Copyright 2015 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means nor modified,

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2 Copyright 2015 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors. SOLARWINDS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OR OTHER TERMS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, ON SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION FURNISHED HEREUNDER INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF DESIGN, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL SOLARWINDS, ITS SUPPLIERS, NOR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, WHETHER ARISING IN TORT, CONTRACT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY EVEN IF SOLARWINDS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. The SOLARWINDS, the SOLARWINDS & Design, ipmonitor, LANsurveyor, Orion, and other SolarWinds marks, identified on the SolarWinds website, as updated from SolarWinds from time to time and incorporated herein, are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks may be common law marks or registered or pending registration in the United States or in other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks contained and/or mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Microsoft, Windows, and SQL Server are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Version: 2.2 February 24, 2015

3 About SolarWinds SolarWinds, Inc. develops and markets an array of network management, monitoring, and discovery tools to meet the diverse requirements of today s network management and consulting professionals. SolarWinds products continue to set benchmarks for quality and performance and have positioned the company as the leader in network management and discovery technology. The SolarWinds customer base includes over 45 percent of the Fortune 500 and customers from over 90 countries. Our global business partner distributor network exceeds 100 distributors and resellers. Contacting SolarWinds You can contact SolarWinds in a number of ways, including the following: Sales Team Contact Information sales@solarwinds.com Technical Support User Forums Conventions The documentation uses consistent conventions to help you identify items throughout the printed and online library. Convention Bold Italics Fixed font Specifying Window items, including buttons and fields. Book and CD titles, variable names, new terms File and directory names, commands and code examples, text typed by you 3

4 Convention Straight brackets, as in [value] Curly braces, as in {value} Logical OR, as in value1 value2 Specifying Optional command parameters Required command parameters Exclusive command parameters where only one of the options can be specified Documentation Library The following documents are included in the documentation library: Document Administrator Guide Page Help Release Notes Purpose Provides detailed setup, configuration, and conceptual information. Provides help for every window in the user interface Provides late-breaking information, known issues, and updates. The latest Release Notes can be found at 4

5 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 13 WPM and Orion 14 WPM Glossary of Terms 15 Chapter 2: Installing WPM 17 Installing the WPM Server and Web Console 18 SolarWinds Server Hardware Requirements 18 SolarWinds Server Software Requirements 18 SolarWinds SQL Database Server Requirements 20 Requirements for Virtual Machines and Servers 23 Additional Required Components 23 Antivirus Directory Exclusions 24 Installation Procedure 24 Completing the Configuration Wizard 25 Licensing 29 Maintaining Licenses 30 Installing the License Manager 30 Using the License Manager 30 Installing the Recorder 32 Recorder Requirements 32 Configuring Settings 32 Recorder Login Fields and Options 33 Installing the Player 35 Recommended Player Requirements 35 Minimum Player Requirements 35 Configuring Settings 36 Server Initiated Communication Fields 37 5

6 Player Communication Type 38 Deploying the Player Remotely 38 Accounts and Security Requirements 38 Requirements for Open Ports 38 Supported OS and IE Requirements 38 Upgrading Players 40 Additional Poller and Web Site 40 Chapter 3: Recording Sequences 41 Creating Recordings 42 Running the Recorder for the First Time 42 Common Recording Actions 42 Creating a Recording 43 Text Matching 46 XY Capture Mode 47 Downloading 48 Downloading Checkbox Options 49 Image Verification 49 Stopping and Saving a Recording 50 Testing the Recording 51 Exporting a Recording 52 Exporting a Recording: 52 Managing Recordings 52 Importing Recordings 54 Importing a Recording 54 Exporting Recordings 54 Deleting Recordings 55 Disabling Windows Authentication 56 Step Duration Calculations 57 6

7 Chapter 4: Transactions 58 Creating Transactions 59 Good Playback Locations 59 Cloud Portals 59 Creating a Transaction 59 Adding a Location 61 Managing Playback Locations 63 Failover and the WPM Player 64 What is a proxy? 64 Proxy per Location 64 Proxy per Transaction 64 Proxy Authentication 65 Active Directory Authentication Against Proxy 65 Thresholds 66 Adjusting Thresholds for Network Latency 66 Importing Recordings as Transactions 67 Adding Transactions in Discovery Central 67 Grouping Related Transactions, Transaction Steps or Locations 67 Managing Transactions 69 Managing Transactions through the Web Console 69 Managing Transactions with the Unmanage Scheduling Utility 70 Transactions and Dependencies 73 Creating Dependencies when Adding a Transaction 73 Editing Transaction and Transaction Step Dependencies 74 Creating Dependencies on the Manage Dependencies page 74 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions 77 The Transactions Summary Views 78 Transaction Summary View 78 7

8 Transaction Details 79 Step Details 80 Location Details 81 Active Transaction/Step/Location Alerts 82 Available Customization 82 All Locations 83 Available Customization 83 Defining Transaction Problems 83 Advanced Filtering 83 Managing Locations 83 All Transactions 84 Available Customization 84 Current Screenshot 86 Available Customization 86 Current Screenshot of Steps 87 Available Customization 87 Duration Radial Gauge 88 Available customization 88 Last XX Events 89 Available customization 89 Location Details 90 Available customization 90 Min/Max Average Duration 91 Zooming 91 Available customization 91 Page Elements Overview 92 Available Customization 92 Player Load Percentage 93 8

9 Zooming 93 Available customization 93 Requests with Issues 94 Available customization 94 Recording Custom Properties 95 Available customization 95 Screenshots of Last XX Failures 96 Available Customization 96 Screenshots of Last XX Step Failures 97 Available Customization 97 Step Application Dependencies 98 Available customization 98 Step Availability 99 Zooming 99 Available customization 99 Step Details 100 Available customization 100 Step Duration 102 Zooming 102 Available customization 102 Step Node Dependencies 103 Available customization 103 Steps by Status 104 Available customization 104 TCP Waterfall Chart 105 Available customization 106 Top XX Locations by Duration 107 Zooming 107 9

10 Available customization 107 Top XX Steps by Duration 108 Available customization 108 Top XX Transactions by Duration 109 Zooming 109 Available customization 109 Transaction Availability 110 Zooming 110 Available customization 110 Transaction Application Dependencies 111 Available customization 111 Transaction Custom Properties 112 Available customization 112 Transaction Details 113 Available customization 113 Transaction Health Overview 115 Available customization 115 Transaction Node Dependencies 116 Available customization 116 Transactions by Status 117 Available customization 117 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment 118 Introduction to the AppStack Environment View 119 The AppStack Environment View Analogy 119 The AppStack Environment View 122 AppStack Categories and Data 125 Understanding AppStack 129 Understanding Status and Colors

11 Status Reporting 130 Understanding Mixed Icons 130 Understanding Quick Links 130 Understanding Categories 132 Understanding the Category Status Summary 133 Understanding the Overview Bar 133 Understanding Filtering Options 133 Understanding Filter Properties 134 Understanding Layouts 137 Hiding Objects with "Up" Status 139 Understanding the AppStack Resource 140 Navigating to AppStack 141 Using AppStack 142 Customizing the AppStack Environment View 145 Adding AppStack to a NOC View 147 Chapter 7: Custom Properties 150 Chapter 8: Alerts and WPM 152 Creating Alerts 153 Viewing Alerts 155 Acknowledging Alerts 156 Adding Alert resources to a view 157 Chapter 9: WPM Reports 158 Appendices 160 Troubleshooting and Diagnostics 161 Common Debugging Scenarios 161 Troubleshooting XY Capture Mode 162 Status Icons 163 Status Indicators

12 Status Rollup Mode 165 WPM Alert Variables 167 WPM Transaction Alert Variables 167 WPM Transaction Step Alert Variables 170 WPM Step Request Alert Variables 175 WPM Player Location Alert Variables

13 Chapter 1: Introduction Web performance monitoring provides you with an accurate sampling of your web sites and services from the viewpoint of your users/customers. SolarWinds web performance monitor (WPM) actively monitors web transactions from the end user s point-of-view without requiring the use of agents, and provides intuitive user experience testing with dashboards to display alerts and graphs for websites on both sides of the firewall. You can drill into load times, user experience for complete transactions, page load speed by location, heaviest page elements, waterfall charts, and images not displaying as intended. 13

14 Chapter 1: Introduction WPM and Orion WPM shares the Orion core engine with other SolarWinds products such as Server and Application Monitor (SAM), Net Performance Monitor (NPM), etc. Some features and functions within WPM are also shared. Therefore, features and functions in WPM may appear to be available when they are not. These features and functions are not utilized by WPM as a standalone product. 14

15 WPM Glossary of Terms WPM Glossary of Terms Here is a list of fundamental terms used within this product with which you should be familiar: Action An action is considered a single event within a recording. An action can be, but is not limited to, text input into a field, a mouse click, a download, and so on. Managed Transaction A managed transaction is a transaction currently assigned to a location and actively reporting statistics to the web console. Managed transactions count against your license. Player - The Player is a Windows service simulating an end-user by playing back the steps of your transaction recordings. The results and timings are then reported back to the WPM Web Console, where the information can be viewed in various transaction resources. By installing the Player on remote computer systems, you form a cloud of Players that can sample the typical experiences of end-users in various locations around the world. Recorder - The Recorder is a Windows program that records web browser steps as your perform them to simulate the typical steps taken by end-users. Typical actions recorded include mouse clicks, text input, file downloads, and matching text strings and images. Recording A recording is a series of navigational steps that are recorded. Once assigned to a location for playback, a recording becomes a transaction. A recording, in and of itself, does not count against your license. Step A step is a collection of actions within a transaction. For example, the actions required to navigate to a specific URL make up one step. Transaction A transaction is a recording of web browser steps assigned to a specific location. An assigned recording, or transaction, counts against your license. Unmanaged Transaction An unmanaged transaction is a transaction that is currently assigned to a specific location, but is purposely inactive and does not report statistics to the web console. When a transaction is unmanaged, the historical data is retained. Unmanaged transactions count against your license. WPM Server and Web Console - The Web Console lets you play back your transactions on a schedule with intervals as short as one minute. The Web Console also lets you set thresholds on any step in a transaction when played back. These thresholds allow the WPM server to compare results and timings and 15

16 Chapter 1: Introduction warn you if a transaction indicates your end-users are experiencing service delays. 16

17 Chapter 2: Installing WPM WPM provides separate installers for its Server, Recorder, and Player components. Installing the Server also installs local copies of the Recorder and Player. You can then may install additional copies of the Recorder and Player on other computers as needed. 17

18 Chapter 2: Installing WPM Installing the WPM Server and Web Console WPM uses a simple wizard-driven interface for the installation process. Note: Downgrades of SolarWinds products are not supported. If you are upgrading or installing multiple SolarWinds products, confirm that you are installing them in the order given in the upgrade instructions located in your SolarWinds Customer Portal. SolarWinds Server Hardware Requirements The following table lists the minimum software requirements and recommendations: Hardware Hard Drive Memory CPU Requirements 20 GB 3 GB 3 GHz dual-processor, dual-core is recommended. SolarWinds Server Software Requirements The following table lists the minimum software requirements and recommendations: Software Operating Systems Requirements Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 (32-bit & 64- bit) Windows Server 2008, 2008 SP2, 2008 R2, and 2008 R2 SP1 Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 Supported operating system languages: English (US and UK) German Japanese 18

19 SolarWinds Server Software Requirements Software Requirements Simplified Chinese FIPS compliant/compatible and UAC features are supported. IIS and MSMQ must be installed. SolarWinds recommends that SolarWinds administrators have local administrator privileges to ensure full functionality of local SolarWinds tools. Accounts limited to use of the SolarWinds Web Console do not require administrator privileges. Note: SolarWinds supports evaluation installations on Windows 7, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8 (except Win 8 Standard edition), and Windows 8.1 (except Win 8.1 Standard edition). SolarWinds does not support production installations of SolarWinds products on Windows 7. Note: Both the WPM Player and Recorder support Windows 8 and Windows TCP/IP Ports Web Server 80 (TCP) open for http traffic 443 (TCP) open for https traffic (TCP) open for SolarWinds traffic (TCP) open for player-initiated communications mode Microsoft IIS, version 6.0 and higher, in 32-bit mode. DNS specifications require that hostnames be composed of alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9), the minus sign (-), and periods (.). Underscore characters (_) are not allowed. For more information, see RFC 952. Warning: The following Windows accounts, as 19

20 Chapter 2: Installing WPM Software Requirements configured by IIS 6.0 on Windows Server 2003 with their default security settings, are required: IUSR_<hostname>, as a member of the Guests group ONLY. IWAM_<hostname>, as a member of the IIS_ WPG group ONLY. Disabling these accounts or changing any default settings of these accounts may negatively affect the operation of your SolarWinds installation. SolarWinds strongly recommends against altering these accounts or their settings. Note: SolarWinds neither recommends nor supports the installation of any WPM product on the same server or using the same database server as a Research in Motion (RIM) Blackberry server..net Framework Web Console Browser.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 through Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, 9, 10, and 11 Mozilla Firefox, latest two versions at time of shipping Google Chrome, latest two versions at time of shipping SolarWinds SQL Database Server Requirements The following table lists the software and hardware requirements for the SolarWinds database server. Resource Microsoft SQL Requirements SQL server versions: 20

