Windows Server Monitoring and Event Log Management Solutions
 June 7, 2011 - Volume 6, Number 6
   
 

-In this Issue-

 

ELM 6.5 - New Feature Preview!

Highlights of ELM 6.0 Build 245

PCI DSS Reports Management Pack Now Available

May Curiosity Poll Results - Smart Phones III

June Curiosity Poll - Networking It

ELM 411 - Quick Reports with Print Preview

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 ELM 6.5 - New Feature Preview!              ELM Enterprise Manager 6.5 is Coming!

One of the new licenses newly available in the upcoming ELM Enterprise Manager 6.5 is the "Network License." We've combined the most useful features for monitoring network devices such as firewalls, switches, hubs, routers and other network devices into a lightweight, efficient new license.

License Features:

SNMP Alarm SNMP Alarm

The SNMP Alarm includes a MIB browser that queries an SNMP Object ID (OID) and triggers an Action if the value is greater than, less than, or equal to a specified value. It extends the status monitoring of ELM beyond Windows systems and into SNMP supported network devices.


SNMP Collector SNMP Collector

The SNMP Collector monitors on a scheduled basis the SNMP Object ID's and returns the values to the ELM Server. They are stored in the Primary Database for reporting and trending.


SNMP Receiver SNMP Receiver

The SNMP Receiver is configured to process SNMP Traps from network devices. These traps can be translated against stored .mibs and converted into a Windows event log format. Like Windows events, they are stored in the Primary database for reporting, Filtered to create concise Views and used to trigger a Notification. You can use ELM event log management technologies to monitor non-Windows systems.


Syslog Receiver Syslog Receiver

The Syslog Receiver is configured to process Syslog messages from network devices and UNIX-based systems. Supporting both UDP and TCP, these messages are converted using the standard Windows event log format. Like Windows events, they are stored in the Primary database for reporting, Filtered to create concise Views and used to trigger a Notification. When used to support firewalls, they fortify the security barrier around Windows networks.


Ping Monitor

The Ping Monitor sends custom ICMP echo requests to verify TCP/IP connectivity and the Quality of Service. It provides an early warning alert of a problem with the remote system's status, whether it be a server, workstation or other network device.

(The Ping Monitor feature is now included with all of the licenses in ELM Enterprise Manager 6.5.)


TCP Port Monitor

Monitor any valid port with the TCP Port Monitor. From the ELM Server, a connection to the specific port is initiated and the availability and Quality of Service is determined. An Action is triggered if it fails or the response time is slower than expected.


Stay tuned for future updates on the new features and enhancements coming in ELM Enterprise Manager 6.5 - scheduled for release later this year!

 

 Highlights of ELM 6.0 Build 245

A new maintenance release of ELM Enterprise Manager 6.0 is now available. Highlights of Build 6.0.245 include:

  • Installation works correctly using different credentials on Vista and later operating systems.
  • Passwords containing semicolons can be authenticated.
  • Command Line Agent installation supports non-default directories.
  • Syslog Receiver upgrades to previous protocol.
  • ELM Publisher supports Internet Explorer 9.
  • Expanded SNMP Trap Notification Method to include a message field.
  • Removed query editing component from ELM Editor that was, in limited cases, causing corruption.
  • Fixed data format error in non-US Language Versions of Microsoft SQL Server.


Download the latest build of ELM Enterprise Manager today!

 

 PCI DSS Reports Management Pack Now Available

A new PCI DSS Reports Management Pack is available, providing more precise support of PCI compliance for payment service providers and merchants who must track and report on all access to their network resources and cardholder data through system activity logs. ELM Enterprise Manager supports PCI Requirement 10.6 as well as several other requirements.

PCI Requirement 10.6: "Review logs for all system components at least daily. Log reviews must include those servers that perform security functions like intrusion-detection system (IDS) and authentication, authorization, and accounting protocol (AAA) servers (for example, RADIUS)."

