Chroniker for Availability Monitoring User Guide

Chroniker for Availability User Guide

Chroniker Availability Monitoring Home Page

Chapter 1: Chroniker Introduction
       What Is Chroniker?
       Features Overview
       Watch Elements
       System Requirements
       Install Chroniker
       Uninstall Chroniker
       First Use, Login, Logout
       Chroniker Interface Basics
       Chroniker Interface Map

Chapter 2: Features Common to All Modules
         Events
          Reactions
                      Email
                      Custom
                    SNMP Trap
                     Numerical Page
                     Edit/Delete Reactions
          Profiles
          Graphs
          SideWatch
          Reports
          Setup Options
                      Global Options
                      User Management
                    Change Password
                    Active Chroniker Modules
                     Schedule E-mail Reports
                     Export Chroniker Data
                      Import Node List
                      SMTP Server Configuration
                    Proxy Server Configuration
                     Status Map Configuration
                     View License Agreement
          About

Chapter 1: Chroniker Introduction

What Is Chroniker?

Features Overview

Watch Elements

System Requirements

Install Chroniker

Uninstall Chroniker

First Use, Login, Logout

Chroniker Interface Basics

Chroniker Interface Map

What Is Chroniker?

Chroniker is a software solution for monitoring availability, response time and other attributes of IT resources such as applications, databases, files, directories, servers and other IT devices. Chroniker has modules that correspond to the type of monitoring it performs. Chroniker is web based and agentless.

Features Overview

Chroniker is managed using a standard web browser. The user interface allows you to choose which module(s) to use to specify what should be tested. All of the modules include the ability to graph results, create reports, identify alert thresholds and enact reactions. These reactions either transmit data to the proper personnel that tests are exceeding parameters or run custom scripts to automatically fix the problems.
Chroniker is configurable to automatically send an E-mail, SNMP Trap, Numerical Page, or execute a custom command when set parameters are exceeded.

Chroniker Modules in Availability Suite:

NodeWatch
NodeWatch monitors availability and response time of your servers, routers and other systems from the network layer perspective. It uses an ICMP/ping check and monitors servers or any TCP Connect based application.

TaskWatch
TaskWatch monitors response time of applications from the user perspective, that is from the application layer perspective.

Other Chroniker Modules:

SNMPwatch
SNMPwatch monitors devices via SNMP, automating SNMP data gathering and graphing. Many object identifiers are available from a built-in list.

SystemWatch
SystemWatch monitors server performance by watching CPU, memory, disk (or file systems), files, process, and applications from the system perspective. CPU, memory, disk, and file systems are monitored for usage (i.e. percent usage). Process and application monitoring deals with counting the number of process with a specified name (regular expressions can be used.)

AppsWatch
AppsWatch monitors response time performance of your applications from the users perspective. To use AppsWatch, you will set up a ScenarioStation to run the scenarios and report to the Chroniker base.

BizWatch
BizWatch gives a business perspective of your environment. Alerts from Chroniker suite modules are grouped and shown in a business context. You customize your own dashboards into panels that fits your business needs. BizWatch will alert you on the status of an entire business process.

Watch Elements

Watch Elements are credits and are the basis of Chroniker's scalability. Watch Elements are assigned to each monitor you setup. For example, one Watch Element is required per node monitored (NodeWatch), and five watch Elements are required per task monitored (TaskWatch) Watch Elements can be reused. For example, if you delete a task you would free up five Watch Elements and then could define another task or up to five nodes.

System Requirements

Please verify that your computer meets these requirements:

Operating System
Chroniker installs on these operating systems, yet can monitor any OS or network.
Windows NT/2000/2003 (server editions and XP)

Disk Space
About 100 MB disk space is needed for Chroniker. Additional disk space is also required for storage of history logs, response graph history and reports.

Memory
250 MB of RAM or more is necessary. During execution the memory consumption increases, depending on how many monitoring tests are running.

CPU
Recommended 800 MHz or higher.

Other Requirements

Access to a SMTP mail server to send E-mail notifications
TCP/IP network

Install Chroniker

Chroniker should be installed on any Windows desktop or server (XP, 2000, 2003) that is not turned off at night in order to provide constant monitoring.

To Install Chroniker:
       Download the latest version of Chroniker from the NRG Global web site (www.nrgglobal.com). This download contains one self-extracting zip file.
       Double click the AM_Setup.exe file you downloaded.
       Follow the instructions to extract the installer program.
       Do one of the following:
              Navigate to the folder containing the extracted zip file. Double click ChronikerSetup.
              In Windows, choose Start Run. Click Browse and choose the ChronikerSetup.exe file you extracted.
       Click Next and read the license agreement.
       Click I Agree if you accept the terms of the license.
       Click the Next button.
       Enter the destination folder; the folder the application files will be placed.
       Click the Next button.
       Enter the Port number to be used by the Chroniker web server.
              This port number should not be used by other applications. The default is 8888.
       Click the Next button
       Enter the information about your E-mail server:
       Enter the email address you want the default email reaction alerts be sent to.
       SMTP address.
       Enter the from E-mail address. When you receive an Chroniker alert E-mail, this is the address the E-mail will be from.
              If you do not know these parameters right now, you can modify them later from the Chroniker Setup menu (once you have the application running).
       Click the Install button.
       Click the Finish button after the installation is complete.

Generate and Install License File

Evaluation license: Chroniker 3.2 and higher versions come with automatic 14 day license which activates all modules.

Purchased License: If you are using a licensed issued to you, follow these instructions:
       If upgrading from 2.x you must do a clean install.
       Save the license file under: <Chroniker_Install_Dir>\apps\includes\ChronikerLicense.lic
       The default install directory is C:\Program Files\Chroniker.
       Please make a backup copy of your license file and put it outside the Chroniker folder. In the event you reinstall, or the original license file is deleted for any reason, you will have this backup file.
       You are now ready to run Chroniker.

Uninstall Chroniker

Double click Chroniker's unistall.exe file and follow its instructions. Using normal uninstall methods may require you to manually delete directories Chroniker created for itself.

