Overview
up.time includes user-definable parameters that can control some aspects of its behavior including the following:
- Database Settings
- Mail Server Settings
- Global Scan threshold settings
- Resource Scan threshold settings
- Proxy settings
- Remote reporting settings
- RSS feed settings
- Splunk integration settings
- Web monitor settings
From a configuration perspective, there are two types of parameters:
- parameters whose modification does not require a restart of the Core service (also known as the up.time Data Collector service); these parameters can be modified in up.time , on the Config panel
- parameters whose modification requires a restart of the Core service; these parameters are found in the uptime.conf file
Modifying up.time Config Panel Settings
Configuration parameters that are not directly tied to, thus do not require a restart of, the up.time Core service can be modified directly in the up.time GUI (shown below):
On the up.time tool bar, click Config .
- In the Tree panel, click up.time Configuration .
- Enter the configuration variable and new value.
- Click Update to save your changes.
Modifying uptime.conf File Settings
Configuration parameters that are directly tied to the up.time Core service are found in the uptime.conf file. uptime.conf is a text file that you can modify in any text editor, and can be found in the root up.time installation directory.
In addition to the up.time database, uptime.conf parameters affect a variety of up.time behavior.
Stopping and Restarting up.time Services
In addition to the Web interface, the up.time Monitoring Station consists of the following services:
- DataStore
- Web server
- Data Collector (also called the Core)
These services run in the background and start automatically after the operating system on the server hosting up.time starts. However, system administrators may need to stop the up.time services - for example, before making configuration changes to the uptime.conf file, performing an upgrade, or archiving the DataStore.
Stopping the up.time Services
To stop the up.time services in Windows, do the following:
- Select Start > Control Panel .
- Double click Administrative Tools , and then double click Services .
- In the Services window, find the following entries and click Stop the service:
- up.time Web Server
- up.time Data Collector
- up.time Data Store
To stop the up.time services on Solaris or Linux, do the following:
- Log into the Monitoring Station as user root.
- Type the following command to stop the Web server:
/etc/init.d/uptime_httpd stop - Type the following command to stop the Data Collector:
/etc/init.d/uptime_core stop - Type the following command to stop the database:
/etc/init.d/uptime_datastore stop
Starting the up.time Services
To restart the up.time services in Windows, do the following:
- Select Start > Control Panel .
- Double click Administrative Tools , and then double click Services .
- In the Services window, find the following entries and click Start the service:
- up.time Data Store
- up.time Data Collector
- up.time Web Server
To restart the up.time services on Solaris or Linux, do the following:
- At the command line, log into the Monitoring Station as user root.
- Type the following command to start the database:
/etc/init.d/uptime_datastore start - Type the following command to start the Data Collector:
/etc/init.d/uptime_core start - Type the following command to start the Web server:
/etc/init.d/uptime_httpd start
Interfacing with up.time
Some of the Monitoring Station’s features require integration with other elements that make up your infrastructure. In some cases configuration is mandatory (e.g., an SMTP server will need to have been set at the time of installation), while in others it is required only when particular up.time features are used (e.g., using the Web Application Transaction monitor requires you to provide up.time with your proxy server settings). The following sections outline how to configure up.time to communicate with servers and databases.
Database Settings
The database settings determine how up.time communicates with the DataStore. The following are the database settings in the uptime.conf file.
- dbType=
The type of database that is being used to store data from up.time. The default value is mysql. You can also specify mssql and oracle to use SQL Server and Oracle, respectively.
By default, up.time uses a JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) driver, and the driver used to connect to the DataStore corresponds to the database selected:
-
com.mysql.jdbc.Driverfor MySQL -
net.sourceforge.jtds.jdbc.Driverfor Microsoft SQL Server -
oracle.jdbc.OracleDriverfor Oracle
-
- dbHostname=
The name of the system on which the database is running. The default is localhost .
- dbPort=
The port on which the database is listening. The default is 3308 .
- dbName=
The name of the database. The default is uptime .
- dbUsername=
The name of the default database user, which is uptime .
- dbPassword=
The password for the default database user, which is uptime .
- dbJdbcProperty=
Optional property-and-value pairs to append to the JDBC database URL. Note that only MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server supports URL properties, so this setting will do nothing if you are using Oracle. The value of the dbJdbcProperty parameter in uptime.conf should be verbatim as that which would be manually added to the URL. The exact format depends on the database type. Consider the following examples:
dbJdbcProperty=instance=sqlserver;ssl=requestfor MS SQL ServerdbJdbcProperty=instance=mysql&useSSL=truefor MySQL- connectionPoolMaximum=
The maximum number of connections that are allowed to the DataStore. Setting this option to a lower number will help increase the performance of up.time .
- connectionPoolMaxIdleTime=
(c3p0 library) Sets the amount of time a connection can be idle before it is closed. This parameter should only be modified with the assistance of uptime software Customer Support.
- connectionPoolNumHelperThreads=
(c3p0 library) Sets the number of helper threads that can improve the performance of slow JDBC operations. This parameter should only be modified with the assistance of uptime software Customer Support.
