ActiveXperts Network Monitor 7.3 Release Notes

ACTIVEXPERTS NETWORK MONITOR 7.3
Release Date: July 1 2011

  Introduction
  Download
  What's new in ActiveXperts Network Monitor 7.3
  Bug Fixes
  Installation and Upgrade

INTRODUCTION

ActiveXperts Network Monitor 7.3 is the newest 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 the Windows 2008/2003/2000/7/Vista/XP x86/x64 platforms
The ActiveXperts Network Monitor 7.3 configuration database is compatible with all previous versions of the product.

DOWNLOAD

Click on the link below to download of ActiveXperts Network Monitor 7.3
www.activexperts.com/download

WHAT'S NEW IN ACTIVEXPERTS NETWORK MONITOR 7.3

- Checks (Generic) -

All fields can now have more than 255 characters. This allows you to pass lists to a check, e.g. the Active Directory check that checks for user membership, where users are entered in a CSV format.

- New built-in checks -

MS Index Server;
SMPP;
Citrix ICA;
Citrix XenApp;
Registry;
Many new PowerShell checks;
Many new VBScript checks.

- Enhanced Built-in checks -

Anti-Virus / Internet Security - In previous versions of Network Monitor, the check was called Anti-Virus/Anti-Spam. The check is now called: Anti-Virus / Internet Security;
Anti-Virus / Internet Security - The latest 2011 Anti-Virus / Internet Security software suites are supported. New Anti-Virus packages included: Ad-Aware, eScan, K7, Kingsoft, Outpost, Vipre and Webroot;
POP3 - POP3 checks now support authentication (mailbox logon) as part of the check. In previous version of Network Monitor, only the port (default:110) was checked;
SMTP - SMTP checks now support authentication as part of the check. In previous version of Network Monitor, only the port (default:25) was checked;
SNMP GET - Improved support for SNMP GET. The software now includes a SNMP GET-GETNEXT-SET utility that helps you to select and test a (symbolic) SNMP OID.

- PowerShell -

Almost all built-in checks now have a PowerShell equivalent.

- Reporting -

ActiveXperts Network Monitor now supports MySQL for its statistical database. The statistical database is used to store information used for Reports and Graphs. In previous versions of Network Monitor, only MS Access and MS SQL were supported.

- Graphs -

ActiveXperts Network Monitor includes a new tool that allows you to make Graphs. Based on information stored in the statistical database, the Graphs tool allows you to create one or more Graphs of the same type in one screen. You can select the timeframe to use in your analysis.

- GUI -

There are many user interface enhancements on the Manager application and reporting/graphing tools.

- Logging -

Syslog - Syslog is a standard for logging program and device messages. It is now supported by ActiveXperts Network Monitor. You can write any event to Syslog logger.

- Templates -

ActiveXperts Network Monitor now supports the use of templates, so you do not need to create checks one-by-one for servers/devices that have similar checks defined as others.

- Miscellaneous -

System variable <%SERVER%> is now named <%HOST%>; <%SERVER%> can still be used for compatibility reasons;
Performance - default number of threads increased to boost performance. The default number of WMI threads is 8 (before it was 4). Default nuumber of Socket threads is 8 (before it was 4), default number of Win32 threads is 4 (before it was 2). Number of other threads are still the same. The number of threads can be configured.

BUG FIXES

Directory check - previous versions of Network Monitor, directories with the Achive flag set were ignored. This has been solved in v.7.3;
Service installation - on some Windows 7 installations, the Network Monitor service failed to start after a reboot of the machine. This has been solved in v.7.3 by setting the service start type to 'Automatic Delayed' instead of 'Automatic' on Windows 7 operating systems;
Removable Drives threads - In v.7.2, there was an issue in the GUI in the Advanced Performance dialog: the field to enter the number of threads for checking remote drives was labelled 'Number of concurrent Serial Communication threads'. This has been a correct name in v.7.3;
The Terminal Server check now also works for Windows 7 and Windows 2008 machines. In previous versions, it only worked for Windows 2003, Windows Vista and lower. The reason is, that Microsoft renamed its preformance counter 'Win32_PerfFormattedData_TermService_TerminalServices' into 'Win32_PerfRawData_LocalSessionManager_TerminalServices' on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 systems.
Changing type of check - In v.7.2, when you changed the tyoe of check to Anti-Virus, MS Exchange or any other service/process based check, there was no way to select an item in the 'Check What' drop-down box. This issue has been solved in v.7.3.
PowerShell - In v.7.2, the 6th parameter of a PowerShell command was not passed correctly (the first parameter was passed instead). This issue has been solved in v.7.3
HTTP - In v.7.2, in the rare scenario where a web page contains a cyclic link, the service could crash. This has been solved in v.7.3

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 'Import Configuration' from the 'File menu'. Select the version of the previous configuration file, and then select the configuration file (named CONFIG.AMF);
Optionally, install the 'ActiveXperts Network Monitor Manager' application on the PCs of the operators.