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Sentry-go®
3Ds (UK) Limited
© 2000-2011 |
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Sentry-go Automatic Response, Alerting, Logging FAQs |
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The following information relates to Sentry-go automaic responses, alerting &
logging ...
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Automatic Responses |
Q. Can Sentry-go take automatic action when a fault is detected ?
Yes, you can run a response, or alert one or more Administrators, or both.
Q. What action can it take ?
In addition to specific responses such as service restarts, print job
cancellation etc., you can respond by running a batch file, VBScript or 3rd
party application.
Q. Can I test responses myself ?
Yes, once defined, you can test the running of the script or file from within
the Client Console or Easy Access Utility.
Q. The utility I wish to run has to be run from a given user, can I
configure this ?
A. Yes, simply select the user that you wish to run the response from within the
Client Console or Easy Access Utility.
Q. Are there any limitations to the responses that can be run ?
Yes, there are a few things to remember. In general, you should follow
these rules ...
- No prompts or GUI interfaces should be displayed as there will be no one to
acknowledge these
- You may need to run the response as a specific user, or as a user with
specific permissions
- The monitor will wait for the response to complete. It is assumed to have
completed when
the processes itself completed. If the response doesn't complete within 30 seconds, it will
be timed out and terminated by the monitor. The check & response will then assume to
have failed.
Q. How does the monitor know whether the response has worked ?
When the monitor determines the response has completed (and didn't time out),
the monitor will re-run the original check again. If this now succeeds, the
response will be considered successful. Otherwise, an alert will be triggered to
highlight the ongoing error.
Q. I wish to write my own response as a batch file. Are there any specific
considerations I should remember ?
Yes, in addition to those mentioned above, you should also bear in mind the
following ...
- Paths should normally be fully qualified (scripts & files
will be running locally from the monitor)
- Some utilities expect to run from the current directoryn from the current directory
- "CD" into the appropriate directory before running the utility
- If the target directory is different from the drive on which the monitor is
running, change to
the new drive before CD'ing into the target directory. Otherwise, the CD command may not
work as expected
- Use "echo" to trace output to a log file if required
Q. I need to write a scripted response but don't feel
confident enough or have the time to do it myself. Can you help ?
Yes, there are a number of options we can suggest ...
- Standard scripts can be generated automatically by the
Sentry-go Scripting Wizard.
Simply
answer a few questions and let it write the script for you.
- Visit our
Script Library. There you'll find
a number of files & scripts to download for free!
- We can develop the script for you. |
Alerting |
Q. How does Sentry-go alert me to an error ?
Sentry-go can alert you to faults in a wide variety of ways including
the following ...
- Alerts appear on the Client Console
- Sent to you via e-mail
(using your SMTP server, or a public one such as HotMail and GMail)
- Displayed to you via network messaging
- Sent to you via an SMS or pager gateway
- By sending details to a central SysLog Server
- By appending details to a text file
- By adding details to a database log (table)
- By showing them on an HTML-based report
- By running a Windows command to invoke a custom action
- By running a 3rd party application
- By calling any scriptable interface to invoke a custom action
Q. We use authenticated SMTP to send e-mails. Can I use this to send an alert
?
Yes, both standard SMTP and authenticated SMTP alerts can be triggered.
Q. Can I alter the text sent in an alert ?
Yes, simply configure the monitor to use your own text. Special place-markers
are used to include context-sensitive information such as the error text, server
name, time raised etc.
Alternatively you can call a script to send the alert & customise your error
message there, again including context-specific place-markers if required.
Q. Can I send multiple alerts ?
Yes, when an alert is triggered, it is raised within an "alert group". Multiple
alerts (targets & methods) can be assigned to an alert group.
Q. I'm in the office during the week, but need to be informed of problems
outside those times as well. Can I send different alerts depending on the time
of day ?
Yes, a timetable can be set up to indicate which methods should be sent at
what time, thus allowing specific alerts to be sent depending on the day and time. So, for example,
you can send a network message during normal office hours, and an e-mail or SMS
outside those hours.
Q. Can I perform a totally custom action in response to an alert ?
Yes, you can run a batch and/or a script file in response to an alert. The
file is "compiled" automatically at run time in order to allow you to include
context-sensitive information such as the error text, server name, time raised
etc.
Q. I'm not a programmer - how can I imnplement the script I want ?
You have a number of options ...
-
Sentry-go provides a Scripting Wizard, allowing you to generate a number
of script types for you,
using your own parameters. No knowledge of programming
or scripting is required to use the
Wizard.
- The Sentry-go script library
gives you access to prewritten, downloadable
- We can develop the script or logic for
you. Please contact 3D s(UK) Limited for a
quotation.