Changing the DataStore Database
The up.time DataStore is first linked to a database during the installation process, and contains important historical performance data that has since been collected. Linking the DataStore to a new database will result in lost data unless you properly migrate your data to the new database. As such, changing the DataStore’s database should be done only after some consideration and planning.
In cases where you would like to migrate the database (e.g., from the default up.time MySQL implementation to Oracle) or move the DataStore to a different system from the Monitoring Station, you will modify the aforementioned database values in the uptime.conf file. Note that the modification of these values is one of a series of steps. Refer to the Knowledge Base for more information on migrating your DataStore.
Monitoring Station Web Server
Monitoring Stations include a Web server component that drives the user interface. Any Monitoring Station that is accessed by users or administrators requires a URL. The Web address used to access the Monitoring Station is configured through the following uptime.conf parameter:
httpContext = http://<hostname>:<port>
- <hostname> is the host name of the server on which up.time is running (e.g., localhost)
- <port> is the port on which the up.time Web server is listening for requests (e.g., 9999 ); you can optionally omit the port number
If the up.time interface is being accessed via SSL, the value for this parameter should be stated as https instead of http .
SMTP Server
up.time uses a mail server to send alerts and reports to its users. After installing up.time for the first time, the administrator was asked to enter SMTP server information. These initial values can be modified in the Mail Servers configuration panel.
Modifying the SMTP Server Used by up.time
To configure up.time ’s mail server, do the following:
- On the up.time tool bar, click Config .
- In the Tree panel, click Mail Servers .
- In the sub panel, click Edit Configuration .
- Type the name of the mail server in the SMTP Server field.
This value was set the first time the up.time administrator logged in after installation; the default value is the name of the host on which the Monitoring Station was installed at that time.
The name of the server could follow the “ smtp.<domain_name> ” convention, or could be its host name or IP address. - Optionally, enter the port used by the mail server in the SMTP Port field.
- In the SMTP Sender field, enter the email address that up.time uses to send alert notifications and reports.
This value was set the first time the up.time administrator logged in after installation, and should be set to your domain (e.g., [email protected] ).
A sender’s name can be encapsulated with double quotes, in which case, the email address is encapsulated with angled brackets: “uptime administrator” <[email protected]> - In the SMTP HELO String field, enter the string that identifies the domain from which a message is being sent.
For example, uptimesoftware.com . - In the SMTP User field, enter the user name that is used to authenticate connections with the SMTP server.
- In the SMTP Password field, enter the password that is used to authenticate connections.
- Click Save .
The edit window closes, and you are returned to the Mail Server Configuration panel. - To test the mail server configuration, click the Test Configuration button.
The Monitoring Station will try to send an email message containing the configuration information to the email address of the up.time administrator. If an error message appears in the subpanel, edit and then re-test the configuration.
Configuring Global Data Collection Methods
A Windows-based Element can retrieve metric data either through the up.time Agent, or via WMI (see Agentless WMI Systems for more information). You can configure details for either method at a global level, in the form of agent connection information or WMI access credentials. Having global details defined simplifies individual Element configuration, and also allows you to switch the data collection method for multiple Windows Elements, at once, as a group.
When a system is part of the up.time inventory, its data collection method is either configured to be based on an Agent , or a WMI Agentless method. This configuration option is set when the system is first added as an Element. If agent and WMI details have been globally defined, when adding the Element, you will be able to Use the up.time Agent Global Configuration , or use WMI Global Credentials to skip configuration steps.
Once configured, this data collection method can later be switched from an agent-based, to agentless method, or vice versa. Although this change can be made on a per-Element basis, multiple Elements can also be switched in a single batch. In the latter case, the data collection method must be globally defined.
To configure data collection methods globally, you can provide information for either the up.time Agent, or your organization’s WMI credentials, or both. Note that batches of Elements can only be converted to a particular data collection source when that method has been globally configured in the Global Element Settings panel.
Configuring Global WMI Credentials
To provide WMI credentials that can be used to switch Windows Elements from agent-based data collection:
- On the up.time tool bar, click Config .
- In the Tree panel, click Global Element Settings .
- In the WMI Agentless Global Credentials sub panel, click Edit Configuration .
- Enter the Windows Domain in which WMI has been implemented.
- In the Username field, enter the user ID that has administrative access to WMI on the Windows domain.
- In the Password field, enter the password for the WMI account.
- Click Save to retain your changes.
- Click Test Configuration to ensure the credentials provided are correct.
Configuring a Global up.time Agent Configuration
To provide up.time Agent information that can be used to switch Windows Elements from agentless, WMI-based data collection, do the following:
- On the up.time tool bar, click Config .
- In the Tree panel, click Global Element Settings .
- In the up.time Agent Global Configuration sub panel, click Edit Configuration .
- Enter the Agent Port Number , indicating the port the up.time Agents use to communicate with the up.time Monitoring Station.
- Note - The port number entered reflects what the up.time Agents are configured to use; this setting does not modify the agent-side configuration.
- Select the Use SSL check box if the agents securely communicate with the Monitoring Station using SSL.
- Click Save to retain your changes.
- Click Test Configuration to ensure the information provided is correct.
