HQ Customization Options
We hope the information so far has helped you understand and get started with HQ's problem detection capabilities.
Did you know that you can use the HQ Agent to monitor remote devices and services on your network? This email highlights some options for extending the reach of HQ monitoring beyond the managed platform. We also point out some particularly helpful features for accessing and presenting metric data, and provide links to related documentation topics.
You should now be well on your way to successful monitoring with Hyperic HQ. For more expert advice on successfully monitoring with Hyperic HQ, you can contact one of the monitoring experts at Hyperic.
Good luck with your deployment!
The SpringSource Hyperic Team
| Step | Tips |
|---|---|
| Monitor Network Services | You can use an HQ Agent to monitor services on your network. The agent can remotely monitor availability and response time, along with protocol-specific metrics. You configure the target network service in HQ as a platform service on any platform in HQ. In the web UI, navigate to the desired platform and choose "New Platform Service" from the "Tools" menu. Select a service type, and supply the appropriate configuration properties, for instance the host and port where the service runs. Network services that HQ can monitor include HTTP, SSH, LDAP, NTP, DNS, IMAP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP. Documentation: Monitoring Network Services, Definition of Platform Service |
| Monitor Network Devices | Hyperic HQ can monitor a variety of network devices using SNMP, including firewalls, switches, routers, and hosts. As in the network service case, an existing HQ Agent collects the SNMP data from a remote network device. You configure the target device as a platform in HQ, and select an agent connection to proxy the collected metrics. There are vendor-specific plugins for two Cisco switches, and generic plugins for devices and hosts that implement IF-MIB (RFC 1213). Choose "New Platform" from the "Tools" menu on the Browse Resources page, select the appropriate vendor-specific or generic platform type, and supply the required configuration properties. To monitor SNMP devices that implement a different MIB, you can write a custom XML plugin. There are a number of contributed plugins for particular vendor devices of different types—including switches, storage devices, power management systems, environmental control systems—available for download on the Hyperic Community Site. Documentation: Configuring an Agent as an SNMP Trap Receiver, Definitions of Network Host and Network Device, Writing an SNMP Plugin, Contributed plugins for device monitoring |
| Query platform metrics in real time | If you would like to access platform metrics that the HQ Agent is not configured to collect, you can use HQ's "Live Exec" tool to query the platform in real-time. You can access any supported metric, even if agent doesn't collect and save it. You can run Live Exec commands for a single platform or a group of platforms, to obtain information about CPUs, filesystems, network interfaces, active sockets, and running processes. The data is delivered on-demand and is not stored. Documentation: Real-Time Data for Resources |
| Define custom views | By default, HQ's "Monitor" page for a resource charts each indicator metric for that resource type, stacked vertically. Visual correlation of key metrics is useful for diagnosing problems and understanding relationship between resource utilization, availability, and performance. Based on the nature of the services and applications you monitor, it may be appropriate to modify the default indicators view to present metrics that are better indicators of whether you are meeting your service level objectives. You can change the default view, and define as many custom views as you need. You can define views based on the unique nature of your applications and service level requirements to correlate resource metrics across all tiers of your environment, for example, a view could present a time-correlated visualization of:
Documentation: About a resource's indicator page, Changing and creating views |
Additional Resources:
