Advanced Host Monitor Changelog

What's new in Advanced Host Monitor 14.28

Nov 27, 2023

HostMonitor and RCC improvements
When you select many test items and click Edit button, you may change "Tune up Reply value" explession; Timeout and Retries parameters (number of packets for Ping tests) in addition to other parameters you could modify before.
"Mark unused" popup menu item for RMA list. When you are managing list of Remote Monitoring Agents using menu LANs -> RMA agents you may use new menu item to grey out all RMA agents currently not used. HostMonitor checks all folder settings, test settings (within loaded test list), action setting and Network Discovery settings
Minor performance improvements
Fixed The following issue was resolved:
HostMonitor v 14.24 could resolve %FullPath% variable incorrectly. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 14.24 (Nov 8, 2023)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 14.20 (Sep 3, 2023)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 14.10 (Aug 12, 2023)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 14.04 (Jul 21, 2023)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 14.00 Beta (Jun 8, 2023)

The following tests support TLS 1.3
URL
Certificate Expiration
POP3, IMAP
E-mail, Mail Relay
LDAP
FTPS
HP iLO tests: Health, Temperature, Fans, Power, Disk status
VMWare host related tests: Host status, CPU Usage, Free Memory, Datastore Space
VMWare guest related tests: Guest status, CPU Usage, Free Memory, Free disk space
Notes:
Certificate Expiration test supports TLS 1.3 on Windows 7 and newer.
Other tests require Windows 11 or Windows Server 2022 (just for TLS 1.3).
By default only TLS 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 protocols are enabled (TLS 1.1 and 1.2 on older Windows systems)
If you need to check some very old HP server (iLO2), you may enable TLS 1.0 using hostmon.ini option: add sslProto_HPiLO=10880 line into [Misc] section of hostmon.ini file and restart HostMonitor
If you need to check some very old VMWare system (ESXi 5.0 or older), you may enable TLS 1.0 using hostmon.ini option: add sslProto_VMWare=10880 line into [Misc] section of hostmon.ini file and restart HostMonitor
Similar options available for POP3, IMAP, LDAP, FTPS, Email, Mail Relay, URL tests
[Misc] section
SslProtocols - sets default TLS options for all methods, including URL;
The following options may override TLS modes for specific test methods:
SslProto_POP3
SslProto_LDAP
SslProto_IMAP
SslProto_FTPS
SslProto_HPiLO
SslProto_VMWare = 8192 - just TLS 1.3
= 10240 - TLS 1.2 and 1.3
= 10752 - TLS 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
= 10880 - TLS 1.0-1.3
SSH and SFTP tests:
Support keDHGroup16Sha512, keDHGroup18Sha512 and keDHGroup14Sha256 key exchange algorithms
Support the [email protected] and [email protected] HMAC algorithms
File Integrity test
Works faster in all modes: CRC32, MD5, Sha256, Sha512
Shell Script test
Unicode support for output files. Powershell scripts may produce results in such format (output should start with FFFE BOM bytes)
Some speed improvements (if script generates large output before test result)
SNMP Trap test
Speed improvements. Some customers set thousands of SNMP Trap items with various filters, in such case processing of many Trap messages can lead to high CPU load and slow down HostMonitor (especially when "counter fits expression" options are used, thousand items with such option can slow down even new version of the software)
Improvements HostMonitor: improved actions
Send E-mail action supports TLS 1.3
Send message to pager over SNPP action supports TLS 1.2
(Windows 7 or newer is required)
Improvements Performance
Faster compression code for data exchange between HostMonitor and RCC, HostMonitor and Web Service
Faster encryption code for data exchange between all components
HostMonitor ↔ Passive and Active RMA
HostMonitor ↔ RCC
HostMonitor ↔ Telnet client
HostMonitor ↔ Web Service
HostMonitor ↔ WatchDog
RMA Manager ↔ Passive and Active RMA
Note1: for data transmission between HostMonitor and Passive RMA old code is used by default. If you are not using old RMA agents for UNIX, you may switch this module to faster code as well: add Encr3PassiveRMA=1 line into [HostMon] section of hostmon.ini file and restart HostMonitor.
Note2: if single RMA has to perform a lot of tests (e.g. 100 tests/sec), then it`s better to use Active RMA. On the other hand, if you have to use many agents (e.g. 500 RMA) with low load on each agent, then it`s better to use Passive RMA.
HostMonitor and RCC GUI improvements:
Under some conditions disable, pause or resume of thousands (e.g. 20,000) test items could be slow; new versions work much faster
Under some conditions remove folder with thousand sub-folders operation could be slow on RCC side; new version works much faster
Some speed improvements related to Views (more improvements will be done in the future versions)
Top Hosts pane: better support for large numbers in Reply field (up to 10^36) and small numbers (between 0 and 1)
Minor Auditing Tools improvements
Minor GUI corrections
Improvements RMA Manager
Faster import from csv files
Import statistics and progress bar displayed
Import log filter: "Just errors" and "All data" modes
Improvements WebService
TLS 1.3 supported in HTTPS mode
(now Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 or newer is required for HTTPS mode; HTTP mode can be used on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 or any newer OS)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.92 Beta (Mar 29, 2023)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.80 (Jan 8, 2023)

Improvements HostMonitor and RCC: Connection Manager GUI improvements:
Export to CSV file
Import from CSV file
Added "comment" field so you may put any notice there
Find/Search_again popup menu items (Ctrl+F, F3). Note: application may check for IP address within IP range, e.g. it may find "10.10.5.55" in records like "10.10.5.11-10.10.5.99"
You may sort items by agent, resource, login or comment
Icon images mark new and modified records
Connection Manager window opens faster (you may notice difference if there are over 1000 items in the list; e.g. when you need to monitor a lot of systems that do not belong to Windows domain and you need to use different account or password on each non-domain system)
Other minor GUI improvements
Improvements HostMonitor and RCC: Connection Manager LAPS related options:
The Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) provides management of local account passwords of domain joined computers. Passwords are stored in Active Directory (AD) and protected by ACL. Connection Manager may retrieve up to date local administrator passwords from Active Directory and update records in HostMonitor database.
By default "administrator" account name is used; if you set LAPS for other account (using LAPS GPO policy), change account name on HostMonitor side as well using Connection Manager popup menu LAPS -> Set default account name.
You may update password for single selected item using menu LAPS -> Update password for selected item
You may update passwords for all items using menu LAPS -> Update passwords for ALL administrator accounts (please check Note1 and Note2)
Note 1: Remote Monitoring Agents do not support LAPS options yet. So Connection Manager may update records related to hosts within local HostMonitor/RCC domain
Note 2: domain/server field of the record should point to specific server, default account (*) and accounts for IP ranges are not updated
Note 3: Microsoft LAPS modules should be installed on system where HostMonitor (and/or RCC) is running
Https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=46899
Note 4: in order to get passwords using LAPS HostMonitor/RCC account requires "All extended rights" permission. Please make sure regular users, groups or computer objects do not own this permission. To restrict the ability to view the password to specific users and groups you need to remove "All extended rights" from users and groups that are not allowed reading the value of attribute ms-Mcs-AdmPwd. This is important because the "All Extended rights" permission gives permission to read confidential attributes.
We can redesign Connection Manager, HostMonitor and Remote Monitoring Agents will work with LAPS more efficiently and you will need to create just one record for entire LAN. Do you use LAPS? Do you needs such options? Please contact us (e-mail to [email protected]). Priority of this task depends on feedback from you.
Improvements HostMonitor and RCC: Test Properties window offers new
Popup menu items:
Copy host to clipboard (Ctrl+H)
Resolve host to IP and copy (Ctrl+I)
Copy host and IP
Find record for this host in Connection Manager (Ctrl+Q)
Application checks for appropriate record based on agent, host, and test method. Records for specific host and agent are prioritized; then application checks for records with agent set to "any", for records with IP range; etc. If only default (*) record found or no matched records found, HostMonitor offers to create a new record
Improvements HostMonitor and RMA actions:
Stop Service, Start Service, Restart Service actions may use Connection Manager when "Connect As" option is not used
Web Service interface:
Top Hosts pane offers the following options:
Show Collapsed / Hide Collapsed
Automatically open&close panels / Manually open&close panels
Using these options and drag&drop operations, you may organize panels to your liking. For example you may set Show Collapsed + Manually open&close panels options, move Web related groups to the top, move UPS related groups to the bottom, minimize(close) HDD related groups, then switch from Show Collapsed to Hide Collapsed.
While "Automatically open&close panels" option tells Web Service to open groups with data (tests) and minimize or hide groups without available tests.

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.70 (Nov 15, 2022)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.50 (Sep 16, 2022)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.46 (Aug 19, 2022)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.40 (Jun 18, 2022)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.30 (May 7, 2022)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.20 (Apr 10, 2022)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.14 Beta (Mar 7, 2022)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.10 Beta (Jan 15, 2022)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.08 Beta (Dec 22, 2021)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.06 Beta (Dec 22, 2021)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 13.00 Beta (Dec 10, 2021)

HostMonitor and RCC improvements:
Historical charts improvements
(Test History, Network map, Super matrix, Sysinfo windows)
Detailed mode for Performance charts:
History-related windows may display charts using 2 modes:
brief (works without log files, supported since version 8)
detailed (new mode, requires new kind of logs: compact logs)
HostMonitor automatically chooses detailed or brief mode for charts. If you just installed HostMonitor version 13, there are no data yet so Brief mode will be used. After 5-10 minutes HostMonitor may switch to Detailed mode for some time intervals (Today; Last 24 hours). In couple days HostMonitor may enable Detailed mode for [Yesterday], [Last 48 Hours], [Last 7 days], [Last 14 days] time intervals. And finally Detailed mode will be enabled for [This month], [Last 30 days], [Last moth], [Last 60 days] intervals.
Note #1: [This year], [Last year], [Last 12 months], [Last 24 months] - only brief mode supported for such time intervals.
Note #2: If you disable compact logs, only brief mode will be used.
cpu charts cpu charts
brief detailed
Test History window improvements
RCC (Remote Control Console) may show time offset in History window title (when time on HostMonitor system is different from RCC time)
Zoom/Unzoom operations adjust time labels. Various formats can be set depending on selected time interval:
day of the month
day of the week (day of the month)
day of the week
day of the week hh:mm
hh:mm
hh:mm:ss
(note: you may zoom in chart when single test item selected)
Charts can be updated by timer so you may keep Test History window open and you will see updates. Refresh rate depends on selected time interval: 5min for daily charts; 1 hour interval for weekly charts; 2 hours interval for monthly charts.
New popup menu items tells HostMonitor to copy raw data from chart into clipboard:
Copy to CSV
Copy to CSV all tests (available when several tests displayed)
New popup menu item: Show min values -> Auto, On, Off modes
If you open Test History window for 2 or 3 selected test items, charts will be located one below another. Horizontal mode allows to see more details on the charts
cpu charts
"Same scale for all" option was replaced with "same scale for groups", it sets the same scale for groups of selected tests. For example:
if you select CPU Usage and Drive Free Space test and open Test History window, then HostMonitor will use one scale for CPU tests and another scale for drive free space tests
if you open Test History window for Drive Free Space tests some of which use GB units while others display percent of free space, then HostMonitor will use one scale for tests with "%" units, other scale for tests with "GB" units
if you open such window for CPU Usage, Ping, Trace and Traffic Monitor test items, then HostMonitor will use one scale for Traffic Monitor tests, another scale for CPU+Ping+Trace test items
Other minor improvements:
traffic charts
Compact logs:
If you are using Brief or Midnight mode for Primary/Backup log files while you need detailed historical charts (Test History, SysInfo, SuperMatrix, NetMap windows), you may enable Compact logs. HostMonitor will store extra data in specified folder, keep results related to last 2 months and remove older data.
If you are using Full logging mode for Primary log file, you still may like detailed charts because HostMonitor charts can be displayed within 1 second while Log Analyzer may need a minute in order to parse large log files.
Disk space requirements
If you set 100,000 test items and HostMonitor performs over 1,000 tests per second, such data files may consume about 10GB of disk space.
If you set just 5,000 test items and perform 50 tests/sec, then data files will consume about 500MB of disk space.
See Options dialog -> Log settings -> Compact logs page
Auditing Tool improvements:
Log Files page:
Some customers have just 2-3 log files - one log file with test results (common log), single system log file and user operations log.
Other customers may have thousand log files:
common log file(s) with test results, changed monthly, weekly or daily
private log files for 30,000 test items (each of 30,000 logs can be changed on regular basis as well if you are using file name like %TestID%-%yyyymmdd%.log)
system log files (can be changed on regular basis as well)
user operation logs
compact log files
There are log processing options but some customers do not setup HostMonitor to remove old log files automatically and keep 500,000 forgotten log files.
Auditing Tool finds and displays all log files in a single table. It shows file name, size, age, type of the log and location. In some cases it shows summary - single record with size of all *.txt or *.clg files in the folder.
You may sort items by any field (e.g. name, size, age) and use popup menu items in order to remove unnecessary files.
Auditing Tool:
Various GUI improvements related to the following windows
Mail Profiles
Action Profiles
Report Profiles
Recent Events
Auditing Tool
SNMP Credentials
Minor performance improvements:
HTTP Request action: you can add hmvars: text HTTP header into HTTP/HTTPS request. In this case HostMonitor will not encode variable values, will not apply JSON or HTML encoding rules
Fixed The following issue was resolved:
E-mail test method: under some conditions HostMonitor could repeat test again and again every second. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.98 (Sep 19, 2021)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.94 (Aug 27, 2021)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.90 (Jun 11, 2021)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.88 (May 4, 2021)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.84 (Mar 29, 2021)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.80 (Mar 29, 2021)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.70 (Feb 5, 2021)