Global SNMP Configuration Settings
When you add a network device to up.time , as part of the configuration process, you must provide details about how SNMP has been configured to communicate with and manage other devices on the network. These details describe, among other things, the SNMP protocol being used, and encryption methods.
By default, SNMP-specific settings are inputted for each network-type device, as they are added to up.time . To facilitate this process, your network’s SNMP settings can defined globally in the Global Element Settings panel.
Global SNMP Settings
The following SNMP settings are used to configure network-related Elements, and can be defined globally.
SNMP Version | The SNMP version the network device and your network are using. | |
SNMP Port | The port on which network devices have been configured to listen for SNMP messages. | |
Read Community | A string that acts like a user ID or password, giving you access to the network device instance. Common read communities are “public”, enabling you to retrieve read-only information from the device, and “private”, enabling you to access all information on the device. | |
Username | The name that is required to connect to the network device. | |
Authentication Password | The password that is required to connect to the network device. | |
Authentication Method | This option determines how encrypted information travelling between the network device and up.time will be authenticated:
| |
Privacy Password | The password that will be used to encrypt information travelling between the network device and up.time . | |
Privacy Type | From the list, select an option that will determine how information travelling between the network device and up.time will be encrypted:
| |
Pingable Node | This specifies whether up.time can contact the node using the ping utility. There are scenarios in which you might not want the node to be pingable (e.g., you have a firewall in place). Before enabling this option, you should try to contact the node using the ping utility. If you cannot ping the node, ensure the check box is left cleared. Then, change the default host check for the node. See Changing Host Checks for more information. | |
Exports Data to Scrutinzer | If Scrutinizer has been integrated with up.time , and is also receiving NetFlow data from the node, use this option. You will then be able to call a Scrutinizer instance directly from the node’s Graphing tab in up.time . | |
Globally Defining SNMP Version 2 Settings
To globally define the SNMP version 2 settings used to communicate with network devices on your network, do the following:
- On the up.time tool bar, click Config .
- In the Tree panel, click Global Element Settings .
- In the SNMP Global Credentials sub panel, click Edit Configuration .
- Enter the SNMP Port on which your network devices are listening.
- Enter the Read Community used to access network devices (e.g., “public” or “private”).
- Indicate whether up.time can contact the network device with the ping utility by selecting or clearing Is Node Pingable? checkbox.
- Click Save to retain your changes.
- Click Test Configuration to ensure the information provided is correct.
Globally Defining SNMP Version 3 Settings
To globally define the SNMP version 2 settings used to communicate with network devices on your network, do the following:
- On the up.time tool bar, click Config .
- In the Tree panel, click Global Element Settings .
- In the SNMP Global Credentials sub panel, click Edit Configuration .
- For the SNMP Version , select v3 .
The configuration fields relevant to that SNMP version will appear. - Enter the SNMP Port on which your network devices are listening.
- Enter the Username used to connect to network devices.
- Optionally enter the Authentication Password required to connect to network devices.
- Indicate the Authentication Method used for encryption.
If no password is provided, the authentication method is ignored. - Optionally enter the Privacy Password used to encrypt communication between network devices and up.time .
- Indicate the Privacy Type used for encryption.
If no password is provided, the authentication method is ignored.
Note - You can set both the authentication and password types, only one of them, or neither. - Indicate whether up.time can contact the network device with the ping utility by selecting or clearing Is Node Pingable? checkbox.
- Click Save to retain your changes.
- Click Test Configuration to ensure the information provided is correct.
RSS Feed Settings
up.time displays a list of recent knowledge base articles in the My Portal panel. This list is fed to the My Portal panel via RSS (Really Simple Syndication, a method for delivering summaries of and links to Web content). Clicking the title of an article opens it in your Web browser.
By default, RSS feeds are drawn directly from the uptime software Support Portal without the use of proxy server information. If your Monitoring Station accesses the Internet through one, feeds will most likely not be available, and the following message will appear in the My Portal panel:
Changing Proxy Server Information for RSS Feeds
You can manually configure the settings for RSS feeds through the following parameters (default values, if applicable, are shown):
- rssFeedUrl=http://support.uptimesoftware.com/rss/kb.xml
The URL of the RSS feed.
- httpProxyHost
The host name of the proxy server that the Monitoring Station uses to access the Internet.
- httpProxyPort
The port through which the Monitoring Station communicates with the proxy server.
- httpProxyUsername
The user name required to use the proxy server.
- httpProxyPassword
The password required to use the proxy server.
VMware vCenter Orchestrator Integration
Administrators can configure Action Profiles to automatically carry out tasks in the event of an up.time alert. One such task is the initiation of contact with VMware vCenter Orchestrator, and the execution of a workflow. To have access to this functionality, up.time needs to know how to communicate with Orchestrator.
For information about Action Profiles and VMware vCenter Orchestrator, see Action Profiles
Integrating up.time with VMware vCenter Orchestrator
To configure up.time integration with Orchestrator to execute workflows, do the following:
On the up.time tool bar, click Config .
In the Tree panel, click VMware vCenter Orchestrator .
- In the sub panel, click Edit Configuration .
- Ensure the VMware Orchestrator Enabled check box is selected.
