ManageEngine OpManager is a network monitoring tool that keeps tabs on your network and the devices that connect to it. As a result, it identifies security gaps and vulnerabilities, so you can plug them in at the earliest. Moreover, OpManager stays on top of the health and performance of network devices and notifies you at the first sign of distress in any part of your network. With this information, you can take a proactive approach to prevent network and device failures. Plus, it generates extensive reports that can help with forecasting, capacity planning, internal auditing, and more.
Due to the above reasons, OpManager is used extensively by organizations of all sizes. Besides, it's also simple to set up and use, and this adds to the list of compelling reasons to use OpManager. Read on to learn how you can use OpManager for your business. But before that, let's look at the system requirements for installing and running OpManager.
System Requirements for OpManager
The system requirements mentioned below are only the minimum, as the exact requirements would depend on the load.
The hardware needed is as follows.
- For 1 to 250 devices Intel Xeon 2.0Ghz with four cores/four threads processor, 4 GB memory, and 20 GB hard drive.
- For 251 to 500 devices Intel Xeon 2.5Ghz with four cores/eight threads processor, 8 GB memory, and 20 GB hard drive.
- For 501 to 1000 devices Intel Xeon 2.0Ghz with four cores/eight threads processor, 16 GB memory, and 40 GB hard drive.
Besides this hardware, consider using a dedicated machine for your OpManager to get optimal performance.
Moving on to the software requirements, OpManager works only on Windows and Linux devices. Windows 7/8/10, Windows Server 2019/2016/2012 R2/2012/2008, Suse, Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise (up to version 8), Fedora, CentOS, and Mandrake Linus are the operating systems supported by OpManager.
When it comes to accessing OpManager through browsers, consider using Firefox and Chrome only, as Internet Explorer is not supported. You can choose between Microsoft SQL and PostgreSQL for the database. Finally, you must exclude the ManageEngine and its associated database directory from your antivirus program.
Now with these requirements in place, let's move on to installing OpManager.
Installing OpManager on Windows
As a first step, head to the ManageEngine page to download the trial version of OpManager. After the trial period ends, your subscription will automatically kick in.
Once you download, look for a file called ManageEngine_OpManager_64bit.exe in your local machine and run it. Simply follow the instructions of the installation wizard. Read through the terms and conditions and agree to them.
The default values will be taken for the installation, so you can choose to leave them as they are unless you want a custom configuration. Note that OpManager uses port 8060 as the default web server, so this may be one parameter that you want to change. Also, select the directory where you want to install OpManager. Make sure to register with ManageEngine with your name and email ID, as this is a necessary step to avail OpManager's technical support. Lastly, select the database you want to use. OpManager supports both PostgreSQL and MSSQL.
When you make these choices and finally, hit the Finish button, you're good to start using it.
Installing OpManager on Linux
On Linux, you install OpManager in two ways: using the Windows-like wizard or the console. Let's first look at how you can install OpManager using the installation wizard.
Using the Installation Wizard
Download the OpManager for your Linux distribution and make sure you're logged in as a root user to install it. Change the permission to the downloaded file using the command chmod a+x ManageEngine_OpManager_64bit.bin.
Next, run execute ManageEngine_OpManager_64bit.bin with admin privilege, and this will start the installation wizard. Choose the directory where you want to install it and change the port number if you have to. Verify the details and click the Finish button to complete the installation.
Using the Console Method
The console method is a good choice when you're working on a Windows device and connecting remotely to a Linux system that doesn't have a user interface.
Before installing, download the OpManager binary that's right for your Linux distribution. Now, execute the binary using admin privileges. You'll see the terms and conditions. Make sure to read through them and type Y to agree. Consider registering with your name and email ID to get technical support. Finally, choose the destination directory and port, verify the details, and press Enter to install.
Server Installation
ManageEngine recommends you install the Central and Probe servers if you plan to use OpManager in a distributed environment or if you want to connect more than a thousand devices. Let's see how you can install these two servers.
- Installing Central Server on Windows As a first step, download the Central Server and run its exe file with admin privileges. Follow the installation wizard and agree to the terms and conditions. Choose the destination server and change the port number from the default value if required. Next, register with your details for technical support. Next, select if you want this central server to be the primary or standalone server. If you are installing this server for failover, choose the “standby” option. In the next step, select the database you wish to use. Provide MSSQL details and authentication credentials to enable the server to automatically connect to the database.
- Installing Central Server on Linux To install the central server on Linux systems, download this binary. Provide executable permission to the downloaded file, and execute it with admin privilege. This will open the installation wizard, and the rest of the process is similar to the Windows installation described above.
- Installing Probe Server on Windows Moving on to Probe Server, click here to download it. Run the .exe file as an administrator and follow the installation wizard. Agree to the terms and conditions and click “Next” to proceed. Change the default web and NetFlow ports if needed. Once done, register your details with the probe server key for technical support, choose between a standalone or primary server, and select the appropriate database you want. Complete the wizard for the server to install.
- Installing Probe Server on Linux To install the probe server on Linux, download the Linux binary. Assign the executable permission to this binary and run it with admin privilege. The rest of the steps are similar to the Windows installation.
With this server installation, you're all set to start using OpManager.
Start OpManager
The destination folder that you choose will be the OpManager Home directory. Let's see how you can start OpManager on Windows and Linux devices.
Starting OpManager on Windows
As soon as you complete the installation, you'll get a prompt to start OpManager. When you agree to the prompt, the web client is invoked automatically. Simply enter your login details, which are “admin” by default for both username and password.
