Notification Providers
Commvault® software offers many easy-to-configure notification providers. These providers ensure that an administrator is notified at any time should an issue arise.
As of Service Pack 11, the available providers are as follows:
- email
- SNMP
- Event Viewer
- Run Command
- Save to
- RSS Feeds
- Console Alerts
- SCOM
- Workflow
Email
Email notifications are sent to the CommCell® console or domain users by selecting them from the list. The user must have logged in at least once to the CommCell console. Email addresses or distribution lists can be defined. If the email server is down, the system tries to resend the email for four hours. After that time limit, if the server is still down, the notification is discarded and will not be sent. Email notification format can be HTML or text and be modified as needed.
To use email notification, a SMTP server must be configured using the email and Web Server applet from the Configuration tab.
SNMP
Alerts can be sent by the CommServe® server as SNMP to any desired computer listening for SNMP traps. This notification method is useful if an existing monitoring and/or ticketing system is in place. SNMP alerts support SNMP Version 1 (SNMPv1) and SNMP Version 3 (SNMPv3) and require the SNMP Enabler to be installed on the CommServe server.
SNMP alerts offer the following benefits:
- A CommServe server can send SNMP alerts to multiple computers.
- Computers can receive the SNMP alerts even if they do not have CommServe software installed.
- SNMP alert notifications can be customized by adding alert token arguments to the alert configuration. The tokens will be included in the body of the alert notification message.
Event Viewer
You can send alert notifications from the CommServe® server to the Windows Event Viewer of other computers where it is generated as an event. For all alerts related to backup and restore operations, the following information is sent to the Windows Event Viewer:
- Galaxy is the Source
- 256 is the Event ID
Run Command
The Run Command notification is used to send alert notifications from the CommServe® server to other client computers by executing a command script. The Run Command can be located on the CommServe server or on remote computers but is executed only on the CommServe server. It also can be used to run a script to resolve the issue, such as restarting some services or any desired tasks.
Save to
You can send an alert notification to a local directory, a network share, or the Cloud Services website. This is particularly useful in obtaining a list of failed attempts in an operation. If you plan on using the Cloud Services, Cloud Metrics Reports must first be activated for the CommCell® console.
The following is an example of a "Save to" alert notification:
Alert: Client_Properties Type: Configuration - Clients Alert: Client_Properties Type: Configuration - Clients Detected Criteria: Properties Modified Detected Time: Mon Feb 27 10:13:02 2017 CommCell: winter User: Administrator Property Modifications: Status: Modified Client: winter Agent Type: Not Applicable Instance: Not Applicable Backup Set: Not Applicable Subclient: Not Applicable Comments: Update Client properties Client: winter Client Client Description: Set to [text description of a client]
It is possible to turn the CommServe® server into a RSS Feed server, which allows an alert notification to be sent as an RSS Feed. Your favorite RSS Feed client can be configured to receive notifications by subscribing to the CommServe server.
SCOM
The Commvault® software can send alert notifications from the CommServe® database to the Microsoft Systems Center Operations Manager (SCOM). The Microsoft SCOM Server provides a monitoring service for critical applications within an enterprise and sends alerts about events in these applications. An administrator can raise tickets against these alerts and take any necessary action to resolve the problem. SCOM must first be installed and the CommServe® server defined as a SCOM agent. For the agent to communicate with the SCOM server, firewall ports 5723 and 5724 must be open.
For more information on SCOM notification configuration and prerequisites, please refer to the Commvault Online Documentation.
Workflow
It can be useful to try to resolve an issue using automation. When an alert is triggered, a workflow notification launches any desired workflow. Note that when configuring the alert, the workflow must be created first, then selected.
Tip: Try to Resolve Communication Issues During Backups
Scenario: A backup job goes into a pending status, stating that it cannot communicate with the client.
Solution: A workflow alert could launch a script to restart the Commvault services on the client, then restart the backup and send an email if the backup is still pending.
Console Alerts
When configuring alerts, console alerts can be selected as a notification method. Once an alert is triggered, it appears in the Console Alerts window within the CommCell® browser. Right-click on an alert to view details, delete, mark as read or unread, or to insert a note. Console alerts can be pinned or deleted using the icons at the bottom of the window.