New feature New application: IPMI Browser:
IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) is a set of computer interface specifications for out-of-band management of computer systems. IPMI subsystem works independently of the host CPU, firmware and operating system. IPMI provides a way to manage a computer that may be powered off or otherwise unresponsive by using a network connection to the hardware rather than to an operating system.
IPMI Browser retrieves data from servers using IPMI protocol, shows charts with temperature sensors, voltage, current, fans speed. Also you may check all available counters (e.g. disk status, memory errors) with details: value, lower and upper thresholds, critical and non repairable thresholds; export data into text file, etc
New feature New test methods:
RMCP Ping - this test uses Remote Management Control Protocol (RMCP) to verify connection to remote servers. Unlike (ICMP)Ping this test method may check powered off servers. Note: not every server supports RMCP and IPMI protocols.
IPMI Health - this test method uses IPMI protocol in order to check target server for power related problems, fans and drives faults, detect chassis intrusion.
Note: we will add more IPMI related test methods in version 12.80
Improvements Send e-mail action improvements:
You can specify optional [cc:] and [bcc:] lists in "Recipients" field. e.g.
[email protected] [bcc:] [email protected]
[email protected]; [email protected] [cc:] [email protected] [bcc:] [email protected]; [email protected]
HostMonitor adds "HostMonitor runs in EVALUATION mode" note to e-mail messages when software is not registered properly. This helps to detect problem when registration lost for some reason (e.g. due to major Windows 10 update; or when you installed new version of HostMonitor while your free updates term expired and you missed warning displayed by "update check" window). As usually we recommend to start Auditing Tool (menu View) from time to time; it may detect many system and configuration related problems
Improvements GUI improvements:
You may press Ctrl+A in order to select all visible test items in test details area
HostMonitor and RCC offers more items in menu Tools. You may start Disk Meter, Process Meter, WMI Explorer, MIB Browser, IPMI Browser, System info, Log Analyzer to explore resources on specific host. If RCC installed on remote systems, you may copy DiskMeter.exe, IpmiBrowser.exe, MibBrowser.exe, ProcessMeter.exe, WmiExplorer.exe modules to RCC system as well.
Menu Tools->Recent keeps history of recent actions. E.g. you may check disk space on HostA using SuperMatrix window, check processes on HostB using Network Map, call IPMI Browser from main window - all these commands will be stored in Tools->Recent menu.
youtube video youtube video
Fixed The following issues were resolved:
For some reason ESET antivirus software may set "kernel not running" status while antivirus service is running and working properly. Now Antivirus Status test in "ESET" testing mode ignores "kernel not running" error and sets Ok status (unless other problems detected)
When Cisco Health test performed by RMA agent detects some problem it shows problem description in Reply field but it could keep Ok test status. Fixed, now test sets Bad status when problem detected, just like test performed by HostMonitor

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.64 (Dec 17, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.60 (Nov 30, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.56 (Nov 4, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.52 (Oct 12, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.50 (Aug 22, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.46 (Jul 6, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.42 (May 22, 2020)

Performance improvements:
If you set Private logs for 10,000 test items and tell HostMonitor to set new log files on daily basis, then you will have 300,000 log files just in one month; 3,650,000 log files per year. Then Log Processing module could slow down HostMonitor during some operations, especially when HostMonitor needs to start external programs many times in a row (in order to modify a lot of these log files).
New version uses low priority thread usually started after midnight to process log files. You may set specific time for log processing using DailyTime parameter in [Logging_PrivProcessing] section of HostMon.INI file (e.g. DailyTime=0222 tells to start log processing at 2:22 AM).
Note: the following options (when set) can trigger log processing commands during daytime:
if common log is switching
if private logs is bigger than N KB
usually this is not a problem, these commands will process just 1 log file, not 300,000 files
Improvements Test improvement
SOAP test may resolve date/time variables in Parameters field
Improvements RMA/x64:
As you know Remote Monitoring Agents (RMA/x86) for Windows included into Advanced Host Monitor package. x86 agents work fine on any 32-bit and 64-bit Windows systems starting from Windows XP to Windows Server 2019 (we do not test Windows NT and Windows 2000 anymore). However in some cases you may need 64-bit version of the agent. For example you may need to use some 64-bit ODBC driver (for ODBC Query test) because 32-bit version of ODBC driver is not available.
RMA/x64 can be downloaded as separate package (not included into Advanced Host Monitor installation package); you may replace x86 version of Passive and/or Active RMA agents using rma.exe and rma_active.exe modules from rmawin64.zip archive.
RMA x64 comes with x64 version of OpenSSL 1.1.1 (files: libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll and libssl-1_1-x64.dll)
Drawback: Active Script test does not work in 64-bit mode because Microsoft does not offer 64-bit version of msscript.ocs. There are some 3rd party replacements but we could not find reliable one. Shell Script tests work fine.
Improvements Tools/x64:
Also 64-bit version of Disk Meter, Process Meter, MIB Browser and WMI Explorer available on download page
Fixed The following issue was resolved
MIB Browser: Charts window: autoscale did not work properly for numbers between 10 and 15. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.40 (May 11, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.32 (Apr 22, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.30 (Apr 10, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.29 Beta (Apr 2, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.28 Beta (Mar 18, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.26 Beta (Feb 23, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.24 Beta (Feb 9, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.21 Beta (Jan 30, 2020)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.20 Beta (Jan 25, 2020)

Performance:
HostMonitor: new version uses less CPU and can perform more tests. In some extreme cases (high load on multi-core CPU systems) you may see up to 5 times less CPU usage; up to 1000 tests/sec can be performed.
Other improvements help to perform more test probes when test items depend on many master tests.
Passive RMA agents (for Windows): on high load new version may use 10-20% less CPU time in application mode; up to 30% less CPU load in service mode (as usually for better performance use service mode).
Active RMA agents (for Windows): on high load new version may use 30% less CPU time in application mode; up to 50% less CPU load in service mode (as usually for better performance use service mode).
Improvements New performance related options:
Test threads limit [N]
This new option replaces "Do not start more than [N] tests per second". Now you set limit for total number of threads used for test execution while HostMonitor will decide how many tests can be started at any given moment. Actually its not firm limit, in some cases HostMonitor may start additional threads (e.g. some tests need a lot of time to provide results).
Up to [N] tests/sec for Active RMA
Sets limit for requests from HostMonitor to ActiveRMA agents
In some cases 20 threads is enough to perform 300 tests per second; in other cases you need 100 threads just for 50 tests/sec (depends on test methods, test settings, speed of your LAN or internet connection and so on).
After update we recommend to let HostMonitor run for some time (at least 10 minutes) and then use Auditing Tool to check for possible problems. It may recommend increasing thread limit or limit related to Active RMA agents.
Auditing Tool:
As usually software speed and CPU load depends on many factors, e.g. 400 fast Ping tests every second can be considered as medium load; while 100 URL or Dominant Process tests per second can be considered as high load. That's why new Auditing Tool collects more data, checks more parameters and can provide better recommendations based on your actual settings.
Also new version shows average load (tests/sec) separately for HostMonitor itself, Passive RMA agents and Active RMA agents.
The following issues were resolved:
If some test performed by RMA agent then "Execute by test performer" option always started corresponding action using primary RMA agent
(even if test was performed by Backup agent). Fixed
In some cases Registry test on Windows 10 system could lead to handles and memory leakage. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 12.00 Beta (Dec 19, 2019)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.99 Beta (Jun 23, 2019)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.98 (Jun 23, 2019)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.97 (Apr 28, 2019)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.90 Beta (Jan 25, 2019)

HostMonitor, RCC
much faster Log Viewer; also it uses less memory
about 5% faster HTML reports
20-50% faster Custom HTML reports (depends on report template, number of fields, etc)
60% more efficient External Syslog function
Log Analyzer
faster Quick Chart
much faster loading and analyzing of large files (DBF, TXT and HTML)
much faster reports generation (some but less speed increase for reports with charts)
faster main window GUI (in case you have 50,000 or more log records for each test item)
Note: as usually you will see the slowest GUI on Windows 10
Web Service performance
about 10% less CPU usage
Improvements GUI improvements (HostMontor, RCC)
Log Viewer improvements
it works much faster
uses less memory
may open files of any size (but shows just last 2GB of logs)
checks for new records and shows them without reloading entire file
new "Filter" function allows you to display records based on date, status, test ID, test name or reply value
new "Copy selected" option
Top Hosts window
Added new groups:
Net: Highest traffic Traffic Monitor tests
Web: Highest traffic Appache, Tomcat, IIS tests
Web: Highest error ratio NGINX, Tomcat and IIS tests
Web: Lowest cache hit ratio NGINX "cache hit ratio" and IIS cache related tests
System: Hottest system/CPU QNAP, Synology, NetApp, Cisco, Juniper and HP iLO Temperature tests
HDD: Highest disk load Synology Disk Load and Windows Performance Counter ('% Disk Time') tests
UPS: Highest load UPS Load tests
UPS: Highest temperature UPS Temperature tests
UPS: Lowest charge level UPS Charge tests
Improved groups:
HDD: Hottest disk includes QNAP Temperature, Synonoly Temperature and HDD Smart tests
System: Lowest disk space
System: Lowest disk space (%) Drive Free Space and UNC tests included. New version checks all test items, regardless of the test mode: check space in MB/GB units or check percentage of available disk space. HostMonitor converts values when necessary (not in "average reply" mode - this mode works the same way as before)
Other Top Hosts improvements
New popup menu items "Show test name" and "Show host name" tell HostMonitor to display test name or target host name (or IP address)
Also HostMonitor may adjust long test names trying to fit text in the window, for example it can remove "free disk space" text from the test name when test displayed in "System: Lowest disk space" group)
Views
Views related to Root folder displayed Template test items. Now View shows template tests only if View source folder is Template folder
Test details
Min reply/Max reply/Average reply fields show units (e.g. Kbit/s, MB/s, TB)
Min reply/Max reply fields do not round off small values (old version displayed 0 instead of 0.01)
Quick Log pane
new menu item "Save current mode as default"
Some changes in sorting by Reply field algorithm. There are the following groups of tests, sorted separately:
tests that display response time (ms), e.g. Ping, URL
traffic tests (Kbit/s..GB/s), including Traffic Monitor, Apache, IIS, Tomcat (when one of traffic check modes selected)
percentage (%), including CPU Usage, Memory, Drive Free Space tests
tests with text reply
numbers, numbers with units (like MB,GB,TB), items grouped by units, then sorted by values
uptime tests (days), sorted by number of days
tests with numbers and V, kV, C, F units (some devices may return such data over SNMP protocol; also you may set such units using "Tune up Reply value" option)
Improvements GUI improvements (Web Service)
Views related to Root folder displayed Template test items. Now View shows template tests only if View source folder is Template folder
Min reply/Max reply/Average reply fields show units (e.g. Kbit/s, MB/s, TB)
Min reply/Max reply fields do not round off small values (old version displayed 0 instead of 0.01)
Improvements SLA reports improvements (HostMonitor, RCC)
HTML SLA reports
show units (like MB/s) for Max Reply, Min Reply, Average fields
may show units in Folder Summary line, may convert units depending on tests, e.g. if there are various Traffic Monitor tests using different units (Kbit/s, MB/s) then Folder Summary section will display summary values using KB/s units
may show units in Section Summary line, works similar to Folder Summary
XML SLA reports
these reports were not changed: no unit translations for "summary" sections, always use KB/s for Traffic Monitor test results
Fixed Test improvements and corrections (HostMonitor, RMA for Windows)
Apache test: supports Apache XAMPP
IIS "cache hits ratio" tests set 0 if IIS service was restarted between test probes. New version shows average cache hits ratio value in such case (average value counted since IIS restart)
IIS tests "bytes transferred/sec", "bytes received/sec" and "bytes sent/sec" could show wrong results in some cases. Fixed
NGINX "requests/sec" and NGINX "ssl handshakes/sec" tests could show wrong numbers (only once after NGINX server restart. Only when new RestAPI used, NGINX R14+). Fixed
NGING "5xx error responses ratio" and NGINX "total error responses ratio" tests could show wrong numbers (only once after NGINX server restart) Fixed
NT Events Log test (Windows Vista mode, "Connect as" option): now you may specify account in both formats: domainuser or user@domain. Old version required user@domain format. Note: Connection Manager is still preferable option in most cases
SNMP Get and SNMP Table tests allow to set up to 180sec timeouts (instead of 60sec max before)
Shell Script test: %Object2% variable could return incomplete string. Fixed
Folder/File Availability test in SFTP mode set Unknown status when specified file does not exist. Now test sets Ok or Bad status depending on test settings (like FTP and FTPS modes)
Traffic Monitor test: added Gbit/sec, GB/sec options. You may specify threshold using Gbit/GB units and HostMonitor will display results using same units. Also you may use Gbit/sec, GB/sec units in HMScript (SetTestParam and ReplaceTestParam commands)
Traffic Monitor test: results include time units (e.g. Kbit/s or MB/min). This way results can be precisely compared and log files can be analyzed correctly even if test settings and units changed during monitoring.
Traffic Monitor test: historical variables (like %StatLastWeek_AverageReply%, %Stat30Days_MaxReply% show traffic using Kbit, KB..GB units (as before) unless /min option was used for the test - then variables display units like Kbit/min, MB/min
Traffic Monitor, Apache, IIS and Tomcat tests: Min, Max, Average Reply counters did not count units (KB/s, MB/s, etc). Fixed
Improvements HostMonitor: other changes
Some corrections related to daylight savings time change
Minor improvements related to ODBC logging
Minor changes related to DBF and HTML log files
Improvements Log Analyzer improvements
New version works much faster however 2GB file analyzing can take 1-3 min (depends on file format, number of test items, system performance, etc). So we added some new options that may save time even more.
onetest command line parameter tells Log Analyzer to find and analyze one or several tests and ignore other test items. You may specify test ID, list of test IDs, full name of the test or text with wildcard (wildcard should be located at the beginning or at the end).
Examples
logfile:log.txt -onetest:105 Analyze records related to test with ID 105
logfile:log.txt -onetest:105,106,107 Analyze tests with ID 105, 106 and 107
logfile:log.txt "-onetest:Ping 10.10.1.5" Analyze test named Ping 10.10.1.5
logfile:log.txt "-onetest:Cisco*" Analyze test items with "Cisco" string in test name or test method
logfile:log.txt "-onetest:*temperature" Analyze test items with "temperature" string in test name or test method
When you are using HostMonitor or RCC GUI to analyze log file for specific test, HostMonitor (RCC) checks log file size and applies "onetest" switch for large files, this way Log Analyzer will load log file much faster.
You may adjust limit for such "large" files using MinLogSizeForSingleTest parameter in [Misc] section of hostmon.ini (or rcc.ini) file. For example
Misc]
MinLogSizeForSingleTest=100
sets 100 MB limit. If you set 0, then "onetest" switch will not be used.
When Log Analyzer started without "onetest" switch and its not started in scripting mode then application checks number of records in the file. If there are over 2,000,000 records, it asks "would you like to load last 500,000 records?" so you may choose: load and analyze recent log records or read entire log file. You may adjust these limits using logsman.ini file. For example
LogAnalizer]
MaxRecordsWarn=8880000
LastRecordsCnt=444000
Full screen chart
Logarithmic mode can be useful when test results are very close in values; or on the contrary, when results cover a large range of values (you may set this mode using popup menu)
When a lot of records selected for the test (over 7,000) then chart may automatically switch to "Display average on daily basis" or "Display average on hourly basis" mode depending on selected time interval and number of records
Quick Chart
Increased speed
Logarithmic mode: this mode can be useful when test results are very close in values; or on the contrary, when results cover a large range of values (you may set this mode using popup menu)
Average mode: if there are thousands of records in the log for the test, then each point on the chart may represent several log records. Average mode tells application to calculate and display average test result for each time interval (point). Otherwise chart will show minimum and maximum value for each time interval. You may set Average chart mode using popup menu
Interaction with test related log
On left mouse click Quick Chart may show log record related to the selected point. If you click on displayed label, Log Analyzer will scroll test related log to this record.
quick chart
When chart shows thousands of records application helps you to find "points of interest":
when you just click left mouse button, Quick Chart will try to find nearest point with minimum or maximum test result. Behavior depends on test method, for example:
Memory tests, Drive Free Space, UNC, VM host free space, VM guest free space, VM host memory, VM guest memory, UPS Charged, UPS Time Remaining tests - Quick Chart will look for local minimum;
CPU Usage, Temperature tests, Dominant Process, Ping, TCP, URL, HTTP and for many other tests application will look for local maximum;
for some tests (like Performance Counter, SNMP Get, SNMP Table) Quick Chart will look for nearest local minimum or local maximum
when you move mouse with button pressed, Quick Chart will show log record related to new selected point, exact point.
However if there are thousands of records in the log for the test, then each point on screen may represent several log records (one point on chart represents some time interval). In this case application selects log record with minimum or maximum value (depending on test method) related to the point.
If you set "Average" chart mode, then you may see difference between logged test result and the chart - chart will show average value for some time interval while text label will show minimum or maximum result for the same time interval
Other changes
Much faster reports generation (some but less speed increase for reports with charts)
Filter dialog: on multi-display systems Date picker control could show calendar on another monitor. Fixed. Also, new version always uses system date format for calendar, regardless of settings used for log file analyzer
Statistics: now Log Analyzer does not round off even large Min and Max test values when these values are close, e.g. 10200.01 and 10200.03
Statistics: Min, Max, Average Reply fields display units for test methods like Traffic Monitor, Top Process, Apache, Tomcat, IIS
A lot of other minor improvements