To start OpManager later as a Windows server, head to the Control Panel. Navigate to Administrative Tools > Service, and on the details pane, select ManageEngine OpManager and click Start. To stop the service, follow the same steps, but choose Stop instead of Start.
You can also start OpManager through the command prompt if that works better for you. To do that,
- Open the command prompt. Make sure you're logged in as an administrator.
- Navigate to the OpManager Home directory.
- Type “run.bat” and press enter to start OpManager. Alternatively, you can also use “StartOpManagerServer.bat”.
When you want to stop OpManager, run the file “StopOpManagerServer.bat”
Starting OpManager on Linux
To start OpManager on Linux, log in as the root user. Navigate to the OpManager home directory and run the StartOpManagerServer.sh file.
Similarly, to sop OpManager, run the StopOpManagerServer.sh file.
Now that you know how to install and start OpManager, let's see how you can use this platform.
Using OpManager
Using OpManager is fairly intuitive for the most part, however, you must understand some basic concepts and related navigation.
User Roles
Broadly speaking, there are three broad user roles in OpManager, and they are:
- Administrator role Unlimited access to all read and write operations in OpManager.
- Operator role Read-only access to most functions, though the administrator can grant write access to only the required modules.
- Custom user role Custom read/write access to specific modules in OpManager.
As an admin, here are the steps to create custom user roles.
- Navigate to Settings -> General Settings -> User Management -> Roles and click on the “Add a Role” button.
- Provide a name for the role and include the custom read/write permissions.
Now, associate a user to a role, and to do this, follow the below steps.
- Head to Settings -> General Settings -> User Management -> Add User
- Choose the role and the user type. The latter can be a local user who can access it only on the local machine, an AD user who is authenticated by the domain, and the Radius user who is authenticated based on radius server credentials.
- Finally, enter the credentials and other details.
- Navigate to the Scope tab, and select the modules that are available for this user.
- Click save and exit.
To remove a user, head to Settings > User Management, and click the delete icon next to the user you want to remove. Confirm your selection.
With users and roles in place, let's move on to monitoring your network using OpManager.
Monitoring with OpManager
Before setting up the monitoring settings, one of the first questions to ask yourself is what you want to monitor. In general, the best practice is to monitor your critical components like WAN and LAN infrastructure, servers, applications, VMs, host machines that run critical services, and anything else that you think is essential for your organization's operations.
- Discover Devices in your Network If you're unsure, discover all the devices that connect to your network, and from this list, you can decide which ones to monitor. To add or discover devices, navigate to Settings -> Discovery -> Add Device/Server. You can even use the “Network Discovery” option to add devices in bulk to your monitoring list.
- Add Monitors Once you've discovered and added devices to your network, it's time to add performance monitors. You can choose from the existing device templates or create your custom monitors, provided the device you want to monitor has WMI and SNMP capabilities.
- Add Existing Monitors To add existing monitors individually, navigate to Inventory -> Device -> Monitors -> Add Monitor. Select the monitor you want to add to a device. You can also add monitors to devices in bulk. For this, head to Settings -> Configuration -> Device Template and add the monitors you want. You can then apply this set of monitors to devices in bulk.
- Add Custom Monitors Adding custom monitors will require additional steps. Go to the Device Snapshot page and navigate to the Monitors tab. Click the dropdown and select the Add WMI/SNMP option. Next, go to Settings -> Monitoring -> Performance Monitors and click the Add Monitoring button on the top right-hand corner. Finally, head to Settings -> Configuration -> Device Template, click the Add option, and choose the SNMP/WMI monitoring. When you choose to add custom monitors, you can have greater flexibility and can monitor many critical aspects like availability, quality of VoIP, files, folders, and more.
Next, we'll talk about an important configuration, which is creating and customizing the OpManager dashboard, so you can get all the information you want from a single pane.
Customizing the Dashboard
OpManager's dashboard consists of many customizable widgets that make it easy for you to build a dashboard just the way you want. There are many preconfigured layouts like the Enterprise dashboard that you can use if the information they display is relevant to you. Otherwise, move the widgets around to see the view you want.
OpManager also offers a new type of dashboard called the NOC View that allows you to view the necessary dashboards at frequent intervals. The advantage of this dashboard is that you can information in near real-time, depending on the frequency of your refresh intervals.
Finally, let's talk about how you can set up notifications, so OpManager can send alarms when certain events occur.
Setting Up Notifications and Alarms
Notifications and alarms inform you when some performance or critical parameters are way off the established baseline values. OpManager comes with a set of preconfigured alarms that you can use. Simply head to the Alarms tab to see the existing alarms.
Typically, OpManager applies the default monitoring template to newly discovered devices and monitors them for abnormalities. In case of any deviations that match the configuration, alarms are sent out to the concerned employee or team. You can even change the status of the alarm to critical, trouble, attention, and clear as required.
Thus, these are some important things to help you get started. The good news with OpManager is that it is intuitive and easy to learn, so you can customize its work to meet your requirements.
Conclusion
To conclude, OpManager is a comprehensive monitoring tool that helps you stay on top of the health and performance of different devices that connect to your network. Though OpManager handles the complex task of monitoring multiple devices, its user interface is simple to use and fairly intuitive. We hope the above information helps you to get started with OpManager. Start a 30-day free trial.
For more beginner guides on different tools, browse through www.ittsystems.com.
