PA Server Monitor Documentation Table of Contents

Welcome & Install

Product Overview

Getting Started with PA Server Monitor

Concepts & Terms

PA Server Monitor is composed of a console that you interact with, and a system service that is started when the computer boots up and is always running in the background.

Main Installation

Installing the Central Monitoring System (Typical Install)

Starting the Console

How to start the Console and connect to a monitoring service

Getting Started

Console

If a problem persists for longer and longer, different sets of actions can be run to progressively deal with the issue (for example try auto resolving, and if that doesn't work contact the tech staff).

Startup Wizard

The Startup Wizard walks you through a few standard dialogs to help configure your system for basic monitoring.

Global Settings

Group servers together in visual groups to help keep track of them. Group-based status reports are also available.

Database Settings

Easily point PA Server Monitor at the embedded SQLite database or use an external Microsoft SQL Server.

Report Settings

Configure how often the server status reports are generated via the Report Settings dialog.

HTTP Settings

Control the HTTP port that PA Server Monitor uses, and optionally enable HTTPS (SSL)

Smart Config

Paste a list of servers or IP address into a list and let PA Server Monitor inspect and self-configure for each server/device. Or easily copy the configuration from one configured server to one or more other servers.

Adding Computers

Automatic configuration of monitors for a server. Each monitor inspects a server and then creates appropriate default monitors for that specific server.

Adding Monitors

Paste a list of servers or IP address into a list and let PA Server Monitor inspect and self-configure for each server/device. Or easily copy the configuration from one configured server to one or more other servers.

Adding Actions

Perform changes of settings in actions, monitors, reports and scheduling for several servers at one time, or copy configuration settings to other servers.

Bulk Config

Perform changes of settings in actions, monitors, reports and scheduling for several servers at one time, or copy configuration settings to other servers.

Adv. Configuration

Acknowledging Alerts

Acknowledge alerts to indicate they have been seen, are owned, and being worked on.

Adv. Monitor Options

Many advanced options that exist on every monitor can help PA Server Monitor work the way you want it to.

Alert Reminders

Configure reminders to get sent for previous alerts that might not have been handled yet

Automatic Config

Automatic rules-based detection and configuration of monitors.

Automatic Fail Over

Setup a second instance of PA Server Monitor to monitor the primary monitoring service, and take over if it fails

Command Line

Different options that can be used to help automate PA Server Monitor.

Config Email Ack

Acknowledge alerts by replying to an email.

Config Security

Password protect the Console, and alert on changes that could affect monitoring.

Credential Manager

View and change existing credentials in the Credential Manager.

Credentials: AWS

Edit AWS settings centrally to control the credentials used when monitoring a server via the AWS (Amazon Web Services) CloudWatch API.

Credentials: ESX

Edit ESX settings centrally to control the credentials used when monitoring a server via the VMWare ESX API.

Credentials: IPMI

Edit IPMI settings centrally to control the credentials used when monitoring a server via IPMI.

Credentials: SNMP

Edit SNMP settings centrally to control the credentials used when monitoring a server via SNMP.

Credentials: SSH

Edit SSH settings centrally to control the credentials used when monitoring a server via SSH.

Credentials: Windows

Edit Windows credentials to control the credentials used when monitoring a server via Windows RPC.

Custom Icons

Servers/devices and groups can have custom icons manually or automatically assigned based on what the Inventory Collector monitor finds.

Custom Properties

Set cascading iCustomer Properties on Groups, Computers/Devices and Monitors which can be used in monitor, scripts and message templates.

Customize Menus

Customize the Operations right-click pop-up menu in the Console to add your own commands, or change or remove existing commands

Error Auditing

Keep track of which errors have been reviewed and acknowledged. Also a great way for administrators to have an overview of any errors within their area of responsibility.

Event Deduplication

Detects errors which are very similar or identical to existing outstanding alerts and suppresses them.

