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Overview

It can be time consuming to add large numbers of systems to up.time using the web interface. As a quicker alternative, you can add multiple systems to up.time using the addsystem command line utility and a text file.

The text file, referred to as a hosts file, contains entries that mirror the fields in the Add System window of the up.time web interface. These fields contain information about the systems to be added. The addsystem utility requires the hosts file to be located in the scripts sub-folder of the directory in which the monitoring station is installed.

The following text provides an example of the entries in a hosts file:

Host Name: prod-mainSystem
Display Name: prod1
Description: Main production server
Type: Agent
Service Group: Production Systems
Port:9998
Group: Windows 2003 Servers
%%
Host Name: novell01
Display Name: dn3
Type: Novell NRM
SSL: true
Port: 546
Group: Unix Boxes
Group: Novell Systems

In the hosts file:

  • The information for each host consists of a name-value pair. Each name-value pair is on a separate line, and is separated by a colon. For example, Group: Solaris Servers.
  • The information for each host is separated by two percentage signs (%%) on a new line.

Creating a Hosts File

There are several ways to create a hosts file. The simplest option is to use a text editor to create the file and type the required entries. If you have a large number of systems to add, you can copy and paste each entry, and simply modify the appropriate fields. The sample host file attached to this article contains example entries that you can use as a template for your host file.

If you have a list of all your systems in a spreadsheet, you can save the list as a text file or a comma separated values (.csv) file and then write a script to manipulate the text or .csv file into the proper format.

Fields in the Hosts File

The following table describes the fields used in the hosts file. The fields required to add a system will vary depending on the type of system being added. For example, to add an agent system, you only need to include the Host Name, Type and Port fields (see Managing Your Infrastructure for more information). An example of a properly formatted hosts file is attached to this article (see below).


Field


Description

Host Name

The name or IP address of the system to add to up.time.

Display Name

The name for the system that will appear in the up.time UI.

Description

A short description of the system (optional field).

Type

The type of system, which can be one of the following:

  • Agent
  • Novell NRM
  • Net-SNMP v1/2
  • Net-SNMP v3
  • Virtual Node

Service Group

The name of the up.time service group (which enables you to simultaneously apply common service checks to hosts that you are monitoring) to which you want to add the system (optional field).

Port

The port number that you will use to connect to the system (leave this field blank to use the default port for the type of system that you are adding).


Community

If you are adding a Net-SNMP system to up.time, specify the read community (which acts like a user ID or password) that gives you access to the system. Valid options are:

  • public, which enables you to retrieve read-only information.
  • private, which enables you to access all information

Username

If you are adding a Net-SNMP or Novell NRM system to up.time, specify the user name required to access the system.

Password

If you are adding a Net-SNMP or Novell NRM system to up.time, specify the password required to access the \nsystem.

Group

The name of the entity group (a set of systems that have been combined in a meaningful way) to which you want to add this system (optional field).

SSL

For agent systems, use this field to specify if up.time will securely communicate with an agent installed on the system using SSL. Valid options are true and false (optional field).

Authentication Method

For Net-SNMP systems, use this field to determine how encrypted information traveling between the Net-SNMP \ninstance and up.time will be authenticated. Valid options are:

  • MD5 (a widely-used method for creating digital signatures).
  • SHA (a secure method of creating digital signatures).

Privacy Password

For Net-SNMP systems, the password that will be used to encrypt information traveling between the Net-SNMP \ninstance and up.time.

Privacy Type

For Net-SNMP systems, how information traveling between up.time and the Net-SNMP instance \nis encrypted. Valid options are:

  • DES (an older method used to encrypt information).
  • AES (the successor to DES, which is used with a variety of software including SSL servers).

Pingable

For virtual nodes, use this field to specify if up.time can contact the virtual node using the icmp ping utility. Valid options are true and false.

 

Adding Multiple Systems to up.time

To add multiple systems to up.time with the addsystem utility:

  1. Copy the hosts file to the scripts folder in the directory where you installed the up.time monitoring station. \n

    For example, if you installed the monitoring station in the default location, copy the hosts \nfile to the following folder:

    Windows Installation: C:/Program Files/uptime software/uptime/scripts
Linux Installation: /usr/local/uptime/scripts/
  2. At the command line, navigate to the scripts folder.

  3. Enter the following command:

    addsystem <path_and_filename>

    Where: <path_and_filename> is the name of the text file that contains the list of systems that you want to add to up.time, along with its full path.

    The systems listed in the file are added to up.time, unless:

    • up.time can not connect to the system.
    • The system does not exist in your environment.
    • The system has already been added to up.time.
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