|
Answer/Solution: WhatsUp Gold - Version
8.01 Release Notes
============
- Description
- New Features
- Installation/Upgrading
- Uninstalling
- Known Issues
- Issues Fixed in 8.01
- For More Information
Description
===========
WhatsUp Gold is an award-winning software product used by thousands of
customers to watch over their mission critical network infrastructures
and services. You will be up and running within minutes with WhatsUp
Gold's easy installation and intuitive interface. In a few simple steps,
you will be able to:
- Auto-discover and map your network.
- Set up notifications to alert you the moment that WhatsUp Gold
detects a problem.
- Generate out-of-the box reports to help you analyze your network
uptime, and response time.
In addition, WhatsUp Gold allows users to view the status of a
network map from a web browser. With WhatsUp Gold, you have a robust
tool that offers the essential functionality to ensure that you stay on
top of your network resources.
WhatsUp Gold is designed for PCs operating with:
- Windows NT 4.0 (SP6a or later).
- Windows 2000 (SP2 or later).
- Windows 2003.
- Windows 98.
- Windows ME.
- Windows XP.
WhatsUp Gold is a very robust tool that requires little hardware
resources to operate. Thus, it can be installed in just about any
hardware configuration. It can be set up to run as a service on Windows
NT.
New Features (WhatsUp Gold 8.00)
===============================
- An Events monitoring system has been added to WhatsUp Gold. This
provides the ability to trigger alert notifications of
system
events recorded as new entries in NT Event logs (local or
remote),
SNMP Traps, and new entries in Syslog. Events are immediate
and
happen outside of the polling cycle.
- Note for prior WhatsUp Gold users:
Beginning with version 8.00, the term "events"
means something
very specific. To remove any potential confusion regarding
prior
meanings, we have changed the name of Event Report and Event
Log.
Event Report is now named "Outage Report." Event
Log is now named
"Activity Log."
- Ability to Save and Restore all map data and device data as
ASCII files. Ability to have an ASCII based format become
the default file format for the map. Intermediate device
statistics are now in ASCII form (last 30 polls, etc). Map
formats are now extensible via a plug-in system.
- Enhancement of the scripting of TCP/UDP Monitors. Addition of
flow control and error handlers to scripts for more
customizable
service monitoring.
- Filtering by device types during discovery. Allows for skipping
device types you are not interested in discovering and
monitoring,
both in Active Discovery and New Map Discovery (i.e.
Auto-Discovery).
- A new SMS Notification type that allows a 'provider' centric method
to send an SMS Message. This allows for a provider database
to be
accumulated so that users can share connection settings and
access
numbers. In addition there is a scripting mechanism to solve
TAP
and UCP inconsistencies between provider companies.
- A new notification type that allows you to stop or start a
specific NT service (local or remote). This allows you to
manage
NT services based on activity on your network.
- The restriction of 10 Alerts per device has been lifted. You can
now
have an unlimited number of Alerts per device.
- With the new Events system comes many new 'percent variables' you
can use in Notifications. For example, this will allow you
new
flexibility in reporting just the relevant data from SNMP
traps.
See the online help topic titled 'Event Variable %(*)' for
more details.
- Maps loaded through the web interface now load subnet maps
automatically.
- SNMP Performance Reports: The WhatsUp Gold Performance Reports
capability has been extended to include reports based on
data
retrieved from SNMP devices.
- Exporting Performance Graphs from the Command Line: Functionality
has been extended to allow you to enter multiple report jobs
using
one call to CSTATRPT.
Upgrading
=========
If you are upgrading from a previous version of WhatsUp Gold or
WhatsUp, you should note the following:
- Back up any network maps! These will have the file extensions .DB
for WhatsUp and .WUP for WhatsUp Gold. NOTE: When you open a
.DB
file in WhatsUp Gold, the file is automatically converted to
the
WUP format and saved with a .WUP extension.
- Back up your SERVICES.INI and HOSTTYPES.INI files.
- Back up your Notifications subdirectory (new in version 6).
- For versions earlier than version 5, defined notifications are
stored in a file named IPNOTIFY.INI in your Windows or NT
directory. This file is shared by other Ipswitch products
and
is therefore not deleted or replaced when you upgrade.
