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Foglight for Infrastructure 5.9.5 - Infrastructure Utilities User Guide

Monitoring Web transactions Monitoring network devices

Monitoring Web transactions

Foglight Web Monitor allows you to monitor Web site response times and to investigate service levels that show the signs of potential performance problems, when monitored from specific points in your environment.

When you deploy Foglight Web Monitor, a set of predefined dashboards enables you to view the performance of the monitored Web sites. They allow you to ensure consistent Web server performance by reviewing the performance statistics. Better management of your Web sites can be achieved when you are alerted of potential problems before end users are affected.

Foglight Web Monitor relies on the Web Monitor Agent to collect data. The agent collects transaction information from specified URLs. Given a collection of URLs and a pre-defined collection schedule, the Web Monitor Agent attempts to connect to these Web sites, gathering response time data and sending it back to the Management Server on each data collection attempt.

Start by installing Foglight Web Monitor on the Management Server, deploying the Web Monitor Agent package, and creating agent instances on one or more hosts. For installation instructions, see the Foglight Infrastructure Utilities Release Notes.

If you are planning to monitor transactions from any Web sites that require user authentication, you need to configure appropriate user credentials. For more information, see Configuring credentials for Web sites requiring user or proxy authentication.

At this point you have an option of providing to the agent the list of URLs that you want to monitor, or you can do that later using the Transaction Management dashboard. In addition to managing the collection of monitored Web sites, this dashboard allows you to drill down on individual Web site transaction details, edit the settings that control alarm generation, and provide authentication details, when needed. For more information, see Exploring your collection of monitored Web sites.

Next, navigate to the Performance Browser. This dashboard displays the state of your system performance, providing a visual representation of the status of the monitored transactions and locations. Using this dashboard on a daily basis you can obtain an in-depth understanding of the state of your monitored environment. Monitoring the same collection of Web sites from different agent locations allows you to rule out any issues that may be related to host connectivity rather than Web site response issues. For more information, see Investigating the performance of Web transactions and monitoring locations.

The Web Monitor Agent is equipped with a set of properties that affect its running state. You can make changes to them, as required. For more information about the Web Monitor Agent properties, see Configuring Web Monitor agent properties.

For additional information, see the following topics:

•
Exploring Web Monitor services
•
Generating reports
•
View reference

Configuring credentials for Web sites requiring user or proxy authentication

Monitoring Web sites that require user or proxy authentication requires some additional configuration. To successfully access these sites with the Web Monitoring Agent and collect response time metrics, you must provide the credentials these pages need to access them. A valid credential contains a user name and password that enables the Web Monitoring Agent to access the monitored Web site. You can create credentials using the Manage Credentials dashboard.

 
* 
NOTE: Only Foglight Administrators are granted privileges to view and manage credentials. To access the Manage Credentials dashboard, your user account must have the Administrator role. To obtain this role, contact your Foglight Administrator.
To get started with managing credentials:
1
Log in to the Foglight browser interface.
2
On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, click Administration > Credentials.
The Credentials page appears in the display area.
3
On the Credentials page, click Manage Credentials.
The Manage Credentials dashboard appears in the display area.

For complete information about credentials, see the Administration and Configuration Help.

For more information, see the following topics:

•
Configuring credentials to access Web sites requiring user authentication
•
Configuring credentials for accessing Web sites through proxy servers
•
Monitoring URLs that require a client certificate

Configuring credentials to access Web sites requiring user authentication

Web Monitor Agent instances that monitor Web sites requiring user authentication need to have credentials that supply this information. A valid credential needed to access a password-protected page requires all of the following information, all encapsulated in a single credential:

•
Web site address
•
User name
•
Password

To get started, create a new credential of the User Name and Password type containing a resource mapping with the Web Monitor Authentication usage. Next, provide the URL address that requires these credentials, and save changes to the credential.

To create a credential needed to access a password-protected Web site:
1
Log in to the Foglight browser interface.
2
On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, click Administration > Credentials.
3
On the Credentials page that appears in the display area, click Manage Credentials.
4
On the Manage Credentials dashboard that appears in the display area, click Add.
The Select the Type of Credential to Add list appears.
5
In the Select the Type of Credential to Add list, click the credential appropriate for your authentication type.
•
User Name and Password for Basic authentication.
•
Domain, User Name, and Password (Windows) for NTLM authentication.
The Add A New Credential wizard appears with the Credential Properties page open.
6
On the Credential Properties page, type the required properties, and click Next.
The Credential Name and Lockbox page appears.
7
On the Credential Name and Lockbox page, select the lockbox in which you want to store the Web Monitor credential, and optionally change the credential name.
 