21 SolarWinds SQL Database Server Requirements Resource Server Version Requirements SQL Server 2005 SP3 (show message that user should upgrade to SP4 or SQL 2008 as it will dropped in next release) SQL Server 2005 SP4 SQL 2008 without SP, 2008 SP1, 2008 SP2, 2008 SP3 SQL 2008 R2 without SP, 2008 R2 SP1, 2008 R2 SP2 SQL 2012, SQL 2012 SP1 (also with AlwaysOn Availability Groups) SQL 2014 (also with AlwaysOn Availability Groups) SQL server collations: English with collation setting SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_ CI_AS English with collation setting SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_ CS_AS German with collation setting German_PhoneBook_CI_AS Japanese with collation setting Japanese_CI_AS Simplified Chinese with collation setting Chinese_PRC_ CI_AS SQL version in FullWithSQL package: MS SQL server 2008 R2 SP1 - Express Edition Notes: SQL Server Express Edition 3.5 SP2 is only supported for SolarWinds evaluations. Due to latency effects, SolarWinds does not recommend installing your SQL Server and your SolarWinds server or additional polling engine in different locations across a WAN. For more information, see the SolarWinds Knowledge Base article, Can I install my Orion server or 21

22 Chapter 2: Installing WPM Resource Requirements Additional Polling Engine and my Orion database (SQL Server) in different locations across a WAN? Either mixed-mode or SQL authentication must be supported. If you are managing your SolarWinds database, SolarWinds recommends you install the SQL Server Management Studio component. If your SolarWinds WPM product installs SQL Server System CLR Types, a manual restart of the SQL Server service for your SolarWinds database is required. Use the following database select statement to check your SQL Server version, service pack or release level, and edition: select SERVERPROPERTY ('productversion'), SERVERPROPERTY ('productlevel'), SERVERPROPERTY ('edition') CPU Speed Hard Drive Space Memory.NET Framework TCP/IP Ports 2.0 GHz 2 GB Note: The SolarWinds installer needs at least 1GB on the drive where temporary Windows system or user variables are stored. Per Windows standards, some common files may need to be installed on your server operating system drive. 2 GB Version 4.0.NET Framework is required (TCP) open for remote SQL client access traffic. 22

23 Requirements for Virtual Machines and Servers Requirements for Virtual Machines and Servers SolarWinds installations on VMware Virtual Machines and Microsoft Virtual Servers are fully supported if the following minimum requirements are met for each VM. Note: SolarWinds strongly recommends that you maintain your SQL Server database on a separate physical server. Virtual Resource CPU Speed Allocated Hard Drive Space Memory Network Interface Requirements 2.0 GHz 2GB Note: Due to intense I/O requirements, SQL Server should be hosted on a separate physical server configured as RAID 1+0. RAID 5 is not recommended for the SQL Server hard drive. 3 GB Each virtual machine on which SolarWinds is installed should have its own, dedicated network interface card. Note: SolarWinds uses SNMP to monitor your network so if you are unable to dedicate a network interface card to your SolarWinds server, you may experience gaps in monitoring data due to the low priority generally assigned to SNMP traffic. Additional Required Components The following required x86 components are installed by the SolarWinds Installation Wizard if they are not found on your SolarWinds database server: SQL Server System Common Language Runtime (CLR) Types. SolarWinds products use secure SQL CLR stored procedures for selected, nonbusiness data operations to improve overall performance. Microsoft SQL Server Native Client Microsoft SQL Server Management Objects 23

24 Chapter 2: Installing WPM Antivirus Directory Exclusions To ensure that all Orion products have access to all required files, the following directories, listed by operating system, should be excluded from anti-virus protection: Do not exclude executable files C:\ is the default install volume Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP: c:\documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SolarWinds\ Windows Server 2007, Windows Vista, and Windows 2008 c:\programdata\solarwinds\ Installation Procedure Note: To avoid permissions issues, do not install on a domain controller. To Install WPM: 1. Log on to your future WPM server as Windows administrator. 2. Navigate to your download location, and then launch the executable file. 3. If you are prompted to install requirements, click Install, and then complete the installation, including a reboot, if required. Notes: Downloading and installing Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 may take more than 20 minutes, depending on your existing system configuration. If a reboot is required, click Install to resume installation after rebooting, and then click Next on the Welcome window. 4. If you want to use the SolarWinds Improvement Program to send anonymous data about your usage to SolarWinds, click Send data. 5. Review the Welcome text, and then click Next. 6. If the Setup Wizard detects that Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) is not installed, select Suspend installation to manually install IIS, click Finish, quit setup, and then install IIS. 24

25 Completing the Configuration Wizard Note: The Web Console requires that Microsoft IIS is installed on the WPM Server. If you do not install IIS at this point, you must install IIS later, and then configure a website for the Web Console to use. 7. If an IIS installation was required, launch the installer again, and then click Next on the Welcome window. Note: A server reboot may be required after installing IIS. 8. Accept the terms of the license agreement, and then click Next. 9. If you want to install WPM in a destination folder other than the default given, click Browse, select the required installation folder, and then click OK. 10. Click Next on the Choose Destination Location window. 11. Confirm the current installation settings, and then click Next on the Start Copying Files window. 12. Click Finish when the Setup Wizard completes. 13. If you are evaluating WPM, click Continue Evaluation. 14. If you are installing a production version of WPM, click Enter Licensing Information, and then complete the following procedure to license your WPM installation: a. If you have both an activation key and access to the Internet, select the first option, I have Internet access and an activation key..., enter your Activation Key, and then click Next. Note: If you are using a proxy server to access the Internet, check I access the Internet through a proxy server, and then provide the Proxy address and Port. b. If you do not have access to the Internet from your designated WPM server, select This server does not have Internet access..., click Next, and then complete the steps provided. Completing the Configuration Wizard Using the Configuration Wizard, the following procedure completes and configures your WPM installation. 25

26 Chapter 2: Installing WPM Confirm that you have designated a SQL server database instance for WPM. Confirm that the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager is not open while the Configuration Wizard is running. SolarWinds recommends that you close any and all browsing sessions that may be open to the web console before starting the Configuration Wizard. During configuration, the SolarWinds polling engine will shut down temporarily with the result that, if you are actively polling, you may lose some polling data. SolarWinds recommends that you perform upgrades during off-peak hours of network usage to minimize the impact of this temporary polling stoppage. Configuring WPM: 1. If the Configuration Wizard has not loaded automatically, click Start > All Programs > SolarWinds Orion > Configuration and Auto-Discovery > Configuration Wizard. 2. Click Next on the Welcome dialog of the Configuration Wizard. 3. If you are prompted to stop services, click Yes. Note: To ensure that all updates and changes are installed correctly, you must stop all services. 4. Specify the SQL Server instance to store network data. Notes: If you are using SQL Express, specify your instance as (local) and use a strong password. For more information about authentication with strong passwords, see SolarWinds recommends against the use of SQL Express in production environments due to inherent limitations. The selected instance must support mixed-mode or SQL authentication with strong passwords. A strong password must meet at least three of the following four criteria: o o o Contains at least one uppercase letter. Contains at least one lowercase letter. Contains at least one number. 26

27 Completing the Configuration Wizard o Contains at least one non-alphanumeric character, e.g., #, %, or ^. 5. Provide credentials, if required, to log into the selected instance. Notes: In general, SolarWinds recommends using SQL Server Authentication to ensure that the WPM server can always access the SQL Server, even when it is hosted remotely on a separate server. If you are using an existing database, the user account needs only to be in the db_owner database role for the existing database If you are using an existing SQL account, the user account needs only to be in the db_owner database role for the SolarWinds database If you are creating a new database, the user account must be a member of the dbcreator server role. The sysadmin role and the sa user account are always members of dbcreator If you are creating a new SQL account, the user account must be a member of the securityadmin server role Note: The sysadmin role and the sa user account are always members of securityadmin. 6. Click Next. 7. If you are creating a new database, select Create a new database, provide a name for the new database, and then click Next. Note: SolarWinds recommends using only alphanumeric characters (abc, 123) in database names. 8. If you are using an existing database, select Use an existing database, type the database name or select it from the list, and then click Next. 9. If you want to create a new SQL account for the polling engine and Web Console to use for accessing the database, select Create a new account, provide an account name and password, confirm the account password, and then click Next. 27

28 Chapter 2: Installing WPM 10. If you want to use an existing SQL account to provide database access to the polling engine and Web Console, select the existing account, provide the appropriate password, and then click Next. 11. If you need to specify a particular IP address for the SolarWinds Web Console, provide the IP address of the host web server. Note: SolarWinds recommends the default of All Unassigned, unless your environment requires a specific IP address for your SolarWinds Web Console. 12. Specify both the Port through which you want to access the Web Console and the Website Root Directory into which you want to install Web Console files. Note: If you specify any port other than 80, you must include that port in the URL used to access the Web Console. For example, if you specify an IP address of and port 8080, the URL used to access the Web Console is If you want to enable automatic login using Windows Authentication, select Yes Enable automatic login using Windows Authentication. Note: Manual login using Windows Authentication is always available, regardless of whether or not automatic login is enabled. 14. Click Next. 15. If you are prompted to create a new directory, click Yes. 16. If you are prompted to create a new website, click Yes. Note: Choosing to overwrite the existing website will not result in the deletion of any custom SolarWinds website settings you may have previously applied. 17. Confirm that all services you want to install are checked. Note: Typically, all listed services should be selected for installation. 18. Click Next. 19. If you are prompted to disable the SNMP Trap Service and enable the SolarWinds Trap Service, click Yes to disable the Windows SNMP Trap Service and enable the SolarWinds Trap Service. 28

29 Licensing 20. Review the final configuration items, and then click Next. 21. Click Next on the Completing the SolarWinds Configuration Wizard dialog. 22. Click Finish when the SolarWinds Configuration Wizard completes. 23. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator. Note: Until you change your account, you can log in by using the User name, Admin without a password. Licensing WPM is licensed by the total number of transactions that are implemented, regardless of whether or not these transactions are managed or unmanaged. The number of licenses used is calculated by multiplying the number of recordings by the number of locations assigned. For example: 5 transactions at 1 location = 5 licenses 5 transactions at 3 locations = 15 licenses License Tier Implemented Transactions License WPM5 5 License with 1st-Year maintenance WPM10 10 License with 1st-Year maintenance WPM20 20 License with 1st-Year maintenance WPM50 50 License with 1st-Year maintenance WPM License with 1st-Year maintenance WPM License with 1st-Year maintenance 29

30 Chapter 2: Installing WPM License Tier Implemented Transactions License WPMX Unlimited, standard playback rate License with 1st-Year maintenance Maintaining Licenses SolarWinds License Manager is a free utility that allows you to easily migrate SolarWinds licenses from one computer to another without having to contact SolarWinds Customer Service. The following sections provide procedures for installing and using the License Manager: Installing the License Manager Install the License Manager on the computer where you currently have licensed SolarWinds products. Note: You must install the License Manager on a computer with the correct time. If the time on the computer is even slightly off from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), you cannot reset licenses without contacting SolarWinds Customer Service. Time zone settings neither affect nor cause this issue. Installing the License Manager: 1. Go to Start > All Programs > SolarWinds > SolarWinds License Manager Setup. 2. Click I Accept to accept the SolarWinds EULA. 3. If prompted to install the SolarWinds License Manager, click Install. Using the License Manager You must run License Manager on the computer where the currently licensed SolarWinds product is installed before you can migrate licenses to a new installation. The following procedure deactivates currently installed licenses that can then be transferred to a new installation. 30

31 Using the License Manager Deactivating Installed Licenses: 1. Go to Start > All Programs > SolarWinds > SolarWinds License Manager. 2. Check the products you want to deactivate on this computer, and then click Deactivate. 3. Specify your SolarWinds Customer ID and password when prompted, and then click Deactivate. Once complete, deactivated licenses become available to activate on a new computer. When you have successfully deactivated your products, log on to the computer where you want to install your SolarWinds products and begin installation. When asked to specify your licenses, provide the appropriate information. The licenses you deactivated earlier are then assigned to the new installation. 31

32 Chapter 2: Installing WPM Installing the Recorder The WPM Recorder is a Windows application that you can install on any computer that meets the following system requirements: Recorder Requirements Resource CPU Memory Operating System TCP/IP Ports Web Browser Requirements 1.0 GHz 2 GB Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 2012, Server 2003, Server 2008, Server (TCP) open for http traffic 443 (TCP) open for https traffic (TCP) open for SolarWinds traffic Internet Explorer 9 or higher Note: Due to a known issue in Internet Explorer 8, Recorder breaks when IE8 is used. Installing the Recorder: 1. Run the TransactionRecorder.exe installer from your WPM package or download and run the TransactionRecorder.exe installer from the Web Console by navigating to: Settings > WPM Settings > Manage Recordings > Download recorder locally. 2. Follow the installer instructions. Note: During installation, any required prerequisites such as.net Framework 4 will also be installed. Configuring Settings When you run the Recorder, you are asked to specify the connection details of the WPM server. If you check the Remember Me checkbox, the connection details are saved for future Recorder sessions. 32

33 Recorder Login Fields and Options Recorder Login Fields and Options User name Enter your username to log into the WPM server. If you have not configured any additional WPM users, use the default user name of admin. The SolarWinds WPM user selected must have WPM administrator rights to create and manage recordings. Users who are not WPM administrators should consider using the Work Offline mode. Note: You cannot use Active Directory authentication with the WPM recorder. Password Enter the password associated with the username. If you have not configured any additional WPM users, leave the password of the admin user blank. IP or hostname Enter the IP address or the hostname of the WPM server. The administrator should be able to provide this. Remember me Connect Check this box to have the Recorder remember your credentials for future logins. Click to connect to the WPM server and run the Recorder. 33

34 Chapter 2: Installing WPM Work Offline Click to run the Recorder offline. In offline mode, recordings cannot be saved or loaded to the WPM server, but must instead be exported and imported to and from your local disk as (XML).recording files. To save an offline recording to the WPM server, you must use the WPM Web Console's Import function on the WPM Settings > Manage Recordings page. If you have another Recorder available that can connect to the WPM server, import the file into that Recorder and then save it to the WPM server. Once you have successfully logged in, or have chosen to work offline, the recorder is launched. 34

35 Installing the Player Installing the Player The WPM Player is a Windows service that you can install on any computer that meets the system requirements. Recommended Player Requirements The recommended requirements allow a single Player to monitor up to 50 transactions of 30-second duration at 5-minute intervals. The minimum is 1 minute. Resource CPU Memory Operating System Requirement 2.0 GHz Quadcore 3 GB Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, Server 2003, Server 2008, or Server 2012 TCP/IP Ports Web Browser 80 (TCP) open for http traffic 443 (TCP) open for https traffic (TCP) open for SolarWinds traffic (TCP) open for server-initiated communication mode Internet Explorer 8 or higher Minimum Player Requirements The minimum Player requirements allow up to two 30-second transactions to be monitored at 1-minute intervals. Note: The Player that is installed on the SolarWinds WPM server is configured to work as a minimum-resource player in the interest of conserving the system resources of your SolarWinds WPM server. Resource CPU Requirement 2.0 GHz single core. Virtual Machine okay. 35

36 Chapter 2: Installing WPM Resource Memory Operating System Requirement 2 GB Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7, Server 2003, Server 2008 or Server TCP/IP Ports Web Browser 80 (TCP) open for http traffic 443 (TCP) open for https traffic (TCP) open for SolarWinds traffic (TCP) open for server-initiated communication mode Internet Explorer 8 or higher Note: To avoid permissions issues, do not install on a domain controller. Installing the Player: 1. Run the PlaybackPlayer.exe installer from your WPM package or download and run the PlaybackPlayer.exe installer from the Web Console. The download link is located at Settings > WPM Settings > Manage Player Locations > Download player. 2. Follow the installer instructions. Configuring Settings After installing the Player, you must configure its settings. Later on, you will copy these settings into your WPM server when you define your Playback locations so that the server knows how to connect and relay commands to this particular Player. Configure the Player: 1. Click Start > All Programs > SolarWinds Orion > Web Performance Monitor > WPM > Playback Player Settings. The following screen appears: 36

37 Server Initiated Communication Fields Server Initiated Communication Fields This default option waits for requests from the WPM server on a specified port. This requires firewall/nat configurations on each player computer. Player Password This is an optional password to protect against unauthorized connections to your Player. Player Port This is the port the WPM server uses to connect to the Player. This port must be open on your Player firewall. This must be set to

38 Chapter 2: Installing WPM Player Communication Type WPM offers two choices of configuration setup for how the player communicates with the WPM player. Server-initiated communication The server-initiated player is passive and waits for requests from the WPM server on a specified port. This requires firewall/nat configurations on each Agent machine. Player-initiated communication Selecting this option allows the player to actively initiate communication with the WPM server on port Firewall/NAT configuration is simplified because the active agent actively connects to the poller server using a HTTP(S) protocol. MSPs and larger distributed deployments may prefer this option. Deploying the Player Remotely The following requirements must be met for remote deployment to be successful: Accounts and Security Requirements Accounts must have access to the remote administrator share Updated Root Certificates For Windows Vista Windows 7 computers in a workgroup, UAC must either be disabled or the built in Administrator account must be used for deployment Requirements for Open Ports 135 Microsoft EPMAP (DCE/RPC Locator service) 445 Microsoft-DS SMB file sharing Supported OS and IE Requirements Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012 Internet Explorer 8, or higher During the deployment process, all prerequisites will be installed automatically, (e.g. VC Redistributables,.NET Framework, and so on). 38

39 Supported OS and IE Requirements Note: The remote machine may be restarted at the end of the deployment process. 39

40 Chapter 2: Installing WPM Upgrading Players Upgrading players simply requires you to install the new player over the previous version. The new player retains all information, self-registers and your current transactions begin to poll again. If you uninstall players, transactions will go into a state of Unknown. Transactions are polled again when you install a new player on the same machine with the same settings. Additional Poller and Web Site If deploying WPM into an existing SolarWinds environment that uses additional pollers or web sites, you must update the existing additional pollers and web site using the files provided: Additional Poller update: SolarWinds-WPM-v2.2-Poller.exe Additional Web Console update: SolarWinds-WPM-v2.2-WebOnly.exe 40

41 Chapter 3: Recording Sequences This section discusses the following topics: How to record and save action sequences How to edit recorded action sequences 41

42 Chapter 3: Recording Sequences Creating Recordings The Recorder window is split into two panes: The left-hand pane records your browser actions. The right-hand pane is the Time Line that shows you what actions have been recorded. It also allows you to edit your actions while still recording. When a recording is being captured, a red box surrounds what is being recorded. Note: WPM does not record the contents of XML pages. Running the Recorder for the First Time The Recorder uses the Internet Explorer settings including web proxy. The Recorder web browser uses the settings and security level of the Internet Explorer browser of the computer it is installed on. If your web site requires the browser to accept cookies, or if you need to connect to the Internet through a web proxy, these are settings you must make in Internet Explorer. If the security level of the browser is too high, the Recorder will ask for permission to lower the security settings to the recommended level. Disable browser integration for Adobe Acrobat Reader if it is installed. If it is installed, the recorder will prompt you to disable the browser integration type. If you use Internet Explorer 9.0, change the.zip Windows file association. Internet Explorer 9.0 handles.zip files in a manner that is incompatible with the Recorder. As a workaround, install a third-party.zip utility such as WinZip or 7zip to change the.zip file association. Common Recording Actions Depending on which action is enabled, you will see different options available in the recorder menu. Menu during a recording: 42

43 Creating a Recording 1. Record 2. Stop 3. Add Wait Time 4. X, Y Capture Mode 5. Start Conditional Block 6. Text Verification 7. Image Verification 8. Image Verification with click sequence Menu when recording is stopped: 1. Record 2. Play Recorded Sequence 3. Play Step-By-Step 4. Insert Wait Time 5. Insert Text Verification 6. Insert Image Verification Creating a Recording Creating a record is simple. Just start the recorder and perform the browser steps you would expect your user or customer to do. You can edit these at any point. Starting the Recording: 1. Click Start > SolarWinds Orion > Web Performance Monitor > Recorder. Note: You be asked if you want to lower your security settings in order the run the recorder. 2. Enter the URL for the page from which you want to start recording, and press Enter or click OK. 3. Click Record and begin the sequence. All your browser actions are now recorded and listed in the Time Line pane on the right side of the Recorder, 43

44 Chapter 3: Recording Sequences as shown below: Making Corrections While Recording: 1. Click Undo as many times as necessary to step back through any incorrect actions in the Time Line. 2. Correct your mistakes by right-clicking the step in the Time Line, and selecting the appropriate menu option. Note: New steps can be added between two existing actions or at the end of the last step in the recording. 44

45 Creating a Recording Adding Waits: The default timeout threshold for pages is 30 seconds. If you need to specify a longer time to wait, you can insert a Wait command before or after a step. These Wait times are not included in the recorded time for the transactions. 1. Right-click on the step before or after which you want to insert a pause. 2. Select Insert Wait above or Insert Wait below. 3. Select the time to wait, and click OK. Removing Unnecessary Actions in the Time Line: 1. Select the unnecessary action, and press the Delete key. Correcting Errors in Text Field Actions: 1. Double-click the text field action in the Time Line pane. 2. Enter the corrected text in the Simple Text Input box, or enter the multi- 45

46 Chapter 3: Recording Sequences variant text in the Multi-Variant Text Input box, and then click OK. Text Matching Monitoring is not only about playing back sequences, but also about verifying that the results are what you expect. For example, after recording a login sequence, you may want to add a check on the next web page to find any text that says "Login successful," "Welcome," or some other keyword indicating that the login action was successful. If the match is not successful, WPM will set the transaction status to Down. Typically, you want to make the text matching action the first action on the page that is loaded after logging in. Setting a "Success means (a Page Contains Certain Text)" verification: 1. Click the text verification icon:. 2. Enter the text to search for in the Enter Text to Match box. 46

47 XY Capture Mode 3. Click Page Contains Text. 4. Click OK. You can also verify that a page does not contain certain text, for example, "Error" or "Not found". Setting a "Success means (a Page Does not Contain Certain Text)" verification: 1. Click the text verification icon:. 2. Enter the text to search for in the Enter Text to Match box. 3. Click Page Does not Contain Text. 4. Click OK. XY Capture Mode XY Capture Mode records the coordinates clicked within dynamic web pages. This applies to pages containing non-html elements, such as Flash and Silverlight based content. This feature works by starting a recording, then toggling on/off the XY mode as needed during a recording. When you toggle on the XY Capture Mode, all mouse actions are converted from global coordinates to local browser coordinates and recorded. The Image Match action will then verify that the content is properly loaded before playback continues. Note: It is possible to add an Image Match into a recording after it has finished. Configuring XY Capture Mode: 1. Start your recording. 2. Enable the XY Capture mode by clicking the coordinate's icon. 3. Mouse click on the page as needed. 4. Click Image Match and then drag your mouse over a region of the image. 47

48 Chapter 3: Recording Sequences 5. On mouse-up, the Match Image button will appear asking you to confirm the image match. 6. Stop the recording by pressing Stop. 7. Verify that the recorded clicks and actions were successful by clicking Play. 8. If needed, edit from the timeline by right-clicking on a step. Notes: Actions are recorded at the user's speed. If you have an unnecessary delay in your recording, double-click on the recorded action and change the recorded delay to another value. Image Matching on animated objects is not recommended. During playback, animated objects may be in a different phase of animation, which will result in not being able to find the exact recorded image. Select small regions. Image Match actions are CPU intensive. Select only small regions or portions of the image to improve the performance of playback. Do not use the Recorder on screen resolutions greater than 1920 x 1200 pixels as operating system limitations do not allow the WPM Playback Player to function above this resolution. Image Matching. As soon as the image is found on the page, the timer is stopped and the next step begins. Image matching time is measured and added to the overall step duration. Downloading If you download a file during your recording, the following dialog box appears: 48

49 Downloading Checkbox Options Downloading Checkbox Options Include download time in statistic Check to include the time required to download the file in the overall time for recording this step. Stop download after specified size is downloaded Check to stop the download when it reaches the specified file size. Note: Due to a known issue, a navigation action is required between each partial download or else the transaction playback will stop playing correctly. Verify name Check to compare the names of the recorded filename against the actual filename being downloaded at the time of playback. If the names do not match, this transaction step will be considered Down. Verify size Check to compare the size of the recorded downloaded file against the size of the file being downloaded at the time of playback. If the sizes do not match, this transaction step will be considered Down. Image Verification WPM can perform image verifications during a recording. Image matches can also be used in conjunction with XY Capture mode to record non-html page elements. The page becomes grayed-out once Image Verification is enabled. In XY Capture mode, select a small region on the page by holding down the left mouse button and dragging the mouse. Once you have the portion of the image captured, click the Match Image button which appears on mouse-up. 49

50 Chapter 3: Recording Sequences During playback, the image is matched. If the image is not found, the search is repeated until the defined time elapses. Enabling Image Verification: 1. Click the Image Verification icon. 2. Click and hold the left mouse button while dragging the mouse to select the image to match. 3. Click the Match Button. 4. Verify the image in the picture and click OK. Allow for extra time if the image is dynamically generated. 5. Save the recording. Enabling Image Verification with Click: WPM allows you enable image verification (described above) with a click. This is useful if an image is attached with a hyperlink. 1. Click the Image Verification with click icon. 2. Click and hold the left mouse button while dragging the mouse to select the image to match. 3. Click the Match and Click Image button. 4. Verify the image in the picture and click OK. Allow for extra time if the image is dynamically generated. 5. Save the recording. Stopping and Saving a Recording When you have completed your action sequence, you need to stop, test and save it. Stopping the Recording: 1. Click Stop. 50

51 Testing the Recording Testing the Recording You can play the entire recording or step through it. During the playback, the Player times how long it takes each steps to run. This information is used later to calculate typical timings for the recording. Note: The Recorder automatically tests the recording when you save it. Playing the recording: 1. Click Play. The recorder will play the entire sequence. Playing the recording step-by-step: 1. Click Step. The recorder will play the next action in the sequence and then pause. Repeat for each step. Saving the Recording: If you are connected to the WPM server, you can save your recordings directly to the server. The Recorder automatically tests the recording by playing it back when you save it. The Recorder also presents you with the option to open the Web Console to create a transaction from your new recording. Saving a Recording to the WPM server: 1. Click Save. 2. Enter the name of this recording in the Recording Name text box. 3. Click Save. Saving Changes to a Recording: 1. Click Save. Saving Changes as a New WPM Recording: 1. Click File > Save As. 2. Enter the name of this recording in the Recording Name text box. 3. Click Save. 51

