How to Find the Source of an Alert

This article describes the steps for tracking down what triggered an alert. To understand how alerts work, see How Alerts Work.
To understand the root cause of an alert you receive from the ThousandEyes platform, use the details of the alert to interpret what thresholds triggered it. You can look up the details of an alert from the Alert List widget in a dashboard, or from Alerts > Alert List.

Looking Up Alerts from a Dashboard

The Dashboards screen is available as the default page when you log in to the ThousandEyes platform. If your dashboard includes the Alert List widget, click the name of the active alert in the Alert Source column (see figure below). A new tab opens, showing the details of the active alert.
(1) Click the name of the active alert

Looking Up Alerts from the Alert List

  1. 1.
    When you receive an alert from the ThousandEyes platform, go to Alerts > Alert List in the platform.
  2. 2.
    Use the search box to find a specific alert. For more information on searching for alerts, see Active Alerts.
  3. 3.
    Having located the alert, find the Test Name column to see the test that is associated with the alert rule that was triggered. You can also see related metrics that help show why this alert rule was triggered.
  4. 4.
    Expand an active alert by clicking the small triangle to the left of the alert rule.
  5. 5.
    Click the stack icon to the left of an agent's name to view the test results for that specific agent. The test results offer a timeline view of the alert activity.

Reducing Noise in Alerts

If an alert is throwing notifications that exceed your operational requirements, you can adjust the alert condition thresholds.
  1. 1.
    Go to Alerts > Alert Rules.
  2. 2.
    Select the name of the alert rule that you want to adjust.
  3. 3.
    On the Settings tab, in the Alert Conditions section, review the current thresholds.
  4. 4.
    Make changes to these settings to reduce the frequency of alerts, according to your requirements.
After you adjust a noisy alert to meet your service-level expectations, the alert should begin to clear. An active alert that clears is moved to the Alert History tab. To view cleared alerts, go to Alerts > Alert List > Alert History.