- In the VMware Orchestrator Server field, enter the host name of, or IP address assigned to the Orchestrator server when it was configured.
- In the VMware Orchestrator Port field, enter the port the Orchestrator server was configured to use in order to communicate with other systems.
- Optionally select the Use SSL check box if Orchestrator was configured to use an SSL certificate.
- Enter the Username and Password of an appropriate user account on the Orchestrator server.
For proper integration, an Orchestrator account with View and Execute permissions is required. - Click Save .
The configuration window closes, and you are returned to the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Configuration panel. - To ensure the settings you provided are correct, click the Test Configuration button.
The Monitoring Station will try to communicate with the VMware vCenter Orchestrator server. If an error message appears in the subpanel, edit and then re-test the configuration.
Web Application Monitor Proxy Settings
When the Web Application Transaction monitor is recording a user session on an external site, it is intercepting URLs by acting as your browser’s proxy. For the monitor to do this, you must replace your organization’s proxy server information with the Web Application Transaction monitor in your browser settings. In order for the monitor to access the Internet, you must provide your proxy settings in up.time .
This monitor-specific proxy information is used during transaction recording; during session playback, the proxy normally used by up.time (defined by the httpProxy* settings) is used.
For more information about the Web Application Transaction monitor, see Web Application Transactions.
You can change up.time ’s proxy server configuration by manually inputting settings in the up.time Configuration panel, as outlined in Modifying up.time Config Panel Settings
Changing Proxy Server Information for up.time
You can configure the proxy server settings used by up.time when running the Web Application Transaction monitor with the following parameters:
- webmonitor.proxyHost
The host name of the proxy server that the Web Application Transaction monitor uses to access the Internet during transaction recording.
- webmonitor.proxyPort
The port through which the Web Application Transaction monitor communicates with the proxy server during transaction recording.
Remote Reporting Settings
If you are using a reporting instance (an up.time instance that only generates and serves reports), the remote reporting settings enable you to specify the location of the reporting instance, and the port on which it is listening.
Modifying the Remote Reporting Server Settings
To configure the remote reporting instance used by up.time , do the following:
- On the up.time tool bar, click Config .
- In the Tree panel, click Remote Reporting .
- In the sub panel, click Edit Configuration .
- Ensure the Reporting Instance Enabled check box has been selected.
- In the Remote Reporting Server field, enter the host name or IP address of the server on which the remote reporting instance is found.
- Enter the port used to communicate with the server.
- Click Save .
The edit window closes, and you are returned to the Remote Reporting Instance Configuration panel. - To test the remote reporting server configuration, click Test Configuration .
A pop-up window appears, indicating whether up.time was able to connect to the remote reporting instance. If an error message is displayed, correct your configuration and re-test it.
Note that the modification of these values is one of a series of steps performed to correctly set up a remote reporting instance. Refer to the Knowledge Base article entitled “Setting up a reporting instance” for more information.
User Interface Instance Settings
A UI instance is an up.time installation that does not perform any data collection tasks, and is primarily used for real-time monitoring and report generation. UI instances can divert traffic from a standard Monitoring Station implementation, and are helpful when there are many up.time users who do not need to perform full administrative tasks.
You can manually configure UI instance settings with the following uptime.conf parameters:
- uiOnlyInstance = true
Determines whether the Monitoring Station functions only as a user interface instance.
- uiOnlyInstance.monitoringStationHost = HOSTNAME
The host name or IP address of the up.time Monitoring Station that is performing data collection, and to which this UI instance will connect.
- uiOnlyInstance.monitoringStationDbCommandPort = 9995
The port through which the UI instance can communicate with the data-collecting Monitoring Station.
A Monitoring Station that is acting as a UI instance must have the same database settings as the data-collecting Monitoring Station. See Database Settings for more information.
Scrutinizer Settings
Scrutinizer is a NetFlow analyzer that can be installed to monitor network traffic managed by compatible switches and routers. Scrutinizer can be integrated with Global Scan , as well as up.time ’s graph generation for node-type Elements, and other hosts that are also monitored with Scrutinizer.
In order to access Scrutinizer, up.time needs to be pointed to your installation.
Modifying the Scrutinizer Settings
You can configure Scrutinizer’s integration with up.time through the following parameters:
- netflow.enabled
Determines whether Scrutinizer is integrated with the Monitoring Station.
- netflow.hostname
The host name or IP address of your Scrutinizer installation.
- netflow.port
The HTTP port through which Scrutinizer sends and receives communication.
- netflow.username
The user name required to log in to Scrutinizer.
- netflow.password
The password required to log in to Scrutinizer.
Splunk Settings
Splunk is a third-party search engine that indexes log files and data from the devices, servers, and applications in your network. Using Splunk, you can quickly analyze your logs to pinpoint problems on a server or in a network, or ensure that you are in compliance with a regulatory mandate or Service Level Agreements. You install Splunk on a server in your datacenter.
When values are provided for the Splunk settings listed below, the Splunk icon will appear in the My Portal panel beside the names of services that are in WARN or CRIT states. When you click the Splunk icon, you will be automatically logged in to your Splunk search page.
