Send chosen activity to a channel with rules
Add rules so an Ultra alert channel also gets one type of activity, or everything one person or role does, and send alerts to email addresses.
What it does
An alert channel normally sends alerts rated high or critical. A rule adds something on top, at any severity. A channel can carry up to ten rules, and each rule is one of:
- An activity type: every event of one type, such as a settings change, however it is rated.
- One account: everything that person does. You give a username or email.
- A role: everything anyone with that role does.
Rules sit in the Also send, at any severity list on a channel. They are offered on channels that send alerts. A channel set to All activity (full activity log), a paging service or a help desk does not take rules.
The Email channel sends alerts to up to five addresses, through this site’s mail, as well as the site’s own alert emails. It sends alerts only. It carries no checkpoints and has no format to choose.
Set it up
- Open BetterShield › Ultra › Alert channels.
- To send by email, choose Add a Destination, pick Email under Send to, give it a Name and enter Email addresses, separated by commas.
- To add a rule, find Also send, at any severity on the channel. Under Add a rule for, choose An activity type, One account or A role.
- Pick the Activity type or Role, or type a Username or email, and press Add Rule.
- Save the destination. A rule takes effect after you save.
A channel starts with no rules. A name that matches no account is refused. A rule about a person does not match events the site wrote itself. To take a rule off, press Remove beside it and save.
Recommended settings
Our advice: keep rules few and specific. A channel that receives every settings change is a channel people mute. Good uses are one sensitive event type, or everything done by an account you want to watch, such as a contractor.
What it can break and how to undo
A rule sends what it names even below the channel’s severity floor, so a busy account can make a channel noisy. Remove the rule and save to quiet it. Removing a rule makes a channel quieter, so the activity log records it. An email destination sends to every address listed, so check each one before you save.
Muting site alerts mutes email destinations and rules too. A planned maintenance window holds rule messages as it holds alerts. A staging copy sends nothing outward.
Check it is working
Save the destination, then press Send a Test Message for a Slack, webhook or similar channel. For a rule, do something it names, for example change a setting of the type you chose, and check that the message arrives. Email arrives as one message that lists the events recorded, with a link to the record. If nothing arrives and alerts are muted, that is why. Otherwise check that this site can send mail.