Initial System Setup

Step 1 - Initial Configuration

Changing Default Passwords

The pre-established user accounts included in a fresh install of GroundWork Monitor are root, admin, operator, and user, each providing specific access to system functionality. It is recommended these account passwords be changed as soon as the system is installed. In our example below we change the default administrator password from admin to one of your choice.

Log in to GroundWork Monitor as an administrator with the defaults; user name: admin and password: admin
To change the default password, select Group from the top toolbar and navigate to Users and groups management.

Figure: Users and Groups Management
Within the User Management tab, select the Edit icon, under the Action column, for user name admin.

Figure: Edit Action
Enter a check in the box for Change Password and type a new password, select Save. The length of the text in fields for Password must be between 6 and 30 characters.

Figure: Change Password

Import Profiles

Profiles define a set of standard services that can be applied toward any host. If a change to the standard is required, you can modify the profile then apply the profile to all hosts. GroundWork Monitor includes three installed basic profiles; Service Ping which monitors a remote server via ICMP, SNMP Network which monitors any network device using SNMP, and SSH UNIX that monitors a UNIX server plus an extended library of monitoring profiles for a variety of devices, systems and applications. XML profile files and their companion performance configuration definition file (if any) are loaded and stored in the /usr/local/groundwork/core/profiles folder upon a GroundWork Monitor installation.

These profiles need to be imported or loaded into the database before they can be used.

You'll need to load or create the monitoring profiles required for your environment (e.g. WMI, SNMP, etc.). We will step though how to import GroundWork Monitor profiles. The Configuration>Profile Importer tool is used to import, update modifications, or import customized profiles into the monarch database. You can also select to remove unwanted profiles, or to import profiles you download from GroundWork Connect or other sources.

Select Configuration > Profiles.
Expand the Profile Importer and Import options.
Select All or a specific category and the Profile Importer screen will display a list of all eligible files.
Select the box next to each of the files you wish to import. Service Profiles are displayed in the format service-profile-serviceprofilename.xml and Services are displayed in the format service-servicename.xml. The importer will import the service profile or service and any associated perfconfig entries.

Figure: Import Profiles
Select Overwrite Existing Objects (located at the bottom of the screen) if you wish to overwrite existing objects and replace all matching time periods, commands, templates, services and profiles.
Next, select Import. The Import Status screen will be displayed showing the commands, services, and performance configuration are created.

Figure: Import Status

Creating Host Groups

Next, let's add some host groups to simplify such things as access control, status displays, notifications, scheduling maintenance, and creating reports. Choose names for the host groups you will use based on your operational requirements. This will enable you to assign them as part of your initial discovery. For example, you can add Windows, Network, Routers, Switches, Firewalls, etc.

Select Configuration > Hosts.
Expand the Host Groups drop-down menu and select New.
Enter the Hostgroup Properties and Add. Continue creating any others.

Figure: Host Groups

Step 2 - Auto Discovery

Pre Flight Checklist

First, let's review the list below prior to running an auto discovery.

Be sure that your system is in the correct time zone for your location.
Review the document About Auto Discovery which describes how the auto discovery allows you to automatically coordinate network resources with the Groundwork Monitor configuration database.
Make sure the DNS resolution is configured properly for your GroundWork server. From the command line on the GroundWork server, make sure that you can ping hosts by both hostname and fully qualified domain names.
Make sure NTP is configured and running on your system for clock synchronization. NTP is highly recommended to ensure that monitoring data and graphs are accurate and assigned the correct time values.
Confirm that your GroundWork server IP address and hostname are defined in your local DNS domain. You can also enter this information into /etc/hosts on your GroundWork server.
Make sure you know ahead of time what SNMP community strings are required for the network devices you wish to discover. These are needed in the Auto Discovery application.

Running a Discovery Scan

Now, we'll run a basic discovery for GroundWork Monitor using Nmap TCP and SNMP to process the records and view the results. We will also show you how to edit the SNMP method.

Auto Discovery Console

Select the Auto Discovery > Discovery.
You may want to change the Range options if you do not want to scan your entire local subnet for any reason. When you have the range you want created and selected select the Go>> in the upper right corner.

Figure: Auto Discovery

Start Discovery

Next, you will need to confirm that you want to start the discovery process by entering a check in the Accept box and selecting Go>>.

Figure: Accept

Discovery Scan Results

The discovery scan will then list all the hosts that were found. Wait for the discovery stage to complete, then select Next to process the records.

Figure: Next, to Process

Process Records

The total number of records will be displayed at the top of the screen. You can mouse-over the Alias, Discovered Services, and Host groups fields to show the values assigned by the automation application. Various options can be performed from this page including sorting and selecting options to process records individually or in batches, or edit to change options for a single host. You can choose to enable overrides, which forces an override of automatic assignments. For example, you can select edit for a host to add to a host group and specify the host profile snmp network.
To edit a host, click the edit link next to the host record and a detail page will be displayed.

Figure: Process Records

Editing Records

Select the Host groups and Host profile.
Select Process Records to import/update the host and continue. Discard removes the record from processing and Cancel returns to normal processing.
When processing is complete, you can select Commit to begin monitoring the discovered hosts and services. If you select Close, you will be able to manage these host and service in Configuration and select more options before you start collecting data.

Figure: Editing Records

Editing the SNMP Method

Now, let's go back to the auto discovery console page and edit the discovery definitions SNMP method to use v1. You may decide to run several auto-discovery scans with different settings, so it's useful to know how to modify the various methods.

Figure: Editing Definitions
In the next screen, select the edit method link next to the SNMP method.

Figure: Editing Methods
And next, in the SNMP method screen, select the SNMP version 1 option. Then select Save, and run the scan again by selecting Save again and then Go. You may then see response from hosts that didn't before. Managing the imported host services can be done using the Configuration tool, Configuration > Hosts.

Figure: SNMP version option