ThousandEyes Documentation
  • ThousandEyes Documentation
  • What's New
    • Changelog
    • Naming and Navigation Menu Changes - Summary List
  • Product Documentation
    • Getting Started
      • Getting Started with Account Setup
      • Getting Started with Cloud and Enterprise Agents
      • Getting Started with Cloud and Enterprise Agent Tests
      • Getting Started with Endpoint Agents
      • Getting Started with Transactions
      • Getting Started with Dashboards
      • Getting Started with Alerts
      • Getting Started with Internet Insights
      • Getting Started with the ThousandEyes API
      • Getting Started with API Tests
      • Getting Support from ThousandEyes
      • Notification of Upgrades, Maintenance and Outages
      • New User FAQ
      • ThousandEyes Glossary
    • Global Vantage Points
      • Cloud Agents
        • Where Are Cloud Agents Available?
        • Webex Cloud Agents
        • AWS Wavelength Cloud Agents
        • Cloud Agent with Local Problems
      • Enterprise Agents
        • Getting Started
          • Where Can I Get the Account Group Token?
        • Installing
          • Enterprise Agent System Requirements
            • Enterprise Agent Support Lifecycle
          • Appliances
            • How to Set Up the Virtual Appliance
            • Enterprise Agents: Hypervisor Installation
            • Installing Enterprise Agent on VirtualBox
            • Enterprise Agent Deployment Using ThousandEyes Virtual Appliance (Hyper-V)
            • Enterprise Agent Deployment Using ThousandEyes Virtual Appliance (OVA)
            • Custom Virtual Appliances
            • Installing a Physical Appliance
            • Installing an Enterprise Agent on a Raspberry Pi Device
          • Cisco Devices
            • Catalyst Switching
            • Catalyst Routing
            • Nexus Switching
            • Service Routing
            • Meraki MX Appliances
            • Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software
            • Installation Methods
              • Installing Enterprise Agents on Cisco Nexus Switches with Application Hosting
              • Installing Enterprise Agents on Cisco Nexus Switches with Guestshell
              • Installing Enterprise Agents on Cisco Routers using SD-WAN Manager Feature Templates
              • Installing Enterprise Agents on Cisco Routers using the SD-WAN Manager ThousandEyes Workflow
              • Installing Enterprise Agents on Cisco Switches with Docker
              • Installing Enterprise Agents on Cisco Routers with Docker
              • Installing Enterprise Agents on Cisco Switches with the DNA Center
          • Linux Packages
            • Enterprise Agent Deployment Using Linux Package Method
            • Installing the Enterprise Agent with BrowserBot on Oracle Linux Server 7
          • Docker Agents
            • Installing Enterprise Agents with Docker
          • Cloud Templates
            • Installing Enterprise Agents with Microsoft Azure
          • Docker Agent Configuration Options
          • Missing Dependencies for Enterprise Agent on Redhat Enterprise Linux RHEL 7 Installation
          • Migrating ThousandEyes Appliance or Package-Based Enterprise Agent to Docker
        • Configuring
          • Password Reset on the Virtual Appliance
          • Configuring rDNS Lookups for Enterprise Agents
          • Connecting to the ThousandEyes Virtual Appliance Using SSH (Mac/Linux)
          • Connecting to the ThousandEyes Virtual Appliance Using SSH (Windows)
          • Static IP Addresses for ThousandEyes Repositories
          • Firewall Configuration for Enterprise Agents
          • Enterprise Agent Port Forwarding
          • Security Policy and Public NTP Servers on Enterprise Agents
          • Secure Access to ThousandEyes Appliances
          • Disabling the Web Server of a Virtual Appliance
          • NAT Traversal for Agent-to-Agent Tests
          • Enterprise Agent on Docker Advanced Networking
        • Managing
          • Cisco Devices
            • Disable, Restart, or Uninstall the Enterprise Agent via DCNM
          • Docker Agents
            • Add/Remove BrowserBot from Existing Docker Enterprise Agents
          • Upgrading Operating Systems for Enterprise Agents
          • Backup and Restore Your Enterprise Agent Configuration
          • Upgrade Ubuntu 20.04 Focal-Based ThousandEyes Appliances
          • Crash Reporting for Enterprise Agents
          • Configuring a Local Mirror of the ThousandEyes Package Repository
          • Resetting an Enterprise Agent
          • Working with Enterprise Agent Clusters
          • Replacing an Enterprise Agent Using the Agent Clustering Method
          • Replacing an Enterprise Agent Using Agent Identity Files
          • Unlocking the ThousandEyes Appliance
          • Uninstalling the Enterprise Agent (Linux Package)
        • Proxy Environments
          • Installing Enterprise Agents in Proxy Environments
          • Configuring an Enterprise Agent to Use a Proxy Server
          • Writing and Testing Proxy Auto-Configuration (PAC) Files
        • Troubleshooting
          • How to Generate Packet Captures
          • Troubleshooting Automatic-Update Problems on Enterprise Agents
          • Troubleshooting Time Synchronization on Enterprise Agents
          • Installing CA Certificates on Enterprise Agents
          • Agent Unable to Trace Path to Destination?
          • BrowserBot Installation Fails on Red Hat or CentOS in Amazon EC2
          • What to Do If te-agent Stops Running Due to a VACUUM Error
        • Enterprise Agents: What Information Do We Collect?
        • What Is BrowserBot?
        • Upgrading to BrowserBot 2
        • Upgrading to BrowserBot 2.6+ (Chromium 97)
        • Enterprise Agent Utilization
        • Network Utilization from Enterprise Agent Test Traffic
        • Enterprise Agent Interface Selection
        • ThousandEyes Product Lifecycle Policy
      • Endpoint Agents
        • Installing
          • System Requirements
          • Download the Endpoint Agent Installer
          • Install the Endpoint Agent
          • Reinstall the Endpoint Agent
          • Install the Endpoint Agent Browser Extension