52 Chapter 3: Recording Sequences Exporting a Recording If you are in offline mode, you can export your recordings to the local disk as a.recording file that you can later transfer and import into WPM. Exporting a Recording: 1. Click File > Export. 2. To password-protect the recording: a. Click Yes. b. Enter the password in the Password and Confirm Password text fields. c. Click OK. 3. Enter the file name for the recording, and then click Save. (Saving creates an XML file.) Managing Recordings In the Web Console, the only change you can make to a recording is to change its name. However, the WPM Recorder enables you to make additional changes. While you cannot add new browser actions, you can delete existing actions, change the text input of text field actions, and edit or insert new Match Content actions as required. Note: You must either save or export the recording to retain your changes. If the recording you want to edit is on the WPM server, you must first load it into the Recorder. Loading a Recording from the WPM Server: 1. Click Open. 2. Select the recording, and then click Open. Deleting an Action: 1. Select the action. 2. Press the Delete key. 52

53 Managing Recordings Changing the Text in Text Field Actions: 1. Double-click the text field action in the Time Line pane. 2. Enter the corrected text in the text box, and then click OK. Changing the Text in Match Content Actions: 1. Double-click the Match Content action in the Time Line pane. 2. Enter the corrected text in the Enter text to match box, and then click OK. Changing the Name of a Step or Insert a Step Below a Step: 1. Right-click on a step in the timeline and make your selection from the popup menu. Adding Wait Time to Steps: Adding wait time to steps creates an artificial pause in the recording. To add wait time to a step: 53

54 Chapter 3: Recording Sequences 1. Click Add Wait Time. 2. Edit the time as needed, and click OK.. Importing Recordings In offline mode, you cannot retrieve recordings directly from the WPM server. You can, however, open any recordings that have been exported as.recording files. Importing a Recording 1. To import a recording using the Web Transaction Recorder, click File > Import. 2. To import a recording using the Web Console, click Settings > WPM Settings > Manage Recordings. 3. Browse and select the.recording file, and then click Open 4. If the recording is password-protected, enter the password, and then click OK. Exporting Recordings It may not always be possible to establish a connection between the recorder and the WPM server. The way to transfer recordings between a remote recorder and the WPM server is to export the recordings to.recording files on the local disk, and to then transfer them to their destination using , FTP, or some other means. Exporting a Recording: 1. Click File > Export. 2. Enter the file name for the recording, and then click Save. 54

55 Deleting Recordings Exporting a Recording from WPM Server. 1. Log on to the WPM Web Console. 2. Click the Web tab. 3. Click WPM Settings. 4. Click Manage Recordings. 5. Select the check box next to the recording and then click Export. 6. To password-protect the recording: 1. Select Yes, password protect this recording. 2. Enter the password in the Password and Confirm Password fields. 7. Click Export. 8. The web browser begins downloading your.recording file. It is saved under the name, NameOfRecording.recording. Deleting Recordings You can delete recordings from the Manage Recordings page of the Web Console. All transactions using the deleted recording will also be deleted. Deleting Recording: 1. Log on to the Web Console. 2. Click Settings > WPM Settings >. 3. Click Manage Recordings. 55

56 Chapter 3: Recording Sequences 4. Select the check boxes next to the recording or recordings you want to delete. 5. Click Delete. Disabling Windows Authentication If you find that Players are having authentication problems when playing back recordings, check whether the recorded web site uses Windows authentication for its login process. Some computer systems are set up to pass-through Windows credentials without prompting for a username and password, and if you create a recording on such a computer, the username and password required for the web site will not be saved with the recording. This may result in an authentication problem when the recording is played back on a different computer. To ensure that the Recorder always asks for a username and password for web sites protected by Windows authentication: 1. Run the recorder under a local user account instead of a domain account. 2. Uncheck Enable Integrated Windows Authentication on the Advanced tab of IE Internet Options settings. This option requires a restart of Internet 56

57 Step Duration Calculations Explorer. Step Duration Calculations The times taken for navigation to new page, file download, and image match / text match are all used in the calculation of step duration. Ajax calls are not used in step duration calculations. For example, page content loaded dynamically by Ajax. To partially measure such dynamic behavior, you can use text match / image match, but the return of this method is not as precise as the return of direct request measurement. 57

58 Chapter 4: Transactions A transaction is a recording of web browser steps assigned to a specific location. However, transactions are more than just recordings and locations. A transaction can also be assigned customizable timing thresholds so that the WPM server alerts you if any transactions are taking longer to run than they should. This chapter discusses the following topics: How to create transactions from your recordings How to register Players as playback locations How to find good locations for Player agents How to interpret transaction and step status How to link transactions statuses together 58

59 Chapter 4: Transactions Creating Transactions Transactions are created in the Web Console. Every transaction requires: a recording, created using the Transaction Recorder and saved on the WPM server a Transaction Player that is installed on a computer Good Playback Locations Web Performance Monitoring is used to get an accurate sampling of your web sites and services from the viewpoint of your users/customers. You should place WPM players in the same geographical locations as the majority of your users in order to get data that is truly representative. Possible locations include: A server in a co-location hosting service A workstation in a satellite office A virtual machine hosted by a cloud computing service Cloud Portals WPM enables you to monitor transactions from locations around the world using a VM cloud instance. If you do not have your own infrastructure, consider renting servers from co-location hosts and or virtual machines from cloud computing services. For help on using Amazon Cloud Services to host a player, see the SolarWinds Knowledgebase article: Using Amazon Cloud Services as a Playback Location. Creating a Transaction Selecting a recording and assigning it to a location: 1. Log into the Web Console. 2. Click the Web tab. 3. Click WPM Settings. 4. Click Add a Transaction Monitor. 5. Select the Recording Name for the recording you want to monitor, and then click Next. 59

60 Creating a Transaction If you need to import the recording you want to monitor, click Import, browse to the file, and click Import. Then select and click Next. 6. Select the Location Name for the location where you want this recording to be played, and then click Next. If you need to add a location, see Adding a Location. When you have selected a recording and assigned it to a location, you can define the properties for the transaction. Defining properties: 1. Enter a Description for the transaction. 2. Select the Playback interval to specify how frequently you want this transaction to be played. 3. Select the Thresholds for each step in the transaction. For more information, see Thresholds 4. To use a Proxy URL, click Advanced, and enter the proxy server address in the Proxy URL field. A proxy server acts as an intermediary for requests from clients. A proxy server passes requests and responses to the client application. For more information, see What is a proxy? 5. To enable screenshot capturing, click Advanced, and check Enabled. 6. Click Next. Transaction status troubleshooting: 1. Advanced users can select the Improve transaction troubleshooting by associating nodes or applications to this web transaction, and add nodes and applications for transactions and steps. For further information, see Transactions and Dependencies. 2. Click Save Monitor. 3. The transaction is now added to the Transaction Monitor list. 4. You can play the monitor immediately by selecting its checkbox and clicking Play now. 60

61 Chapter 4: Transactions Adding a Location Locations are simply places on the web where you can install the WPM player. They need to be registered with the WPM server. Location information is displayed in the resources on the WPM Location view, particularly the Location Details resource. To add a location: 1. From the Add Transaction - Location page, click Add Location. 2. Select the method of adding the location. You can add the location on your network, on the cloud, or use an existing location. Adding a location on your network: 1. Select Install location on my network and click Next. 2. Either: Or: Enter the IP Address or Hostname of the location, click Add to List. Select a location from the list of existing nodes. Note: You can select multiple locations if required. 3. Click Next. 4. Either: Or: Select Use default settings, and enter a Player Name if you do not want it to be the same as the Location Name. Select Use advanced settings, and enter a Player Name, Player Port number, and Player Password, as required. 5. Click Next. 6. The location is shown with default credential. Here you have the option to: Click Assign Credentials, to open the Assign Credential window where you can choose an alternative credential, or click <New Credential> to set up a new credential. Click Test Credentials, to test the selected credential is valid. 61

62 Adding a Location 7. Click Deploy Player, to use the selected credential. 8. The location is added to the list of locations. Select the location and click Next. The Defining properties: tab of the Add Transaction page is displayed. Adding a location on the cloud: 1. Select Add a location in the cloud, and click Next. 2. Select the appropriate vendor from the list displayed, and then click Next. 3. Enter the Access key and Secret key for the cloud account. 4. Supply the information requested on the screen until the location is added. Since this depends upon the Cloud provider, you should refer to the help provided by the vendor. For help on using Amazon Cloud Services to host a player, see the SolarWinds Knowledgebase article: Using Amazon Cloud Services as a Playback Location. 5. Once the location has been added to the list of locations, you can select it and click Next. The Defining properties: tab of the Add Transaction page is displayed. Using an existing location: 1. Select Add an existing location, and click Next. 2. Enter a name for the player in the Name for player at this location field. 3. To use server initiated communication, where the server-initiated player is passive and waits for requests from the WPM server on a specified port: a. Select Server initiated communication, and enter the IP Address or hostname where the player is located. b. Click Advanced if you need to add a Player Password, want to change the Player port from the default of 17781, and/or Use proxy. 4. To use player initiated communication, which allows the player to actively initiate communication with the WPM server on port 17782: a. Select Player initiated communication, and select the Player from the dropdown. 62

63 Chapter 4: Transactions b. Click Advanced, if you want to assign this player to a poller. Note: Firewall/NAT configuration is simplified because the player actively connects to the poller server using a HTTP(S) protocol. MSPs and larger distributed deployments may prefer this option. 5. Click Submit. 6. Once the location has been added to the list of locations, you can select it and click Next. The Defining properties: tab of the Add Transaction page is displayed. Managing Playback Locations The Manage Transaction Locations page lets you add, edit, and delete playback locations. Opening the Managing Playback Locations Page: 1. Log in to the Web Console. 2. Click the Web tab. 3. Click Web Settings. 4. Click Manage Player Locations. 63

64 Failover and the WPM Player 5. Hover over a Location Name to see the Location tool tip, or click the location to see the Location Details view. Failover and the WPM Player On failover, the WPM Player continues to point to the primary Orion server, and communication fails. When this occurs, you must switch back to the primary computer to regain player function. What is a proxy? A proxy server acts as an intermediary for requests from clients. A proxy server passes requests and responses to the client application. Proxy per Location You can set your WPM server to communicate with a player location through a proxy server from the Edit Transaction Location page, as shown below: Enter a URL for the Proxy Server used to connect the WPM server to the WPM remote player's location. Note: You can update remote player passwords and ports by editing the location details page: Select a location to edit and then select Update player settings. Proxy per Transaction You can set your transactions to be played using a connection through a proxy server. A player location uses the proxy setting to connect to the remote website that has to be monitored. The group policy Proxy Settings per User must be allowed for transaction proxies to work. This is allowed by default on the computer where the WPM player is running. Use the following steps to check whether or not the settings are correct: 64

65 Chapter 4: Transactions 1. Run Gpedit.msc 2. In the left pane, expand Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components. 3. Select Internet Explorer. 4. In the right pane, double-click Make proxy settings per-machine (rather than per-user). 5. Select Disabled and then click OK. 6. Run Gpupdate /force. 7. Restart the WPM player service. Proxy Authentication Proxy credentials cannot be provided on the Transaction Settings page. Credentials must be captured in the recording. Only the proxy URL can be set on the Transaction Settings page. To ensure that the recorder always prompts for a username and password for sites behind a proxy that requires authentication, take the following steps: 1. Run the recorder under a local user account instead of a domain account. 2. Disable integrated Windows Authentication Internet Explorer's settings. Note: This requires a restart of Internet Explorer. More detailed information can be found in the following KB article: Windows Authentication problems when playing back a recording. Note: Credentials do not need to be captured in the recording if the player is using Active Directory accounts for worker processes, but these accounts must have permission to access the proxy. Active Directory Authentication Against Proxy Using this method, credentials are not required to be included in recordings. In order for this to be possible, the player location worker processes must use domain accounts. Also, Integrated Windows Authentication must be enabled on the remote website. 65

66 Thresholds To enable domain accounts for player worker processes, you must manually configure the SolarWinds.SEUM.Agent.Service.exe configuration file in the WPM player installation folder. Note: A transaction with proxy settings employed can be played on any of the available workers. All of the accounts used for worker processes must be allowed access to the proxy. Thresholds The default threshold timing values for a transaction are based on the step timings measured when a recording was saved: Typical Value: the initial step timing. Warning: Twice the initial step timing. Critical: Four times the initial step timing. The Warning and Critical thresholds are used to trigger alerts. The Typical Value is plotted as a benchmark on resource charts that you can use to compare with actual timings. Editing thresholds: You can change the default values if required. 1. From the Home tab, navigate to Home. 2. Click a transaction in the All Transactions group. 3. Click Edit on the Management line. The Edit Transaction Monitor page is displayed, where you can edit the thresholds. Adjusting Thresholds for Network Latency There may be a need to set different timing thresholds for transactions that are played back from drastically different geographical locations. 66