Event Escalation

Many monitors are capable of sending escalating events. For example, low disk space alerts could first go to a first-tier Ops team. If the aren't handled in a specified time frame, they could be forwarded to a second-tier Ops team.

Expansion Variables

Variables with details about alerts can be used to change the output of custom messages.

External API

Send basic configuration requests to the product via an HTTPS URL.

File Locations

Locations of files used in the product

Import & Export

Paste a list of servers or IP address into a list and let PA Server Monitor inspect and self-configure for each server/device. Or easily copy the configuration from one configured server to one or more other servers.

Locking Configuration

Lock monitors or actions to prevent their configuration from being changed.

Maintenance Mode

While a computer is in maintenance mode, PA Server Monitor won't run monitors. It will turn itself back on automatically after the maintenance window expires if you manually entered maintenance mode, or it can automatically enter and leave maintenance mode on a schedule.

Mobile: Android

PA Server Monitor for Android lets you stay up to date even if you're away

Mobile: iPhone

PA Server Monitor for iPhone lets you stay up to date even if you're away

Monitor Schedule

You can configure how often every single monitor runs -- put them on a custom poll cycle or let them run with the default schedule.

Monitor Templates

Create monitors at a group level that are automatically deployed to all servers/devices within the group.

Secure Settings

Controls various security related functions in the application

VMWare ESX

Monitor aspects of a VMWare ESX host server.

Adv. Configuration

Monitors

Action Scheduler

Automate common IT tasks with the Action Scheduler. It will run your defined Actions when you specify.

Active Dir. Change

Monitor creation, deletion, and changes of the Active Directory objects.

Active Directory Login

Monitor login and other security-related activity in Active Directory, Domain servers, and even for local logins.

All-Systems-GO

Reports to the All-Systems-GO service which can notify you if the monitoring installation is affected in any way that would prevent its from alerting.

Bandwidth

Monitor bandwidth, network error counts, broadcasts and other values from SNMP-based devices as well as from Windows Performance Counters.

Calculated Status

This monitor lets you calculate its status by running a script on the statuses of other monitors.

Citrix Server

Monitor and alert on Citrix XenApp (Presentation Server) client connect and login response times. Alert if too slow, and record times for historical charts.

Database

The Database Monitor can watch that individual databases are up and running, keep an eye on the transaction log size, and alert if databases are added or deleted from a server.

Directory Quota

The Directory Quota Monitor keeps track of directory sizes, and executes actions if the directory sizes are over the quota. End users (directory owners) can be notified via email with the Monitor-Directed E-mail action. Includes reports.

Disk Space

Monitor the free disk space on server drives. You can set the warning threshold in absolute size, or percentage of disk space. Includes reports and auto-configuration.

DNS

Monitor the results of a DNS lookup, or a reverse DNS lookup. You can specify which DNS server the request should be sent to. If an unexpected result is returned, actions are fired.

Dynamic Server List

Dynamic Server Lists are groups of serves that meet your criteria. Once the list is known, you can define Dynamic Groups based on the list, and use that group everywhere else groups are used.

Email

Monitor email messages in a POP3 or IMAP4 mail box for messages that contain specific text. When a match is found, alerts are fired.

Environment

Connects to an Esensors EM01b Websensor on the LAN and monitors the current temperature, humidity and luminescence, and notifies you if the values go above thresholds that you set. Historical reports as well.

Event Log

Checks any specified Windows Event Logs (Application, System, Security plus custom event logs) and executes actions you specify if a source you're interested in adds an event to the log.

Event Validator

Verifies that specific events, such as backup succeeded or anti-virus pattern file updated events are in the event log. If they are missing, fire alerts.

Execute Scripts

Execute your custom written scripts written in the Visual Basic Scripting Edition language. You can use custom or 3rd party ActiveX controls. The script determines whether to trigger actions using your own logic.

File Age

Monitor file ages and alert if the files become too old (good for watching server queues, spool directories, etc).

File/Directory Size

Track the size of a directory or a set of specific files within a directory. Includes reports.

