Email Alert Log

Overview

The Email Alert Log report in Database Health Monitor provides a real-time and historical view of all email alerts triggered by your SQL Server monitoring system. With two key tabs—Alert Log and Alert Statuses—this report helps you track which alerts have been triggered, their current status, and when the next notification will be sent.

Features

  • Real-Time Alert Tracking: View triggered alerts in chronological order.
  • Detailed Alert Messages: See exact warning messages generated for each alert.
  • Alert Status Monitoring: Check which alerts are currently active or have been cleared.
  • Next Alert Scheduling: Identify when the next email notification will be sent for ongoing issues.

Understanding the Email Alert Log Report

1. Alert Log Tab

The Alert Log tab provides a list view of all triggered alerts in order of alert time. This helps you track when and why specific alerts were triggered.

Displayed Columns:

  • Alert Time – The exact timestamp when the alert was triggered.
  • Alert ID – The unique identifier assigned to each alert type.
  • Tag – A dynamic tag used to differentiate alerts (e.g., drive letter for disk space alerts, session ID for query alerts, etc.).
  • Warning Message – The system-generated warning message that describes the issue detected.

2. Alert Statuses Tab

The Alert Statuses tab provides an overview of the current state of all alerts, helping you determine which issues are ongoing and which have been resolved.

Displayed Columns:

  • Last Hit Time – The most recent time this specific alert was triggered.
  • Alert ID – The unique identifier assigned to the alert.
  • Tag – The dynamic tag associated with the alert.
  • Alert Status – Displays either:
    • OK – The alert condition is no longer being met.
    • ALERTING – The alert is still active and needs attention.
  • Last Warning Message – The most recent warning message associated with the alert.
  • Next Alert Time – The scheduled time for the next email notification if the alert remains unresolved.

Alerts can also be muted for a selected period of time by double clicking on the Alert Status row.

Please note that the Next Alert Time does not always represent exactly when the next alert email will be sent. The alert TSQL is ran according to the time between checks setting and will send the alert email the next time the alert is triggered after the Next Alert Time.

Related

Getting Help from Steve and the Stedman Solutions Team

Need help configuring or troubleshooting SQL Server Email Alerting? The Stedman Solutions team is ready to assist. Book a free 30-minute consultation today and get expert guidance on SQL Server monitoring and alert management.