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Working with Notifications

When a service doesn't respond to polling, the Monitor server
can send notification via a beeper, a pager message, or an e-mail
in addition to the visual (red, green) status and the optional
sound alarm.

Setting up notification for services involves three processes:

  1. You first need to define the notification actions that you will want to use, such as activating a network administrator's beeper or sending e-mail to an individual.
  2. Make the notification available to IMail Server by adding it to the Notifications tab.
  3. Then, you can enable notification actions for services, which is just a matter of turning on one or more notifications on the Notifications tab. For information on enabling notification actions for a service, see "Enabling Notifications"..

Defining Any Type of Notification

To define any type of notification, do the following:

  1. In IMail Administrator, expand the "Services" folder in the left panel and click Monitor. Then click the Notifications tab.
  2. Click Add to view the "Add Notification" dialog box.

  1. Ignore the settings in this box for now, and click Configure to view the Notifications dialog box.

The following sections describe how to set up each type of notifications.

Defining Beeper Notifications

You can define a notification to activate a beeper when the service does not respond to polling.

To define a new beeper notification:

  1. In the Name text box, delete what's there and enter a unique name to identify the notification, for example "BeepBob."
  2. Under Type, select Beeper.

    To use an external program to connect to the beeper, see "Using an External Beeper Program"..

  3. In the Phone text box, enter the phone number to dial.
  4. Click Comm Setup. The "Communications Setup" dialog
    box appears. You need to fill in the     Digital Beeper section in the top half of the dialog box.
  5. The default Dial String is: ATDT%s,,,,%s#
    The first     %s is replaced by the phone number and the second %s is replaced by the beeper code. Most modems and beepers support the use of `#' to terminate the message and `*' to print out a dash. You may find a need to increase the number of commas in the dial string if it dials the code too soon or decrease the number of commas if it waits too long.
  6. Under Baud Rate, select the speed (bits per second) at which the serial port will communicate with the modem.
  7. Select the Com Port to which your modem is attached.
  8. The Timeout value (in seconds) determines how long the system waits after sending the last character before it hangs up the phone if a transition is not recognized.

When you have entered the information, click OK and then click
the Add button in the Notifications dialog box to add the new beeper notification to the Notifications list on the left side of the dialog
box. To test the beeper notification, select its name in the list, and click Test.

Using an External Beeper Program

You can also use an external program of your own to handle beeper notification. The presence of an external program name in the External Program text box enables the external program.

The following information is made available to the external program via the command line.

arg 1: either DN or UP

arg 2: the phone number entered in the Notification options

arg 3: the beeper code as specified in the Notification options

arg 4: the IP address of the host

External program example arguments:

0: beeper.exe 1: DN 2: 8694297 3: 3333 4: 127.0.0.1

0: beeper.exe 1: DN 2: 8694297 3: 2222 4: 127.0.0.1

0: beeper.exe 1: UP 2: 8694297 3: 2222 4: 127.0.0.1

The external program is executed with SW_SHOWMINNOACTIVE.

The external beeper program will not be activated if someone silenced the alarm before the system check is reached.

The UP message will only be sent if the packets lost is greater than system checks when the service comes back up.

Defining Pager Notifications

You can define pager notification to send a message to a pager when a service does not respond to polling. The notification message sent to the pager is predefined. It is a simple message, such as: SMTP down, SMTP up. IMail Server supports Motorola PageNet and other TAP (Telocator Alphanumeric Protocol) pagers.

To define a pager notification action:

  1. If you are not in the Notifications dialog box shown at the top of page 200, complete the procedure, "Defining Any Type of Notification".
  2. In the Name text box, enter a unique name to identify the notification, for example "PageKen."
  3. Under Type, select Pager. The dialog box shows the pager options.
  4. In the Terminal box, enter the phone number to dial.
  5. Enter the pager Password, if required.
  6. Enter the Pager ID number.
  7. Select the Pager Type.
  8. Click Comm Setup. You will complete the information for the middle of this dialog box, under the words Alpha Pager

The default Modem Initialization String is ATEO. What is expected in this string are the modem commands for "Command Echo Off" (EO), "Result Codes On" (QO), "Verbal Results" (V1), "Result Codes Displayed" (X4), and "Local Echo OFF" (F1). The recommended string to use is: ATEOQOV1X4F1.