File & Directory (CIFS)

This monitor is a host-based IDS (Intrusion Detection System) that will notify you when the date, size or even content of a file changes on local files, or files on any CIFS share. File creation and deletion is also monitored. A good tool to help with configuration management as well. Auto-configuration functionality is available.

FTP Server

The FTP Server monitor can login to FTP servers (including SSL-enabled FTP servers) to make sure they are up and running.

Hardware

Monitor the hardware status of ESX, Dell DRAC/iDRAC, HP iLO, IBM RAS and other IPMI-based devices.

Inventory Alerter

Alerts on inventory data collected by the Inventory Collector monitor.

Inventory Collector

Collects inventory information (hardware information, pending Windows Update, anti-virus status, etc) from a variety of sources including WMI, SNMP and an optional System Details application.

Log File

Periodically checks the content of one or more log files for target text. Target text and be a simple text phrase or a regular expression.

Mail Server

Monitor your mail servers (POP3, IMAP & SMTP) and validate that they are running and accepting incoming connections.

Network Scan

The Network Scan monitor will periodically perform a ping scan of a specified IP address range looking for new devices that are not already being monitored. They can automatically get added to the system and configured for monitoring.

Performance

The entire breadth of the system Performance Counters can be monitored allowing you to set actionable thresholds on CPU usage, memory usage, NIC traffic, etc. Performance counter values are stored in a database so you can view historical counter reports and understand trends.

Ping

Tests a connection/device by periodically testing it with a ping. No response or too great a delay triggers actions. Ping response times are recorded in a database for reporting and graphing.

Plugin

Runs an executable or external script launched via Windows, or via SSH, and parses the output to determine whether alerts should be fired. Plugins can also return values that are recorded to the database and can be charted.

Process

Monitor that specified processes are running on Windows or Linux servers.

RD Gateway

Monitor Remote Desktop Gateways and show currently connected sessions on a dashboard

Server Temperature

Using the free SpeedFan utility, the Server Temperature Monitor will watch the values from the various temperature probes on your server and notify you if they go above the thresholds you set.

Service

Watches system services and runs customized actions (including restarting the service) if they are not running.

SNMP

Connects to local or remote SNMP agents and queries SNMP object values. Custom MIBs are supported. The value is compared to a threshold that you set and actions are fired as specified. SNMP values are also recorded to a local database for reporting purposes. Supports SNMP v1, v2c and v3.

SNMP Trap

Receives SNMP Traps and optionally filters on trap text before running attached actions.

Syslog

Receives Syslog log events and optionally filters on incoming log text before running attached actions.

Task Scheduler

Monitors the enable/disable status and the Last Run Result value of Windows Task Scheduler tasks.

TCP Port

Makes a TCP connection on a specified port. Optionally send command text and check response text. Timing data is recorded for reporting purposes.

Web Page

Monitor one or many pages on a web site. Checks for positive cases (text that must be found), negative cases (alerts if error text found) and if the page has changed at all. Response times are checked and recorded, and reports can be generated to understand trends.

Actions

Action List

Groups of actions for common notifications, group notifications, etc.

Call URL

This action will call a URL you specify, optionally posting information about the current alert. This makes it easy to connect to a helpdesk/ticketing system.

Desktop Notifier

Delivers alerts to Windows desktops via a pop-up message box or a slider in the lower right corner of the screen.

Dial-Up Connection

Connects or disconnects a Windows Dial-up Connection. Typically this is for servers that are not on the Internet, but need to connect to send alerts.

E-mail Alert

Sends SMTP email messages to mail boxes, cell phones, mobile devices, etc. The E-mail action has Alert Digests which are a powerful/friendly feature that combines multiple alerts that happen within a short time into a single email notification. This can be very helpful when something goes really wrong. You can easily specify when messages should be sent or suppressed.

Execute Script

Similar to the Execute Script monitor, this Action lets you extend the list of available actions via your own script written in VBScript. Many variables from the source monitor are also available for creating rich, situation-specific responses.

