Marking which node an interface was connected to when it went down

I currently have an advanced alert running that currently takes into account when an interface goes into a "Down" status. Along that line, we have an email that goes out for the trigger action that states which interface went down. The part of the email is similar to this:

Interface that triggered alert: ${InterfaceName}

This gives us the exact name of the interface that went down, similar to:

Interface that triggered alert: Switch1 - Ethernet2/3/7 - ethernet2/3/7

While this information is good, it still requires us to go to the node in the UI and review what was connected to 2/3/7 (per the example). We can then note which node is being affected by the "Down" status and adjust accordingly. The affected node is reviewed through the NPM Network Topology section of the node details. Is there a way to shortcut this process and have the affected node be a part of the email? By example:

Interface that triggered alert: ${InterfaceName} connected to ${AFFECTEDNODE} is in a ${Status} status

Where ${AFFECTEDNODE} is the node connected to that interface. Is this possible?

Find more posts tagged with

advanced_alerts

advanced_alert

Alert

Accepted answers

All comments

sbtech

Anybody got any slight hints?

mharvey

It's simple enough by adding either ${Nodes.Caption} or even just ${Fullname}. The first variable will pull the specific Node the interface is apart of. The second actually pulls the interface name and node name as it's seen in the Interfaces table.

Regards,

Matthew Harvey

Loop1 Systems

http://www.loop1systems.com

sbtech

Thanks for your reply. ${Fullname} returns the node that is initial connection problem. The ${Nodes.Caption} value did not return anything at all.

I may have been unclear on what I was looking for. Lets say that I have a connection between two nodes in the following order:

NodeA - Interface1/A connects to NodeB - Interface2/B

If the Interface1/A goes down, ${Fullname} and other SQL variables will give me the name of Node A. However, what I'm actually looking for is NodeB - Interface2/B in that same alert.

Do you think this is possible?

mharvey

There's really nothing that's going to have linked those devices in the database, unless you've put that information into the interface description at which point it would have been added to the ${Fullname} variable would have it. Otherwise you could create a custom property called connected node or connected interface and manually enter that information. Adding to the devices interface description may be easier though so it populates in that ${FullName} variable.

vispetto

I ran into a similar issue at my organization when WAN links and/or switch uplink ports went down. Our solution was to re-engineer our interface naming standards where in Ethernet2/3/7 has an ifAlias of "interface to switch x interface y". Then change your script around to include ${ifAlias}. I know it's not the most elegant solution but it works.