- Back up your GALLERY.INI file (new in version 7).
- During installation, if WhatsUp Gold detects that a MIB.TXT or
TRAPS.TXT exists in the installation directory, it will
install
the new files as MIB.NEW and TRAPS.NEW.
- Be sure that WhatsUp Gold has completely shut down before doing an
upgrade installation. If you exit WhatsUp Gold during a
poll, it may
take up to 30 seconds for WhatsUp Gold to remove itself from
memory.
If you press Ctrl+Alt+Del, WhatsUp Gold will remain in the
Windows
task list until it is removed from memory.
- WhatsUp Gold comes with a 'Classic' set of web templates by
default,
however you are free to create your own versions too. 'Live'
template files are located in the 'Web' directory (as .asp
files).
A clean archive of the 'Classic' web interface pages can be
found
in the 'WebTemplatesArchive\Classic' subdirectory of the
install
directory. As you upgrade to newer versions of WhatsUp Gold,
the
install checks to see if you have modified the working set
of web
template files in the 'Web' directory. If you have modified
or
customized these files, the upgrade install will recognize
this.
You will then have the opportunity, during install, to
either backup
and replace the existing live templates and accept the
updates
provided with this release, or keep your existing live
templates
as is. If you choose to keep your existing web templates as
the
live set, you can always find the latest set in the
WebTemplateArchive\Classic directory. To realize bug fixes
in your web template files you should consider merging the
new
set with your customized working set. If you choose to
accept
the updated templates as the live set, your customized
templates
will be backed up under the WebTemplateArchive directory.
- Note: The "SNMP Threshold" custom service plug-in has
been replaced.
If you have been using the custom service plug-in:
"SNMP Threshold"
(SNMPCHK.DLL) you are encouraged to migrate to the new
version
of this plug-in: "SNMP Monitoring" (SNMPMON.DLL)
introduced with
v7.00. By doing this, you can take advantage of all updated
SNMP
monitoring features. "SNMP Threshold" will
continue to work with
v8.00. However, all future enhancements will occur in the
new
"SNMP Monitoring" plug-in. The new "SNMP
Monitoring" plug-in is
automatically installed with v8.00. Details on how to
migrate can
be found in this Knowledge Base article:
WhatsUp
Gold - Convert SNMP Threshold checks to version 7 SNMP Monitoring
plug-in
Installation
============
NOTE: To view performance graphs with WhatsUp Gold, you must have the
ODBC Driver Manager (version 3.520.4403.2 or later) installed.
To install or upgrade WhatsUp Gold:
- If you purchased a WhatsUp Gold CD-ROM, insert the CD-ROM. If it
does not run automatically, click Start, select Run, and
then
enter the CD path followed by AUTORUN.EXE For example:
D:AUTORUN.EXE
- If you downloaded WhatsUp Gold from our web site, run the
downloaded application, WUGOLDEC.EXE.
Uninstalling
============
The uninstall function removes all installed files associated with
WhatsUp Gold from your PC, except for those that can be modified, such
as:
- SERVICES.INI
- HOSTTYPE.INI
- GALLERY.INI
- MIB.TXT
- TRAPS.TXT
Both the Notification subdirectory and Web subdirectory are left
untouched.
To uninstall WhatsUp Gold, you can use the Uninstall application that
is installed when you install the product. To do so, click the Start
button, select WhatsUp, and then select Uninstall WhatsUp Gold.
Known Issues
============
- Microsoft SAPI5 is bundled inside the WhatsUp Gold Text to Speech
plug-in. If the installation of Microsoft SAPI5 fails then
you will
get an error when you attempt to use the Text to Speech
Notification
within WhatsUp Gold. Another cause of the same problem is
when
SAPI5 somehow gets uninstalled from your system after the
Text to
Speech plug-in is installed. We have found that SAPI5 will
not
install if there are soundcard problems. Not having a
soundcard at
all is the most obvious example.
- If you close WhatsUp Gold while a poll is in progress, it may take
up to 30 seconds to be removed from memory. If a reboot
takes
place while a poll is in progress, a General Protection
Fault
(GPF) may occur.
- If you have 'Stack supports raw sockets' enabled, the
traceroute tool may not work properly.
