ActiveXperts Network Monitor 2015 Release Notes

ACTIVEXPERTS NETWORK MONITOR 2015
Release Date: December 10 2014

  Introduction
  Download
  What's new in ActiveXperts Network Monitor 2015
  Installation and Upgrade

INTRODUCTION

ActiveXperts Network Monitor 2015 is the latest version of the ActiveXperts Network Monitor product.
The mission of the product is to maximize the reliability of your production servers and applications through the automatic detection and correction of problems and issues.
The product runs as a service on Windows 2012(R2)/2008(R2)/2003/8/7/Vista/XP x86/x64 platforms.
The ActiveXperts Network Monitor 2015 can import any configuration database created with a previous version of the product.

DOWNLOAD

Click on the link below to download ActiveXperts Network Monitor 2015. It offers a 64-bit installation (AxMonitorSetup64.exe) and a 32-bit installation (AxMonitorSetup32.exe). Download here:
www.activexperts.com/download

WHAT'S NEW IN ACTIVEXPERTS NETWORK MONITOR 2015

- Antivirus and Internet Security Suite updates 2015 -

ActiveXperts Network Monitor 2015 supports the latest 2015 Antivirus- and Internet Security Suites, including avast! Premier 2015, avast! Internet Security 2015, AVG Internet Security 2015, AVG Anti-Virus 2015, Avira Antivirus Pro 2015, BitDefender Total Security 2015, BitDefender Internet Security 2015, BitDefender AntiVirus Plus 2015, BullGuard Internet Security 2015, BullGuard Anti-Virus 2015, ESET Smart Security 8 (2015 Edition), ESET NOD32 Antivirus 8 (2015 Edition), G Data Total Protection 2015, G Data Internet Security 2015, Kaspersky Total Security 2015, Kaspersky Internet Security 2015, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2015, McAfee Internet Security 2015, McAfee Total Protection 2015, McAfee Anti-Virus Plus 2015, Norton Security, Outpost Security Suite Pro 9, Outpost Firewall Pro 9, Outpost Antivirus Pro 9, Panda Global Protection 2015, Panda Internet Security 2015, Panda Antivirus Pro 2015, Trend Micro Maximum Security 2015, Trend Micro Internet Security 2015, Trend Micro Antivirus Plus 2015, VIPRE Internet Security 2015, VIPRE Antivirus 2015, ZoneAlarm Extreme Security 2015, ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 2015 and ZoneAlarm Antivirus+Firewall 2015.

- HTTPs check -

FIX: Some HTTPs sites could not be checked in previous versions of ActiveXperts Network Monitor, reporting a message saying "Unable to connect to host". This happened to web servers that refuse HTTP clients that allow SSL2 protocols. This has been fixed.
You can now specifiy which SSL protocols to use to connect to remote HTTPs sites. By default, TLS1 and SSL3 are allowed (SSL2 is NOT allowed by default).

- NIMBOXX VERDE check -

ActiveXperts Network Monitor 2015 now monitors NIMBOXX VERDE, a leading product for Desktop Virtualization. It allows you to monitor VERDE Gold Images, VERDE sessions and more.
A diagnostic NIMBOXX VERDE tool is included for troubleshooting purposes.

- MS BizTalk -

You can now monitor the latest version of MS Dynamics BizTalk - version 2013R2 - using the new BizTalk 2013R2 check. This check also has a VBScript and PowerShell equivalent, so it can be fully customized. BizTalk 2013, 2010 and 2009 are still supported.

- MS Dynamics GP -

You can now monitor MS Dynamics GP - version 2013 - using the new Dynamics GP 2013 check. This check also has a VBScript and PowerShell equivalent, so it can be fully customized.

- MS Dynamics CRM -

You can now monitor the latest version of MS Dynamics CRM - version 2015 - using the new Dynamics CRM 2015 check. This check also has a VBScript and PowerShell equivalent, so it can be fully customized. Dynamics CRM 2013, 2011 and 4.0 are still supported.

- MS Dynamics NAV -

You can now monitor the latest version of MS Dynamics NAV - version 2015 - using the new Dynamics NAV 2015 check. This check also has a VBScript and PowerShell equivalent, so it can be fully customized. NAV 2013 and 2009 are still supported.