First Use, Login, Logout

To Login to Chroniker for the First Time

• Access the Chroniker Login page by performing one of the following:

• Click on the Chroniker shortcut link on your desktop, or

• Go to Start | All Programs | Chroniker and then select Chroniker, or

• Open your web browser and enter the following URL: http://<host name>:<Your port number>

Note: <Your port number> is the port number you typed when you installed the application. This defaults port number is 8888.
Example: http://localhost:8888

• Type "admin" in the User Name field and "chroniker" in the Password field (case sensitive), and then click the Ok button

• Click on any modules icon and then click the Setup link in the top menu bar. Click on the Change Password link

• Enter chroniker (case sensitive) in the Current Password field and then type your new password in the Type New Password field and the same new password in the Retype New Password

• Click the Submit button

Subsequent Log ins into Chroniker

• Access the Chroniker Login page by performing one of the following:

• Click on the Chroniker shortcut link on your desktop

• From the Programs Chroniker menu, select Chroniker

• Open your web browser and enter the following URL: http://<host name>:<your port number>. For example, localhost is a valid host name. Where <your port number> is the port number you enter when you installed the application. This port number defaults to 8888. The default URL is http:// hostname:8888

• Enter Admin in the User Name field and your password in the Password field and then click the Ok button

To Logout of Chroniker

• Click on Logout link on the Top Menu bar, right hand side to logout.

Note: Users should Logout before shutting down the Chroniker web browser. In of the event of an uncontrolled shutdown due to power failure or other reason, there should be no problem in most cases.

Chroniker Interface Basics

Chroniker is a Web based application. It is operated through a web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or FireFox.
Because Chroniker is operated through a browser, controlling Chroniker is done by pointing and clicking with a mouse (or other pointing device). Specifically, all actions are made by a single left-click. (Right-click functionality is defined by the browser, not by Chroniker. Further, there is no double- clicking. Double clicking will be interpreted the same a single click.) Alternatively, you may also navigate Chroniker functions via the Tab key and pressing Enter. However, using a mouse is highly recommended.

For the sake of clarity, this documentation uses the term click to denote making a selection.

Chroniker Interface Map

Main Page

Typing the correct user name and password at the login screen brings you to the Main page. This Main page contains links to each of the modules available with your licensing: NodeWatch, TaskWatch, AppsWatch, SNMPwatch, SystemWatch, and BizWatch. It also will provide overview graphs of alert status for each module. You can toggle between views with the icons at the top of each panel.

Each module has its own home page and a horizontal top menu bar that contains module specific links as well as the following shared items: Reactions, Profiles, Graphs, Events, SideWatch, Reports, Setup, Help, About, and Logout. Go to “Features common to all Chroniker modules” for info on the shared features. Go to the section on each module for module specific features.

Chapter 2: Features Common to All Modules
       Events
       Reactions
       Profiles
       Graphs
       SideWatch
       Reports
       Setup Options
       About

Events

Events are assigned to watch objects and will launch your predefined reactions when conditions you define are met. An Event is primarily defined by its event (alert) level: Down, Error, Warning or Information. Other important parameters in an event definition are thresholds and reactions.

Alert Status Color Codes

Green: no alert

Blue: information alert

Yellow: warning alert

Orange: error alert

Red circle white arrow icon: it means down, or not found

Grey with black question mark: it means the node and its parent are down

Each event has the following characteristics:

Event Name
This name appears in drop lists when defining the events for a particular watch object.

Event Type
Information, Warning, Error, or Down

Operator
The mathematical operator used to compare the retrieved value and the threshold (>, <, >=, <=, +, -, =)

Threshold
Thresholds have different units, depending on the monitoring test performed. For example, NodeWatch measures response time in seconds, while a SystemWatch file test measure the size of the file in MB.

Duration
How many seconds the broken threshold state must persist before reactions are triggered.

Reaction #1 and Reaction #2
Reactions types are E-mail, numerical page, SNMP trap, and custom.

Alert message
This message is shown on the Active Alerts page, and is separate from Reaction E-mail or other messages. The Alert Message field contains the data you specify. Select a variable from the drop list, and then click the Add button. Repeat for each variable you desire to include in the message.

Event Description
Optional text you enter to describe the event.

Reactions

Reactions types include: E-mail, SNMP Trap, Numerical Page or Custom Reaction (a script). Reactions are enacted when thresholds are exceeded. Reactions are applied to Events, that is you can assign up to two reactions to every Event.

Define an E-mail Reaction

• Click on the Reactions link from the top menu of any module to open the Reactions home page.

• Click the Add New Reaction button and then choose E-mail type of reaction from the list.

• Type the Reaction Alias. This is the unique name given to the reaction.

• Type the E-mail address(es). Separate multiple E- mail addresses with commas.

• Type text into the subject field. This is the subject line of the E-mail to be sent. To insert one or more alert variables, select the variable from the drop down list and then click the Add button.

• Type the text message that will appear in the body of this E-mail alert. Insert variables as desired by selecting the variable from the drop down list and clicking Add Button.Do this for each variable you wish to add.

• Click the Add button at the bottom of the page.

• Apply your new reaction by editing or adding an Event and assigning it to either Reaction#1 or Reaction#2. All reactions you have defined will appear in Reaction#1 and Reaction#2 drop lists on the edit or add new Event pages.

Define a Custom Reaction

• Click the Reactions link from the top menu of any module to open the Reactions page.

• Click the Add New Reaction button and then choose the custom reaction from the list.

• Type the Reaction Alias. This is the unique name given to the reaction.

• Type the commands to execute or click the browse button to choose which script you would like to run. Select variables from the drop list and click the Add button as needed.

• The selected program or script must be on the same machine where Chroniker is installed.

• Click Add button.

Define a SNMP Trap

• Click on the Reactions link from the top menu of any module to open the Reactions page.

• Click the Add New Reaction button and then select the SNMP Trap reaction from the list.

• This feature requires you to download a utility called 'TrapGen' located at: http://www.ncomtech.com/ software/TrapGen/Nt/trapgen28.zip. Extract the contents of archive to '<Chroniker>\extpgm\' folder.

• Type the Reaction Alias. This is the unique name given to the reaction.

• Type the Host IP of the machine that receives the trap.

• You need to have a trap receiver program on the receiver machine.

• Type the Port number. This is the port number the trap receiver uses (default is 126 when left blank).

• Type text in the message field. This is the text that the trap receiver will get when the threshold is exceeded. Insert one or more Chroniker alert variables by selecting the variable from the drop down list and clicking the Add button for each.

• Click Add button at the bottom of the page to finish.

Define a Numerical Page

• Click the Reactions link from the top menu of any module to open the Reactions home page.

• Click the Add New Reaction button and then choose numerical page type from the list.

• Type the Reaction Alias. This is the unique name given to the reaction.

• Type the Phone Number. This is the number of the pager that receives the message.

• Normal dialing rules and rates apply for local and long distance numbers. Only numbers should be used. I.E. 18005555555, Not 1 (800)555-5555.