* 
TIP: If you do not find a suitable lockbox in the list, click Add to create a new one.
Click Next.
The Resource Mapping page appears.
8
Provide the URL of the Web site that requires user authentication.
a
On the Resource Mapping page, click Add.
The New Resource Mapping Condition dialog box appears.
b
In the New Resource Mapping Condition dialog box, click Usage, and select Web Monitor Authentication from the popup that appears.
The popup closes and the Access Resources Using setting is automatically set to Web Monitoring URL, indicating that the credential is used when accessing the URL address you are about to specify.
c
Ensure that equals and Evaluate This Condition are selected.
d
Click Add a New String and type the URL into the highlighted cell appearing in the String column.
You can specify multiple URLs, if required. During the evaluation, they are combined into an expression using the logical OR operator.
e
Click Add.
f
The New Resource Mapping Condition dialog box closes and the Resource Mapping page refreshes, showing the newly specified resource mapping.
g
Optional—At this point you can refine your credential settings to specify, for example, the time during which the credential is valid, the number of failed attempts after which the credential is locked, the number of times the credential can be used, or the period of time during which the credential data is cached on the server. For complete information, see the Administration and Configuration Help.
h
Click Finish.
The Add A New “User Name and Password” Credential wizard closes and the Manage Credentials dashboard refreshes, showing the newly added Web Monitor credential in the list.

Configuring credentials for accessing Web sites through proxy servers

Web Monitor Agent instances that monitor Web sites through a proxy server need to have credentials supplying that information. A valid credential needed to access a URL page through a proxy server requires the host name or the IP address of the proxy server along with the port number it uses to listen for incoming requests.

To get started, create a new credential of the User Name and Password type containing a resource mapping with the Web Monitor Proxy Authentication usage. Next, specify the host name or IP address of the proxy server and the port number, and save your changes.

 
* 
NOTE: Only Foglight Administrators are granted privileges to view and manage credentials. To access the Manage Credentials dashboard, your user account must have the Administrator role. To obtain this role, contact your Foglight Administrator.
To create a credential for accessing a Web site through a proxy server:
1
Log in to the Foglight browser interface.
2
On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, click Administration > Credentials.
3
On the Credentials page that appears in the display area, click Manage Credentials.
4
On the Manage Credentials dashboard that appears in the display area, click Add.
The Select the Type of Credential to Add list appears.
5
In the Select the Type of Credential to Add list, click the credential appropriate for your authentication type.
•
User Name and Password for Basic authentication.
•
Domain, User Name, and Password (Windows) for NTLM authentication.
The Add A New Credential wizard appears with the Credential Properties page open.
6
On the Credential Properties page, type the required properties, and click Next.
The Credential Name and Lockbox page appears.
7
On the Credential Name and Lockbox page, select the lockbox in which you want to store the Web Monitor credential, and optionally change the credential name.
 
* 
TIP: If you do not find a suitable lockbox in the list, click Add to create a new one.
Click Next.
The Resource Mapping page appears.
8
Specify the name or IP address of the proxy server that you want to use.
a
On the Resource Mapping page, click Add.
The New Resource Mapping Condition dialog box appears.
b
In the New Resource Mapping Condition dialog box, click Usage, and select Web Monitor Proxy Authentication from the popup that appears.
c
Specify the host name or IP address of the proxy server. Click Access Resources Using, and in the popup that appears, select one of the following options, as required:
•
Target Host Name
•
Target Host Address
d
Ensure that equals and Evaluate This Condition are selected.
e
Indicate if you want to use a literal or regular expression to specify the host name or IP address. Using regular expressions in general gives you more flexibility in that you can specify multiple servers than using a single expression mapping.
Click Matching Type, and in the popup that appears, select one of the following options:
•
Domain Name: Select this option if you want to use a literal expression to specify the host name or IP address.
•
Regular Expression: Select this option if you want to use a regular expression to specify the host name or IP address.
f
Click and in the highlighted cell that appears, type the literal or regular expression (as selected in Step e) that resolves to the desired proxy server name or IP address (as selected in Step c).
You can specify multiple servers, if required. During the evaluation, they are combined into an expression using the logical OR operator.
g
Click Add.
h
The New Resource Mapping Condition dialog box closes and the Resource Mapping page refreshes, showing the newly specified proxy server.
9
Specify the port number of the proxy server that you want to use.
a
On the Resource Mapping page, in the row containing the newly specified proxy server, click in the Add ‘AND’ Condition column.
The New Resource Mapping Condition dialog box appears.
b
Specify the port number the proxy server uses to listen for incoming requests. Click Access Resources Using in the New Resource Mapping Condition dialog box, and in the popup that appears, select Target Port.
c
Ensure that equals and Evaluate This Condition are selected.
d
Indicate if you want to use a literal or regular expression to specify the port number. Using regular expressions in general gives you more flexibility in that you can specify multiple port numbers than using a single expression mapping.
Click Matching Type, and in the popup that appears, select one of the following options:
•
Exact Match (Case Sensitive): Select this option if you want to use a literal expression to specify the port number.
•
Regular Expression: Select this option if you want to use a regular expression to specify the port number.
e
Click and in the highlighted cell that appears, type the regular or literal expression (as selected in Step e) that resolves to the desired port number.
You can specify multiple servers, if required. During the evaluation, they are combined into an expression using the logical OR operator.
f
Click Add.
g
The New Resource Mapping Condition dialog box closes and the Resource Mapping page refreshes, showing the newly specified port number.
h
Optional—At this point you can refine your credential settings to specify, for example, the time during which the credential is valid, the number of failed attempts after which the credential is locked, the number of times the credential can be used, or the period of time during which the credential data is cached on the server. For complete information, see the Administration and Configuration Help.
i
Click Finish.
The Add A New “User Name and Password” Credential wizard closes and the Manage Credential dashboard refreshes, showing the newly added Web Monitor credential in the list.
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