          • Install Endpoint Agents for Windows via Group Policy
          • Installing Browser Extensions for Windows via Group Policy
          • Guidance for Windows Software Deployment Teams
          • Install Endpoint Agents for macOS using Munki and the Managed Software Center
          • Deploy an MSI package to Intune for Windows Devices
          • Endpoint Agent Installation on Cisco Webex Devices (RoomOS)
          • Endpoint Agent Installation on Cisco Phone Devices (PhoneOS)
          • Uninstall or Delete an Endpoint Agent
          • Endpoint Agent Installation Reference
          • NPCAP Driver Upgrade Management
        • Configuring
          • Configure Endpoint Agent Labels
          • Endpoint Agent Proxy Configuration for Scheduled Tests
        • Managing
          • Manage Endpoint Agent Settings
        • How Does the Endpoint Agent Work
        • Cisco Secure Client ThousandEyes Endpoint Agent Module
        • Endpoint Agent Licensing
        • Assigning tests to an Endpoint Agent
        • Data Collected by Endpoint Agent
        • Reporting on data collected by Endpoint Agent
        • Endpoint Agent VPN Support
        • Endpoint Agent TCP Support
        • Endpoint Agent End-user Experience
        • Endpoint Agent FAQ
      • Working with Agent Settings
      • Obtaining a list of ThousandEyes Agent IP Addresses with te-iplist
    • Tests
      • HTTP Server Tests
        • Collecting Proxy Metrics
        • POSIX Extended Regular Expression Syntax (Quick Reference)
        • POSIX Extended Regular Expression Syntax
        • Custom User-Agent Strings in a Web Test
        • Two-Step HTTP Testing (OAuth)
      • Web-Layer Tests
      • Network Tests
        • Network Tests Explained
        • Agent-to-Agent Test Overview
        • DSCP Options in Network Tests
      • DNS Tests
      • Voice Tests
        • SIP Server Test Settings
        • RTP Stream Test Settings
        • Using the SIP Server View
        • Using the RTP Stream View
      • BGP Tests
        • Inside-Out BGP Visibility
        • Using the BGP Route Visualization View
        • Using the BGP Updates Table
        • Working with Raw BGP Data
        • Reasons for Failure of Private Peering with ThousandEyes
        • RPKI
      • API Tests
        • Using the API Test Step Builder
      • Templates
        • User-defined Templates
      • Recommendations
        • Associated Service Recommendations
        • AWS Test Recommendations
      • ThousandEyes Metrics: What Do Your Results Mean?
      • Sharing Test Data
      • Working with Test Settings
      • Scheduled Versus Instant Tests
      • Working with Instant Tests
      • Working with Labels for Agent and Test Groups
      • Multi-Service Views
      • Identifying Traffic from ThousandEyes Agents
      • Excluding ThousandEyes Agents from Google Analytics
    • Internet and WAN Monitoring
      • Path Visualization
        • How Path Trace Works
        • MPLS Tunnel Inference Using Deep Path Analysis
        • Troubleshooting
          • Reasons for Missing Information on the Visualization View
          • Virtual Machine with NAT Breaks Path Visualization
          • Cisco ASA Breaks Path Visualization
          • Path Visualization: Edge Firewall Incorrectly Shows a Single Hop to the Destination
          • Network Overview Shows Packet Loss That Does Not Appear in Path Visualization
      • Views
        • Using the Network Overview
        • Using the FTP Server View
        • Using the HTTP Server View
        • Using the DNS Server View
        • Using the DNS Domain Trace View
        • Using the DNSSEC Trace View
        • Using the API Test Views
      • Troubleshooting
        • CLI Network Troubleshooting Utilities
        • HTTP Server Test Fails with SSL Error
        • HTTP Server Test Fails with SSL Error: OpenSSL SSL_connect: SSL_ERROR_SYSCALL
        • HTTP Server Test Error "dh Key Too Small"
    • Browser Synthetics
      • Browser Synthetics Test Types
      • Browser Synthetics Disambiguation
      • Test Settings for Page Load and Transaction Tests
      • Navigating Waterfall Charts for Page Load and Transaction Tests
      • Using Round Robin Test Scheduling
      • What Information Is Transmitted in a Page Load or Transaction Test?
      • Transaction Test SSO Support
        • Implementing SSO in Transaction Scripts
        • Caveats for NTLM/Kerberos Authentication
        • TOTP Examples for SSO
      • Page Load Tests
        • When to Use a Page Load Test
        • Creating a Page Load Test
        • Using the Page Load View
        • How to Generate a HAR File
        • Migrating to Single Interval for Page Load Tests
        • Creating a Page Load Test that Uses SSO
      • Transaction Tests
        • Getting Started With Transaction Tests
          • When to Use a Transaction Test
          • Transaction Tests Compared With Other Test Types
          • ThousandEyes Recorder
          • ThousandEyes Recorder Permissions
          • Working With Web Development Tools
          • Working With Secure Credentials
          • Transaction Test Table Tab View
          • Transaction Metrics on Alerts and Dashboards
          • Screenshots in Transaction Test Views
        • Transaction Test Development Guide
          • Creating Robust Transaction Scripts
            • Optimizing and Troubleshooting Transaction Scripts
            • Transaction Scripting Tips and Tricks
          • Transactions – Executing Custom JavaScript Code
        • Use Cases | Code Examples
          • Uploading or Downloading Files in a Script
            • Transaction Scripting Examples for File Downloads
          • Include API Calls in a Transaction Test
            • Using the node-fetch module
            • Using the net module
            • Using the tls module
        • Transaction Scripting Reference
      • Dual Chromium Option
        • Why Are Regular Chromium Upgrades Needed?
        • Configuring Dual Chromium
        • Working With Dual Chromium
        • Chromium Update History
        • Chromium Upgrade Known Issues
    • Endpoint Experience
      • Test Settings
        • Monitoring an Application using Synthetic Tests
        • Configuration Options for Synthetic Tests
