Configuration of MailAlertTest

This test monitors the target email ids, searches for a specific subject pattern that is pre-configured and reports the number of alerts received on the email ids containing that particular subject pattern.

The default parameters associated with this test are:

• The TEST PERIOD list box helps the user to decide how often this test needs to be executed.

• Specify the IP address of the host for which this test is to be configured in the HOST text box.

• The RECEIVEHOST Indicates the domain/IP address from which the test receives mails. Typically, this would be the domain/IP address of a POP3 or IMAP server.

• The RECEIVEPORT indicates the port number of the host, which receives the mails. The default port for POP3 is 110 and that of IMAP is 143.

• Specify the protocol to be used for receiving the mails (could be POP3 or IMAP) in RECEIVEPROTOCOL the text box.

• Set the SSL flag to Yes, if the target Mail Alert Receiver is SSL-enabled. Set this flag to No, if he target Mail Alert Receiver is not SSL-enabled.

• The RECEIVEUSER indicates the email account/user name available within the domain specified in the ReceiveHost from which the test receives mails.

• Indicates the password corresponding to the above user in the PASSWORD text box.

• Confirm the PASSWORD by retyping it in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box.

• Specify a folder within the email account that is to be monitored. By default, inbox is specified against the FOLDER text box.

• Specify the time duration beyond which the POP3/IMAP server connection should timeout in the TIMEOUT text box. The default value is 60000 ms.

• The CONTENTTYPE indicates the type of email content that is to be read from the mail. The default value for this parameter is plain/text. Alternately, you can provide text/html.

• Enter a comma-separated list of specific patterns of mail subjects that need to be downloaded. The pattern should be in the format: <PatternName>:<Pattern> where <PatternName> is the pattern name that will be displayed in the monitor interface and <Pattern> is an expression of the form - *expr* or expr or *expr or expr*, etc. A leading ‘*’ signifies any number of leading characters, while a trailing ‘*’ signifies any number of trailing characters.
  
  For example, specifying Critical_Alerts:*Critical* in this text box indicates that the test would download emails with the subject containing the word “Critical”. By default, All is specified in the SUBJECT PATTERN text box.
  
  Multiple search patterns can be specified as a comma-separated list. For example, in case of alerts from SCOM, to categorize alerts separately for different alert priorities, configure the value as shown below:
  
  Critical:*Severity*2*New*,Warning:*Severity*1*New*
  
  The default value for this parameter is “All:*” which enables the test to download all mails.

• Specify whether the test should delete mails after downloading from the server using the DELETE MAILS flag. By default, this value is set to False since the emails are downloaded from the same host. If you set this flag to True, then this test reads the emails based on the SUBJECT PATTERN specified and deletes the emails from the mailbox thereafter. Note that if this flag is set to True, you need to specify a dedicated email id in the RECEIVEUSER text box. Also, the test will attempt to download all the emails during every test execution for the specified email id.

• To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.
  
  

  The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability.

  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

• If multiple components of the same component type are awaiting configuration, then an APPLY TO OTHER COMPONENTS check box will appear in this page. Clicking on this check box will allow you to apply the configuration to all/selected components of that type.

• Once the necessary values have been provided, clicking on the UPDATE button will register the changes made.

When changing the configuration for specific servers, a “*” beside the text box corresponding to the parameter signifies that these values have to be manually configured by the user. The parameter values that require to be configured will typically be prefixed with a “$“ or contain a series of “*”. A value of "none" in the parameter value indicates that the corresponding parameter value can be changed if required.