Troubleshooting Alert Policies

This topic describes problems you can encounter when using an alert policy. Click a specific problem to view possible solutions.

Problems

An Operations Sentinel application, SP-AMS database, or CP-AMS database sent an alert, but no alert policy action was executed. There are no alerts that indicate the problem..
- The alert was not received by Operations Sentinel. Verify the alert was received by checking the log SP-SPALS using Operations Sentinel Log Viewer. All alerts and their attributes are recorded in this log.
- The appropriate alert policy is not active.
  Expand the Alert Policies node and activate the desired alert policy. If you have updated the active alert policy, make sure you first save the changes and then reactivate alert policy. Try this even if the icon under the Alert Policies node in the navigation pane indicates that the policy is active (the active policy might be a previous version that does not contain your changes).
- The value of the attribute EXT_ACTION_LIST or ALERTID in the alert event report did not match the name of an action list in the active alert policy.
  Check the value of the attribute EXT_ACTION_LIST or ALERTID and verify that the name specified there matches the name of an action list in the active alert policy.
- The action list that matched the alert contains no actions that apply to raising the alert. Expand the active alert policy and verify that the action list includes an action that pertains to raising of an alert.
You have defined an alert policy to send an alphanumeric page message using TAP protocol. When you attempt to initiate the page, one of the following alerts appears:
```
Paging service solicit not recevied
Paging service access id not accepted
Go-ahead from paging service not recevied
```
- Check the value of the Initialization property that you specified for the modem template.
  A typical string is AT&K6&Q6X4 This string disables data compression and error correction on a Practical Peripherals modem, which usually satisfies the paging service’s requirements for connecting to its modem. Unisys experience shows that this string frequently works for other manufacturer’s modems as well, but read your modem manual to be sure. Try this initialization string first unless the paging service has different communication requirements.
- Verify that you are connecting at 1200 baud or less. TAP is an old protocol and that is what its documentation recommends. The connection speed is set in the terminal/communications server. The SP-EAI log indicates the connection speed.
  Look in the SP-EAI log for the ATDT command that dials the paging service. It is followed by a READ of \0d and a READ of a number that indicates the connection speed. Standard result codes are 1 for 300 BPS, 5 for 1200 BPS, and 10 for 2400 BPS. If the number returned by the modem is 10 or another value, then the modems have negotiated a speed higher than TAP supports, and the transmissions might be garbled.
  You should also check the other line characteristics. This situation could also occur if the stop bits, parity, or data character sizes are incompatible with what is expected by the paging service.
  If the modem is connected to a terminal/communications server, use the terminal/communications server software to configure these characteristics.
- Check the value of the Access Id property in the modem template. When the protocol type is set to TAP, the default is PG1000000. This value might have been accidentally deleted when the alert policy was defined or your paging service might require a different value. To verify which access-id was sent, look in the SP-EAI log for a READ of ID=. If the log does not show this, then you did not get this far in the protocol exchange and you should look at the first two solutions again.
  Following the READ of ID=, there should be a WRITE of the access-id you specified. Verify that this is the value that you expected. Remember that any changes you make to the alert policy do not take effect until you save and reactivate the alert policy.Following the READ of ID=, there should be a WRITE of the access-id you specified. Verify that this is the value that you expected. Remember that any changes you make to the alert policy do not take effect until you save and reactivate the alert policy.
You are trying to send a page, but the following alert appears:
```
Dial connection is busy
```
This means the paging service is busy. Increase the number of retries in your modem template.

You are trying to send a page, but one of the following alerts appears:
```
Bad service name on port initialize
Bad host name on port initialize
```
This usually means that something is wrong in the services file or hosts file on the Operations Sentinel server. First check the spelling of the service and network names. For example, check characters like, O, 0, -, and _.
Also check the permissions for the services and hosts files. It is possible that some process has a temporary lock on these files.
You change the baud rate to 1200 in the services file and the modem still returns your original value for the connect speed.
This situation could occur if you are using a terminal/communications server for the modem and the terminal/communications server line speed is not configured appropriately.
Look closely at the entire services file and the modem template to make sure that the action specified in the template is one that has 1200 in the services file. Also, make sure that the service name appears only once in the file. If there are two or more names, Operations Sentinel uses the first one it finds.

If you need to report any problem or technical question, please submit a Service Request (CONTACT) or a User Communication Form (UCF) with supporting materials.