        • Managing Synthetic Tests
        • Real User Tests
      • Viewing Data
        • Endpoint Agent Scheduled Tests View
        • Endpoint Agent Real User Tests View
        • Endpoint Agent Local Networks View
        • Endpoint Agent Dynamic Tests View
        • Endpoint Agent Views
        • Endpoint Views Reference
      • Troubleshooting
        • Step-by-Step Guide to Troubleshooting Endpoint Agent Problems
        • Troubleshooting Endpoint Agent Issues
    • Connected Devices
      • Connected Devices Tests
        • Routing
          • Traceroute
        • Network
          • Speed Tests
          • Latency, Loss, Disconnections, and Jitter Tests
          • Responsiveness (Latency under Load) Tests
        • DNS
          • DNS Resolution Tests
        • Web
          • Web Browsing Lite Tests
          • Generic Streaming (HLS/DASH) Tests
        • Voice
        • Dynamic Application Test Suites
          • Gameplay Test Suite
          • Video Conferencing Test Suite
          • Social Media Test Suite
          • Game Store Test Suite
          • Video Streaming Test Suite
            • Netflix Streaming Tests
            • YouTube Streaming Tests
            • BBC iPlayer Streaming Tests
          • Content Delivery Network (CDN) Test Suite
        • Local Network Information
          • Data Usage
      • Test Management
        • Test Triggers
          • Scheduled Tests
          • Instant Tests
        • Testing Thresholds
        • Test Targets
          • Test Server Methodology
        • Automatic Test Configuration Retrieval
      • Device Agents
        • Router Agents
          • Router Agent Device Support
        • Connected Devices Agent Release Versions
      • Usage Guides
        • Viewing Charts
        • Configuring Charts
        • Using Maps
        • Exporting Data
        • Importing Metadata
        • Managing Metadata
        • Creating Reports
        • Viewing Agents
        • Using Test Schedules
        • Accessing Your APIs
        • Using ConstantCare
      • Cisco Real Speed
    • Cloud Insights
      • Integrations
      • Views
      • Settings
    • WAN Insights
      • WAN Insights Quick Start
        • How to Activate ThousandEyes WAN Insights
        • WAN Insights Introductory Tour, Part 1
        • WAN Insights Introductory Tour, Part 2
        • WAN Insights Introductory Tour, Part 3
      • Introducing WAN Insights
        • What Is WAN Insights?
        • WAN Insights Value-Add
        • Why Use WAN Insights?
        • Using WAN Insights Together With ThousandEyes Network Assurance
        • Using WAN Insights Together with vAnalytics and vManage
        • WAN Insights Key Components
        • Enabling WAN Insights
        • Getting Support for WAN Insights
      • WAN Insights Terminology and Reference
      • WAN Insights Technical Overview
        • Application Categories
        • Sites, Routers, Paths, and Interfaces
        • Application Traffic Types
        • Estimating User Counts
        • Estimating Throughput
        • Capacity Planning
        • Understanding Quality
        • Life of a Recommendation
        • Understanding Recommendations
        • WAN Insights and ThousandEyes Alerts
      • WAN Insights User Interface
        • Logging In for the First Time
        • WAN Insights Screens and Workflows
        • Recommendations Screen
        • Recommendation Cards, Explained
        • Recommendation Details Modal
        • Endpoint-Pair Quality Comparison
        • Site Details Screen
        • Capacity Planning Screen
        • Capacity Detail Modal
        • Enter or Upload Bandwidth Data
      • Common Tasks
        • Adding Business-Critical Applications to WAN Insights
        • Email Notifications
        • Adding and Managing WAN Insights Users
        • Applying WAN Insights Recommendations
    • Internet Insights
      • Internet Insights Terminology
      • Limited Outage Map
      • Internet Insights Screens
        • Overview Screen
        • Internet Insights Service Views Screen
        • Application Outages
        • Network Outages
        • Catalog Settings Screen
      • Saving and Sharing from Internet Insights
      • Configuring Internet Insights
      • Provider Labels
      • Using Alerts and Dashboards With Internet Insights
        • My Affected Tests
        • Setting Up Alert Rules for Internet Insights
        • Using the Internet Insights Built-In Dashboard
    • Event Detection
    • Alerts
      • Creating and Editing Alert Rules
        • Global and Location Alert Conditions
        • Alert Rule Severity
        • Adaptive Alert Detection
        • Dynamic Baselines
        • Transport Layer Security (TLS) Alerts
        • Alert Rules for Devices
        • Alert Metrics Reference
      • Default Alert Rules
      • Viewing Alerts
      • Alert Clearing
        • Alert Suppression Windows
      • Alert Notifications
      • Standard Notification Methods
        • Alert Notifications via Email
        • Alert Notifications via SMS
        • Classic Webhooks for Alert Notifications
    • Dashboards
      • Using the Dashboard
      • Customizing Your Dashboard
      • Using the Dashboard Templates
      • Dashboard Widgets
      • Embedding Dashboard Widgets in External Web Sites
      • Excluding Periods of Data From a Dashboard
      • Dashboard Sharing and Snapshots
      • Dashboard Labels
      • Troubleshooting with Dashboard Drill Down
      • Tailoring Dashboards with Dashboard Filters
    • Device Layer
      • Discovering Device-Layer Devices
      • Device Discovery Results
      • Using the Device Layer View
    • Account Management
      • User Registration
        • SAML JIT Provisioning
        • ThousandEyes Support for SCIM
          • How to Configure SCIM with Azure Active Directory
          • How to Configure SCIM with Okta
      • Authorization
        • Role-Based Access Control
          • Role-Based Access, Explained
          • Built-In Roles and Permissions
        • Account Groups
          • What is an Account Group?
          • Working with Account Settings
          • Users in Multiple Organizations
          • Changing Ownership of a Test
          • Working with Time Zone Settings
        • OAuth 2.0 with ThousandEyes
