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Monitor Availability, Latency and Response Times with Application Ping

An application ping is an active measurement that agents run at a regular interval. Use application pings to measure the availability, latency, and response time of a server or web site, even when no user is working with it. There are three types:

  • Http request: the agent sends an HTTP request to a URL and measures the response time and status code.
  • Ping: the agent sends an ICMP echo request to a host and measures the round-trip time.
  • Traceroute: the agent traces the route to a host and measures the response time of each router on the way.

You first create the application ping, and then apply it to one or more agent configuration groups.

Create an application ping

Section titled “Create an application ping”
  1. Select Administration → Agent configuration → Application ping.
  2. Select Create new.
  3. In Name, type a name for the application ping.
  4. In Definition, type the parameters for the measurement, one name=value pair per line. The definition must contain at least a URL or a HOST parameter. For example:
    • For an HTTP request: URL=https://intranet.example.com
    • For a ping or traceroute: HOST=server01.example.com
  5. In Interval, type how often, in seconds, an agent runs the measurement at most. The default is 30.
  6. In Type, select Http request, Ping, or Traceroute.
  7. In Location, select All Locations, or select a location to run the measurement only from agents in that location.
  8. Select Create.

The application ping appears in the list of application pings. The Configurations column shows how many agent configuration groups use it.

For all the parameters you can use in a definition, see:

Apply the application ping to an agent configuration group

Section titled “Apply the application ping to an agent configuration group”
  1. Select Administration → Agent configuration → Configurations.
  2. Select Edit next to the agent configuration group that should run the measurement.
  3. Select the Application Pings tab.
  4. Select Apply next to each application ping the group should run.
  5. Select Save Application Pings.

The agents in the group start the measurements the next time they receive their configuration. PerformanceGuard distributes the measurements between the agents in the group, so each agent doesn’t necessarily run every application ping at every interval.

Change or delete an application ping

Section titled “Change or delete an application ping”

On Administration → Agent configuration → Application ping, use the icons next to an application ping:

  • Edit Application ping to change its definition, interval, type, or location.
  • Delete Application ping to remove it.

View the results

Section titled “View the results”