• Select the Com Port number from the drop down list. This is the com port number of the modem console is using.

• Type the Numerical String. This is the string of numbers that will be displayed on the pager.

• Only numbers are allowed.

• Click Add button.

Edit a Reaction

• Click on the Reactions link from the top menu of any module to open the Reactions home page.

• Find the Reaction you wish to edit.

• Click the Edit icon found on the left of the reaction name.

• Edit the Reaction parameters.

• Click the Update button.

Delete a Reaction

• Click on the Reactions link from the top menu of any module to open the Reactions home page.

• Find the Reaction you wish to delete

• Click the Trash can icon.

• Click the OK button to confirm deletion.

Profiles

Profiles allow you to control when tests are monitored. For example, you may set profiles for "business hours" or "weekends". You can create as many profiles as needed. Profiles can be defined to prevent false alerts and subsequent reactions.

Define a Profile

• Click on the Profiles link located in the top menu bar. This brings you to the Profiles home page.

• Click the Add New Profile button to open the New Profile page.

• Type a Profile name.

• Select the start monitoring time and end monitoring time for each day of the week from the dropdown lists. Start and end times are in military standard time. Select 0 for both start and end times if you do not wish to monitor the node that day.

• Click the Add button.

To Edit a Profile

• Click on the Profiles link located in the top menu bar. This opens the Profiles home page.

• Find the Profile you wish to edit and then click on the Edit Icon.

• Edit the parameters of the Profile.

• Click the Update button.

Delete a Profile

• Click on the Profiles link located in the top menu bar. This opens the Profiles home page

• Find the Profile you wish to remove and click its Trash can icon.

• Click the OK button to confirm the deletion.

Graphs

Graphing is an integral part of Chroniker. Graphs show numerical data collected from monitoring tests over a period of time. The x-axis is always time. The time scale, the x-axis, can zoom from minutes to hours to days to months.

Click an individual test name from any of the module home pages to display a graph for that test. In some cases, for example with NodeWatch, you can graph an entire group by clicking the group name.

NodeWatch, TaskWatch, AppsWatch, and SNMPwatch each have a graphs page where you can generate graphs combining up to ten tests. In SystemWatch there is no graphs page, graphs are displayed on the SystemWatch home page. Static data such as names of devices do not create graphs. Note not all tests produce graph-friendly data. For example, SNMPwatch can gather data such as device name, which will not produce a meaningful graph.

Within the help section of each module, the specifics of graphing are discussed in a graphing section. Also each module has a section describing the supporting summary data which accompanies graphs.

Graph Types

Graphs can be viewed in two different ways: Line graph or Bar graph. Further, a trend line can be added to either type of graph. Click the graph type icon to change the view of the graph.

A line graph shows a point-by-point connection of the measured data.

A bar graph shows a vertical bar representation of the measured data.

A tend line is shown as a red dashed line, which overlays the line or bar graph. The trend line is calculated with the mathematical formula that best fits a straight line to the actual data points.

Graph Controls

The following describes how to change what information is displayed on a graph:

Forward and Backward graph controls

Typically, when viewing a graph of a particular test, the graph defaults to display the most recent time frame, regardless of whether data is present or not. Click on the go backward button (denoted by <, the less-than sign) to view data from the previous period. Click on the go forward button (denoted by >, the greater-than sign) to view data from the next period.

Zooming out

Click the zoom out icon (magnifying glass with a minus sign in the middle).

If the graph shows a 30-minute duration on the x-axis (hour:min), click the zoom out icon to display hours (24-hour period), click it again to display days (1-month period), and click again to display months (1-year period).

Zooming in

Point to the time period on the graph you would like to see, then click the zoom in icon that appears (magnifying glass with a plus sign in the middle).

Graphs Page

NodeWatch, TaskWatch, AppsWatch, and SNMPwatch have a Graphs page. The Graphs page allows you to create graphs with up to ten monitoring tests. The monitors listed in the selected list box will be graphed together.

A drop down lists the groups within the module you may graph.

• The Available Monitors list box, on the left, displays list of available tests to graph.

• The Selected list box, on the right, displays the list of tests you have selected to be graphed.

• Click the Go button to graph the selected tests.

• The select button [>>] allows you to select tests to graph.

• The remove button, [<<] allows you to remove monitors from the Selected list box.

To Construct a Single Graph View
This is used to compare the Nodes/Task on a single graph

• Click the Checkbox next to “Single Graph” then select a frequency.

• Select from the drop list a group. Click the OK button. and monitor tests within that group will be displayed in the left hand list box.

• Click the OK button. Monitor tests within that group will be displayed in the left hand list box.

• Select the individual test you want to graph from the left hand list box. You may hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple tests.

• Click the Right Arrows button [>>] . This moves the selected monitor test(s) to the right hand box. Repeat to add up to ten tests to the right-hand box.
Note: Only tests within the same group can be graphed together.

• Click the Go button to create the graph with the selected tests.

To Construct a Multiple Graph View
This is used to compare the Nodes/Task on multiple graphs

• Select from the drop list a group. Click the OK button. and monitor tests within that group will be displayed in the left hand list box.

• Click the OK button. Monitor tests within that group will be displayed in the left hand list box.

• Select the individual test you want to graph from the left hand list box. You may hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple tests.

• Click the Go button to create the graph with the selected tests.

SideWatch

The SideWatch window displays the vital information about monitors you have established. It automatically refreshes and is small enough to keep open when you are using other applications.

To Open SideWatch

• Click on the SideWatch link on the top menu of any module.

• You may resize and position the SideWatch window on your desktop for ease of viewing.

Using SideWatch

• Click the Refresh Interval radio buttons to set how often the information on the page is updated. The default is sixty seconds.

• Click the Expand All button to toggle with the Collapse All button to either show all tests or only the group names.

• Click the Refresh Now button to update information instantly.

• Click the Tree expand icon to toggle between the Tree collapse icon. This allows you to show all tests with a group or only the group name.

• The Alert Icon color indicates the alert status of the group or individual test

Alert Status Color Codes

• Green no alert

• Blue information alert

• Yellow warning alert

• Orange error alert

• Red circle white arrow icon it means down, or not found

Reports

Chroniker must run for one day before the first analysis reports are generated. Reports are generated at 5 AM then updated hourly. Chroniker should be installed on a server or desktop that is not turned off at night in order to provide constant monitoring, and to gather sufficient data to generate reports.

