XenCenter

XenCenter Alerts

You can view different types of system alerts in XenCenter by clicking Notifications and then Alerts.

The Alerts view displays various types of alerts, for example:

  • Performance alerts. Performance alerts can be generated when CPU, memory usage, network, storage throughput, or VM disk activity exceeds a specified threshold on a server, VM, or SR. For information on configuring performance alerts, see Configuring performance alerts.
  • HA (High Availability) status alerts. Alerts can be generated for changes to a pool’s high availability status, such as when a pool becomes over committed.
  • License expiry alerts. Alerts are generated when the XenServer license on your managed server approaches or reaches its expiry date. (For XenServer 8 only) You also receive these alerts when your Trial Edition 90-day trial period expires.
  • End of life alerts. (For Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 CU1 only) Alerts are generated when the Citrix Hypervisor version on your managed server approaches or reaches its end of life. To ensure that updates to address any future functional and security-related issues can be applied, update your environment to a later supported release. Go to the Updates view to see what update or upgrade options are available.
  • Certificate alerts. Alerts are generated when the certificate on a XenServer host approaches or reaches its expiry date. The first alert is generated 30 days before expiry. The severity of the alert increases 14 days and again 7 days before expiry.
  • (XenServer 8 and later) Update channel alerts. Alerts are generated if you have not configured an update channel for your XenServer pool or if the last time you synchronized your pool with the update channel was more than 90 days ago. After 180 days, the severity of the alert increases.
  • (XenServer 8 and later) VM group alerts. Alerts are generated if all the running VMs in an anti-affinity group reside on a single host. If this changes, the alert is cleared. This alert is not generated if only one of the VMs in the group is running or no VMs in the group are running.

Working with alerts

XenCenter is equipped with powerful filtering capabilities. It enables you to filter alerts displayed on the Alerts tab. You can view alerts only from specific pools or servers, or only those alerts generated during a specific time period. For some alerts, it might be possible to quickly address the issue that caused the alert to be generated. The following sections list various options available in the Alerts view.

Filter by Severity

Filters alerts by their severity

By default, alerts of all severity levels are displayed on the Alerts tab. To view alerts of a particular severity, select Filter by Severity and then cancel the selection on other severity levels from the list. Select Show All to view all the alerts.

Filter by Location

Filters alerts by the source from which they originate

By default, alerts from all hosts connected to XenCenter are displayed. To stop displaying alerts from a specific host, select the list and cancel the selection on the host. Clicking again on the host toggles your selection.

Filter by Date

Filters alerts based on the time of occurrence

By default, all alerts for the current XenCenter session are displayed. Select the list and select a date range from the list. Alternatively, select Custom to define your own date range by specifying the start and end date/time. Select Show All to view all the alerts.

Refresh

If new alerts are generated when the Alerts tab is open, they might not appear in the list. Select Refresh to view an updated the list.

Export All

Exports alerts as a comma delimited (.csv) file for viewing and analysis in external applications.

Dismiss All

Removes alerts from the view

To dismiss or remove all the alerts, select Dismiss All. To dismiss a specific set of alerts, select the required alerts from the list, and select Dismiss Selected.

Actions

Enables you to perform specific actions on the alerts displayed. The Actions list displays all actions available for the selected alert.

Select an alert from the list and then select the action relevant to the alert to address it. For example, select:

  • Alarm Settings to manage alerts for your host’s CPU, memory usage, network activity, and storage throughput. This action opens the Host Properties dialog box.
  • Copy to copy information about the alert to the clipboard.
  • Dismiss to dismiss the alert.
  • Go to Web Page to open the update page in a web browser.
  • HA settings to manage High Availability alerts. This action opens the Configure HA dialog box.
  • Help to open the Help topic related to the alert.
  • License Manager to manage your licenses. This action opens the License Manager dialog box.
  • View Log Files to open the directory where logs are stored.
  • Install Certificates to update the certificate on a server. This action opens the Install Certificates dialog.
  • Configure Updates to configure server updates for your host or pool.
  • Synchronize Now to synchronize your host or pool with its configured update channel.

Receiving alert notifications by email

You can configure XenCenter to email notifications when alerts are generated for any servers and VMs in a pool, or for a standalone server and its VMs. When you turn on the email notification feature, you receive an email notification when alerts with a priority of 3 or higher are generated.

If you generate your own alerts using the XenServer xe CLI, you can assign a priority for different types of alerts. For more information, see Command line interface.

To turn on email notifications

  1. Select a pool or standalone server in the Infrastructure view.
  2. Select the General tab and then Properties.
  3. Select the Email Notifications tab in the Properties dialog box.
  4. Select the Send email alert notifications check box and then type the delivery address details.

    Note:

    Enter the details of an SMTP server which does not require authentication. Emails sent through SMTP servers which require authentication are not delivered. For instructions on using authenticated SMTP servers to receive email notifications, see Monitor and manage.

  5. Select OK to save your changes and close the dialog box.

Receiving alert notifications with SNMP

Note:

The SNMP feature is available for XenServer Premium or Trial Edition customers. For more information about XenServer licensing, see Licensing. To upgrade, or to get a XenServer license, visit the XenServer website.

With the Pool Admin role, you can use SNMP to remotely monitor resources consumed by your XenServer host and dom0 - the control domain of your host. You can also configure traps, which are messages that alert the network management system (NMS) that an error or failure has occurred in XenServer. For more information on how to configure an NMS trap receiver, see Monitoring host and dom0 resources with SNMP.

XenCenter Alerts