Log Analyzer is a separate application now. It has a Report Manager that allows you to create reports using different profiles. Within each profile it is possible now to:
- setup filter(s) to include/exclude specific test(s) and test methods for the report;
- define the list of fields included into the report;
- Log Analyzer can now generate 3D charts for each test. GIF images may be included into HTML report directly or you may insert just links to them;
- also it can create separate log files for each test and link them to the report;
- you can use HTML templates to create any report you need.

Several examples of the reports:
  Example #1
  Example #2
  Example #3

- New function "Append" alows you to analyze several log files together.
- The Date Filter was improved: now the log file is not reloaded with every change of the time interval.
- New Log Analyzer supports scripts. Now reports may be generated automatically according to the desired schedule (e.g. you may use standard NT scheduler, or the built-in Scheduler that is implemented in HostMonitor).

Details..

Remote networks may now be monitored using a different approach. RMA is a small application that accepts control requests from HostMonitor. RMA is installed on a remote system and runs there as an application or Win32 service. Being controlled by a HostMonitor RMA performs tests and sends the results back to the HostMonitor.

Why you may need RMA? Here are just several reasons:

1. RMA increases security of the network. When you have to run the tests such as CPU Usage test or Performance Counters tests on a remote system, HostMonitor must be able to log in to that system with administrators privileges. Instead you may now use an agent installed on that remote system. In this case HostMonitor will not have to log on to that system at all. HostMonitor needs just one TCP port to communicate with the RMA agent (by default it uses #1055 port, however you may set an agent to use any other port).
   Remote Monitoring Agent is also a very useful tool when you have to monitor two separated networks (connected through Internet). In this case installing just one instance of RMA behind the firewall in network "A" will allow to monitor entire network "A" using the HostMonitor located in the network "B" with just one open TCP port.
   
   

2. RMA decreases the network traffic. E.g. frequent use of "File Integrity" or "Compare Files" tests in an array of remote systems may apply significant load on the network. The more and the bigger files you test the more traffic increase you get. RMA runs locally and sends only the test results to the HostMonitor thus decreasing the amount of network traffic.
   
   

3. RMA simplifies network administration. You no longer need to share drives to perform tests like Drive Free Space, Folder/File Size, File Availability, Count Files, etc

• All traffic between RMA and HostMonitor is encrypted.
• It is possible to customize the list of enabled tests for each of the agents (e.g. living only Count Files and Drive Free Space tests only).
• You can restrict incoming TCP connections with the list of acceptable addresses.
• With RMA Manager you may configure, restart and even upgrade agent(s) remotely.

RMA Manager utility is designed to control and manage the array of Remote Monitoring Agents. It allows you to change settings for hundreds of agents installed on remote systems at one time and from one location. Both RMA Manager and HostMonitor are using the same list of Remote Monitor Agents. Working with this list you may select group(s) of agents and then perform the following actions for the whole group:

• get information about an agent: version, platform, list of tests supported by the agent, list of allowed tests, etc;
• change agent configuration: change TCP port, timeout, password; enable/disable tests, change different management parameters, etc;
• reload agent (restart application);
• force agent to reread settings from its ini file;
• terminate agent
• and even upgrade agent's code remotely.

This application works like HTTP server and provides web interface for HostMonitor. It means that when you install Web Service on local or remote system you then will be able to control and check HostMonitor in real time using web browser on any computer with an Internet connection.
Web Service allows you to check brief or detailed status of any test and folder. Also you can disable or enable tests, reset statistics and force tests to execution. You will be able to start and stop monitoring, enable and disable alerts, etc.

Features:

• All data transmission between HostMonitor and Web Service is encrypted and password protected;
• HostMonitor & Web Service allow you to set up different user accounts with different sets of permissions;
• Controlling the HostMonitor is not the only function of HM Web Service. It can be used as a simple web server providing access to files on a system where the Web Service is running. You may view HTML reports, logs and settings from anywhere;
• Web service may run as a regular application or as a Win32 service.

This application works like Telnet server and allows you to control HostMonitor remotely using any telnet client. Telnet Service allows you to check brief or detailed status of any test and folder. Also you can disable and enable tests, reset statistics, force tests to execution and even change some parameters of the tests. HM Telnet Service allows remote start/stop of monitoring process, enables or disables alerts, changes global macro variables, etc.

Features:

• All data transmission between HostMonitor and Telnet Service is encrypted and password protected;
• HostMonitor & Telnet Service allow you to setup different user accounts with different sets of permissions;
• Application can be installed on the HostMonitor's system or can be located on any another system that is accessible by TCP/IP protocol;
• Telnet Service can be started as a regular application or as a Win32 service.