67 Chapter 4: Transactions For example: If you use a recording to create a transaction that will play back on a Player that is 100 miles away from the original recording location, the default threshold timings are probably sensible. However, if the Player is 2,000 miles away, you will need to raise the timing thresholds to account for the added network latency. Note: Thresholds are not required to create a transaction. Importing Recordings as Transactions To add a recording that cannot connect to the WPM server, you must export the recording from the Recorder as a.recording file and then transfer it to a computer that can access the WPM Web Console. Transfer the file by , FTP, Flash Drive, or some other method. After transferring the.recording file, you can use the Import command on the Add Transaction page to add the recording to the WPM server. Adding Transactions in Discovery Central Discovery Central provides an alternative method of setting up transactions. Navigate to Settings > Discovery Central and follow the instructions shown under Adding Transactions in Discovery Central Grouping Related Transactions, Transaction Steps or Locations Groups give you the ability to logically organize monitored objects, regardless of device type or location for alerting or reporting purposes. Groups can contain any SolarWinds objects that report a status, including transactions and even other groups. You create, delete, and modify groups from the Manage Groups page. Note: Nesting a group within another does not create a strict parent/child relationship. You can include any group as a member in any number of other groups. Creating a Transaction Group: 1. Log on to the web console. 2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console. 3. Click Manage Groups in the Node & Group Management grouping of the Website Administration page. 4. Click Add New Group. 5. Enter a Name and Description for the transaction group. 67

68 Grouping Related Transactions, Transaction Steps or Locations 6. Select Transactions from the Show Only dropdown, and select [No Grouping] from the Group by dropdown. 7. Check the transactions to be added to the group. Note: you can use the same procedure for creating groups of Transaction Steps or Player Locations by changing the selection made in step 6. For further information on using the Manage Groups settings, please see the Managing Groups and Dependencies chapter of the Orion Common Components Administrator Guide. 68

69 Chapter 4: Transactions Managing Transactions You may want your transactions to be played only at certain times for any number of reasons, including avoiding scheduled maintenance, retrieving data only for normal business hours, and so on. When transactions are stopped, you are not be alerted when transactions fail and you will not have down time associated with scheduled maintenance. You can manage your transactions via the Web Console as needed, or on a regular schedule using the SolarWinds Unmanage Scheduling Utility. By unmanaging a transaction, you stop its playback. Remanaging a transaction reenables transaction playback. Managing Transactions through the Web Console Managing transactions from the web console is recommended if you need to stop a playback immediately or for a single occurrence. For transactions to be stopped and started on a schedule, use the Unmanage Scheduling Utility. From the web console, navigate to Settings > WPM Settings > Manage Transaction Monitors to be taken to the following page: 69

70 Managing Transactions with the Unmanage Scheduling Utility Stopping a transaction from being played: 1. Select the transaction by checking the box next to the transaction name. 2. Click Unmanage. 3. From the dialog box, choose the time period for the transaction to be stopped. 4. Click OK. Starting playback of a stopped transaction: 1. Select the unmanaged transaction by clicking the check box next to the transaction name. 2. Click Remanage. Managing Transactions with the Unmanage Scheduling Utility Starting and stopping transactions on a scheduleis done using the Unmanage Scheduling Utility. You must be an Administrator to schedule transactions to be stopped. To do so, in your user account, scroll to the bottom under WPM Settings and change from User to Administrator in the drop-down menu. Scheduling transactions to be stopped: 1. To access the Unmanage Scheduling Utility, navigate to Start > All Programs > SolarWinds Orion > Advanced Features > Unmanage Scheduling Utility. 2. Select either Create New Task, or open an existing task by clicking Edit Existing Task. 3. Click Add Items. 4. If required, group your transactions by selecting a filter from the Group by drop-down menu. 5. Click on the Transactions tab. 6. Select the transactions you want to schedule to be unmanaged by checking the check boxes next to the transaction names. 7. Click Add. 70

71 Chapter 4: Transactions 8. Select the length of time you would like the selected transactions to be stopped. 9. Click OK. 10. Optionally, you can click Save Task to save these selections for future use. Once you have selected transactions to be stopped on a schedule, those transactions will appear in the left pane of the following screen. 71

72 Managing Transactions with the Unmanage Scheduling Utility To view the details of a selected transaction's schedule, check its box and its details will appear in the Task Item Properties pane on the right. From this view, you can change the settings of transaction's schedule by selecting a transaction and clicking Set Duration. Additionally, you can delete transactions from the unmanage schedule by selecting them and clicking Delete Checked Items. Note: It is possible to create a conflict of schedules if you choose the same transaction to be stopped using both the web console and the Unmanage Scheduling Utility with different durations. 72

73 Chapter 4: Transactions Transactions and Dependencies The SolarWinds Orion Manage Dependencies feature enables you to associate objects in a parent-child relations that shows one object has a dependency on another. WPM lets you set dependencies on transaction steps as well as transactions, providing you with an increased level of granularity to isolate dependencies at the level of single browser actions. For the purposes of Web Performance Monitoring, dependencies are useful in conjunction with NPM and SAM for tying nodes and applications to transactions and transaction steps to facilitate troubleshooting. This means that you can view the status of nodes and applications associated with a transaction or transaction step using the Transaction Application Dependencies, Transaction Node Dependencies, Step Application Dependencies and Step Node Dependencies resources in the Transaction Details and Step Details views to see how their performances are affecting the transaction or an individual step. Setting up dependencies can also be for avoiding unnecessary alerts from child objects when only the parent object is actually experiencing problems. For example, if you had 50 devices at a remote site connected to one server, you would not want to be swamped with 50 alert messages from these if the server went down. By specifying that each device is dependent on the server, these devices would be shown as Unreachable if the parent server went down, and any alerts triggered by Down status would therefore be suppressed for these devices. There are two ways to set up dependencies: Creating Dependencies when Adding a Transaction Creating Dependencies on the Manage Dependencies page Creating Dependencies when Adding a Transaction You can create dependencies between transactions and nodes or applications when setting up transactions. To create a dependency for a new transaction 1. Create a transaction, as described in Creating Transactions. 2. When you reach the Transaction status troubleshooting option, select Improve troubleshooting by associating nodes or applications to this web transaction. 3. Click Add nodes. 73

74 Editing Transaction and Transaction Step Dependencies 4. Select the node or nodes you want to associate with this transaction, and click Save. 5. Click Add applications. 6. Select the application or applications you want to associate with this transaction, and click Save. 7. If you want to add nodes and applications to individual steps in this transaction, click Set individual dependencies for steps. 8. Click Save Monitor. 9. The Manage Transaction Monitors page is displayed, showing the related nodes and related applications. Editing Transaction and Transaction Step Dependencies Transaction and Transaction Step Dependencies created this way are shown on the Manage Dependencies page. By default they are created with "Transaction dependency" and "Transaction Step dependency" as the Dependency Name, and with the node or application as the Parent and the transaction or transaction step as Child. These dependencies can then be managed or edited in the same way as other dependencies as described in Managing Dependencies in the Orion Common Components Administrator Guide. Creating Dependencies on the Manage Dependencies page The Manage Dependencies page enables you to create a parent-child dependency between any two Orion objects, including Player locations, transactions and transaction steps. To create a dependency: 1. Click Settings in the top right of the web console. 2. Click Manage Dependencies in the Node & Group Management grouping. 3. Click Add new dependency. 4. On the Select Parent page, complete the following steps: 74

75 Chapter 4: Transactions a. Use the Show only: and Group by: selection fields to customize the list of displayed objects and groups. Note: The properties listed in the Group by: selection field are dynamic. b. Select the parent object or group in the main pane, and then click Next. Note: If you want to define a dependency so that the reported states of child objects are dependent on the status of multiple parent objects, create a group including all parent objects, and then select it on this view. 5. On the Choose Child page: a. Edit the Dependency name, as appropriate. b. Use the Show only: and Group by: selection fields to customize the list of displayed objects and groups. Note: Properties listed in the Group by: selection field are dynamically dependent on the selection in the Show only: field. c. Select the child object or group in the main pane, and then click Next. Note: If you want to define a dependency so that the reported states of multiple child objects are dependent on the status of one or more parent objects, create a group including all child objects, and then select it on this view. 6. On the Review Dependency page, review the current settings for the configured dependency. Notes: If any advanced alerts are configured on parent or child objects, they will be listed on this view. Click + to expand alert details. In the event that a parent object is down, alerts configured on any child objects in a dependency will not trigger because the child object status is Unreachable. 7. Click Submit to accept the dependency definition. 75

76 Creating Dependencies on the Manage Dependencies page For complete documentation, see Managing Dependencies in the Orion Common Components Administrator Guide. 76

77 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions This section provides a complete list of WPM-specific resources available in the Transaction Summary view, the Transaction Details view, the Transaction Step Details view and the Location Details view. It also provides information about several of the resources. For information about a specific resource, click Help in the upper right corner of the resource. To add a resource to a view: 1. Select the view to which you want to add the resource, and then click Customize Page. 2. Click the green plus icon, +, next to the column in which you want to display the resource. 3. To add a WPM-related resource, select Feature from the Group by dropdown, and then click Web from the list displayed. 4. Select the resource or resources you want to add, and then click Add Selected Resources. 5. Click Preview. 6. To edit the title and subtitle for this resource, click Edit in the resource title bar. Note: Some resources have additional options on the Edit Resource page. 7. Amend the default information displayed. 8. Click Submit. In addition to the WPM-specific resources, you also have access to the standard resources and those supplied with other SolarWinds products. For further information on adding and managing the resources shown in a view, see Editing Views in the Orion Common Components Administrator Guide. 77

78 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions The Transactions Summary Views The WPM Web Console provides both overviews and detailed views to present a wide array of information about the transactions you have created. Each view is made up of graphs, charts or tables pertaining to that view. These resources can be added, removed, edited or deleted to present the view in a way that shows the information you want in the way most useful to you. You can add tabs to a view if you need to organize it in to smaller pages. For information on customizing views, see Customizing Views in the Orion Common Components Administrator Guide. The overview view is known as the Transactions Summary view. If you require more detail about any location, transaction or step listed on this view, click the location, step or transaction name in any resource to open the appropriate details view. To view the Web Transactions Summary view in the Web Console, go to Web > Transaction Summary. Transaction Summary View This overview displays information about all your WPM transactions, and can be used to drill down into details about individual transactions, transaction steps and locations. If you require more detail about any transaction, step or location listed, click the step, transaction or location name within any resource to open the appropriate details view. You can customize this view by adding or removing resources, adding or removing columns in which these resources are displayed, changing the title of the view or any of the resources on it, adding navigation tabs, and adding view limitations. For information on customizing views, see Customizing Views in the Orion Common Components Administrator Guide. The following WPM resources are available in this view: Active Transaction/Step/Location Alerts All Locations All Transactions Last XX Events 78

79 Transaction Details Steps by Status Top XX Steps by Duration Top XX Transactions by Duration Transactions by Status Transaction Health Overview Transaction Details This view is used to display information about a selected transaction, and can be used to drill down into details about individual transaction steps and the player location. Click the step or location name within any resource to see the appropriate details view. You can customize this view by adding or removing resources, adding or removing columns in which resources are displayed, changing the title of the view or any of the resources on it, adding navigation tabs, and adding view limitations. For information on customizing views, see Editing Views in the Orion Common Components Administrator Guide. The following WPM resources are available in this view: Active Transaction/Step/Location Alerts All Locations All Transactions Current Screenshot of Steps Duration Radial Gauge Last XX Events Min/Max Average Duration Recording Custom Properties Screenshots of Last XX Failures Step Duration Steps by Status Top XX Locations by Duration Top XX Transactions by Duration Transaction Application Dependencies 79

80 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Transaction Availability Transactions by Status Transaction Custom Properties Transaction Details Transaction Health Overview Transaction Node Dependencies Step Details This view is used to display information about a selected transaction step. You can customize this view by adding or removing resources, adding or removing columns in which resources are displayed, changing the title of the view or any of the resources on it, adding navigation tabs, and adding view limitations. For information on customizing views, see Editing Views in the Orion Common Components Administrator Guide. The following WPM resources are available in this view: All Locations Active Transaction/Step/Location Alerts All Transactions Current Screenshot of Steps Duration Radial Gauge Min/Max Average Duration Page Elements Overview Screenshots of Last XX Failures Step Availability Step Details Step Duration Steps by Status TCP Waterfall Chart Top XX Locations by Duration Top XX Steps by Duration 80

81 Location Details Top XX Transactions by Duration Transaction Health Overview Transactions by Status Location Details The Location Details view is used to display information about a specific player location. You can customize this view by adding or removing resources, adding or removing columns in which resources are displayed, changing the title of the view or any of the resources on it, adding navigation tabs, and adding view limitations. For information on customizing views, see Editing Views in the Orion Common Components Administrator Guide. The following WPM resources are available in this view: Active Transaction/Step/Location Alerts All Locations All Transactions Last XX Events Location Details Player Load Percentage Steps by Status Top XX Steps by Duration Top XX Transactions by Duration Transaction Availability Transaction Health Overview Transactions by Status 81

82 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Active Transaction/Step/Location Alerts This resource lists all currently active transaction, step or location alerts. The table lists the time, object name, and message for each active alert. Highlight an Object Name to show popup details of the corresponding location, step or transaction Click an Object Name in the list to navigate to the specific location, step or transaction details view relating to this alert. Available Customization Click Edit to: Change the Title and Subtitle of this resource Show or hide acknowledged alerts 82

