Creating a Custom Alert

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  • Published on Feb 6, 2026
  • 7 minute(s) read
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Custom Alerts

Summary

Custom Alerts let you create your own alert types in WISdom using a validated Custom Monitoring Query as the data source. You define the value to monitor, the condition that triggers the alert, how long the condition must persist, and the message users see when the alert fires.

Once configured, WISdom treats Custom Alerts just like standard alerts — they appear in dashboards, can be assigned to profiles and rules, and follow the same alert lifecycle.

Audience: WISdom administrators, monitoring owners, MSPs
Permissions required: Access to Admin Console → Monitoring
Prerequisite: At least one validated Custom Monitoring Query

Accessing Custom Alerts

Custom Alerts are managed from the Alert Types screen.

  1. Open the Admin Console.
  2. Go to Monitoring.
  3. Open Alert Types.

This list includes both standard (built-in) and custom alert types. For each alert type, you will see:

  • Name
  • Description
  • Alert Type – Standard or Custom
  • Profiles assigned (count)
  • Resources/Instances linked (count)
  • Categories (count)
  • Action menu (View / Edit / Delete)

You can filter or sort by Alert Type to quickly locate your Custom Alerts.

Creating a Custom Alert

Step 1 – Start a new alert

  1. From Admin Console → Monitoring → Alert Types, click the blue [Create Custom Alert Type] button in the upper right corner of the screen.
  2. The Create Custom Alert Type flyout will appear.

Step 2 – Define alert details

On the Custom Alert Properties tab, fill in required information:

  • Name – Example: AG Redo Queue Size High
  • Description – Explain what this alert detects and why it matters.
  • Default Severity – Choose the default severity level (for example, Informational, Warning, Critical).

Set the Alert Categories, if applicable. There are predefined Alert Categories to select from.

Step 3 – Define recommendations

  • Recommendations (required) – A guide or playbook on what to check or do when this alert fires.
    Example: Check network latency between primary and replica. Review log send and redo rates. Verify there is sufficient CPU and memory for the replica.

Linking the Alert to a Query

Step 4 – Open the Custom Query tab

Switch to the Custom Query tab in the alert configuration panel. This tab is only available for Custom alerts.

Step 5 – Select a validated query

In the Custom Query dropdown, select one of your validated queries. Only queries with a Validated status appear here.

WISdom will load information about the query's result columns and, where available, sample rows.

Step 6 – Map query columns

Tell WISdom how to interpret the query results by mapping columns.

Value Column (required)

  • Value Column – Choose the numeric column you want to monitor.
    Examples: RedoQueueSizeKB, FreeSpacePercent, LogPercentUsed
  • Value Name – A friendly label for the value.
    Example: Redo Queue Size (KB)

Object Column (recommended)

  • Object Column – Choose the column that identifies what the value belongs to.
    Examples: DatabaseName, DriveLetter, AvailabilityGroupName
  • Object Name – A friendly label for the object.
    Example: Database, Disk, Availability Group

When present, this value is displayed in the alert message to identify which specific object has the issue.

Additional Information Column (optional)

  • Error/Info Column – If your query returns a message or detail column, map it here. This value can be included in the alert message for extra context.

Step 7 – Choose a comparison operator

Select how to compare the measured value to the threshold:

  • > , >= , < , <= , = , !=

Example: > for "alert when redo queue size is greater than the threshold."

Configuring the Alert Message

Still on the Custom Query tab, define the alert message template that users will see when the alert fires.

You can use the following placeholders, which WISdom replaces at runtime:

  • %Object% – value from the Object Column (for example, database name)
  • %Value% – current measured value from the Value Column
  • %AlertValue% – the configured threshold
  • %MessageInfo% – value from the optional Error/Info Column

Example message template:

Database %Object% redo queue size is %Value% KB.
Alerting when redo queue size > %AlertValue% KB.

When the alert fires, this might appear as:

Database SalesDB redo queue size is 1200 KB. Alerting when redo queue size > 1024 KB.

