Chapter 6. Using Custom Rule Categories

A new category field was added in MTA 3.0 that replaces the concept of the severity field in MTA rules. The default categories are the same that were available in the severity field: mandatory, optional, and potential. Additional categories, such as information, have also been included in subsequent MTA releases. You can now add your own custom rule categories and assign MTA rules to them.

Add a Custom Category

This category is now ready to be referenced by MTA rules.

Assign a Rule to a Custom Category

In your MTA rule, use the custom category’s id value in the rule’s category-id field.

<rule id="rule-id">
    <when>
        ...
    </when>
    <perform>
        <hint title="Rule Title" effort="1" category-id="custom-category">
            <message>Hint message.</message>
        </hint>
    </perform>
 </rule>

<rule id="rule-id">
    <when>
        ...
    </when>
    <perform>
        <hint title="Rule Title" effort="1" category-id="custom-category">
            <message>Hint message.</message>
        </hint>
    </perform>
 </rule>

Now when you run MTA and this rule’s condition is met, incidents identified by this rule will use your custom category. The custom category can be seen in the MTA report in places such as the dashboard and Issues report.

Figure 6.1. Custom Category on the Dashboard