83 All Locations All Locations The All Locations resource shows all the locations where transaction players exist, with the following columns: Location Name (with status icon): Highlight the location to show pop-up location information Click on the location name to show the Location Details view Number of Managed Transactions, highlighting how many have problems The Version of the player The percentage Current Player Load Available Customization You can change the Title and Subtitle of this resource by clicking Edit and editing the appropriate fields. Defining Transaction Problems Click Edit to display the "Transactions with Problems" checkboxes. Here you can select the states (Warning, Critical, Down, Unreachable and Unknown) that you want to be included in the number of problems shown in the Managed Transactions column. Advanced Filtering Advanced users can create their own filters to show or hide the locations displayed using SWQL. Click Properties available for filtering to display the properties you can use. Managing Locations Click Manage Locations to open the Manage Transaction Locations screen. For further information, see Managing Playback Locations 83

84 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions All Transactions The All Transactions resource provides a tree view of your transaction monitors, allowing you to see the status of the transactions and whether any are unresponsive. Expand transactions to show steps in the tree view. Click a transaction, step or location to navigate to the corresponding transaction, step or location details view. Click Manage Transactions to add, edit, enable, disable, or delete transaction monitors. For further information, see Managing Transactions. Available Customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle Group by The title and the subtitle of the resource. Groups the items in the tree by None, Location, Playback Interval, Recording, or Status Group status rollup type Determines the status of the group or transaction (parent) if the group members or the individual steps (child items) do not all share the same status. Mixed - sets the parent status to Warning if the child items do not all have the same status. Worst - sets the parent status to the child item with the worst status. Best - sets the parent status to the child item with the best status. Order by Sorts the items in the tree by Name or Status. Remember Expanded State Check to remembers which tree items you expanded in the resources and restores their expanded viewing state any time the view is reloaded. 84

85 Available Customization Always Expand Root Level Check to show tree expanded to show transactions. Show Durations Check to display how long it took to playback each transaction monitor or step. Hide Unmanaged Transactions Check to hide all transactions marked as unmanaged. Filter (SWQL) Here you can enter a (SWQL) query using transaction properties to limit the scope of transaction monitors shown in this resource. For example, to only display transactions that have a location name starting with 'Japan', use: Transactions.Location LIKE 'Japan%' Properties available for filtering Click + to expand the list of transaction properties you can use in the Filter (SWQL) field. 85

86 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Current Screenshot This resource displays the latest screenshot resulting from this step. To see a full-size image of the screenshot, click View screenshot full screen To view the HTML of the page as it appeared at the time of the screenshot, click View HTML Available Customization Click Edit to change the Title and Subtitle of this resource 86

87 Current Screenshot of Steps Current Screenshot of Steps This resource displays screenshots taken of the steps within this transaction at the indicated date and time. To see a full-size image of a screenshot, click View screenshot full screen beneath it To view the HTML of a page at the time of the screenshot, click View HTML beneath it Available Customization Click Edit to: Change the Title and Subtitle of this resource Change the Maximum Number of Items to Display Filter the screenshots shown using an SWQL statement. 87

88 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Duration Radial Gauge This resource shows the current duration of the transaction or step as a radial gauge. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. Gauge Range Select a method for determining the largest value the gauge can indicate: Dynamic - You provide a series of indicator ranges, and the limit that is chosen is the one that best fits the highest value seen in the data. Enter your comma-delimited series of custom limits in the Limits for Dynamic Range in Seconds field. Static - Define the largest indicated value in the Maximal Value in Seconds field. Thresholds dependent - Defines the largest indicated value by multiplying the highest threshold duration by a multiplier. Enter the multiplier in the Upper Threshold Multiplier field. If there are no thresholds defined, the dynamic method is used. Select Style for Gauges Select a style for the gauge. Alternately, you can click on Available Styles and click on the image of the required gauge type. Gauge Size 30% to 250% This field contains the scaling percentage of the gauge display. You can enter a scaling factor from 30 to is the default scaling value. Available Styles Click the [+] to see the available styles for gauges. 88

89 Last XX Events Last XX Events This resource lists the most recent events that have occurred for Locations, Transactions and Transaction Steps. For each event, the date and time of the event, the event Status Icons, and event description is displayed. Available customization Click Edit to open the Edit Resource page. Here you can: Edit the Title of this resource Specify the Maximum Number of Events to be displayed Select the Time Period for the list to cover 89

90 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Location Details The Location Details resource presents a table of general operational and administrative information for the selected location. Management Status Location Name Communication type DNS name Hostname IP address Assigned to poller Version Current player load Transactions Click Edit to go to the Transaction Location page where you can set up and manage location players. For further information, see Managing Playback Locations Displays a green check icon if the location is running within the operating thresholds, or critical, warning, or down icons if not. The location name. Shows whether this is "Server initiated communication (passive)" or "Player initiated communication". The DNS name of this location. The hostname of this location. The IP address of this location. The name of the poller assigned to this player location. The version of the player at this location. The current percentage load for this player. The transactions assigned to this player. For each, the status icon, transaction name, most recent step duration and status is displayed. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. 90

91 Min/Max Average Duration Min/Max Average Duration The Min/Max Average Duration Chart is located on both the Transaction Details page and the Step Details page. This chart lets you compare the average amount of time an individual transaction or step takes with the longest and shortest times that the transaction or step takes to complete. This chart is interactive. Hovering over any part of the chart will provide detailed information for a selected period. You can check or uncheck either box in the legend to add or remove that element from the chart. Zooming Use the Zoom buttons to display data for 1 hour, 12 week, or 24 hours, or use the slider handles below the chart to create your own period. You can move the selected period to any point in the available data range using the slider bar. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title and Subtitle Rename the title and subtitle of this resource as required. Time Period Here you can select the default period of data displayed, the amount of historical data available and the sample interval. If the sample interval is greater than the playback interval, the data within the sample will be summarized. Advanced Here you can change the chart title and subtitle from the defaults of $(Caption) and $(ZoomRange). 91

92 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Page Elements Overview The Page Elements Overview displays a breakdown of elements contained in the navigated URL as a pie chart. Each category shows the number of requests and overall size of downloaded data in both the legend and the tool-tips. Click an item in the legend of the Page Elements Overview to toggle the corresponding pie section's visibility. Available Customization Click Edit to: Change the Title and Subtitle of the resource Use the count of elements as the chart value instead of their size Note: The Page Elements Overview chart shows only data from the last playback for this transaction. 92

93 Player Load Percentage Player Load Percentage The Player Load Percentage Chart shows the load percentage of an individual player at any given time. Note: If you notice the load percentage is high, you should consider increasing the time intervals between polls and/or adding more players to a given location. Adding more players will help reduce the load by distributing the load more evenly. This chart is interactive. Hovering over any part of the chart will provide detailed information about the load percentage. Zooming You can display data for 1 hour, 12 week, or 24 hours, or use the sliders below the chart to select your own period. You can also move the selected period to any point in the available data range. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title and Subtitle Rename the title and subtitle of this resource as required. Calculated Series Check the checkbox to show a trend line on the chart showing the overall trend of the load percentage. Time Period Here you can select the default period of data displayed, the amount of historical data available and the sample interval. If the sample interval is greater than the playback interval, the data within the sample will be summarized. Advanced Here you can change the chart title and subtitle from the defaults of $(Caption) and $(ZoomRange). 93

94 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Requests with Issues The Requests with Issues resource, lists the specific URLs of requests that have caused errors, showing the element type requested and status code. Click the URL to open this location in a new browser tab. Click any status code to display a full explanatory list of status codes. To export this list, click Export CSV, then click Open or Save to view or save as a Comma-Separated Values (CSV) file. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle Page size The title and the subtitle of the resource. Enter the number of issues to be displayed. Display requests with status code Filter Check the status codes requests must return to be listed. Advanced users can create their own filters to show or hide the requests displayed using SWQL. Click Properties available for filtering to display the properties you can use. 94

95 Recording Custom Properties Recording Custom Properties The Recording Custom Properties resource shows any custom properties set up for a recording. If recording properties have already been set up, you can edit or create custom properties by clicking Edit Custom Properties Values on this resource. Otherwise go to Settings > Manage Custom Properties. For more information, see Managing Custom Properties in the Orion Common Components Administrator Guide. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. 95

96 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Screenshots of Last XX Failures This resource displays the screenshots taken during the most recent step failures. It shows the time of each failure, the step name, the error message, and a thumbnail of the screenshot. Click View screenshot full screen under the thumbnail to see a full-size image of the screenshot. Click View HTML under the thumbnail to view the HTML of the page as it appeared at the time of the screenshot. Available Customization Click Edit to: Change the Title and Subtitle of this resource Change the Maximum Number of Items to Display Filter the screenshots shown using an SWQL statement 96

97 Screenshots of Last XX Step Failures This resource displays the screenshots taken during the most recent transaction failures. It shows the time of each failure, the step name, the error message, and a thumbnail of the screenshot. To view the details page for a step, click the step name. To see a full-size image of the screenshot, click View screenshot full screen under the thumbnail. To view the HTML of the page as it appeared at the time of the screenshot, click View HTML under the thumbnail. Available Customization Click Edit to: Change the Title and Subtitle of this resource Change the Maximum Number of Items to Display Filter the screenshots shown using an SWQL statement. Screenshots of Last XX Step Failures 97

98 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Step Application Dependencies The Step Application Dependencies resource lists any applications that have been associated with this transaction step. Note: Step Dependencies enable you to apply dependencies at the level of a transaction step, therefore allowing the greatest degree of granularity for troubleshooting. If you do not require a separate dependency for each step in a transaction, you should use Transaction Dependencies instead. To edit or add dependencies, click Edit in the Step Details resource. For each node in the list, the current response time and percentage packet loss is displayed. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. 98

99 Step Availability Step Availability The Step Availability Chart, lets you see the percentage of time a transaction step is in a particular state, such as Up, Down, Warning, Critical, or Unknown. The state of the transaction step at a given time can be determined by referencing the color-coding of the chart and the legend below the chart. Move the mouse over the main chart to reveal a tool tip with more detailed information for a time slice within the period. Zooming Use the Zoom buttons to display data for 1 hour, 12 week, or 24 hours, or use the slider handles below the chart to create your own period. You can move the selected period to any point in the available data range using the slider bar. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. Default Zoom Range Select the default zoom range to be shown when this resource is viewed. Amount of historical data to load Select the period of historical data you want to be available for this resource. Sample Interval Select a predefined sample interval. There may be gaps in the chart if you select a sample interval shorter than your transaction playback interval. Chart Width Set the width of the chart in pixels. A value of 0 lets the chart automatically determine the best chart width. Chart Height Set the height of the chart in pixels. A value of 0 lets the chart automatically determine the best chart height. 99

100 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Step Details The Step Details resource presents a table of general operational and administrative information for the selected step. The Management row provides direct links to the following management actions: Edit - allows you to directly edit the transaction to which this step belongs. Play entire transaction now - initiates an immediate, unscheduled playback of the transaction the step belongs to. The remaining table rows describe the following information: Status Page name URL Duration Recording Name Location Playback interval Last played Next playback Actions Displays a green up icon if the step is running within the operating thresholds, or critical, warning, or down icons if it is not. The title of the web page accessed by the step. The URL of the web page accessed by the step. The amount of time it took to play back this step. The recording used to create the transaction. The location used to create the transaction. The period of time between successive playbacks of the transaction. The date and time this step was last played. The date and time at which the step will be played again. If it is currently being played, it will read Now. The browser actions that comprise this step. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: 100

101 Available customization Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. Show Actions List Click to toggle whether or not actions are displayed for this step. 101

102 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Step Duration The Step Duration Chart, located on the Transaction Details page, lets you see the time individual steps of a transaction takes to complete. Note: AJAX calls are not included in step duration calculations. This chart is interactive. Hovering the mouse over the chart will show each step duration for the selected time. Beneath the chart the individual steps of the transaction are listed, showing the optimal threshold and 95% percentile for each step. The optimal threshold (or typical value) can be edited on the Edit Transaction Monitor page. The 95% percentile is a statistical concept indicating that for 95% of the time the step duration was below this figure. Zooming Use the Zoom buttons to display data for 1 hour, 12 week, or 24 hours, or use the slider handles below the chart to create your own period. You can move the selected period to any point in the available data range using the slider bar. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. Time Period Here you can select the default period of data displayed, the amount of historical data available and the sample interval. If the sample interval is greater than the playback interval, the data within the sample will be summarized. Advanced Here you can change the chart title and subtitle from the defaults of $(Caption) and $(ZoomRange). 102

103 Step Node Dependencies Step Node Dependencies The Step Node Dependencies resource lists any nodes that have been associated with this transaction step. For each node in the list, the current response time and percentage packet loss is displayed. Note: Step Dependencies enable you to apply dependencies at the level of a transaction step, therefore allowing the greatest degree of granularity for troubleshooting. If you do not require a separate dependency for each step in a transaction, you should use Transaction Dependencies instead. To edit or add dependencies, click Edit in the Step Details resource. For each node in the list, the current response time and percentage packet loss is displayed. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. 103

