Argent Commander is an interactive, real-time facility based on Web 2.0 technology that integrates with your existing Argent Extended Technology and Argent Advanced Technology installation. Argent Commander provides pre-defined “command modules” that report on key performance indicators, Top X charts and tables, as well as event and alert summaries for all the individual servers in […]
Argent Commander is designed to provide the simplest installation possible. There are no .NET libraries or other dependencies required. Argent Commander installs into IIS, creating the virtual folder, application pool and all the various options automatically for you. No database or database setup is required to install Argent Commander. Setup Simply run SETUP.EXE and follow […]
Upgrading Argent Commander is extremely straightforward. Also note that Argent Commander can be upgraded separately from Argent AT — this means ALL versions of Argent Commander are compataible with ALL versions of Argent AT 1. Download and extract the latest Argent Commander setup files. Run SETUP.EXE and choose Upgrade Argent Commander: 3. Note that IIS […]
After installing Argent Commander, the first thing to do is to configure access privileges for various users. If you try logging into Argent Commander using any account apart from the Argent service account, you will see messages along the lines of “You do not have privileges to access this page”. This is because, after a […]
This popup determines which users or groups the security row should apply to. You can have a mixture of both users and groups. Click For Full Size Note the Domain Name at the top. If you’ve installed Argent Commander on a machine in a workgroup, use the local machine’s hostname as the Domain Name. If […]
Allowed Nodes determines which individual nodes and Monitoring Groups the security row has access to. If a Monitoring Group is selected, all nodes that are part of the Monitoring Group will be allowed. Monitoring Groups are much more convenient, and saves you from clicking on many individual nodes. Click For Full Size Nodes also have […]
This popup specifies the different privileges that the security row has. The labels are fairly self-explanatory — but here is an explanation of each: Click For Full Size Add/Edit Maintenance Schedules Allows users to add or edit Maintenance Schedules in the Licensed Servers module (Enterprise Page). If this is unchecked, the link to edit Maintenance […]
Performance Matrices are basically saved page layouts that have been created by various users. There are cases where a particular page layout is useful — e.g. “SQL Statistics” or “IIS Statistics”. With Performance Matrices, you can swap between page layouts quickly and easily. This popup controls what Performance Matrices the user has access to load. […]
This popup determines which CeoConsoles, SuperMaps and Enterprise Application Views the security row has access to. Again, the All checkbox provides a blanket solution for allowing all current and future maps Click For Full Size
All numerical values can be mapped to another value, or text string. For example, if the Interface Status of a Cisco device is ‘3’, this isn’t particularly useful for a human. Mapping the value of ‘3’ to, say, ‘Disconnnected’, and ‘2’ to ‘In Use’, is far more informative. Mappings are grouped into Mapping Sets. Each […]
MasterFind is an alternative method of looking up critical performance data within Argent Commander. MasterFind is essentially a powerful search engine for Argent’s performance data. Some customers like drill-downs, while others want a convenient search facility to pinpoint exactly what they want, across all servers and devices. MasterFind finds all performance data matching a certain […]
Sandbox gives customers the ability to interactively compare graphs across different nodes, in a single pane of glass. Each graph can be customized to any server, device or even Monitoring Group. Sandbox is perfect for big-screen TV monitors, where customers can keep an eye on the most critical metrics on any server or device side-by-side. […]
With Argent’s unique CeoConsole you see — for the first time ever — all key metrics of all your locations worldwide As the newest component of Argent’s acclaimed Argent Commander product line, the CeoConsole gives harried administrators and senior executives a single pane of glass for all your automation and monitoring needs And Argent’s Systems […]
Argent Commander’s Enterprise view provides you with a macroscopic view of your enterprise. Argent Commander’s strength lies in taking the power of Argent AT and Argent XT, and condensing all of this critical information into “command modules”: The Enterprise page sports a tree view of all nodes (1307-A or above). The tree remains persistent while […]
The Device Drill-downs page consists of four modules. There is also a convenient Jump To feature at the top of the page, to quickly jump to another known device. Of course, the Security Manager settings will prevent users from jumping into a device that they do not have access to. Click For Full Size Alerts […]
The Top X page takes the devices that you are allowed to access, and sorts them based on the last available metric. For instance, you could have a Top X module for the Top 10 servers with the highest total CPU usage during the last poll. You could also have the Top 30 servers with […]
The Argent Commander Console provides a full list of all events and alerts for servers you have access to. In Argent Commander 1307-A or above, Argent Commander’s “Console” page has been enhanced with the following features: Full-screen width utilization Filters can be shown/hidden Event Details pane can be shown/hidden All columns are sortable and resizable […]
