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LAN-Alarm A Network Management Tool Version 3.0 LAN-Alarm Page 2 COPYRIGHT NOTICE This software and its documentation are (C) Copyright 1994, by NETMan. All rights are reserved. No Part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated in any language or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, or otherwise, without the express prior written consent of NETMan. Only the unregistered version of LAN-Alarm may be reproduced and distributed freely so long as it is distributed in its entirety with the README.DOC documentation. The unregistered version of LAN-Alarm is clearly identified when the program is executed. I. DEFINITIONS "NETMan" shall mean NETMan, 505 Walker Rd. Safety Harbor, Florida 34695 "CUSTOMER" shall mean the original customer, either an individual or a company. "PROGRAM" shall mean the software and related documentation supplied in this package. "COMPUTER" shall mean the single computer on which this program is used. "LICENSE" shall mean this agreement and the rights and obligations created thereunder by the United States Copyright Law. II. LICENSE NETMan grants to CUSTOMER the right to use this copy of the program on a single COMPUTER at a single location as long as CUSTOMER complies with the terms of this LICENSE. NETMan reserves the right to terminate this LICENSE if CUSTOMER violates any provisions thereof and in the event of such termination, CUSTOMER agrees to return the PROGRAM to NETMan. The PROGRAM is the sole and exclusive property of NETMan. CUSTOMER ownership is limited to the diskette(s) purchased. CUSTOMER agrees to make no more than two (2) copies of the software for archival purposes and further agrees to label said copies with all information included on the original LAN-Alarm Page 3 II. LICENSE (Cont.) diskette label(s). In the event that CUSTOMER executes the PROGRAM simultaneously on the same or more than one COMPUTER, CUSTOMER agrees to request from NETMan and pay for licenses for additional user copies. BY USING THIS SOFTWARE, YOU ARE ACCEPTING AND AGREEING TO THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT. IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT, YOU SHOULD PROMPTLY RETURN THE PACKAGE AND YOU WILL RECEIVE A REFUND OF YOUR MONEY. THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT REPRESENTS THE ENTIRE AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE PROGRAM BETWEEN YOU AND NETMan, AND IT SUPERSEDES ANY PRIOR PROPOSAL, REPRESENTATION, OR UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE PARTIES. III. TRANSFER AND REPRODUCTION CUSTOMER agrees to take all reasonable steps and to exercise diligence to protect the PROGRAM from unauthorized reproduction, publication, disclosure or distribution. Unauthorized transfer and/or reproduction of these materials may be a crime subjecting CUSTOMER to civil and criminal prosecution. CUSTOMER may not transfer any copy of the PROGRAM to any other person without the prior written consent of NETMan. NETMan reserves the right to revoke this LICENSE and/or to seek any other legal remedies to which it is entitled should these conditions be violated. IV. LIMITED WARRANTY EXCEPT FOR THE LIMITED WARRANTY CONTAINED IN THIS CLAUSE, THIS PROGRAM IS SOLD "AS-IS" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED AS TO PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THIS PROGRAM IS ASSUMED BY CUSTOMER. However NETMan warrants the magnetic diskette(s) on which the program is recorded to be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for a period of one (1) year from the date of purchase. NETMan warrants the software to be free from significant errors that make it unusable for one (1) year from the date of purchase. In the event such errors are found, NETMan will reasonably attempt to correct them, or to help CUSTOMER avoid them, with efforts NETMan believes suitable to the problem or at NETMan's option authorize a refund of the License fee. In no event shall NETMan be liable for consequential, incidental, special or indirect damage, regardless of whether it has been advised of the possibility of such damages. LAN-Alarm Page 4 Description of Sections Page 1. Table of Contents ...................................... 4 2. Introduction ........................................... 5 3. What's New In Version 3 ................................ 6 4. Hardware/Software Requirements ......................... 7 5. Installation Procedures ................................ 8 6. Installation Location Screen ........................... 9 7. Communication Setup Screen ............................. 10 8. File Server and IP Device Setup Screen ................. 11 9. Trouble-shooting LAN-Alarm ............................. 15 10. Trouble-shooting The Alphanumeric Paging Process ....... 16 11. Loading the TCPIP Driver To Monitor IP Devices.......... 21 12. Running LAN-Alarm Under Windows 3.1 .................... 22 13. LAN-Alarm Program Files ................................ 23 14. Pricing and Ordering Information ....................... 27 15. LAN-Alarm Order Form ................................... 