Message Box

A simple message box that displays monitor findings. These message boxes are smart: if there are many pending alerts you can easily dismiss them all at once.

Directed-Email

The monitor which detects a problem specifies the email address to use for each alert. This is very useful when sending reminders and alerts to end users such as with the User Quota Monitor and the Directory Quota Monitor.

Network Message

Sends a message box containing the critical monitor details to every place that you are logged in.

Pager Alert via SNPP

Send monitor results to pagers via standard Simple Network Paging Protocol (SNPP). You can easily specify when messages should be sent or suppressed, and the content of the message.

PagerDuty Integration

Send alerts directly to your PagerDuty account and track them using the full power of the PagerDuty platform.

Phone Dialer

Dials a modem/phone and optionally sends DTMF commands or other commands (to send SMS messages for example). This is typically used by a disconnected server to send an alert over a normal phone line (where the CallerID identifies the server)

Play Sound

Audible alert when monitors detect a problem with the server.

Reboot Server

Reboots the server if a monitor has detected a critical system failure.

Run Report

When this action is triggered, it will run the specified Scheduled Report including sending any emails or saving PDF or CSV files that report requires.

SMS Text Message

Send SMS text messages to your mobile device via your service providers SMS Internet gateway (SMPP server). You can control which information gets sent, as well as when messages are allowed.

Server Maintenance

Set or remove the Immediate Maintenance period for a server or servers

SNMP Trap

Sends an SNMP Trap with details from the monitor firing the action

Start Application

Starts a specified application when the monitor triggers actions

Start Service

Sends control messages to the Windows Service Control Manager to start, stop or restart a specified service.

Syslog

Sends monitor alerts to a Syslog server on the network

Write to Event Log

Writes monitor details to the Windows Event Log.

Write to Log File

Log the findings of any triggered monitor to a file. Separate files can be created for each day, week, month, etc.

Reports

Ad Hoc Reports

Generate reports on the fly to quickly see graphical trends

Branding Reports

Easily brand reports with your company logo at the top

Group Settings

Group summary reports can be specified and controlled in a per-group way. In addition, group reports can be automatically emailed to anyone that needs to keep track of the servers.

Inventory

Collect and report on hardware and system inventory of the monitored servers and devices.

Multi-Port Chart

Combines and shows multiple bandwidth charts on an efficient set of one or more graphs.

Password Protection

Password protect web reports in PA Server Monitor

Satellite Status

Quickly see the current status of an individual Satellite Monitoring Service.

Satellite Summaries

Two reports that let you see the status of all of the Satellites at once.

Scheduled Reports

You can create scheduled reports which will get created when you want them, and optionally email the report to a list of recipients. Scheduled report URLs are stable so you can add them to your Favorites list to quickly and easily see the latest results.

Server Status

Easily see at a glance the state of your server along with system statistics

System Activity Log

Quickly see which monitors are running, how long they are taking, which actions are being fired and more.

Standard Report Tabs

View the tabs and information that is common among most report types.

Uptime Reports

Uptime Reports can be run on many different types of data, with summarization at the raw, hourly, daily, weekly and monthly level.

Grp: All Errors Report

The All Errors report show all recent errors on all monitors on all servers/devices within a group. This is a good place to quickly get a detailed view of any problems happening on the network.

Grp: All Servers Report

This report shows all of your servers in a group in a single page. Each server is a small box that is color coded according to the status of the monitors on that server.

Grp: Custom Group

Create custom reports at a group level to show custom HTML, charts, and other status values for the contained servers.

Grp: Group Overview

A compact report that shows high-level server health with detailed monitor types in a column layout.

Grp: Group Summary

See a one line status indicator per server to see at a glance how the servers in your data center are doing. Per-group status reports are also supported.

Grp: Network Map

View all of the servers/devices within a group in a single report, grouping all computers and showing their status.

