Alerts

OmniVista Cirrus can report alerts received from network devices. Similar to the Events notification screen, the Alerts screen provides a list of alerts received and basic alert information (for example, severity, date/time received). You can also manage alerts and configure alert templates to identify specific alerts that you want OmniVista Cirrus to report.

There are two ways to access the Alerts screen from the Organization Dashboard:

• Click on the Alerts panel heading in the lower-right of the dashboard.

• Click on the Alerts option under the “Monitor” section of the OmniVista Cirrus menu.

The top section of the Alerts screen provides a summary of alert activity during the specified time range. The bottom section of the screen is the Alerts Entry List, which displays the alerts received from network devices within the specified time range. You can also use the Alerts screen to acknowledge alerts, delete alerts, export alerts, and manage alert templates.

Viewing the Alerts Entry List

All alerts from all devices within the Organization scope and specified timeframe are displayed and updated in real-time. New alerts received are also indicated when a number displays next to the bell icon on the Organization banner. For example:

The bell icon provides a list of new traps and alerts received. To view the list of new alerts, click on the bell icon, then on Alerts. A drop-down window displays the list of new alerts.

The dialog box will display only the recent 10 records of the Alerts. To view all the records or entries, you have to click on See All at the bottom of the drop-down list, then all Alerts are displayed on the screen.

Alerts Entry List Information

The Alerts Entry List provides the following information for each alert received:

• Alert Name - The name assigned to the alert.

• Severity - The severity level (Minor/Major/Critical) of the alert.

• Status - Whether the alert is un-acknowledged (UnAck-ed) or acknowledged (Ack-ed).

• Recurrence - The number of alerts received for a specific alert type, from the selected Recurrence Scope, within the selected Group by Window range, and Acknowledged status. Click on the number in this field to view details for each recurrence of the alert type.

• Recurrence Scope - Displays alerts from all devices in the Organization, Site, Building, Floor, or from a specific device. Use the display filter at the top of the Alerts screen to select which one of these entities to view.

• Time of first alert- The date and time the alert was initially received.

• Time of latest alert - The date and time the alert was last received.

Tooltip: Use the Search box option to view the Alerts containing a specific Access Point or Client MAC. Usually, the Client MAC doesn’t appear in the Alerts List Table, but the search result will display all such Alerts containing a specific Client MAC as shown below:

Group by Window

The Group by Window display option allows you to select a range of time during which each type of alert received is counted. To select the time range for the Group by Window, click on Group by Window and select from 5 minutes (the default) up to 24 hours from the drop-down menu.

The total number of a specific alert type received within the Group by Window range is used to calculate the value reported in the “Recurrence” field. For example, if the Group by Window range is set to 24 hours and the Recurrence number for alert type “Port Auth Failure” is 12, then a “Port Auth Failure” alert was received 12 times during the 24-hour Group by Window range.

The Alerts Entry List displays entries grouped according to recurrence within the specified Group by Window time range. If you want to see a list of alert entries not grouped by recurrence, click on Export (next to Actions) to export the entire list to an Excel, CSV. or PDF file. For example, if there are 5 entries in the list showing a recurrence of 10 each within a Group by Window range of 5 minutes, the exported list will show 50 records with alert details to analyze.

Acknowledging Alerts

To acknowledge specific alerts, select one or more alerts in the Alerts Entry List, then select Acknowledge from the drop-down “Actions” menu or click on the checkmark next to the event under the “Actions” column.

To quickly acknowledge all alerts, select Acknowledge All from the “Actions” drop-down menu. Note that this option is available only when there are no specific alerts selected within the list.

After you acknowledge an alert(s), the status for the alert(s) changes to Ack-ed.

Deleting Alerts

To clear specific alerts from the Alerts Entry List, select one or more alerts, then select Delete from the “Actions” drop-down menu or click on the Delete icon next to the event under the “Actions” column.

To clear all alerts from the Alerts Entry List, select Delete All from the “Actions” drop-down menu. Note that this option is available only when there are no specific events selected within the list.

Export Alerts

To export multiple Alerts from an existing Alerts Entry List, click on the Export tab and select one of the available options to export the data in an Excel, CSV or PDF file format as shown below.

You will then be prompted to a dialog box that displays the notification that if there are more than 5000 entries to be exported, then the data will be split into multiple files, each containing 5000 entries. Also there is a limitation on the browser level to export only the latest 1,00,000 data entries for a chosen scope and time.

Managing Alert Templates

OmniVista Cirrus initially uses a default alert template (“DefaultTemplate_0) to determine which alerts to report on the Alerts Entry List. The default template is configured to report on all the selected alert types received from devices within all Sites of an Organization. You cannot delete the “DefaultTemplate_0” template but you can edit the default template attributes (for example, name, scope, and alert types) or define a new template to override the default template.

To view the active alert template, click on Manage Alert Templates at the top of the Alerts screen. The Alert Templates screen opens.

The following information is provided for the template:

• Template Name - The name assigned to identify the alert template.

• Scope - Report the selected alerts received from all Sites within the Organization or only from specific Sites within the Organization.

• Status - Whether the template is active or inactive.

Create a New Template

When a new template is created, you are prompted to confirm that the new template settings will override the existing active template settings. There can only be on active template at a given time.

To create a new template, click on Create Template on the Alert Templates screen. The Create Alert Template screen opens.

Complete the following fields as described:

• Template Name - Enter a name to assign to the new template.

• Template Scope - Select Entire Organization (the default) or Specific Sites.

• Alert Types - Select the alert types that you want to view on the Alerts Entry List. By default, all alerts are selected.

After you have finished configuring the new template, click Create Template. You are then prompted to confirm overriding the existing template with the new template.

Click Save to confirm. The new template becomes the only “active” template and the old template is “inactive”.

In the above example, “AlertTemplate_1” is now the active template and cannot be deleted (only edited). The “DefaultTemplate_0” is now inactive and can be edited or deleted.

Alert Types

The following alert types are available for you to select when creating or editing an alert template:

Note: Sites-based Alert templates will have a higher precedence than Organization-based Alerts templates.