28 LAN-Alarm Page 5 2. Introduction LAN-Alarm is a network management tool for Network Administrators. LAN-Alarm will notify network administrators by pager when a Novell file server or any device with an IP address goes down. LAN-Alarm will monitor network devices 24 hours a day and determine if they are up and running. If one of the device's goes down, LAN-Alarm will page you. LAN-Alarm monitors Novell file servers or any device running Novell NetWare 2.x, 3.x, or 4.x, such as gateways, asynchronous servers, etc. By loading the TCPIP driver, LAN-Alarm will also monitor any device with an IP address such as Windows NT servers, Unix servers, database servers, bridges and routers. If you are just monitoring Novell devices you do not need to load the TCPIP driver and the Novell servers do not need an IP address. LAN-Alarm does not use IP addresses to monitor Novell devices. LAN-Alarm will eliminate the morning network crisis. LAN-Alarm is a valuable network management tool that will assist you in providing the maximum available up time for your users. If you have an unregistered version of LAN-Alarm, you may freely distribute it, providing it is distributed in its entirety. A production version of LAN-Alarm is fully protected by the copyright laws and cannot be copied and distributed. The unregistered version is a fully functional copy set to monitor only three devices and it will run for two hours. You can stop the program at anytime by pressing the ESC key. If you let the program run the full two hours, LAN-Alarm will stop running and require you to reboot your PC. You can then re-run LAN-Alarm again. If you would like an unregistered version sent to you, call NETMan and one will be sent to you free of charge. LAN-Alarm Page 6 3. What's New In Version 3 There are a few new features in LAN-Alarm version 3.x. The major enhancement you will notice is that LAN-Alarm now monitors IP devices. Version 3.0 o LAN-Alarm will now monitor any device with an IP address in addition to Novell file servers. LAN-Alarm will monitor Windows NT servers, Unix servers database servers, bridges or routers. LAN-Alarm Page 7 4. Hardware/Software Requirements o NETWORKS LAN-Alarm supports Novell NetWare 2.x, 3.x and 4.x file servers, Windows NT servers, Unix servers, database servers or any device that can be pinged with an IP address. o POCKET PAGER LAN-Alarm supports any Numeric or Alphanumeric paging system. o PC HARDWARE CONFIGURATION You can run LAN-Alarm either on a dedicated PC under DOS or as a DOS application under Microsoft Windows 3.1 running in 386 enhanced mode or you can run it as a DOS application under OS/2 and Windows 95. If you want to run LAN-Alarm under Windows 3.1 see section 11 (Running LAN-Alarm Under Windows 3.1). If you run LAN-Alarm on a dedicated PC, then you can use any old PC, especially that old PC-XT nobody wants anymore and you don't know what to do with. A modem on comm port 1 or 2. The PC must have a network card installed in it. When monitoring Novell file servers and/or IP addresses the PC does not need to be logged into the network, it just needs to be attached to a file server. LAN-Alarm Page 8 5. Installation Procedures If you received LAN-Alarm as a ZIP file, then unzip the file (as I'm sure you did in order to read these instructions) onto your hard drive. If you received a disk, then enter A:INSTALL or B:INSTALL. When you run the INSTALL program, you will see the LAN-Alarm logo screen followed by the welcome screen. If you're not using a mouse, you can use the tab and/or cursor keys to navigate through the screens. The welcome screen as well as the help screens have vertical scroll bars with up and down arrows. Using a mouse, you can click on the vertical scroll bar to scroll the screen up and down. You can also use the arrow keys on the keyboard. To configure LAN-Alarm, there are three screens for you to enter data. The first screen allows you to enter directory information. The second screen is for modem configuration information. And the third screen allows you to enter the file server names or IP addresses and pager information. Once you are done entering data on each screen, then click on the OK button. You will then go to the next screen. To get to the previous screen, click on the Previous button. If you need help, there is on-line help by clicking on the Help button. When the help window is displayed, you can click on the title bar and drag the help screen around to see the data input fields better. If you want to quit any time during the installation, just click on the Quit button and the installation will terminate. Although, for LAN-Alarm to work, you must complete the installation process. LAN-Alarm Page 9 6. Installation Location Screen The first data input screen after the Welcome screen is the Installation location screen. This is where you tell LAN-Alarm where you're installing LAN-Alarm from and to. Installing From: You must tell LAN-Alarm which drive you are installing from. If you are using a mouse click on the down arrow. If you are using your keyboard, enter the drive letter. So, if you are installing from the C drive press the letter C. You also need to identify which directory you are installing LAN-Alarm from. You can double click on the directory and the directory name will appear in the input field just below the drive letter. Or you can just enter the directory name manually. Installing To: Enter the drive and directory of where you want to install LAN-Alarm (i.e. 