When ipMonitor installations range into hundreds or thousands of Monitors, it is difficult to locate individual Monitors with any degree of efficiency. The Filter feature included in ipMonitor greatly eases and speeds the administration of a large number of Monitors. Filters are also useful for quickly sorting Monitors into Groups.

ipMonitor supports two different Filter options:

• Quick filters, which let you enter a case-insensitive string
• Savable filters, which can be saved and reused

Top of page

The Quick Filter is accessed from the top bar of the Monitors list. It permits searching on Monitor Name, Address, Tag, ID, Type or Status.

To use the Quick Filter, enter a search parameter and select a search option from the drop down menu. In this example, every Monitor name that contains the word "domain" will be displayed in the list of filtered results.

Examples of valid search parameters when using the by Name option:

• The "|" (pipe) character applies a logical "OR" to the search. The following search parameter will list any Monitors containing the string "domain" or "controller" in its name:
         domain|controller
• The "^" character anchors the search to the beginning of the string. The following search parameter will list any Monitors with a name beginning with the characters "dom":
         ^dom
• The "$" character anchors a search to the end of the string. The following search parameter will list any Monitors with names ending in the string "archive":
         archive$
• The "\<" characters are used to find specific words. The following search parameter will list any Monitor containing a word starting with the string "fil" in its name:
         \<fil

Name
The by Name option performs a case-insensitive search of the Monitor Name field. Enter a string in the Quick Filter box and press Enter, or alternatively enter a string and select by Name from the drop-down menu (other search options require that you select them from the drop box).

Address
The by Address option performs a case-insensitive search of the IP Address/Domain Name/Server Name field.

Tag
The by Tag option performs a case-insensitive search of the Title field for any Tags attached to the Monitors.

ID
The by ID option performs a search on the internal ID that ipMonitor assigns to Monitors. IDs:

• Are written to ipMonitor log files
• Can be displayed in the real-time NOC view. In some environments, IDs are displayed to mask the names of Monitors.

Type
The by Type option allows you to filter the Monitor List based on the Monitor type.

Status
The by Status option allows you to filter the Monitor List based on the current Status of the Monitor (Up, Uninitialized, Warn, Down, Lost, Suspended / Maintenance).

Search by Group
Quick Filters can also be accessed from the Groups menu and searched based on Group content. Simply place a checkmark beside the Group(s) to search, then click the Load as Quick Filter menu option.

The Quick Filter will be applied immediately, allowing you to view and access only the Monitors within specified the Group(s).

Top of page

ipMonitor's Filter builder permits complex queries to be created. Any number of "Actions" can be applied to a Filter. Once a Filter is built, it can be saved and reused any time you choose.

To create or edit a Filter, select the Manage Filters menu option.

Click the Add Monitor Filter option to create a new Filter.

Start With
Select one of two options to begin filtering your Monitor List:

• No Monitors - Begin with an empty Monitor List and use Filter Rules to add specific Monitors to your selection.
• All Monitors - Begin with all Monitors present in your installation and use Filter Rules to remove specific Monitors from your selection.

Add Filter Rule
Click the Add Filter Rule button to begin defining the selection set of Monitors that will be edited.

Drag and drop technology is used to configure Filter Rules. The Drag & Drop pop-up window located along the right side of the screen contains everything you need to define Monitor Filters.

Configuring Monitor Filter Rules is a simple process:

1. Hover your mouse cursor over the desired Monitor Property, Tag or Group.
2. When the selected value turns yellow, click and hold the left mouse button and drag the selection to the Add a New Monitor Filter Rule window.
3. A "cut out" blue drop box will indicate where to drop the selection. If the value selected is valid for the Filter Rule established, the drop box will also turn yellow.
4. Release the mouse button to place your selection in the drop box. Once accepted, the value will turn green as shown in the examples below.

Note: To delete a Filter Rule, simply click on the established rule, hold the mouse button down, and drag the Filter Rule to the Recycle Bin that pops up in the lower-right corner of the screen. Release the mouse button to drop the rule in the Recycle Bin. This will automatically remove it from the list.

Filter Rules allow you to select only the Monitors that match a certain criteria. They are configurable as follows:

Add / Remove Monitors from a Group
The Groups tab of the Drag & Drop pop-up window lists all the Groups configured for your installation, allowing you to filter Monitors by Group.

