===== Alarm Management =====

Alarms allow you to monitor the status of your devices based on the metrics reported by drivers.

An alarm compares the received values with conditions defined by the user.

When a configured condition is reached, Zebrix Control:

  * Triggers an alarm
  * Changes the device status
  * Displays the alarm in the interface

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==== How alarms work ====

Alarms rely on three main elements:

  * A **driver**
  * One or more **metrics**
  * One or more **alarm conditions**

The driver collects information from the device and sends metrics to Zebrix Control.

These metrics are then analyzed to determine whether an alarm should be triggered.

 Example:

  * The Ping driver reports the metric "alive"
  * The received value is "false"
  * An alarm rule specifies that "alive = false"
  * The device status changes to **Critical** or **Unreachable**

To create an alarm:

  - Open the device configuration
  - Go to the **Alarms** tab
  - Click **Configuration**
  - Click the **➕ Add** button

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Two types of alarms are available:

  * **Measurement alarm** – Based on the values reported by a metric
  * **No data alarm** – Triggered when Zebrix Control no longer receives any data from a selected driver

==== 🚫 No Data alarms ====

This type of alarm detects when a driver no longer reports any data.

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This usually means:

  * The device is unreachable
  * The network is unavailable
  * Or the probe can no longer communicate with the device

 Example:

  * A Samsung display uses an MDC driver
  * The driver no longer reports any information
  * Zebrix Control triggers an alarm

=== ⚠️ Important recommendation ===

It is not recommended to use this type of alarm with the Ping driver.

A failed Ping is still considered valid data.

When the device does not respond:

  * The driver still returns a value
  * The reported value is simply "false"

As long as the probe continues to receive metrics from the Ping driver, a No Data alarm will never be triggered.

=== ⏱️ Polling interval warning ===

The delay configured in a No Data alarm must always be:

  * **Greater than or equal to** the minimum polling interval of the driver

 Example:

  * Driver minimum polling interval: 10 minutes
  * No Data alarm delay: 5 minutes ❌

In this case, Zebrix Control will check for missing data before the driver has had enough time to send a new metric.

Result:

  * False alarms will be triggered regularly

=== ✅ Recommended configuration ===

  * Driver polling interval: 10 minutes
  * No Data alarm delay: 10 minutes or more

==== 📊 Measurement alarms ====

This type of alarm compares a metric directly against a value or threshold.

It is the most commonly used alarm type.

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For a given metric, you can define multiple thresholds corresponding to different severity levels.

An alarm is triggered when the value reported by the probe matches the configured criteria.

By default:

  * If no condition matches → the device status remains **OK**
  * If multiple conditions match → the highest severity level is applied

=== Example: audio volume ===

A device reports a "volume" metric.

You can configure:

  * **Info** if volume = 0
  * **Warning** if volume > 50
  * **Critical** if volume > 80

The device status will automatically change according to the reported values.

=== Example: Ping driver ===

The Ping driver reports a boolean value:

  * "true"
  * "false"

Recommended configuration:

  * Level: **Unreachable**
  * Condition: "="
  * Value: "false"

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In this case:

  * "true" → device reachable
  * "false" → device unreachable