MFPConnect Monitoring Monitoring with IPCheck Server Monitor Integration Manual Version 2.05.00 Edition 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION...3 2. REQUIREMENTS...4 3. RESTRICTIONS...5 4. INSTALLATION...6 4.1 DOWNLOADING SOFTWARE...6 4.2 INSTALLATION WIZARD...6 5. CUSTOMIZE MONITORING...16 5.1 BASIC STEPS...16 5.1.1 Login...16 5.1.2 Managing Notifications...18 5.1.3 Customize Your Personal Homepage...23 5.2 MONITORING TCOSS...25 5.3 MONITORING TC/LINK-MFP...31 5.4 MONITORING TOPCALL IP PRINTER...36 5.5 MONITORING MFP DEVICES...43 5.5.1 Monitoring MFP Devices with a PING Sensor...43 5.5.2 Monitoring MFP Devices with an HTTP Sensor...48 6. IPCHECK SERVER MONITOR SERVICES...53 7. CHOOSING BETWEEN WEB INTERFACE AND WINDOWS GUI...54 2
1. Introduction MFPConnect is a solution which allows connecting MFP devices to a TOPCALL system. Third-party software can be used to monitor this connection. This document describes installation, configuration, and use of the IPCheck Server Monitor, a product of Paessler AG. This Windows-based program, available in English and German language, allows to monitor critical network resources and to detect system failures or performance problems. See http://www.paessler.com/ipcheck/ for further information. 3
2. Requirements IPCheck Server Monitor requirements: For the server software: Windows 2000, XP, 2003 or NT with SP6 (both Workstation and Server versions are supported) For web browser access: Internet Explorer 6 on Windows or Firefox 1.x on Windows or any operating system For the Windows GUI: Windows 98, ME, NT4, XP, 2000, 2003 with Internet Explorer 6.0 System Memory of 192 MB RAM (256 MB or more recommended) Pentium 333 MHz (800 MHz or more recommended) About 40 MB of hard disk space for software installation Depending on monitoring traffic, up to several hundred MB of data storage (e.g. a sensor with 1 minute interval needs about 10 MB storage space per month) TCP/IP network Local administrator privileges during installation Access to an SMTP mail server to send out email notifications An account at www.smsxchange.com, www.bulksms.co.uk, or www.smsdriver.com to send SMS notifications A dedicated ICQ account to send out ICQ notifications 4
3. Restrictions The Freeware Edition is free for commercial and personal use. Its functionality is restricted to: 5 sensors and a minimum monitoring interval of 15 minutes 5
4. Installation 4.1 Downloading Software Various versions can be downloaded from the site http://www.paessler.com/ipcheck/download/, including a free trial version with limited functionality or a 30-day evaluation version. 4.2 Installation Wizard The subsequent screenshots show the installation procedure for the Freeware Edition of IPCheck Server Monitor. Unzip the downloaded package and launch the installer. 6
Select the setup language and click the OK button. Click the Next button. 7
Follow the instructions and click the Next button. Click the Next button. 8
Choose a folder where the software should be installed and click the Next button. Choose Full installation and click the Next button. 9
Choose where the IP Check Server Monitor program shortcuts will be placed and click the Next button. Click the Next button to start the installation process. 10
The Installation window shows the installation progress. When installation is completed, you will need to complete the basic setup wizard, which begins with the Welcome to IPCheck Server Monitor window. Click the Next button to open the SQL Server Setup Wizard. 11
Enter the default database password and optionally modify it. Click the Next button when you are done. Click the Next button. 12
Enter the email address and password of the Admin user and click the Next button. Enter the data for the internal web server and your SMTP server. If the web server port you choose is already used by another process, another port in the range between 8080 and 8099 will automatically be selected! Hint: Do NOT use TC/Link-MFP as SMTP Server Used To Send Emails here, because sending notification messages is not possible, if the link is down! 13
Click Next button. For the Freeware Edition, click the Next button. If you have purchased a commercial license, enter the license key and click the Next button. Wait until the services of IPCheck Service Monitor are started and click the Next button. For more information see Section 6 IPCheck Server Monitor Services. 14
