Interfacing with up.time

To configure up.time’s mail server, do the following:

The database settings are used to determine how up.time communicates with the DataStore, and how it will perform 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 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 up.time 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 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.

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.

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 up.time 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:

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

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.

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.

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. When there are many up.time 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 up.time UI Instance

To create a UI instance, do the following:

1. Using the standard up.time installer, install a new instance of up.time 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 up.time 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 will communicate

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

     Unless your core Monitoring Station has been 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 up.time Technical 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 up.time 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 will 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 up.time 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, up.time needs to be pointed to your installation.

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.