- MS Hyper-V -

You can now monitor the latest version of MS Hyper-V - version 2012. Hyper-V 2012 is part of Windows 2012 (R2), and has a completely design than Hyper-V 2008. This check also has a VBScript and PowerShell equivalent, so it can be fully customized. Hyper-V 2008 is still supported.

- MS SQL Server -

You can now monitor the latest version of MS SQL Server - version 2014. This check also has a VBScript and PowerShell equivalent, so it can be fully customized. SQL Server 2012, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server Epxress are still supported.

- PowerShell checks -

All PowerShell checks have been rewritten from scratch. There's a common _activexperts.ps1 code file that contains common routines, used by all ActiveXperts Network Monitor PowerShell scripts;
New PowerShell scripts are included.

- Linux SSH checks -

New SSH scripts are included;
FIX: The DATA output field was not used in existing SSH scripts. As a result, it was not possible to make graphs out the standard SSH checks without modifying the SSH scripts. This has been fixed.

- SNMP Trap Receiver check -

FIX: When receiving many traps in a row in a short period of time, Network Monitor could miss incoming traps. This has been fixed;

- WMI Counter check -

FIX: In the Manager, when editting existing WMI counter settings, the previous settings were not loaded. This has been fixed;
FIX:The '>' equation operator was treated as '<' operator, giving odd results. This has been fixed.

- Performance Counters -

FIX: Windows Performance Counter were not displayed correctly when values exceeded 2^31. This has been fixed;
FIX:The '>' equation operator was treated as '<' operator, giving odd results. This has been fixed.

- Web Interface -

You can now configure Virtual Directories in ActiveXperts and configure the Virtual Directory manually in IIS, to meet your requirements. In previous version of the software, this was not possible;
FIX: In previous versions, it was not possible to change the Virtual Directory location of the web interface in ActiveXperts when IIS was not installed, or when the Metabase Components of IIS were not installed . This has been fixed;
FIX:The '>' equation operator was treated as '<' operator, giving odd results. This has been fixed.

- Graphs -

The Graph module has been redesigned. It has an improved graphical layout and an improved user interface.

- Popup Notifications -

Network Popup notifications were disabled in v.8. A message was logged saying "AXPOPUP.DLL component not loaded". The notifications were disabled on purpose because of security reasons. Apparently it is still used a lot, and therefore ActiveXperts has re-activated this function. You can enable popup message from the GUI.

- GUI -

No need to scroll horizontally in the Manager application when a response is long; responses are now visible from the checks's Properties dialog;
Only two icons installed on the desktop and in the Windows 2008/2012 Tile interface. All Diagnostic Utilities are now accessible from the Manager instead as from the Start Menu;
You can now copy a check and paste it to multiple new hosts. You can even copy multiple checks and paste them all to multiple new hosts. This way, you can easily apply all checks defined for one host onto multiple new hosts;
Redesigned program icons;
Minor improvements and fixes to the Manager application.

- Installer -

When performing an upgrade, you can now use the same directory as used for the initial installation, without the need to delete files first;
When performing an upgrade, a Restore Wizard will popup automatically when the Setup has completed.

INSTALLATION AND UPGRADE

- Installation -

To learn more about installing the product for the first time, please read our manual.

- Upgrade -

Upgrading from a previous version should be done in the following way:

Make a backup of the current configuration - although not really necessary, it's a good practice to do so. Use the Manager's Export command to make the backup;
Make a backup of all custom VBScript scripts - if any. Use the Windows Explorer to make the backup;
Uninstall all 'ActiveXperts Network Monitor Manager' application on the PCs that have the Manager application installed. Use the 'Add/Remove Programs' applet in the Control Panel to start the Uninstall;
Uninstall the 'ActiveXperts Network Monitor' software on the monitoring server. Use the 'Add/Remove Programs' applet in the Control Panel to start the Uninstall;
Reboot the monitoring server;
Install the 'ActiveXperts Network Monitor' software on the monitoring server;
Launch the Manager application, and choose 'Restore Configuration' from the 'File menu'. Select the version of the previous configuration file, and then select the configuration file (named CONFIG.SDF, CONFIG.MDB or CONFIG.AMF);
Optionally, install the 'ActiveXperts Network Monitor Manager' application on the PCs of the operators.