Using Auron Omni with ActiveXperts Network Monitor
This example will demonstrate how to set up a server with the ActiveXperts Network Monitor using Auron Omni for sending alert messages.
The ActiveXperts Network Monitor is a lightweight but fully featured and easy to set up network monitoring application. This Network Monitor is used by many IT departments around the world to monitor networked devices and services for failures or irregularities and it has built in support for Auron Omni.
Using Auron Omni support in the ActiveXperts Network Monitor has a number of advantages, including:
- All common SMS protocols, including SMPP, GSM or HTTP are supported
- Audit trail. You have a full list of all SMS messages sent and whether they were delivered
- Retry and failover support when an SMS fails to send
- Full control over channel settings and message routing
Any version of Auron Omni 2020 or later will work with any version of the ActiveXperts Network Monitor 2021 or later.
Setup the Network Monitor
The order of installation does not matter. For the purpose of this example we start with installing the Network Monitor.
The following things are important to note during the Network Monitor setup:
- Select to install both the Network Monitoring Engine and the Management Console
- Make note of the user that runs the Network Monitor Service
- Do not automatically start the Network Monitor Management Console after setup
Network Monitor Choose Setup
We continue configuring the ActiveXperts Network Monitor after setting up Auron Omni.
Setup Auron Omni
The next step is to set up and configure Auron Omni.
In the configuration wizard make sure to:
- Select either Standalone or Server
- Use SQL Server Express instead of LocalDB
- When using Windows Authentication for the database, make sure that the user running the Network Monitor Service also has access to the Auron Omni database
Configuration Wizard Database Type
Configure an SMS channel in Auron Omni
Auron Omni uses channels to send or receive messages. You can create a new channel by following these steps:
- Open Auron Omni Manager
- Click on Channels in the left side tree view
- Click on New Channel in the channels view on the right
If you do not already have a GSM modem or an existing SMPP account, you can use the test and demonstration gateway to test your setup.
Auron Omni Select SMPP Channel
To use the test and demonstration gateway select the SMPP Client channel type, click Create and accept the default settings in the SMPP channel wizard.
Configure ActiveXperts Network Monitor
Since the ActiveXperts Network Monitor was just installed, it should start with the Quick Configuration Wizard. If it does not start automatically, you can open it via File, Configuration, Quick Configuration Wizard.
ActiveXperts Network Monitor Quick Configuration Wizard
If you already ran this wizard, you can safely click through without changing settings. We focus on step 1 and step 3.
Step 1 ensures your contact details are present in the Address Book, including your mobile number for SMS alerts.
Quick Configuration Wizard Address Book
In step 3 you configure Auron Omni as the SMS delivery method:
- Make sure Enable SMS Alert Notifications is checked
- Select Use Auron Omni
- Click Configure to select the Auron Omni channel
When selecting the channel you can send a test message through Auron Omni.
Quick Configuration Wizard SMS Alert
After this step you can continue through the wizard and verify the rest of your monitoring configuration. The Auron Omni integration is now ready.
Test SMS alerts
To test the full setup you can create a simple ICMP ping check and configure it to send an SMS alert when it fails two times in a row and another alert when it recovers.
You should see the alert messages automatically appear in Auron Omni Manager.
ActiveXperts Network Monitor and Auron Omni Full test
This is only the start of what is possible. For example, it makes sense to configure a failover trigger. This helps ensure that no critical network outage prevents you from receiving alerts.