Q. I have a SysLog server which holds all our errors. Can I log to that ?
Yes, alerts can be logged to a SysLog server - either directly as an
alerting option or via the Scripting Wizard.
Q. Can I send a message to my cell/mobile phone
?
Yes, most mobile operators allows you to send an e-mail to your phone.
Q. Can I send a text (SMS) message to my cell/mobile phone ?
Depending on your mobile provider, you may be able to do this directly using
an e-mail or their own 3rd party application, callable from Sentry-go.
Alternatively, you can use a gateway provider to provide SMS access.
Q. Can Sentry-go respond to problems itself ?
Yes, when an alert is triggered, most monitoring components allow you to run an
automatic response such as a command (e.g. to restart a failed service), batch
file (e.g. to clear down temporary files to conserve disk space) or script (to
interface with an external system or database). You can also initiate a 3rd
party utility or application.
Q. Can I review alerts I may have missed ?
Yes, web reporting provides access to cached alert information. Simply access
Recent Alerts URL.
Q. How many alerts can Sentry-go store ?
Details of alerts are stored locally in the monitor's cache. You can configure
the actual number retained using the Client Console on a per-monitor basis. The
minimum no. retained is 50, the maximum is typcially based on the number you
wish to store and the disk space available (the default is 100).
Q. Can I see the current status of the machine without waiting for an alert
to be triggered ?
Yes, the Current Status URL provides access to the latest monitored values for
all checks.
Q. If I don't receive any alerts, how do I know all is well ?
Ideally you don't want to see any alerts because this means the server &
software environment is performing well. But this of course might indicate a
network failure is preventing alerts from being sent! For peace of mind, one or
more Administrators can receive a Summary by e-mail which shows the total number
of errors for each monitoring component activated for the last 24 hours (or
since the last restart) whichever is later.
Q. Once I've been alerted to a problem, I will need time to resolve it
without being notified again. Do I need to reconfigure Sentry-go or turn it off
during this time ?
No. Sentry-go provides a means by which an alert can be ignored for a
period of time after it has been triggered - thus giving you time to resolve the
issue before the check is made again. This is especially useful for checks such
as free disk space which may take time to resolve.
Q. For some errors, I only wish to be informed if the fault occurs
continually over a longer period of time ? Can I achieve this with Sentry-go ?
Some checks are only really errors if the fault continues for a prolonged period
of time. High CPU usage is a good example. This may well exceed 80% or 90% at
times - e.g. when printing or performing heavy processing and this is fine, but
you may wish to know if it's continually higher than these values for say, 5
consecutive checks, each 30 seconds apart.
Q. I think I've corrected the error but wish to ensure the fix has worked.
How can Sentry-go help ?
Firstly Sentry-go will repeat the check at regular intervals, depending on
configuration values. In addition, Server Monitors provide HTML reports which
gives you real-time status information direct from the server itself, thus
showing if the problem is still occurring.
Q. Do I have to pay extra for alerting features ?
No, there is no additional cost for alerting options within Sentry-go. If
you are using 3rd party tools or services, there may, of course, be an
associated charge for those, depending on the provider etc.
Q. Can I verify that my alerts are configured & working correctly ?ed & working correctly ?
Yes, the Console allows you to test an alert once its defined. When performed,
the Console will connect to the appropriate monitor which in turn will run the
test from a web page and display the results. Where appropriate, you can then
verify that the expected action was carried out - e.g. the e-mail arrived etc. |
Logging |
Q. Can I log alerts or errors to a file or database ?
Yes, Sentry-go can easily log errors to both a text-based log or CSV
file (including your own format file) or an ODBC-compliant database such as SQL
Server & Microsoft Access.
Q. Can I log my alerts to an Event Log ?
Yes, you can use a scripted action to log details to the application event log
on either the local or remote machine. The Scripting Wizard can be used to
generate a suitable script for you.
Q. Can I record performance information using Sentry-go ?
Yes, the Performance Monitoring component allows you to log any captured
performance information to a CSV file via the Performance Optimiser. This can
then be viewed using the trend analysis report or imported into a 3rd party
application such as Microsoft Excel.
Q. Can I record blocked SQL queries to a log file ?
Yes, the SQL Server Block Monitoring Component allows you to configure this.
You can also trim the file automatically to discard older records.
Q. Can I record user access information for files/directories to a log file ?
Yes, the File Monitoring Component allows you to save this information. &
review it later. Details can be trimmed automatically if required.
Q. Do I have to pay extra for logging features ?
No, there is no additional cost for logging options.
Q. Can I graph performance information gathered by the monitor ?
The Performance Log (CSV) file can then be imported into other 3rd party
packages such as Microsoft Excel for further manipulation, graphing etc. |
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Q. I have a question not answered above.
No problem. The following resources are available to answer your question ...
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