You can change your up.time -Splunk integration by manually inputting settings in the up.time Configuration panel, as outlined in Modifying up.time Config Panel Settings.
Changing Splunk Server Information for up.time
You can enable automatic login to the Splunk search page, or modify an existing configuration through the following parameters:
- splunk.url
The URL of the server on which your Splunk search page is hosted (e.g., http://webportal:8000 ).
- splunk.username
The user name required to log in to your Splunk search page.
- splunk.password
The password required to log in to your Splunk search page.
- splunk.soapurl
The URL that points to the SOAP management port that Splunk uses to communicate with the splunk daemon (e.g., https://webportal:8089 ).
In the URL, you must include the port on which the Splunk server listens for requests. See the Splunk Admin Manual for more information.
Archiving the DataStore
Depending on the amount of disk space available for the continuously growing DataStore, administrators can set an archive policy that determines how many month’s worth of data is retained. Old performance data is automatically archived and removed from the DataStore. This archiving procedure works with all databases that are compatible with up.time .
The existing archive policy can be viewed and modified on the Archive Policy subpanel, which is accessed from the main Config panel. Here, the main archive categories are shown, along with the number of months for which collected data is retained in the DataStore.
Every month, up.time checks the DataStore’s entries; data that is older than the limit set in the archive policy are written to XML files. The XML archives use the following format:
<table_name>_<date>.xml.gz
The archives created reflect the database table structure used to store performance data, as well as the date that the stored data represents:
performance_cpu_2006-09-13.xml.gz
The DataStore is trimmed and the XML files are compressed and stored in the /archives directory.
For example, if you installed up.time in the default location, the path to the archived data will be:
- Linux: /usr/local/uptime/archives
- Solaris: /opt/uptime/archives
- Windows: C:\Program Files\uptime software\uptime\archives
Note - Windows Vista users can find the DataStore archive in the Virtual Store instead of the default up.time location (i.e., C:\Users\uptime\AddData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\< uptime-install-directory >.
Once backed up, archives can be stored offline. If required, they can be temporarily imported into the DataStore.
Archive Categories
The following table lists the statistical categories whose archiving can be configured, along with the corresponding DataStore database table:
Archive Policy Category | Database Table |
|---|---|
Overall CPU/Memory | performance_cpu |
Multi-CPU | performance_aggregate |
Detailed Process | performance_psinfo |
Disk Performance | performance_disk |
File System Capacity | performance_fscap |
Network | performance_network |
User Information | performance_who |
Volume Manager | performance_vxvol |
Retained Data | erdc_int_data erdc_decimal_data erdc_string_data |
vSphere Performance Data | vmware_perf_aggregate vmware_perf_cluster vmware_perf_datastore_usage vmware_perf_datastore_vm_usage vmware_perf_disk_rate vmware_perf_entitlement vmware_perf_host_cpu vmware_perf_host_disk_io vmware_perf_host_disk_io_adv vmware_perf_host_network vmware_perf_host_power_state vmware_perf_mem vmware_perf_mem_advanced vmware_perf_network_rate vmware_perf_vm_cpu vmware_perf_vm_disk_io vmware_perf_vm_network vmware_perf_vm_power_state vmware_perf_vm_storage_usage vmware_perf_vm_vcpu vmware_perf_watts vsync_update |
vSphere Inventory Updates | virtual_inventory_update vmware_event table |
Network Device Performance Data | net_device_perf_ping net_device_perf_port |
Configuring an Archive Policy
To set an archive policy, do the following:
- On the up.time tool bar, click Config .
- In the Tree panel, click Archive Policy .
- For the following categories, specify the number of months worth of data that will be retained in the DataStore before being removed and archived:
- Overall CPU/Memory Statistics
- Multi-CPU Statistics
- Detailed Process Statistics
- Disk Performance Statistics
- File System Capacity Statistics
- Network Statistics
- User Information Statistics
- Volume Manager Statistics
- Retained Data
- vSphere Performance Data
- vSphere Inventory Data
- Network Device Performance Data
- Ensure the Enable Archiving checkbox is selected.
- Click Set Archive Policy .
- Optionally, you can click the Archive Now button to immediately create archives of the data in your DataStore.
up.time will check the DataStore entries and archiving anything that is older than the limits you have configured.
Restoring Archived Data
If you need to generate graphs or reports on older data that has already been archived, and is no longer in the DataStore, you can import specific archives using the restorearchive command line utility. The command’s parameters allow you to import archives in the following manner:
- a single archive that represents a specific archive category and date; the collected data for each archive category and 24-hour period is exported to individual XML files
- all archives for a specific date (i.e., 24-hour period)
Importing Archived Data into the DataStore
To import archived data into the DataStore, do the following:
- At the command line, navigate to the following directory:
- Linux: /usr/local/uptime/scripts/
- Solaris: /opt/uptime/scripts/
- Windows: C:\Program Files\uptime software\uptime\archives
- Run the restorearchivecommand with one or more of the following options:
- -f <filename>
Imports a single file (i.e., an archive category’s data for a single date). You must specify the full path to the file name. - -d <date>
Imports all files with the specified date (in YYYY-MM-DD format). - -D <directory>
The directory containing the archived files. Note that you must specify this option when using the -d option. - -c <directory>
The full directory path to the file uptime.conf .