Add / Remove from Global Group, by Status
The drop-down selector allows you to filter Monitors using one of the five Monitor operation states:

• Up - Monitors currently in a Pass state.
• Warn - Monitors that have encountered a problem.
• Down - Monitors that are reporting an error state and have begun sending previously configured Alerts.
• Lost - Monitors that have triggered all configured Alerts and continue to report an error state.
• Offline - Monitors in an Uninitialized, Disabled, Suspended, or Maintenance state.

Add / Remove from Global Group, by Value
The Properties tab of the Drag & Drop pop-up window lists all existing Monitor configuration fields. You can use the drop-down selector located at the bottom of the Drag & Drop window to narrow down the list of selectable variables based on the type of configuration setting.

The following categories are available:

• Common Configuration Settings - Contains properties and settings common to all Monitor types.
• Intrinsic Properties - Contains fundamental properties and settings critical to all Monitor types.
• Resource-Based - Contains properties and settings present in the configuration of Resource-based Monitors.
• Windows-Based - Contains properties and settings present in the configuration of Windows-based Monitors.
• SNMP-Based - Contains properties and settings present in the configuration of SNMP-based Monitors.
• HTTP-Based - Contains properties and settings present in the configuration of HTTP-based Monitors.
• Multi-Transaction / QA - Contains properties and settings present in the configuration of Multi-Transaction / QA Monitors.
• All Properties and Settings - Lists all Monitor configuration properties and settings.

The following Monitor configuration properties and settings are available for selection from the Drag & Drop window:

• Monitor ID (Read Only) - The numerical identification number assigned to a Monitor.
• Monitor Name - The descriptive name of a Monitor.
• Monitor Type (Read Only) - The type of Monitor configured.
• Enabled (Read Only) - The Monitor's Enabled / Disabled status.
• Statistics Enabled - The parameter that controls whether a Monitor is recording statistics.
• Monitor Status (Read Only) - The current state of a Monitor.
• Address Description (Read Only) - The full location of the resource being monitored.
• Short Address Description (Read Only) - The abbreviated location of the resource being monitored.
• State Change (Read Only) - The length of time since the Monitor changed operational states. This includes time elapsed since scheduled maintenance.
• Last Result (Read Only) - The result of the last test performed by the Monitor. Different Monitor types generate specific Test Results and Error Codes in accordance with the technical capabilities for the Monitor.
• Availability (Read Only) - The percentage of time the Monitor has been available. This calculation is based on Coverage time minus the length of time the Monitor was in the Warn, Down, or Lost State.
• Coverage (Read Only) - The total length of time ipMonitor has been monitoring the resource. Coverage specifically excludes any period while the Monitor is suspended, disabled, or in maintenance mode. This value is reset when ipMonitor is restarted.
• Failures (Read Only) - The number of Monitor failures that have occurred.
• Critical Failures (Read Only) - The number of critical Monitor failures that have occurred.
• Alerts Sent (Read Only) - The number of Alerts that have been sent on behalf of a Monitor.
• Next Run (Read Only) - The next time the Monitor will run a test on the monitored resource.
• Last Run (Read Only) - The last time the Monitor ran a test on the monitored resource.
• In Progress (Read Only) - The Monitor is / is not currently running a test on the monitored resource.
• Communication Type (Read Only) - The communication process used by ipMonitor to connect to the specified computer or remote device. This parameter relates directly to Resource-based Monitors.
• HTTP Protocol used with ipMonitor - The HTTP Protocol being used with ipMonitor.
• IP Address/Domain name - The location of the server or device being monitored.
• Server Name / Primary IP Address - The location of the server or device being monitored.
• TCP / UDP Port - The port number used by the Monitor to connect to the monitored resource.
• URL - The relative path to the resource being monitored.
• Credential for Monitoring (Read Only) - A Credential is / is not assigned to the Monitor for monitoring purposes.
• SNMP Community (Read Only) - The SNMP Community name used by the Monitor to connect to the monitored resource.
• SNMP Version (Read Only) - The SNMP Version used by the Monitor and the device being monitored.
• SNMP OID - The Object Identifier that identifies the path to the value the Monitor will retrieve for analysis.
• Resource Description (Read Only) - The identifier for the resource currently being monitored.
• Use Delta Value - The SNMP QA Monitor does / does not perform a "Delta" comparison.
• File Name (Read Only) - The name of the file being monitored.
• Directory (Read Only) - The name of the Local directory or UNC Share being monitored.
• Kerberos Realm - The Kerberos Realm for which the monitored Authentication Service is authoritative.
• Kerberos Account - The Account Name used by the Kerberos5 Monitor to authenticate with a Kerberos server.
• Follow any HTTP redirections - HTTP redirections are / are not being followed by the Monitor.
• Use HEAD request to save on bandwidth - The Monitor is / is not using HEAD requests instead of GET requests to save on bandwidth.
• Allow SSL certificates to have a different Common Name than Host Name - A Monitor will / will not allow an SSL Certificate's Common Name to differ from the Monitor's IP Address/Domain Name value.
• Allow SSL certificates to be issued by Untrusted Authorities - A Monitor will / will not accept an SSL Certificate issued by a Certificate Authority that is not recognized by the SSL Certificates database.
• Force communication through an HTTP Proxy Server - The Monitor is / is not monitoring resources through an HTTP Proxy Server.
• Search String - The specified search criteria used with an HTML / ASP Monitor.
• Fail if Search String is found - The Monitor test fails / does not fail if the defined Search String is found.
• DNS Entry: "A Record" to Query - The Domain Name being looked up on both the Primary and Secondary DNS servers specified.
• File Checksum (Read Only) - The CRC-32 value of the file being monitored.
• File Size (Read Only) - The size of the file being monitored.
• Use Passive FTP - The FTP QA Monitor is / is not using Passive FTP (PASV) Mode.
• Email To - The email address indicating where a Monitor's test email will be sent.
• Email From - The email address that appears in the "From" field of a Monitor's test email.
• Maximum Test Duration - The time parameter used to time out a Monitor test.
• Delays Between Tests While: Up - The number of seconds between each Test while the Monitor is in an Up (or OK) state.
• Delays Between Tests While: Warn - The number of seconds between each Test while the Monitor is in a Warn state.
• Delays Between Tests While: Down - The number of seconds between each Test while the Monitor is in a Down state.
• Delays Between Tests While: Lost - The number of seconds between each Test while the Monitor is in a Lost state.
• Last-Value Threshold - A Monitor's primary threshold rate, which is compared to the value acquired by the Monitor during the most recently performed test.
• Threshold Unit - The unit of measurement used to report values retrieved from the resource being monitored.
• Maximum Threshold - The maximum threshold value the Monitor will accept.
• Minimum Threshold - The minimum threshold value the Monitor will accept.
• Sample Size - The maximum threshold value the Monitor will accept for the Sample Size field.
• Accumulated Failures per Alert - The number of failures that must accumulate before a Monitor triggers an Alert.
• Maximum Alerts to Send - The number of Alerts that will be processed during a Down state before the Monitor's state will be changed to Lost.
• Recovery Server Value - The Server Name or IP Address of the machine hosting the Service that will be restarted, or the machine that will be rebooted.
• Credential for Recovery (Read Only) - A Credential is / is not assigned to the Monitor for Recovery purposes.

