Add or manage a Nodinite Monitoring Agent Configuration

Info

This guide teaches you how to configure Nodinite to connect and communicate with the Nodinite Monitoring Agents.

Each Nodinite Monitoring Agent has one entry with the current user-defined Configuration. You must be a member of the Nodinite Administrators' Role to manage the entry.

Nodinite uses the communication channel to synchronise the state of Resources and perform the Remote Actions initiated by Auto Healing or the end user.

Click the 'Quick Add Monitor Agent' or the 'Add Monitor Agent' button to enter the configuration details required for one installed Monitoring Agent.

General tab

The General tab provides the essential connection details for the Monitoring Agent Configuration.

Quick Add

The fastest way to add a new connection with a Monitoring Agent is to copy/paste the Quick Add JSON information from the README.txt file in the installation folder.

JSON Example

{"Name":"SQL on IBSSMIOLSRV01","Uri":"http://IBSSMIOLSRV01:8000/Nodinite/Monitor/Agent/SQL/","XApiKey":"71B32996-908E-1337-4
17E-E5018FD4A3B4","Description":null,"PollingInterval":60}

Here's an example of the JSON quick add string from the README.txt file.

Click the Apply button to get all fields populated after you have pasted the JSON content from the clipboard.

Add Monitoring Agent

The following properties exist:

• Name - is your user-friendly configuration name and is required.
• Description - is optional. Enter a user-friendly Description of this Configuration.
• Website - is optional. Provides the ability for an external link.

Connection Tab

From the Connection tab, you can configure some information that makes it possible for the Monitoring Service to communicate with the Monitoring Agent.

The following properties are available:

• Service URL (mandatory) - The Service URL is the address for the Monitoring Service to communicate with the Monitoring Agent.

  The Monitoring Agents can use:

  • Local LAN using TCP/IP.
  • Anywhere using Service Bus Relaying.
    The Service URL is always available in the README.txt file located in the installation folder of the Monitoring Agent.

• Polling Interval is required - Set how often the Monitoring Service polls for the actual state of the Resources. This value is set in Seconds using a positive Integer value. The default value is 60 seconds and is the recommended setting for production environments. You may decrease (bisect) this value in test and development environments.

Tip

Do not poll for status updates more often than really required by your business needs. A short poll interval will add pressure on valuable system resources.

Security Tab

From the Security tab, you can configure settings that govern security-related to the actual communication between the Monitoring Service to communicate with the Monitoring Agent.

The Authentication Key is usually available in the README.txt file located in the installation folder.

Check the 'Monitoring Agent Configuration is authenticated' checkbox to enter essential information for the connection.

• Authentication Key is required - Either the API key or the Service Bus Relaying connection information.

You must secure the connection to allow the Remote Configuration of the Monitoring Agent.

Shared Access Signature security Key. See the following Microsoft article for more information Grant limited access to Azure Storage resources using shared access signatures (SAS). The Monitoring Agent need additional manual configuration to use Service Bus Relaying.

The following is an example of a shared access key, use the Azure Portal to acquire real values.

SharedAccessKeyName=%RootManageSharedAccessKey%;SharedAccessKey=%SharedAccessKey%;AuthenticationKey=%AuthenticationKey%

Advanced Tab

Change the settings in the Advanced tab to configure other optional connection-related settings.

Check the Change default Timeout checkbox to change the default timeout. The default timeout value in the Advanced tab is 120 seconds (60 seconds in the general tab).

If you are tweaking these settings, most likely, the Monitoring Agent is having a hard time. Review the diagnostics file to diagnose this situation thoroughly or contact our support before you change these values.

Check the Change default Retry handling checkbox to allow the Monitoring Service additional chances to synchronise the state of the Resources. This setting should only be used if the connection between the Monitoring Service and the Monitoring is using an unreliable WAN link.

Common Problems

If the Monitoring Agent Configuration is invalid or the Monitoring Agent is unavailable (for example stopped/during reboot/update/...) and/or cannot be reached for whatever reason; it is displayed in the list of configured Monitoring Agents as being offline:

A warning message can also be seen when configuring the specific view. The information is refreshed in the background and disappears when the service comes back online or connectivity is re-established.

Monitor Views Tab

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In the Monitor Views tab you can manage the Monitor Views using the current Monitoring Agent.

Click the Edit button to navigate further to manage the specific Monitor View.

Please review the Add or manage Monitor View user guide for details about this topic.

Click the Add Monitor View button to create a new Monitor View with a proposed name and the agent included. This feature saves a few clicks and helps you get faster into the game.

Resources Tab

From within the Resources tab, all Resources provided by the Monitoring Agent are listed in a clickable and sortable list that you also can apply various filters on. The total number of Resource is displayed.

The list contains the following Resource properties:

• State - The state reported from last synchronization
• Name - The display name of the Resource
• Description - The user-friendly Description for the Resource
• Application - The Application the Resource belongs to
• Category - The Categories the Resource belongs to
• LogText - The output text information received from last synchronization
• Error Code - The error code received from last synchronization
• Included in Monitor Views - a counter with the number of Monitor Views containing the Resource

Configuration Backups tab

Nodinite automatically performs a backup of the configuration file for the Monitoring Agent.

You can install the Nodinite Monitoring Agents virtually anywhere and it may be easy to lose configuration data if the hosting server/environment dies. If you did not have a backup of your own; the configuration would be lost forever. Also, you might make a change by mistake and want to rollback to some older configuration. This feature makes it easier to test and rollback new configurations. Do make use of the Comment feature once the entry is in the list to document changes.