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.74 (Nov 26, 2018)

Test improvements:
NGINX test supports new NGINX Plus R15 Rest API (old HostMonitor will not be able to monitor NGINX Plus R16 and newer versions)
HostMonitor and RMA for Windows: Certificate Expiration test offers "Use StartTLS" option, this option allows to check SMTP servers that work in Explicit mode
HostMonitor and RCC: Import function supports test parameters like
MasterTestID-Alive = 2
MasterTestID-Dead = 3
MasterTestID-DeadOrUnknown = 55
such command tells HostMonitor to finds Master test by ID.
Note: Master test must exist in current test list, before import (unlike MasterTest-Alive, MasterTest-Dead commands that may find Master in current test list AND in the import file)
Improvements Log Visualizer improvements
New version processes log files much faster
Improvements Improvements related to Templates
Probably you already have set of tests located in some folder and used as templates for new items. Now you may mark such folder using popup menu "Set as templates". Note: only one folder (with all sub-folders) can be used for templates.
New version of HostMonitor applies more special rules related to templates:
HostMonitor uses special color for template folders and tests (you may adjust palette using Color Profiles dialog)
HostMonitor uses special icons for template test items
HostMonitor does not perform template test items so now you don't need to disable such items and then enable newly created items after replication
License check does not count template test items. if you have Advanced license you may monitor 5000 "normal" test items plus setup hundreds of template items at no additional cost (this is especially useful when you have the simplest Starter license)
"Append from HML file" function merges "normal" folders and separately merges template folders
Auditing Tool does not check template test items for unresolved folder-level variables (HostMonitor will check for unresolved variables when you create "normal" tests using templates)
Auditing Tool checks if "normal" test depends on template master item (you should not set such relations because test will not be performed)
HostMonitor does not include template folders and tests into reports (unless template folder is selected as main folder for the report)
HostMonitor does not show template folders and tests on screen (even if "show tests in sub-folder" option is enabled and Root folder selected), unless you choose Template folder as current folder
When you choose Master test for "normal" dependent item, HostMonitor will not show Template tests in the list
Web Service does not show Template folders and tests on screen (even if "display tests from current folder and from all sub-folders" option enabled and Root folder selected), unless you select Template folder as current folder
Many other minor modifications
Special folders:
You may create any sub-folders within main Template folder. If you create sub-folder with one of the following names, then HostMonitor will add corresponding menu item into main menu (Tests->New) and into "Add" popup menu:
Lan Email
Web
IIS
Apache
Nginx
Tomcat
Windows
Unix
VMWare
HyperV
HP iLO
SNMP
External
Cisco
Juniper
Netapp
QNAP
Synology
UPS
Files
Interbase
MsSql
MySql
Oracle
Postgre
Sybase templates menu
When you use such menu item, HostMonitor will show all tests related to the corresponding template folder. check and copy
Then you may unmark some tests, change monitoring agent, set SNMP profile for SNMP related tests, change type of UPS device (for UPS related tests), set login and password for tests that require account information (see also: Connection Manager). If some test depends on master(s), HostMonitor checks if master template test items selected and shows warning if such items located in different template folder or master test is unmarked by operator. Also HostMonitor checks if all variables will be resolved after replication - if there are some missed variables, you may define variables using Folder Properties dialog.
Also there is "Adjust Masters" option. With this option enabled, if dependent tests copied with master(s) then HostMonitor adjusts master-dependant relations for newly created tests. E.g. if you copy 6 tests (5 UPS tests that depends on 1 Ping test) then new UPS tests will depend on new Ping test (if you are using folder-related variables for target IP address, then new tests will start to monitor new device without any manual adjustments).
If you create just dependent tests without related master template test, then HostMonitor will unlink newly created (replicated) dependent tests from this "missed" master.
Predefined templates:
HostMonitor comes with some predefined templates: over 600 items for Windows and UNIX systems, Cisco, Juniper, QNAP, NetApp and Synology devices, HP servers, MS SQL, MySQL, Oracle databases and so on. You may adjust items for your needs (e.g. set alert profiles, change time interval, schedule and logging options, adjust alert), adjust alert thresholds, add more folders and test items or remove them.
Many template tests will be able to monitor your servers without modifications - just create folder, setup %fvar_ip% variable (IP address or host name of the server) and you may add set of tests using templates;
some tests require user account information, you may provide default account or accounts for each server using Connection Manager;
other template tests will require modifications, e.g. if you need to check database size, you need to set database name in SQL query (ODBC Query tests); also you may need to modify class name used in MS SQL related WMI queries.
Update:
If you already use your own templates, you have several options:
remove default templates that come with HostMonitor (remove Templates folder) then select your main template folder and use "Set as Templates" popup menu item;
you may merge our templates with your items - simply drag&drop your folders (or some selected test items) into Templates folder
Probably your old template test items are disabled? You may enable test items - now HostMonitor does not execute template test items.
Save Templates as default:
This menu (File -> Save Templates as default) tells HostMonitor to save all template folders and tests into special file (deftemplates.lst). If you load some old testlist (HML file) without templates or create new test list, then default templates will be added to the list automatically.
(option not available for remote RCC operators)
Fixed The following issue was resolved
Append from HML file function could import tests that depend on expression incorrectly. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.62 (Oct 18, 2018)

GUI improvements:
Copy folders: "Adjust Masters" option
If you copy folders with test items, you may use new option "Adjust Masters". With this option enabled, if dependant tests copied with master(s) then HostMonitor adjust master-dependant relations for newly created tests. E.g. if you copy 6 tests (5 Cisco tests that depends on 1 Ping test) then new Cisco tests will depend on new Ping test (if you are using folder-related variables for target IP address, then new tests will start to monitor new device without any manual adjustments).
New "Check and copy" function
You may select set of tests, click on "Check and copy" popup menu item and select target folder.
Then you may change some parameters, e.g. change monitoring agent, set SNMP profile for SNMP related tests, change type of UPS device (for UPS related tests), set login and password for tests that require account information (see also: Connection Manager). If you are copying "template" tests and some of them depend on master(s), then HostMonitor checks if master template test items selected as well. Also HostMonitor checks if all variables will be resolved after replication - if there are some missed variables, you may define variables using Folder Properties and User Defined Variables dialogs.
Adjust Masters option - with this option enabled, if dependant tests copied with master(s) then HostMonitor adjusts master-dependant relations for newly created tests. E.g. if you copy 6 tests (5 UPS tests that depends on 1 Ping test) then new UPS tests will depend on new Ping test (if you are using folder-related variables for target IP address, then new tests will start to monitor new device without any manual adjustments).
If you copy just dependant tests without related master test, then HostMonitor will either
unlink newly created (replicated) dependant tests from this "missed" master (if master is "template" test)
keep dependency on original master test (if master tests are "normal" test items)
If you want to copy test items without any checks and modifications, use "Copy" function.
Test improvement
Action improvements
The following issue was resolved:
Generate reports action: "Use reports pool" option could work incorrectly and sometimes did not create reports

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.54 (Aug 29, 2018)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.51 (Jul 22, 2018)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.50 (Jul 13, 2018)

New feature New test methods:
IIS test Internet Information Services (IIS) is an extensible web server running on Windows OS. HostMonitor can check various server parameters: requests/sec, cache hit ratio, error responses ratio and much more
HostMonitor may check QNAP NAS storages using SNMP protocol
QNAP Health This test method checks disks status, power status, volumes, pools, fans status
QNAP Temperature Checks system, processor and disks temperature sensors
QNAP Fans Checks system fans, sets Bad test status and triggers alerts when fan speed is out of specified range
QNAP Free Space This test may check several drives on target system and find drive with minimum free space or drive with minimal percentage of free space
QNAP CPU Usage Checks the percentage of CPU utilization
QNAP Memory This test checks memory usage on QNAP devices
HostMonitor may check Synology NAS storages using SNMP protocol
Synology Health This test method checks disks status, RAID status, power supply status, fans status
Synology Temperature Checks system and disks temperature sensors
Synology Disk Load Check Synology storage disks load, finds busiest disk, sets Bad test status and triggers actions when load is over specified limit
Synology Free Space This test may check several drives on target system and find drive with minimum free space or drive with minimal percentage of free space.
Synology CPU Usage Checks the percentage of CPU utilization
Synology Memory Memory test can check amount of free physical and virtual memory
Improvements:
NetApp Free Space test: "check listed drives" option will count 0 size shapshots only if you set .snapshot keyword in "listed drives" field. E.g. if you set "listed drives" using pattern /vol* then test will count snapshots but will skip 0 size snapshots
%DiskSize% variable shows capacity of the disk. Variable can be used as parameter of actions triggered by Drive Free Space, QNAP Free Space, NetApp Free Space tests, etc.
DiskMeter application can retrieve data from QNAP and Synology NAS storages
Minor Web Service improvements

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.36 (May 21, 2018)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.32 (Apr 18, 2018)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.24 (Mar 14, 2018)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.18 Beta (Feb 26, 2018)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.10 Beta (Jan 28, 2018)

IMPROVED TESTS:
NT Event Log:
New option "Report about last event but count ALL" works similar to "Report about last Bad/Good event" option, however it counts all NEW events that fit "bad" filter (and "good" filter if specified). If "Show events description in Reply field for NT Event Log test" option is disabled (Options dialog) then test will display number of detected "bad" events in Reply field of the test.
Also you may use '%NTEvents_BadCnt%' and '%NTEvents_GoodCnt%' variables for Optional status processing, actions or Custom HTML reports (regardless of "Show events description" option). E.g. you may set Set Normal status if %NTEvents_BadCnt%<5 test option. This way HostMonitor will set Normal test status when there are NEW "bad" records in Event Log but number of such records below 5 or you may set Tune up Reply value, Reply = [%NTEvents_BadCnt%] test option, this way HostMonitor will display number of new "bad" events in Reply field of the test even if "Show events description" option" is enabled
File Integrity:
Now test may check MD5, SHA256 and SHA512 digest. Use one of these modes when you need to check for unauthorized file modifications. CRC32 can be used for legitimate modifications monitoring (not related to system security).
Also HostMonitor/RCC GUI and "Import from file" function allows you to setup test item with empty digest. In this case HostMonitor will calculate and set digest on 1st test probe. This saves your time when you need to setup tests for large files.
Minor GUI improvements
URL:
Now test may check MD5, SHA256 and SHA512 digest. Use one of these modes when you need to check for unauthorized file modifications. CRC32 can be used for legitimate modifications monitoring.
New option "Compute and check digest within the following tags" allows to specify some important parts of the document and check digest only for these parts. E.g. check digest for HTML code between "<table" and "</table>" sections
IMPROVED ACTIONS:
Minor improvements related to the following actions:
Show popup window
Send e-mail
IMPROVED NETWORK DISCOVERY:
Copy/Paste/Replicate functions offer new option "Adjust test settings automatically". It tells HostMonitor to adjust some settings according to target host OS and detected protocols. E.g. if you copy CPU Usage test from Windows to Linux host, HostMonitor may change OS property from "Windows (RPC)" to "UNIX (SNMP)"; also HostMonitor may change SNMP profile specified for the tests; change OS property for Memory tests; adjust Drive Free Space tests for Windows, UNIX or NetApp devices and so on.
NEW APPLICATION: Disk Meter:
Disk Meter displays chart with information about all disk drives mounted on local or remote system. Each disk represented by a bar; red colored bar indicates disk with free space below specified limit. Disk Meter can connect to remote system using WMI or SNMP protocol and retrieve data from various systems, such as: Windows, FreeBSD, Linux, AIX, ESXi, Solaris, NetApp NAS
GUI IMPROVEMENTS:
HostMonitor/RCC: new popup menu item related to Drive Free Space test allows to start Disk Meter using test settings for automatic data collection (note: SNMPv3 not supported by Disk Meter v1.00, will be supported in the next version)
RMA Manager: better interaction between RMA Manager, HostMonitor and Active RMA agents
Other minor improvements for HostMonitor, RCC and Web Service GUI
THE FOLLOWING ISSUES WAS RESOLVED:
HostMonitor v11.00 Beta could not process connections from Active RMA agents when many agents sent requests at the same time. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 11.00 Beta (Dec 28, 2017)