  1. Select the Baud Rate (bits per second) at which the serial port will communicate with the modem.
  2. Select the COM Port to which your modem is attached.
  3. Select the 8N1 check box to send 8 data bits at a time, no parity, one stop bit. Leave it unselected to send 7 data bits, even parity, one stop bit.
  4. Under Protocol, select the appropriate value; this is determined by the paging service provider you use. TAP is typical for U.S. paging systems. SMS-TAP is typical for U.S. SMS paging systems. NTT is used primarily for Japanese paging systems, and UCP-SMS is typical of European SMS paging systems.
  5. When you have entered the information, click OK to return to the Notifications dialog box.
  6. Click the Add button in the Notifications dialog box to add the new pager notification to the list of Notifications on the left side of the dialog box. To test the new pager notification, select its name in the list, and click Test.

Defining E-mail Notifications

You can define an e-mail notification to send a predefined message to an e-mail address when a service does not respond to polling. The message is a simple one, such as: SMTP down, SMTP up.

To define an e-mail notification action:

  1. If you are not in the Notifications dialog box shown at the top of page 200, complete the procedure, "Defining Any Type of Notification".
  2. In the Name text box, enter a unique name to identify the notification, for example "MailJohnson."
  3. Under Type, select Mail. The dialog box shows the e-mail options.
  4. Enter an e-mail Address that is accepted by the Gate IP. (This can be a simple name.) The Address should not contain brackets, braces, quotes, or parentheses.
  5. Enter the Gate IP address of a host running SMTP.
  6. If you need to change the From address, click Comm Setup. You see the Communications Setup dialog box shown on page 201. You will complete just the information under the word Mail at the very bottom of this dialog box.
  7. The From Address defines the sender of an e-mail notification as: <Monitor@%s>, where %s is the local host name. In most cases, you will not need to change this address. If you do change the address, be sure to keep the angle brackets (< >) in place.
  8. When you have entered the information, click OK to return to the Notifications dialog box.
  9. Click the Add button in the Notifications dialog box to add the new e-mail notification to the list of Notifications on the left side of the dialog box. To test the new notification, select its name in the list, and click Test.

Putting a Notification on the Notifications Tab

In IMail Server, a notification is not activated for IMail Server until it appears on the Notifications tab. To activate a defined notification for use in IMail Server:

  1. If you are not already on the Notifications tab, select the "Services" folder in the left panel, and then click Monitor. Then click the Notifications tab.
  2. Click New. The "Add Notification" dialog box appears. All notifications that have been defined are available from the Notify drop-down list.
  3. Select the notification you want to add to the Notifications tab from the drop-down list.
  4. Select whether to receive the notification 24 hours a day or between certain hours.
  5. Click the OK button. The notification appears in the Monitor Notifications list box on the Notifications tab and can now be enabled.

Enabling Notifications

Once you have defined a notification and put it on the Notifications tab, as described in the previous sections, you must enable it.

  1. Select the Notifications tab. The list box shows all the notifications you have activated for use in IMail Server.

    To edit an enabled notification, select it and click Modify.

  2. Select Enable Notifications to enable console and sound notifications.
  3. Select Enable Beeper/Pager/Mail to use any of the beeper, pager, or e-mail notifications in the list box.
  4. (Optional) Select Enable Console Dialog to display the notification in a message box on the IMail Server system.

Note: In order for the Enable Console Dialog option to function, the Allow Service to Interact with Desktop option must be enabled in your computer's Service Control Manager. For more information, see "Changing Monitor Settings in the Control Panel".

  1. (Optional) Select Enable Sounds option to play a .wav file when a monitored service goes up or down. (Your system must have a sound card installed.)
  2. Click Apply to save your changes.

You are now ready to enable and disable notifications on a per
service basis.

  1. Click the Monitor tab and make sure the services you want to monitor are selected.
  2. To get a notification about a monitored service, click the arrow button to the right of the service name. Select either Notify if Down, Notify when Up after Down, or both, then click OK.
  3. On the Monitor tab, click Apply to save your changes.

Disabling Notifications

You can disable a notification as follows:

  1. Select the Notifications tab. The list box shows all the notifications you have activated for use in IMail Server.
  2. To disable a notification (but not delete its definition), select it and click Delete.

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