Advanced Host Monitor is available in several licensing options:

Lite	license for HostMonitor only: up to 50 test items can be monitored
Standard	license for HostMonitor (up to 200 test items) + license for HML Manager
Professional	HostMonitor (up to 600 test items) + HML Manager + Log Analyzer + IP-Tools
Enterprise	up to 20,000,000 test items + HML Manager + Log Analyzer + IP-Tools + RMA + RMA Manager + Web Service + Telnet Service

As always "LifeTime updates" option is available. And by the way: customers who already have bought "LifeTime updates" liceses will receive licenses for all new tools (including RMA Manager, Web Service, Telnet Service, etc) for free.

For more information, please, refer to www.ks-soft.net/hostmon.eng/regmon.htm

RCI is a new feature of the monitor that allows you to check and control HostMonitor remotely (using web browser or telnet client). RCI uses TCP/IP protocol and needs just one TCP port (by default this is a port #1054). You can setup different parameters of the interface (like port number, timeout, limit for the number of simultaneous connections, etc) on RCI page in the Options dialog.
For each user account you can specify a list of IP addresses from which a connection can be accepted and a list of operations (such as start/stop of monitoring, enable/disable tests, etc) that are allowed for the user.

To control HostMonitor through RCI you have to install either Web Service and/or Telnet Service. These applications can be installed on the same system where HostMonitor is already installed or on any other (remote) system that can communicate with HostMonitor's system via TCP/IP protocol.
Web Service application will allow you to use web browser (such as Internet Explorer) to control HostMonitor. Telnet Service application allows you to use any telnet client to check HostMonitor.

New HostMonitor supports different permissions for each user. Each user (operator) has an account with a name, full name and a password. An account may also have a personalized list of IP addresses from which a connection can be accepted. According to the set of permissions users may perform some (or all) of the following operations:
- add tests/folders
- configure tests/folders
- remove tests/folders
- disable/enable tests
- reset statistics
- start/stop monitoring
- change options
- manage schedules
- manage mail profiles
- manage color profiles
- manage report profiles
- manage action profiles
- manage user profiles
For example "Admin" has permissions to perform any operation; "Technician" has permissions to disable/enable tests, change options, manage mail profiles; "Manager" has permissions to reset statistics and manage report profiles.
Also you can specify a list of IP addresses authorized for remote connections for each of the accounts.

There are 2 special accounts: "Admin" and "Local" that cannot be deleted or disabled (however you can change the list of allowed operations for these accounts). An "Admin" account always has permission to manage other user's accounts. The "Local" account has no password and no permissions for remote connections. The "Local" account may be used only by a staff that has direct access to the system on which HostMonitor is installed. It is also used by HostMonitor at startup. To log in as another user go to the menu "User"->"Login as".
To setup and configure users accounts use the menu "User"->"Operators".

This new feature allows you to create custom menu items. These menus will appear after right clicking on the test in the Test Details area of HostMonitor window. For each menu item you have to provide a name, a command line and a window mode parameter (Hide, Normal, Maximized, etc). You may specify a list of users that will be able to execute this menu item and a list of test methods that will inherit this menu.
In the name and in the command line of custom menu item you may use macro variables. Depending on the test which you will right click, HostMonitor will use current values of variables. E.g. you can define the command line to send a message to administrator such as "NET SEND admin %TestName% %Status% %Reply%". Another example - you may define a name of the menu item as "%CommentLine7%", HostMonitor will use 7th comment line of the selected test as a name of the menu. If the 7th comment line is empty, then this menu item will not appear. This feature is useful when it is necessary to apply a custom menu command only for some specific tests. If you want to limit the use of a menu item by tests from some specific folders, then you should use folder related macro variables (%FolderComment% or %FCommentLineX%) as a name of the item (or in a command line).
Custom menu items are created and configured in "User"->"Custom menu profile" menu of HostMonitor.

In previous version of HostMonitor it was possible to specify a schedule for each day of the week. Now you can also specify separate schedules for holidays. The list of holidays is available for modifications for years ahead (use "Holidays" button in the Schedules dialog. To mark/unmark any day as a holiday select a day and press Space key).

In addition to actions that HostMonitor was already able to perform after a test have failed (or passed) for specified number of times (these actions are now called "standard actions") 2 new action modes have been added. Those are "advanced" mode and "on the schedule" mode ("advanced" and "scheduled" actions correspondingly).

• Advanced mode allows you to define a condition that triggers the alert action. Condition is a valid logical expression. An alert action is performed when a logical expression of a condition is true. In expression you can use macro variables related to the current test and/or to any other test (and of course you can use global macro variables). Also you can use logical operators [and, or, not, <, >, >=, <=, ==, <>], round brackets, numbers and strings (in quotes). Strings that contain a number plus one of the following unit specificators [ms, Kb, Mb, Gb, %] are compared as numbers, so that '900 Kb' is less than '9 Mb'.
  Several simple examples:

  • '%SimpleStatus%'<>'UP' - action will be executed every time the test is performed and status of the test is not "good";
  • '%Status%'<>'%LastStatus%' - action will be executed every time the test status changes;
  • ('%Status%'=='No answer') and ('%LastStatus%'=='Host is alive') - action will be executed when the test status changes from "Host is alive" to "No answer"
  • ('%SimpleStatus%'=='DOWN') and (%Recurrences%==5) - action will be executed if the fifth attempt of a test in a row fails
  Advanced mode is more complicated than standard but is very very flexible. For example expression may look like ((%Reply%>200) and (%Reply%<800)) or ('::Main Router::%SimpleStatus%'=='DOWN'). HostMonitor will execute an action when "Reply" value of the test is between 200 and 800 or status of the "Main Router" test is "No answer" or "Bad".
  
  

• "On the Schedule" mode: unlike standard and advanced actions that are triggered by events related only to the tests, scheduled actions are conformable to the schedule. They also may be triggered by some "global" events (e.g. HostMonitor can start "scheduled" actions when user stops monitoring). There are several places where you can use scheduled actions:
  - The Scheduler itself - a new tab in the Options dialog allows you to execute up to 5 alert profiles by a schedule. E.g. HostMonitor may execute one profile every 1 hour and execute another profile every Monday at 21:00;
  - Reports page in the Options dialog: now HostMonitor can execute alert profile after reports were generated;
  - Reports page in the Folder Properties dialog;
  - Statistics page in the Folder Properties dialog: HostMonitor can execute alert profile before resetting the statistics;
  - Pause dialog: HostMonitor can execute alert profiles every time user starts or stops monitoring or when the user enables/disables alerts.
  It is a good idea to create separate action profiles for standard/advanced actions and for scheduled actions.

Now you can define "global" variables. They can be used in any of the action profiles. This type of variables may be of great use. For example if you have lots of alerts that send e-mails to different mailing lists (one action sends the mail to administrators, another to managers, 3rd action sends notifications to managers and administrators, etc). When some of the e-mail addresses have been changed you will then need to correct these addresses in all profiles that are using them. To avoid this you may define a global variables. Define several variables such as "udv_admingroup: rick@mycompany.com; brand@mycompany.com", "udv_managmentgroup: bob@mycompany.com; john@mycompany.com; kim@mycompany.com", etc and use them as a destination address for the actions: "%udv_admingroup%". Now if any of the e-mail addresses will change, you will have to track this change only in the definition of the variable. This is far more efficient then checking all action profiles that may use the address being changed.
Global variables are defined in the menu "Profiles"->"Global macro variables".
You can also create an HMScript that will modify variables automatically (for example in respond to some event).

• Now an action that was started by a test (or by schedule) is able to access the parameters of ANY test (not just the one that has triggered this action). Specify the name of a test confined by a double colon (::) in front of the name of the macro variable. E.g. if you want to access "Reply" and "Status" fields of the "Ping Yahoo" test, use the following syntax for the variables: %::Ping Yahoo::Reply%, %::Ping Yahoo::Status%




• Now each folder has a Comment field. And two new Folder related macro variables became available: %FolderComment%, %FCommentLineXX% (where XX is number of the line)
  
  
• New HostMonitor status related macro variables:
  %MonitorState% this variable may have 2 values: "Monitoring Started" or "Monitoring Stopped"
  %AlertsState% this variable may have 2 values: "Alerts Enabled" or "Alerts Disabled"
  
  
• To represent a date you may use the following variables:
  

  %d%	-	Current day as a number without a leading zero (1-31).
  %dd%	-	Current day as a number with a leading zero (01-31).
  %ddd%	-	Current day as an abbreviation (Sun-Sat). HostMonitor uses system's regional settings for abbreviation format.
  %m%	-	Current month as a number without a leading zero (1-12).
  %mm%	-	Current month as a number with a leading zero (01-12).
  %mmm%	-	Current month as an abbreviation (Jan-Dec) using system's regional settings.
  %yy%	-	Current year as a two-digit number (00-99).
  %yyyy%	-	Current year as a four-digit number (0000-9999).

