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First Alert Service Monitor Tutorial

This tutorial is for the first time user of First Alert Service Monitor.

More information on First Alert Service Monitor

First, I would like to thank for you for downloading First Alert Service Monitor by ElectraSoft. The people here work hard to bring you powerful, quality software. If you need technical assistance, ordering information, or any other information, please call us at 1-281-499-8246 or email us.

You can try First Alert Service Monitor for free before you buy it. When you are done trying out the software, you can either register (purchase) it, or un-install it. If you get a window popping up asking you to register, and you are not done testing the software, just click on [Get Registration Code from ElectraSoft Later].

Getting Started:

For any help with the interface or to see what any features do, please Click on [Help], [Help] from the First Alert Service Monitor top menu items, shown below:

Once you have started First Alert Service Monitor, click on the menu item, [Tools], [Global Options], as shown below.
Main Menu: [Tools], [Global Options]

This will bring you here:

[Global Options]

Once here, you can configure any options you see to your liking. Click on the [Apply] or [Cancel] button to leave the Global Options.

Once you close the Global Options, you should be at the main screen. If you haven't added anything to monitor yet, then First Alert Service Monitor should look something like this:
First Alert Service Monitor - New Screen

First Alert Service Monitor - New Screen

Adding Services to Monitor

Click on the menu item, [Edit], [Add Event to Monitor]. (Show below)
Main Menu: [Edit], [Add Event to Monitor]

That will bring up this box:
Add Event to Monitor

For the [Service Name] text box, enter a name that you will refer to this new service being monitored. For instance, if your web site address were http://www.mygreatsite.com and you wanted to monitor the web site to know if it stops responding, you may use the service name, "MyGreatSite - HTTP". Because that is the name of the site, and the protocol you will be monitoring with this event. The name has no effect on how the service is checked.

For the [URL, IP, Domain] text box, enter in the actual address of the service you will be monitoring. For instance, if your web site address were http://www.mygreatsite.com - then you would enter in www.mygreatsite.com in this box. Leave off the "http://" as that is denoting the protocol it is, and is not needed for the purposes of this program. You can enter in an alpha-numeric (domain name) address or an IP address (if you know it) here.

The [Command/Script] box is optional and we will not discuss this here, as this is a tutorial to get you started using the program quickly. Scripting is more advanced and can be read more in the help file. Also, you can click on the [Example] button next to this field for more information and example scripts.

For the [Port (0 - 65535)] option, you will need to select which port/type of network service to monitor. For instance, if you are monitoring a web site, select port [80 http]. The "http" denotes the service protocol. In the ports list, many of the common ports are listed, along with the type of service they are normally associated with. Note: If you do choose port 80 for this option, First Alert Service monitor will automatically put the "GET /" script up in the [Command/Script] text box. This makes the WWW (HTTP) service checking faster

[Minutes Between Checks] by default is set to 5 minutes. That means that every 5 minutes, it will check to see if this service is responding correctly. You can change this to more or less, as you see fit. If you are unsure, just leave it at 5 minutes.

[Fields Checks Before Alert] by default is set to 2 times. That means that if the service fails to respond correctly 2 time sin a row, then the appropriate actions alerts (as configured just below this option) will take place.

[Timeout, seconds (20)] by default is set to 20 seconds. That means that each time this service is checked, the service has 20 seconds to respond. A timeout is necessary because establishing a connection to a network service is not always so instant. It is recommended that you leave the timeout set to 20 seconds. Only change this option if you need to, for your own reasons.

There are many options for alerting you when the service is not responding. In this example below, I am monitoring ElectraSoft's web site. See the options I have chosen here:
(Note this is an example only, you should enter in your own web site, not ElectraSoft's)
Add Event to Monitor - Example

Once you have entered your own information and set the alerts you want, click on the [Apply] button. Once you do that, you will be taken back to the main screen with your service added to the list and being actively monitored. See below:
First Alert Service Monitor - Example

Your service is now being monitored.
You can now edit the service by double clicking it. You can also add more services to be monitored by doing the same thing you were just stepped through doing.

This concludes the online tutorial. If you have more questions, please read through the help files within First Alert Service Monitor. If your question is still not answered, you can call ElectraSoft at 1-281-499-8246 or email us.

If you have found this tutorial to be helpful, or not helpful, please email us and tell us.

Thank you.
Kind Regards,

Bill Krahmer - ElectraSoft