IIS Web Server Plugin

Target Platform: IIS Web Server

About this Plugin

This plugin monitors Microsoft IIS Web Servers running on a Windows 2003 or 2008 server on your network. It can detect various problems with websites or web applications running on such servers (see below), and respond by restarting IIS services, rebooting the server, or simply notifying you by email of the outage.

Web Server Data Monitored:

Checks that 1 or more web pages (URLs) on the web server are up.
Time taken to load each of the pages
Time out or slowness in loading web pages
HTTP Errors (such 404 - Page not found)
Whether or not the web server responds
Checks the page contains a piece of text you specify
Checks the page does not contain an error message you specify

Using this Plugin

The easiest way to use this Plugin is by using the 'New Device' Wizard. Choose 'Set up a New Device Wizard' from the 'Setup' menu, and then select 'IIS Web Server' from the list of Plugins offered.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need to install anything on the Windows Server running the IIS Web Server that I wish to monitor?
A: No.

Q: How do I select the web pages I want to monitor?
A: See also 'Using this Plugin' above. When using the 'Set up a New Device' Wizard, double click on the 'Web Pages to Test' Device Property. From here you can set the 'Web Page Address (URL)' of the web page you want to test. You should also set the 'Web Page Description'. You can add additional web pages to test by clicking on '+New' from within the same dialog.

Q: How can I test if a web page is loading too slowly?
A: Again from within the 'Web Pages to Test' Device Property set 'Max Load Time (ms)' to indicate the maximum acceptable time the web page should take to load. If the web page takes longer than this time to load, Serio IT Service View triggers the 'On Web Page Slow' Response and sets the status of the web server Device to amber.

Q: What sort of errors can the Plugin detect?
A: Apart from the web pages loading slowly, you can also detect:
When there is no response from a web page (e.g. because the internet connection or web server is down).
When the web page times out. This is different from loading slowly. If the web page times out when loading it means that Serio IT Service View waited for the time out period for the page to load, then gave up.
When an unexpected error code is returned - for example "404 - Page Not Found".

Q: Can I check the content of the web pages?
A: Yes, you can check the content in two ways.
By specifying a piece of text that should appear on the page. If the text does not appear, Serio IT Service View will change the status of the web server device to Amber and trigger a Response.
By specifying a piece of text that should not appear on the page (e.g. an error message). If this text does appear on the page, Serio IT Service View will change the status of the web server to Amber and trigger a Response.

Q: What happens when Serio IT Service View detects an error on the IIS Web Server?

A: Serio IT Service View will automatically change the status of web server device to Amber, if a web page is loading slowly, or to Red, if there is no response, a time out or an unexpected error code.

Q: How do I get Serio IT Service View to take action in response to an error, such as sending me an email, rebooting the Windows Server where IIS is running or restarting IIS Services?
A: When using the 'Set up a New Device Wizard' you'll be presented with a page called 'Available Responses'. Under the appropriate Response, set up the actions you want to take.

For example, if you want to restart the 'World Wide Web Publishing Service' when the IIS Web Server does not respond, use the 'Manage a Windows Service' option under 'On No Response'.

Q: Can I log this data?
A: Yes you can. From within the 'Set up a New Device Wizard', double click on the 'Set Data Logging Options' Device Property, and then set 'Log Data' to TRUE. You must then double click on the 'Data Logging Options' Device Property, and specify the path of the folder where you would like Serio IT Service View to write your log files. The log files are produced in quoted Comma Separated Value (.csv) format, which you can open with a spreadsheet application such as Sun OpenOffice Calc or Microsoft Excel.

Q: I want to monitor an IIS Web Server that is not running on my network, but is accessible over the internet. How can I do that?
A: Use the Web Site Monitoring Plugin instead. It offers all the same features as this Plugin, except that it does not allow stopping/restarting of services or re-booting on the remote IIS Web Server. You can use the Web Site Monitoring Plugin to monitor HTTP web servers of any kind.