Knowledge Base

Top 5 Reasons for Notification Problems - Why don't I get notifications from IPCheck Server Monitor? Hints for debugging

Although we have tried to make it as easy as possible, configuring notifications in IPCheck Server Monitor can be quite complex due to the many parameters a user can change.

Here are some aspects you should check if you do not get the notifications from IPCheck that you would expect:

1. Misconfigured Notification Settings:

Log into your account using the Web GUI, click on My Account and click on the Test link of each notification you have trouble with. Do you get all messages? Check your mailbox, pager, mobile phone etc. if all the messages that you have expected actually have arrived.

2. Overlooked Latencies:

The most commonly overlooked feature is the Latency feature. To avoid receiving too many notifications for only very short failures or delays you can set so-called latencies for your account. When latencies are set (a value in seconds) a notification is only sent if the failure state takes longer than the latency.

Latencies delay the delivery of a notification. If the sensors comes back up before the latency expires no notification will be sent. IPCheck's default values are 60 seconds for DOWN messages and 300 seconds for Escalation messages. Latencies are configured per user account on the My Account settings page.

3. SMTP Server issues:

In order to send out emails IPCheck Server Monitor requires a so-called SMTP relay server which accepts emails from IPCheck and forwards them to the appropiate mailbox. The IP address of this server is set in the Admin Control Panel where you also can enter SMTP authentication data and other settings for a primary and a backup SMTP server (there is no setting for this in the Web GUI!).

A common problem are SMTP servers that deny relaying for the server running IPCheck Server Monitor. You must synchronize your mail server settings with the settings you have made in IPCheck Admin Control Panel (e.g. authentication).

When debugging keep an eye on the Messages section on the right of IPCheck's list of servers and sensors in the WebGUI. If IPCheck has trouble sending mails you will see error messages here (or click on the More link in this box to see more messages).

Also, keep in mind that e.g. if you reboot the server that also runs the SMTP server you can not get mail notifications!

4. Misconfigured Dependencies

Using "dependencies" you can pause the monitoring of sensors or the sending of notifications based on the status of another sensor to avoid false alarms and incorrect recording of downtimes. If you ? for example ? monitor servers over a leased line then it makes no sense to send monitoring requests to the servers if the leased line is down since IPCheck can?t even reach the servers. The idea is to monitor the availability of the leased line and then pause monitoring of the servers if the leased line is not available at all.

It is important that you double check your dependency settings. Dependencies are edited on each sensor's settings page. Also remember that there are also global admin dependencies! These can be set by the admin account in the WebGUI by going to My Account and then clicking on My Settings.

5. Misconfigured Schedules

Using so-called "schedules" you can enable and disable monitoring (for groups, servers, sensors) or the delivery of notifications based on the time of day and/or the day of the week. This can be used, for e.g. to pause monitoring during the night or to avoid receiving notifications, for example, on the weekend.

You can choose a schedules for each sensor on ist settings page. You can configure the schedules on your My Account page.


By Category

IPCheck Server Monitor V5

Related Articles