How to Create a Ping Monitor in Essentials

Applies To: System Center Essentials 2010

Ping monitor can be used to test server availability, monitor network devices that cannot be monitored using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), or monitor devices that do not have agents installed on them. Use the following procedure to choose the devices you want to test, create a monitoring rule and store it in a management pack, and then select which computer or group of computers will be used to watch for ping results.

Ping Unmonitored Computers and Devices

Use the following procedure to create a new ping monitor in System Center Essentials 2010.

To create a ping monitor

  1. In the Essentials console, click the Authoring button.

  2. At the bottom of the Authoring pane, click Add Monitoring Wizard.

  3. On the Select Monitoring Type page in the wizard, select Ping Monitor, and click Next.

  4. On the Ping Monitor Name and Description page, type a name for the monitor in the Name box. This name is mandatory and will appear in the Monitoring pane when you view the list of monitors. It is recommended that the IP address be included in the monitor name (for example, My Internet Provider 192.168.1.1). Type an optional description for the monitor in the Description box.

  5. Select the destination management pack from the list under Select destination management pack:, or click New to create a new management pack. The monitoring rules created with the new ping monitor will be stored in the management pack. Click Next.

    Important

    If you choose to create a new management pack, the Management Pack General Properties page will prompt you to enter a name for the management pack, a version number, and an optional description. You can also enter knowledge for the new management pack. After the new management pack is created, you will be returned to the Ping Monitor Name and Description page.

  6. On the Enter and Test Server Settings page, enter the IP address or DNS host name of the device being monitored. Click Test to make sure the device is visible to the monitor. This test is not mandatory. Click Next.

    Note

    If the test is unsuccessful, click Previous to return to the previous step and try again. When Essentials is able to connect to the IP address or device, the message Request processed successfully should appear on this page.

  7. On the Choose Watcher Nodes page, select one or more computers to act as watchers of the ping signal. The pings will be sent from the selected computers. Also select the number and time units used to schedule the ping signal. Click Next.

  8. The Ping Monitor Settings Summary page shows the result of your selections. If you want to change them, click Previous to step back through the wizard; otherwise, click Create to create the new ping monitor.

Once created, you can view the status of this ping monitor from the Ping Monitor folder in the Monitoring workspace.

Ping Managed Computers

It is not necessary to create a ping monitor for Windows computers that are being managed with agents; the agent is already monitoring the computer’s availability. You can create a ping monitor for Windows computers, but it is not necessary. To enable ping monitoring on a managed Windows computer, follow the steps below.

To enable ping status on managed computers

  1. Click Monitors. Expanding the list of monitors may take several seconds.

  2. In the Monitors list, expand Windows Server.

  3. Expand Entity Health.

  4. Expand Availability.

  5. Right-click Ping Status, click Overrides, click Override the Monitor, and then click For a specific object of class: Windows Server.

  6. In the Select Object pane, select the server that is doing the monitoring. Click OK.

  7. In the Override Properties pane, select the check box in the Override column for the parameter type Enabled.

  8. Ensure that the value in the Effective Value column is set to True. If it is False, use the procedure below to set the value to True.

    1. Ensure that the Override box is checked.

    2. In the Enabled parameter row, ensure that the Override Value is set to True. If it is not, click the value and select True.

    3. Click Apply, and ensure that the Effective Value switches to True.

    4. Click OK.

See Also

Concepts

Monitoring in Essentials

Other Resources

Administration in Essentials
Authoring in Essentials