Over 100 improvements were made in version 11.00, most significant listed below:
24 new test methods:
New test methods for UNIX systems allow you to check Linux, BSD, AIX and other UNIX-like systems without using RMA agent (when SNMP protocol enabled on the system):
Drive Free Space
CPU Usage
Process (Memory test could check UNIX systems without RMA agent since version 9)
New test for monitoring Cisco devices:
Cisco Health
Cisco Temp
Cisco Fans
Cisco Power
Cisco CPU Usage
Cisco Memory
New test methods allow you to check Juniper devices:
Juniper Health
Juniper Temp
Juniper Fans
Juniper CPU Usage
Juniper Memory
New test for monitoring NetApp storages:
NetApp Health
NetApp CPU Usage
NetApp Temperature
NetApp RAID status
NetApp Free Space
New test methods allow you to check HP servers using iLO protocol:
HP iLO Health
HP iLO Temp
HP iLO Fans
HP iLO Power
HP iLO Disks
11 improved tests:
Dominant Process
Drive Free Space
Process test
CPU Usage
Certificate Expiration
URL test
HTTP test
DNS test
Traffic Monitor
Interface Status
SNMP Table
Improved actions:
Send E-mail action
Popup message action
HTTP request action
New variables for NetApp RAID tests
New variables for NetApp Health tests
New variable for HP iLO tests (Health, Temp, Fans, Power, Disks)
New group names supported by HM Script and Telnet interface
Improved built-in tools:
Improved System Info
Improved Network Discovery
Improved Auditing Tool
Stronger password checks
System Info improvements:
It works much faster when SNMP v2c or SNMP v3 is supported
If possible, System Info tool selects SNMP profile with higher version of SNMP protocol
If v1 protocol specified for all related tests, System Info still verifies if target device supports SNMP v2 and provides such information
HostMonitor v10: some requests could not work with SNMPv3. Fixed
Network Discovery:
Recognizes more devices, e.g. Juniper and NetApp, various UPS devices
Allows to create and replicate new test methods
%Type% variable allows to search for Juniper, NetApp, SonicWall and UPS devices
If you choose "all SNMP profiles" mode for some network, then HostMonitor sets priority for profiles with SNMP v2c and v3 versions (not applicable for devices already discovered by older version of the software)
Auditing Tool:
Checks operator accounts, for each operator with remote access checks password strength
Checks strength of the passwords used by RMA agents
Checks SNMP protocol version used for tests like Network Traffic, Interface Status, SNMP Table, tests related to Cisco, Juniper and NetApp devices; warns admin when SNMP v1 is used
Stronger password checks:
HostMonitor and RCC: User Profiles unit checks operator accounts, for each operators with remote access checks password strength
RCC operator can change its own password using menu User->Change password. Software checks passwords strength and does not allow weak passwords (unless StrongRccPswd option disabled, see notes below)
RMA Manager: as you know it allows to change passwords for existing agents using "Agent configuration" option. New RMA Manager uses new code for stronger password validation and does not allow weak passwords (unless StrongPswd option disabled, see notes below)
RMA_Cfg utility (helps to setup RMA settings locally) uses new code for password validation as well. It warns the operator but allows weak passwords after confirmation
Improved external applications:
improved RMA for Windows
improved MIB Browser
minor changes and improvements were applied to Process Meter, Log Analyzer, Log Visualizer, RMA Manager, WatchDog, Web Service and Telnet Service
RMA for Windows:
New Active and Passive RMA agents support 24 new tests for various systems:
UNIX (Linux, BSD, AIX, etc)
Cisco
Juniper
NetApp
HP iLO
Improved tests:
Dominant Process
Disk Free Space
Process test
CPU Usage
Certificate Expiration
URL test
DNS test
SNMP Table test
Network Traffic test
Interface Status test
Faster processing for some service requests makes HostMonitor GUI faster (if SNMP v2c or SNMP v3 is used):
Network interfaces window (it helps you to setup Network Traffic and Interface Status tests)
System Info tool
Improved network discovery
MIB Browser:
The following operations can retrieve data much faster when large set of counters requested and SNMP v2c is used:
Get table
Get row
Get next N counters
Also it needs less time to load and save database
The following issues were resolved:
HostMonitor and Active RMA: SNMP Trap test could filter out some valid coldStart, warmStart messages. Fixed
HostMonitor: in some cases HTTP test did not calculate CRC for images even with "download images" option enabled. Fixed
RCC: import from local file could report errors regarding profiles used by SNMP related tests. Fixed
Web Service: did not show total_good_tests / total_bad_tests statistics when logged in web operator does not have access to Root folder. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.70 (Aug 13, 2017)

Test related improvements:
URL test improvements
SSH test improvements
Domain Expiration test improvements
Unfortunately WhoIs protocol specifications do not describe data format so each registrar uses its own format and may change it from time to time. We have to change HostMonitor code accordingly.
Host Free Space test (VM systems)
HostMonitor set "Unknown" test status with "invalid datastore counters" reply if some datastore on target host machine is offline/unmounted. New HostMonitor considers such offline datastore as disk with no free space
"Master does not expire" option added into Test Properties dialog
This option can be set for some master tests, it overrides global option "Consider status of the master test obsolete after N seconds" located in Options dialog. The option can be useful when master test execution requires significant system resources (e.g. count files on hard drive) and you know conditions checked by such test cannot be changes frequently
RMA for UNIX v1.30: the following test methods were improved:
File Integrity
Text Log
Shell Script
The following Shell Scripts where modified in order to support macOS (plus some changes for NetBSD, OpenBSD and Solaris):
SYSTEM: number of processes (runnable)
SYSTEM: number of processes (total)
SYSTEM: number of processes (zombie)
SYSTEM: Mem Free
SYSTEM: Swap Free
Process: number of instances
Process: %CPU usage (average)
Process: %CPU usage (raw)
Process: Memory usage
Process: Virtual Memory usage
USER: number of processes
You may download new scripts and import them using HostMonitor menu Profiles -> Script Manager -> Import.
Improvements GUI improvements:
The following windows can be resized
RMA Server Status window
RCI Status window
RMA List
Auditing Tool improvements: now it checks size of log files, memory manager efficiency and some other parameters
Improvements Other:
"Import from text file" function improved
Undocumented option for HTTP Request action allows you to change maximum allowed length of HTTP header ("undocumented" means this option is not accessible thru GUI; you may add line like HttpActMaxHeaderLen=1024 into [Misc] section of hostmon.ini file and restart HostMonitor)
The following issue was resolved:
HostMonitor version 10.30-10.64 could skip (do not execute in time) some dependent tests if %FolderCurrent..% or %FolderRecursive..% variables used in master expression. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.64 (May 2, 2017)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.60 (Apr 9, 2017)

New feature:
External syslog:
HostMonitor may send test results, action results, diagnostic messages, RCI and Active RMA related messages to external Syslog server.
Using Options dialog ("External Syslog" page) you may tell what exactly data should be sent to syslog server:
Test results:
Brief mode send data to the server when test status changes
Reply mode send data to the server when test status or reply value changes
Action results:
Send errors send data to the server when action failed for some reason
Send all results send information about failed and executed actions
Monitor messages:
Send errors send to the server error diagnostic messages (e.g. HostMonitor cannot open RCI port for listening or cannot create report)
Send all results send to the server all diagnostic messages
Active RMA log:
Rejected requests with this option selected HostMonitor will send information about rejected connection requests from Active RMA
All connections HostMonitor will send information about rejected and successful connections from the agents
RCI log:
Rejected requests with this option selected HostMonitor will send information about rejected connection requests from the remote users. E.g. RCC, Web or Telnet operator tried to connect from non-allowed IP address or used invalid password
All connections HostMonitor will send information about rejected and successful connections from the remote users (RCC, Web Service and Telnet). Options located on RCI page tell HostMonitor to exclude or include WatchDog account (account used for WatchDog application).
Facility:
The logging facility parameters allow administrators to logically separate messages. Messages with different facilities may be handled differently, e.g. write records to separate files, forward them to different destinations, etc.
That's why HostMonitor allows specifying facility number for each kind of logging data.
Severity:
Severity level of the message set automatically by HostMonitor:
Critical - reserved for cluster mode, not used yet (e.g. cluster node disconnected)
Error - tests status changed to "Bad", "No answer" or "Bad contents";
action failed;
error diagnostic message (e.g. HostMonitor cannot create report or ODBC logging pool is full)
Warning - test status changed to unknown or warning;
rejected RMA and RCI connections (e.g. IP address not allowed or invalid password used)
Notice - other test statuses (e.g. test status changed to "Ok" or test was disabled);
operator acknowledged "bad" test status;
acknowledged test fails again with different reply
Informational - executed actions;
accepted RMA and RCI connections;
informational system messages (e.g. monitoring started)
Improvements:
Test Info dialog: new popup menu items allow you copy test and action results (quick log pane), copy HDD SMART table into clipboard
Test Info dialog: button beside test name field may switch display mode from "name" to "full path+name"
Fixed:
HostMonitor 10.56 could inactivate Views.

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.56 (Mar 23, 2017)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.54 (Feb 16, 2017)

Improvements:
HostMonitor and RCC: new popup menu item "Move" offered in "Views" mode, allows to move selected test items to specified folder
HostMonitor and RCC: when you choose master test you may use Find/SearchAgain buttons (or Ctrl+F to start search, F3 to continue search)
HostMonitor: "Send SMS (GSM)" action allows you to specify custom list of commands for your modem. When you choose "modem type: custom" (using Options dialog) HostMonitor creates simplified script for your modem considering PDU/Text mode, PIN number, service center number. E.g. commands may look like
AT+CMGF=0
AT+CMGS=%PDULen1%>%MessagePDU%^Z
another example
AT+CPIN="1111"
AT+CSCA="+12065415500"
AT+CMGF=1
AT+CMGS="%DestPhone%">%MessageText%^Z
Also, this mode tells HostMonitor to ignore most of errors, often SMS can be delivered even if some commands were rejected by modem.
You may modify commands manually, using different commands for primary and backup modem. Use the following variables and special symbols:
^Z as EOF symbol
^J as LF (line feed) symbol
> tells HostMonitor to wait for > prompt from modem
%DestPhone% destination phone number specified for the action
%MessageText% text message created by "Send SMS (GSM)" action according to specified template and test results
%MessagePDU% the same message encoded as Packet Data Unit (contains destination number)
%PDULen% size of the PDU message
%PDULen1% size of the PDU message (%PDULen1%==%PDULen%+1) - for some modems you need %PDULen%, for other %PDULen1%
HostMonitor: now you may use %TestID% variable for private log path
HostMonitor: undocumented option for SLA reports allows you to change format used for image files ("undocumented" means this option is not accessible thru GUI). If you add TestIDAsImageName=1 line into [Reports] section of hostmon.ini file and restart HostMonitor then SLA reports will use the following format for image files: img<historyModeID>-<TestID>.gif
HostMonitor: several new checks for Auditing Tool
Telnet service: shows ID of each folder (fl command)
The following issues were resolved:
HostMonitor 10.50 set %BadTests%, %UnknownTests% counters to 0 when these variables used in "Header" section of Custom HTML report. Fixed
RMA agent could not check service status if service name ends with space characters. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.50 Beta (Dec 19, 2016)

Test related improvements:
HostMonitor and RMA for Windows: URL test supports "Accept-Encoding: gzip" HTTP header option (can be specified as optional headers parameter). If necessary HostMonitor, will unzip data received from the server
HostMonitor and RMA for Windows: better diagnostic messages for Process test method
HostMonitor: for optional status processing and actions triggered by SNMP Trap test items you may use macros like %OidVal.1.2.3.5.204.0%. Such macro returns value of the specified variable (OID 1.2.3.5.204.0) received within SNMP Trap message
HostMonitor: 3 new variables for actions triggered by File Availability test method: %FileAge_Min% (minutes), %FileAge_Hour% and %FileAge_Day%
HostMonitor: %TestProbeTime% variable returns test execution time in milliseconds
The following issues were resolved:
HostMonitor: if you are using folder-level variables in "This test depends on expression" test property (officially such option was never supported) then HostMonitor version 10.10 - 10.30 did not execute some of such tests. Problem fixed however such option is still "undocumented" and behavior can be changed in future versions.
RCC did not remove Test Links. Fixed
More speed, less CPU usage:
Faster initial startup, profiles and test list load: yes, you don't restart HostMonitor every day but you may start Remote Control Console or open web interface 10 times a day - now RCC, telnet and Web services load and process data faster.
Also new HostMonitor and Web Service modules consume less CPU resources. This is important when many remote operators use Web interface at the same time. Scripts on client side (web browser) use less CPU resources as well.
Show tests in subfolders. We recommended to disable this option when you have many thousands of tests and folders. Now it's not a big issue. GUI works faster, also it does not show all 50,000 of your test items right away. It will show up to 2,000 items (plus all items from last visible folder); if you need to see more items, you may click on last item labeled "Some items from subfolder were not displayed" and use popup menu item "Show other test items from NNN subfolders". However it's better to switch folder/subfolder when you need to see test items below.
The following modules, that were too slow on heavy configurations with many thousands of folders, now work much faster:
Auditing Tool
Built-in Replicator
Import from text file
SuperMatrix window
HTML, DBF, WML, Compact HTML, SLA and DashBoard reports
Custom HTML reports improved as well, however such reports still may require a lot of time (e.g. 10-20 sec for 30,000 test items report - depending on your system and report template)
Web interface (especially DashBoard pane)
Basic "everyday" functions were improved as well:
You can remove and copy folder with thousand subfolders much faster
HostMonitor removes, copies and modifies large amount of tests much faster
Now you can easily reset, enable, disable, pause or resume set of 10,000 test items
Also HostMonitor needs less time when you create set of tests for range of IP addresses (e.g. Ping tests for 10.10.5.1-10.10.25.254)
Some auxiliary windows open much faster (like "Select master test" window)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.30 (Aug 9, 2016)

New test method HDD SMART:
Checks hard disk health, temperature and other parameters using S.M.A.R.T. data; it can be effectively used to prevent HDD data loss
New test method Interfaces status:
This test allows you to check all or some specific interfaces on SNMP enabled device (server, router, etc). HostMonitor may warn you when network interface goes down or changes its administrative and/or operative status
New macro variables related to HDD SMART test methods:
%Disk_Name%
%Disk_Temp%
%Disk_Hours%
%Disk_Relocated%
%Disk_Pending%
%Disk_Uncorrectable%
%Disk_SpinupTime%
%Disk_SpinupRetries%
%Disk_ErrorRate%
%Disk_Timeouts%
%Disk_AlertReason%
%Disk_AlertValue%
New macro variables related to Interfaces Status test methods:
%InterfacesDOWN_Index%
%InterfacesDOWN_Name%
%InterfacesChanged_Index%
%InterfacesChanged_Name%
HostMonitor and RMA test improvement:
SSH test supports RSA keys (ssh-rsa). New code considered as experimental and disabled by default. You may enable it individually for HostMonitor or some RMA agents - add SSHMode=1 line into [Misc] section of hostmon.ini file and restart HostMonitor (modify rma.ini file instead of hostmon.ini if you want to enable this option for Remote Monitoring Agent)
When test performed by HostMonitor then %AgentAddr% variable returns "localhost" string. You may tell HostMonitor to use real IP address of the system (system where HostMonitor is running) instead: add HMIPforAgentAddr=1 line into [Misc] section of hostmon.ini file and restart HostMonitor
Web Service improvements:
If you setup HDD SMART test items then 3 new modules designed for Top Hosts pane may show oldest, hottest and worst HDD disks among all monitored systems:
oldest - disks with highest power-on days counter;
hottest - disks with highest current temperature;
most bad sectors - disks with highest number of relocated, pending and uncorrectable sectors
Top Hosts pane allows you to move (drag&drop) groups, e.g. you can move "Network: slowest web site" group to the right column
Some corrections related to "multi-byte" languages such as Japaneese, Chineese, Korean
The following issue was resolved:
When you create new test items (using Network Map Add or Clone operation) then HostMonitor could create new folders with invalid variable name (var_targetIP instead of fvar_targetip). Fixed
If you setup HDD SMART test items then 3 new modules designed for Top Hosts pane may show oldest, hottest and worst HDD disks among all monitored systems:
oldest - disks with highest power-on days counter;
hottest - disks with highest current temperature;
most bad sectors - disks with highest number of relocated, pending and uncorrectable sectors
Improved "Choose network interface" dialog window (used by Traffic Monitor and Interfaces status test methods) and "Network interfaces" page displayed by System Info tool:
in addition to current operative status HostMonitor retrieves and shows admin (desired) status for each interface;
also when device has a lot of interfaces, new HostMonitor, RCC and RMA retrieve necessary data from SNMP agent faster than previous versions