- -f <filename>
- For example, enter the following command to import all of the data archived on September 18, 2006 which are located in the default directory for archived data:
restorearchive -d 2006-09-18 -D /usr/local/uptime/archives/ -c /usr/local/uptime
Exporting and Importing the DataStore
In cases where you need to perform a wholesale backup of the existing DataStore (e.g., migrating your DataStore to another database), up.time includes two command line utilities:
- fulldatabasedump
Creates a compressed XML file of the contents of your DataStore.
- fulldatabaseimport
Imports the archived data back into your DataStore.
Both utilities work with all of the databases that up.time supports.
Archiving the DataStore
To archive your DataStore, do the following:
- Ensure the database hosting the DataStore is running.
- Stop the up.time Data Collector service.
See Stopping and Restarting up.time Services for more information. - Navigate to the scripts folder under the directory where up.time is installed.
- Run the following command:
fulldatabasedump
Depending on the size of your DataStore, this process can take anywhere from several minutes to several hours.
The utility creates the file uptimedump_YYYY-MM-DD.xml.gz - for example uptimedump_2007-01-02.xml.gz . This file is saved in up.time 's root installation directory.
Note - Windows Vista users can find the DataStore archive in the Virtual Store instead of the default up.time location (i.e., C:\Users\uptime\AddData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\< uptime-install-directory >. - Restart the up.time Data Collector service.
Restoring the DataStore
To restore your DataStore, do the following:
- Ensure the database hosting the DataStore is running.
- Use the resetdb utility with the really and nodata options to delete, then recreate the database structure that is used by up.time by running one of the following commands:
- Linux: /usr/local/uptime/resetdb --nodata really
- Solaris: /opt/uptime/resetdb --nodata really
- Windows: C:\Program Files\uptime software\uptime\resetdb --nodata really
- Run the following command:
fulldatabaseimport path/<filetoimport>.xml.gz
Where path/<filetoimport>.xml.gz is path to and file name of the archived contents of your DataStore. For example, to import an archive that is located in up.time ’s root installation directory, enter the following:
fulldatabaseimport uptimedump_2007-01-02.xml.gz
Note - Windows Vista users can find the DataStore archive in the Virtual Store instead of the default up.time location (i.e., C:\Users\uptime\AddData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\< uptime-install-directory >.
up.time Diagnosis
The following options assist you with diagnostic steps that you may need to perform should you encounter problems with up.time . You have access to two types of logs: system logs and audit logs that track user actions. Additionally, you can generate a problem report for up.time Customer Support if further analysis is required.
System and audit logs are written to the /logs directory, and problem reports are found in the /GUI directory, both of which are found in the up.time installation directory:
- Linux: /usr/local/uptime/
- Solaris: /opt/uptime/
- Windows: C:\Program Files\uptime software\uptime
Note - Windows Vista users can find the audit log in the Virtual Store instead of the default up.time location (i.e., C:\Users\uptime\AddData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\< uptime-install-directory >.
System Event Logging
up.time automatically logs system events to the /logs directory. These weekly logs follow the uptime.log.<year>-<week>.log naming format. You can determine the type of system information up.time writes to the log by using one of the following values:
- DEBUG
- INFO
- WARN
- ERROR
- FATAL
- ALL
- OFF
The default setting, DEBUG , essentially logs all system event types. To reduce the number of log entries, you can limit logging to events with a higher level of severity, from INFO to FATAL . Note that each severity level is a subset of higher levels (e.g., setting loggingLevel to WARN means any WARN -, ERROR - or FATAL -level events are written to the log).
Logging is configured through the following uptime.conf parameter:
loggingLevel = DEBUG
Audit Logs
up.time can record changes to the application’s configuration in an audit log. The details of the configuration changes are saved in the audit.log file, which is found in the /logs directory.
There are many uses for the audit log. For example, you can use the audit log to track changes to your up.time environment for compliance with your security or local policies. You can also use the audit log to debug problems that may have been introduced into your up.time installation by a specific configuration change; the audit log enables you to determine who made the change and when it took effect.
The following is an example of an audit log entry:
2006-02-23 12:28:20,082 - kdawg: ADDSYSTEM [cfgcheck=true, port=9998, number=1, use-ssl=false, systemType=1, hostname=10.1.1.241, displayName=MailMain, systemSystemGroup=1, serviceGroup=, description=, systemSubtype=1]
Audit Logging is enabled or disabled, with “ yes ” or “ no ” values, respectively, through the following uptime.conf parameter:
auditEnabled = yes
Problem Reporting
When you encounter a problem with up.time , Client Care needs specific information to diagnose and fix the problem. up.time can automatically collect this information and compress it in an archive which you can send to Client Care.
The archive contains the following:
- up.time configuration files
- system information
- log files
- database information and error files
- Java hs_err_pid error files
- a listing of the DataStore directory
- optionally, a copy of the configuration data from the DataStore
The archive is saved to the GUI/problemreports directory on the Monitoring Station and has a file name with the following format:
prYYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.zip
- YYYYMMDD is the date on which the report was generated (e.g., 20061212 ).
