Welcome to the Server Nanny™ quick start guide.
If you still aren't sure what Server Nanny is or what it does please take a look at the following pages:
What is Server Nanny? and
How Server Nanny Works.
There are also some videos you can watch online that will help get you up and running quickly with Server Nanny. The videos can be found on this page
Server Nanny Online Videos.
Now we will go over the steps to get a basic Server Nanny system up and running.
Once the software is installed you should launch the Server Nanny manager.
Connecting to the Monitoring Engine
The manager connects to a monitoring engine and allows you to configure and view the status of monitored devices.
The first thing we need to do it connect the manager to the monitoring engine we want to work with. In this guide we are going to use the "Quick Connect" button highlighted below:
Go ahead and click the quick connect button and a dialog will appear that allows you to select the server you want to connect to. By default the quick connect feature inserts the name of the local computer.
If you want to connect to the Server Nanny monitoring engine on another computer then enter the server name or IP address in the address field. Also, the port field should match the port number used when installing the monitoring engine you are connecting to. The default value is entered by default, but if this value does not match the connecting will fail.
If the monitoring engine is set to require SSL then the use SSL encryption box must be checked. Also, the monitoring engine can be set to require authentication. If so, then you must check the use authentication box and specify a username and password. These options are set when installing the monitoring engine.
Once you have the correct settings entered click the connect button. If the connection is successful the configuration and status information will appear for the monitoring engine you connected to.
Below is an example of what the Server Nanny manager looks like when connected to a monitoring engine. In this example the monitoring engine has already been configured and actively monitoring and collecting data.
Once you have successfully connected to a monitoring engine you are ready to start configuring it. There are some initial monitoring engine settings that need to be configured after it is installed, and if these have never been configured you will be prompted to do so.
Configuring Notifications
If you would like Server Nanny to send notifications when problems are detected you should set up notification groups, contacts, and notification methods for those contacts.
To configure notifications click the notification manager icon on the toolbar:
This brings up the notification manager dialog. All contacts must belong to a group, so the first thing you should be to add a group. Once a group is added you can select that group and add contacts to it. Each contact can have multiple notification methods. For example, during business hours you can specify a contact be notified via email and outside of business hours you can set up a notification via SMS.
Server Nanny has very flexible scheduling options for notifications as well as monitor and actions. Notifications can be associated at several different levels: global, group, device, and monitor.
Configuring Monitors
Server Nanny uses a hierarchy to organize monitors. First, you create a new group by right clicking on "Monitoring Config" in the left pane if no groups have been configured yet. You can also create groups that are children of existing groups by right clicking on the group you want to be the parent of the new group.
Once you have at least one group created you can then add a device to the group. To add a device right click on the group you want to device to belong to and the click add new device.
Monitors are children of devices. Now that you have a device created right click on the device and select a monitor type from the add monitor menu to add a new monitor.
Use the monitor's notifications tab to select who gets notified when a problem is detected with the monitor. You can also associate notifications at the global (Monitoring...Monitoring Engine Settings... menu item), group, or device levels. If a notification is selected at a higher level all children will automatically inherit the notification.
Use the monitor's actions tab to configure actions that should be automatically executed then the monitor's status changes. Actions are similar to notifications in that they can be configured at multiple levels. Actions are intended to automatically correct problems when they are detected. For example, an action can restart a Windows service or computer.
Applying the Changes
Once you have modified the monitoring engine configuration you must apply it before it takes effect. To apply the settings you click the apply monitoring configuration toolbar button as shown below:
That's all there is to setting up a basic Server Nanny configuration.