- Net tools Time Module will cause a GPF when querying a
server running a date past 2036.
- Closing WhatsUp Gold while a Net tool is active may cause
the application to cause a GPF.
- Changing the protocol of a device may cause incorrect
statistics to be displayed on the Web page
- You can not run Performance Graphs export jobs from the
WhatsUp Gold Service, if the service is configured to log
on with the default System Account. You can configure the
WhatsUp Gold Service to log on as your domain account to
correct this error condition.
- With the new Windows 2003 operating system, Microsoft has tightened
application security for services using the default 'Local
System´
account. Therefore in order to operate WhatsUpG and its
components
as a service using Windows 2003, you will need to start the
'WhatsUp
Gold Service´ and components running under a specific
account that has
administrative privileges. To make this easier under 2003
the
WUGSVC command has been extended to prompt for the account
to run as.
If you only run WhatsUp Gold as a console application or use
a operating
system other than Windows 2003, this step is not necessary.
Fixed in Version 8.01
=====================
There have been numerous fixes in the 8.01 maintenance release
including:
General
-------
- You can now reset device statistics counters from the device quick
status dialog.
- Corrected sorting by IP address in Statistics View.
- Added option to add monitors/services to multiple selected devices.
- Directory must now exist for map Save-As to function.
- A warning dialog has been added to the map and application close. The
purpose
is to indicate polling does not occur on closed maps.
- SNMP Graph output to file corrected for repeating timestamps.
- SNMP Graph data file format updated. Date field format changed to
correct
issue with reports that span a new year. Date and time
fields now use the
following format:
YYYYMMDD HHMMSS
CSTATRPT and the SNMP*. report files have been updated to
work with the
new format.
CSTATRPT will convert all old date formats on the fly.
- Ipswitch contact address updated in version resources.
- Corrected Notifications View printing.
- Miscellaneous small UI corrections and improvements.
Discovery
---------
- Corrected issue with discovery resulting in no devices if "match
all
services" was selected in the discovery wizard.
Alerts
------
- "Send alert even if console response" now on by default for
new alerts.
- Order of Alerts on devices preserved after an edit of the alert
definition.
- Display of comment improved if scroll bar is needed in device table of
alerts.
- Added the ability to acknowledge all alerts on all maps via the
console.
- Alert master switch added to the program configuration to allow the
suspension of new alerts. Added the ability to pause the
generation of
notifications but still accumulate alerts for later
processing. Added the
ability to clear all pending notifications.
- From the Web Interface the user can now select "24 hours a day,
between the
hours of and not between the hours of" when defining an
alert.
Events
------
- Event triangle now shows up on Subnet and Container icon when devices
on
the subnet or in the container receive an event (updated on
next poll).
Notifications
-------------
- Support has been added to the Beeper and Pager notifications to
support COM
ports greater than COM4. The initial support is for COM
ports 1 through 8
and may be expanded via the registry setting:
HKLM\Software\Ipswitch\WhatsUp\Notification\Settings\Settings_Comunication_Ports
- Cancellation of continuous sound notifications is now more responsive
in
that the request to cancel the sound no longer waits for
other queued
notifications to process.
- Sound notification expanded to allow the specification of different
sounds
depending on the nature of the alert (device up/down,
service up/down,
or event received).
- Program notification configuration now checks that the specified
program
exists and the working Path is valid. Additional diagnostic
information
now written to the debug log.
- Recurring notifications will now allow longer time periods to be
specified.
- Changed the %L parameter such that you no longer get the entire log
file.
If %L is used without a number we default to 99 lines
maximum.
- Japanese encoding of SMTP subject lines corrected (extra # symbol
removed).
Web Interface
-------------
- Corrected crash due to the multiple concurrent use of the web version
of
Net Tools to Scan a device.
For more information...
=======================
Download the WhatsUp Gold User's Guide (.PDF file) from the Ipswitch Web
site: Note: You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the .PDF
file. You can also download the Acrobat Reader from the same location on
our Web site.
The Ipswitch web site has the User's Guide available in HTML format.
It also contains a comprehensive Knowledge Base with hundreds of
searchable articles.
Both can be found at the following address:
http://www.ipswitch.com/support/whatsup/index.asp
|