PCI DSS Reports Management Pack for ELM Enterprise Manager

This management pack will import a number of custom built reports into the ELM Editor as well as new PCI Views into the Results container. Reports are designed to provide both summary and detail information to satisfy just about any audit requirement.

Free. The new PCI DSS Reports Management Pack is free to all clients running the latest version of ELM Enterprise Manager 6.0.245.

(Important note: This management pack is only compatible with the newest version ELM Enterprise Manager 6.0.245)

Click the More Info button above for instructions on how to download the PCI DSS Reports Management Pack for ELM Enterprise Manager!

 

 May Curiosity Poll Results - Smart Phones III

Our third year running now for use of Smart Phones in Administrative tasks. We first asked about this in 2009. Revisited it in 2010. And one more time in 2011.

"Do you use your cell phone / smart phone / blackberry for remote admin tasks?"

As of the publishing of this newsletter, here's what respondents had to say in comparison to years past.

Quite a shift in mobile usage in the last few years. With the proliferation of big screen / touch screen phones and powerful apps it's no surprise that we continue to find more and more uses for them, getting access to the info we need no matter where we're at.

 

 June Curiosity Poll - Networking It

No we're not talking about the Social Network variety here! There are a lot of network attributes that you can monitor and a lot of tools available to help do the monitoring. Some do more, some do far less, which got us to thinking...

"Which features would you find most valuable in a network monitoring tool?"

(please limit selections to your top 5)

Monitoring Network Activity Poll

 

 

 The "ELM 411" - Quick Reports with Print Preview

There are often times when you'll be investigating activities within an Event View and find the need to share this data with a coworker, or possibly another team or department. You could create a custom report from the Event View, schedule it to run, and distribute accordingly, but wouldn't it be great if you could just grab it and send it instead? This month's ELM 411 technical article will review a tip we introduced back in 2009 for using Print Preview to create and share reports on-the-fly.

Within any Event View (or Alerts container), ELM has a right-click menu option. The first choice on this menu is "Print Preview" which is often overlooked in favor of performing some other task. By choosing Print Preview, ELM will launch the default browser, typically Internet Explorer, and display the contents of the Event View in the browser window in a table format. From the browser window you now have some options on how to share this report.

In the example below, we'll go through these steps from a Security-All Audit Events View and we're looking at it in Summary Mode. First we'll right click within the right pane of the screen to get the context menu and then choose Print Preview.

Print Preview Option Within an Event View

Next the default browser on the ELM Server (typically Internet Explorer) will launch and present the contents of the Event View screen as a table in an HTML web page.

HTML Table of Event View

From here we have a couple options. If the ELM Server has a printer installed the report could be printed and delivered via hard copy. (Beware of printing a lengthy, numerous page report! This is why we selected the Summary mode from the Event View.)

Or if the ELM Server has Internet Explorer version 7 or higher, the page can be copied and pasted into an email (Rich Text or HTML formats only), modified as needed (font sizes, colors, etc.) and delivered to the appropriate parties.

Email a Report from ELM - Quick and Easy!

*Note: Although not used much anymore, we tested this tip on Internet Explorer 6 and found it will disregard the table format when copying and pasting the contents into an email, resulting in a jumbled mess of data rather than a clean report.

Once you are done with delivery of your "on-the-fly" report you can simply close the Internet Explorer window and go on with your work. You'll find using this simple Print Preview feature can save you a lot of time and make sharing Event View activity out of ELM quick and easy.

We hope that you found this quick trick useful and informative and wish you continued success with your ELM deployment!

NOTE: All ELM 411 articles are written based on ELM Enterprise Manager Version 6.0 and instructions may not be accurate for previous ELM Versions. If you would like assistance upgrading to ELM 6.0 so you can use these tips - please contact support@tntsoftware.com.

Share your own ELM tips!
Have a tip or trick with our ELM products you'd like to share with our newsletter subscribers? Send your ideas and any applicable screen shots to info@tntsoftware.com with "ELM 411" in the subject line. We'll take a look and if usable you'll see it published here in the ELM 411 section of upcoming newsletters!

 

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