- HHMMSS is the time at which the report was generated (e.g., 142306 ).
Generating a Problem Report
To generate a problem report, do the following:
- On the up.time tool bar, click Config .
- In the Tree panel, click Problem Reporting .
If you have generated problem reports in the past, they appear in the subpanel. - If you do not want to include a copy the configuration data from your DataStore, click the Include config database dump option.
- Click the Generate Report button.
A message such as the following appears in the subpanel:
Problem report created : pr20061017-094927.zip - Click the name of the problem report to download it to your local file system, then send the archive to uptime software Client Care.
up.time Measurement Tuning
In some cases, you can make measurement adjustments to up.time's default values. Changes can be made to the following:
- the number of threads allocated to service monitors
- Java heap size
- status thresholds in the Resource Scan and Global Scan panels
- how often performance and status are checked for monitored hosts
Service Monitor Thread Counts
By default, the number of Java threads allocated to service and performance monitors is 100. This can be modified with the following uptime.conf parameter:
serviceThreads=100
Java Heap Size
By default, the JVM's heap memory is 1 GB. If your monitoring deployment has a lot of service monitors running or reports to generate, you can the increase the amount of Java heap memory (e.g., 1.5 GB) to improve performance.
When increasing the Java heap size, ensure your Monitoring Station resources can support the new setting. If the OS does not have the desired amount of memory available exclusively for up.time, the up.time Core service may become unstable and crash, despite starting up successfully.
Adjusting the Java Heap Size
The amount of memory allocated to the JVM can be adjusted by modifying one of the following parameters, depending on your Monitoring Station platform:
On Linux, edit the <uptimeInstallDir>/uptime.lax file and modify the following:
lax.nl.java.option.java.heap.size.max=1000m
<uptimeInstallDir>\UptimeDataCollector.inifile and modify the following:vm.heapsize.preferred=1024m
Note that heap size is measured in megabytes for both parameters.
Status Thresholds
The Global Scan threshold settings determine when a cell in the Global Scan panel changes state to reflect a host’s status change: green represents normal status, yellow represents Warning status, and red represents Critical.
The Resource Scan threshold settings determine the size of the gauge ranges on the Resource Scan view: green represents normal status, yellow represents Warning status, and red represents Critical status.
You can change the thresholds used to determine status by manually inputting settings in the up.time Configuration panel, as outlined in Modifying up.time Config Panel Settings.
Changing Global Scan Threshold Settings
You can modify the Global Scan threshold settings through the following parameters (default values are shown):
globalscan.cpu.warn=70 | Warning-level status is reported when CPU usage is at 70% or greater |
globalscan.cpu.crit=90 | Critical-level status is reported when CPU usage is at 90% or greater |
globalscan.diskbusy.warn=70 | Warning-level status is reported when a disk on the host is busy for 70% or more of a five-minute time frame |
globalscan.diskbusy.crit=90 | Critical-level status is reported when a disk on the host is busy for 90% or more of a five-minute time frame |
globalscan.diskfull.warn=70 | Warning-level status is reported when 70% or more of the disk space on the host is used |
globalscan.diskfull.crit=90 | Critical-level status is reported when 90% or more of the disk space on the host is used |
globalscan.swap.warn=70 | Warning-level status is reported when 70% or more of the swap space on a disk is in use |
globalscan.swap.crit=90 | Critical-level status is reported when 90% or more of the swap space on a disk is in use |
Changes to Global Scan thresholds are not retroactively applied to all Elements; only Elements added after threshold changes will reflect those changes.
Resource Scan Threshold Settings
You can modify the Resource Scan threshold settings through the following parameters (default values are shown):
resourcescan.cpu.warn=70 | the Warning-level range in the CPU Usage gauge begins at this value (70%), and ends at the Critical-level range |
resourcescan.cpu.crit=90 | the Critical-level range in the CPU Usage gauge is between this value (90%) and 100% |
resourcescan.memory.warn=70 | the Warning-level range in the Memory Usage gauge begins at this value (70%), and ends at the Critical-level range |
resourcescan.memory.crit=90 | the Critical-level range in the Memory Usage gauge is between this value (70%) and 100% |
resourcescan.diskbusy.warn=70 | the Warning-level range in the Disk Busy gauge begins at this value (70%), and ends at the Critical-level range |
| the Critical-level range in the Disk Busy gauge is between this value (70%) and 100% |
| the Warning-level range in the Disk Capacity gauge begins at this value (70%), and ends at the Critical-level range |
| the Critical-level range in the Disk Capacity gauge is between this value (70%) and 100% |
Platform Performance Gatherer Check Intervals
The Platform Performance Gatherer is a core performance monitor that resides on all agent-based Elements.
By default, the Platform Performance Gatherer checks the host Elements’ performance levels every 300 seconds. You can change the interval by manually inputting settings in the up.time Configuration panel, as outlined in Modifying up.time Config Panel Settings.
Changing the Performance Monitor Check Interval
You can modify the Platform Performance Gatherer check interval through the following up.time Configuration parameter (the default value is shown):
performanceCheckInterval=300
A change to the Platform Performance Gatherer check interval is not retroactively applied to all Elements; only Elements added after an interval change will reflect that change.
