Creating Alerts with Netdata Alerts Configuration Manager
The Netdata Alerts Configuration Manager lets you create and fine-tune alerts directly from the Netdata Cloud Dashboard.
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To use this feature, you'll need an active Netdata subscription. View subscription plans
Creating Alerts: Quick Guide
Alert Detection Types
You can choose from different ways to trigger alerts based on your monitoring needs:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Standard | Fires when a metric crosses a set value |
| Metric Variance | Fires based on variation in values over time |
| Anomaly Rate | Fires when the anomaly rate exceeds a certain threshold |
Choose the type that best suits the behavior you want to monitor.
Metrics Lookup & Filters
Click Show advanced in the Alert Configuration Manager to access these options.
Metrics Lookup
You can define how Netdata should query the data before triggering an alert:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
method | How values are aggregated (avg, min, max, etc.) |
duration | Time window used for the check |
dimensions | Which metric dimensions to include |
options | Modify how values are interpreted (e.g., percentage, absolute) |
Filtering Targets
You can limit your alert to specific infrastructure components:
- Hosts
- Nodes
- Instances
- Operating systems
- Chart labels
Formulas
You can use a custom formula to manipulate values before comparing against thresholds.
Example:
(metric1 - metric2) / 100
Defining Alert Conditions
You control how and when alerts are triggered, escalated, or resolved:
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Thresholds | Define values for warning and critical states |
| Recovery thresholds | Set when the alert should downgrade or clear |
| Check interval | How often the alert check runs (e.g., every 10 seconds) |
| Notification delay | Delay before sending notifications for state changes |
| Repeat notifications | How often to resend an alert if the issue persists (Agent only) |
| Notification recipients | Define who gets alerted (Agent only) |
| Custom exec script | Run a custom shell script when an alert triggers |
Naming and Documentation
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Alert Name | A unique name for the alert |
| Description | What the alert does, in one or two sentences |
| Summary | Optional: a short summary for display in dashboards |
Final Notes
- You can apply alert definitions to Parent Agents or Standalone Child Agents
- If you need help writing custom alerts, check the full alert reference
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