Define what happens when an alert is triggered in the SolarWinds Platform

Choose actions that occur whenever the trigger conditions are met. You can also set up escalations levels so that different actions occur if the alert has not been acknowledged quickly enough.

Add actions to alerts

By default, what you enter into the Message displayed when this alert field is displayed in the All Active Alerts resource.

You can use HTML tags in alert messages. However, do not use values enclosed in angle brackets, such as <value>, for non-HTML purposes. These values trigger HTML sanitization rules and are thus omitted.

You can create a new action or use an action that you have already created. When you reuse an action, you are also reusing all of its configurations, including its schedule and execution settings.

If you are alerting others through email, SolarWinds recommends that you notify a small number of users while you fine tune your alerts.

1. Click Add Action.

2. Select an action from the list.

   See Alert Actions for a complete list of available actions.

3. Click Configure Action.

4. Enter the necessary information for the action.

   Each action requires different information. Select from the list of Alert Trigger Actions for more information per action.

   Some actions require extra configuration steps, specific information, or special software. See Alert preconfiguration tasks in the SolarWinds Platform.

   Each action has the following sections:

   • Name of action - This is not required, but makes it easier to organize and find your actions in the Action Manager.
   • Time of Day - You can choose different actions to occur at different times of the day or month. For example, if you want to send a page, you might send it to a different person on weekends or holidays rather than during the week.
   • Execution settings - You can select both options, neither option, or a single option.
     • Do not execute this action if the alert has been acknowledged already (Recommended)
     • Repeat this action every X minutes until the alert is acknowledged

5. Click Add Action to save it to the list of actions in the alert.

Add a preexisting action to the alert

You can add actions that have already been configured to an alert. For example, if you configured an action to reboot a VM, you can add that action to a separate alert.

If you use a preexisting action, any configuration change you make to the action, including schedules, is used in every alert the action is assigned.

1. Click Assign Action(s).
2. Select one or more actions from the list.
3. Click Assign.

Add what happens when an alert is not acknowledged

Escalation levels in SolarWinds Platform products refer to user-defined time intervals between when an alert is activated and when a user acknowledges that alert. You can configure the alert to perform different actions per escalation level.

Escalation Level 1 contains all initial actions that you want to occur when the trigger conditions are met and the alert activates.

Escalation Levels 2 and above include all actions you want to occur if no one acknowledged the alert during the previous escalation levels.

For example, if an alert for a critical server activates and all of the recipient or first-level responders are out for training and do not acknowledge the alert, then the actions fire in the second escalation level. These actions may include emailing managers or other backup staff.

1. In an existing alert, click Trigger Actions.
2. Below the action, click Add Escalation Level.
3. Choose how long you want to wait after the previous escalation level before performing the actions in the new escalation level.
4. Enter new actions in this escalation level.

You can copy all of the actions as Reset Actions. This lets you quickly craft actions to indicate that the issue has been acknowledged or resolved. Click Copy Actions to Reset Actions Tab.

When an alert is triggered, the actions will be performed in the order that they are displayed on the list. You can test each action to ensure the action does what you expect it to do.

Click Next to define what happens when the alert is reset.