Condition Settings

Condition Settings define rules that a condition must meet for the condition to be fully satisfied. Conditions describe the various states of monitored objects within your environment. SentryOne defines actions to be taken when conditions are met. With advanced filtering, the Condition Settings tab provides complete control of when an action should be taken for a given condition.

Condition Settings define any number of criteria surrounding captured events. The criteria you define must be met for the condition to be satisfied. Condition Settings are accessed in the Condition Settings tab of any configured condition/action combination. Logical operators are used to form complex conditional groups, allowing you to define criteria across any number of columns.

When you configure a condition you also specify an action to take place when that condition is met. If an event doesn't meet the Condition Settings criteria, the condition isn't considered to be met, and the associated action won't be taken.

Configuring Condition Settings

Condition Settings are available for most General Conditions and all Audit and Failsafe Conditions. Condition Settings are accessed from the General Conditions pane for configured condition/action combinations. The Condition Settings tab contains a Visual Filter Editor and a Text Filter Editor.

For more information about the Text Filter Editor, see the Condition Filter topic.

Message Text

Message Text is a useful column to configure a Condition Settings filter. Message Text corresponds to the entire body of an alert notification received for each respective condition. Any text in the body of alert emails is evaluated as part of the Message Text filter.

Event Text

The Event Text filter is available for select conditions. Event Text commonly corresponds to the raw output text of an event. For Deadlock events, this filters the captured raw XML of the Deadlock. For Defragmentation Events, the filter is applied to the last operation text that contains events like a successful offline rebuild or error information that happened during the operation.

Condition Settings Examples

The following section contains example walkthroughs for configuring different filters within the Condition Settings tab. 

Completed Index Defragmentation Example

The Fragmentation Manager performs reorganization or rebuild operations based on fragmentation thresholds you specify. You may wish to be notified if the fragmentation level of an index is still above a certain threshold after a Defragmentation Operation has completed.

In this example, we configure an email alert for the Index: Defragmentation Completed Condition that fires after a Defragmentation Operation has taken place and the fragmentation level remains above 15 percent.

Adding a Condition

1. Select the Shared Groups node in the Navigator pane to set the action globally. Open the General Conditions pane (View > Conditions).
2. In the Conditions pane, select Add to open the Actions Selector.
3. Expand the Index Group, and then expand the Index: Defragmentation Completed. Select the checkbox next to the Send Email, and then select OK.
4. In the Actions Settings tab, select your desired user or group to target the Send Email Action.

The configured Send Email Action for the Index: Defragmentation Completed Condition is listed in the Conditions pane.

Adding a Condition Setting to the Condition

1. Select the Condition Settings tab in the Conditions pane. The Condition Filter is initially empty.
2. Select New, and then next to the And logical operator, you'll see a plus symbol +. Select the plus symbol + to add a new Condition Filter.
3. Select [Table Name] to open a drop-down list of available choices, and then choose Current Fragmentation Level > Value [Current Fragmentation Level.Value].
4. For the Criteria Operator, select Equals to open the drop-down list, and then select Is greater than.
5. Select the [enter a value] field, and enter your desired value. For this example, enter 15.

The Condition Setting is now configured. If you select the Condition Settings Text tab, you should see the filter string defined as follows:

[Current Fragmentation Level.Value] > 15.0

With the Condition Setting defined, the Index: Defragmentation Completed Condition is met, and its associated Send Email Action fires for the following case:

A Defragmentation Operation has completed on an index, and the fragmentation level is above 15 percent.

SQL Server Deadlock Example

SentryOne collects information about deadlocks happening within your environment. View this information in the Deadlocks tab of Performance Analysis.

Depending on your environment, you may not wish to be alerted about every deadlock that takes place. In this example, configure an alert for the SQL Server: Deadlock Condition and limit the notifications you receive to a specific database using Condition Settings.

Adding a Condition

1. Select the Shared Groups node in the Navigator pane to set the action globally. Open the Conditions pane (View > Conditions).
2. In the Conditions pane, select Add to open the Actions Selector.
3. Expand the Deadlock group, and then expand the SQL Server: Deadlock Condition. Select the checkbox next to the Send Email, and then select the OK.
4. In the Actions Settings tab, select your desired user or group to target the Send Email Action.

Adding a Condition Setting to the Condition

1. Select the Condition Settings tab directly beneath the Explicit section of the Conditions pane. The Condition Filter is initially empty.
2. Select New, and then next to the And logical operator, you'll see a plus symbol +. Select the plus symbol + to add a new Condition Filter.
3. Select the [Application Name] to open a drop-down list of available choices, and then choose [Database Name].
4. For the Criteria operator, open the drop-down list, and select Equals.
5. Select the <enter a value> field, and enter your desired value. For this example, we'll enter AdventureWorks.

The Condition Setting is now configured. If you select the Condition Settings Text tab, you should see the filter string defined as follows:

[Database Name] = 'AdventureWorks'

With the Condition Setting defined previously, the SQL Server: Deadlock Condition is met, and its associated Send Email Action fires for the following case:

A Deadlock is detected and the victim database is the AdventureWorks.