Grp: Status Map

See a graphical map that contains status indicators that show you at a glance how servers in different geographic regions are doing.

Sys: Config Audit

This report shows you what your current configuration is with your Groups, Servers, Monitors, and Actions.

Sys: Conn. Sessions

See all sessions (Console, Satellite, mobile apps) currently connected to the Central Service.

Sys: Error Audit

Powerful report to look at current and past alert conditions that have been detected by the system.

Sys: Monitor Scope

Displays a summary of what is being monitored on a per-group basis. This would be appropriate to show stake holders to indicate the level of monitoring work being done.

Sys: Monitor Status

A quick table-based overview of current monitor statuses. You can specify a specific monitor type, only monitors in error, etc.

Sys: Statistics

View system statistics such as HTTPS connections and data transferred, numbers of monitors and connected Satellites, etc.

Sys: System Audit

Find out about activities within the monitoring system, such as alert emails sent, user logins, Satellite disconnects, etc.

Sys: User Permissions

This report will display all users defined in the system, what they have access to, and their permissions.

Remote Sites

Remote Monitoring

Monitoring remote servers and devices with PA Server Monitor

Install Prerequisites

Pre-requisites for installing a remote Console or Agent

Install Satellites

Installing a monitoring agent at a remote location

Configure Satellites

Configuring a monitoring agent at a remote location

Satellite Operations

Operations on a Satellite Monitoring Service

Remote Support

SNAP Tunnels

Safely send data to remote networks using SNAP Tunnels

Remote Desktop

Securely connect to Remote Desktop even through firewalls with PA Server Monitor

Remote Users

Install Consoles

Installing a Console GUI

Remote Access Users

Managing remote user access

Filter User Access

Control which users can see which groups and servers

HOWTO

Ack and Silence Alerts

How to acknowledge alerts such that they stop coming for known problems.

Add Licenses

How to add licenses.

Add Monitor Notes

How to add monitor notes.

Alternate Sat Upgrade

Discover how to make Satellite upgrades download the installer file from an alternate location

Audit Logons

Information on auditing Windows account logon and logon failures.

Deploy Satellites

Information on deploying Satellites remotely.

Disable Remote UAC

Steps to disable remote UAC so remote administrator rights work.

Embed Child Reports

Steps to embed child Custom Reports within parent Custom Reports

Extract Data

Extract data from the databases for use in your own systems

Group Devices

How to dynamically group servers and devices based on arbitrary device selection

Ignore Google Update

How to ignore the changing Google Update services

Integration

How to integrate with other enterprise systems and usage scenarios

Monitor ASP.NET

How to monitor ASP.NET Counters

Monitor Backups

How to monitor backup software

Monitor Databases

Techniques for monitoring databases

Monitor Exchange

How to monitor Microsoft Exchange server

Monitor IIS

How to monitor Internet Information Services (IIS)

Monitor MySQL

How to monitor MySQL

Monitor RADIUS

How to monitor RADIUS servers

Monitor SQL Server

How to monitor SQL Server

Monitor SSL Certs

How to monitor SSL certificate expiration

Monitor via SNMP

How to monitor devices via SNMP

Monitor Voice SIP

How to monitor voice SIP

Monitor Win. Firewall

How to monitor if Windows Firewall is completely on

Office365 and OAuth

Authenticating to Office365 with OAuth 2.0

Prepare for Imaging

How to prepare a Satellite installation for disk imaging and duplication

Predict Full Disks

How to predict when the disk will be full.

Shrink Databases

How to shrink the embedded database files in the Databases folder

Slack Integration

How to integrate with Slack by sending alerts to Slack channels.

Teams Integration

How to integrate with Microsoft Teams by sending alerts with the Call URL action.

Uptime Summary

Learn how to generate an uptime report showing the summarized uptime for a number of servers on the same report.

Use Other SSL Cert

Explains how to use your own SSL certificate in place of the default.

Using Dependencies

Explains how to add Dependencies to monitors and templates.