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.20 (May 26, 2016)

HOSTMONITOR TESTS IMPROVEMENTS:
SNMP Get test method: fixed mistake related to "Check OPAQUE data for float numbers" option
HostMonitor and RMA for Windows support SNMP v3 privacy - DES, 3DES and AES encryption. 4 test methods affected:
SNMP Get
SNMP Table
Traffic Monitor
Memory tests
HOSTMONITOR REPORTS IMPROVEMENTS:
Now you may adjust colors for charts generated for SLA reports. You may create one or several color profiles, assign name starting with "SLA " or "SLA-" (case insensitive, e.g. "Sla Blue palette", "SLA-White") and use these color palettes for SLA reports
New HostMonitor creates SLA reports with charts 2-4 times faster (depends on system CPU)
If you setup HostMonitor to generate many reports (especially SLA reports with charts) using timer (e.g. generate 200 reports for 100 folders every 5 min), HostMonitor responsiveness could be very poor. New version works better
HTML reports optimization ("simple" HTML reports):
report files require less disk space
HostMonitor generates reports about 10% faster
Web browsers load new reports 20-30% faster (depends on you web browser)
HTML log files optimization:
30% smaller file size
Web browsers load new log files about 20% faster
Note: even if log file was created by old HostMonitor and there are some old records, you will see improvements. If you are not using "automatically change the log every day/week/month" options and log file is large, we recommend to backup and zip or move old log file - HostMonitor will create new log file automatically
LOG ANALYZER REPORTS IMPROVEMENTS:
HTML reports optimization:
report files require less disk space
Web browsers load new reports 20-30% faster (depends on you web browser)
New variable can be used in report template: %TestID% - represents unique ID of the test
If you are not using templates and you need to use links pointing to some specific test items, you may add Reports_AddTag=1 line into [Misc] section of logsman.ini file. Then Log Analyzer will add tags like to each item within reports (using real test ID instead of 55)
New option for reports "Create charts, interactive mode" allows you to create reports like these sample1, sample2 (click on test item to open/close chart)
There are several advantages over "static" reports with charts:
much smaller report size (3-10 times smaller, depending on data and chart size)
much faster generation time
entire report created as single HTML file, its easy to attach report to e-mail (no hundreds GIF files necessary)
interactivity - you may open and close charts for specific test items at any time
There are some drawbacks as well:
run-time interactive chart generation is slow, if you want to check charts for many test items, this will take some time (speed depends on your web browser, e.g. Chrome and Opera works pretty well, while Edge and especially IE is much slower)
in order to work with interactive charts you need access to internet
Web Service:
Interface could not work with some combinations of proxy and web browsers. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.14 (Apr 15, 2016)

HostMonitor and RMA improvements:
SSH test improvements:
diffie-hellman-group14-sha1 key exchange
aes128-ctr, aes192-ctr, aes256-ctr ciphers
URL test: you can enable or disable some SSL/TLS protocols using "undocumented" option. "Undocumented" means the option is not accessible thru GUI, you need to modify hostmon.ini file - add line like:
sslProtocols=26882
into [Misc] section of hostmon.ini file and restart HostMonitor (in order to apply changes).
sslProtocols=2720 enables SSL 3 + TLS 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 (disables SSL2)
sslProtocols=2688 enables TLS 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 (disables SSL)
sslProtocols=2560 enables TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2
sslProtocols=2048 enables TLS 1.2 only
Note: in order to use TLS 1.1 and 1.2 protocols you need to run HostMonitor on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 or newer Windows
HTTP Request action allows HTTPS requests:
If you need HTTPS request, specify target host using https:// prefix (e.g. https://www.google.com). For HTTP requests you may use http:// prefix or specify host name without any prefix (e.g. www.google.com)
Note: HostMonitor will perform request even for hosts with invalid certificates (expired or certificate with wrong hostname)
You may send GET or POST requests (POST data should be provided in Request field, separated from header with 1 empty line). If you do not specify content-type for POST request, HostMonitor will use default type (Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded)
For example you may send messages to SLACK or Telegram messenger using HTTP Request like the following
SQL Query action supports variables in datasource field. E.g. you may use folder-related variable %fvar_datasource%, this way single action profile assigned to different test items may send requests to different databases
HMScript: optional parameter "forcelog" for RefreshTestID and RefreshIrregularTestByID commands - tells HostMonitor to record test result into log file(s) regardless of logging mode and test result (effects just 1 test probe caused by "Refresh" command). In other words test result will be recorded even if you are using Brief logging mode and test status did not change.
Folder Properties dialog: new popup menu item "Remove all" allows you to remove ALL variables specified for the folder at once

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.10 (Mar 21, 2016)

HostMonitor, RMA and RCC improvements:
New test method: OPC test performs OPC requests over HTTP and HTTPS protocols and verifies retrieved data
New popup menu item "Real time chart" available for SNMP Get test items (when MIB Browser installed), utility displays real-time charts for one or several counters (up to 4 counters)
If a lot (e.g. 20,000) of test items set with "This test depends on expression" option, HostMonitor could work slowly. Version 10.10 works faster and uses less CPU resources
If you set account information for VMWare related tests performed by Remote Monitoring Agent using test property "Connect as" (you are not using Connection Manager), then HostMonitor did not sent password to the agent. Fixed
Log Visualizer: fixed GUI issues on Windows 10
MIB Browser Improvements:
MIB Browser offers new tools:
SysInfo
Table
Charts
SysInfo:
This utility connects to target SNMP agent and retrieves up to date system information such us OS description, uptime, disk free space, memory usage, network interfaces.
Tables:
Connects to target SNMP agent and retrieves current values of all counters that belong to specified table. E.g. if you select ifTable element, MIB Browser will display detailed information about all network interfaces installed on target device, including interface description, physical address, speed, admin and operational status, total number of octets received on the interface, errors and so on.
Popup menu allows you to copy all fields within selected column or row into clipboard, copy entire table into clipboard, copy OID related to selected cell. For a numeric counters you may use "Chart" menu item - display counter value as real-time charts.
CHARTS:
This utility displays real-time charts for one or several counters (up to 4 counters). You can choose counters using main window, SNMP Get window or Table window. MIB Browser may monitor counters provided by one or several SNMP agents, e.g. you may see traffic on your server and your router at the same time.
You may set refresh rate, pause and resume monitoring, choose color palette, set one of the following visualization modes:
Counter value
Value change
Value change /sec
Percentage change
Then you may store settings and counters using profiles.

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.08 Beta (Jan 25, 2016)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.06 Beta (Dec 16, 2015)

HostMonitor and RMA for Windows: Ping test offers new option "Alert if Jitter over N ms". Jitter - amount of variation in response time, calculated by using the following formula Jitter = SquareRoot( SumOf((ReplyTime[i] - AverageReply)^2) / (ReceivedPacketCount-1) ) (when this option enabled, HostMonitor will send at least 3 ICMP packets)
%AlertThreshold% variable for Ping test may return values like: 50% lost; Timeout: 1000 ms - this format used when "jitter" option is not enabled | 50% lost; Jitter: 100 ms - when both "lost" and "jitter" alert options used | Jitter: 100 ms - when only "jitter" alert option enabled
%AlertThresholdValue% variable for Pingtest returns timeout value (as before) or jitter threshould (if "Jitter" option enabled for the test)
New Ping test related variablescan be used as action parameters, Custom HTML report variables, custom field, etc
HostMonitor and RCC: Test Info window may show Loss ratio and Jitter in "reply" field (Ping test)
HostMonitor and RMA: Process test: sometimes damaged Windows Performance Counters can lead to memory leakage. New HostMonitor should be able to detect this problem and display "Windows Perf Counters corrupted?" message. If some test item returns such error, you should rebuild Windows Performance Counters
HostMonitor and RMA: Certificate Expiration test: HostMonitor version 10.00 (and RMA 5.00) uses new version of OpenSSL library where TLS 1.0 protocol is disabled by default. HostMonitor 10.06 will try use TLS 1.0 if your web server does not support TLS 1.2
RCC: System Info window may request data without suspending other requests (e.g. you may check or modify test settings, disable or pause test items while RCC requesting system information from HostMonitor or Remote Monitoring Agent)
HostMonitor and RCC: "Show popop window" action displays redesigned windows popup message action
HostMonitor and RCC: when you modify RMA agents list or select agent for the test you may sort agents by name, version, target OS and other parameters
HostMonitor and RCC: other GUI improvements related to System Info window, "Choose Remote Monitoring Agent" window, etc
HostMonitor: User operations log works a little faster when you remove a lot of test items at once
The following issues were resolved:
RMA for Windows: if you setup Service or Process test using RMA agent and check list of services/processes running on remote system, Test Properties window displayed processes running on local system (system where RMA is running), instead of processes running on specific target system (while test itself works correctly). Affected RMA version 5.00 only. Fixed
HostMonitor and RCC GUI: Test Properties dialog: when you setup one of the following tests: DNS, URL, SOAP or File Integrity using Passive RMA (Remote Monitoring Agent) then "Test"/"Get CRC" function could provide wrong value. Affected HostMonitor version 10.00 only. Fixed
HostMonitor: User operations log could write duplicated records on "Test link" operations. Fixed
HostMonitor and RMA: Certificate Expiration test could show "SSL cannot be initialized" error message instead of correct "SSL handshake failed" message. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 10.00 Beta (Nov 24, 2015)

Optimization - HostMonitor 10 works faster:
HostMonitor writes to disk test list and stats (.HML file) much faster
Also it works faster with profiles (actions, reports list, shell scripts, etc). May be you will not notice any difference here because these files usually small
HostMonitor and RCC GUI works faster when it needs to display a lot of test items (e.g. you switch from one folder with 2000 test items to another with 3000 items)
about 20-50% faster depending on folder structure and options. Especially if you setup HostMonitor/RCC to display custom fields
in such case new GUI can switch folders twice faster than HostMonitor 9
HostMonitor creates Text and HTML reports about 10-30% faster (depending on report and settings).
HostMonitor creates Custom HTML reports about 50% faster than old version
Network discovery:
Menu LANs provides access to new function - now you may setup network records for scanning and HostMonitor or RMA will find all systems in the LANs (well, at least systems that can be discovered by ICMP, TCP, SNMP, DNS, MAC requests)
Networks can be scanned by HostMonitor itself, Active RMA or Passive RMA for Windows. You may set agent, IP range, schedule, short description and scanning options.
Network map:
Network map window shows all hosts within selected LAN, HostMonitor paints cells in different colors depending on host properties and displays icons when possible (when size of the window is big enough for selected network), so you can easily identify Windows and Unix systems, CISCO routers, Apple devices, Printers, etc.
Replicator:
HostMonitor version 10 comes with new built-in Replicator. You may select some host using Network map and choose "Copy" item from popup menu. "Copy test" window will show all test items related to selected host.
System info:
System info function uses various protocols to collect data and shows information related to selected host. It can be called from main HostMonitor window or from Network Map window using System Info popup menu item.
Connection Manager:
Improved logging
New field "Agent"
RCC improvements:
RCI Status window (menu View->RCI status) shows list of remote operators that are currently connected to the HostMonitor, connection log, recent commands and statistics. With the buttons in the right panel of the window you may change RCI settings, manage user's accounts, send message to any RCC operator and disconnect RCC clients.
If RCC connected to HostMonitor locally, you may view private logs used by selected test items. "View private log" menu item available for System Info, Network Map, Super Matrix windows and main window
When you start WMI Explorer application to check some specific host (e.g. using popup menu for selected test item, Test Properties dialog or Network Map), RCC may retrieve account information from Connection Manager and pass account to WMI Explorer (just like HostMonitor does)
When you start Process Meter application to check some specific host (e.g. using popup menu for selected test item or Test Properties dialog or Network Map), RCC may retrieve account information from Connection Manager and pass account to Process Meter (just like HostMonitor does)
"Generate reports now" function (available in Folder Properties, View Properties and Options windows) sends request to HostMonitor so at any time it may create SLA reports with up to date data (in version 9 SLA reports should be generated by HostMonitor GUI, by built-in scheduler or special actions)
Remote Control Console version 5 supports new features:
Network discovery
Network Map
Replicator
System info
New Connection Manager
Web Service:
Small interface improvements related to Test Info window
New Web Service comes with OpenSSL version 1.0.2c
Several new "undocumented" options allow you to disable SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0 algorithms. "Undocumented" means the option is not accessible thru GUI however you may add lines like DisableSSLv3 = 1, DisableTLSv1 = 1, into [SSL] section of webservice.ini file and restart Web Service (in order to apply changes). These commands will disable SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0
Also you may use DisableDES, Disable3DES, DisableIDEA, DisableMD5, DisableSHA1, DisableSSLv2 and DisableExport40 commands
MIB Browser:
Get Row function (available in SNMP Get window) - retrieves entire row from a table, e.g.
GetRow for OID 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.2.1 will provide list of ALL network interfaces installed on target system
Get Next function (available in SNMP Get window) - now it allows to adjust number of items in 1 request. E.g. each request may retrieve 5 next items
Minor GUI improvements
Improved test methods:
Traffic Monitor test: some CISCO routers provide "interface number" counter with invalid value. Now HostMonitor can process data from such devices and perform Network Traffic tests
Count Files test can filter files by size usign GB units
Certificate expiration test can choose correct certificate on servers that host many different domains (webservers) on 1 physical server
Minor changes for CPU Usage test - test should work better when HostMonitor needs to check many Windows systems at the same time
WMI test: you may specify [:x32] or [:x64] suffix for name space parameter. E.g. root\cimv2[:x64]
This option requests WMI to load a non-default provider (32-bit provider or 64-bit provider).
Note: Windows 8.1 and Windows 2012 works incorrectly - using this option in one application (e.g. HostMonitor) may effect another applications. If you run some other WMI related software on the system, then use [:x32] option with care.
VM host free space test: new "Datastores" option allows you to check some specific datastores. You may specify single datastore to check; select datastores from the list or provide comma separated list. If you keep this field empty or type * then HostMonitor will check ALL available stores and find the store with minimum free space (just like version 9.90)
VM host free space test: decodes non-ASCII (UTF8) volume names
VM host status test: "check sensors" option could not work on some VMWare ESXi hosts version 4.1. Fixed
VM guest CPU usage test could not check some Hyper-V systems when "skip guest" option enabled. Fixed
E-Mail test could decode some time zones incorrectly. Fixed
Improved actions:
Run External program actions: run in current active session option
Run External program actions: working directory option
New operators and variables:
New operators can be used for Optional status processing - getnumberWithDot, getnumberWithComma, getnumber
New SNMP Table test related variables return all values retrieved from SNMP agent (just values without corresponding OIDs):
%AlertThreshold% and %AlertThresholdValue% variables can be used for Traffic Monitor related items - variables represent "alert if" condition specified for the test item (condition that tells HostMonitor when it should set "Bad" test status).
Small modification related to %DISKID%, %DISKLABEL%, %DISKFREEPERCENT% and %DISKFREESIZE% variables - if variable used as parameter of some action triggered by test different from Drive Free Space, it returns empty string
ip4% variable represents IP address of the host checked by the test item (also %ip% variable can be used). Variable can be used for:
optional status processing expressions
action parameters
custom fields
views (when "select item using expression" option is selected)
custom HTML reports
Other improvements:
HostMonitor: new initial setup Wizard helps new users setup important parameters
HostMonitor comes with OpenSSL 1.0.2c
HostMonitor/RCC: operators with "View test settings (readonly)" permission can view test settings (as before) plus they can view Shell Script tests even if "Manage ShellScripts" permission is not assigned (but they cannot view script code without this option)
HostMonitor/RCC: Network Interfaces dialog: decodes non-ASCII descriptions
HostMonitor/RCC and Web interface: if operator adds 2nd or 3rd acknowledgment comment then GUI shows last comment line (GUI shows 1st line for single comment)
Log Analyzer: works with large numbers in Reply field
The following issues were resolved:
HostMonitor:
SNMP Get test: import from text file did not process "doesn't contain" option correctly
SNMP Trap test: import from text file did not process "doesn't contain" filter option correctly
Actions triggered by UNC test: %AlertThreshold% variable displayed incorrect values for units over 2TB
GUI: Test Properties dialog -> Performance Counter test -> Select a counter to monitor: this dialog window could return empty string instead of selected counter on Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 systems
Minor HTML corrections for SLA reports
Connection Manager did not connect to remote system when file related tests use (*) or (?) wild card in filename
HostMonitor resetted "Pause alerting till" option after restarts
Web Service:
Corrected encoding for datetime field in QuickLog and Actions QuickLog panels (e.g. Datetime fields could be displayed incorrectly on systems with Chinese regional settings)
Web interface could display user account name specified for URL test. Removed for security reason
RMA for Windows:
Agent started on Windows Server 2012 or Windows 10 reported wrong OS version to RMA Manager