          • Integrations with OAuth 2.0
        • Adding a Profile Image with Gravatar
      • Authentication
        • Logging In
        • How to Configure Single Sign-On
      • User Activity
        • Working with the Activity Log
        • ThousandEyes User Session Timeouts and Terminations
        • How Long is my Data Accessible via ThousandEyes?
        • Retaining Data Beyond the 90-Day Limit
        • Multi-Region Cloud Support
      • Usage-Based Billing
        • About Our Consumption Model
          • Device Agent Consumption Model
        • About Units
        • Test Type Layers and Units
        • Setting Quotas
        • Calculating Units
        • FAQs: Usage
      • Customer Security and Privacy Responsibilities
    • Integrations
      • Custom Webhooks
        • Using OAuth 2.0 Authentication for Your Custom Webhook
        • Webhook Variables
      • Custom Webhook Examples
        • Microsoft Teams for Alert Notifications
        • Cisco Webex for Alert Notifications
        • Google Chat for Alert Notifications
        • Event-Driven Ansible for Alert Notifications
        • Splunk Alert Notification
      • Custom-Built Integrations
        • PagerDuty for Alert Notifications
        • ServiceNow for Alert Notifications
          • Incident Management
        • Slack for Alert Notifications
        • AppDynamics for Alert Notifications
        • AppDynamics for Test Recommendations
        • AWS for Test Recommendations
        • AWS for Cloud Insights
          • AWS for Cloud Insights Using CLI
        • Meraki for Data Enrichment
        • Webex Control Hub Integration
        • Microsoft Teams Integration
        • ThousandEyes for OpenTelemetry
          • Configuring ThousandEyes for OpenTelemetry
            • Configuring ThousandEyes for OpenTelemetry Using the API
            • Configuring ThousandEyes for OpenTelemetry Using the UI
          • Configuring ThousandEyes for Splunk Cloud or Enterprise
            • Configuring ThousandEyes for Splunk Cloud or Enterprise using the API
            • Configuring ThousandEyes for Splunk Cloud or Enterprise using the UI
          • ThousandEyes for OpenTelemetry Data Model
            • ThousandEyes for OpenTelemetry Data Model v1
              • OpenTelemetry Collector Data v1 Example
            • ThousandEyes for OpenTelemetry Data Model v2
              • ThousandEyes for OpenTelemetry Data Model v2 - Metrics
                • OpenTelemetry Collector Data v2 Metrics Example
                • ThousandEyes for OpenTelemetry Data Model Metrics - Migration from v1 to v2
              • ThousandEyes for OpenTelemetry Data Model v2 - Traces
                • OpenTelemetry Collector Data v2 Traces Example
          • OpenTelemetry Collector Configuration
          • Automatic Disabling of Failing Streaming Integrations
        • Cisco ThousandEyes App for Splunk
          • Configuration
          • Inputs
          • Dashboards
          • Troubleshooting
    • Best-Practices Guides
      • Choosing the Right Test Protocol for Network & App Synthetics Tests
      • Optimizing SYN vs SACK Probing Methods to Avoid Unexplainable Packet Loss
      • Using Dashboards to Tell a Story
      • Best Practices for Implementing Account Groups
      • Monitoring Microsoft 365
      • Monitoring Microsoft Teams
      • Monitoring Salesforce
      • Monitoring Slack
      • Monitoring Webex Meetings with Endpoint Agents
      • Monitoring Webex Calling
      • Monitoring Webex Meetings with Cloud and Enterprise Agents
      • Monitoring Zoom
    • API
      • Create/Update/Delete Tests Using the ThousandEyes API
      • Obtaining a List of ThousandEyes Agent IP Addresses
      • Writing JSON to API Produces HTTP 406 Response Code
    • Privacy-Related
      • Authorized Subprocessors for ThousandEyes Network Intelligence Platform
    • Archived Documentation
      • Archived - Displaying and Alerting for Unit Consumption
      • Archived - Dependency Tree for ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent Software
      • Archived - Getting Started with ThousandEyes
      • Archived - Sending ThousandEyes Alerts to AppDynamics
      • Archived - ThousandEyes Infrastructure Changes
      • Archived - Using the Transactions (Classic) View
      • Archived - Transaction Test Migration Workflow
      • Archived - Instructions for Mitigating Meltdown and Spectre on Enterprise Agents
      • Archived - Bash (ShellShock) Security Notice
      • Archived - Endpoint Installation using Customized Installers
      • Archived - Configuring Endpoint Agent Setup
      • Archived - Creating Scheduled Tests on Endpoint Agents
      • Archived - Managing the Endpoint Agent
      • Archived - Enterprise Agent Installation on Juniper NFX Routers
      • Archived - Installing and Removing ThousandEyes X Virtual Framebuffer on Enterprise Agents
      • Archived - Permitted Content Types for Page Load Tests
  • Archived Release Notes
    • 2024
      • Release Notes: January 2024
      • Release Notes: February 2024
      • Release Notes: March 2024
      • Release Notes: April 2024
      • Release Notes: May 2024
      • Release Notes: June 2024
      • Release Notes: July 2024
      • Release Notes: August 2024
    • 2023
      • Release Notes: January 2023
      • Release Notes: February 2023
      • Release Notes: March 2023
      • Release Notes: April 2023
      • Release Notes: May 2023
      • Release Notes: June 2023
      • Release Notes: July 2023
      • Release Notes: August 2023
      • Release Notes: September 2023
      • Release Notes: October 2023
      • Release Notes: November 2023
      • Release Notes: December 2023
    • 2022
      • Release Notes: January 2022
      • Release Notes: February 2022
      • Release Notes: March 2022
      • Release Notes: April 2022
      • Release Notes: May 2022
      • Release Notes: June 2022
      • Release Notes: July 2022
      • Release Notes: August 2022
      • Release Notes: September 2022
      • Release Notes: October 2022
      • Release Notes: November 2022
      • Release Notes: December 2022
    • 2021
      • Release Notes: January 2021
      • Release Notes: February 2021
      • Release Notes: March 2021
      • Release Notes: April 2021
