Get an Email when a server reboots

Posted on May 25th, 2011

Some customers have asked me how to get Overseer Network Monitoring Software to Email them a notification when a server restarts for some reason. While Overseer does not provide this functionality directly, this is possible with a simple event log resource in Overseer, as Windows logs a specific event entry when the server restarts.

To setup an event log resource to monitor when a server restarts, create a new event log resource, set the machine name to the server you wish to monitor, set the appropriate password, and choose “System” as the log name. Double click the default Event Filter and change it to include only event ID 6009 for the ‘eventlog’ resource. You can also click ‘Set Custom Notification Text’ to set a custom text indicating to you that the server has rebooted.  Click ‘Test’, and you’ll see a message box with your message, indicating the last time your server was restarted(assuming you keep ‘%TIME%’ in your custom text).

Now, when your server reboots, everyone in the associated notification group will get a notification when the server reboots. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us using the support link above.

Moving Overseer to another computer

Posted on May 24th, 2011

People often ask how to move Overseer Network Monitoring Software from one computer to another– maintaining all their configuration settings, data, etc. This is actually a very easy process.

  1. Close the Overseer application if you have it running
  2. Stop the Overseer Service(this can be done in the Services MMC under computer management)
  3. Navigate to c:\Program Files\Overseer 4\Data\ and copy all the files to a safe location
  4. Un-install Overseer from this computer
  5. Install Overseer on the destination computer
  6. Stop the Overseer service on this destination computer
  7. Copy the files that were copied out in step#3 above into the same directory on the destination computer
  8. Start Overseer on the new computer

This should maintain all configuration settings, historical data, etc. You can apply your license by going to Help->License… and entering your license information you received in your original Email.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact us using the support link above.  Thanks.

Overseer Support

Posted on May 22nd, 2011

We do our best to answer every support request in a timely manner– typically in a few hours, but definitely within 24 hours. Email support, initiated by filling in the form at the “Support” link above, is the method used for Overseer support. This is answered by domestic in-house staff and not outsourced to any outside firm. At Overseer’s price point, phone support is not a realistic option– if we were to provide phone support, Overseer would have to be far more expensive.

Diagnosing “Network path is not found” error

Posted on May 13th, 2011

Multiple Overseer customers over the last few years have sent me Emails where Overseer was returning an error from the system, “Network path is not found”. This is a very common error message returned by Windows, and has a number of potential causes– 100% of the time, this has been a configuration issue in the customer’s environment.  If you are receiving this error with our network monitoring software, please use this checklist to try to determine the cause:

  • Make sure both computers(Overseer computer and remotely monitored computer) are running on the same LAN, or a WAN without port blocking.
  • Make sure the Windows firewall is disabled, or that they are sufficiently opened to facilitate communication between these computers.
  • Make sure UAC is disabled. Note that some aspects of UAC may remain enabled, even after turning it off in the GUI.
  • Check the times on both computers. Computer clocks must be within 15min of each other, ideally within seconds or less. Be sure to check both the date and time.
  • Make sure these services are enabled and running on both computers:
    • Remote Registry Service
    • Server
    • Workstation
    • Computer Browser
    • Remote Procedure Call
    • TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service
  • Open your network card(s) properties, and make sure these are checked:
    • Client for Microsoft Networks
    • File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
    • Also make sure “Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP” is enabled
    • Make sure “802.1x” authentication is disabled(potentially buried under ‘configure’ tab for network adapter

 

If all these things are checked and the error persists, please perform these tasks and contact support with the results:

  • Check the system, security, application event logs on both computers for potentially related errors
  • Make sure you can connect to the remote computer manually:
    • Start->Run and type in \\remotemachine\c$ where remotemachine is the name of that computer
    • Use the same credentials as used in Overseer when prompted
    • Run ‘regedit’ and attempt to open the remote machine’s registry(File->Connect Network Registry…)
  • Create a debug file where you’ve re-created the problem, and include it with your message to support.

Old versions of Overseer

Posted on May 11th, 2011

Occasionally I’ll get an Email from an old Overseer customer that is currently licensed for Overseer 3.0, wondering why their keys do not work with the current Overseer 4.x version they download from the website. This is because there is an upgrade fee for major revision changes. This happens every few years, and all customers are free to continue using their older version with their older key– but at the price point that Overseer is sold at, free updates forever are not a reasonable option. I always offer a discount for upgrading from the past major revision(i.e. 3.x->4.x), and depending on time frame, sometimes the version before. This pricing is available at the bottom of our pricing page.

For those of you who would like to continue to use Overseer 3.0 and don’t have the last version, the installer is available here:

http://overseer-network-monitor.com/Downloads/Overseer3.exe