The Reports page for each module has three categories: Analysis reports, Top (n) reports, and List reports. Examples of Analysis reports are an Alert Details Report and a SLA report. Examples of Top (n) reports include: Highest CPU usage in last 7 days, or Slowest Nodes current month. An example of a list report is an Event List.

Each module has specific reports within the three categories of reports. For more information about reporting features within a particular module, please refer to the Reports section within that module's chapter.

Schedule automatic E-mail Reports

You can have reports automatically e-mailed. This is called a Chroniker Task. With each Chroniker task, you define what report is sent, the frequency it is sent, and whom it is sent.

• See the user guide section: Setup Options | Chroniker Tasks and Workers.

Setup Options

The Setup home page contains the links for: Global options, User Management, Change password, Schedule E-mail Reports, Export ChronikerData (only in NodeWatch and TaskWatch), Import node list (only in NodeWatch), SMTP Sever Configuration, Proxy server configuration, Chroniker Workers, Status Map Configuration (only in NodeWatch), BizWatch Monitoring Options (only in BizWatch) and View the license agreement.

Setup Home Page

• Global Options Click link to set precision of measurements and data purge parameters

• User Management Click link to open a page that allows you to add, edit, or delete user groups and users

• Change Password Click link to open a page that allows you to modify your password

• Schedule Email Reports Click link to open a page that allows you to define what report is sent, the frequency it is sent, and whom it is sent

• Export ChronikerData Click link to open a page to export any test data to Microsoft Excel.
• NodeWatch and TaskWatch only.

• Import Node List Click link to open a page to import node data.
• NodeWatch only.

• Proxy Server Configuration Click link to set up a proxy server

• SMTP Server Configuration Click link to edit which server Chroniker uses for sending reports and events

• Chroniker Workers Click link lets you (1) define the number of processes each module runs on in the background, and (2) schedule automatic E-mail reports

• Status Map Configuration click link to view and modify the options for Status Map
• NodeWatch only.

• BizWatch Monitoring Options click link to view and modify the options for BizWatch
• BizWatch only.

• View License Agreement click link to open a page displaying the software license.

Global Options

Global options set the time frame for purging data by profile. It also sets the precision of measurements. Purging data will free up space on your systems.

To Change Global Options

• Click on the Setup link from the top menu.

• Click the Global Options link.

• Select the Profile you wish to modify the purge data of from the dropdown list.

• Type the precision of the data recorded by decimal place to be rounded up to, it is recommended that users do not use more than four decimal places at the most.

• Data that is older than the number of days you specify is purged. Type the number of days after which, data is purged. Do this for each of the four categories of data:
       Real-time
       Hourly
       Daily
       Monthly

• Choose whether or not the Splash page should be displayed on Chroniker start up.

• Click the Submit button when finished or the Reset button to clear the fields and enter new data.

User Management

User Management links to the User Groups page that displays the different groups and their description in a table. It also allows you to add a new group, to modify/delete an existing group, or to view the User page.

1. User Groups:

To Add a New User Group

• Click the Setup link from the top menu of any module to get to the Setup home page.

• Click the User Management link.

• Click the Add New Group button.

• Define a name for the group

• Enter a quick description about the group

• Specify the access priviledge for the group

• Click the Add button to save your changes or the Reset button to clear the fields and enter new data or cancel to go back the User Groups page.

To Edit a User Group

• Click on the Setup link located in the top menu bar. This opens the Setup home page.

• Click the User Management link.

• Find the User Group you wish to edit and then click on the Edit Icon.

• Edit the parameters of the group.

• Click the Update button.

Delete a User Group

• Click on the Setup link located in the top menu bar. This opens the Setup home page.

• Click the User Management link.

• Find the User Group you wish to delete and then click on the Trash Can Icon.

• Click the OK button to confirm the deletion.

2. Users:

To Add a New User

• Click the Setup link from the top menu of any module to get to the Setup home page.

• Click the User Management link.

• Click the Users button.

• Click the Add New User button and fill up the form:

• Enter the full name of the user.

• Select the user group.

• Enter the email address of this user.

• Specify the login and password.

• Check “Active' to active this user's account.

• Click the Add button to save your changes or the Reset button to clear the fields and enter new data or Cancel to go back the User Groups page.

To Edit a User

• Click on the Setup link located in the top menu bar. This opens the Setup home page.

• Click the User Management link.

• Click the Users button.

• Find the User you wish to edit and then click on the Edit Icon.

• Edit the parameters of the user.

• Click the Update button.

Delete a User

• Click on the Setup link located in the top menu bar. This opens the Setup home page.

• Click the User Management link.

• Find the User Group you wish to delete and then click on the Trash Can Icon.

• Click the Users button.

• Click the OK button to confirm the deletion.

Change Password

Click the Change Password Link to bring up the Change Password Main Screen from the Setup Page. You must fill in all the fields correctly to change the password. Passwords in Chroniker are case-sensitive (i.e., "SMARTADMIN" and "smartadmin" are different).

Changing your Password

• Click the Setup link from the top menu of any module to get to the Setup home page.

• Click the Change Password link.

• Type the current password in its field.

• Type a new password in its field.

Note: Passwords in Chroniker are case-sensitive (i.e., "SMARTADMIN"and "smartadmin" are different).

• Retype the same new password in its field.

• Click the Submit button to save your changes or the Reset button to clear the fields and enter new data.

Active Chroniker Modules

This option is for evaluation purposes only. You may turn on and off certain modules from this option screen.

Schedule E-mail Reports

You may schedule automatic E-mail reports, sent on a schedule you define. The reports are HTML-formatted and sent in the body of the e-mail.

Set up automatic E-mail report schedule

• Click the Setup link in the top menu from any module. This brings you to the Setup home page.

• Click the Schedule E-mail Reports link

• Click the Schedule button.

• In the Schedule E-mail Reporting pop-up window type in the following information:
• To: The E-mail address of the recipient
• From: The E-mail address of the account you want the report to be from
• Report name: Chose a report from the drop list
• Set time: Type in the hour, minute day, month, and day of week corresponding to when the reports will be sent. A “*” in a field. means “every”. For example, to have a report sent at the end of the every month set: hour = 0, minute = 0, day = 1, month = *, day of week = * (this is the first minute of the month, which is effectively midnight of the previous month).
• Message: Type in the message that is sent along with the report to the recipient.

• Click the Schedule button.

• The pop-up window should then read E-mail Report Scheduled

• For the changes to take effect, the Chroniker Scheduler must be restarted. Click on Restart to automatically restart the Chroniker Scheduler, or click on Later to manually restart it later.

