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System Center Operations Manager 2012 R2 - Customizing E-Mail Notifications

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As more and more users are reviewing Operations Manager notifications on mobile devices rather than traditional desktops and laptops it has become clear the default syntax is not so much confusing as it is difficult to read. For example the first part of the Subject field in the e-mail is the Name of the alert, not its Status.

Chances are the preview displayed on most mobile devices is truncated so you won't know if the e-mail is notifying you there is a new problem or that an existing problem has been resolved. This is kinda' a big deal if you’re the person on-call and awaken out of a sound sleep.

At first glance, a notification should reveal its status: New, Closed, Assigned etc. This is a very easy change:

  1. Launch the Operations Manager Console / Administration / Notifications / Channels
  2. Double-click the appropriate 'Channel' and click on 'Format'
  3. Click in the field ‘E-mail subject:’ and copy the contents into Notepad. The following is the default syntax.

Alert: $Data[Default='Not Present']/Context/DataItem/AlertName$ Resolution state: $Data[Default='Not Present']/Context/DataItem/ResolutionStateName$

It looks like a single long string but its actually two strings separated by a single space:

Alert Name Status
Alert Name - Alert: $Data[Default='Not Present']/Context/DataItem/AlertName$  Alert Status - Resolution state: $Data[Default='Not Present']/Context/DataItem/ResolutionStateName$

Swap Them:

Resolution state: $Data[Default='Not Present']/Context/DataItem/ResolutionStateName$ Alert: $Data[Default='Not Present']/Context/DataItem/AlertName$

You can also replace ‘Resolution state’ and ‘Alert’ with any description of your choosing as well as add some additional formatting. For example:

STATUS: $Data[Default='Not Present']/Context/DataItem/ResolutionStateName$ || PROBLEM: $Data[Default='Not Present']/Context/DataItem/AlertName$

The resulting e-mail subject will read:

STATUS: Closed || PROBLEM: Failed to Connect to Computer

Mix it up, have some fun.