Interfacing with Uptime Infrastructure Monitor

To configure Uptime Infrastructure Monitor’s mail server, do the following:

The database settings are used to determine how Uptime Infrastructure Monitor communicates with the DataStore, and how it performs a database health check. The following are the database-related parameters in the uptime.conf file.

In cases where you would like to migrate the database (for example, from the default Uptime Infrastructure Monitor MySQL implementation to Oracle) or move the DataStore to a different system from the Monitoring Station, you must 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 Uptime Knowledge Base for more information on migrating your DataStore.

Configuring Global Data Collection Methods

A Windows-based Element can retrieve metric data either through the Uptime Infrastructure Monitor 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 Uptime Infrastructure Monitor 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 are globally defined, when adding the Element, you are able to use the Uptime Agent Global Configuration, or use WMI Agentless 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 Uptime Infrastructure Monitor 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 is globally configured in the Global Credentials Settings panel.

Global SNMP Configuration Settings

When you add a network device to Uptime Infrastructure Monitor, as part of the configuration process, you must provide details about how SNMP is configured to communicate with and manage other devices on the network. These details describe, among other things, the SNMP protocol used, and encryption methods.

By default, SNMP-specific settings are inputted for each network-type device, as they are added to Uptime Infrastructure Monitor. To facilitate this process, your network’s SNMP settings can defined globally in the Global Credentials Settings panel.

RSS Feed Settings

Uptime Infrastructure Monitor 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 Infrastructure Monitor Support Portal without the use of proxy server information. If your Monitoring Station accesses the Internet through one, feeds are most likely unavailable, and the following message appears in the My Portal panel:

VMware vCenter Orchestrator Integration

Administrators can configure Action Profiles to automatically carry out tasks in the event of an Uptime Infrastructure Monitor 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, Uptime Infrastructure Monitor needs to know how to communicate with Orchestrator.

For information about Action Profiles and VMware vCenter Orchestrator, see Action Profiles.

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 Uptime Infrastructure Monitor.

This monitor-specific proxy information is used during transaction recording; during session playback, the proxy normally used by Uptime Infrastructure Monitor (defined by the httpProxy* settings) is used.

For more information about the Web Application Transaction monitor, see Web Application Transactions.

You can change Uptime Infrastructure Monitor’s proxy server configuration by manually inputting settings in the Uptime Configuration panel, as outlined in Modifying Uptime Infrastructure Monitor Config Panel Settings.

If you are using a reporting instance (an Uptime Infrastructure Monitor 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.

User Interface Instance Settings

A UI instance is an Uptime Infrastructure Monitor installation that does not perform any data collection tasks, and is primarily used for real-time monitoring and report generation. When there are many Uptime Infrastructure Monitor users who do not need to perform full administrative tasks, UI instances can divert traffic from a core Monitoring Station implementation, improving data-collection performance and UI responsiveness.

You can manually configure UI instance settings with the following uptime.conf parameters:

Creating an Uptime Infrastructure Monitor UI Instance

To create a UI instance, do the following:

1. Using the standard Uptime Infrastructure Monitor installer, install a new instance of Uptime Infrastructure Monitor on another server.
   During the install process, when prompted to provide DataStore configuration information, ensure the UI instance has the same database settings as the core Monitoring Station (see Database Settings for more information).
2. After installation, enable the newly installed Uptime Infrastructure Monitor as a UI instance by editing the following uptime.conf parameters: 
   • uiOnlyInstance=true
   • uiOnlyInstance.monitoringStationHost=<hostname>
hostname is the hostname or IP address of the core, data-collecting Monitoring Station, with which this UI instance can communicate

   • uiOnlyInstance.monitoringStationCommandPort=9996
     the port through which the UI instance can communicate with the core Monitoring Station

     Unless your core Monitoring Station is customized, it is configured to use port 9996 to communicate with a UI instance. If you wish to use a different port, you must ensure matching uptime.conf values exist on both the UI instance and core Monitoring Station. Contact IDERA Customer Support for more information.

3. Ensure the proxy used by the Controller on the UI instance directs to the core Monitoring Station. By default, this proxy is configured with the assumption that the Controller and Monitoring Station are running on the same host. See Configuring the Uptime Infrastructure Monitor Controller for more information.
4. Shut down the Data Collector service on the UI instance.
5. Ensure you are logged in with a domain account, and that this account has access to the <installDirectory>/gadgets directory on the Monitoring Station.
6. To accommodate sharing user-created gadgets, on the core Monitoring Station system, make the <installDirectory>/gadgets directory accessible by the UI instance system.
   How you make the /gadgets directory accessible depends on the Monitoring Station platform: 
   
   • On Linux, you can use NFS to share the directory on the core Monitoring Station, then mount it on the UI instance
   • On Windows, you can use the mklink command to create a symbolic link on the UI instance that points to the /gadgets directory on the core Monitoring Station, such as in the following example: 
     mklink /D "C:\Program Files\uptime software\uptime\gadgets" "\\host\gadgets"
     You most likely need to modify sharing and security permissions for the directory.
7. Restart the Data Collector service on the UI instance.

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 Uptime Infrastructure Monitor as a NetFlow dashboard, and can directly link network devices monitored by Scrutinizer to their NetFlow data from each Element's Graphing tab. In order to access Scrutinizer, Uptime Infrastructure Monitor needs to be pointed to your installation. For more information about using Scrutinizer, see Integrating Scrutinizer with Uptime Infrastructure Monitor.

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 appears in the My Portal panel beside the names of services that are in WARN or CRIT states. When you click the Splunk icon, you are automatically logged in to your Splunk search page.

You can change your Uptime Infrastructure Monitor-Splunk integration by manually inputting settings in the Uptime Config panel, as outlined in Modifying Uptime Infrastructure Monitor Config Panel Settings.