Since the version 4 HostMonitor supports different permissions for each user.
Each user (operator) has an account with a name, full name and a password.
According to the set of permissions users may perform some (or all) of the following operations:
Remote Control Interface (RCI)
RCI is a feature of the monitor that allows you to check and control HostMonitor remotely (using web browser or telnet client).
RCI uses TCP/IP protocol and needs just one TCP port (by default this is a port #1054). You can setup different
parameters of the interface (like port number, timeout, limit for the number of simultaneous connections, etc)
on RCI page in the Options dialog.
For each user account you can specify a list of IP addresses from which a connection can be
accepted and a list of operations (such as start/stop of monitoring, enable/disable tests, etc) that are allowed
for the user.
To control HostMonitor through RCI you have to install either Web Service
and/or Telnet Service. These applications can be installed on the same
system where HostMonitor is already installed or on any other (remote) system that can communicate with
HostMonitor's system via TCP/IP protocol.
Web Service application will allow you to use web browser (such as Internet Explorer) to control HostMonitor.
Telnet Service application allows you to use any telnet client to check HostMonitor.
| RCI Status window |
To bring up this window use menu "View"->"RCI Status". There you may check the status of Remote Control Interface.
The list of remote operators that are currently connected to the HostMonitor and the recent list of commands being send
to HostMonitor are also available in this window. With the buttons in the right panel of the window you may change the
RCI settings, manage user's accounts, etc.
Active remote operators
In the upper part of the window there is a list of remote operators that are currently connected to the HostMonitor.
Using the button "Disconnect" (in the right panel) you may disconnect selected remote operator. The button "User
profiles" brings up the User Profiles dialog, where you may manage the access permissions for
each of the remote operators (users). You may add new user accounts, disable or enable existing accounts, etc.
Latest commands
In the lower part of the window there is a list of the latest connections and commands that were executed by remote
operators.
Status bar
The status line shows statistical information: the number of active remote connections, the number of connections that
were accepted and rejected since the HostMonitor was last started.
| Custom menu profiles |
This dialog is accessible from the menu "User"->"Custom menu profiles".
This feature allows you to create custom menu items. These menus will appear after right clicking on the test
in the Test Details area of HostMonitor window. For each menu item
you have to provide a name, a command line and a window mode parameter (Hide, Normal, Maximized, etc).
You may specify a list of users that will be able to execute this menu item and a list of test methods that will
inherit this menu.
In the name and in the command line of custom menu item you may use macro variables.
Depending on the test which you will right click, HostMonitor will use current values of variables. E.g. you can
define the command line to send a message to administrator such as "NET SEND admin %TestName% %Status% %Reply%".
Another example - you may define a name of the menu item as "%CommentLine7%", HostMonitor will use 7th comment
line of the selected test as a name of the menu. If the 7th comment line is empty, then this menu item will not
appear. This feature is useful when it is necessary to apply a custom menu command only for some specific tests.
If you want to limit the use of a menu item by tests from some specific folders, then you should use folder related
macro variables (%FolderComment% or %FCommentLineX%) as a name of the item (or in a command line).
| Operators |
Since the version 4 HostMonitor supports different permissions for each user.
Each user (operator) has an account with a name, full name and a password.
According to the set of permissions users may perform some (or all) of the following operations:
For example "Admin" has permissions to perform any operation; "Technician" has permissions to disable/enable tests,
change options and manage mail profiles; "Manager" has permissions to reset statistics and manage report profiles.
Also you can specify a list of IP addresses authorized for remote connections for each of the accounts.
Please note:
Home folder
Since the version 6 HostMonitor provides a "home folder" option that can be specified for each operator. If you
do so, the operator(s) will see test items within their own specified folder (and its subfolders) only.
In this way, you may easily separate work/permissions between departments of a company.
For each account (operator) you may choose one of the following options
| Note 1: | "Home folder" option has effect for any operator that works with monitor remotely using Remote Control Console, Web Service or Telnet Service. An operator that works with HostMonitor's GUI on a local system will have access to the entire test list as in previous versions. |
| Note 2: | Using Remote Control Console to edit test properties (list of master tests), it is possible to see 'ID <number>' instead of the name of the master test (Test Properties dialog). This means that the master test is located in a folder to which the operator does not have access. If you need information about this master test, it can be provided by an operator with a higher level of rights. |
| Note 3: | HostMonitor uses GUID to identify HML files and a unique FolderID to identify a user's home folder. This means if you copy or rename the file, rename or move the home folder, HostMonitor still knows what home folder is assigned for each user. However, if you use menu "File"->"Save as", HostMonitor will assign new GUID to new HML file. In this case, it may be necessary to reassign the home folder for the operators except when they have access to all/root folder. |
Special accounts
There are 2 special accounts: "Admin" and "Local" that cannot be deleted or disabled (however you can change the
list of allowed operations for these accounts). An "Admin" account always has permission to manage other user's
accounts. The "Local" account has no password and no permissions for remote connections. The "Local" account may
be used only by a staff that has direct access to the system on which HostMonitor is installed. It is also used
by HostMonitor at startup. To log in as another user go to the menu "User"->"Login as".
To setup and configure users accounts use the menu "User"->"Operators".
| Login As |
When HostMonitor starts it always uses the special built in user account - "Local". If you want to perform operation(s)
that are not permitted for the "Local" user go to this menu item where you may log in as another user at any time.
The dialog will ask you to provide a username and a password.
The same dialog appears every time when the user tries to perform an operation that is not permitted for him. In this
case within the Login dialog you will have three options: