Use this Knowledge Script to check the availability of computers or other machines that reply to ICMP Echo requests. With this script, you can use your managed client Windows computer to check the up/down status of UNIX computers, other Windows computers, and other equipment, such as TCP/IP-based printers. The ICMP Echo request is commonly used by the ping command on UNIX and Windows computers.
This script automatically raises an event if a computer does not respond to the ping command from the computer where this script is running. Note that this script returns event information even if the remote computer is in maintenance mode. In addition, you can choose to raise an event if the ping attempt fails for any other reason.
When configuring an action for this script, configure the Location to initiate the action on the MS (management server) or on a Proxy (to run on a particular managed client computer).
If you configure an action to run on the managed client (MC), when a remotely monitored computer is placed into machine maintenance mode or scheduled maintenance mode, any event conditions detected on the remote computer are ignored but the action is not disabled; in this case, an action is run but there will be no event information on the Events tab.
NOTE:This script does not require the AppManager agent to be installed on the remote computers you want to monitor.
Any Windows server that recognizes the ping command
The default interval for this script is Run once.
Set the following parameters as needed:
|
Parameter |
How to Set It |
|---|---|
|
List of computers to check |
Specify a list of the computer names or hostnames, separated by commas, to which you want to test communication. For example, to check connectivity to the NetIQ Corporation Web site, type: www.netiq.com. You can specify computers that are not currently in the Navigation pane or the TreeView pane. |
|
Full path to file with list of computers |
Provide the full path to the file containing a list of the computers to check. The file should contain the hostname or IP address for each computer in one or more lines. Each line can have multiple computer names, separated by commas and with no spaces. Do not include tabs or any other characters other than commas or computer names in this file. For example: NYC01,NYC02 SALES01,10.15.221.5,SFO01 LABMACH,QATEST |
|
Number of seconds to wait for ping response |
Specify the maximum number of seconds to wait for a response before timing out. The default is 3 seconds. |
|
Number of echo requests to send |
Specify the maximum number of times to send the ping request before raising an event. The default is 2 times. |
|
Threshold - Maximum number of consecutive timeouts |
Specify the maximum number of consecutive timeouts to allow before raising an event. The default is 1 timeout. |
|
Raise event for any errors during ping? |
Select Yes to raise an event if an error other than timing out occurs during the ping attempt. The default is Yes. |
|
Event severity for ping errors |
Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of an event in which an error other than timing out occurs during the ping attempt. The default is 10 (red event indicator). |
|
Data Collection |
|
|
Collect data for computer availability? |
Select Yes to collect data for charts and reports. If enabled, data collection returns:
The default is Yes. |
|
Collect data for response time? |
Select Yes to collect data for charts and reports. If enabled, data collection returns the average response time for the computers to which a ping request has been sent. If a computer is unavailable or a ping error occurs, response time data collection returns 0. Ping response times of less than 1 ms are returned as 1 ms. The default is unselected. |