Note: We strongly recommend that you restart the Scheduler service now as opposed to manually later. A manual Scheduler restart is done by running Scheduler-restart.cmd found in the Chroniker\util\ directory.

• If you have chosen the automatic restart, a Chroniker Scheduler Restarted message will be shown. Click the Close Window button.

Delete an E-mail Report

• Click the Setup link in the top menu from any module. This brings you to the Setup home page.

• Click the Schedule E-mail Reports link

• Click the Trash can icon corresponding to the scheduled report you wish to delete.

• Click OK to confirm.

• Click OK to restart the Scheduler service for Chroniker. We strongly recommend that you restart the Scheduler service now as opposed to manually later.
• A manual Scheduler restart is done by running Scheduler-restart.cmd found in the Chroniker\util\ directory.

Export ChronikerData

To export ChronikerData to MS Excel

• Click the Setup link in the top menu from any module. This brings you to the Setup home page.

Note: Currently this option is only for NodeWatch and TaskWatch.

• Click the Export Chroniker Data link

• Click the expand data tree for the module you are currently using. This expands to show the objects that you may export data for. Note: You must export data for each module separately.

• Check the boxes as needed.

• Click the expand data tree for the options

• Select the Date Format from its dropdown list.

• Select the Time Format from its dropdown list.

• Select the Separator from its dropdown list.

• Type the file name it will save as.

• Check the boxes to Merge Date and Time and/or Include Column Names as desired.

• Click the expand data tree for the type of data you wish to export: Real-time, Hourly, Monthly, or Yearly.

• Select the start month, date and year from the dropdown lists.

• Click the Export button at the bottom of the box.

Export for each time period, or just the ones you need right now.

Import Node List

To Import a Node List

• Click on the Setup link from the top menu in NodeWatch only.

• Currently this option is only for NodeWatch.

• Click on the Import Nodes List link.

• Click the Browse button to select the CSV file (plain text) containing the list of the Nodes to import into NodeWatch. The file should contain the following columns in the order listed below, separated by an allowed character:

• Node Alias

• Node Address / IP

• Port (can be left blank – however the column still needs to be in the file)

Note: The number of nodes that can be imported depends on the number of Watch Elements included in your Chroniker License.
The maximum file size allowed is 2MB.

• Select the Group that these new nodes will belong to.

• Select the separator from the dropdown list.
Note: The term CSV in this case does not mean comma separated only.

• Type the number of nodes that are in the file to be imported.

• Type the number of seconds if the connection cannot be established that it is considered a failure.

• Check the Error License Restriction box if you want the process to abort if the import is not allowed due to the number of Watch Element restrictions. If unchecked, the process creates nodes up to the limit.

• Click Submit and run the process or click Reset to clear the fields.

SMTP Server Configuration

Mail Configuration

• Click on the Setup link from the top menu in any module.

• Click the SNMTP Server Configuration link

• Type in the IP address in the SMTP Server field.

• Click the SMTP Authentication box if your server requires authentication.

• Type in a valid user name in the SMTP User field, if your server requires you to login.

• Type in the password corresponding to the user in the Password field, if your server requires you to login.

• Click the Test SMTP Config button to make sure the SMTP server configuration information you entered is correct.

• Click the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

Proxy Server Configuration

To Configure a Proxy Server

• Click the Setup link from the top menu in any module.

• Click on the Proxy Server Configuration link.

• Type in the address of the Proxy server field.

• Type in the Proxy Port number.

• Select the Proxy type from the dropdown list.

• Type the Proxy login and password if necessary.

• Click the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

Status Map Configuration

Status Map is a graphical display of nodes that shows how the dependencies between the nodes (parent-child relationships). Status Map Configuration allows you to specify the layout, the groups to be hidden in the map, and the graphical options of the map.

To setup the Status Map Options:

• Click on the Setup link from the top menu .
Note:This option is only for NodeWatch.

• Click on the Status Map Configuration link.

• Enter the full path for a custom background image.

• Check “Show Popups” if you want the alert message to be displayed when the mouse pointer moves over the node icon.

• Check “Show Chroniker Icon” if you want the Chroniker icon to be displayed in the map.

• Select the Default Image Scaling percentage to increase or decrease the final image size.
Note: Increasing the scaling will increase the status map generation time.

• Select the Default Layout Method for drawing the status map.

• Select the Groups that should not be displayed on the status map. Hold down the CTRL Key on the keyboard and left-click to select multiple entries. To deselect an entry, hold down CTRL key and left click.

• Click on Submit button at the bottom of the page.

View License Agreement

To View the Software License Agreement

• Click on the Setup Link from the top menu in any module.

• Click on the View License Agreement link.

• To close the License page, click on the Back button at the bottom of the page.

About

The About page has a link to the license agreement as well as the following information:

• Product Version The version number of the Chroniker software you are currently running

• Organization This is the organization the Chroniker software is licensed to.

• Allowed Host This is the host name or IP address that the license is valid for. If you need to change the host that is running Chroniker you will need a new license file provided by NRG Global.

• Allowed Watch Elements (Purchased) Total number of Watch Elements that you have purchased for Chroniker.

• Remaining Watch Elements (Purchased) Number of Watch Elements that you have purchased but are not assigned. This is the number of Watch Elements available for you to add new monitoring tests.

• Allowed Watch Elements (Evaluation) Total number of Evaluation Watch Elements that you have for Chroniker. Every Chroniker installation has at least four evaluation Watch Elements. Evaluation Watch Elements cannot be used in modules that you have purchased.

• Remaining Watch Elements (Evaluation) Number of Evaluation Watch Elements that you have not assigned. This is the number of Watch Elements available for you to use in modules that you are evaluating, but have not purchased.

• Evaluation Expiration Date Evaluation Watch Elements expire on this date.

• Remaining Expiration Period This is the time you have left before your evaluation Watch Elements expire.

• Module Information Each module is listed as Purchased, Evaluation, or Not Available.

Chapter 3: NodeWatch
       What Is NodeWatch?
       NodeWatch Terms
       NodeWatch home Page
       Node Groups
       Managing Nodes
       Graphing Node and Node Groups
       Node Summary Data
       NodeWatch Reports

What Is NodeWatch?

NodeWatch monitors servers, routers and other nodes from the network layer perspective. NodeWatch uses an ICMP/ Ping check on the servers or any TCP connect based applications you specify. Response time data is collected and reported.

NodeWatch Terms

Some common terms that are critical for using NodeWatch are listed below:

Node
A node is an IP address (e.g. server, router, switch, etc.) or an TCP connect based application to be monitored by NodeWatch.