104 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Steps by Status This resource lists transaction steps by their status. You can configured and rename this resource to display steps with a particular set of statuses. For example, it is often renamed "Steps with Problems," and filtered to show steps that have a status of Warning, Critical, Down, and Unknown. To view the details page for a step or a transaction, click the step or transaction name. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. Statuses to filter by The resource displays only the steps that have the selected statuses. Your selection may include Up, Warning, Critical, Down, and Unknown statuses. Filter (SWQL) Enables you to enter an SWQL query using transaction step properties to limit the steps displayed. Properties available for filtering Click + to expand the list of transaction properties you can use in the Filter (SWQL) field. 104

105 TCP Waterfall Chart TCP Waterfall Chart The TCP Waterfall Chart displays data for a transaction both cumulatively and sequentially. The benefit of this view is that you can see how each requested element affects page load performance, which elements are slowing things down and why. The stub at the left of the chart shows the element of the transaction being loaded, while the times for each element are shown to the right, colorcoded in graphical form. By default, only 20 requests are shown in the resource. To see all requests, click show xxx remaining requests to show the chart in full screen. You can also expand the chart by clicking Show this chart in full screen. Note: The TCP Waterfall Chart only shows data from the last playback. DNS lookup The time it takes for the browser to look up the domain name of the requested object. Connection Send This represents the time for establishing a TCP connection, at which point data can start being transferred. (Also known as the "three-way handshake.") The time for sending the request to the server. Good for measuring POST data. Time to first byte This is the time between when the request is sent to the server and the first response data are received from the server. In another words it is the time the browser spends waiting on the web server to send the data back. This time is usually higher for the dynamically-generated content (such as aspx/php/jsp pages). Content download This is time it takes for the whole content to be sent from server to the browser. 3xx HTTP Status Codes 105

106 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Indicates a requests that resulted in the return of a 3xx HTTP status code. 3xx codes indicate that automatically forwarding or redirection to another resource (URL) without interaction of the user. 4xx, 5xx HTTP Status Codes Notes Indicates a requests that resulted in the return of a 4xx or 5xx HTTP status code. 4xx codes are received in the server response when there is an error in the request from the client. 5xx codes are returned by the web server when it encounters a problem during processing of the requested resource by the client. This chart is interactive. Clicking any item in the stub of the TCP Waterfall Chart will take you to that item, be it a graphic, web page, JavaScript element, and so on. Hovering your mouse over any item in the chart will bring up a tool-tip with detailed information about that particular item. There may be a slight discrepancy between the numbers found in the tooltips and those shown on the chart. This is due to rounding. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. Maximum Number of Items to Display Enables you to specify the maximum number of items to display in the resource. 106

107 Top XX Locations by Duration Top XX Locations by Duration The Top XX Locations by Duration chart is located on both the Transaction Details and Step Details page. This chart will display the duration of a transaction or step as it is played from multiple locations. With this view, you can easily see which locations are performing poorly for a given transaction or step. The worst, or slowest performing locations, are shown from the top down. This chart is interactive. Move the mouse over the main chart to reveal a tool tip with more detailed information for a time slice within the period. A list of the transactions appears below the chart, showing the current and average duration of each transaction. (The average is calculated using the selected amount of historical data loaded.) Click any transaction to display its Transaction Details view. Zooming Use the Zoom buttons to display data for 1 hour, 12 week, or 24 hours, or use the slider handles below the chart to create your own period. You can move the selected period to any point in the available data range using the slider bar. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle Edit the title and subtitle for this resource if required. Maximum Number of Items to Display Enter the maximum number of locations to be displayed. Time Period Here you can select the default period of data displayed, the amount of historical data available and the sample interval. If the sample interval is greater than the playback interval, the data within the sample will be summarized. Advanced Here you can change the chart title and subtitle from the defaults of $(Caption) and $(ZoomRange). 107

108 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Top XX Steps by Duration This resource lists the steps with the longest running duration during the latest playback of the transaction. For each step, this resource displays the step name, the transaction it belongs to, the duration for the step in seconds, and the percentage of optimal duration this represents. Click any step, transaction or location name to view its details page. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. Maximum Number of Items to Display Enables you to set the maximum number of items to display in the resource. Filter (SWQL) Enables you to enter a (SWQL) query using transaction properties to limit the scope of transaction monitors shown in this resource. Properties available for filtering Click [+] to expand the list of transaction properties you can use in the Filter (SWQL) field. 108

109 Top XX Transactions by Duration The Top XX Transactions by Duration Chart, located on the Location Details page, lets you see the amount of time an entire transaction took to complete. This chart is interactive. Hovering over any part of the chart will provide detailed information about the transaction. A list of the transactions appears below the chart, showing the current and average duration of each transaction. (The average is calculated using the selected amount of historical data loaded.) Click any transaction to display its Transaction Details view. Zooming Use the Zoom buttons to display data for 1 hour, 12 week, or 24 hours, or use the slider handles below the chart to create your own period. You can move the selected period to any point in the available data range using the slider bar. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. Maximum Number of Items to Display Enables you to specify the maximum number of items to display in the resource. Filter (SWQL) Enables you to enter a (SWQL) query using transaction properties to limit the scope of transaction monitors shown in this resource. Properties available for filtering Top XX Transactions by Duration Click [+] to expand the list of transaction properties you can use in the Filter (SWQL) field. 109

110 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Transaction Availability The Transaction Availability Chart, lets you see the percentage of time a transaction is in a particular state, be it Up, Down, Warning, Critical or Unknown. The state of the transaction at a given time can be determined by referencing the color-coding of the chart and the legend below the chart. By hovering the mouse over the chart you can display a pop-up of further information. Zooming Use the Zoom buttons to display data for 1 hour, 12 week, or 24 hours, or use the slider handles below the chart to create your own period. You can move the selected period to any point in the available data range using the slider bar. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. Default Zoom Range Select the default zoom range to be shown when this resource is viewed. Amount of historical data to load Select the period of historical data you want to be available for this resource. Sample Interval Select a predefined sample interval. There may be gaps in the chart if you select a sample interval shorter than your transaction playback interval. Chart Width Set the width of the chart in pixels. A value of 0 lets the chart automatically determine the best chart width. Chart Height Set the height of the chart in pixels. A value of 0 lets the chart automatically determine the best chart height. 110

111 Transaction Application Dependencies The Transaction Application Dependencies resource lists the applications that have been associated with this transaction. Note: Dependencies in WPM allow you to tie together a transaction or transaction step to a resource in a type of parent-child relationship. A transaction level dependency applies to the whole transaction - if an event occurs anywhere during the transaction, the alert is triggered. if you want to troubleshoot your transaction on a more granular level you should use Step Dependencies. To edit or add dependencies, click Edit in the Transaction Details resource. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. Transaction Application Dependencies 111

112 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Transaction Custom Properties The Transaction Custom Properties resource shows any custom properties set up for a transaction. If recording properties exist, you can edit or create transaction custom properties, click Edit Custom Properties Values on this resource. Otherwise go to Settings > Manage Custom Properties. For more information, see Managing Custom Properties in the Orion Common Components Administrator Guide. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of this resource. 112

113 Transaction Details Transaction Details The Transaction Details resource presents a table of general operational and administrative information for the selected transaction. The Management row provides direct links to the following management actions: Edit - opens the Edit Transaction Monitor page, allowing you to directly edit the transaction. Unmanage - launches the Unmanage Monitor window, enabling you to suspend the playing of this transaction for a specified period of time. Play now - initiates an immediate, unscheduled playback of the transaction. The remaining table rows describe the following information: Status Recording Name Recording ID Location Playback interval Last played Next playback Description Steps Displays a green up icon if the transaction is running within operating thresholds, or critical, warning, or down icons if it is not. The recording used to create the transaction. The internal reference number of this transaction. The location and the status of the location for this transaction. The period of time between successive playbacks of the transaction. The date and time this transaction was last played. The date and time at which the transaction will be played again. If it is currently being played, it will read Now. The description for this transaction. A list of the steps in this transaction, showing the latest step duration and current status. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: 113

114 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. 114

115 Transaction Health Overview Transaction Health Overview This resource displays a pie chart overview showing the statuses of all your transactions. The legend beneath the chart can be expanded to list transactions by status. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title and Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. Remember Expanded State Checking this checkbox will automatically open tree structure of transactions, grouped by status, every time the user accesses this page. Hide Unmanaged Transactions Checking this checkbox will hide any transactions that have been marked as unmanaged. Filter (SWQL) Enables you to form a (SWQL) query using transaction properties to limit the scope of transaction monitors shown in this resource. Properties available for filtering Click + to expand the list of transaction properties you can use in the Filter (SWQL) field. Advanced Click to edit the Chart Title and Chart Subtitle. 115

116 Chapter 5: Monitoring your Transactions Transaction Node Dependencies The Transaction Node Dependencies resource lists the nodes that have been associated with this transaction. For each node in the list, the current response time and percentage packet loss is displayed. Note: Dependencies in WPM allow you to tie together a transaction or transaction step to a resource in a type of parent-child relationship. A transaction level dependency applies to the whole transaction - if an event occurs anywhere during the transaction, the alert is triggered. if you want to troubleshoot your transaction on a more granular level you should use Step Dependencies. To edit or add dependencies, click Edit in the Transaction Details resource. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. 116

117 Transactions by Status Transactions by Status This resource shows a list of transaction names and their durations in seconds. The duration of a transaction is the sum of all its step durations. You can configure and rename this resource to display transactions with a particular set of statuses. For example, it is often renamed "Transactions with Problems", and filtered to show transactions that have a status of Warning, Critical, Down, and Unknown. To view the details page for a transaction, click the transaction name. Available customization Click Edit to change the following resource attributes: Title/Subtitle The title and the subtitle of the resource. Statuses to filter by The resource displays only the transactions that have the selected statuses. Your selection may include Up, Warning, Critical, Down, and Unknown statuses. Filter (SWQL) Enables you to form a (SWQL) query using transaction properties to limit the scope of transaction monitors shown in this resource. Properties available for filtering Click [+] to expand the list of transaction properties you can use in the Filter (SWQL) field. 117

118 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment The Application Stack, or AppStack, is a term used to describe the various layers that make up a complex application delivery infrastructure. The AppStack Environment view is an interactive visual mapping within Orion that provides an in-depth perspective through the entire environment to help identify the root cause of performance and availability issues. AppStack will automatically gather information about objects in your environment, as well as their respective relationships, and display them. Some relationships, such as groups and dependencies can be defined by the user. Important: As a standalone product, AppStack is available in the software versions listed below. If you own one or more of the listed products in addition to Web Performance Monitor 2.2, AppStack will not function properly unless each version of the software is upgraded to the versions listed: Server & Application Monitor 6.2 Storage Resource Monitor 6.0 Virtualization Manager

119 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment Introduction to the AppStack Environment View The AppStack Environment view is designed to provide you with a powerful layer of troubleshooting visibility by exposing all participating objects in your environment, as well as their relationships to one another. This view is useful in assessing the overall health of your environment, as well as troubleshooting specific and related problems. To help you better understand how this visualization of your environment can be used for troubleshooting, the following analogy was designed to provide you with a simple, high-level overview of how AppStack processes and displays information. The AppStack Environment View Analogy Imagine you work for a company comprised of many employees that work in various departments. In this example, you work in the Engineering department as an engineer: 119

120 The AppStack Environment View Analogy Now imagine you call in sick and are unable to work for two weeks. Certain employees in various departments will be affected by your absence. Others will not be affected. The illustration below highlights the employees who will be affected by your absence by fading those who are not affected. 120

121 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment Focusing on only the people who are affected by your absence can be beneficial from a task management perspective. Therefore, completely hiding those not affected by your absence will give a clean and concise view, displaying only the necessary information. 121

122 The AppStack Environment View Now, instead of employees, imagine we are talking about your entire IT environment. The goal of the AppStack Environment view is to help you quickly assess the impact a given object has on its related objects. This relational view is the AppStack Environment view found in the web console. The AppStack Environment View The AppStack Environment, shown below, displays the status of individual objects in your IT environment through the Orion web console. Objects are categorized and ordered from left to right, with the worst status being shown on the left side of the view. Clicking an object shows everything related to that object by fading unrelated objects, as shown: 122

123 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment Clicking Spotlight removes the faded, unrelated objects from the view entirely. 123

124 The AppStack Environment View Clicking the selected object at the top, or double-clicking it in the view, will take you to the Details page for that object for further investigation. 124

125 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment AppStack Categories and Data The following matrix outlines all of the categories associated with the AppStack Environment view. Different categories are available with each SolarWinds product, as indicated in the Product column Category Definition Products Groups Applications Transactions Steps Servers Hosts Virtual Clusters Groups enable you to more effectively manage your environment by giving you the ability to logically organize monitored objects, regardless of device type or location. In SAM, an application is a collection of component monitors grouped together to collect specific metrics concerning the application as a whole. A transaction is a recording of web browser steps assigned to a specific location. A step is a collection of actions. For example, the actions required to navigate to a specific URL make up one step. A server is a computer capable of accepting requests from the client and giving responses accordingly. The server makes services, as access to data files, programs, and peripheral devices, available to workstations on a network. A Host is defined as a server running a Hypervisor for virtualization. (E.g. It hosts multiple virtual machines.) Virtual clusters are built with VMs installed at distributed servers from one or more physical clusters. The VMs in a virtual cluster are logic- SRM SAM VMan WPM SAM WPM WPM SAM VMan SAM VMan SAM VMan 125