Click the Next button. To finalize the installation process, click the Finish button. If the checkbox Start Webinterface now is selected, the IPCheck Server Monitor Web GUI will be started after clicking the Finish button to customize the monitoring settings of your MFPConnect installation, as described in Section 5 Customize Monitoring. 15
5. Customize Monitoring At least the following components are involved in an MFPConnect solution: TCOSS (TOPCALL Open Server System) TC/LINK-MFP TOPCALL IP Printer Multi-functional Peripheral Devices (MFPs) The following sections describe how IPCheck Server Monitor can be used to monitor these components. In general, IPCheck Server Monitor offers several sensor types for monitoring. For more information on sensors see the IPCheck Server Monitor User Manual. 5.1 Basic Steps 5.1.1 Login To log into the web interface select the IPCheck Server Monitor Web GUI shortcut from the IPCheck Server Monitor group in your start menu. You may also use the appropriate Desktop icon or Quick Launch icon, if creation of these icons has been selected during installation. 16
The following start page will be displayed. Enter email address (username) and password of the Webserver Admin Account as specified during the installation. Click the Login button. 17
5.1.2 Managing Notifications After successful login the personalized homepage will be displayed. Click the My Account link in the menu toolbar to manage your personal settings. 18
The My Account window will open. IPCheck Server Monitor uses notifications to send out alarms whenever a sensor changes its state. During the installation a default notification is automatically created. To apply changes on the default notifications, click the Edit link as shown above. 19
The Edit Data for Notification window is shown. In this screen you can change the predefined values of all notification types. If you want to be informed by email, verify that the value in the To Address field is a valid email address. Optionally, you can modify the Message Subject and Message Body. 20
If you want IPCheck Server Monitor also to write Event Log Entries for each notification, set the Notification Status to Active in the Event Log Entry section. Click the OK button to save your modifications. 21
If you want to test a notification, click the Test link and you should receive a notification message in a few seconds or find an event log entry if activated. Click the Back button for returning to the personalized homepage. 22
5.1.3 Customize Your Personal Homepage IPCheck Server Monitor provides hierarchical groups to simplify management of servers. A group is a collection of servers. To create a new group, click the Add a new group of servers to your account button. 23
The Edit Data for Group window is displayed. Enter the name of the group and choose an appropriate notification for each trigger situation. Confirm your settings by clicking the OK button. 24
The created group will appear in the personalized homepage. Now you can start adding your server applications which you want to monitor by IPCheck Server Monitor. 5.2 Monitoring TCOSS TCOSS is the communication server component of MFPConnect which is running as a separate server process, listening on TCP port 64508 for incoming requests. IPCheck Server Monitor provides port sensors, which simply try to connect to a server process on a specific port number. Such a port sensor can be used to check if a TCOSS process is running and accepting connections on the configured TCP port. The following screenshots illustrate how to set up a port sensor to monitor TCOSS. 25
Click the Add Server link in the menu toolbar of the personalized homepage. 26
The Edit Data for Server window appears. Choose the associated group for the TCOSS server. Enter a name for the TCOSS server. Enter either DNS Name or IP Address of the machine your TCOSS is running on. Choose an icon of your choice. Choose Use Group Settings for Latencies and Notifications. Click the OK button. 27
Now the TCOSS server is displayed in its group. Click the Add Sensor link in the menu toolbar from the personalized homepage. 28
The Sensor Selection window appears. Select PORT in the Basic Sensors section and click the OK button. 29
The Edit Data for PORT Sensor window appears. Choose the associated server for the PORT Sensor. Enter a name for the PORT Sensor. Enter the TCOSS port number in the Port field of the Sensor Data section. Choose Use Server Settings for Latencies and Notifications. Click the OK button. 30
