op5 Monitor version 5.7 released

We are very exited to improve Monitor even futher with the stable release of op5 Monitor v. 5.7, which includes various new features and fixes. The main features are listed below. The  full release notes can be found here.

API

Version 5.7 of op5 Monitor focuses on providing an API to be used for getting information in and out of op5 Monitor. op5 Monitor uses HTTP Rest API which is an industry standardized protocol. The output can be in json, xml or html.

With the API is it possible to easily integrate with tools such as (but not limited to):

  • CMDB (Configuration Management DataBases)
  • Device managers. When using a device manager to add or modify attributes of an object, the changes could be updated in op5 Monitor as well.
  • Automatic host config via agent. When installing an agent it can contact the central monitoring system and add itself.

With the possibility to get data out from op5 Monitor it is easier to create new way of presenting the data such as (but not limited to):

  • Smartphone apps
  • NOC consol
  • Customer portals

Custom variables

op5 Monitor 5.7 introduces a new functionality called “Custom variables”. It is now possible to add custom information to every object in op5 Monitor. This feature can be used to store extra information and makes it possible to use data from other sources in op5 Monitor such as (but not limited to):

  • CMDB data
  • Location
  • Model number

It is possible to add and modify custom variables by, for example, using:

  • Web config GUI
  • Config files
  • Web API (see above)

The info in custom variables can be used by plugins in MACROS which makes op5 Monitor more flexible.

Schedule Downtime Retrospectively

A problem in some organisations is that planned service maintenance is forgotten to be entered into the monitor system. The SLA reports and availability reports will show that the systems and services has been down, which might lead to penalties. This feature allows to add planned downtime after the actual downtime has occured. Of course it will be visible in the report that the scheduled downtime has been added afterwards.