Installation

IPCheck manual

Installation

Straightforward: There is no installation process necessary. Simply copy IPCHECK.EXE from the distribution ZIP-file to any directory on your computer and double click it to start it.

Starting IPCheck

When IPCheck is started the main window appears:

There is a tree of the monitored servers (organized into groups) and their ports on the left. The upper area on the right contains UP and DOWN messages, the lower area shows the current activity.

Using IPCheck is simple: Add your servers, add ports for every server and start the scan! Afterwards view the logfiles and request times.

Add a Server

To add a server use Server|Add and the server settings dialog comes up:

Enter a servername (e.g. www.paessler.com) or IP (e.g. 195.180.215.17). NOTE: It is better to enter the servername, because IPCheck then resolves the adress via the DNS every time and this way will also find DNS problems if they occur!

Afterwards enter the name of the group this server belongs to.

For you convenience you can also enter a string describing the location and some notes. Klick OK when you are done.

Add Monitors

Select the server you want to add a port monitor to and right click it. In the context menu select add monitor.

Select the monitor type. There are three options

PORT: This monitor tries to connect to the server's IP adress on the given port number. An error is generated when the server does not accept a connection. Using this method virtually any type of internet service regardless of the protocoll can be monitored. For a webserver select port 80, for a SMTP server select port 25 etc. (see RFC 1060 for a list of all services)

PING: The classic monitoring tool. IPCheck performs a standard ping operation on the server's IP adress. The port number can not be edited for this monitor.

HTTP: a standard HTTP-request is sent to the server. When you select this option, an edit control appears where you must enter the URL the HTTP-request should use. A proxy server can also be entered. NOTE: It is a good idea to put a small html-file on your server and enter its URL here to keep the IP-volume low.

Finally select the intervall this monitor should revisit the server in.

Start the scan

As soon as you have entered at least one server and one port you can start the scan process. Click on Start scan and IPCheck starts monitoring the servers at once.

The status of servers and ports is shown using colors:

GREEN: everything is up and running

YELLOW: the service is very slow or a request is lost

RED: the service is unavailable

From now on each monitored port is checked as soon as its intervall is over. You can fire all events using Scan Now at any time.

View server logfiles

To view the IPCheck logfile of a server, select the servername in the treeview and right click it. Select View Logfile to see the complete logfile or select View Logfile (Errors only) to filter out all successful logfile entries. When you are done reading the logfile, close the window.

View Request times of monitors

In the logfiles IPCheck writes down the time it took to check each service. With this function you can get a graphical overview of how long the request times were. This way the response times of your services and the quality of service of your connection to a particular service can be monitored.

To view the request time graph of a monitored port, select the monitor in the treeview and right click it. Select View Request Times and a dialog comes up asking for how many days the grapg should be generated. Enter your choice and click on OK. A little moment later the graph will be shown:

This screenshot shows the request times of pinging a server located in California, the test was performed from Germany.

Each red box stands for a lost request or timeout.

The Options menu

The options menu offers the following functions:

Scan Process Active: This command starts and ends the scan process just like the buttons Start Scan and End Scan

Start Scan on Startup: If this switch is set to ON the scan process is automatically started when IPCheck is started. This is useful if you place IPCheck in the Startup-folder!

Show Logs: Shows and hides both logfiles in the main window.

Status Bar: Shows and hides the statusbar in the main window.

Always on Top: Shows the main windows on top of all other windows

Saving and loading settings

Using the File New/Open/Save commands several lists of monitored servers can be used as you are used to from any other windows program.

Legal stuff

Copyright

IPCheck is copyrighted and written 1999 by Dirk Paessler and Jens Rupp. For the latest version always check http://www.paessler.com/tools.

Support

Support is currently available by email only. Please send you coments and questions to tools@paessler.com .

Registered Version

One registered copy of IPCheck may either be used by a single person who uses the software personally on one or more computers, or installed on a single workstation used nonsimultaneously by multiple people, but not both.

Disclaimer of Warranty

THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. In particular, there is no warranty for a technical correct check of any servers and services. Because of the various hardware and software environments into which IPCheck may be put, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED.

Good data processing procedure dictates that any program be thoroughly tested with non-critical data before relying on it and to backup all critical data on a regular basis. The user must assume the entire risk of using the program. ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE.