Revised: 4/6/2009

Why Install this Version

Installing this Version

New Features in this Version

Fixes in this Version

Fixes in Previous Version

Open Issues

Transition Notes for 8.5 Customers

Uninstalling SolarWinds Products

Legal

Congratulations on your purchase of SolarWinds ipMonitor. ipMonitor provides a comprehensive fault management platform that allows you to collect and view availability and real-time statistics directly from your web browser. While monitoring, collecting, and analyzing data from routers, switches, firewalls, servers, and many other networked devices, ipMonitor successfully offers you a simple-to-use, network monitoring solution for IT professionals juggling small to medium-sized networks.

Why Install this Version

ipMonitor 9 greatly expands the feature set of ipMonitor, including the following:

Simplified site map to help you navigate within ipMonitor.
Getting Started wizard simplifies the initial set up.
Enhanced Dashboard view with customizable components and drag-and-drop layouts.
Map making functionality built into the ipMonitor web console.
Improved network discovery that is faster, more accurate, and discovers more services.
Improved device management and organization including groups within groups, and the new, dynamic SmartGroups.
Out-of-the-box reports directly on the Reports tab.

Installing this Version

You do not need to uninstall your previous version before installing this version of ipMonitor. The setup program will detect and uninstall your previous version without a loss of customizations.

During the licensing process for ipMonitor, the configuration program asks you for your ipMonitor Portal user name and password. Be sure to use your ipMonitor account details to license ipMonitor, and not your SolarWinds account details.

How to identify your ipMonitor Portal account:

ipMonitor Portal Account. The user name is typically an email address.
SolarWinds Account. The user name begins with the letters 'SW', and is followed by a number sequence.

New Features in this Version

ipMonitor version 9.0.6 includes the following:

Microsoft Windows® 2008 monitoring support along with additional performance enhancements to SMTP polling.

Note: Due to the limitations of a single ipMonitor instance, you may experience performance issues with ipMonitor systems configured with more than 5000 monitors. If you encounter performance issues, consider reducing the monitor count, deploying another ipMonitor instance, or upgrading to Orion Network Performance Monitor (NPM) for distributed scalability.

Fixes in this Version

Version 9.0.6, build 1284, 4/06/2009

The ipmsupport.exe now includes SmartGroups.
Fixed an issue with the Email Performance warning nullifying credentials.
Fixed a delayed polling issue in the SMTP relay settings.

Fixes in Previous Versions

Previous versions of ipMonitor have included the following fixes:

Version 9.0.5, build 1276, 2/11/2009

Removed licensing limits on the number of monitors that can be added to a single ipMonitor installation.
Bandwidth monitor default threshold values increased; Last-Value Threshold Max Traffic (in + out) = 92160 Kb/s, Short-Term Threshold Max Traffic (in + out) = 71680 Kb/s.
The ipmonitorsrv service will now start after a trial has expired.
Fixed installer issue indicating the wrong ipMonitor version number.
Distributed Transaction Coordinator is no longer selected by default in SmartMonitor Settings
Drive Space Wizard now locates drives using RPC/WMI.

Version 9.0.4, build 1256, 12/11/2008

Fixed memory leak issue.
Fixed daylight savings rule for Australia and New Zealand.

Version 9.0.3, build 1246, 10/16/2008

Internal build to implement new licensing type.

Version 9.0.2, build 1245, 9/16/2008

Fixed Symantec Endpoint Protection compatibility issue.
Fixed Firefox 3 browser compatibility issue.

Version 9.0.1, build 1244, 3/18/2008

Monitors using WMI protocol monitoring, such as the Event Log, CPU Usage, and Memory Usage monitors, should no longer intermittently report error code 0x80070721.
Temperature monitors should no longer report an incorrect Last Result when the device is not available.
Improved the redraw speed of the tree list in the Devices tab to accommodate listings that include hundreds of nodes on a single branch.
During a device scan, recommended monitors now include previously deleted monitors.
Monitors created in the SNMP wizard are now correctly assigned to orphaned objects group.
The HTTPS monitor no longer disregards the HTTP Protocol Version setting.
You no longer have to click Apply before you can add dependencies to new groups.
"Hub/Router" types are now correctly displayed in the Type column of Device Detail resources.
Scan Network no longer includes the community string "public" in SNMP device scans unless "public" is explicitly specified as a community string.
Ipmext_wmi.exe is now correctly triggered on receipt of a 0x80070721 error code.
Invalid characters in a machine name or SNMP description no longer cause the network scan to crash or to not list found devices.
Monitors can now be suspended by users who do not have Write permissions.
Old network scan data retained from a previous version of ipMonitor no longer causes the network scan to create unknown devices.
You are now asked to activate your license after upgrading from an earlier version.
The network scan no longer creates duplicate devices after upgrading to ipMonitor 9.
Non-administrator accounts with all report permissions can now add Reports.
Fixed a crash in the discovery service that occurred after some network scans.
You can now move a child group into a parent even if the parent is a child of the root group.
You can now use Add a Device in the network scan if logged in as a user with full permissions.
The database conversion utility is now compatible with ipMonitor 9.
The discovery service no longer leaks memory.