Node Alias
Nodes are listed by an alias instead of the host or IP address to make the NodeWatch interface more readable. You specify the unique node alias.

Node Group
A node group is a collection of nodes that share the following characteristics: group alias, check frequency, connect time-out, and profile.

Reaction
An e-mail, numerical page, SNMP trap or command to execute that is sent when tests exceed monitoring parameters.

Status Map
A Status Map shows how the nodes are related to each other and displays the parent-child nodes relationship.

Report
A Report is historical monitoring data in a tabular format.

NodeWatch Home Page

Access all node management functions from the NodeWatch home page. Click the NodeWatch link on the Chroniker main page. Make sure to set up Profiles, Reactions, Events and Groups before trying to create a Node to monitor. There is no limit to the number of Groups or Nodes that NodeWatch can manage.

Buttons and Displays in Top Section

• Refresh button (two arrows in a circular pattern) updates the page by showing the most current status of each node test

• Add Node... button opens a menu of three options:
       Add a single node
       Add node through Autodiscovering your network
       Import Nodes

• Manage Nodes button opens a page that allows you to assign or chenge parents of nodes, groups, etc.

• The Recent Failures button opens the Failure Page which lists the failed nodes.

• Active Alerts button opens the Alert page which displays the current alerts on nodes that are down or exceeding thresholds.

• Wizard button opens the NodeWatch wizard that will guide you through a step by step process to add a new node.

• Show Node drop down menu filters only those nodes within a particular group or with a particular alert status. This is especially useful when you are watching dozens or hundreds of nodes.

• Current status and overall status is displayed in a box at the top right of the NodeWatch home page. Current status is the current network uptime percentage (the weighted-average response time of all available nodes divided by the number of nodes tested). The overall status is the total number of successful tests of all nodes being monitored divided by the total number of attempts.
The color scheme is as follows:
       Red - network is less than 70% available
       Orange - network is between 85% and 70% available
       Yellow - network is between 95% and 85% available
       Green - network is between 100% and 95% available.

Reading the Nodes Table

Table Columns

Left most column control buttons:
• The Pause icon and Resume icon toggle to pause and resume the testing of a node.
• The Trash can icon deletes the node.
• The Edit icon opens the Node Detail Page and allows you to edit the node definition.

Alert Status column displays a colored ball indicating the current alert status of the node.
• Alert Status Color Codes:
       Green - no alert
       Blue - information alert
       Yellow - warning alert
       Orange - error alert
       Red circle white arrow icon -it means down, or not found
       Grey with black question mark -it means unknown because the parent node is down

Node Alias is the name you gave to the node. It is also a link to a response time graph of that node.

Group column displays the group in which the node belongs. Click the group link to display a response time graph of the entire node group.

Status column displays the date and time of when the current up or down status took effect for that node. Example: Up since 12-09-2004 14:05:27.

Response Time (ms) column displays the response time from the most recent test (in milliseconds) of the node.

Uptime (%) column displays the uptime percentage of the node.
• Example: If a node is monitored every 15 minutes for twenty-four hours, it will have 96 attempts. If Node B fails once, the Uptime% would be 95 (number of success) divide by 96 (number of attempts) or 98.9%.

Sorting the Nodes Table

The node table can be sorted by clicking on one of the following table headings: Node Alias, Group Name, Status, Response Time, and Uptime%. An arrow in the column heading indicates how the table is currently sorted, ascending or descending. The Alias and Group Name columns are sorted alphabetically. The Status, Response Time, and Uptime% columns are sorted numerically.

Node Groups

A node group is a collection of nodes that share the following characteristics: alias, check frequency, connect time-out, and profile. There is no limit to the number of Groups that can be created.

Group Page Overview

The Group page displays a table of the defined groups, listing the group name, connection time-out and check frequency parameters for each.

• The Add New Group button opens the New Group page to define new groups.

• The Pause icon toggles with the Resume icon to start and stop the monitoring of all the nodes belonging to the group.

• The Trash can icon deletes the group.

• The Edit icon opens a page to edit the group's parameters.

• The Group Name field displays the name of the group.

• The Connect Time-out (Seconds) field displays the number of seconds before the response is considered a failure

• The Check Frequency (Minutes) field displays the amount of time between node response time tests.

Creating a Node Group

• Click on the Groups link in the top menu bar in NodeWatch to open the node Groups page.

• Click on the Add New Group button.

• Type a unique group name in the Group Alias field. Nodes can be sorted and graphed by group.

• Check Frequency (min.) Type the number of minutes indicating how often you want the group to be tested.

• Connect Time-out (sec.) Type the number of seconds a group is allowed to be down before an alert is triggered field.

• Profile Select a profile from the drop down list.

• Description field Type a description about the group in this text field. When you have many groups defined this helps you and other users remember the group's purpose.

Editing a Node Group

• Click on the Groups link in the top menu bar to open the Groups page.

• Find the Group you wish to edit and click its Edit icon.

• Edit the Group parameters.
Important : If you edit Check Frequency, the new check frequency will begin after the next originally scheduled check. For example, if it was originally a 15-minute frequency, it will check at 6:15 and 6:30. If you change the frequency to 5 minutes at 6:16, you will not see the 5-minute frequency begin until 6:30.

• Click the Update button.

Deleting a Node Group

• Click the Groups link in the top menu bar.

• Find the Group you wish to delete, then click its Trash can icon.

• Click the OK button to confirm the deletion.

Managing Nodes

There are 3 ways to add nodes:
       Add a Single Node
       Import a CSV list
       Autodiscovery

Each node uses one Watch Element. Chroniker has no hard limit to the number of Nodes that you can define. You are limited only by the number of Watch Elements you have available.

Before adding a node, reactions and events need to be created first or pre-defined ones can be used. To create new reactions and events, please refer to “managing Reactions” and “Events” sections in Chapter 2.

Adding a Single Node

• Click on the Add New Node button from the NodeWatch home page.

• Select a Group to which the new Node will belong from the drop down list.
Note: Select <New> to create a new group. Please refer to “Creating New Group” section under Managing Node Groups for more help with New Group form.

• Time-out (seconds ) field: Type a number in the of seconds the test should be attempted before timing out.

• Node Alias field: Type a descriptive name which should be unique.

• Host/IP field: Type a URL Address, Host Name or IP address in the format of www.yourbusiness.com, your_server_name, or ###.###.#.#

• Port field: Type in the application port number if you are monitoring an application. Leave this field blank for a Ping test.

• Count field: Type the number of how many attempts will be made within the time-out period.

• Type field: Select the type of this node from the drop-down list.

• SubType field: Select the sub type from the drop down list.
Note: You can add more sub types to the drop down list if needed. For instructions on how to do this, please refer to “Adding Types and Sub Types” section below.

• Dependency: Move the nodes that you want this new node to be dependent on from ‘Available Nodes' box to the ‘Parent Nodes' box using “>>” button.
Note: If the Parent Node goes down, its dependents will show as Unreachable. In this case, you will receive only one alert that the parent is down. If the Parent Node is up, reactions will resume as individually configured for the dependents.

• Select the Events for NodeWatch at each level from its drop down list. For an overview of Chroniker events please refer to Chapter 2: Features common to all Modules: Events.

• Click on the Add button at the bottom of the page.

Adding Node Types and Sub Types

To add more types and sub types to “Add New Node” form, edit the following file:
“<Chroniker Instalation Folder>/apps/includes/nodetypes.txt”

The file has the following format:
<Type>,<SubType>

Every entry needs to be on a new line.
Example: To add a new OS type Amiga, add the following to the end of the file:
OS,Amiga

This type will now be selectable from the sub type list.

Sub Type Image:

The value selected in the sub type drop-down list is also used to determine the icon used for this Node when displayed in the Status Map. To add an image for the types you added:

• Create an image file in your photo editor software.

• Name it <sub type>.gif. It is important that the image name is the same as the sub-type.
                      Example: Amiga.gif using the sub type created in the example above.
                      Note: For ideal results the image dimensions should be 40x40 pixels.
                                 At the moment only GIF image types are supported.

• Copy the image file created to :
“<Chroniker Installation Folder>/apps/images/statusmap_icons/”

Importing a List of Nodes

• Select Import Nodes from Add Nodes button

• Select a group for these nodes or define a new group by selecting <NEW>

• Click browse and Select the CSV file (plain text) containing the list of the Nodes to import into NodeWatch. ** The file must be saved as .csv (not renamed), and should not have any headers. ** The file should contain the following columns in the order listed, separated by a allowed character: -> Node Alias -> Node Address / IP -> Port (Can be left blank - however the column still needs to be in the file) Please note that the number of nodes that can be imported depends on the number of Watch Elements allowable by your Chroniker License The Maximum allowable file size is 2MB.

Autodiscovery

Select “Auto Discover” from “Add Nodes” button

• Click on “Add/Delete Ports” to define ports on your network

• Click on “Select Ports to Scan” to specify ports to check for this run on Autodiscovery.

• The default ports will appear. Check the box next to the ports you do NOT want to scan. Add the names and ports at the bottom of ports you want to ADD. Click Update. When the ports are correct, click Auto Discover Nodes.

• Enter the IP address of the lowest IP address in the range you want to scan. (Tab to get to next field)

• Enter the last field of the ending IP address to scan.

• Click Enter

• Wait a few minutes for Chroniker to scan your network.

Editing a Single Node

• Find the node you wish to edit in NodeWatch home page.

• Click the Edit icon corresponding to the node. This brings up the Edit Node page.

Editing Multiple Nodes

• Click on Manage Nodes in NodeWatch home page

• Choose all the nodes you want to change the group of and assign a group. Click update.

• Select all the nodes that share a common type and subtype. Select type and subtype, and click update.

• Select all the nodes that share a common parent. Move the common parent to the right box, and click update.

• Click on Status Map and view to see if all the nodes are configured as you wanted

• Select all nodes that you want to share common events and hit update.

• Continue to easily update your node configurations.

Deleting a Node

• Find the node you wish to delete in NodeWatch home page.

• Click the Trash can icon corresponding to the node you wish to delete. Click OK to confirm.

Pausing and Resuming Node Monitoring

The Pause icon and Resume icon toggle to pause and resume the testing of a node. Monitoring can be paused and then re-started when necessary if there is planned downtime for a node. Pausing monitoring will prevent unwanted reactions. Double red vertical bars are visible when the node test is active.

To Pause Node Monitoring

• Find the node you wish to stop monitoring on the NodeWatch home page.

• Click its Pause icon (two vertical red lines).

• Click the OK button to confirm the pause.

To Resume Node Monitoring

• Find the node you want to resume monitoring on the NodeWatch home page. When the node test is paused, the button shows the resume icon.

• Click on the corresponding Resume icon for the node.

• Click the OK button to confirm.

Graphing Nodes and Node Groups

Status Map

Status Map is a graphical map shows how the nodes are related to each other (parent-child relationship).

Status Map Options:

Status Map Options allows you to specify the layout, the groups to be hidden in the map, and the graphical options of the map.

• Click on the Status Map link from the top menu in the NodeWatch home page .

• Click on the Status Map Options button ()(icon)

• Enter the full path for a custom background image.

• Check “Show Popups” if you want the alert message to be displayed when the mouse pointer moves over the node icon.

• Check “Show Chroniker Icon” if you want the Chroniker icon to be displayed in the map.

• Select the Default Image Scaling percentage to increase or decrease the final image size.
Note: Increasing the scale will increase the status map generation time.

• Select the Default Layout Method for drawing the status map.

• Click on Submit button at the bottom of the page.

Accessing Graphs

To access graphs in NodeWatch do one of the following

• Go to the Nodewatch home page and click a Node Alias link or Group link to display the corresponding response time graph.

• Click the Graphs link on the top menu bar.

• See Chapter 2: Features Common to All Modules, section Graphs for details on the graphs page.

Reading Historical Response Time Graphs

Graphs by default show, the thirty most recent data points. For example, if the test frequency of a particular node set to one minute, the graph would span the most recent half hour of response times.

Node Group Graph Interpretation

Each data point is the average of the response times of each node in that group.

Shifting the Time Scale

• Click either the go backward [<] or go forward [>] button beneath the graph to view a different time frame.

Zooming

• Click the zoom out icon (magnifying glass with a minus sign in the middle) to expand the time frame shown. Example; if the graph shows a 30-minute duration on the x-axis (hour:min), click the zoom out icon to display hours (24-hour period), click it again to display days (1-month period), and click again to display months (1-year period).

• To zoom in, point to body of the graph, notice the magnifying glass icon with a plus sign in the middle appears. Click the zoom in icon on the point you desire.

Node Summary Data

Summary data for a node or a group is shown to the right of the graph. The summary contains the following data:

Group
This is the Group Alias name for which the Node belongs.

Check Frequency
How often the Node test is run.

Current Status
Reports if the node is up or down and time stamp for when this state began.

Last Response Time
The response time from the most recent test.

Current Uptime
Time since the last down or time from the first test if the node has never been down. In other words, the time span the node has been up. Zero is reported if the node is down for two or more consecutive tests (it has been down for the time equal to or greater than the check frequency).

** Important: A node must test down for two consecutive tests for Current uptime to be zero. A single test reporting a down status will not cause Current Uptime to be zero.

** Note: If the Chroniker host server is turned off or goes down, or Chroniker is shut down, this does not count as downtime, and the counter for current uptime will not be restarted.

Current Downtime
The time span the node has been down. Zero is reported if the node is up.

Last Uptime
The date and time of the last time the node came back to the up state or the time of the first test if the node has never been down.

Last Failure
The date and time of the last time the node went down. It is blank if the node has never been down.

Total Uptime
The total time the node has been up from the first test.

Total Downtime
The total time that node has been down from the first test.

Uptime Ratio
The percentage of time the node has been up.

Max. Response Time for [current month]
The longest response time reported this month.

Min. Response Time for [current month]
The shortest response time reported this month.

Avg. Response Time for [current month]
The average response time this month.

No. of Failures in [current month]
Number of node failures reported this month.

Last Checked At
When the most recent check was made.

Next Check Scheduled At
When the next check will happen.

NodeWatch Reports

Recent Failures

Click on the Recent Failures button from the NodeWatch home page to view recent failures. This displays a list of the most recent node failures at the top; time stamp and node alias are listed.

The recent failures list is purged periodically. The purge schedule for Recent Failures follows the Purge Real-time data after X days setting. This is edited on the Global Options home page through clicking the Setup link in the main top bar.

Active Alerts

Click the Active Alerts button, from the NodeWatch home page to view Active Alerts. Active Alerts show what is currently exceeding thresholds at a glance. The table shows the Alert Time, the Alias, the Group and a message.

The colored ball indicates the alert status of the group or individual test.

Alert Status Color Codes

Blue ball icon - informational alert

Yellow ball icon - warning alert

Orange ball icon - error alert

Red circle white arrow icon - means "down",or "not found"

Grey circle with black question mark icon - means unkown status because the parent node is down

Top N Reports

Select a number from the left hand drop down list. Click the radial button to Get the top N (10, 15, 25, or 50) nodes with a particular test result statistic.

Daily/Monthly/ Yearly Report

This report displays Uptime and Performance information in three different time frames - daily, monthly, and yearly. Columns show the Uptime% or Performance in milliseconds for the time frames of Business hours or Twenty Four Seven.

Uptime Percentage and Performance in Seconds
Uptime Percentage is the numerical value for the amount of time the test is active.

Performance (ms)
This measurement is broken down by column in either 24/7 time period or Business Hours.

Business Hours
Uptime% during the hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 p.m, Monday through Friday. This reference to business hours is not related to any profiles you may have defined. These hours are built into Chroniker and cannot be changed.

24/7
Total uptime% without any time restraints placed on it.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

Display test Uptime and Performance information in three different time frames daily, weekly, and monthly.

Uptime Percentage and Performance in Milliseconds.

Uptime Percentage
The numerical value for the amount of time the test is active.

Performance (ms)
This is the numerical time value is takes to get a response from an active test.

These columns are split up by Today and Yesterday for the Day, Current or Previous for the Week and Month.

A high uptime percentage is desirable, while and a low performance number (i.e. response time) is desirable. Green means good and red means bad when comparing today to yesterday or the current week to the previous ones arrows. The arrows show either up or down in comparison to its own category.

For example, a green arrow uptime of 98% compared to yesterday's 69% is good. A red up arrow for today's performance of 1000.24 compared to yesterday's 50.12 is bad.

Node Alert Details Report

Node Alert Details give users information on the Nodes that have most recently gone down.

Nodes
This is the name of the Node that went down.

Alert Duration
The amount of time that the node was down.

Alert Started
This is the actual time in which the node was first measured as being down.

Alert Ended
This is the actual time in which the node was measured as being up.

Alert Message
This tells whether it was down or could not be found and what parameter it exceeded.

Exporting Reports

Reports generated from the Reports page can be exported. To export a report to Excel:

• Create the report you wish export.

• Click Export to Excel button.

• Choose to either Open the Report immediately OR to Save the report. To save the report one has to specify the path location to save the file to.

E-Mailing Reports

Reports generated from the Reports page can be E-mailed. Note the recipient must have HTML enabled for their inbox. To e-mail a report:

• Create the report you wish export.

• Click the E-Mail this Report button.

• Type the Name and E-mail address of who will receive the report in the proper fields.

• Type your name and E-mail address in the proper fields.

• Type a message you wish to accompany the report in the body of the E-mail.

• Click the Send E-mail button.

Chapter 4: TaskWatch
        What Is TaskWatch?
       TaskWatch Terms
       TaskWatch home Page
       Type of Tasks
       Task Groups
       Managing Tasks
       Graphing for Tasks and Task Groups
       Task Summary Data
       TaskWatch Reports

What Is TaskWatch?

TaskWatch helps you view and record the response times of defined applications or protocols. TaskWatch performs tasks (tests) from the application layer perspective. Task types include: Database, FTP, Web Server, Advanced Web Server, DNS server, Mail Server, LDAP server, Active Directory server, Network File Copy, and Custom tests.

TaskWatch Terms

Some common terms that are critical for using TaskWatch are listed below.

Task Groups
A task group shares key characteristics: task group name, and check frequency. It is meant to represent how a user would interact with a system.

Task
Tasks are the specific application or protocol tests. They currently include: database, FTP, Web server, Advanced Web server, DNS server, Mail Server, LDAP server, Active Directory server, Network File Copy, and Custom test.

TaskWatch Home Page

To access the TaskWatch home page, click the TaskWatch icon on the Chroniker main page. The TaskWatch home page reads "task groups" at the top. When you are in the TaskWatch module, clicking the task groups link in the top menu bar will bring you back to the TaskWatch home page.

Buttons and displays in top section

Refresh button
The refresh button is a graphic of two arrows in a circular pattern. Clicking it updates the page, showing the most current status of each task group.

Add Task button
Opens a menu of task types. Once you click in one of taks listed, open the page that allows you to defined that specific task.

Active Alerts button
Opens the Alerts Page and shows a listing of the current alerts and their threshold levels.

Reading the Tasks table

Each task is listed in a row of t