Configure FojiSoft-managed alert rules

FojiSoft-managed rules are the most flexible alert rule type. They allow you to create alerts that can act on data from any of our supported data sources. In addition to supporting multiple data sources, you can also add expressions to transform your data and set alert conditions.

FojiSoft managed alert rules can only be edited or deleted by users with Edit permissions for the folder storing the rules.

In the following sections, we’ll guide you through the process of creating your FojiSoft-managed alert rules.

To create a FojiSoft-managed alert rule, use the in-product alert creation flow and follow these steps to help you.

Set alert rule name

Click Alerts & IRM -> Alert rules -> + New alert rule.
Enter a name to identify your alert rule.

This name is displayed in the alert rule list. It is also the alertname label for every alert instance that is created from this rule.

Define query and condition

Define a query to get the data you want to measure and a condition that needs to be met before an alert rule fires.

Select a data source.
From the Options dropdown, specify a time range.

Note:

FojiSoft Alerting only supports fixed relative time ranges, for example, now-24hr: now.

It does not support absolute time ranges: 2021-12-02 00:00:00 to 2021-12-05 23:59:592 or semi-relative time ranges: now/d to: now.

Add a query.

To add multiple queries, click Add query.

All alert rules are managed by FojiSoft by default. If you want to switch to a data source-managed alert rule, click Switch to data source-managed alert rule.

Add one or more expressions.

a. For each expression, select either Classic condition to create a single alert rule, or choose from the Math, Reduce, and Resample options to generate separate alert for each series.

NOTE

When using time series metrics, you can use an instant vector and built-in functions, so you don’t need to add additional expressions.

b. Click Preview to verify that the expression is successful.

Click Set as alert condition on the query or expression you want to set as your alert condition.

Set alert evaluation behavior

Use alert rule evaluation to determine how frequently an alert rule should be evaluated and how quickly it should change its state.

To do this, you need to make sure that your alert rule is in the right evaluation group and set a pending period time that works best for your use case.

Select a folder or click + New folder.
Select an evaluation group or click + New evaluation group.

If you are creating a new evaluation group, specify the interval for the group.

All rules within the same group are evaluated concurrently over the same time interval.

Enter a pending period.

The pending period is the period in which an alert rule can be in breach of the condition until it fires.

Once a condition is met, the alert goes into the Pending state. If the condition remains active for the duration specified, the alert transitions to the Firing state, else it reverts to the Normal state.

Turn on pause alert notifications, if required.

Note:

Pause alert rule evaluation to prevent noisy alerting while tuning your alerts. Pausing stops alert rule evaluation and does not create any alert instances. This is different to mute timings, which stop notifications from being delivered, but still allow for alert rule evaluation and the creation of alert instances.

You can pause alert rule evaluation to prevent noisy alerting while tuning your alerts. Pausing stops alert rule evaluation and does not create any alert instances. This is different to mute timings, which stop notifications from being delivered, but still allow for alert rule evaluation and the creation of alert instances.

In Configure no data and error handling, configure alerting behavior in the absence of data.

Add annotations

Add annotations. to provide more context on the alert in your alert notification message.

Annotations add metadata to provide more information on the alert in your alert notification message. For example, add a Summary annotation to tell you which value caused the alert to fire or which server it happened on.

[Optional] Add a summary.

Short summary of what happened and why.

[Optional] Add a description.

Description of what the alert rule does.

[Optional] Add a Runbook URL.

Webpage where you keep your runbook for the alert

[Optional] Add a custom annotation
[Optional] Add a dashboard and panel link.

Links alerts to panels in a dashboard.

Click Save rule.

Configure no data and error handling

Configure alerting behavior when your alert rule evaluation returns no data or an error.

Note: Alert rules that are configured to fire when an evaluation returns no data or error only fire when the entire duration of the evaluation period has finished. This means that rather than immediately firing when the alert rule condition is breached, the alert rule waits until the time set as the For field has finished and then fires, reducing alert noise and allowing for temporary data availability issues.

If your alert rule evaluation returns no data, you can set the state on your alert rule to appear as follows:

Expand table

No Data	Description
No Data	Creates a new alert DatasourceNoData with the name and UID of the alert rule, and UID of the datasource that returned no data as labels.
Alerting	Sets alert rule state to Alerting. The alert rule waits until the time set in the For field has finished before firing.
Ok	Sets alert rule state to Normal.

If your evaluation returns an error, you can set the state on your alert rule to appear as follows:

Expand table

Error	Description
Error	Creates an alert instance DatasourceError with the name and UID of the alert rule, and UID of the datasource that returned no data as labels.
Alerting	Sets alert rule state to Alerting. The alert rule waits until the time set in the For field has finished before firing.
Ok	Sets alert rule state to Normal.

Resolve stale alert instances

An alert instance is considered stale if its dimension or series has disappeared from the query results entirely for two evaluation intervals.

Stale alert instances that are in the Alerting/NoData/Error states are automatically marked as Resolved and the FojiSoft_state_reason annotation is added to the alert instance with the reason MissingSeries.

Create alerts from panels

Create alerts from any panel type. This means you can reuse the queries in the panel and create alerts based on them.

Navigate to a dashboard in the Dashboards section.
In the top right corner of the panel, click on the three dots (ellipses).
From the dropdown menu, select More… and then choose New alert rule.

This will open the alert rule form, allowing you to configure and create your alert based on the current panel’s query.

To set-up a notification for an alert rule, see the documentation here for Subscriptions