Note: The Monitor Filter example shown below converts the "bandwidth" string to a Regular Expression and uses it to locate all Monitors in the Global Group that have the "bandwidth" string in their name.

Note: You can add multiple Values to a Monitor Filter Rule. The Mass Edit feature will use an and/or operation to define the selection set using Monitors that meet either criteria.

Add / Remove from Global Group, by Tag
The Tags tab of the Drag & Drop pop-up window lists all the Tags previously added to Monitors in your installation, allowing you to filter Monitors by Tag.

Once a Monitor Filter has been added, the resulting Monitors will be displayed in the Monitor List section located at the bottom of the page.

Note: Filter actions are applied in descending order. You can use the blue arrow indicators to move a particular Monitor Filter up or down in the list and change the order in which filter actions will be applied. Alternatively, you can also use ipMonitor's drag and drop technology to reorder filter actions:

1. Hover your mouse cursor over the Monitor Filter Rule you wish to move.
2. Click and hold the left mouse button, and then drag the selection up or down to its new location.
3. When you see the blue arrow indicator pointing to the row where you wish to move the Filter Rule, release the mouse button.
4. To delete a Filter Rule, simply click on the rule and drag it to the Recycle Bin that pops up in the lower-right corner of the screen. Dropping the rule in the Recycle Bin automatically removes it from the list.

Note: To remove all Monitor Filters at once, place a checkmark in the checkbox located beside the Action header, and then click the Remove Filter Rule button.

The Filter shown below uses a Regular Expression to locate all Monitors in the Global Group that have the string "Internal" in their name. The Global Group contains all Monitors created in the ipMonitor installation.

Click the OK button to save the new Filter.

Use the Select option to pop up the Select Filter window to select and run your Filter.

Top of page