Alert Actions

When an alert is triggered, alert configurations call the corresponding Alert Actions. The reusable Alert Config object defines what should happen for the triggered alert.

Alert Actions

Alerts actions can be used to define the alert level, and notify administrators through the NSX Advanced Load Balancer UI(default mode), email, Syslog or SNMP traps. The alert action can trigger a ControlScript or an autoscale policy to scale the application in or out, to a particular level (SEs in the SE group, members of a server pool).

They can also be used to effect automation through:

• Application autoscaling (e.g., SE scale-out or sacle-in, server pool autoscaling).

• Execution of a ControlScript.

An alert action can specify any combination of these actions.

To create a new alert action navigate to Operations > Alerts > Alert Actions. The following table explains the list of fields to be entered in the New Alert Action screen:

Field Name	Description
Name	User-friendly name.
Only Generate External Alerts	By default, the controller appends an entry in the alert log, which is visible to administrators in the UI. Checking the Only Generate External Alerts box disables this logging. Alerts can still be sent externally through any combination of the four methods listed (email, syslog, SNMP, or ControlScript).
Autoscale Trigger	Checking this box engages the Autoscale Manager.
Alert Level	High, medium, or low. Provides a way of classifying the alert to the remote system. For local notifications within the Controller UI, the alerts show as a different color to denote their severity.
Email	Send the alert as an email by selecting a previously created Email Notification.
Syslog	Send the alert to a syslog server (or servers) by selecting a previously defined Syslog Notification.
SNMP Trap	Send the alert as a trap an SNMP server (or servers) by selecting a previously defined SNMP Trap Notification.
ControlScript	Launch a custom ControlScript, which is a Python script to be executed on the Controller.

Syslog Audit Persistence

To stream alerts of events for audit compliance, starting with NSX Advanced Load Balancerversion 20.1.3, a new alert action, the Syslog-Audit-Persistence is created for streaming events to external rsyslog servers.

Use Syslog-Audit-Persistence as a template, and configure the alert action as required.

To edit Syslog-Audit-Persistence:

1. Navigate to Operations > Alerts > Alert Actions. Click the edit icon.

2. In the Edit Alert Action screen, update general information like Alert Level and Email.

3. Select the Syslog notification configuration to use when sending alerts through Syslog or click Create Syslog Notification.

4. In the New Syslog Notification screen, update the Name, Syslog Server and Port.

5. Click Save.

Syslog Messages for TCP

When configured from the UI, syslog message streaming defaults to using UDP. To use TCP, the configuration has to be changed from the CLI as follows:

[*:alert-ctlr]: alertsyslogconfig> syslog_servers index 1
[*:alert-ctlr]: alertsyslogconfig:syslog_servers> no udp
+--------------------+---------------+
| Field              | Value         |
+--------------------+---------------+
| syslog_server      | 10.10.0.235   |
| syslog_server_port | 514           |
| udp                | False         |
|format              | SYSLOG_LEGACY |
| tls_enable         | False         |
| anon_auth          | False         |
+--------------------+---------------+
[*:alert-ctlr]: alertsyslogconfig:syslog_servers> save
[*:alert-ctlr]: alertsyslogconfig> save
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| Field                | Value                                                  |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| uuid                 | alertsyslogconfig-c39ad76c-4630-4c87-8c56-0d6df5ffc78f |
| name                 | Pybot-Syslog-Cfg                                       |
| syslog_servers[1]    |                                                        |
|   syslog_server      | 10.10.0.235                                            |
|   syslog_server_port | 514                                                    |
|   udp                | False                                                  |
|   format             | SYSLOG_LEGACY                                          |
|   tls_enable         | False                                                  |
|   anon_auth          | False                                                  |
| tenant_ref           | admin                                                  |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
[*:alert-ctlr]: >

Using Syslog Audit Persistence

The updated Syslog-Audit-Persistence can be used when configuring an alert as shown below:

1. From the Controller UI, navigate to Operations > Alerts > Alert Config. Click CREATE.

2. Configure the Basics and the Conditions sections as required.

3. Under Actions, select Syslog-Audit-Persistence as the Alert Action.

4. Click Save.

The alert config will trigger Syslog-Audit-Persistence which sends notifications and executes a ControlScript.

Alert Table

The table at the bottom of the Alerts tab displays the following alert details:

Field	Description
Timestamp	Date and time when the alert was triggered. Changing the time interval using the Displaying drop-down menu may potentially show more alerts.
Resource Name	Name of the object that is the subject of the alert, such as a server or virtual service.
Level	Severity level of the alert, which can be High, Medium, or Low. Specific notifications can be set up for the different levels of alerts via the Administration page’s Alerts Overlay.
Summary	Summarized description of the alert.
Action	Click the appropriate button to act on the alert: Dismiss: Clicking the red X dismisses the alert and removes it from the list of displayed alerts. Edit: Clicking the blue pencil icon opens the Edit Alert Config popup for the alert configuration that triggered this alert. This can include a verbose and customized description of the alert or allow an administrator to alter settings such as the severity of the alert. Expand/Contract: Clicking the + and – icon in the table header expands and collapses all entries in this tab.