Monitoring the Health of Altium NEXUS Server

Parent page: Altium NEXUS Server

The Altium NEXUS Server installation includes a comprehensive NEXUS Server Health Monitor tool that allows Administrators to quickly ascertain and analyze the condition, or ‘health’ of a local NEXUS Server. Provided as a stand-alone, independent application, the Health Monitor delivers a visual summary of the state of the host machine, and the NEXUS Server's configuration and Services.

The tool also includes context related hints, information and paths to important locations and log files, which allows administrators to preemptively detect and resolve any issues that may affect NEXUS Server users. Since it operates as an independent entity that queries the NEXUS Server and its host system, the Health Monitor will deliver crucial data and information even in the unlikely event that the server is not fully functioning.

The Health Monitor presents NEXUS Server status information via a simple GUI, and in general terms, covers the following critical areas:

• NEXUS Server Environment – the state of the hosts PC’s hardware, such as its hard disks, memory, CPU and the adequacy of its performance.
• NEXUS Server Backend – the state of the server’s supporting database, file storage and repository.
• NEXUS Server Services – the state the server’s range of services, hosted as IIS Application Pools, such as the Identity, Authorization, License Manager and Network Installation services.

Using the Tool

In a default installation of the Altium NEXUS Server, the Health Monitor tool can be found in the \Program Files (x86)\Altium\Altium NEXUS Server\Tools\HealthMonitor folder as the avhealth.exe executable. Note that the folder also includes a simplified command-line tool: avConsoleHealth.exe. The installation will also add a Health Monitor shortcut ( ) to the system Desktop.

When the GUI Heath Monitor tool (avhealth.exe) is run, the program immediately interrogates the NEXUS Server and its hosting systems to populate the main Health Monitor Dashboard screen – as selected (by default) in the upper tabs. Click the Refresh button () to retrigger the process and update the screen.

The Health Monitor Dashboard GUI provides an instant view of the server's status and that of its support infrastructure, plus links to more information.

Errors and Warnings

The status of each item in the Dashboard is indicated by a message and associated icon:

• OK  – the detected metrics are within an acceptable range or condition.
• Warning  – the NEXUS Server and its supporting infrastructure is functioning correctly, but a change is recommended to resolve a potential or future issue.
• Error  – part of the NEXUS Server or its supporting infrastructure is not functioning correctly and requires immediate attention.

Hover the mouse over an item’s status for more information. For an Error or Warning that is shown in the Dashboard, further details are (in most cases) available by clicking the status entry for that item. The following image demonstrates a failure of the server's NIS service, while all other services are OK.

Hover over a status entry to access more detailed information.

Responsive links

Many of the Error/Warning conditions detected by the NEXUS Server Heath Monitor offer links intended to help resolve the situation. These are included in the item’s detailed information, available when clicking on its status entry.

   
Where common event issues occur, the associated information provides further details and links to help resolve the condition of concern.

In the above example screen on the left, the Health Monitor has detected that the NEXUS Server has not been backed up. The associated information provides a link to documentation that will help to resolve the situation.

The example screen on the right (above) indicates that the server's default admin/admin sign in credentials still exist, which poses a significant security risk. The Fix It link in the associated information directly accesses the server's sign-in page through the browser interface, where the Administrator User profiles can be corrected.

Log Browser

The Health Monitor’s Log Browser screen, accessed by the Log Browser tab, presents Error and Warning entries from all of the server’s available Log files – normally located in the C:\ProgramData\Altium\NEXUSServerData\logs folder. To view the log file that contains the event entry, select the associated Open file link or simply double-click on the entry itself.

The cumulative event entries in the list are sectioned by date and will include all available Error/Warning events that are available from all log files. To find specific events, choose a time period from the Show logs drop down menu, and/or use the dynamic filter field () to search for key words within the Subsystem and Message columns.

The Log Browser interface allows you to zero in on events of interest using a selectable time period and keyword filtering.

Select the button to remove the accumulated log entries from the Log Browser list – this will archive then delete all existing log files.

Status Report

The Health Monitor’s Status Report screen, accessed by the Status Report tab, is used to create and display NEXUS Server status report files. The generated reports collate all the event debug information in a single Zip archive (*.zip) that can be sent, when necessary, to Altium Developers.

To create a report, select an appropriate event time period from the Include Logs drop down menu, enter your contact details and select the sharing agreement, and then initiate the process with the button.

Use the Status Report screen to generate collated Log report files for debug purposes.