Report Storage Options
When an up.time user generates a report, that report is stored in the
/GUI/reportcache directory; when a scheduled report is automatically generated and published, it is stored in the /GUI/published directory. Both of these directory paths are found in the up.time installation directory:
- Linux: /usr/local/uptime/
- Solaris: /opt/uptime/
- Windows: C:\Program Files\uptime software\uptime
Note - Windows Vista users can find the audit log in the Virtual Store instead of the default up.time location (i.e., C:\Users\uptime\AddData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\< uptime-install-directory >.
By default, generated reports are cached on the Monitoring Station for 30 days; additionally, the location for published reports is also on the local Monitoring Station file system. Both options can be modified. In the latter case, automatically publishing reports to a publicly accessed directory on the network is an ideal way for non-IT staff to view them. See Saving Reports to the File System for more information.
Changing the Number of Days Reports Are Cached
You can change a report’s expiry time limit by manually inputting settings in the up.time Configuration panel, as outlined in Modifying up.time Config Panel Settings.
Change the expiry limit through the following parameter (the default value is shown):
reportCacheExpiryDays=30
Changing the Published Report Location
This can be modified with the following uptime.conf parameter:
publishedReportRoot=<location>
If the intended published report directory is on a system other than the Monitoring Station, the provided location should be a full network path to the system in addition to the directory path on that system.
Resource Usage Report Generation
Due to the large number of options available for the Resource Usage report, generating an extensive report for a large group of Elements can take several minutes. If exhaustive report generation is necessary, but taking too long, you can increase the number of report images (the default being “ 6 ”) that up.time concurrently generates for this type of report.
Note that the default number is optimal in most cases; increasing the amount may improve performance, but the law of diminishing returns applies, as too many concurrent threads can tax the PDF generation process overall.
Logging is configured through the following uptime.conf parameter:
reporting.prefetch.images.threads = 6
Monitoring Station Interface Changes
Some configuration options affect the Monitoring Station interface. These can be modified by manually inputting settings in the up.time Configuration panel, as outlined in Modifying up.time Config Panel Settings.
Status Alert Acknowledgement
When services reach a warning or critical state, administrators can flag an alert as “acknowledged,” which prevents subsequent alerts from being broadcasted, giving them time to investigate the issue. See Acknowledging Alerts for more information.
Service status alert acknowledgements can be reported in the status tables on the Global Scan panel. By default, status alert acknowledgement counts are not shown; if enabled a new column (labelled ACK) appears in the Service Status section of Global Scan . When the current status of a monitor is acknowledged, it appears in the ACK column instead of in the WARN or CRIT column.
You can enable or disable status acknowledgement (i.e., add or remove the ACK column from the status tables) through the following parameter (the default value is shown):
acknowledgedSeparate=false
3D Graphs
When performance and availability graphs are generated, the Graph Editor is used to manipulate the appearance of graphed data (see Using the Graph Editor). Transformations from a three-dimensional perspective are possible if the user account permits it (see Adding Users), and the user is connecting to the Monitoring Station using Internet Explorer.
This 3D presentation option can be disabled outright. You can determine whether ActiveX graphs are displayed in 3D for users with Internet Explorer through the following parameter (the default value is shown):
default3DGraphs=true
Custom Dashboard Tabs
Custom dashboards can be added to My Portal to display custom content that is relevant to the particular user who is currently logged in. Up to 50 dashboards can be added, each of which is accessed through, and viewed in, its own tab at the top of My Portal .
A custom dashboard tab is configured by pointing up.time to a custom Web page, and indicating which User Group will be able to view it. You can enable and configure the first dashboard through the following parameters:
myportal.custom.tab1.enabled=true
myportal.custom.tab1.name=<DashboardNameOnTab>
myportal.custom.tab1.URL=<URLtoCustomPage>
myportal.custom.tab1.usergroups=<UserGroupName>
Values for the first three parameters are required. If no name is specified for the User Group parameter (or, if no User Groups have been defined), the custom dashboard will be visible to all up.time users. Thus, a User Group parameter is only required if you want to restrict or refine user access to a particular custom dashboard.
To create additional tabs, add the same set of parameters, but increment the tab count:
myportal.custom.tab2.enabled=true
myportal.custom.tab2.name=<DashboardNameOnTab>
myportal.custom.tab2.URL=<URLtoCustomPage>
License Information
If your up.time package did not come with a license key, then either contact your sales representative to request a key or send an email to [email protected]. You will need the host ID for the system so that a permanent license key can be generated. The host ID is displayed in the License Information subpanel, and is similar to the following:
001110bf101d
Installing or Updating a License
To install or update a license, do the following:
- In the Tree panel, click License Info .
If you currently have an up.time license, it is displayed in the License Information subpanel. - Paste the new or updated license into the License Key text box.
- Click Update License .
Setting a Notification Group for vSync-Related Licensing Errors
In the License Notification section of the License Information page, you can select the Notification Group that receives alerts should there be any licensing errors related to syncing with VMware vSphere.
For more information, see Managing vSync.