The port sensor of the TCOSS server is now displayed in the personalized homepage. Immediately after creation the sensor is active and its status is also displayed. 5.3 Monitoring TC/LINK-MFP TC/LINK-MFP is the gateway component of MFPConnect. It receives scanned documents from Multi-Functional Peripherals (MFPs) as SMTP messages and forwards them to the TCOSS server for further processing. By default, TC/LINK-MFP is listening for SMTP requests on TCP port 25. IPCheck Server Monitor provides SMTP sensors, which contact an SMTP server and transfer several bytes according to the SMTP protocol definition. This ensures that the server is accepting requests and answering according to the SMTP protocol. Such an SMTP sensor can be used to check whether TC/LINK-MFP is running and accepting requests. The following screenshots illustrate how to set up an SMTP sensor to monitor TC/LINK-MFP. 31
Click the Add Server link in the personalized homepage and the Edit Data for Server window appears. Choose the associated group for the TC/LINK-MFP server. Enter a name for the TC/LINK-MFP server. Enter either DNS Name or IP Address of the machine your TC/LINK-MFP is running on. Choose an icon of your choice. Choose Use Group Settings for Latencies and Notifications. Click the OK button if done. 32
Now the TC/LINK-MFP server is displayed in its group. Click the Add Sensor link in the menu toolbar from the personalized homepage. 33
The Sensor Selection window appears. Select SMTP in the Protocol Sensors section and click the OK button. 34
The Edit Data for SMTP Sensor window appears. Choose the associated server for the SMTP sensor. Enter a name for the SMTP sensor. If TC/LINK-MFP does not use the standard STMP port 25, enter the appropriate port number in the Port field of the Sensor Data section. Choose +HELO from the Monitoring Level list. Click the OK button. 35
The SMTP sensor of the TC/LINK-MFP server is now displayed in the personalized homepage. Immediately after creation the sensor is active and its status is also shown. 5.4 Monitoring TOPCALL IP Printer The TOPCALL IP Printer is an application which takes messages out of a TCOSS queue and prints them on a printer. Within MFPConnect it is used to print incoming fax messages and notifications on MFPs. IPCheck Server Monitor provides HTTP sensors, which request web pages from web servers using the HTTP protocol. Such an HTTP sensor can be used to check whether the administrative web server of the TOPCALL IP Printer is accepting requests. This requires that IP Printer has the administrative web interface enabled in its configuration. For more information on how to activate the administrative web interface of TOPCALL IP Printer see the TOPCALL IP Printer Manual. The following screenshots illustrate how to set up an HTTP sensor to monitor TOPCALL IP Printer. 36
Click the Add Server link in the personalized homepage 37
The Edit Data for Server window is displayed. Choose the associated group for the TOPCALL IP Printer server. Enter a name for the TOPCALL IP Printer server. Enter either DNS Name or IP Address of the machine your TOPCALL IP Printer is running on. Choose an icon of your choice. Choose Use Group Settings for Latencies and Notifications. Click the OK button if done. 38
Now the TOPCALL IP Printer server is displayed in its group. 39
Click the Add Sensor link in the menu toolbar from the personalized homepage. 40
The Sensor Selection window appears. Select HTTP in the Basic Sensors section and click the OK button. 41
The Edit Data for HTTP Sensor window appears. Choose the associated server for the HTTP sensor. Enter a name for the TOPCALL IP Printer HTTP sensor. Enter the URL of the administrative web interface. This is the DNS Name or IP Address of the machine the TOPCALL IP Printer is running on, followed by the path to the administrative web interface. Choose Use Server Settings for Latencies and Notifications. Click the OK button. 42
The HTTP sensor of the TOPCALL IP Printer server is now displayed in the personalized homepage. Immediately after creation the sensor is active and its status is also shown. 5.5 Monitoring MFP Devices In addition of monitoring the basic components, it is also possible to monitor MFP devices used by an MFPConnect installation. But due to the fact that the freeware edition is limited to five sensors, only two MFPs in addition to the basic components can be monitored with the that edition. If you want to monitor more MFPs, you have to purchase a commercial license of IPCheck Server Monitor. 5.5.1 Monitoring MFP Devices with a PING Sensor IPCheck Server Monitor provides PING sensors, which send an ICMP packet to the ECHO REPLY port of a server and wait for a result. Such a PING sensor can be used to check if an MFP device is up and running. 43
