2 Problems

Overview

In Monitoring → Problems you can see what problems you currently have. Problems are those triggers that are in the “Problem” state.

2 Problems - 图1

ColumnDescription
TimeProblem start time is displayed.
SeverityProblem severity is displayed.
Problem severity is originally based on the severity of the underlying problem trigger, however, after the event has happened it can be updated using the Update problem screen. Color of the problem severity is used as cell background during problem time.
Recovery timeProblem resolution time is displayed.
StatusProblem status is displayed:
Problem - unresolved problem
Resolved - recently resolved problem. You can hide recently resolved problems using the filter.
New and recently resolved problems blink for 2 minutes. Resolved problems are displayed for 5 minutes in total. Both of these values are configurable in AdministrationGeneralTrigger displaying options.
InfoA green information icon is displayed if a problem is closed by global correlation or manually when updating the problem. Rolling a mouse over the icon will display more details:
2 Problems - 图2
The following icon is displayed if a suppressed problem is being shown (see Show suppressed problems option in the filter). Rolling a mouse over the icon will display more details:
2 Problems - 图3
HostProblem host is displayed.
ProblemProblem name is displayed.
Problem name is based on the name of the underlying problem trigger.
Macros in the trigger name are resolved at the time of the problem happening and the resolved values do not update any more.
Note that it is possible to append the problem name with operational data showing some latest item values.
Clicking on the problem name brings up the event menu.
Hovering on the 2 Problems - 图4 icon after the problem name will bring up the trigger description (for those problems that have it).
(Note that resolved values of {ITEM.VALUE} and {ITEM.LASTVALUE} macros in trigger descriptions are truncated to 20 characters. To see the entire values you may use macro functions with these macros, e.g. {{ITEM.VALUE}.regsub(“(.)”, \1)}, {{ITEM.LASTVALUE}.regsub(“(.)”, \1)} as a workaround.)
Operational dataOperational data are displayed containing latest item values.
Operational data can be a combination of text and item value macros, if configured on a trigger level. If no operational data is configured on a trigger level, latest values of all items from the expression are displayed.
This column is only displayed if Separately is selected for Show operational data in the filter.
DurationProblem duration is displayed.
See also: Negative problem duration
AckThe acknowledgment status of the problem is displayed:
Yes - green text indicating that the problem is acknowledged. A problem is considered to be acknowledged if all events for it are acknowledged.
No - a red link indicating unacknowledged events.
If you click on the link you will be taken to the problem update screen where various actions can be taken on the problem, including commenting and acknowledging the problem.
ActionsHistory of activities about the problem is displayed using symbolic icons:
2 Problems - 图5 - comments have been made. The number of comments is also displayed.
2 Problems - 图6 - problem severity has been increased (e.g. Information → Warning)
2 Problems - 图7 - problem severity has been decreased (e.g. Warning → Information)
2 Problems - 图8 - problem severity has been changed, but returned to the original level (e.g. Warning → Information → Warning)
2 Problems - 图9 - actions have been taken. The number of actions is also displayed.
2 Problems - 图10 - actions have been taken, at least one is in progress. The number of actions is also displayed.
2 Problems - 图11 - actions have been taken, at least one has failed. The number of actions is also displayed.
When rolling the mouse over the icons, popups with details about the activity are displayed. See viewing details for the explanation on icons used in the popup for actions taken.
TagsEvent tags are displayed (if any).
In addition, tags from an external ticketing system may also be displayed (see the Process tags option when configuring webhooks).

Operational data of problems

It is possible to display operational data for current problems, i.e. the latest item values as opposed to the item values at the time of the problem.

Operational data display can be configured in the filter of MonitoringProblems or in the configuration of the respective dashboard widget, by selecting one of the three options:

  • None - no operational data is displayed

  • Separately - operational data is displayed in a separate column

2 Problems - 图12

  • With problem name - operational data is appended to the problem name and in parentheses. Operational data are appended to the problem name only if the Operational data field is non-empty in the trigger configuration.

2 Problems - 图13

The content of operational data can be configured with each trigger, in the Operational data field. This field accepts an arbitrary string with macros, most importantly, the {ITEM.LASTVALUE<1-9>} macro.

{ITEM.LASTVALUE<1-9>} in this field will always resolve to the latest values of items in the trigger expression. {ITEM.VALUE<1-9>} in this field will resolve to the item values at the moment of trigger status change (i.e. change into problem, change into OK, being closed manually by user or being closed by correlation).

Negative problem duration

It is actually possible in some common situations to have negative problem duration i.e. when the problem resolution time is earlier than problem creation time, e. g.:

  • If some host is monitored by proxy and a network error happens, leading to no data received from the proxy for a while, the item.nodata() trigger will be fired by the server. When the connection is restored, the server will receive item data from the proxy having a time from the past. Then, the item.nodata() problem will be resolved and it will have a negative problem duration;

  • When item data that resolve the problem event are sent by Zabbix sender and contain a timestamp earlier than the problem creation time, a negative problem duration will also be displayed.

