Ping Probe

The ping probe can be used to check the health of a remote system. The ping probe process sends ping messages (more precisely: ICMP Echo Requests) to a configured system. If configured properly, the remote system sends a response. If this response is received, the machine and its IP stack are operating. This does not indicate, however, that all services on this machine are alive.

If no response is received, the remote system or its IP stack is most probably not operating properly. However, the ping message might have been lost in transit or the round-trip time might have been too long so that a timeout occurred. Therefore, a single failing ping makes a system suspect, but it alone cannot be used to confirm problems at the remote system. If multiple successive pings fail, it is relatively safe to assume that the remote system has failed

Please note that most firewall setups do not allow ping messages. As such, a system behind a firewall typically cannot be pinged and the ping probe cannot be used in this configuration. If in doubt, please check with your firewall administrator.

The ping probe is typically used to check the availability of a remote system. The ping probe periodically sends the ping messages. As long as responses are received, nothing happens. If no response is received, it generates an event and passes it to the rule engine. As ping messages can get lost, the ping probe retries failed probes before it reports an error. Both the number of retries and the retry interval can be specified.

../_images/pingprobe.png

Service - Ping Probe

Probe Interval

File Configuration field:
nSleepTime
Description:
This is the interval of the probe. After each probe, the Service will sleep for the configured probe interval. This period is specified in milliseconds.

Timeout Limit

File Configuration field:
nTimeOutLimit
Description:
The amount of time (in milliseconds) the remote system is expected to answer in. If no response is received within this period, the ping fails and an event is generated. The default value of 1000 milliseconds is a proper value for most well connected networks. If the ping probe runs against a heavily loaded system and/or slow network link, the amount must be adjusted accordingly.

IP Address or Hostname

File Configuration field:
szIPAddress
Description:

Either the IP address or resolvable host name of the system, the ping probe is to be run against. You can either use an IPv4, an IPv6 Address or a Hostname that resolves to an IPv4 or IPv6 Address. This system has been called “remote host” in the description above. Please note that specifying a host name can cause the ping probe to fail if DNS name resolution fails (for example due to a failing DNS server). To avoid this, specify an IP address.

Please provide the IP address or the hostname according to your environment. We have left it empty by intention.

Number Of Retries

File Configuration field:
nNbrOfRetries
Description:

If a ping fails, it is first retried to see if it is a persistent problem. The “Number of Retries” controls how many retries to be made. If this is set to zero, no retries are made and a ping probe fail event is immediately generated.

For typical systems, we recommend a setting of three retries. This is also the default value.

Retry Interval

File Configuration field:
nRetryInterval
Description:

If there is a temporary network issue like network congestion, it most probably takes some seconds to resolve it. As such, an immediate retry might not be appropriate. To delay it, configure a retry interval. This value is in milliseconds If a ping fails, the next retry is after a pause specified in this property.

The default and recommended value is 5 seconds (5000 milliseconds).

Generate an event if Ping Probe was successful

File Configuration field:
nGenerateOnSuccess
Description:
When checked, an event is generated every time. If unchecked, it is generated only when the ping fails. The most common option is to leave it unchecked to catch events upon a failed ping.

General Values (Common settings for most services)

Syslog Facility

File Configuration field:
nSyslogFacility
Description:
The Syslog facility to be assigned to events created by this service. Most useful if the message is to forward to a Syslog server.

Syslog Priority

File Configuration field:
nSyslogPriority
Description:
The Syslog priority to be assigned to events created by this service. Most useful if the message is to forward to a Syslog server.

Syslog Tag Value

File Configuration field:
szSyslogTagValue
Description:
The Syslog tag value to be assigned to events created by this service. Most useful if the message is to forward to a Syslog server.

Resource ID

File Configuration field:
szResource
Description:
The Resource ID to be assigned to events created by this service. Most useful if the message is to forward to a Syslog server.

Rule Set to Use

File Configuration field:
szRuleSetName
Description:
Name of the rule set to be used for this service. The Rule Set name must be a valid Rule Set.