RSS Feeds and Events

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SL1 includes two types of RSS feeds that can be used with events:

  • Custom RSS feeds that monitor events. You can define these in the Custom RSS Feeds page (Preferences > Desktop Tools > RSS Feeds).
  • RSS feeds from external web sites. You can view these feeds within SL1 and configure SL1 to create an event each time the external RSS feed is updated.

Use the following menu options to navigate the SL1 user interface:

  • To view a pop-out list of menu options, click the menu icon ().
  • To view a page containing all of the menu options, click the Advanced menu icon ().

Viewing Events with an RSS Feed

Custom RSS feeds allow you to view information about tickets and events without being logged in to SL1. Custom RSS feeds from SL1 can be viewed through a browser or through most free and commercially available feed viewers.

Defining a Custom RSS Feed

You can create a custom feed that filters tickets and events, and includes only tickets and events that you are interested in monitoring.

To define the RSS feed and specify the ticket and event criteria:

  1. Go to the Custom RSS Feeds page (Preferences > Desktop Tools > RSS Feeds).
  1. Click the Refresh button to clear any values from the fields in the editor pane.
  2. In the Global Settings pane, supply values in the following fields:
    • Feed Name. Name of the feed. Can be any combination of alphanumeric characters, up to 64 characters in length.
  3. In the Custom RSS Feeds page, under the Ticket Settings pane, you can specify the criteria that a ticket must meet to be included in the RSS feed. Supply values in the following fields:
  • Ticket Queues. The RSS feed will include tickets only from the selected queues. You can select from a drop-down list of all ticket queues that you are allowed to view. By default, no queues are selected. To enable the RSS feed, you must select at least one queue. For more information on ticket queues, see the section on ticket queues.
  • Assigned Only. If you select this checkbox, the RSS feed will include only tickets that have been assigned.
  • Status. The RSS feed will include only tickets with the status you select. The choices are:
  • All. Tickets of all statuses will be included in the RSS feed.
  • Open. Only tickets with a status of Open will be included in the RSS feed.
  • Working. Only tickets with a status of Working will be included in the RSS feed.
  • Pending. Only tickets with a status of Pending will be included in the RSS feed.
  • Resolved. Only tickets with a status of Resolved will be included in the RSS feed.
  • O/W/P. All tickets with a status of open, working, or pending will be included in the RSS feed.

  • Minimum Severity. The RSS feed will include only tickets with a severity equal to or greater than the severity you select. Choices are:
  • Severity 5/Healthy. All tickets will be included in the RSS feed.
  • Severity 4/Notice. Healthy tickets will not be included in the RSS feed.
  • Severity 3/Minor. Healthy tickets and Notice tickets will not be included in the RSS feed.
  • Severity 2/Major. Healthy, Notice, and Minor tickets will not be included in the RSS feed.
  • Severity 1/Critical. Healthy, Notice, Minor, and Major tickets will not be included in the RSS feed.

  1. In the Custom RSS Feeds page, under the Event Settings pane, you specify the criteria that an event must meet to be included in the RSS feed. Supply values in the following fields:
  • For Organization. This box will contain a list of all organizations about which you are allowed to view information. Select one or more organizations for which you want to view event information. (To select multiple organizations, hold down the <Ctrl> key while clicking.) The RSS feed will include only events assigned to the selected organization(s). Users must select at least one organization from this list.
  • Unacknowledged Only. Select this checkbox to include only unacknowledged events in the RSS feed. For details on acknowledging events, see the section on acknowledging events.
  • Age Less Than. The RSS feed will include only events with an age equal to or less than the selected age.
  • Minimum Severity. The RSS feed will include only events with a severity equal to or greater than the severity you select. Choices are:
  • Healthy. All tickets will be included in the RSS feed.
  • Notice. Healthy tickets will not be included in the RSS feed.
  • Minor. Healthy tickets and Notice tickets will not be included in the RSS feed.
  • Major. Healthy, Notice, and Minor tickets will not be included in the RSS feed.
  • Critical. Healthy, Notice, Minor, and Major tickets will not be included in the RSS feed.
  • Device Group Filter. The RSS feed will include only events associated with devices in the selected device group. In this field, you can select a device group from a list of all device groups you are allowed to view. For more information on Device Groups, see the section on device groups.
  • Click Save to save the new Custom RSS Feed.

Editing a Custom RSS Feed

You can edit an existing custom RSS feed and make changes to the criteria for tickets and events. You can also delete an existing RSS feed.

To edit an existing RSS feed:

  1. Go to the Custom RSS Feeds page (Preferences > Desktop Tools > RSS Feeds)
  2. In the Custom RSS Feeds page, go to the RSS Feeds registry pane at the bottom of the page.
  1. Select the wrench icon () of the RSS feed you want to edit.
  2. The top pane will be populated with values from the selected RSS feed. You can edit one or more values.
  3. Click Save to save your changes.

To delete an existing custom RSS feed

  1. Go to the Custom RSS Feeds page (Preferences > Desktop Tools > RSS Feeds).
  2. In the Custom RSS Feeds page, go to the RSS Feeds registry pane, at the bottom of the page.
  3. Select the bomb icon () of the RSS feed you want to delete. The RSS feed will be deleted from SL1.