Info

The background task that checks if there is a change to the configuration runs every 4 hours

The Nodinite Monitoring Service automatically removes old backups; please review the DaysToKeepMonitorAgentBackups system parameter for additional information.

Example list of available backups for selected Monitoring Agent

This feature has been partially in production with older versions of Nodinite. The size column is properly updated AFTER you have migrated to Nodinite 5.2 or later. If the Configuration version is unknown, click on the button and the version gets updated. With Nodinite version 6 the version is automatically set for new backups.

Download backup

You can download the configuration file. Select the backup from the list and click on the Actions button and select the Download menu item.

Important

The downloaded file for very old pinned backups may contain sensitive data like passwords and API secrets. Make sure not to leave any copies behind on the file system.

Restore backup

You can restore any configuration in the list that has the same version as the current. Select the backup from the list and click on the Actions button and select the Restore menu item.

You will then be prompted to confirm the restore operation:

Click the Yes button to perform the operation, and No to abort.

The result is provided as an Alert at the top of the page:

Important

The restore operation is potentially very dangerous as you will revert to an old configuration and may drastically change the current Monitoring. Make sure you know what you do!

If you want to restore to an older configuration version; you must do this manually by stopping the agent, change/replace the Settings.json file and then restarting the Monitoring Agent. Please contact our support if you are uncertain or need help restoring to an older version. Be warned, there are potentially many problems with reverting to an old configuration.

Edit Pin & Comment

You can pin/unpin and manage a comment for any backup in the list. Select the backup from the list and click on the Actions button and select the Edit Pin & Comment menu item.

Tip

A pinned backup is never removed by the system. Please add a comment so others know why you opted to keep that particular backup.

Delete backup

You can permanently delete any backup in the list. Select the backup from the list and click on the Actions button and select the Edit Pin & Comment menu item.

Control buttons

In the Control panel there are three buttons:

• 1. Configuration
• 2. Sync now
• 3. Diagnostics

1. Configuration button

Click the Configuration button to open a dialogue for Remote Configuration. This is where you configure the actual Monitoring Agent so it knows what to do.

2. Sync now button

The Sync now button forces the Monitoring Service to perform a synchronization right now and not to wait until its' next expired polling interval has lapsed.

Here's an example of a successful synchronization.

3. Diagnostics button

Click the Diagnostics button to download a package with the diagnostic files as one single ZIP. This ZIP file contains up to 6 log files as well as a text file with some basic information about the Monitoring Agent. This information is very often requested by our Support whenever you have a problem and is key to resolving problems. The log files are all in JSON format.

Example icon in the browser of downloaded ZIP file with diagnostics information

Example content: Do note the hefty compression, Nodinite is optimized to preserve disk space and network utilization.

The info.txt file.

Nodinite diagnostics files that could contain vital information that could help us solve problem, attach this file in case you need to contact our support at support@nodinite.com

Assembly Information
Name: Nodinite.MonitoringAgent.IBMMQ
Version: 5.0.0.0

This file was automatically generated 2019-05-17 13:37:00 +02:00

Example content in the info.txt file part of the ZIP package.

If the diagnostic files does not exist, please review the following troubleshooing guide.

Run-time Information

You can view the following run-time information attributes in the Information panel:

• Connection status - The connection to the Monitoring Agent Configuration is continuously and automatically checked. You can see the status for the last alive check as well as the time of the last check.
• Agent Type - The type of Monitoring Agent (makes it possible to sort and filter in various lists within Nodinite, read-only).
• Server - The Server hosting the Monitoring Agent (user-defined).
• Environment - The reported/configured type of run-time environment for the Monitoring Agent (user-defined).
• Version - The current version of the Monitoring Agent (read-only).
• Config Version - The current version of the Configuration (read-only).

Delete Monitoring Agent

If you uninstall a Nodinite Monitoring Agent, you must also remove it from the System.

Here's the Delete button to have a Monitoring Agent removed.

Note

A deleted Monitoring Agent is excluded from the synchronization that the Nodinite Monitoring Service performs. This means that all Resources are marked as deleted and the state Monitoring is no longer operational. The Resources will also disappear from any Monitor View.

Click the Delete button to remove the Monitoring Agent. A modal appears asking the User to confirm intent.

Here's an example for confirming intent to Remove the Monitoring Agent.

If the operation is successful, the following message appears on the screen.

Here's an example of a successful Delete operation.

When navigating to a Deleted Monitoring Agent, the following message is on the screen:
The message in the screenshot appears for Deleted Monitoring Agents.

Restore Monitoring Agent

You can Restore a deleted Monitoring Agent. The Monitoring Agent must exist in the System, otherwise it will be displayed in the offline state.

Here's the Restore button to have a Monitoring Agent back in the System.

Note

When you Restore a deleted Monitoring Agent the synchronization that the Nodinite Monitoring Service performs is operational again. This means that all Resources that exists, marked as deleted will re-appear and the state Monitoring is operational again. The Resources will also appear in Monitor View.

Click the Restore button to get the Monitoring Agent back into the System. A modal appears asking the User to confirm intent.

Here's an example for confirming intent to Restore the Monitoring Agent.

If the operation is successful, the following message appears on the screen.

Here's an example of a successful Restore operation.

Next Step

Learn how to configure Remote Configuration

Monitoring Agents Overview
Add or manage a Monitoring Agent Configuration
Add or manage Monitor View

Related

View Monitor Views
Monitor Views
Resources