      • Release Notes: May 2021
      • Release Notes: June 2021
      • Release Notes: July 2021
      • Release Notes: August 2021
      • Release Notes: September 2021
      • Release Notes: October 2021
      • Release Notes: November 2021
      • Release Notes: December 2021
    • 2020
      • Release Notes: January 2020
      • Release Notes: February 2020
      • Release Notes: March 2020
      • Release Notes: April 2020
      • Release Notes: May 2020
      • Release Notes: June 2020
      • Release Notes: July 2020
      • Release Notes: August 2020
      • Release Notes: September 2020
      • Release Notes: October 2020
      • Release Notes: November 2020
      • Release Notes: December 2020
    • 2019
      • Release Notes: 2019-01-08
      • Release Notes: 2019-02-06
      • Release Notes: 2019-02-20
      • Release Notes: 2019-03-06
      • Release Notes: 2019-03-19
      • Release Notes: 2019-04-02
      • Release Notes: 2019-04-30
      • Release Notes: 2019-05-14
      • Release Notes: 2019-05-30
      • Release Notes: 2019-06-11
      • Release Notes: 2019-07-23
      • Release Notes: 2019-08-06
      • Release Notes: 2019-08-20
      • Release Notes: 2019-09-03
      • Release Notes: 2019-09-17
      • Release Notes: 2019-10-03
      • Release Notes: 2019-10-15
      • Release Notes: 2019-10-29
      • Release Notes: 2019-11-12
      • Release Notes: 2019-11-26
      • Release Notes: 2019-12-10
    • 2018
      • Release Notes: 2018-01-10
      • Release Notes: 2018-01-17
      • Release Notes: 2018-01-31
      • Release Notes: 2018-02-14
      • Release Notes: 2018-03-07
      • Release Notes: 2018-03-14
      • Release Notes: 2018-03-28
      • Release Notes: 2018-04-11
      • Release Notes: 2018-04-25
      • Release Notes: 2018-05-09
      • Release Notes: 2018-05-23
      • Release Notes: 2018-06-06
      • Release Notes: 2018-06-20
      • Release Notes: 2018-07-03
      • Release Notes: 2018-07-18
      • Release Notes: 2018-08-01
      • Release Notes: 2018-08-15
      • Release Notes: 2018-08-29
      • Release Notes: 2018-09-12
      • Release Notes: 2018-09-26
      • Release Notes: 2018-10-10
      • Release Notes: 2018-10-23
      • Release Notes: 2018-11-13
      • Release Notes: 2018-11-27
      • Release Notes: 2018-12-18
    • 2017
      • Release Notes: 2017-01-04
      • Release Notes: 2017-01-18
      • Release Notes: 2017-02-01
      • Release Notes: 2017-02-16
      • Release Notes: 2017-03-02
      • Release Notes: 2017-03-15
      • Release Notes: 2017-03-29
      • Release Notes: 2017-04-12
      • Release Notes: 2017-04-26
      • Release Notes: 2017-05-10
      • Release Notes: 2017-05-24
      • Release Notes: 2017-06-06
      • Release Notes: 2017-06-21
      • Release Notes: 2017-07-07
      • Release Notes: 2017-07-19
      • Release Notes: 2017-08-02
      • Release Notes: 2017-08-16
      • Release Notes: 2017-08-30
      • Release Notes: 2017-09-13
      • Release Notes: 2017-09-27
      • Release Notes: 2017-10-12
      • Release Notes: 2017-10-25
      • Release Notes: 2017-11-08
      • Release Notes: 2017-11-29
      • Release Notes: 2017-12-13
    • 2016
      • Release Notes: 2016-01-06
      • Release Notes: 2016-01-20
      • Release Notes: 2016-02-03
      • Release Notes: 2016-02-17
      • Release Notes: 2016-03-02
      • Release Notes: 2016-03-16
      • Release Notes: 2016-03-30
      • Release Notes: 2016-04-13
      • Release Notes: 2016-04-27
      • Release Notes: 2016-05-11
      • Release Notes: 2016-05-25
      • Release Notes: 2016-06-08
      • Release Notes: 2016-06-22
      • Release Notes: 2016-07-06
      • Release Notes: 2016-07-20
      • Release Notes: 2016-08-03
      • Release Notes: 2016-08-17
      • Release Notes: 2016-08-31
      • Release Notes: 2016-09-14
      • Release Notes: 2016-09-28
      • Release Notes: 2016-10-12
      • Release Notes: 2016-10-26
      • Release Notes: 2016-11-09
      • Release Notes: 2016-11-23
      • Release Notes: 2016-12-07
      • Release Notes: 2016-12-21
    • 2015
      • Release Notes: 2015-01-07
      • Release Notes: 2015-01-21
      • Release Notes: 2015-02-04
      • Release Notes: 2015-02-18
      • Release Notes: 2015-03-04
      • Release Notes: 2015-04-01
      • Release Notes: 2015-04-15
      • Release Notes: 2015-04-29
      • Release Notes: 2015-05-13
      • Release Notes: 2015-05-27
      • Release Notes: 2015-06-10
      • Release Notes: 2015-06-24
      • Release Notes: 2015-07-08
      • Release Notes: 2015-07-22
      • Release Notes: 2015-08-05
      • Release Notes: 2015-08-19
      • Release Notes: 2015-09-16
      • Release Notes: 2015-09-30
      • Release Notes: 2015-10-14
      • Release Notes: 2015-10-28
      • Release Notes: 2015-11-11
      • Release Notes: 2015-12-02
      • Release Notes: 2015-12-16
    • 2014
      • Release Notes: 2014-01-09
      • Release Notes: 2014-01-22
      • Release Notes: 2014-02-05
      • Release Notes: 2014-03-05
      • Release Notes: 2014-03-19
      • Release Notes: 2014-04-09
      • Release Notes: 2014-04-30
      • Release Notes: 2014-06-04
      • Release Notes: 2014-06-11
      • Release Notes: 2014-06-26
      • Release Notes: 2014-07-09
      • Release Notes: 2014-07-23
      • Release Notes: 2014-08-20
      • Release Notes: 2014-09-04
      • Release Notes: 2014-09-17
      • Release Notes: 2014-10-01
      • Release Notes: 2014-10-15
      • Release Notes: 2014-10-29
      • Release Notes: 2014-11-12
    • 2013
      • Release Notes: 2013-01-08
      • Release Notes: 2013-02-27
      • Release Notes: 2013-03-20
      • Release Notes: 2013-04-02
      • Release Notes: 2013-04-17
      • Release Notes: 2013-05-01
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On this page
  • Prerequisites
  • Key Topics
  • Alerts Overview
  • Alerts' Relationship with Tests
  • Parts of an Alert Rule
  • Types of Alert Rules
  • Default Alert Rules
  • Start with a Test
  • Create a Baseline Dashboard
  • Create a Useful Alert Rule
  • Configure Alert Notifications
  • Send Alerts via Email
  • Viewing Active Alerts
  • Alert Clearing
  • Analyzing Alert History
  • Tune Your Alert Rule
  • Next Steps
  1. Product Documentation
  2. Getting Started