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.90 (Jul 3, 2014)

Tests and actions related improvements:
Drive Free Space test: %DiskFreeSize%, %DiskFreePercent% variables show amount of free space and percentage of free space regardless of test settings (e.g. you may setup test to check amount of free space and use variables to inform admin about amount and percentage of free space)
Registry test allows you to check registry data using date macro variables and date expressions. Date format depends on system "short date" format; in addition HostMonitor checks for similar formats. E.g. if short date format = yy/MM/dd, then HostMonitor will translate date specified in one of the following formats: yy/m/d, yy/m/d, yy/mm/d, yy/m/dd, yy/mm/dd, yyyy/m/d, yyyy/m/d, yyyy/mm/d, yyyy/m/dd, yyyy/mm/dd
object2% variable can be used for Count Files test method pattern; it shows file mask used for the test
HostMonitor records test name and test id when "Send E-Mail" action fails (just like other actions)
HostMonitor and RCC GUI improvements:
We added 3 new user permissions:
manage shell scripts
use Connection Manager
change its own RCC password
This way you may allow operator to modify test settings (and script parameters) without allowing him to change script code. Or you may allow operator to modify test settings without allowing him to change Connection Manager records.
Note: when you update software "manage shell scripts" and "use Connection Manager" permissions will be granted to all user accounts with "configure tests/folders" permission
RCC: if "change its own RCC password" permission granted, RCC allows operator to change its own password using menu User -> Change password (note: as before "manage user profiles" permission allows operator to manage all user accounts)
RCC: disables some menu items depending on user rights
"User defined variables" window allows fields resize
Other minor improvements
Web Service improvements:
New version works faster, especially when some folders or views include thousands of test items
Some improvements related to application-service communications
Web Service forces Internet Explorer to use "edge" mode. Otherwise IE could switch to compatibility mode and does not work correctly
The following issues were resolved:
HostMonitor and RCC: application did not sort floating-point numbers correctly for Shell Script and Text Log test methods when items sorted by Reply field. Fixed
HostMonitor: if ODBC Query test performed by Active RMA agent, some specific data could trigger "Not tested" test status instead of correct Bad or Ok status. Fixed
HostMonitor: if Compare Files test performed by RMA agent and "compare time" option is disabled then "compare size" option may not work correctly. Fixed
HostMonitor and RMA: minor tweaks for Radius test method
Web Service: fixed some sorting issues

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.86 (May 12, 2014)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.84 Beta (Mar 31, 2014)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.82 Beta (Feb 27, 2014)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.80 Beta (Feb 8, 2014)

HostMonitor, RMA and Active RMA for Windows offer 8 new test methods for monitoring VMWare ESXi hosts and guests
HostMonitor, RMA and Active RMA for Windows: 6 test methods can monitor Microsoft Hyper-V hosts and guest systems
5 new variables provide information about detected host or guest system (e.g. guest OS with lowest amount of free memory or system with highest CPU usage)
Text Log test allows you to choose word separator: space or tabs / tabs / comma / semicolon
Domain Expiration test supports some additional non-standard date formats
HMScript and Telnet commands: new parameters for group operations
HMScript: 10 more parameters can be modified from script
Minor change related to DBF files logging: HostMonitor used "diskspace" field for Drive Free Space, UNC, Folder/File Size, Traffic and Memory tests; now this field used for all numeric results, including Dominant Process, CPU Usage, Ping, TCP test results
HostMonitor and RCC GUI:
When you setup new Service test dialog allows you to select several services, in such case HostMonitor will create separate test item for each selected Windows service
GUI allows you to acknowledge "bad" test items in checking state
Other minor improvements related to Quick Log and the following dialog windows
You may use custom test fields for "temporary" sorting (you cannot set custom field as default field for sorting)
Web Service offers new interface (accessible thru http://hostname/ws2/index.html link). Recommended web browsers: Google Chrome 32+, Opera 12+, FireFox 24+, Internet Explorer 10+. Key features:
New pane Top Hosts shows "top" test items from the following categories
Top Hosts pane offers popup menu: you may click right mouse button on test item and choose operation - it allows you to Refresh, Pause or Disable test items, Acknowledge "bad" status, open Test Info window, check log records for the test item, actions log, availability and performance charts for various periods (7, 14 days, 30 or 60 days, week or 2 weeks, last or current month, etc.)
The same popup menu available in Quick Log and Management panes: you may perform operations on test items and check test info, logs, history charts. Also Management pane allows you to Reset test statistics
Dashboard: when you click on cell, popup window will show list of tests (e.g. all "bad" test items within selected folder), here you may use popup menu items to check test statistics, quick log, actions log, charts, enable or disable test items, acknowledge test status, etc
DashBoard: when you click on folder item, interface will switch to Management mode and open selected folder
WMI Explorer GUI improvements:
If object property represents one-dimensional array with 4 or less elements, WMI Explorer will display array elements
If object property represents one-dimensional array with 5 or more elements, explorer will offer "Copy array values" popup menu item, it copies up to 512 elements of array into clipboard
Instances list may show horizontal scrollbar when necessary
If selected class has only 1 instance, explorer selects object and shows properties (if this operation requires more than 5 seconds, WMI explorer will not select object next time, unless you select it manually)
The following issues were resolved:
RCC: If you call "refresh all visible items" function in Views mode, it performed all tests including Disabled items. Fixed
HostMonitor: in some rare cases Connection Manager could slow down GUI and tests when tests performed by Active RMA. Fixed
RMA used longer than specified timeout for DNS tests. Fixed
Active RMA: "Test" function offered by "ODBC Query test" dialog window (HostMonitor/RCC) did not work with Active RMA. Fixed
Log Analyzer: if you setup Report Manager to skip Dominant Process tests from the reports, it could skip Process tests. Fixed
Log Analyzer and Log Visualizer: in some cases applications did not calculate reply values for Dominant Process tests. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.58 (Aug 30, 2013)

GUI improvements (HostMonitor and RCC):
Custom Menu Profiles dialog: using new pop-up menu items you may sort menu items by name, command line or creation time
Custom Menu Profiles dialog: "Insert separator" option tells HostMonitor to use separator between menu items
HTTP test dialog: new list of user agents (browsers)
2 new variables �pendantTestsName% and �pendantTestsPath% can be used in actions. If Master test triggered some actions, these variables provide short list of dependant items. �pendantTestsName% - just name of each dependant test / �pendantTestsPath% - full path to dependant test items
Tests improvements (HostMonitor and RMA for Windows):
Domain Expiration test: added support for several WhoIs servers that use non standard date formats
SSH test: "translate date macros" tells HostMonitor to process date&time variables and expressions before executing specified command
NT Event Log: new variables %NTEventTextNoQuotes% and %PrevNTEventTextNoQuotes% represent current and previous event description without the following characters: ' " [ ]
SNMP Trap test: offers bad/good filter for community strings
SNMP Trap test: new variables can be used as action parameters: %TrapCommunity% / %MibDescription% / %EnterpriseDescription%
NT Event Log: if you setup large set of NT Event Log test items using Vista mode, some systems may return "Invalid handle" or "Cannot render event" errors (Windows Vista API does not work well in multi-thread environment). As workaround you may add VistaEvLogMode=1 line into [Misc] section of hostmon.ini (or rma.ini) file and restart HostMonitor (RMA) to apply changes (note: test probes will require more time)
Text Log: Windows 2008/2012 does not update file related NTFS metadata until handle to a file is closed. If you use Text Log test method to check some log file that is always kept opened by some application, you may use new "undocumented" option. "Undocumented" means the option is not accessible thru GUI however you may add line like TextLog_ForceCheck=1 into [Misc] section of hostmon.ini (or rma.ini) file and restart HostMonitor (RMA) to apply changes
The following issue was resolved:
RMA_CFG utility did not save comment field when you setup Active RMA. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.56 Beta (Jun 4, 2013)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.50 (May 17, 2013)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.46 (Mar 21, 2013)

New feature:
HostMonitor, RCC, RMA for Windows: new Memory test method can check physical and virtual memory usage, swap/page file usage on local and remote Windows and Unix systems.
Previous versions allow you to check memory as well, you could use SSH or RMA for Unix systems; use Performance Counters and WMI script for remote Windows systems, however new test method may work faster and require less resources (depending on used protocols)
Improvements:
HostMonitor: you may use new variables %MailLine1% .. %MailLine99% for parameters of actions triggered by E-Mail tests
(e.g. you may use HMScript command like PauseTestByID %MailLine2% %MailLine3% "%MailLine11%")
HostMonitor: some IMAP servers provide timestamp not in compliance with format specified by RFC822. As result E-Mail test could miss some e-mails when IMAP protocol is used. Fixed.
HostMonitor: E-Mail, Text Log and NT Event Log test methods allow you to use “Set Ok status by acknowledgement” option even if optional status processing set Warning test status (in addition to Bad status)
HostMonitor: FlushCommonLog HMScript command can be used with both “Midnight” and “Brief” default logging modes
HostMonitor, RMA Manager: new version of the software records agent list into temp file, verifies is everything Ok and then renames the file. This helps to protect file from damage in case of I/O errors
RMA Manager: if you are using over 200 Active RMA agents, RMA Manager could take a lot of time (minutes) while closing all connections (when you close application). New version works much faster in this case.
RCC: optimized GUI works a little faster
RMA, Active RMA for Windows: if you are running RMA on Windows Vista+ in service mode and you change RMA settings using rma_cfg utility (without using RMA Manager), then in order to apply new settings it was necessary to restart RMA service (is some cases). Now RMA service can apply new settings without restart regardless of used configuration software and Windows version.
Web Service: when you change settings for WS started in service mode on Windows Vista+, it could require restart as well. Now you may change most settings without restart (on any Windows system)
The following issue was resolved:
If system time significantly changes, HostMonitor could drop connections to RCC, WatchDog and Active RMA agents (then applications could reconnect without problems). Fixed, now HostMonitor keeps all active connections.

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.40 (Jan 26, 2013)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.38 (Dec 29, 2012)

Improvements:
HostMonitor, RCC: Action Profiles dialog offers new option: Find&Replace.
When you need to change action parameters on regular basis, you may use user defined variables. However in some cases you cannot predict necessary changes, e.g. you need to change path to some external application because you moved HostMonitor to different system. In this case Find&Replace option can save your time.
HostMonitor: %AgentAddr% variable can be used as action parameter; as parameter of Shell Script test, etc. It returns:
"localhost" when test performed directly by HostMonitor;
hostname or IP address specified for Passive RMA when test is performed by Passive agent;
address of Active RMA system when agent is connected to HostMonitor;
"0.0.0.0" when test should be performed by Active RMA but agent is not connected to HostMonitor.
HostMonitor: %HostURL%, %HTTPCode%, %HTTPPage% and %HTTPHeader% variables supported by SOAP test method
HostMonitor, RCC: various small improvements related to Test History dialog and "Prediction" charts.
Web Service: several new "undocumented" options allow you to disable some cipher algorithms. "Undocumented" means the option is not accessible thru GUI however you may add line like DisableDES = 1 into [Misc] section of webservice.ini file and restart Web Service to apply changes. The following options available:
DisableDES = 1 disables algorithms based on DES encryption
Disable3DES = 1 disables algorithms based on triple DES encryption
DisableIDEA = 1 disables algorithms based on IDEA encryption
DisableMD5 = 1 disables ciphers that use MD5
DisableSHA1 = 1 disables ciphers that use SHA1
DisableSSLv2 = 1 disables SSL v2.0
DisableExport40 = 1 disables 40 bit export encryption algorithms
The following issues were resolved:
HostMonitor version 9.34 (problem related to this version only): When "all new events" option is used for NT Event Log, E-Mail or Text Log test methods, HostMonitor could report new events with delay (1st new event - in time, other events - after the following test probes). Fixed
HostMonitor, RMA for Windows: in some cases SSH test could cause memory leakage. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.34 (Dec 3, 2012)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.32 (Nov 1, 2012)

Now you may add up to 8 custom fields for each Folder, View or GUI settings specified on "operator" level. You can use most of test related variables to define field value and any static text to describe the field. You may use one or several variables in each field and static text but you cannot use expressions like %TestID% + �ilureID% (here + will be considered as static text, not mathematical operator, in other words HostMonitor will display value of these two variables, not sum of the values).
You may use custom fields on several levels: operator settings, folder settings and view settings. For example you may create View for file related test items and tell HostMonitor to display filename, file size and modification time for each test item; another View may show URL test items and display HTTP response code as additional field.
HostMonitor: Log Event action allows multi-line event descriptions
HostMonitor: %object2% template variable can be used for URL and HTTP test method. It returns search string specified for "check header" or "check contents" options
Normally Mail Relay test uses hostname of local system (when HostMonitor connects to mail server). In some cases you may want to change this parameter without changing name of the system. HostMonitor offers such "hidden" option; "hidden" means the option is not accessible thru GUI however you may set hostname parameter for Mail Relay test methods by inserting SMTPSystemName1=custom.host.name line into [Misc] section of hostmon.ini file (you may need to restart HostMonitor as well).
Another "hidden" option for Mail Relay test method allows you to increase value of "Alert when incoming mail server does not receive mail within N sec" option over 60 sec (you may extend interval up to 300 sec). We do not recommend using this option when you have high number of tests and a lot of Mail Relay tests. You may change max possible value for this parameter by inserting MaxDelayLimitForMailRelay=300 line into [Misc] section of hostmon.ini file (you may need to restart HostMonitor as well).
Various minor HostMonitor and RCC GUI issues were resolved

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.30 (Aug 31, 2012)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.22 (Jul 3, 2012)

The following issues were resolved:
HostMonitor, RCC: if statistics mode set to "Display alive/dead ratio of passed/failed tests", GUI could show invalid alive/dead ratio for test items that were executed more than 21474836 times without resetted statistics. Fixed
Also installation software registers standalone DLL (kseventres.dll instead of hostmon.exe) for event messages, helps to avoid "Message not found" strings in Event Log
Issues related to Advanced Host Monitor package version 9.00-9.18 were resolved
HostMonitor, RMA for Window and WMI Explorer: in some cases WMI test did not work on Windows 2000. Fixed
RCC: if you modify alert profiles, reports or schedules and then click Cancel button, RCC could keep displaying modified profiles. Fixed. Note: this error did not affect real settings/profiles stored by HostMonitor
Web Service: in some rare cases web interface could show obsolete test status/reply. Fixed
Improvements:
HostMonitor, RCC: new GUI option "use expression" can be enabled for Search operation when you search for test item within test list.
HostMonitor, RCC: Report Profiles window offers "Usage report" popup menu item. Such report tells you what folders (within loaded HML file) use selected report profile.
HostMonitor, RCC: Report Profiles window offers "Mark unused" option. With this option enabled profiles that are not used by any folder (within current HML file) will be displayed in grey color.
HostMonitor: some antivirus software (e.g. AVG Resident Shield) could lead to poor performance while HostMonitor saves settings to disk. We changed some modules to avoid such problems.
Log Analyzer: new option tells application to display Min/Max/Average fields using real numbers instead of integer numbers. This is "hidden" option - means the option is not accessible thru GUI however you may turn it on by inserting RealForMinMax=1 line into [Misc] section of logsman.ini file.
HostMonitor, RCC, RMA for Windows: redesigned Drive Free Space test offers several new features:
you may check disks on remote Windows systems even if remote systems do not share disk resources but allow WMI requests;
single test item may check all fixed (local) drives, check all removable drives and/or check specific list of disks and find drive with minimum free space or drive with minimal percentage of free space (e.g. you may setup test to check all removable drives plus disk C: and F:)
you may check drives for minimum free space or check for percentage of free space
new variables provide information about disk (disk with minimum free space): %DiskID% returns disk id (e.g. C: or F:), %DiskLabel% returns disk label

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.18 (Apr 23, 2012)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.16 (Apr 9, 2012)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.12 Beta (Feb 23, 2012)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.10 (Jan 30, 2012)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.06 (Dec 19, 2011)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.04 Beta (Dec 1, 2011)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 9.02 Beta (Nov 14, 2011)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.86 (Apr 1, 2011)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.84 (Feb 25, 2011)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.82 (Jan 13, 2011)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.80 (Dec 2, 2010)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.77 Beta (Nov 20, 2010)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.72 (Oct 17, 2010)

Tests and actions improvements:
HostMonitor, RMA for Windows: now POP3, IMAP and LDAP tests can be performed by Remote Monitoring Agent as well
HostMonitor: new variable %www% can be used as parameter of actions and file-related test methods.
This variable represents week number according to ISO 8601 (1st week of the year is the week with the year's first Thursday in it)
HostMonitor: the following variables can be used for "Send e-mail" action when you specify path to attachment file
%NewestFile% - newest file in specified folder
%OldestFile% - oldest file in specified folder
%NewestFolder% - newest sub-folder
%OldestFolder% - oldest sub-folder
HostMonitor records into system log file information about normally closed RCC and WatchDog sessions (sessions closed by remote operator); also it records information about connections terminated due to some network problems and connections terminated by HostMonitor administrator
HostMonitor: new option for "Repeat test" action allows to force dependant test items execution
GUI improvements:
HostMonitor and RCC: User Defined Variables window allows you to copy set of variables (or copy entire list) into Windows clipboard and paste variables from Windows clipboard. Software offers "Copy as CSV" and "Copy as Expression" options for copying while "paste" function detects format of such list automatically
HostMonitor and RCC: User Defined Variables window allows you to remove several selected rows at once
HostMonitor and RCC: "Show message" action shows improved window that allows you to check detailed test info (you may open Test Info dialog)
RCC: in case when operator does not have access to parent folder and has access to some test item only by its link located in accessible folder, new RCC allows to use Test Info dialog for such test items
RCC: new command line parameters allows you to specify default folder or default view (folder/view that should be opened after startup)
Other minor GUI improvements
Additional tools improvements:
Log Analyzer: Percentile option tells application to ignore or trim out-of-range records. When enabled, this option has effect on "quick" and "full screen" charts, statistics and reports.
There is new command supported by script processor: Percentile Trim|Ignore
Other:
There is German version of the manual available for download at: http://www.ks-soft.net/hostmon.deu/manuals.htm
The following issues were resolved:
HostMonitor: in some cases HostMonitor could use port #161 for Traffic Monitor test probes even if other port was specified. Fixed
HostMonitor: expressions used for "Tune up Reply" option could work incorrectly when you are using "if" condition with %suggestedreply% variable and test's "reply" field is empty. Fixed
RMA Manager: could show invalid error messages when connection request from Active RMA received. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.68 (Jul 30, 2010)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.64 (Jun 16, 2010)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.60 (May 24, 2010)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.58 (May 3, 2010)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.54 (Mar 14, 2010)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.32 (Nov 25, 2009)

GUI improvements
HostMonitor and RCC: "Copy" popup menu item allows you to copy folders with or without subfolders. HostMonitor copies all folder settings except path to report files (if any), this way new folders will not overwrite existing reports
Improvements Interprocessing improvements
HostMonitor and RCC: improved code provides better data compression; HostMonitor is able to transfer data to RCC much faster, especially when you have a lot of test items (20,000 or more items)
HostMonitor and Active RMA: some improvements for better handling of unexpected connections lost
Improvements Test improvements
Ping test provides new option for immediate Active RMA status request. Yes, you could setup "Ping localhost" test to check agent status. However this may lead to some delay in reaction as HostMonitor will not perform test if agent was connected but lost connection just a moment ago. HostMonitor may wait up to several minutes for new connection before changing test status to "Unknown". If there are some dependant test items, these tests will be delayed as well so such delay is not a big problem. However if for some reason you need to receive alert immediately, now there is solution: setup Ping test using Active RMA and type rma itself string instead of localhost or target host name. In such case HostMonitor will display agent status immediately. HostMonitor will not use backup agent (if any) when specified agent is not connected; also HostMonitor will not wait for re-connection request from the agent.
SSH test: optional hmac-md5 digest now is supported
Improvements Action improvements
HMScript supports 11 new commands:
CreateFolder
SetFolderVariable
EnableTestbyID
DisableTestbyID
RefreshTestbyID
ResetTestbyID
PauseTestByID
AckTestStatusbyID
ResetAcknowledgementsbyID
SetTestParambyID
ReplaceTestParambyID
Improvements Telnet service improvements
Telnet Service offers 16 new commands
PauseMonitoring
PauseAlerts
ExecuteHMScript
ImportFromFile
SaveTestList
SetFolderVariable
EnableTestsbyID
DisableTestsbyID
RefreshTestsbyID
ResetTestsbyID
PauseTestByID
ResumeTestByID
PauseTest
ResumeTest
SetTestParambyID
ReplaceTestParambyID
Also TestInfo (ti) and ShowTests (tl) commands show ID of each displayed test item

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.28 (Oct 22, 2009)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.26 (Sep 30, 2009)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.24 Beta (Sep 30, 2009)

HostMonitor and RCC: New features:
New "Test list properties" window provides information about loaded HML file and allows you to enable or disable "Store historical data in the file" option. Use menu File -> Properties to access this information. HostMonitor/RCC shows the following information:
- file name, file size, GUID of the test list
- number of folder, views and test items
- folders, views and test items capacity - these numbers show how many new folders, views or test items can be created within test list
"Store historical data in the file" option tells HostMonitor to collect additional statistical information for each test item. If option is enabled HostMonitor will calculate statistics for last 48 hours, last 60 days, last 24 months, and so on. With this option enabled you will be able to get historical charts for each test item without using Log Analyzer or Log Visualizer, setup HostMonitor to generate SLA reports, etc. Also HostMonitor will be able to generate "prediction" reports. It will try to predict test results for next 7 days. Web Service will be able to provide additional information about each test items as well.
On the other hand HostMonitor will use more system memory when this option is enabled and HML file will be about twice bigger. If you have many thousand of test items and you are using ODBC logging to store test results in your database for future analyzing by your own or 3rd party tools, then you may consider disabling of this option. Also you may disable it when SLA reports are not important for you.
"Store historical data in the file" option is enabled by default when you create new test list. Also HostMonitor enables this option for your "old" test list created by older versions of the software in case test list contains less than 5000 test items. However you can enable or disable this option at any time. Note: if you disable option, HostMonitor removes collected information so you will not be able to restore it; when you enable option, HostMonitor starts collecting information however it will take some time.
Note 1: operator may change HML file properties if he has access to root folder and has right to remove tests and folders.
Note 2: if you change system date forward and back this will affect stored statistical information. If you need to play with system date for some reason, we recommend to stop/pause monitoring until you restore correct system date.
New "Test history" window shows 4 "historical" charts for single test item. You may select test item and use "History charts" popup menu item or press Ctrl+H to open this window. For each chart you may choose different display modes and different time intervals.
Note: Up/Down button tells HostMonitor to display charts for previous/next test item.
There are 3 chart modes available:
Availability: such charts show information about alive/dead/unknown ratio based on test results
Performance: charts show information about minimum, maximum and average reply values of the test
Availability + Average reply: these type of charts shows information about alive/dead/unknown ratio plus line that displays average reply of the test probes (note: left axis provides information about alive/dead ratio; right axis provides information about average reply)
You may choose any of the following time periods to display:
Prediction: next 7 days
Today
Yesterday
Last 24 hours
Last 48 hours
This week
Last week
Last 7 days
Last 14 days
This month
Last month
Last 30 days
Last 60 days
This year
Last year
Last 12 months
Last 24 months
"Prediction: next 7 days" mode tells HostMonitor to calculate and show statistical counters for future 7 days. HostMonitor analyzes previous 30 days of test results trying to predict future test results. HostMonitor shows counters (text labels) for next 7 days while charts show data for last 7 days and next 7 days (using different color for past and the future). Of course software cannot tell you what really happens in the future, its just assumption based on historical data.
Also you may select up to 16 test items or choose a folder item (in Test Details area) and open "History" window that will show up to 16 charts at once. If you select more than 16 test items or selected folder contains more than 16 test items, HostMonitor will show charts for 1st 16 test items. HostMonitor (RCC) will display single chart for each test, you may choose display mode and time periods as well, however these settings will be applied to all 16 charts at once.
If you double click mouse button on any chart, HostMonitor will open 4 charts history window for specified test item so you will be able to see charts for various time periods for selected test.
Redesigned Report Profiles dialog offers new type of reports - "SLA reports". You may setup HostMonitor to generate SLA reports using XML or HTML file formats. HTML SLA report can be created in forms of text table or list of charts.
Each SLA report (each file) may include set of "sub-reports" - information regarding specific period of time:
Prediction: next 7 days
Today
Yesterday
Last 24 hours
Last 48 hours
This week
Last week
Last 7 days
Last 14 days
This month
Last month
Last 30 days - Last 60 days
This year
Last year
Last 12 months
Last 24 months
Examples:
Table report 1
Table report 2
Performance charts
Availability charts
Availability prediction
When you setup HTML SLA report with charts, you may choose what kind of charts you need,
Availability
Performance
Availability + Average reply
Additional options allow you to include comments specified for the folders and test items, include or exclude currently disabled items into the report; set "bad item" threshold based on alive/dead ratio or reply values of the tests.
Note: If you have a lot of test items, we would recommend to generate HTML SLA reports with charts using built-in Scheduler (e.g. start "Generate reports" action once a day). We do not recommend using "Generate reports" action (for reports with charts) in action profile assigned to some frequently performed test items. That's because generation of thousand charts can take significant time.
Web Service: New features:
When "Store historical data in the file" test list option is enabled "Test info" web page provides 3 buttons that allow you to check SLA related information. You may check availability ratio, minimum, maximum and average reply value for the following periods:
today and last 30 days one by one;
today, yesterday, this week, last week, last 14 days, this month, last month, etc;
prediction for next 7 days one by one
Note: Web Service marks SLA records as "bad" when "dead" ration is over 9%. However you may setup different limit using "BadLimit" parameter located in [SLA] section of webservice.ini file. E.g. you may place line like BadLimit=6
Other improvements:
HostMonitor checks if system time zone has been changed and applies new settings automatically
HostMonitor supports new %LastFailureID% macro variable. While �ilureID% variable represents unique failure ID for each current problem, %LastFailureID% returns ID of previous failure of the test
HostMonitor: minor GUI improvements
HostMonitor and Web Service: improved RCI logging. HostMonitor records web service IP and clients IP (web browser) and into system log
Web Service: minor improvements for "Compact web interface: force browser to refresh content every N sec" option
RMA Manager: status bar shows statistics regarding Active and Passive RMA items and hints
The following issues were resolved:
HostMonitor version 8.06 and 8.14 did not support Shell Scripts that return Reply value over 1024 characters long. Fixed, now it can accept up to 4096 characters as it was before
NT Event Log test method could return empty string for %NTEventText% variable when 3rd party DLL used by event logger is not installed. Fixed
Export function could export test items with multi-line comment pattern incorrectly. Fixed
"Test info" window could show incorrect statistical charts for test items performed on "irregular" basis (e.g. once per month). Fixed
When SNMP Get test performed by Remote Monitoring Agent and SNMP agent does not respond within specified time, HostMonitor could show 'SNMP error: Invalid response from SNMP agent' instead of 'Timeout' error. Fixed
If starting HostMonitor application stopped HostMonitor service (after operator confirmation) and then operator tells HostMonitor to start service upon application termination, HostMonitor service could not open RCI TCP port in some cases. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.14 (Jun 28, 2009)

