ActiveXperts Network Monitor 2022 Release Notes

ACTIVEXPERTS NETWORK MONITOR 2022 - RELEASE NOTES
Release Date: December 1, 2021

  Introduction
  Download
  What's new in ActiveXperts Network Monitor 2022
  Installation and Upgrade

INTRODUCTION

ActiveXperts Network Monitor 2022 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 2019/2016/2012(R2)/2008(R2)/11/10/8/7 platforms.
ActiveXperts Network Monitor is compatible with any configuration database created with a previous version of the product.

DOWNLOAD

Click on the link below to download ActiveXperts Network Monitor 2022. 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 2022

- WhatsApp Alerts -

Added support for WhatsApp alerts, through Twilio's communications platform as a service (CPaaS). Requires a Twilio subscription.

- SMS Alerts -

Twilio SMS support added. Twilio is a market leader in communications platform as a service (CPaaS), and has worldwide coverage. Twilio is now the ActiveXperts preferred SMS alert protocol. Requires a Twilio subscription.
The SMS/HTTP SMS Alert protocol is now compatible with the popular 'SpryngSMS' provider.
Compatible with Auron SMS Server v.2021R2, which was released in september 2021. Also compatibility with other versions of Auron SMS Server (v.2020 and v.2018), as well as most recent versions of ActiveXperts SMS Messaging Server (v.2018, v.2016R2 and v.2016).

- MSN Live Alerts -

MSN Live alerts are no longer supported.

- Alerts -

You can now use a new variable in your Alert Message Template: <%FOLDER%>. This variable holds the full path of the Folder where the Check resides.

- Address Book -

There's a new default distribution group in the Address Book named 'Support', which is the default group in a new configuration. The default group can be changed. In previous versions, there was no default group for new Contacts.

- Checks Scheduling -

Checks that were configured to execute once a week or longer, were sometimes executed earlier. This has been fixed.
The engine's Check Schedule sub-process now uses a divide and conquer approach of scheduling for sets of checks that are to be executed at exactly the same time. This boosts the performance of the engine

- Environmental checks -

Native support for AVTech RoomAlert 12S and AVTech RoomAlert 32S, two new models in the AVTech environmental monitoring device product catalog.

- HTTP check -

HTTP checks on URL's ending with a '#' character were not working. This was especially a problem for URL's that redirect to a URL with a trailing '#' character. This has been fixed.
Added support for TLS1.3, the newest security protocol for HTTPs.
Search pattern now displays the search pattern in its result.
User Agent strings are now logged for debugging purposes by the HTTP Diagnostic Tool.

- Network Traffic check -

There's a new Network Traffic check type available, to monitor the network traffic and bandwidth of a Windows workstation or server.

- Ping/TCP check -

In some situations, the Ping/TCP check reported an odd result after some time, interfering with other Ping/TCP checks. This has been solved.

- POP3 check -

The POP3 mailbox check now has the ability to count the number of messages in a Mailbox, for instance to see if a forward works as it should.

- SNMP Trap Receive check -

MIB Files are now stored in the ProgramData folder instead of the ProgramFiles folder.
To use Reverse Lookup of OID's, you must now specify in which MIB file(s) you want ActiveXperts to lookup. In previous version, all MIB files were traversed in order to find the OID. The new approach improves the performance of the lookup operation.
Removed the option to paste a Check Frequency to SNMP Trap Receive Checks. This operation disabled the Trap Receiver Check by mistake.

- Manager -

The 'Windows Credentials' column has been renamed to 'Credentials'; now, all credentials are displayed (e.g. web credentials, FTP credentials), not only Windows credentials.
The 'Paste Properties' command now has a checkbox to paste 'Windows Credentials' to multiple checks or Folder(s). This allows administrator to easily change Windows Credentials for a selection of Checks.
In case the Reports&Graphs module is disabled, there are no more 'Statistical Database' information/warning messages in the Log of the Manager. In previous versions, Statistical Database log entries were shown, mentioning that these database operations were skipped.
New columns available in the Manager's Check's View: e-mail recipients and SMS recipients.

- Reports and Graphs -

With the Import of a configuration file (CONFIG.SDF), the 'Max Database Size=4000' is added for users that use a SQL Compact statistical database. The tag was already there in v.2021 and v.2019, but not in older versions. So now, the database can have a maximum of 4000MB instead of the default 128MB.
Database synchronization failed in MySQL8: due to a non-escaped backslash, synchronization of the Config.sdf Database with the Statistical Database could fail.
When changing the database connection string without using the Wizard, the OLDE DB error was not displayed in case the connection could not be established. This has been fixed.
Better MySQL error reporting. In previous versions, the MySQL error message was not provided on an open database failure.
The MySQL statistical database cleanup operation failed for MySQL and higher. This has been fixed.
The Graph Viewer application now requires .NET Framework 4.0. This framework is included in all .NET Framework 4.x frameworks. .NET Framework 4.x is installed on almost all Windows operating systems by default.
In previous versions, the Graph Viewer required .NET Framework 2.0, which is not installed by default on most recent Windows computers. It required a separate .NET Framework 2.0 installation.

- Web Access -

You can now install/configure ActiveXperts Web Access without Microsoft Web Server (IIS) installed. From the 'ActiveXperts Web Access Configuration Tool', you can now launch a PowerShell script that installs and configures Web Server (IIS) on your Microsoft Windows Server in one go.
The Custom Date Range field only worked after a screen refresh. This has been fixed.
A cookie is introduced to store the default Sort and Filter settings, for each view.
In the List View, the 'Host' field is now available.
In the v.2019 compatible ActiveXperts Web Access feature (based on XSL), the auto-refresh option was missing. This has been added.
You an now restore the factory default web interface by completely removing the 'C:\ProgramData\ActiveXperts\Network Monitor\WebRoot\' folder (or similar). The folder will be restored from the 'C:\Program Files\ActiveXperts\Network Monitor\Sys\Tpl\WebRoot\' folder (or similar).

- Configuration -

Export to CSV: In case SMS alerts were exported to CSV, the e-mail recipient addresses were exported instead of the SMS recipient addresses. This has been fixed.
Export to CSV: Now, the check's authentication parameters (e.g. Windows authentication, web authentication, etc.) are now also included in the exported CSV file.
Possible crash in Manager and server caused by consistency conflict in the CONFIG.SDF configuration database; in case the 'TreeConfig' table contained a Check that didn't have a listing in the 'Nodes' table, it could crash the Engine and Manager application. This has been fixed.
The Engine now cleans up the 'TreeConfig' table periodically in the CONFIG.SDG database, also performing a consistency check. Orphan nodes are deleted.
ActiveXperts now offers a service to merge two configurations into one. Use the 'File->Restore' command from the Manager application, and click on the 'FAQ Q6600030' URL for more information and instructions.
The Configuration API can now properly Save a Node during a FindFirstNode/FindNextNode iteration. In previous versions, FinexNextNode faled after a Save operation inside an iteration. This has been fixed.
Fixed: In previous versions, scheduled jobs were executed during a Maintenance schedule. This has been fixed.

- Log4J vulnerability issue -

ActiveXperts Network Monitor v.2022 is compiled with the latest C++/MFC/Java libraries in december 2022, and with this release, ActiveXperts guarantees that customers will not suffer from the Log4J vulnerability issue.

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.