In CheckCentral, go to Organization > API.
Click "Add Token."
Give the token a name, e.g.
SERVER01 Windows Server Backup Script
.
Select "createActivities Only" in the Access Level drop-down and click Save.
Copy the token, and paste it in the
variable of the script.
If needed, modify the RPO time in hours in the
variable. This will correspond to the schedule as set in Windows Server Backup. e.g. If your job runs daily, set this to
to make sure the last successful backup is less than 24 hours old.
Run the script. You'll now see an unmatched activity in CheckCentral.
In CheckCentral, go to Activities.
Select "Unmatched" from the Matched dropdown selector and then click the "Filter" button.
The results will show below.
Click the "Create Check" link next to the relevant activity.
Leave the Name as is.
Select an existing Check Group or create a new one by clicking "
Add Check Group
".
Select an existing Label or create a new one by typing the name in the text field of the dropdown (optional).
Add a description (optional).
The Asset ID is used exclusively with certain ticketing systems and is not required for Checks. Asset ID details and ticketing systems are more fully covered by other documents (e.g.
Halo Integration (asset ID).)
Leave the Asset ID blank.
Your Check so far will look something like this:
Navigate to the next step in CheckCentral by clicking the "Next" button or the tab name.
Leave "Scheduled" selected as we will be running the script regularly.
Assuming you'll run the script daily, leave the Expected Interval on "1" "Day(s)." If you plan to run the script on another interval, adjust accordingly.
The initial expectation time is set by the first email message that is received and processed by its Check. (For example, if a notification email arrives at noon and its Check is set for every half hour, it will expect another notification email at 12:30.)
Leave the Set as Overdue setting at "After 30 Minutes." If the script notification email is not received after this amount of time has been exceeded, the Check will be marked as a failure.
Leave Custom Schedule de-selected.
The Matching step is what matches a notification email to its specific Check. It's also where you'll set the notification's CheckCentral destination email. For email-based notifications, this email can be used for quick matching. Because this is an API-created activity, other Matching Rules are needed.
A Matching Rule is created by default with the Subject of the message crafted by the earlier test run of the script. The "Subject" "Is Exactly" dropdowns and the text
Windows Server Backup Summary:
are displayed, appended with the Computer Name of the computer running the script.
Leave the Matching Rule as is.
Leave Condense Whitespace and Combine Attachments enabled.
The email address will appear different based on your organization name and the name you specified for your check.
The previous Matching step identifies the incoming message to the Check. The Status step looks for indicators of what type of notification you're receiving (e.g. The job was successfully run, it failed, or there were some issues.)
The activity the script creates will include a summary line like this:
Recent: True, Errors: 0, Warnings: 0
in the body, so you'll configure the check status conditions to parse that line.
Leave the Default Status on "Failure."
The "Success Criteria" section is where you'll set the criteria that will mark an activity as successful.
Set the rule to "Body Text" "Contains"
Recent: True, Errors: 0, Warnings: 0
.
The "Warning Criteria" section is where you'll set the criteria that will mark an activity with a warning.
Set the rule to "Body Text" "Contains"
.
Click
Add Warning Rule
again.
Set the rule to "Body Text" "Does Not Contain"
.
Leave the Condense Whitespace and Combine Attachments checkboxes enabled.
Notifications are simply how you want to be informed of Check Failures, Warnings, and some other Status changes.
Email, push, chat and other software can be integrated as well as ticketing systems, allowing for automatic ticket creation and management.
Further configuration is required for each to function and is done via the Notifications tab in the main menu. They can be configured before or after Check creation.
For more understanding of Notification setup, see the
CheckCentral Beginner's Guide (Notifications).
Select the desired means of Notification. If in doubt of the selections here, leave the defaults.
To confirm the activity now matches the check, click the Test button.
Under "Recent Messages Now Matched" your previously unmatched activity will be displayed with a green Status indicator (assuming the status was returned with no Errors or Warnings).
Close the Test window.
Click the "Save Check" button.