Version 9.0, build 1236, 1/21/2008

Can import third-party SSL certificates.
Pasting incomplete XML into the import field now results in an error message.
Alerts must have an Alert Name before you can add an action to them.
Guest users may access Calendar, Settings, and Zoom features.
Mass Edit changes can now be applied to Monitors with numeric host name labels.
Mass Edit now includes "Last Min Threshold" as an option.
Service monitors no longer report paused services as "Up".
Drive Space monitors now correctly retain their custom threshold values after upgrading or being imported.
Fan monitors now display a status message upon failure.
Fixed a JavaScript error that prevented customers from zooming while viewing reports.
The Bandwidth monitor no longer fails after the Windows system is rebooted, load balancing changes the system configuration, or the NIC is disabled and then re-enabled.
Information alerts for the Directory monitor are now only sent when the threshold is exceeded.
The ADO User Experience monitor no longer includes the Add To Group field when the Database Type is set to Other.
Existing accounts are now selected in the pop-up window when adding accounts to access restrictions in a Configurable Report
Windows servers are now correctly displayed if ipMonitor is run under LocalSystem on Windows Vista.
Exchange Round-Trip monitors can now be created by normal users with Groups, Devices & Monitors access permissions.
In Configurable Reports, the "Group Icons By" drop down menu in the Resource Icon cells can now be saved with "Address" selected
In Configurable Reports, the "Separate each Group of Icon Resources" check box can now be selected.
Temperature and Fan monitors now correctly report "Remote Device Failed to Respond" during a timeout state.
The column headings for Availability and Coverage are now the correct width.
The start menu shortcut now uses the correct FQDN stored in the self-signed SSL certificate, and not the host name.
Importing valid Directory monitor XML no longer causes the Monitor to report "invalid configuration".
Normal user accounts with all permissions can now see the Generator names in the list of Report Generators.

Version 8.5, build 1163, 8/27/2007

Removes a security vulnerability in ipMonitor that could allow an attacker to use a specially-crafted URL to access any file on the ipMonitor install drive.
Fixes an issue with the Monitor filter creation process. You may now create valid Monitor filters without having to first use a Quick Filter.
Fixes an issue with Live Status page sound alerts not being triggered in Firefox 2.x. Clear your browser cache to activate the fix.
Improves the resiliency of WMI monitors encountering WMI Error 0x80070721. WMI monitors for devices that experience this error will be run outside the ipMonitor process for 400 seconds.

Version 8.5 build 1158, 5/24/2007

Corrected instability caused by a buffer overrun (one byte) in a rare Drive Space Monitor scenario.

Version 8.5 build 1157, 4/26/2007

ipMonitor's "Welcome" page will now be visible upon logging in to the software for the first time.
When SNMP Traps are converted to text format for alerting purposes, the hexadecimal representation caused by "tabs" will no longer occur.
Corrected a critical issue with the CPU Monitor and some versions of Cisco devices. This bug could occur intermittently and crash ipMonitor.
Corrected an issue with the Drive Space Monitor Wizard erroneously requiring values less than or equal to 100MB of free space.

Version 8.5 build 1155, 4/5/2007

Temperature Monitors are now detected by the Add Server and Network Scan Wizards for some Cisco routers.
Corrected a potential crash when using the Add Server or Network Scan Wizards with SNMP v2.
Corrected an issue with the SNMP Tree intermittently not opening or closing branches.
Corrected an issue that occurred when upgrading from v8.06 (Build 1130) that caused the Reporting Service not to update.
Corrected an issue preventing new JavaScript from being detected in favor of cached JavaScript from previous builds.
Corrected an issue that would cause intermittent disconnections over SSL.