Getting Started with Alerts

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Last updated 1 month ago

Alerting is a critical component of the ThousandEyes platform to inform operations teams of performance deviations or problems. From DNS availability to BGP reachability to layer-3 network metrics, ThousandEyes has a wide array of alert triggers. Learn how to use the alerting framework to your advantage by selecting the best , customizing rule conditions and receiving notifications.

This getting-started guide will cover

  • Creating alerts for your most important monitoring use cases.

  • Baselining and customizing modular alert rules.

  • Configuring notifications and alert integrations.

Prerequisites

You should already have at least one periodically running test set up, testing against a specific endpoint or service. If you don’t have this set up, see . Additionally, to get the most out of this guide, we recommend you read the following before you continue:

Key Topics

Alerts Overview

Alerts' Relationship with Tests

Tests and alert rules have a many-to-many relationship. You can assign one or more alert rules to a single test; and you can also create a common set of alert rules and then assign them to a single test or to groups of tests.

Alert rules can be managed through the test settings interface or the alert rules interface. To view existing alert rules, go to Alerts > Alert Rules.

Parts of an Alert Rule

Trigger Conditions

There are a number of ways to manage the conditions under which an alert rule will trigger. All alert rule types include these basic conditions:

  • Threshold/s

  • Number of agents required to meet the threshold

  • Number of rounds or intervals across which those agents have to meet that threshold

Notification Policy

Alert notifications can be sent from the ThousandEyes platform via:

  • Email

  • Webhooks: An API-based integration with a platform of your choice. Preset configurations are available for tools such as Webex and Microsoft Teams.

  • Built-in alert integrations with third-party platforms like PagerDuty and ServiceNow

Types of Alert Rules

Alert rules are grouped into categories based on the application or network layer and source of the test. The categories of alert rules are:

  • Network & App Synthetics

  • Endpoint Experience

  • BGP Routing

  • Device

  • Internet Insights

This guide focuses on alerting on Network & App Synthetics-based tests.

Default Alert Rules

Go to Manage > Alert Rules to see your current list of rules. In the list of alert rules, the ones starting with "Default" are default rules that ThousandEyes automatically adds to tests. The Apply To column indicates how many tests are applied to the rule.

Because our example HTTP server test runs on Cloud Agents, for this getting-started guide you'll configure alert rules for this test using the Network & App Synthetics tab.

Check out the default alert rules associated with this test type. For HTTP server tests, ThousandEyes automatically enables a "Default HTTP Server 2.0" alert rule and a "Default Network 2.0" alert rule. The blue checkbox in the righthand column indicates that this alert rule is being assigned automatically to HTTP server tests.

Start with a Test

Tailoring your alert rule to hit exactly the right conditions ensures you have the right amount of alerts coming in without getting too many false positives. To get started, use a test to establish a baseline metric.

Create a Baseline Dashboard

False alerts can result in alert fatigue or people ignoring events. Setting alert rule thresholds limits the conditions that can trigger an alert notification. To determine appropriate thresholds, establish a baseline for important metrics. Evaluating test results is the most accurate way to establish a metrics baseline.

Creating a dashboard is a quick and easy way to review test metrics in order to establish a baseline. Using the HTTP server test from the previous section with a dashboard can help to establish the maximum acceptable round-trip time for website availability. Setting this value too low could produce too many alerts, while setting it too high could result in missed detection of service degradation.

The example dashboard pictured below uses an HTTP server test to determine the total round-trip time from a set of cloud agents to google.com. The following dashboard views use the HTTP Total Time metric:

  • A timeline view showing the mean of the metric grouped by test

  • A timeline view grouped by agents measured by 98th percentile

  • A box and whiskers widget grouped by agent

All three views report HTTP total time from all agents over a 12-hour span. The top view, "HTTP Server Total Time (by Test)", reports that the average round-trip time from all agents is 120 ms.

The middle view, "HTTP Server Total Time (by Agent)", breaks the test data down by agent, providing more granularity. This view uses the 98th percentile of Total Time, rather than the mean, to show longer round-trip times that still fall within an acceptable level of service availability.

The bottom view, "Box and Whiskers (by Agent)", offers even greater precision. Also grouped by agent, this view shows the maximum, third quartile, median, first quartile, and minimum metric values. The Minneapolis threshold is reporting consistently below 200 ms, while The Dalles and Virginia locations are reporting below 100 ms.

Based on this analysis, a reasonable baseline for maximum acceptable HTTP total time is 200ms. Tests reporting a total round-trip time longer than 200ms, therefore, should trigger an alert. The next section covers configuring an alert rule using this threshold.

Use the drill-down selection to include multiple tests in the widget. Show individual lines in the timeline view by using the One Chart per Line option for each test, or agent-based on the "group by" selection.

Create a Useful Alert Rule

To configure a new alert rule, navigate to Alerts > Alert Rules and click Add New Alert Rule.

For this example, configure the alert using the following values. Each field is explained in more detail below.

Alert Type

Choose the kind of test this alert applies to: (Test Layer, Test Type): Web, HTTP Server

Rule Name

Name the rule. For example, "Google HTTP Server Total Time"

Tests

Select the test to apply this rule to. This example uses "Google HTTP Server Test".

Severity

Alert Conditions

Note: use "+" to create additional conditions.

Click Create New Alert Rule to save the alert rule.

The alert rule created in this example has a Minor severity and will be triggered when the HTTP Total Time exceeds or equals 200 ms by any agent 3 out of 3 times in a row. Because this test has been configured to run every 2 minutes, after 6 minutes the alert will be triggered if any single agent's HTTP Total Time reports over 200 ms for 3 consecutive tests.

Configure Alert Notifications

Send Alerts via Email

  1. Expand the Google HTTP Total Time alert rule you previously created, so that you can edit it.

  2. On the Notifications tab, click the drop-down arrow for the Send emails to field.

  3. Type or select the email addresses of users who should receive ThousandEyes alert notifications.

    For example, a NOC distribution list or an SRE team.

  4. If the email addresses you want to use aren't present in the drop-down list, click Edit external emails to add them.

  5. [Optional] Click Add message to customize the body of the email message users will receive

    For example, the email body might offer contact information or instructions on how to resolve the issue that activated the alert.

By default, email notifications are sent only when an alert is first triggered. To receive an email when the alert clears, check the checkbox below the Send emails to field. Note that alerts in the dashboard remain active as long as the triggering rule criteria are met.

Viewing Active Alerts

You can see a list of alerts in various ways in the ThousandEyes platform:

  • In a dashboard: The Alert List dashboard widget shows all active alerts.

  • On the Alerts > Alert List screen: Use this screen to see detailed reports on specific alerts.

  1. View active alerts by clicking Alerts > Alert List.

  2. Use the search box to find specific alerts using the Alert ID or Name of the alert. For this example, type the word “google” into the search box.

  3. The listed alert reports the alert rule that was triggered, start time, scope, test name, and severity. Click on the small triangle to the left of the alert rule to expand an active alert. This expanded view shows the agents and related metrics to indicate why the alert was triggered.

  4. Click the stack icon to the left of an agent's name to drill into individual test results for a specific agent. The test results offer a timeline view of the alert activity.

Alert Clearing

If an agent is unable to send data to the platform after becoming associated with an alert, the platform is able to auto-clear the alert after 12 hours of recieving no data from the active agent. To clear an alert manually, un-assign the alert rule from the test. Do this as you continue to refine alert rules to match your specific criteria.

Analyzing Alert History

By default, the ThousandEyes platform shows the last 90 days of alerts. To see your organization's alert history, go to Alert > Alert List > Alerts History. Use the search bar to quickly find alerts. Use the time filter to isolate alerts based on a particular time period. Filtering alerts this way can help you determine whether your alerts are configured properly to align with your monitoring goals, and can help you report on alerts associated with an outage or service interruption event.

