General Queries

[_Martin]

Hi,

I've just been toying around with SIM for the past few days trying to accomplish what we need with it, but having a few problems.

Basically, what we are looking for is the ability to monitor various systems and alert on events. Most of the systems are xp based.

The main events we want to be alerted to would be system down (got that working with SIM without issues), and if certain applications are running.

It seems the way to accomplish this is through with the evntwin.exe application to create a configuration for sending traps when certain events occur. This could work, however it seems that it is limited - for example there does not appear to be a way to specify wildcards for events, so each specific event needs to be added. Also, and more importantly, the events are recorded in SIM as generic unregistered, and the best I have come up with to overcome that is creating our own MIB for it (not something I want to get into).

An additional problem I have come across seems to be many of the systems are remote, and behind firewalls - I can use port forwarding to forward a port to the systems, and adjust the snmp port on the target system, but as best as I can tell the SIM will not allow you to enter a custom port for the system. Possible solution for this is an snmp proxy?

So far I have just been using the windows snmp service and the evntwin app - most of my browsing brings me back to HP SIM Agents, which seem to be eluding my grasp - The site points me to the SmartStart CD - the SmartStart CD points me to the site.

So my question is - Is SIM the right way to go, can all these issues be overcome (without a system relying on a tonne of hacks and workarounds), or could there be a better solution.

If SIM is the way to go, any links or pointers as where to start would be much appreciated.

(btw, if any of this appears not to make sense, most likely it doesn't, I'm still trying to get familiar with it all!)

Cheers,
Martin

[MattLavallee2]

I'll be general about this because it could be a remarkably in-depth conversation, but...

Have you tried using a WMI MOF instead? Creating your own isn't as complex and sending a WMI indicator (i.e., trap) is very flexible from the Windows side. It'll also survive most firewall traversals provided that Windows networking works or you're using the WBEM/WMI mapper.

The only downside is that it would require deploying the mof to your workstations and compiling them locally for them to be integrated.

-Matt

[_Martin]

Hi Matt,

I looked briefly at WMI (didn't get as far as discovering with MOF is) but didn't follow it too far, however it does seem a possibility for the way to go. I will investigate that area and see if I can accomplish what we need.

Cheers,
Martin