Version 8.5 build 1152, 3/30/2007

The CPU, Drive Space, Memory and Service Monitors can now communicate with Windows operating systems using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).
The Add Server Wizard can now be accessed directly from within the Network Scan interface, making it possible to control the resource discovery process on multiple servers, workstations and devices.
Improvements to the Network Scan Wizard allow full control over the range of IP addresses that will be scanned.
The Network Scan Wizard now has the ability to exclude servers, workstations and devices from the list of resources that will be scanned in the future.
The improved Network Scan Wizard receives AJAX treatment, allowing it to display status information to all users in real-time.
A Credential can now be added to the Network Scan Wizard, allowing ipMonitor to authenticate with remote resources during the discovery process.
Monitors that display Transfer Rates or Bandwidth Utilization can now be configured to display inbound and outbound data in either kilobits per second or kilobytes per second.
Drag and drop capabilities have been added to high usage areas of the web interface, allowing actions such as quickly and easily resizing, reordering, and adding columns without requiring a page refresh.
Improved calendar feature now allows users to highlight individual dates using two side-by-side calendars for a fluid data range selection. Full control over the start and end day, hour, minute and second is supported.
The ability to automatically stop a Service has been added to ipMonitor's Maintenance Schedules. Credentials can be configured on a per-action basis.
Filtered Monitors can now be loaded into ipMonitor's NOC view, allowing users to isolate and display only specific Monitors in a NOC environment.
A Disk Report Publisher Credential can now be specified, allowing Reports to be saved to locations on remote machines that require authentication.
When Custom Tags are referenced in an Alert, formatting elements are now stripped out of the Alert's message body, allowing the Alert to be sent out in plain text without additional formatting symbols.
The locking method placed on the query statement issued to a Database Server or Data Source can now be specified when using the SQL: ADO – QA Monitor.
Live Report screens (such as the NOC View, Details View and various Admin Dashboard screens) can now be designated as custom Start Pages. Monitors, Groups and Filters can all be retained and automatically loaded to be displayed the next time a user logs in to ipMonitor.
ipMonitor is Vista ready. The Install, Uninstall, and Configuration Programs will correctly work with User Account Control (UAC). Services and internal executables are not affected by UAC.
ipMonitor is enabled to handle North American Time Zone changes. Both the Monitoring and the Reporting Services will correctly perform date manipulation and interpretation on all supported Windows Operating Systems, including Windows 2000.

Open Issues

The issues listed here are either not fixed or not implemented in this version. They may not be fully investigated, and may not even be related to ipMonitor.

Exchange Server monitors can not retrieve performance counters after upgrading to Microsoft Exchange 2007 SP1. This is due to Microsoft's removal of WMI provider support from SP1. While we migrate our support to Microsoft's new programming interface, we recommend that you use the Exchange Round-Trip Email wizard to monitor your Exchange 2007 servers.
The IMAP4 User Experience monitor requires a credential even if the Plain Text option is selected.
The web console may lock up if the ADO User Experience monitor connects to an Oracle 10 database.
If a monitor in maintenance mode is set to a Suspended mode for more than the maintenance window, it is returned to the monitoring state after the maintenance window has passed, even if the duration of the Suspended mode has not fully elapsed.
Maps sometime display the donut icon and status icon when in view mode.
In reports emailed to Outlook 2007 clients, the top 50 Availability graph appears without the horizontal bars.
SMS/GSM alerts works intermittently with MultiTech GPRS Modems.
SNMP Trap monitor may have an issue with Sub-String Variable Analysis. Substrings specified with some characters may not match correctly. Problem characters are known to be: '(' and ')'.
ADO and ADO User Experience monitors created with the wizard sometimes report SSPI errors after specifying a database. Bypassing the wizard and manually creating the monitor works without problem.

Transition Notes for 8.5 Customers

If you have used previous version of ipMonitor, you may notice some of the following differences:

Alerts and Alert Profiles

In ipMonitor 8.5, Alert profiles were collections of alerts. We have not changed this relationship, but we have changed the terms used to describe them:

Alerts are now known as Actions.
Alert Profiles are now known as Alerts.

Monitor Filters

Monitor filters have been replaced by SmartGroups. A SmartGroup is a dynamic group whose contents are determined by parameters that you set. Unlike regular groups, whose contents never change, the contents of a SmartGroup automatically keep track of changes in your network.

Some examples of SmartGroups include:

a group of all your network devices located in Texas.
a group of all the offline monitors in your network.
a group of all the Cisco devices in your network.

You can still sort devices in the Devices Tab by Name, Address, Tag and Type.

To sort devices in the Devices Tab:

Enter your search string in the text box above the Groups list
Click Go.

Renaming Devices

To rename a device:

Click the Devices tab
Select the check box next to the device you want rename
From the Edit menu, click Properties. The properties page for that device appears.
Enter a new name in the Device Name box.

Uninstalling

If you need to uninstall ipMonitor, use the Change option on ipMonitor that is available in Add/Remove programs.

If you are uninstalling a licensed version of ipMonitor, you need to know your ipMonitor portal account user name and password so that the uninstall process can park your license. You can also park your license yourself from the Configuration program.

Warning! Do not manually delete your licensed ipMonitor installation or reformat the ipMonitor host computer hard drive without properly parking your ipMonitor license. Using improper procedures to uninstall ipMonitor results in the permanent destruction of your licensing key.

Legal

Copyright© 1995-2009 SolarWinds, Inc., all rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other means without the written consent of SolarWinds All right, title and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its licensors. SolarWinds Orion™, SolarWinds Cirrus™, and SolarWinds Toolset™ are trademarks of SolarWinds and SolarWinds.net®, ipMonitor®, and the SolarWinds logo are registered trademarks of SolarWinds All other trademarks contained in this document and in the Software are the property of their respective owners.

SOLARWINDS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OR OTHER TERMS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, ON SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION FURNISHED HEREUNDER INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF DESIGN, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL SOLARWINDS, ITS SUPPLIERS OR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, WHETHER ARISING IN TORT, CONTRACT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY EVEN IF SOLARWINDS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Microsoft® and Windows 2000® are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.