Tune Your Alert Rule

Alert rule conditions are a powerful way to minimize extra alert noise by ensuring that alerts represent real service impacts. This section demonstrates an alternative to hard-coding a static number of agents, and shows how to configure multiple alert conditions.

Specifying a static number of agents may not be ideal for many real-world situations. Using a percentage is more flexible, especially if you have a large number of agents or you are frequently adding and removing agents.

  1. Go to Manage > Alert Rules and select the Google HTTP Total Time example you previously created.

  2. Under Alert Conditions, change Any of 1 agent to 5 % of agents.

  3. Click Save Changes to update the alert rule.

An alert rule also supports multiple conditions. Using additional conditions can help you minimize extra alert noise by ensuring that alerts represent real service impacts.

In the Google HTTP Total Time example, you can specify HTTP Response Time as a condition in addition to HTTP Total Time:

  1. Click the + button to the right of the Total Time alert condition.

  2. Set to Response Time Static >= 100 ms.

  3. Click Save Changes to update the alert rule.

Next Steps

Monitoring alerts and managing alert thresholds is an ongoing process. Review alerts and alert rules regularly to make sure that the right alerts are triggered during service interruptions and the right stakeholders are consistently notified. Use the timeline view to make sure baselines continue to be accurate on a regular basis. Being proactive with alerts reduces false positives and increases trust in the alerts from ThousandEyes, encouraging quick and effective service restoration.

For more information on setting up alerts, see the following:

For more information on third-party integrations and custom webhooks:

Continue your getting-started journey:

Each alert rule has two components: the that must be met to trigger an alert; and a that specifies how you want to be notified about alerting events.

For a full list of default rules, see .

This guide uses an HTTP server test to monitor total round-trip times for a customer-facing website. You can use the test you created in the or use an existing one that you have configured in your environment. The best practice is to set up tests using Cloud and Enterprise Agent locations based on where customers or users access the site.

For more information about HTTP server tests, see .

To learn more about the HTTP Total Time metric as well as other available metrics, see

For information on creating dashboards, see .

Custom alert rules allow for more accurate alerting that is more likely to reflect real impacts to service quality. Create a new custom alert rule for your example HTTP server test, using the you performed earlier.

This field indicates how critical it is to respond to the alert. The default for this field is "Info". For this example, set to "Minor". For more information on severity, see .

The number of agents that must meet the alert rule's conditions in order to trigger an alert. For this example, set this field to: All conditions are met by "any of" "1" "agent" "3" of "3" times in a row. For more details on defining agent thresholds for alert conditions, see .

Create a condition using the test metric and the baseline value determined from the analysis in the previous section. Set to: "Total Time" ">=" "Static" "200" ms. For more information about alert rule operators and metrics, see: .

For more information on creating alert rules, see .

Alert notifications can be sent using email as well as to third-party solutions such as AppDynamics, PagerDuty, Splunk, Slack, and ServiceNow. For this guide we'll create an email notification. For information on third-party and custom webhook integrations, see .

For more information on alert notifications, see .

Use the list to evaluate your alert thresholds, verify alert severity, and ensure that the proper agents are associated with an alert rule.

In order to intentionally trigger an alert using the Google HTTP Test example from previous sections, modify the alert condition for total time by setting it to a lower value than what is typically reported in the tests. If the current threshold for total time is 200 ms, try setting it to 10 ms to trigger an alert. You can follow the same steps from to update the total time alert condition.

For more information, see .

An alert is considered when the conditions triggering it are no longer in effect. For alerts assigned to multiple locations, an alert will be cleared only when all locations no longer meet the alert conditions. This means that even if the alert conditions specify a minimum number of locations for the alert to be triggered, the alert will not clear until all locations no longer meet the alert conditions.

For more information on alert clearing, see .

For more information, see .

Configuring good tests is also an important step in effective alerting. For more information on configuring tests, see

Pre-configured built-in integrations with third-party solutions, see

Configuring custom webhooks and supported templates, see

Example guides for custom webhooks for alerting into popular domains, see

Default Alert Rules
Getting Started with Network & App Synthetics Tests
Internet and WAN Monitoring Tests
ThousandEyes Metrics: What Do Your Results Mean?
Getting Started with Dashboards
Creating and Editing Alert Rules
Alert Notifications
active alert
Viewing Alerts
cleared
Alert Clearing
Alerts History
Getting Started with Tests
ThousandEyes Alerting Essentials Webinar
Proactive BGP Alerting
Alerting by Geography, Network, and Device
Alert Suppression Windows
Custom-Built Integrations
Custom Webhooks
Custom Webhook Examples
Getting Started with Dashboards
Getting Started with Transactions
Getting Started with the ThousandEyes API
alert rule
Getting Started with Tests
Getting Started with Global Vantage Points
Getting Started with Enterprise Agents
Getting Started with Network & App Synthetics Tests
Alerts Overview
Start with a Test
Create a Baseline Dashboard
Create a Useful Alert Rule
Configure Alert Notifications
Viewing and Working with Alerts
Tune Your Alert Rule
conditions
notification policy
baseline metric analysis
Next Steps
Create a Useful Alert Rule
Alert Severity
Global and Location Alert Conditions
Available Metrics Operators and Units
Alert Default HTTP Server 2.0 Example
Baseline Dashboard
Alert Rules List
Custom Alert
Setting alert notifications to email
Alert Clear Email
Active Alert List
Alerts History
Tuning your alert rule by specifying a percentage of agents that must meet the alert condition
Tuning your alert rule by specifying multiple alert conditions