To generate alerts related to CPU usage on your accounting virtual machines, you add symptoms to your VMware Aria Operations alert definition after you provide the basic descriptive information for the alert. The first symptom you add is related to CPU usage on virtual machines. You later use a policy and group to apply alert to the accounting virtual machines.

This scenario has two symptoms, one for the accounting virtual machines and one to monitor the hosts on which the virtual machines operate.

Prerequisites

Begin configuring the alert definition. See Add Description and Base Object to Alert Definition.

Procedure

  1. In the Alert Definition Workspace window, after you configure the Name and Description, Base Object Type, and Alert Impact, click Next and configure the symptoms.
  2. Begin configuring the symptom set related to virtual machines CPU usage.
    1. From the Select Symptom drop-down menu, select Metric / Property.
    2. From the Defined On drop-down menu, select Child.
    3. From the Filter by Object Type drop-down menu, select Virtual Machine.
    4. Click Create New to open the Add Symptom Definition workspace window.
  3. Configure the virtual machine CPU usage symptom in the Add Symptom Definition workspace window.
    1. From the Base Object Type drop-down menu, expand vCenter Adapter and select Virtual Machine.
      The collected metrics for virtual machines appears in the list.
    2. In the metrics list Search text box, which searches the metric names, type usage.
    3. In the list, expand CPU and drag Usage (%) to the workspace on the left.
    4. From the threshold drop-down menu, select Dynamic Threshold.
      Dynamic thresholds use VMware Aria Operations analytics to identify the trend metric values for objects.
    5. In the Symptom Definition Name text box, type a name similar to VM CPU Usage above trend.
    6. From the criticality drop-down menu, select Warning.
    7. From the threshold drop-down menu, select Above Threshold.
    8. Leave the Wait Cycle and Cancel Cycle at the default values of 3.
      This Wait Cycle setting requires the symptom condition to be true for 3 collection cycles before the symptom is triggered. This wait avoids triggering the symptom when there is a short spike in CPU usage.
    9. Click Save.
    The dynamic symptom, which identifies when the usage is above the tracked trend, is added to the symptom list.
  4. In the Alert Definition Workspace window, drag VM CPU Usage above trend from the symptom definition list to the symptom workspace on the left.
    The Child-Virtual Machine symptom set is added to the symptom workspace.
  5. In the symptoms set, configure the triggering condition so that when the symptom is true on half of the virtual machines in the group to which this alert definition is applied, the symptom set is true.
    1. From the value operator drop-down menu, select >.
    2. In the value text box, enter 50.
    3. From the value type drop-down menu, select Percent.

Results

You defined the first symptom set for the alert definition.

What to do next

Add the host memory usage symptom to the alert definition. See Add a Host Memory Usage Symptom to the Alert Definition.