The following screenshots illustrate how to set up a PING sensor for a single MFP device. Click the Add Server link in the personalized homepage and the Edit Data for Server window is displayed. Choose the associated group for the MFP device. Enter a name for the MFP device. Enter either DNS Name or IP Address of the MFP device. Choose an icon of your choice; the printer icon is recommended. Choose Use Group Settings for Latencies and Notifications. Click the OK button if done. 44
Now the MFP device is displayed in its group. Now click the Add a new sensor to this server button. 45
The Sensor Selection window appears. Select PING in the Basic Sensors section and click the OK button. 46
The Edit Data for PING Sensor window appears. Enter a name for the PING sensor. Choose Use Server Settings for Latencies and Notifications. Click the OK button. 47
The PING sensor of the MFP device is now displayed in the personalized homepage. Immediately after creation the sensor is active and its status is also shown. 5.5.2 Monitoring MFP Devices with an HTTP Sensor Optionally, MFP devices can also be monitored by using an HTTP Sensor, which checks whether the administrative web interface of an MFP device is available. The following screenshots illustrate how to set up an additional HTTP sensor for an already existing MFP device server. 48
Move the cursor over the > symbol of the MFP device server and select Add Sensor from the Server Menu pop-up window. 49
Now the Sensor Selection window appears. Select HTTP in the Basic Sensors section and click the OK button. 50
The Edit Data for HTTP Sensor window appears. Enter a name for the MFP device HTTP sensor. Enter the URL of the administrative web interface. This is the DNS Name or IP Address of the MFP device. Choose Use Server Settings for Latencies and Notifications. Click the OK button. 51
The HTTP sensor of the MFP device is now displayed in the personalized homepage. Immediately after creation the sensor is active and its status is also shown. 52
6. IPCheck Server Monitor Services The following two services are required to run IPCheck Server Monitor properly: IPCheck Server Monitor Local/Remote Probe Module IPCheck Server Monitor Webserver Module Both services are installed and automatically started during the installation process. They are also configured with Startup Type Automatic, to ensure that IPCheck Server Monitor works properly after system restart. 53
7. Choosing Between Web Interface and Windows GUI When accessing IPCheck Server Monitor you have the choice between the web interface and the Windows GUI interface. The two most important differences are: The web interface has fewer interactive notification options but runs on any operating system which is able to run either Internet Explorer 6.0 or Firefox/Mozilla without installing any client software The Windows GUI can be used on Windows systems and offers additional notification options. However, it cannot be used to change the settings in "My Account" (e.g., schedules and notifications) Please note that both interfaces can be used simultaneously. The following tables show the differences between both interfaces: Requirements Required software Required network connection Web GUI Interface Web browser (IE6, Firefox), any operating system Windows GUI Interface IPCheck Server Monitor s Windows GUI software (free download), Internet Explorer 6, Windows 98/ME/NT/XP/2000/2003 For both interfaces the client machine needs HTTP or HTTPS access to the IPCheck Server Monitor server Review Features Access the list of groups, Yes Yes servers, and sensors with current status and recent activity Sort/filter sensors using tags Yes Yes Automatic screen updates 60s Custom: 15s or more every Show monitoring status info No Yes as system tray icon Can be minimized to the No Yes system tray Can be started automatically when you log into Windows No Yes Editing Features Create, edit, sort, and delete Yes Yes groups, servers, and sensors; scan sensors now, etc. Pause/Unpause sensors Yes Yes Edit My account Yes No Create, edit, and delete schedules and notifications Yes No 54
Notification Features Supports all server based notifications (email, ICQ, etc.) Shows an optional POP UP windows upon network status changes Plays a sound if a sensor is DOWN Shows an optional system tray bubble window upon network status changes Plays a configurable sound on any status change Read error messages aloud using the TextToSpeech engine (Win XP/200 only) Display messages and errors via an RSS feed Yes No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No 55