Alert Correlation Training File

Introduction

The alert correlation training file is a CSV (comma-separated values) file that provides input data for machine learning to understand alert patterns and drive alert correlation.

The data is saved in a table structured format. The training file is generally a text file containing information separated by commas to determine the alert patterns.

Downloading a sample training file

The sample, downloadable training file contains sample metric names. Alerts triggered in a sequence (as provided in the training file) are correlated.

To download a sample training file:

1. From All Clients, select the client.
2. Go to Setup > Alerts > Alert Correlation.
3. From the ALERT CORRELATION POLICIES page, click +.
4. From the Policy Definition section, click Download an example file.
   The sample training file should now be downloaded.

Creating a training file

A training file can be created or modified from the sample training file.

To create a training file:

1. Open a new spreadsheet.
2. Enter the metric names.
   Alerts triggered in a sequence as provided in the training file are correlated.
3. Save the training file as CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited).

Using a wild card

A wild card character asterisk (*) is used when the exact metric name is unknown or when there are a large nummber of metric sequences and permutations. A wild card card acts as a placeholder that represents any value or an empty character string.

For example, an IT administrator wants to correlate the following alerts:
vmware.vcenter.alarm.HostEsxCosSwapAlarm, vmware.vcenter.alarm.HostLicenseEditionNotAllowed, vmware.vcenter.alarm.HostMemoryUsageAlarm, vmware.vcenter.alarm.HostVendorProviderRegistrationAlarm

Listing all these metric sequences and all its permutations might be a tedious task. Therefore, the IT administrator lists one partial sequence with asterisks like vmware.vcenter.alarm.*, vmware.vcenter.alarm.* in the training file.

The following screenshot of sample alert correlation training file that uses wild cards to specify sequences.