Notification acknowledgment using XML

N-able N-central can register alerts and notifications with third-party ticketing systems. This is done by transmitting each notification in XML format. There are two delivery mechanisms:

  • e-mail
  • HTTP POST

The XML schema defines one element for each notification keyword supported by N-able N-central. All keywords are optional). Notification keywords include Device Name, Customer Name, and TimeOfStateChange. This can be enabled by configuring a notification method. There are two notification methods available in N-able N-central on the Notification Method page: Email-XML, and HTTP-XML.

When selecting Email-XML, the user needs to enter the recipient e-mail address. When selecting HTTP-XML, the user nees to enter the URL of the web service that will accept the XML HTTP POST. The notification templates for Email-XML and HTTP-XML are listings of notification keywords and only keywords listed in the template will be populated in the XML notification.

The XML notifications and acknowledgment API are an option that must be explicitly enabled during N-able N-central license activation.

Set an XML notification recipient In N-able N-central

XML Notification Recipients are a licensable feature in N-able N-central. If the Allow 3rd Party APIs option is not available, contact N-able to re-activate your N-able N-central server.

  1. Click Administration > User Management > User and create a new user account or edit an existing user account. As a best, practice, name the account XML User.
  2. Click User Details > Notification Method.
  3. Click Add and select Third Party Integration - Email or Third Party Integration - HTTP.
  4. Click Save.

You can optionally edit the Email - XML or HTTP - XML Notification Templates to include required information or text. To to this, click Administration > Defaults > Notification Templates and adding the user account as a recipient to the appropriate notification profiles.

Example 1: Email notification

The following example demonstrates e-mail notification functionality. The left column displays the notification template as configured in N-able N-central. This enables the user to specify the content of their notification email. The right column displays an example of a notification email.

Short Notification Template Short Notification Sample

Customer: {{CustomerName}}

Device: {{DeviceName}} – {{DeviceURI}}

Device Location: {{DeviceProperty(Location)}}

Service: {{AffectedService}} - {{TaskIdent}}

State Transition: From {{QualitativeOldState}} To {{QualitativeNewState}}

Time Of State Transition: {{TimeOfStateChange}}

Monitored By: {{ProbeURI()}}

Service Details:

{{QuantitativeNewState(

)}}

Customer: My Customer

Device: My Device - 192.168.1.101

Device Location: London

Service: Disk - C:

State Transition: From Warning To Failed

Time Of State Transition: 2009-10-31 12:00:00

Monitored By: 192.168.1.100

Service Details:

Total disk size: 5119996

Disk space used: 3407016

Disk free space: 1712980

Disk Usage: 67

Example 2: XML notification

The following example demonstrates XML notification functionality. The left column displays the notification template as configured. The right displays an example of an XML notification.

XML Notification Template XML Notification Sample

{{ActiveNotificationTriggerID}}

{{CustomerName}}

{{DeviceName}}

{{DeviceURI}}

{{DeviceProperty(Location)}}

{{AffectedService}}

{{TaskIdent}}

{{N-centralURI}}

{{QualitativeOldState}}

{{QualitativeNewState}}

{{TimeOfStateChange}}

{{ProbeURI()}}

{{QuantitativeNewState(

)}}

<notification>

<ActiveNotificationTriggerID>123456789</ActiveNotificationTriggerID>

<AffectedService>Disk</AffectedService>

<CustomerName>My Customer</CustomerName>

<DeviceName>My Device</DeviceName>

<DeviceProperty parameter='Location'>London</DeviceProperty>

<DeviceURI>192.168.1.101</DeviceURI>

<N-centralURI>ncentral.example.com</N-centralURI>

<ProbeURI>192.168.1.100</ProbeURI>

<QualitativeNewState>Failed</QualitativeNewState>

<QualitativeOldState>Warning</QualitativeOldState>

<QuantitativeNewState>Total disk size: 5119996

Disk space used: 3407016

Disk free space: 1712980

Disk Usage: 67</QuantitativeNewState>

<TaskIdent>C:</TaskIdent>

<TimeOfStateChange>2009-10-31 12:00:00</TimeOfStateChange>

</notification>