Setting Tolerance and Thresholds

Step 8 – Open the Tolerance tab

Switch to the Tolerance tab in the alert configuration panel.

Step 9 – Define the tolerance rule

Define one or more tolerance settings. An alert on a Profile may have up to 3 levels, with each level designed to send a notification to a different channel.

Custom Alerts tolerance definitions follow this general formula:

Alert when Value {operator} Threshold for X sequential minutes.

Configure the following:

  • Alert Threshold (AlertValue) – The numeric threshold for the Value Column.
    Examples: 1024 KB redo queue size, 90 percent used, 5 milliseconds latency

  • Duration / Minutes – How long the condition must remain true before the alert fires.
    Example: 15 sequential minutes

Depending on the alert, you may see additional options such as occurrences and time windows.

Tip: Use shorter durations for stable metrics that change slowly. Use longer durations for noisy metrics to avoid alert storms from brief spikes.

Saving the Alert

Step 10 – Review and save

Before saving, review the full configuration:

  • Alert details (Name, Description, Recommendations, Severity)
  • Custom Query mapping (Query, Value/Object columns, operator, message)
  • Tolerance settings (threshold and duration)

Click Save. WISdom will validate that required fields are provided, mappings are consistent with the query result, and the configuration is complete. If anything is missing or invalid, you will see an error message.

Step 11 – Add the alert to profiles and rules

After saving, the alert appears in the Alert Types list with Alert Type = Custom. You can now include it in Alert Profiles, Alert Rules, Silencing Windows, and other alert workflows. WISdom will treat your Custom Alert just like a standard alert type.

Editing a Custom Alert

  1. Go to Admin Console → Monitoring → Alert Types.
  2. Find your Custom alert using the filter or sort options.
    • The Alert Type column designates Custom Alerts or WISdom Alerts
  3. Click the row or select View / Edit from the action menu.

In View mode, you can review the configuration and see how many Profiles and Resources use this alert. In Edit mode, you can change:

  • Name, Description, Recommendations
  • Default Severity
  • Custom Query mapping (query and columns)
  • Operator and message template
  • Tolerance settings

Click Save to apply changes.

Note: Changes to alerts already in use may affect multiple environments. Coordinate with your team for high-impact alerts.

Deleting a Custom Alert

  1. From the Alert Types list, open the action menu for the alert.
    • Find the alert, click the action icon at the right end of the row.
  2. Choose Delete.
  3. Confirm the deletion.

Note: Before deleting, check the Profiles assigned and Resources/Instances linked counts to understand the impact of removing the alert.

How Custom Alerts Are Evaluated at Runtime

Once a Custom Alert is configured and assigned via Profiles or Rules, WISdom evaluates it automatically every minute:

  1. Runs the query – WISdom executes the Custom Monitoring Query on the configured Target Instances at its scheduled interval.

  2. Processes the results – For each row, WISdom extracts the Value, Object (if configured), and any MessageInfo from the mapped columns.

  3. Evaluates the condition – For each object, WISdom checks whether Value {operator} Threshold is true.

  4. Applies tolerance – WISdom tracks how long the condition remains true. When the condition persists for the configured tolerance duration, WISdom opens or keeps the alert active.

  5. Displays the alert – The alert appears wherever you normally view alerts in WISdom. The message template and Recommendations are shown to users.

  6. Closes the alert – When the condition is no longer true for the required duration, WISdom closes the alert according to standard alert lifecycle rules.

Best Practices

  • Keep queries safe and efficient – Use only read-only T-SQL. Avoid long-running queries and unnecessary joins.

  • Use meaningful names and descriptions – Include both what is monitored and why.
    Example: AG Redo Queue Size High – Detects replication lag in AlwaysOn clusters

  • Document remediation steps – Use the Recommendations field to describe what to check first, how to confirm the issue, and where to find more information, such as internal runbooks.

  • Avoid alert noise – Set realistic thresholds and use tolerance durations to filter out brief spikes.

  • Start simple – Begin with a narrow set of high-value custom alerts and expand gradually as you gain confidence in the behavior and noise level.

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