New features
New application: WatchDog
Lets say you have installed HostMonitor on reliable server and setup thousand test items to monitor entire network (or several networks). HostMonitor will inform you in case of any problem. Unless... unless something happens to system where HostMonitor is running. WatchDog can be installed on another system and monitor HostMonitor. WatchDog can be used as interactive application that displays statistics information and charts in real-time. On the other hand, you may start WatchDog as Win32 service, setup some actions and leave it unattended.
HostMonitor offers new test method: HM Monitor
You may install another instance of HostMonitor on different system and use 2nd copy of HostMonitor to check your primary monitor! Also there is another good feature: primary HostMonitor may monitor backup HostMonitor so each system will monitor colleague!
HM Monitor test method offers more that simple check: HostMonitor is on-line or not. It may monitor many parameters of HostMonitor. For example
it may warn you when alerts are disabled or monitoring is stopped;
it may show how many tests per second performed by primary monitor and start alerts if less than N tests per second were performed over period of time;
it may inform you that test list was modified and modifications were not stored (saved into the file);
it may warn you when ODBC driver (selected for ODBC logging function) uses too much time;
it may tell you how many actions were executed by primary monitor and how many log records were recorded;
and much more.
15 new macro variables supported by this test method. Using these variables with "Optional status processing" test property you may setup various additional alerts.
Improvements Improvements:
HostMonitor, RMA for Windows: Shell Script test method supports Power Shell scripts
HostMonitor, RCC: Folder Properties dialog offers 2 new popup menu items on "Variables" page:
"Copy list" copies entire list of variables into clipboard
"Paste list" inserts list of variable from clipboard
You may copy variables from one folder to another or create such list using any text editor.
HostMonitor: new option "Reset Recurrences when test gets paused" located on Behavior page in the Options dialog
HostMonitor: 2 new options for RCI logging were added on RCI page in the Options dialog
HostMonitor: minor GUI improvements related to RCI Status form
HostMonitor: when you start monitor in application mode it checks for another instance started in service mode (as it did before) plus it may stop service after user confirmation. Then it allows you to start service when you close application.
Log Analyzer: "Use fixed date&time format" option applies for SQL query as well (when date filter for ODBC log is specified). However you may specify different date format for SQL by adding SQLDateFormat= line into [FixedFormats] section of logsman.ini (e.g. this line may look like SQLDateFormat=dd-mm-yyyy)
Fixed The following issues were resolved
HostMonitor: if you specify folder related variables (like %FolderCurrent_BadTests%) as part of "master" expression for dependant test, HostMonitor could translate folder path to folder ID incorrectly. I.e. "master" expression like (%::RootUSAOffice2::FolderCurrent_BadTests% > 22) could work incorrectly. Fixed
HostMonitor: Text Log test method could display some additional characters in Reply field when you setup "text from pos A till pos B" display mode. Fixed
HostMonitor: if "Auto save testlist after changes" option is enabled and you apply "Reset (statistics)" command for large set of test items, HostMonitor could spend too much time performing this operation (in some cases up to minute). Fixed
HostMonitor: if "Auto save testlist after changes" option is enabled and you change list of folder variables, HostMonitor could spend too much time performing this operation. Fixed
Log Analyzer: could display empty string in warning dialog window instead of meaning error description while analyzing ODBC log. Fixed

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.06 (May 30, 2009)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.02 (May 16, 2009)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.01 Beta (May 5, 2009)

New in Advanced Host Monitor 8.00 Beta (Apr 27, 2009)

New User Preferences dialog allows you to setup various GUI options on per-user basis. Previous versions of HostMonitor allow you to setup default GUI setting for all operators and use different color profiles, list of test properties to display, sorting mode, etc for some specific folder(s) of the test list. Now you may set specific color palette for some folder as well, plus you may setup unique color palette and other GUI related options for each operator.
"Per-folder" level settings may be useful when each operator has its own home folder or you want to distinguish some folder among rest of tests. New options allow you to use different GUI settings even if several users have access to the same folder (e.g. "admin", "manager 1", "manager 2" and "boss" accounts may have access to Root' folder (entire test list) but they want to use different color scheme and display different list of test properties).
User Preferences dialog allows you to copy settings between accounts and setup account. Settings of account will be applied for each new user account, then admin or user may change its own settings. Note: you may change name of fields using account only; new name will be applied for all account.
Use menu "User" -> "GUI preferences" to open this dialog.
There are 2 new permissions can be specified for each operator:
- edit GUI options for the account
With this option enabled operator may change GUI options for its own account only. If operator works with HostMonitor remotely using RCC, settings specified in User Preferences dialog will be stored in the profile on HostMonitor system. This allows operator to move between different remote systems, login to HostMonitor and use the same settings on any remote system. When user changes column sizes, RCC sends this information to HostMonitor as well.
- edit GUI options for ALL accounts
If operator with such permission opens User Preferences dialog, he will see list of user profiles and he will be able to change settings for any profile (including profile), copy settings from one profile to another and so on.
- if operator does not have any of these rights, he cannot change GUI options using HostMonitor. He can change settings using RCC, however these changes will not be stored. Next RCC session will use settings specified for this account by admin (or another operator with necessary rights). This is useful when you want to use the same account for many operators (e.g. guest account).
Another new permission "view test settings (read-only)" allows operator to view test settings using Test Properties dialog. If "configure tests/folders" permission is not assigned to the operator, he will not be able to change test settings.
New "Select items using expression" option for Views. You may use expressions like the following to select test items you need
('%SimpleStatus%'=='UP') and (%Recurrences%>5)
('%SimpleStatus%'=='UP') and ('mail' in '%AlertProfile%')
('%Status%'=='Out of schedule') and ('%LastStatus%'=='Bad')
These expressions should follow the same rules that are used for "advanced actions"
Note: Web Service does not support such views!
HostMonitor calculates time used by main thread for logging and actions (does not include time used by auxiliary threads, its not so important). You may see information like the following using Info Pane
Performed tests: 1877564 | 12.05/sec
Performed actions: 8651 | 0.01/sec | ATC: 0.26 msec/action
Log records: 290543 | 2.10/sec | ATC: 0.01 msec/record
Note: to see this information you should select folder or several test items in Test Details Area. If you select single test item, you will see different information about this specific test only
This option can be useful for investigation of some 3rd party software related problems (e.g. if ODBC driver specified for ODBC logging consumes too much time).
Undocumented option allows you to change titles for comment lines displayed by "Comment" dialog (it can be called from Test Properties dialog). You may add line like AlternativeCommentTitles=address;phone;admin_name;admin_e-mail into [Misc] section of hostmon.ini file and restart HostMonitor. Then Comments dialog will display "address" instead of %CommentLine1%, "phone" instead of %CommentLine2%, "admin name" instead of %CommentLine3% and so on.
New test method:
New SSH test method. HostMonitor can connect and login to specified remote system running the SSH daemon and execute a command or shell script. This allows you to perform some tests on UNIX systems without using Remote Monitoring Agent for UNIX.
SSH test allows you to check result of the command in 3 different ways:
a) check for exit code (just like External test method does)
b) check for text result (similar to Text Log test method)
c) check for specially formatted result string (similar to Shell Script test method)
HostMonitor may perform SSH test directly or using RMA for Windows.
Note1: Connection Manager allows you to setup user name and password for each remote system (also you may use some default account information for all target systems)
Note2: Software supports 3DES, AES and Blowfish encryption methods for SSHv2. If you are using old SSHv1 server, HostMonitor will use 3DES encryption only.
Improved test methods:
URL test method supports NTLM authentication for HTTPS servers (before you could use NTLM only for HTTP protocol)
HTTP test supports NTLM authentication as well
Text Log test method offers 2 new options:
- set "Ok" status by acknowledgement (manually)
- set "Ok" status when new "Good" event detected
Now Text Log test allows you to specify 2 set of conditions for 2 different filters: "bad" and "good". However you may still use single "bad" filter as before.
NT Event Log test: HostMonitor may request extended list of event log files and sources (channels) provided by Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
NT Event Log test: when Event Log API cannot retrieve complete event description from remote system (e.g. necessary DLL is not installed on local system), HostMonitor may request additional information using WMI technology. This is especially handy when you need to monitor remote Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 system.
On the other hand such requests may require more time. If you don't need to check entire description of the events (e.g. you need to check event source, event type and ID), you may add AllowWMIForNTEventLogs=0 line into [Misc] section of hostmon.ini file. In such case HostMonitor will not perform additional requests. Note: if HostMonitor cannot retrieve message text from 3rd party DLL installed on remote system, event description may look like "Message not found. Insertion strings: Administrator, PrimaryIISServer, 0xc000506F, %23, 0xc0000134, 3"
Service test: when you setup Service test, you may open "Choose service to monitor" dialog that displays list of all services on target system. Now it shows service name (short name), its long name, service status and type of the service. Also you may setup filter, e.g. display only running services or do not show kernel drivers.
Also you may use %path% variable for service test template. Variable returns "display name" property of the service (while %object% variable represents short name).
Passive RMA and Active RMA were modified in order to support these new options.
WMI test: improved Unicode data processing
ShellScript test method may redirect output of external applications without using cmd.exe. This helps to reduce system resources usage when you perform a lot of such tests (Note: if you are using some BAT file scripts, you should call cmd.exe anyway)
SNMP Trap test method: supports wildcard * (just trailing *) for "Message contains OID" test property
Improved actions:
"Send e-mail" action supports CRAM-SHA1 and NTLM authentication methods
"Send e-mail" action supports SSL/TLS encryption
"Send message to Jabber" action supports SSL/TLS encryption
HM Script action: improved SetTestParam and ReplaceTestParam commands. These commands support new parameter testinterval that allows you to change execution interval for specified test items
Usage:
SetTestParam testinterval
ReplaceTestParam testinterval
Where time interval can be specified in hh:mm:ss format or just in number that represents minutes (i.e. 5 is equivalent to 00:05:00, 60 is equivalent to 01:00:00)
E.g.
SetTestParam _AllPing testinterval 5
SetTestParam _AllPing testinterval 00:02:30
ReplaceTestParam _AllCPU testinterval 5 00:15:00
HM Script action supports 2 new commands: FlushCommonLog and FlushPrivateLogs
FlushCommonLog - tells HostMonitor to record into common log current test statuses of all test items except items that do not use common log and items that already have recorded (today!) their status into common log
FlushPrivateLogs - performs the same operation for all test items that uses private log(s)
These commands can be useful for Log Analyzer in case when you are using Brief logging mode and for some reasons you do not want to use Midnight logging mode (e.g. you want to "flush" log records at noon instead of midnight or you want to "flush" log records for some specific private logs or you want to "flush" log records twice a day)
HM Script action supports another new command: PauseMonitor. It tells HostMonitor to pause monitoring for specified time (time should be specified in minutes)
New �ilureID% test related variable allows you to use unique failure ID as parameter of the actions. HostMonitor assigns unique failure ID for each failed test and keeps the same ID when test fails several times in a row (note: "failure" conditions may depend on "Treat Unknown as Bad" or "Treat Warning as Bad" test properties). HostMonitor assigns different IDs for different test items; it assigns new unique ID when test restores "good" status and then fails again. HostMonitor sets �ilureID% variable to 0 when test has "good" status.
New %AlertThreshold%Value% variable works similar to %AlertThreshold% variable but returns numeric value only (without any correspondent text comment). E.g. %AlertThreshold% variable may return text like "Absent, MaxAge: 60" when it is used in action triggered by "File/Folder Availability" test method. In the same case %AlertThresholdValue% would return "60".
Other HostMonitor improvements:
HostMonitor allows you to limit number of simultaneous RCC connections on per user basis. E.g. you may allow "admin" to use 1 connection only and allow "guest" account to use up to 5 RCC connections. If you set limit to 0, user will be able to use Web Service and Telnet service but will not be able to use RCC.
This option located in User Profiles dialog
Folder-related variables: Folder Properties dialog provides new option that allows variables inheriting from parent folder plus using local variables that may override inherited variables with the same name. In other words: for each subfolder you may choose one of the following modes:
use folder variables only
use inherited variables only (inherit all variables from parents)
use inherited variables; folder variables may override inherited variables
When you choose 3rd mode, Folder Properties dialog will display 2 lists: one read-only list shows all inherited variables, another list allows you specify local variables
HM Script action: if you are using HM Script to modify a lot of test items and you have set "Autosave options: auto save testlist after any change" option, HostMonitor could consume too much time saving testlist after each test item modification. Now HostMonitor saves modified testlist file after complete script execution.
If you are using "Tune up Reply" option without using "Use Warning status" / "Use Normal status" options, HostMonitor could not resolve some test-related statistical macro variables. Fixed.
Improved Auditing Tool
Optimized Active RMA management
Other minor improvements:
Improved Remote Monitoring Agents
Passive and Active RMA for Windows: support new SSH test method
Passive and Active RMA for Windows: optimized Shell Script test method
Passive and Active RMA for Windows: support new Text Log test method options
Passive and Active RMA for Windows: provide additional information for Service test method
Passive and Active RMA for Windows: improved Unicode data processing for WMI test method
Passive and Active RMA for Windows: when you setup NT Event Log test agents may request extended list of event log files and sources (channels) provided by Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
Passive and Active RMA for Windows: NT Event Log test: when Event Log API cannot retrieve complete event description from remote system (e.g. necessary DLL is not installed on local system), agent may request additional information using WMI technology.
Active RMA for Windows: SNMP Trap test method supports trailing wildcard '*' for "Message contains OID" test property
RMA for UNIX supports new Text Log test method options
RMA_CFG utility allows you to specify user account when you install RMA as service
Improved Tools:
Web Service allows you to setup secured channel between web browser and web service using HTTPS protocol.
Note: data transmission between Web Service and HostMonitor, RCC and HostMonitor, HostMonitor and RMA, RCC and RMA always was encrypted and secured.
Web Service: new "undocumented" options allow you to change style and size of the font used by web interface. You may add 3 lines into [HTML] section of webservice.ini file:
CustomStyleCompact =
CustomStyleNormal =
CustomStyleErrors =
E.g. you may specify styles like
CustomStyleCompact=style="font-family: gill, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 50%"
CustomStyleNormal =style="font-family: gill, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 150%"
CustomStyleErrors =style="font-family: gill, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%"
Web Service allows to specify comment when operator acknowledges "bad" test status.
Web Service allows to "pause" and "resume" specified test items
WMI Explorer: new version allows you to browse complete list of name spaces provided by local or remote system
WMI Explorer: improved Unicode data processing
Log Analyzer: "Erase top value" popup menu item allows you to remove (temporarily) log record with top (maximum) reply value for selected test item. This option is useful when you want to remove one or several records with outstanding results from the chart. Log Analyzer does not remove records from the file or database, just skips the record from analyzing process.
Log Analyzer: Similar "Erase line" popup menu item allows you to remove (skip) specific log record
Log Visualizer: Sometimes you may need to visualize logging data for specific period of time instead of showing test results for the last day/week/month: Now you may use -starttime:mm/dd/yyyy command like parameter instead of -daysback parameter.
MIB Browser: compiler has been improved