The SuperMaps provide a visual representation of events in your enterprise. SuperMaps must first be configured in Argent XT and Argent AT, where you can specify the background image, the location of the dots, colors, and hotlinks. All these are faithfully reproduced in Argent Commander, but with a stunning Web 2.0 interface. Click For Full […]
Enterprise Application Views allow you to group your events into the components of an application, and determine the Rules that will cause a degradation to the total Global Health of the application. Enterprise Application Views must first be configured in Argent AT or Argent XT, and much like the SuperMaps — all dots, colors and […]
Performance Matrices are basically saved page layouts that have been created by various users. There are cases where a particular page layout is useful — e.g. “SQL Statistics” or “IIS Statistics”. With Performance Matrices, you can swap between page layouts quickly and easily. Click For Full Size Performance Matrices can be created by any user […]
The Configuration screen is used to configure global and user-specific settings that affect your Argent Commander experience. General Log Debug Level This option changes the level of detail in {Username}_LOG.TXT. The logs are located in the LOGS folder of Argent Commander’s installed directory. Note: Setting the Log Debug Level to Highly Detailed causes the log […]
Argent Commander can be individually customized for each user account that logs in. While the Database team may be interested in one set of modules, the IT Manager may be interested in another. Customization is done using state-of-the-art Web 2.0 drag-and-drop. Argent Commander remembers each and every setting you make, including the ordering of modules, […]
Argent Commander makes all changes persistent until you change them again. For instance, if you change the number of entries to display on a particular Top X module from 5 to 100, it will keep that setting everytime you load the page. For the Device Drill-down page, Argent Commander remembers each and every node/device you […]
Argent Commander uses web sessions to minimize memory usage and the load it puts on the database. Web sessions are automatically created by Argent Commander once a user logs in. The web sessions are destroyed if an inactivity timeout of 20 minutes is reached, OR if the user closes ALL browser windows. (The key point […]
This article discusses the structure and purpose of the XML files that are used to store information for Argent Commander. The XML definitions are located in Argent\ArgentCommander\XML Although the Argent Commander setup routine is very quick and painless, it is good practice to backup the XML files if considerable work has been done to configure […]
All information critical to Argent Commander is stored in a series of XML files. Take for instance ARGSOFT_CONFIGURATION.XML — this file holds encrypted data on the Argent XT and Argent AT service account, account password, the main engine hostname, and database connection details. What happens if we decide to change the service account and password […]
Argent Commander allows customers to add, modify or delete Maintenance Schedules in Argent AT directly from within Argent Commander. On the ‘Enterprise’ (C1) page, drill down to the node in the tree and click on the calendar icon: Customers will be able to see a list of existing schedules they can edit or delete Adding […]
Argent Commander CMDB-X provides an easy, streamlined way to manage critical servers and critical devices, properties and licensing, all in one screen. CMDB-X makes it easy for you to simultaneously add multiple servers and devices as a batch, license them with multiple Argent Products, and assign them to existing or new Locations, Network Groups and […]
Argent Commander CMDB-X provides an easy, streamlined way to manage critical servers and critical devices, properties and licensing, all in one screen. CMDB-X makes it easy for you to simultaneously add multiple servers and devices as a batch, license them with multiple Argent Products, and assign them to existing or new Locations, Network Groups and […]
The ‘Add New Rows’ section of Argent Commander’s CMDB-X feature allows customers to add a batch of nodes to CMDB-X, and optionally assign them to existing or new Monitoring Groups, and optionally license them with one or more Argent Products. Note: While customers can add as many nodes as they wish into the CMDB-X, licensing […]
The CMDB-X List enables customers to manage existing servers and devices easily. Customers can set filters above the list to narrow down results. This is highly recommended, as it speeds up the browser, and quickly pinpoints the servers and devices customers are looking for. When viewing the list, customers may also see an additional bar […]
This chapter discusses some of the more advanced settings and ways to manipulate the Argent Commander XML files.
ARGSOFT_MATRIX.XML stores the Performance Matrices in Argent Commander for all users. Each section, or tag, in the XML defines a screen. ENTERPRISE Enterprise Page DEVICE Device Drill-down Page TOP Top X Page SUPERMAPS SuperMaps Page EAV Enterprise Application View Page Each XML tag holds two useful attributes — the NAME and the CREATOR The NAME […]
ARGSOFT_INTERNAL_SETTINGS.XML stores system-wide configuration values for Argent Commander. Each section, or tag, in the XML defines a value. LOG_LEVEL Specifies the Log Debug Level: 1 – No logging 2 – Low Logging 3 – Medium Logging 4 – Detailed Logging (Default) 5 – Highly Detailed Logging DEBUG_MODE Reserved for debugging purposes SQL_COMMAND_TIMEOUT Specifies the timeout […]