so we can discuss it on the forum... fast polling RPC & WMI should be avoided for a couple reasons.

I'll fill you in a little more on the context around the document I referenced (which is getting outdated).

It was originally commissioned after reviewing a ticket where ipMonitor host's switch was accidentally unplugged, went unnoticed, and caused a few a few hundred sms/gsm alerts to get sent out in a hurry. We spent some time helping the the customer configure up dependencies, and identified / configured a dependency on anything (IP based) that ipMontior was depending on to function. We thought the subject really worth spending time on, so we beefed up our documentation and hoped that the document format would lend itself to more self-help.

A while later, with v9, we did upgrade our wizards to suggest / automate adding ping dependency monitors... reducing the need for the document. It still comes in handy.

RhodanNZ

I need some further advice / suggestions.

My monitor polls every 5min. When it fails, it changes to warn, and retests 60 seconds later. If it fails again at that point, it changes to down, and sends an email alert.

I want the monitor to keep polling every 60 seconds, but to only continue alerting every 15min (not every 60 seconds).

Is that possible?

Peter.Cooper

Rhodan,

You sound like you have 1 failure per notification. If this is true, create a specific alert for this style of monitor... and change the alert sequence on the emails to:

1,15,30,45