Configuring Alerts in Configuration Manager

 

Updated: May 14, 2015

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1, System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2, System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1

Alerts in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager are generated by some operations when a specific condition occurs. Typically, alerts are generated when an error occurs that you must resolve. Additionally, an alert might be generated to warn you that a condition exists so that you can continue to monitor the situation. You can configure alerts for some Configuration Manager operations, such as Endpoint Protection and client status, whereas some alerts are configured automatically. Additionally, you can configure subscriptions to alerts for client status and Endpoint Protection that will be emailed to you.

Note

In Configuration Manager with no service pack, you could only configure email subscriptions for Endpoint Protection alerts. Beginning with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1, you can configure email subscriptions to all alerts generated by Configuration Manager.

Use the following table to find information about how to configure alerts and alert subscriptions in Configuration Manager:

Action

More Information

Configure Endpoint Protection alerts for a collection

See the topic How to Configure Alerts for Endpoint Protection in Configuration Manager.

Configure client status alerts for a collection

See the section To Configure Alerts for Client Status in the topic How to Configure Client Status in Configuration Manager.

Manage Configuration Manager alerts

See the section Management Tasks for Alerts in this topic.

Configure email subscriptions to alerts

See the section How to Configure Email Subscriptions for Alerts in this topic.

For information about how you can monitor the alerts that are generated by Configuration Manager, see the Monitor Alerts in Configuration Manager section in the Monitor Configuration Manager Sites and Hierarchy topic.

Management Tasks for Alerts

Use the information in this section to help you manage alerts in Configuration Manager.

To manage alerts

  1. In the Monitoring workspace, click Alerts and then select a management task.

    Use the following table for more information about the management tasks that might require some information before you select them.

    Management task

    Details

    Configure

    Opens the <alert name> Properties dialog box where you can modify the name, severity, and thresholds for the selected alert. If you change the severity of the alert, this configuration affects how the alerts are displayed in the Configuration Manager console.

    Edit Comment

    Enter a comment for the selected alerts. These comments display with the alert in the Configuration Manager console.

    Postpone

    Suspends the monitoring of the alert until the specified date is reached. At that time, the state of the alert is updated.

    You can only postpone an alert when it is enabled.

    Create subscription

    Opens the New Subscription dialog box where you can create an email subscription to the selected alert.

    Note

    Prior to Configuration Manager SP1, you can create email subscriptions only for Endpoint Protection and client status alerts.

How to Configure Email Subscriptions for Alerts

Use the procedures in this section to help you configure email subscriptions to alerts in Configuration Manager.

Important

In Configuration Manager with no service pack, you can only configure email subscriptions for Endpoint Protection alerts.

To configure email notification settings in Configuration Manager with no service pack

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, click Administration.

  2. In the Administration workspace, expand Site Configuration, and then click Sites.

  3. On the Home tab, in the Settings group, click Configure Site Components and then click Email Notification.

  4. In the Email Notification Component Properties dialog box, specify the following information:

    - **Enable email notification for Endpoint Protection alerts**: Select this check box to enable Configuration Manager to use an SMTP server to send email alerts.
    
    - **FQDN or IP Address of the SMTP server to send email alerts**: Enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or IP address and the SMTP port for the email server that you want to use for these alerts.
    
    - **Endpoint Protection SMTP Server Connection Account**: Specify the authentication method for Configuration Manager to use to connect the email server.
    
    - **Sender address for email alerts**: Specify the email address from which alert emails are sent.
    
    - **Test SMTP Server**: Sends a test email to the email address specified in **Sender address for email alerts**.
    
  5. Click OK to save the settings and to close the Email Settings Component Properties dialog box.

To configure email notification settings in Configuration Manager SP1 and later

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, click Monitoring.

  2. In the Monitoring workspace, expand Alerts, and then click Subscriptions.

  3. On the Home tab, in the Create group, click Configure Email Notification.

  4. In the Email Notification Component Properties dialog box, specify the following information:

    - **Enable email notification for alerts**: Select this check box to enable Configuration Manager to use an SMTP server to send email alerts.
    
    - **FQDN or IP Address of the SMTP server to send email alerts**: Enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or IP address and the SMTP port for the email server that you want to use for these alerts.
    
    - **SMTP Server Connection Account**: Specify the authentication method for Configuration Manager to use to connect the email server.
    
    - **Sender address for email alerts**: Specify the email address from which alert emails are sent.
    
    - **Test SMTP Server**: Sends a test email to the email address specified in **Sender address for email alerts**.
    
  5. Click OK to save the settings and to close the Email Settings Component Properties dialog box.

To subscribe to alerts

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, click Monitoring.

  2. In the Monitoring workspace, click Alerts.

  3. In the Alerts list, select an alert and then, on the Home tab, in the Subscription group, click Create subscription.

  4. In the New Subscription dialog box, specify the following information:

    - **Name**: Enter a name to identify the email subscription. You can use up to 255 characters.
    
    - **Email address**: Enter the email addresses that you want the alert sent to. You can separate multiple email addresses with a semicolon.
    
    - **Email language**: In the list, specify the language for the email.
    
  5. Click OK to close the New Subscription dialog box and to create the email subscription.

    Note

    You can delete and edit subscriptions in the Monitoring workspace when you expand the Alerts node, and then click the Subscriptions node.