Command	Parameter(s)	Description (action)
3 new global variable commands:
SetUserVariable	<VariableName> <VariableValue>	sets the value of a variable (if such variable does not exist, creates a new variable)
SaveUserVariables		saves changes
LoadUserVariables		loads previously saved variables
the following commands allow you to reset statistics for tests:
ResetTest	<TestName>	resets statistics for specified test or group of tests
ResetAll		resets statistics for all tests within the folder
new command that allows you to change various parameters of the tests
ReplaceTestParam	<TestName> <ParameterName> <Value that should be replaced>   <New value>	Replaces a value of a given parameter for the specified test or group of tests. Unlike "SetTestParam" command, this one has a selective approach. It changes the value of a parameter only for the tests that have a current value equal to the <Value that should be replaced> argument of the command. ParameterName can be one of the following: timeout username password comment commentlineNN (where NN is a number between 1 and 99) Example: ReplaceTestParam   _AllTCP   timeout   2000   5000

New dialog is accessible from the menu "Monitoring"->"Pause". It allows you to pause monitoring and/or alerting from now on and up to the specified day and time. You may change the time interval at any moment or you may resume monitoring manually using menu "Monitoring"->"Start Monitoring".

Now you can provide 4 different alert profiles that will be executed every time:
- application starts/resumes monitoring
- application stops/pauses monitoring
- alerts resumed or enabled
- alerts paused or disabled
Use menu "Monitoring"->"Pause" to setup these alert profiles.
Please note: only "scheduled" actions may be executed in conjunction with above mentioned events.

Scheduler is a new feature of the application that allows you to execute up to 5 alert profiles by schedule. E.g. execute some profile every 1 hour, or every Monday at 21:00. So now you can easy create reports and send them by mail at regular schedule.
To setup a schedule and action profiles use Scheduler page in the Options dialog.
Please note: only "scheduled" actions may be executed on schedule.

New item "Quick Log" in menu "View" allows you to check history of the latest events of each test or folder. When you select this menu item, HostMonitor opens a "Quick Log" pane located at the bottom of the main window and displays last 10 events for selected test or 50 events for selected folder (folder's list includes last events for every test within the folder).
The term "event" means a log record that was added with every test status change. If logging mode for the test is set to "Reply" or "Full", HostMonitor will add a new record when test status changes or the value of "Reply" field changes.

• Statistics page: an option was changed to increase flexibility. "Generate reports before reset statistics" option was changed to "Execute action profiles before reset statistics" (only "scheduled" actions may be executed with this option);
• Reports page: an option was changed to increase flexibility. "Execute external program when complete" option was changed to "Execute action profiles when complete" (only "scheduled" actions may be executed with this option);
• New inheritable field "Comment". You can access the whole comment or a particular comment line using new macro variables %FolderComment%, %FCommentLineXX% (where XX is a number of the line).

• Reports page: an option was changed to increase flexibility. "Execute external program when complete" option was changed to "Execute action profiles when complete" (only "scheduled" actions may be executed with this option);
• Log Analyzer page removed (Log Analyzer is now a separate application);
• Miscellaneous page: an option "Protect all settings by password" has been removed. Now you can use user accounts with different permissions to protect settings;
• New "RCI" page;
• New "Scheduler" page

The tests that were performed by HostMonitor itself are now also available for execution by a Remote Monitoring Agent (RMA). This small application being installed on a remote system performs all the tests on its own and supplies results to HostMontor. Using the RMA increases security of the network, reduces the network traffic and simplifies network administration.
For more information, please, refer to Remote Monitoring Agent section of this documentation.

As before you can make test execution to be dependent on list of Master tests. But also you can define condition to perform test using logical expression. In expression you can use macro variables that represent current test as well as variables related to any other test and of course you can use global macro variables.
For example an expression may look like this: ('%::Ping Router::SimpleStatus%'=="UP") and ('%::Ping Router::Reply%'<'800 ms'). HostMonitor will perform a test when "Ping Router" test has a good status and the reply time for the router is below 800 ms.
This mode is more complicated than a standard list of Master tests but it is very very flexible. You may use logical operators [and, or, not, <, >, >=, <=, ==, <>], round brackets, macro variables, numbers and strings (in quotes). Strings that contain a number plus one of the following unit specificator [ms, Kb, Mb, Gb, %] are compared as numbers, so that '900 Kb' is less than '9 Mb'.
Sometimes HostMonitor may fail to parse logical expressions. For example when a variable has no value due to the failure to perform some other tests. In this case HostMonitor will not perform the dependant test. Instead it will set a special status for the current dependant test. The same happens when a logical expression returns "false" value (this means that a condition was not met). You may define this status in the "OtherwiseStatus" property of the test. You can provide the status name (e.g. "Ok", "Bad", "No answer") or specify a macro variable that describes the status of another test (e.g. %::Ping Router::Status%).

New logging option "Reply" may be applied for common or private log. HostMonitor will record information into log every time the status or reply value of the test changes.

Now HostMonitor can send data to the host (when TCP connection established) and compare the data received from the server to the specified string (the same way like UDP test does).

Now if the target file(s) does not exists, the status of the test will be "Unknown". Also note that an option "Treat Unknown status as Bad" now is enabled.