Negative problem duration is not affecting SLA calculation or Availability report of a particular trigger in any way; it neither reduces nor expands problem time.

Mass editing options

Buttons below the list offer some mass-editing options:

  • Mass update - update the selected problems by navigating to the problem update screen

To use this option, mark the checkboxes before the respective problems, then click on the Mass update button.

Buttons

Button to the right offers the following option:

2 Problems - 图14Export content from all pages to a CSV file.

View mode buttons being common for all sections are described on the Monitoring page.

Using filter

You can use the filter to display only the problems you are interested in. The filter is located above the table.

2 Problems - 图15

ParameterDescription
ShowFilter by problem status:
Recent problems - unresolved and recently resolved problems are displayed (default)
Problems - unresolved problems are displayed
History - history of all events is displayed
Host groupsFilter by one or more host groups.
Specifying a parent host group implicitly selects all nested host groups.
HostsFilter by one or more hosts.
ApplicationFilter by application name.
TriggersFilter by one or more triggers.
ProblemFilter by problem name.
SeverityFilter by trigger (problem) severity.
Age less thanFilter by how old the problem is.
Host inventoryFilter by inventory type and value.
TagsFilter by event tag name and value.
Several conditions can be set. There are two calculation types for conditions:
And/Or - all conditions must be met, conditions having same tag name will be grouped by Or condition
Or - enough if one condition is met
There are two ways of matching the tag value:
Contains - case-sensitive substring match (tag value contains the entered string)
Equals - case-sensitive string match (tag value equals the entered string)
When filtered, the tags specified here will be displayed first with the problem, unless overridden by the Tag display priority (see below) list.
Show tagsSelect the number of displayed tags:
None - no Tags column in Monitoring → Problems
1 - Tags column contains one tag
2 - Tags column contains two tags
3 - Tags column contains three tags
To see all tags for the problem roll your mouse over the three dots icon.
Tag nameSelect tag name display mode:
Full - tag names and values are displayed in full
Shortened - tag names are shortened to 3 symbols; tag values are displayed in full
None - only tag values are displayed; no names
Tag display priorityEnter tag display priority for a problem, as a comma-separated list of tags (for example: Services,Applications,Application). Tag names only should be used, no values. The tags of this list will always be displayed first, overriding the natural ordering by alphabet.
Show operational dataSelect the mode for displaying operational data:
None - no operational data is displayed
Separately - operational data is displayed in a separate column
With problem name - append operational data to the problem name, using parentheses for the operational data
Show suppressed problemsMark the checkbox to display problems which would otherwise be suppressed (not shown) because of host maintenance.
Compact viewMark the checkbox to enable compact view.
Show detailsMark the checkbox to display underlying trigger expressions of the problems. Disabled if Compact view checkbox is marked.
Show unacknowledged onlyMark the checkbox to display unacknowledged problems only.
Show timelineMark the checkbox to display the visual timeline and grouping. Disabled if Compact view checkbox is marked.
Highlight whole rowMark the checkbox to highlight the full line for unresolved problems. The problem severity color is used for the highlighting.
Enabled only if the Compact view checkbox is marked in the standard blue and dark themes. Highlight whole row is not available in the high-contrast themes.

Event menu

Clicking on the problem name brings up the event menu:

2 Problems - 图16

The event menu allows to:

  • filter the problems of the trigger

  • access the trigger configuration

  • access a simple graph/item history of the underlying item(s)

  • access an external ticket of the problem (if configured, see the Include event menu entry option when configuring webhooks)

Viewing details

The times for problem start and recovery in Monitoring → Problems are links. Clicking on them opens more details of the event.

2 Problems - 图17

Note how the problem severity differs for the trigger and the problem event - for the problem event it has been updated using the Update problem screen.

In the action list, the following icons are used to denote the activity type:

  • 2 Problems - 图18 - problem event generated

  • 2 Problems - 图19 - message has been sent

  • 2 Problems - 图20 - problem event acknowledged

  • 2 Problems - 图21 - problem event unacknowledged

  • 2 Problems - 图22 - comment has been added

  • 2 Problems - 图23 - problem severity has been increased (e.g. Information → Warning)

  • 2 Problems - 图24 - problem severity has been decreased (e.g. Warning → Information)

  • 2 Problems - 图25 - problem severity has been changed, but returned to the original level (e.g. Warning → Information → Warning)

  • 2 Problems - 图26 - remote command has been executed

  • 2 Problems - 图27 - problem event has recovered

  • 2 Problems - 图28 - problem has been closed manually