Creating Templates and Distribution Lists for Email Notifications

Email templates and notifications help auditors to notify other users automatically about audit-related events.

About Email Notifications and Templates

You can configure Oracle Database Security Central alerts to trigger an email when an alert is raised or a report is generated.

For example, you can create an alert that is triggered every time a connection is made by an application shared schema account outside of the application (for example, APPS or SYSADM). When the user tries to log in, Oracle DBSecCentral sends an email to two administrators warning them about misuse of the application account.

To accomplish this, you must create an email distribution list that defines who will receive the email, and then create an email template that contains a message. You select the template to be used for email notification when you define the alert rule.

Creating or Modifying an Email Distribution List

You can create an email distribution list for specific notification purposes, that is, a list of email addresses that will receive a notification.

You can specify a distribution list when notifying other users about alerts or reports.

Log in to the Oracle Database Security Central console as an auditor.
Note:
- An auditor can create, modify, and delete email distribution lists that were initially created by the same auditor.
- Email distribution lists can be modified or deleted by a super auditor.
Select Settings.
From the left navigation menu, select Distribution Lists.

The Distribution Lists page displays existing lists, which you can modify or delete.
Select Create to add a new list. Or select a list name to modify it, and then define the list as follows:
- Name - Enter a name for the distribution list.
- Email addresses - Enter the email addresses, separated by commas or semicolon, to be added to the list.
- Description - (Optional) Enter a description of this list.
- Set as default - (Optional) Users can select this box to set this distribution list to be the default list for future email notifications for Alert Policies.
Select Save.

The new list appears in the Distribution Lists page. From there, you can modify or delete distribution lists as necessary.

See Also: Logging in to the Oracle Database Security Central Console

Creating or Modifying an Email Template

An email template enables you to specify the content of an email notification that is triggered by an alert or a report being generated.

Log in to the Oracle Database Security Central console as an auditor.
Note:
- An auditor can create, modify, and delete email templates that were initially created by the same auditor.
- Email templates can be modified or deleted by a super auditor.
Select Settings.
From the left navigation menu, select on Email Templates.

The Email Templates page displays two sections: a list of pre-defined email templates and a list of user-defined email templates. Users can copy a pre-defined email template to the user-defined email template section. Then, modify the email template as desired. A pre-defined email template will be set as the default until the user defines any user-defined email templates and sets it as the default.
To enable the Copy button, select a single template. The Copy button then becomes active.
Select Copy to create a new user-defined template based on the selected pre-defined one, or select the name of an existing template to view its contents.
The copied template will be named “Copy of [Original Template Name].” Edit the Name as desired.
The Type of the copied template will be automatically set based on the original template. Below are the template Types:
- Alert: Creates an email template used for alert notifications.
- Report Attachment: Creates an email template used for report notifications, and attaches a PDF of the report to the email.
- Report Notification: Creates an email template used for report notifications, but does not attach the PDF file of the report.
Optionally, add a Description for the new user-defined email template.
Optionally, select Set as default if you would like the newly created template to be your default email template.
Select Copy.

After you create a new template, it is listed in the User-defined email templates section of the Email Templates page.

From there, you can select the name of the template to modify its details. This includes modifying the above information as well as the following:
1. You can modify the Format of the template to either be Plain Text or HTML.
2. When your cursor is within the Body field, use the available tags displayed on the right as building blocks for the Body of the email.
  
  The available tags depend on the type of notification. Table 1 and Table 2 explain the tags in detail.
  
  You can either select the tag name to transfer it to the template, or copy and paste the tag name to appear in the Body of the template.
3. Select the appropriate and available options in the Event Information section.
Additionally, if you select the checkbox for a user-defined email template, the Copy, Delete, and Set as default buttons become clickable.

Table 1 lists the available tags for alert notification templates.

Table 1 Tags Available for Alert Notification Email Templates

Alert Tag Name	Description
`#AlertBody#`	A special tag that is used as a shortcut to include all the available tags in the email
`#AlertID#`	The ID of the alert
`#AlertName#`	Name of the alert
`#AlertTime#`	Time the event causing the alert was created
`#AlertSeverity#`	Severity of the alert (Critical or Warning)
`#AlertStatus#`	Status of the Alert (for example, New, Open, or Closed)
`#Description#`	Description of the alert
`#URL#`	URL of the alert

Table 2 lists the available tags for report notification templates.

Table 2 Tags Available for Report Attachment or Report Notification Email Templates

Report Tag Name	Description
`#ReportName#`	Name of the report
`#DateCreated#`	Date and time the report was generated
`#ReportCategory#`	Report Category name, such as “Access Reports”