126 AppStack Categories and Data Category Definition Products ally connected by a virtual network across several physical networks. Each virtual cluster is formed with physical machines or a VM hosted by multiple physical clusters. Virtual Datacenters Virtual Centers Data Stores Volumes LUNS A virtual datacenter is a centralized virtual repository for the storage, management, and dissemination of data and information organized around a particular body of knowledge or pertaining to a particular business. A VMware virtual center (vcenter) server is a centralized management application that lets you manage virtual machines and ESXi hosts centrally. The vsphere client is used to access vcenter Server and ultimately manage ESXi servers. A data store is a repository of a set of data objects. These objects are modeled using classes defined in a database schema. A data store is a general concept that includes not just repositories like databases, but also simpler store types such as flat files. Some data stores represent data in only one schema, while other data stores use several schemas for this task. A volume, or logical drive, is a single accessible storage area with a single file system, typically resident on a single partition of a hard disk. A Logical Unit Number, or LUN, is a number used to identify a logical unit, which is a device addressed by the SCSI protocol or Storage Area Network protocols which encap- SAM VMan SAM VMan VMan SRM SAM SRM 126

127 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment Category Definition Products sulate SCSI, such as Fibre Channel or iscsi. A LUN may be used with any device which supports read/write operations, such as a tape drive, but is most often used to refer to a logical disk as created on a SAN. NAS Volumes Pools VServers Network-attached storage (NAS) is a type of dedicated file storage device that provides local-area network (LAN) users with centralized, consolidated disk storage through a standard Ethernet connection. A storage pool (also called a RAID array ) is a collection of disk drives that become a logical entity. When you create a storage pool, you select the desired capacity (number of disk drives) and assign a RAID level to it which will provide a redundancy level. A virtual storage server (VServer) contains data volumes and one or more LIFs through which it serves data to the clients. A VServer can either contain one or more FlexVol volumes, or a single Infinite Volume. A VServer securely isolates the shared virtualized data storage and network, and appears as a single dedicated server to its clients. Each VServer has a separate administrator authentication domain and can be managed independently by a VServer administrator. In a cluster, a VServer facilitates data access. A cluster must have at least one VServer to serve data. VServers use the storage and network resources of the cluster. However, the volumes and LIFs are exclusive to the V- SRM SRM SRM 127

128 AppStack Categories and Data Category Definition Products Server. Multiple Vservers can coexist in a single cluster without being bound to any node in a cluster. However, they are bound to the physical cluster on which they exist. Storage Arrays Storage Arrays consist of two or more disk drives built into a stand-alone unit. Storage arrays provide increased availability, resiliency, and maintainability by using existing components (controllers, power supplies, fans, and so on) often up to the point where all single points of failure are eliminated from the design. SRM 128

129 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment Understanding AppStack The AppStack Environment view will help you find the root cause of application issues in a glance. This view provides automated and contextual visibility across applications, databases, physical servers, your virtual infrastructure, as well as storage resources. The AppStack Environment view contains multiple tools and features to aid you in root cause analysis. The following sections provide detailed descriptions for each of these tools and features: Understanding Status and Colors Understanding Quick Links Understanding Categories Understanding the Overview Bar Understanding Filtering Options Understanding Filter Properties Understanding Layouts Understanding the AppStack Resource Understanding Status and Colors Objects in the AppStack Environment view are colored based on their current status, providing you a quick summary of your environment. Objects will be in one of the following states, represented by its icon's color and shape that corresponds to the following table: Status Color Example Down Critical Warning Unknown Unreachable Up Red Pink Yellow Gray Black Green 129

130 Status Reporting Status Color Example Other Blue External Purple Note: Statuses only become available for filtering when an object in your environment is in that state. For example, if no objects have a status of Down, the Down status will not be available when filtering. Status Reporting Servers can only provide an Up or Down status. To check CPU, memory, or hardware health status, hover the mouse over the server icon to view the detailed tool-tip. The reported status for applications and LUNs is based on performance thresholds. Understanding Mixed Icons The AppStack Environment view offers a parent/child relationship. (Parents can be either servers or hosts.) This relationship is represented as a mixed icon. The parent is the larger of the two icons that is hosting the child. For example, the following illustration graphically shows that an application (child) is Down on a node (parent) that is Up. Understanding Quick Links The Quick Links bar allows you to quickly open and close all visible object categories. Additionally, you can toggle whether or not to show the names of objects that have a distressed status. Expand All: Opens all categories, revealing the visible objects within each category. Note: Each category can be individually expanded and collapsed by 130

131 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment clicking [+] and [-] next to the category name. Collapse All: Closes all categories, hiding the objects within each category. Note: Each category can be individually expanded and collapsed by clicking [+] and [-] next to the category name. Show/Hide Names: Allows you to toggle between showing and hiding the names for each object that is in a distressed state. Note: If more objects exist than are allowed to be displayed on the screen, the category name will display the number of displayed objects followed by the total number of objects. For example, (87 of 111), meaning only 87 objects of 111 total objects in this category are being displayed. This provides a numerical summary of your environment. Clicking More (located after the last visible object in the category) will display, by default, an additional 50 objects that are hidden from view. Related objects may be found by clicking More. The default number of 50 can be changed in the Settings page. For more information, see Customizing the AppStack Environment View. 131

132 Understanding Categories Understanding Categories By default, the following AppStack Environment categories are available within Web Performance Monitoring. Groups Applications Servers Transactions Steps Notes: Other Orion Core products offer additional categories. Empty categories can be hidden via the Change Layout Settings option in the drop down menu. 132

133 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment Understanding the Category Status Summary The Category Status Summary (located to the right of each category) parses, enumerates, and displays the number of objects in a given category, emphasizing the status as indicated by the colors. The Category Status Summary can be toggled to either be displayed at all times, or only when categories are collapsed. This option exists under the Change Layout Settings drop down option. Note: If no objects in a category exist with a particular status, that status will not show in the summary. Understanding the Overview Bar The Overview Bar summarizes your environment in a compact space. If your view is currently filtered, the filtered objects will be displayed above the Overview Bar, as shown. Individual filtered objects can be removed by clicking the [X] next to each object. To remove all filtered objects, click Clear All. The doughnut chart in the Overview section graphically displays the ratio of objects to one another in all possible states using indicative colored slices. The total number of objects in your environment is also displayed. Objects under the Issues header are parsed and enumerated according to status. Objects shown here will be in one of the following distressed states: Down, Critical, Warning, Unknown and Unreachable. An icon and count will only appear if at least one object is currently in that state. Understanding Filtering Options By default, every object is displayed when you enter the AppStack Environment view. If you are concerned only about objects with a certain status, you can filter the view by selecting one or more statuses and then applying the filter. Additionally, you can filter objects based on various properties, as well as one or 133

134 Understanding Filter Properties more keywords. The illustration below details each tool and feature of the filtering sidebar: Note: Statuses only become available for filtering when an object in your environment is in that state. For example, if no objects have a status of Down, the Down status will not be available when filtering. Understanding Filter Properties The AppStack Environment allows you to filter what is displayed in this view, allowing you to see only the objects you want to see. 134

135 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment To filter the AppStack Environment view, take the following steps: 1. From the web console, navigate to Home > Environment. 2. Click [+] Add Filter Properties, as shown: 3. From the pop-up menu, select an object from the Orion Object drop down list: 135

136 Understanding Filter Properties Note: Multiple items can be added. 4. When done, click Add column. 5. The new filter appears in the filter column, as shown: 136

137 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment Note: If no relations are shown in the AppStack resource on the Group Details view, then it is likely that this group contains no objects represented within the AppStack, such as switches, routers, and so on. If you have created a group that contains only objects which have no representation within the AppStack environment (e.g.: Nodes that are switches, routers, wireless access points, interfaces, and so on) then they will not have relationships and the only item displayed within the AppStack resource on the Group Details view is the group itself. This is normal behavior. Servers and virtual servers are the only node types that are represented within the AppStack environment. Groups made up of other object types which are not supported by the AppStack environment will not appear within the AppStack resource. For more information, see Understanding Filtering Options. Understanding Layouts A Layout is a user-defined filter (view-limitation), along with settings, that can be saved and recalled later within the AppStack Environment view. User-defined layouts can be used to tailor the AppStack Environment view to specific objects of interest. A default layout is provided and contains all objects visible in the AppStack Environment that is currently being monitored. The default layout cannot be modified. New layouts are created by first filtering your environment, and then saving the changes via the Save As New Layout action in the Layout menu. For example, to create a Layout where only IIS objects in the AppStack Environment view are shown, add the IIS filter property, apply the filter, and then save it as a new layout, naming the layout appropriately. 137

138 Understanding Layouts Once saved, the layout is added to the drop down menu, allowing you to easily navigate to that layout with its defined filter and settings. The dot to the left of the name of the layout in the menu represents the layout currently in use, as shown: Modifying Filter Properties of a Saved Layout To change the filtering properties of the current layout, take the following steps: 1. Make changes to the filter. 2. Click Apply Filter, and then click Save (or Save as New Layout...) in the drop down menu. 138

139 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment Modifying Settings of a Saved Layout To change the settings of the current layout, take the following steps: 1. Click Change Layout Settings from the drop down menu. 2. Click Save (or Save as New Layout...). Deleting a Saved Layout To delete a layout, take the following steps: 1. Select the layout from the drop down menu and then click Delete this Layout. For more information, see Customizing the AppStack Environment View Hiding Objects with "Up" Status If you are not concerned about objects that are healthy and have an Up status, you can set up your display to limit the number of Up objects shown by default within each category. This is useful in troubleshooting situations, allowing you to only see objects in distress while limiting the visible number of objects that are healthy. Additionally, you can hide the number of Up objects by changing the value to 0. An environment with a large number of objects that are not in an Up state may benefit from using this limited view option. For more information, see Understanding AppStack. 139

140 Understanding the AppStack Resource Understanding the AppStack Resource The full AppStack Environment view is designed to provide you with a powerful layer of troubleshooting visibility by exposing all participating objects in your environment, as well as their relationships to one another. By comparison, the AppStack resource only displays objects related to the target of the current Details page. In essence, this resource displays the related objects you would see in the full AppStack Environment view after an object had been selected and then highlighted by clicking, Spotlight. 140

141 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment Navigating to AppStack Navigating to the AppStack Environment view: 1. From the web console, navigate to Home > Environment. 2. You will be taken to the AppStack Environment view, as shown: 141

142 Using AppStack Using AppStack Using AppStack as a troubleshooting tool is fairly straightforward. Simply navigate to the AppStack Environment view, and then click on an object to see what is related to that object. To investigate further, navigate to the Details page of the object or any related object. For example, the illustration below displays all objects in the current environment. The application, MSSQLSERVER, is in a critical state, as indicated by its icon. To see what this application is related to, click the MSSQLSERVER icon. To see objects related to an object, take the following steps: 1. From the web console, navigate to the AppStack Environment view by clicking Home > Environment. 2. Click any object, in this example, MSSQLSERVER. 3. Once an object is selected, related objects will be highlighted by the fading of unrelated objects, as shown: 142

143 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment To hide the unrelated objects completely from view, take the following step: 1. Once an object is selected, click Spotlight in the upper right-hand corner of the view. 143

144 Using AppStack To navigate to the details page of an object for further investigation, take the following steps: 1. Click the icon of the selected object to the left of the doughnut chart, or double-click the larger icon in the main view. 2. From the details page, you can now investigate the cause for the Critical status. 144

145 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment Customizing the AppStack Environment View Administrators can customize this view by clicking Change Layout Settings in the Layout drop down menu of the AppStack page. The following options are available: Refresh Rate: Change the time between AppStack refreshes. Limit on Up Objects Shown per Category: Objects in the AppStack Environment view are ordered from left to right, with the worst status being shown on the left side of the view. Limiting the number of Up objects can provide more room for objects needing attention. Additionally, limiting the number of Up objects displayed can improve AppStack performance. Object Names: Highlights distressed objects by displaying the names of these objects. 145

146 Customizing the AppStack Environment View Align Objects: By default, all objects are left-aligned. This can be changed by selecting either Center or Right-Aligned. Show Category Status Summary: The Category Status Summary are the colored numbers to the right of each category, indicating the number of objects in a particular state. This can visible at all times, or only when categories are collapsed. Empty Categories: Selecting this option hides categories with no objects, giving the view a cleaner look. 146

147 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment Adding AppStack to a NOC View Viewing the AppStack Environment in a NOC view can only be achieved by first adding a new NOC view, and then creating and applying an AppStack filter for this new view. Once complete, the AppStack resource will become part of the NOC view with the filter already applied. To add the AppStack Resource to a NOC view, take the following steps: 1. From the web console, click Customize Page in the upper right-hand corner. 2. If not already done so, check Enable Left Navigation. 3. Click Add Tab. 4. Add a name for the tab in the field provided, then click Update. The new tab appears in the column to the left. 5. Add the AppStack Environment resource to a column by clicking the green [+], then selecting AppStack Environment from the pop-up dialog, as shown: 147

148 Adding AppStack to a NOC View 6. Click Add Selected Resources. 7. If not already done so, check Enable NOC view mode, then click Done. 8. Navigate to Home > Environment. 148

149 Chapter 6: The AppStack Environment 9. Filter your AppStack Environment according to you needs. When done, click Apply Filter. 10. Save the Layout as AppStack Environment, which was added in Step View the NOC by navigating to Home > Show in NOC Mode. 149