By creating monitoring configurations, the SysAid monitoring module gives you a way to proactively monitor your computers and SNMP assets. Rather than waiting for a user to report a problem, SysAid can immediately detect specific types of events and notify you that a problem exists. You can monitor various performance measurements for your computers such as CPU, memory, and hard drive usage; you can monitor network activity per asset as well as general asset availability; you can also receive SNMP traps from your SNMP devices. When SysAid discovers a problem, it will notify you by email or SMS, and SysAid can also open a service record for the issue so that you can immediately begin work on resolving it.
Available for:
Customers using SysAid Spaces. If you're using SysAid Classic, see Monitoring.
How it works
Monitoring events
A monitoring event is when a monitored device triggers a monitoring rule. Monitoring events include Warning, Error, and Back to Normal. The following monitoring event pages can be found under Asset Manager > Monitoring:
Alerts: Shows you all active monitoring warnings and errors.
Events Log: Shows you a history of all monitoring events.
Last Poll: Shows you the current monitoring state for all monitored devices: Normal, Warning, or Error.
To learn more, see Alerts, Event Log, and Last Poll.
Monitoring configurations and templates
In SysAid, a monitoring configuration is all of the monitoring rules that apply to one particular asset. Monitoring configurations are split up into three types: Server, Workstation, and Network Device configurations. Each type has its own list under Asset Manager > Monitoring, and you add monitoring rules using the tabs along the top of the configuration page. The available tabs depend on the type:
Configuration type | Tabs |
|---|---|
Workstation and Server | General details, Performance, URL Monitoring, Ports, Software/Hardware updates, Services, Processes, Asset data, Network usage |
Network Device | General details, URL Monitoring, Ports, Asset data, Network usage, Traps |
A template is exactly the same as a monitoring configuration, with one difference. Instead of attaching only one asset, you attach multiple assets. In this way, you can attach a particular monitoring configuration to multiple assets at one time. Furthermore, once an asset is attached to a template, any changes to that template will simultaneously update the monitoring configuration on that asset. Templates are available for workstations and servers.
To learn more about each tab and its monitoring rules, see Workstations/Servers.
Notifications
For each of the monitoring rules you create, you will be asked to specify a warning/error notification. You create notifications under Settings > Setup & Monitoring > Monitoring > Notifications. Each notification can send an email, send an SMS, and insert a service record. For each notification, you can choose during which hours the notification will be sent out.
To learn more, see Monitoring Notifications.
Requirements
Monitoring of computers (workstations and servers) requires that you deploy the SysAid Agent. To learn more, see SysAid Agent Deployment Guide.
Limitations
Network Device configurations don't include the Performance, Software/Hardware updates, Services, or Processes tabs, or the No data notification and Enable Monitoring settings.
Port monitoring is available for servers and network devices only. Workstation configurations show a Ports tab, but you can't add port rules there.
Templates don't include the URL Monitoring or Network usage tabs.
You must save a configuration or template before you can edit it. For templates, Add assets is available only after you save.
An asset connected to a template can't have its monitoring rules changed directly. Change the template, or click Detach Template in the asset's configuration.
Attaching an asset to a template permanently replaces the asset's existing monitoring rules. You can't restore them.
Create a monitoring configuration
Go to Asset Manager > Monitoring > Workstations. This shows you a list of all existing monitoring configurations. The procedure is the same for servers and network devices, except that you select Servers or Network Devices.
Click New. This opens the monitoring configuration page.
Click Add asset. This opens the Select Asset window with a list of all active (non-disabled) assets. If nothing opens, allow pop-ups from your SysAid address.
Search through the list for the desired asset and then click on it to select it. This closes the asset list and selects the asset.
Click Apply. This saves the monitoring configuration.
Add your desired monitoring rules using the tabs along the top of the monitoring configuration page.
When you have added all the monitoring rules you desire, click OK to save the configuration and close it, or Apply to save and stay on the page.
View monitoring results
Once you've set up a monitoring configuration, you will be notified if anything goes wrong. However, you may also want to review your monitoring configurations and view the status of your various monitoring rules.
Go to Asset Manager > Monitoring > Workstations, Servers, or Network Devices. Here you see a list of all of your monitored assets with an alert light next to them. To learn more about these alerts, see Workstations/Servers/Network Devices.
Click the plus icon next to an asset to view the monitoring rules in effect on that asset. This shows you all rules active on the asset, with results and warning/error thresholds for each rule. To expand every asset at once, click Expand All.
Click a rule to open a window with graphs of the monitoring results.
Create a monitoring template
Go to Settings > Setup & Monitoring > Monitoring > Workstation Templates. This shows you a list of all existing monitoring templates. The procedure is the same for servers, except that you select Server Templates.
Click New. This opens the Workstation monitoring template page.
Enter a name for your template in Template Name and click Apply. This saves the monitoring template.
Add your desired monitoring rules using the tabs along the top of the template page.
When you have added all the monitoring rules you desire, click Apply to save the template.
Return to the General details tab of the template.
Click Add assets. This opens the Select Asset window with a list of all active (non-disabled) assets.
Search for the assets that you would like to add to the template. For each asset you would like to add, select the checkbox on the left side of that row.
When you have finished selecting all of the desired assets, click Select.
In the confirmation message, click OK. Your template is now configured.
Important:
When you attach a computer to a template, you erase any preexisting monitoring configuration for that computer, and you can't restore it. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that you do not select any assets with an existing monitoring configuration unless you intend to overwrite the old configuration.
To view your templates, go to Settings > Setup & Monitoring > Monitoring > Workstation Templates or Server Templates. Click the plus icon next to a template to view the monitoring rules it contains. You can view the monitoring results for a particular asset in the template as described in View monitoring results.
Remove assets from a template
If you remove assets from a template, the asset will no longer be updated when the template changes, but the monitoring configuration will still exist on that asset, with the rules it had from the template.
Go to Settings > Setup & Monitoring > Monitoring > Workstation Templates or Server Templates, and open the template.
On the General details tab, click Remove assets. This opens the Select Asset window with the assets attached to the template.
Select the checkbox next to each asset you want to remove.
Click the Remove assets icon (red X) at the top of the window.
In the confirmation message, click OK.
To remove the monitoring configuration itself, go to Asset Manager > Monitoring > Workstations or Servers, select the configuration, and click Delete selected monitoring configuration(s).