We have launch our new site today and this blog will be moving to a new address: http://www.intellipool.se/feed Check out the new site at: http://www.intellipool.se Have a great weekend!
(Note: this article applies to INM version 4.0.5233 and later) INM makes it easy to generate SLA reports on any level, wether it be a whole network or a single object. A default 'Availability report' is included with the INM installation, so let's look at how we can tweak this report to fit your needs. The Availability report is a template, and as with any report template in INM it's possible to apply it in any context. First, let's run this report on a single network. 1) select the network from the relevant view 2) select the 'View report' command and then the Availability report to generate it. As we can see, INM reports individual Up and Downtime on each device in the network, as well as reporting the averages for the entire network. By default, INM calculates the average Up and Downtime for each individual entry but this can be changed to the sum if required. Now let's modify the report template, to let INM break down the statistics even further and report statistics on each individual monitor. 1) click on the Availability report in the Report templates view 2) click on the edit icon for the Downtime report item 3) select the "Report downtime for monitors" option 4) we're going to uncheck the 'Include monitors with no downtime in the report' option to only list the monitors that were down during the period. Let's re-run the report on the Fileserver object only this time. In this case, it was a Disk time monitor that contributed to the downtime in the Fileserver object. On some occasions you want to generate a SLA report that only takes data within a specific time interval into account. INM can do this as well. 1) Open the properties for the Downtime report item again, and specify a time period in the Time limit textboxes. Now the report will only include statistics that lies within this time interval for each day. There is one more interesting option, and that is to only base the SLA report on specific monitor types. 1) Again, open the properties for the DOwntime report item. 2) In the advanced section, select monitor types from the 'Monitor limit' box and add those to be included. Only statistical data based on the selected monitor types will be included in the final report. Finishing up, you may want to setup a scheduled event to run the SLA report periodically. Full details on how to setup a scheduled event can be found in the online manual, located here: http://www.intellipool.se/4_0/doc/generate_a_report.htm
________ Release notes build 5439 ________ * Improvement: 15 useful Lua scripts are now included in the installer * Improvement: New default MIB that includes VMWare, NetApp and iScsi * Improvement: Action lists info page shows which objects and monitors that is assigned to the list * Improvement: The logon account info page now also includes the Mail QOS monitor in the list of monitors using the account. * Improvement: It is now possible to use the %operator_current macro in the acknowledge message subject line. Download link
________ Release notes build 5426 ________ * New feature: Objects and monitors now have an easy way to setup simple maintenance schedules without having to create a dedicated schedule. This setting can be found in the object and monitor properties, in the advanced settings sections. * New feature: Packet size can now be customized in the Ping monitor, as well as the possibility to enable the "do not fragment" option. * Improvement: Option to report downtime by sum and/or average for report downtime reports. This setting is found in the report downtime item properties. * Improvement: Option to alternate line colors slightly in list views. This setting is per operator, and can be found in the operator properties screen. Download link
We are preparing a patch of INM v4 that is going to include a couple of new features. The most asked for of these two new features is the "Simple maintenance" function, a easy way to put both monitors and objects into maintenance by specifying the time period and week days in the property page. The second feature is an addition to the ping monitor, which makes it possible to adjust the payload size and set the DF flag (don't fragment). This makes it possible to monitor MTU size of a route. Today is also the last day to vote and suggest features over at http://intellipool.ideascale.com, so if you havnt done that already, head over there and have your say. Have a great weekend!
We are wrapping up our ideascale forum this week and will during the next week present the outcome of the popular vote. So if you have not yet cast your vote (or added your own ideas for the next version of INM), do it now. http://intellipool.ideascale.com
We are working on the next version of INM and one new feature will be "Applications", an application is a collection of different monitors that represent a logical entity that is evaluated against a set of rules. But you do not have to wait to the next version to get similar functionality. Using data extraction and a clever Lua script one of our users have manged to implement a similar feature himself. Here is the link: http://www.intellipool.se/forum/index.php?showtopic=1636
________ Release notes build 5387 ________ * New feature: A description field has been added to maintenance schedules. This can be used to specify the reason for the schedule. It is also possible to search for this field in the search function. * Improvement: Report generation speed has been optimized. * Improvement: Windows service control tool is now only visible for system administrators. * Bug fix: Potential crash bug fixed when doing inspection on objects not responding in a timely fashion. * Bug fix: Ping monitor should no longer be able to ping invalid IP numbers. * Bug fix: Toplist widget now takes the unit setting into account. * Bug fix: New version notification should now be shown correctly in the system information widget. Download link
Support during the Holiday season will be closed the following days: 24/12 - Closed 25/12 - Closed 30/12 - Closed 31/12 - Closed We wish all our customers a happy holiday season and a great 2010!
We are adding a new feature to INM v4 today, a Windows service manager tool. From inside the INM interface you can manage all services running on monitored Windows servers. The Windows service manger tool uses object properties such as default account and address, to connect and manage services. The new function is available from under the Tools menu.
Upon request I have put together a Lua script that can be used with the Lua script monitor to check if a HTTP server certificate is about to expire. The arguments for the script is port number, number of days before the expiry date the monitor should alarm, and if it should suppress connection failures. You need to have INM v4 Build 5290 and later to use this script. Enjoy ! CODE function OnEnumerate(sFieldToEnum)
Enum = LuaScriptEnumResult() if sFieldToEnum == "Ignore connection problems" then Enum:Add("Yes") Enum:Add("No") end return Enum end function OnConfigure() Config = LuaScriptConfigurator() Config:SetAuthor("Robert Aronsson, Intellipool AB") Config:SetDescription("The script check if a certificate is about to expire within the configured number of days.") Config:SetMinBuildVersion(5290) Config:SetScriptVersion(1,0) Config:AddArgument("Port number","Port number to connect on",LuaScriptConfigurator.CHECK_NOT_EMPTY) Config:AddArgument("Number of days","Check if certificate expres within this period",LuaScriptConfigurator.CHECK_NOT_EMPTY) Config:AddArgument("Ignore connection problems","Do you want the script to report connection problems as well ?",LuaScriptConfigurator.ENUM_AVAIL + LuaScriptConfigurator.CHECK_NOT_EMPTY) Config:SetEntryPoint("main") return Config end -- This is the entry point function main() local iPort = GetArgument(0) local iNumDays = GetArgument(1) local bReportConnectionProblem = false; if GetArgument(2) == "Yes" then bReportConnectionProblem = true end -- Timeperiod that the certificate should be valid within local iOffsetTime = (60 * 60 * 24) * iNumDays -- Default values for test eval local bTestOk = true; local sText = "Certificate ok"; -- Open socket Socket = TLuaSocketSecure() if Socket:Open(iPort) ~= 0 then CurrentTime = TLuaDateTime(); -- The time was retrived during the connect Time = Socket:GetCertificateExpiryDate(); print("Certificate expires ("..Time:GetDate() .." " .. Time:GetTime()..")"); -- Check time iExpiryTime = Time:Get() - iOffsetTime; if Time:Get() < CurrentTime:Get() then bTestOk = false; sText = "Certificate have already expired ("..Time:GetDate() .." " .. Time:GetTime()..")"; else if iExpiryTime < CurrentTime:Get() then bTestOk = false; sText = "Certificate is about to expire in less than "..iNumDays.." days" end end else -- Failed to open the socket, server down ? if bReportConnectionProblem == true then bTestOk = false; end sText = "Cannot connect to host."; end -- Report status and exit SetExitStatus(sText,bTestOk); end
The new quick search in INM 4 is a handy way of quickly locating information in INM's database. With the quick search you can find everything from networks, objects, operators, reports, scheduled events and more. By entering a name everything related to that name will be listed in the search result. In our first example the name of a thermometer device has been entered, and apart from the device itself both a customized report containing data from that device and a related scheduled event is listed. In this second example we look at how to find all scheduled events that will be executed on a specific date. Just enter any date in YYYY-MM-DD format and all events executing on that date will be listed in the search. Simply clicking on the result in the list will link you to the relevant screen.
Process Instance Count, a Lua script that uses WMI to determine the number of running instances of a process. Copy/paste the content below to a text file and save it to you \scripts directory (remember the .lua suffix on the file). CODE -- Version: 4.0
-- Date: 2009-10-29 -- Description: Counts the number of instances of a process that are running -- Arguments: process name, minimum count, maximum count ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- This function is called by INM to retrieve a script configuration function OnConfigure() -- The variable returned must be called "Config" so INM can find it. Config = LuaScriptConfigurator() -- Author. Config:SetAuthor("Kevin Prestage") -- Description. Config:SetDescription("Counts the number of instances of a process that are running") -- Minimum build version of INM, set to zero for if no specific build version is required. Config:SetMinBuildVersion(4.0) -- Script version (major/minor) Config:SetScriptVersion(1,0) -- A parameter configuration, add them in the order the script is extracting them. Config:AddArgument("Process Name","Enter the process name as it appears in task manager",LuaScriptConfigurator.CHECK_NOT_EMPTY) Config:AddArgument("Minimum Instance(s)","Monitor will go into alarm if the number of instance running falls below this number.",LuaScriptConfigurator.CHECK_NOT_EMPTY) Config:AddArgument("Minimum Instance(s)","Monitor will go into alarm if the number of instance running rises above this number.",LuaScriptConfigurator.CHECK_NOT_EMPTY) -- Set the entry point, this is the function called by INM Config:SetEntryPoint("main") -- Done with configuration, return the object return Config end -- This is the entry point function main() processname = GetArgument(0) min = tonumber(GetArgument(1)) max = tonumber(GetArgument(2)) ok = true result = "" count = 0 SetExitStatus("OK",true) --Query WMI for a list of all processes running on the machine. Query = TLuaWMIQuery(); b = Query:Execute("Select * from Win32_Process where Name = \"" .. processname .. "\""); --if the query failed, set the result. if (b == false) then result = "An error occurred querying WMI. " .. Query:GetErrorDescription(); else while (Query:NextInstance()) do count = count + 1 end if (count < min) then result = "The number of running instances is " .. count .. " which is less than " .. min ok = false elseif (count > max) then result = "The number of running instances is " .. count .. " which is more than " .. max ok = false else result = "The number of running instances is " .. count .. " which is between " .. min .. " and " .. max ok = true end end SetExitStatus(result,ok); end
Object template for Cisco ASA range of devices have been posted in the template forum. Here is the link: Cisco ASA
We have posted an object template for monitoring Blackberry server (BES) in our template forum. Everyone running INM v4 can download and import this template. Here is the link to the template http://www.intellipool.se/forum/index.php?showtopic=1595
Visit our feedback site and submit ideas for new features, improvement of existing features and give us general feedback. http://intellipool.ideascale.com/
Dashboards can be setup to automatically rotate in full screen mode using the auto login feature. The following example shows an URL that will rotate between 3 different dashboards, with ID 1, 7 and 12. Each dashboard will be shown for 15 seconds before showing the next dashboard. The full screen parameter tells INM to remove header and menus. CODE http://inmhost:port/autologin.xsi?user=username&page=6&rotation=1,7,12&interval=15&fullscreen=1 Parameters needing substitution: inmhost = host name or ip of your INM host port = port number your INM host listens to username = name of operator (with auto login access right enabled) The id of the dashboard can be found in the URL when the dashboard is displayed in the interface: http://sandbox.intellipool.com:8080/dashboard.view.xsi?id=9 <---- ID of "System Status" dashboard on our demo installation
Starting with Intellipool Network Monitor v4 its possible to import and export object templates. Its an easy way to exchange object templates with other users. Exporting a object template In the object template information page, click the export command and save the XML file uploaded from INM to your browser. ![]() Importing a object template In the object template list, click the import command and upload the XML file using the import dialog. ![]() Sharing a object template and making other users happy! There is no automatic function for sharing an object template yet. Instead we have created a special sub-forum on the forum for you to post your object templates in. Here is an example of an object template posted on the forum. http://www.intellipool.se/forum/index.php?showtopic=1564 The object template forum http://www.intellipool.se/forum/index.php?showforum=11
This week a number of interesting scripts have been released for VMWare ESXi, these scripts can be used as a customized monitor type in Intellipool Network Monitor, just copy them to your scripts folder and create a new Lua Script Monitor and select the script. WBEM ESXi raid array monitoring WBEM ESXi power supply monitoring WBEM ESXi fan monitoring These scripts requires the latest version of INM v4 since the uses the newly implemented TLuaXMLReader class. You can download the latest version of INM here: Download area During next week a couple of new interesting performance improvements will be released, cutting startup times drastically. Have a great weekend! |
About Intellipool
Intellipool is a privately held software developer based in Sundsvall, Sweden. This blog is here to post news and tips regarding our product Intellipool Network Monitor.
Intellipool Network Monitor is a system for agentless server monitoring, alerting and reporting of a large selection of operating systems and SNMP capable devices. Last entries
My Blog Links
Links
Intellipool Network Monitor links
Intellipool Customer Portal INM Documentation INM Lua API Documentation INM Download page Friends and allies The Tech Teapot Sentinel Last Comments
brettzle on Friday post
Henk Dirksen on Automatic rotation of dashboards brettzle on Friday post kprestage on More widgets - INM 4.0 David on More widgets - INM 4.0 brettzle on More widgets - INM 4.0 David on Status widgets - INM 4.0 brettzle on Status widgets - INM 4.0 David on The search bar - INM 4.0 brettzle on The search bar - INM 4.0
|