Viewing a Custom RSS Feed

You can view a custom RSS feed in a browser window or in a third-party viewer.

To view a RSS feed from the Custom RSS Feeds page:

  1. Go to the Custom RSS Feeds page (Preferences > Desktop Tools > RSS Feeds).
  2. In the Custom RSS Feeds page, go to the RSS Feeds registry pane, at the bottom of the page.
  3. Select the RSS icon () of the RSS feed you want to view.

  1. The RSS feed displays in a browser window.
  • The window displays a list of all entries in the feed, and details on each entry (event or ticket).

  • Clicking on the ticket heading displays a new window containing the Ticket Report for that ticket.
  • In the Ticket Report, clicking on the "click here to login" link takes the user to the SL1 appliance where the ticket resides. Depending upon key privileges, users can then edit the ticket. Any changes to the ticket are dynamically updated in the RSS feed.

To view the RSS feed in a third-party viewer:

  • Perform the steps above to view the RSS feed in the Custom RSS Feeds page.
  • Copy the URL from the URL field in the browser window.
  • Launch the RSS viewer.
  • Paste the URL into the RSS viewer. The URL includes a key for authentication, so the viewer can retrieve the feed from SL1.

Defining an External RSS Feed to Trigger Events

You can view and monitor external RSS feeds from SL1. In SL1, you define one or more RSS feeds to monitor. You can then view the feeds directly from SL1. When new items are added to the feed, SL1 can generate an event to notify users. So SL1 allows you to:

  • Monitor RSS feeds for new updates
  • View RSS feeds
  • Trigger events based on RSS feeds

SL1 allows you to monitor the following types of RSS feeds:

  • RSS 1.0+
  • RSS 2.0+
  • ATOM

The following sections will describe how to define and/or edit an external RSS feed to monitor, and how to view the feed from within SL1.

Viewing the List of Monitored RSS Feeds

The RSS News Feed Manager page displays a list of existing policies for monitoring RSS feeds. For each policy, the page displays:

To sort the list of RSS feeds, click on a column heading. The list will be sorted by the column value, in ascending order. To sort by descending order, click the column heading again. The Edit Date column sorts by descending order on the first click; to sort by ascending order, click the column heading again.

  • Channel Name. Name of the RSS feed that is monitored by the policy.
  • Feed URI. URL of the RSS feed.
  • Organization. Organization to associate with this monitoring policy.
  • Feed Count. Specifies the number of articles in the feed.
  • State. Specifies whether SL1 is currently retrieving data for the policy. Choices are Enabled or Disabled.
  • Collector. Name of the Data Collector that collects data for the policy.
  • Edit User. The user who created or last edited the policy.
  • Edit Date. Date the policy was created or last edited.

Defining an RSS Feed to Monitor

In the RSS News Feed Manager page (Events > RSS Feeds) , you can define RSS feeds that you want to monitor with SL1. To monitor an RSS feed:

  1. Go to the RSS News Feed Manager page (Events > RSS Feeds).
  2. In the RSS News Feed Manager page, select the Create button.
  3. The RSS Feed Editor modal page appears.

  1. In the RSS Feed Editor modal page, supply a value in each of the following fields:
  • Channel Name. Name of the RSS feed. If you choose to trigger events based on updates to the RSS feed, this value will appear in the Entity field of the event.
  • RSS URL. URL of the RSS feed.
  • Organization. Organization to associate with this monitoring policy.
  • Collection. Specifies whether SL1 should retrieve data from the RSS feed. Choices are Enabled or Disabled.
  • Eventing. Specifies whether SL1 will create an event when a new article is detected in the RSS feed. Select from the drop-down list:

  • None. No event appears when new articles are detected.
  • Event Console. A description of the new article appears as an event in the Event Console page.

  • Severity. If new articles will trigger an event in the Event Console page, specifies the severity of the event. Select from the drop-down list of all event severities.
  • Collector. Specifies the Data Collector that will monitor the RSS feed. Select from the available choices in the drop-down list. For All-In-One Appliances, this field does not apply.
  1. Click Save to save the policy and monitor the RSS feed.

Editing a Monitored RSS Feed

From the RSS News Feed Manager page (Events > RSS Feeds), you can edit an existing monitoring policy for an RSS feed. To do this:

  1. In the RSS News Feed Manager page, select the wrench icon () of the monitored RSS feed you want to edit.
  2. The RSS Feed Editor page appears, populated with values from the monitored RSS feed you selected.
  3. In the RSS Feed Editor, you can edit the values in one or more fields. For a description of each field, see the previous section on Defining an RSS Feed to Monitor.
  4. Click Save to save your changes to the policy.

Viewing Articles from an RSS Feed

From the RSS News Feed Manager page (Events > RSS Feeds), you can view a list of articles retrieved from a monitored RSS feed. To do this:

  1. In the RSS News Feed Manager page, select the page icon () of the monitored RSS feed you want to view.
  1. The Article Catalog page appears.
  1. In the Article Catalog page, you can select and view articles from a monitored RSS feed. To view an article, select its globe icon ( or ).