'C:\LANALARM'). Network Drive: If you are monitoring Novell file servers then in this field you identify your first network drive letter that is used to login to your Novell file servers. (i.e. F, K, etc.). This should be the drive letter where the LOGIN directory is located. LAN-Alarm does not require the PC to be logged into the network. The PC only needs to be attached to a server. If you are not attached or logged into the network during the installation, the network drive letters will not show up. You need to be attached or logged into the network during the installation. The LOGIN directory on all your file servers must contain the Novell program SLIST.EXE for NetWare 2.x and 3.x and NLIST.EXE for NetWare 4.x, for LAN-Alarm to monitor Novell servers. If this program is not in your LOGIN directory, you can find it in the PUBLIC directory and copy it to the LOGIN directory. These programs are normally put there during the installation of NetWare. Once you are done entering all the information on the Installation Location Screen, click on the OK button and the Communication Setup screen will be displayed. LAN-Alarm Page 10 7. Communication Setup Screen After the Installation Location Screen is completed and you click on the OK button, the Communication Setup screen is displayed. This screen allows you to configure LAN-Alarm for your specific modem. Communication Port: Identify which comm port your modem is using. LAN-Alarm supports comm port 1 and 2. Modem Initialization String: Some modems may require an initialization string. This field has been left blank. If you do not hear your modem dialing your pager or experience problems with your modem, you may want to enter an initialization string. You can reference your modem manual for the proper commands. All commands must be prefixed by 'AT'. For example to reset a modem back to factory defaults you can enter 'AT&F' in this field. If you have problems connecting to your alphanumeric paging service provider, you may need to use an initialization string. See Trouble-shooting the Alphanumeric Paging Process section. Dialing Method: 'ATDT' is for dialing using Tone. If your modem is connected to a pulse system, then enter 'ATDP' here, otherwise leave this field with 'ATDT'. Modem Speed: Select the modem speed you want your modem to dial out with. Your modem must support the speed you select. Most alphanumeric paging service providers only support 300 or 1200 baud. Unless you have reason to change the baud rate, it is best to just leave it at 300 baud. Once you are done entering all the information on the Communication Setup Screen, click on the OK button and the File Server and IP Device Setup screen will be displayed. LAN-Alarm Page 11 8. File Server and IP Device Setup Screen After the Communication Setup screen is completed and you click on the OK button, the File Server and IP Device Setup screen is displayed. This screen allows you to enter your Novell file server names or devices with IP addresses and pager information. Server Name/IP Addr: Enter the name of the Novell file server you want LAN-Alarm to monitor. LAN-Alarm will monitor NetWare 2.x, 3.x or 4.x file servers. Enter the name of the Novell file server as it appears in SYSCON or SLIST. If you want to monitor a device on your network that has an IP address, then enter the IP address here. LAN-Alarm is licensed by the number of devices you want to monitor. The unregistered version will monitor up to 3 devices. See the Pricing and Ordering Section at the end of this document for the price breakdown. To test LAN-Alarm, enter a Novell file server name or IP address that does not exist. When you run LAN-Alarm, it will not find that device on your network, and assume it is down and call your pager. You can enter up to three pagers per device. When the device goes down, LAN-Alarm will call each pager you entered. You can mix numeric with alphanumeric pagers. False Alarm Retry: LAN-Alarm checks every minute to see if the network devices you entered are active. If a device does not respond to LAN-Alarm it will call your pager(s). Sometimes a device becomes too busy and does not respond, therefore causing a false alarm by having LAN-Alarm send out a page indicating your network device is down. Possible causes for this can be due to such software as Cheyenne's Arcserve 5.0. During backups, Arcserve will cause a Novell file server utilization to go high and the server will not respond. Other causes of false alarms can be due to bridges or routers causing the servers to momentarily disappear from the network. If a device gives a false alarm, you may first want to determine why. Because if LAN-Alarm cannot access your device, then it is not accessible by your users. You can use the False Alarm Retry field to have LAN-Alarm try accessing LAN-Alarm Page 12 8. File Server and IP Device Setup Screen (Cont.) False Alarm Retry: (Cont.) your device over a given period of time before it pages you. You can enter from 1 to 99 in this field. So by putting a 10 in this field for a given device, LAN-Alarm will check that device every minute for 10 minutes. If after 10 minutes LAN-Alarm still cannot access the network device, it will then call your pager(s). Server or IP Addr (S or I): LAN-Alarm needs to know if the device you are monitoring is a Novell file server or a device with an IP address. This is because LAN-Alarm uses different mechanisms for monitoring these devices. This field only accepts an "S" for Novell file server names and an "I" for IP address. You must enter and "S" or "I". Pager Type (A or N): You can enter an 'A' for alphanumeric or 'N' for numeric pagers. If you have an alphanumeric pager, you can send a numeric page to it by entering an 'N' in this field and the proper pager number. If you enter a network device, then you must enter at least one pager. This field only accepts 'A' or 'N'. Call Every Hour (Y or N): You can have LAN-Alarm call your pager every hour when a device goes down. Enter a 'Y' for yes or an 'N' for no. You must enter either a 'Y' or 'N'. Pager Number: Enter the pager number you want LAN-Alarm to call. You must enter any area code or access code required to dial out through your modem. If you need to include any pauses between numbers, then enter a comma. Each comma is equivalent to 2 seconds. LAN-Alarm will page you two times. This is in case for whatever reason you do not get the first page. LAN-Alarm checks the network every 60 seconds to monitor all the devices. When LAN-Alarm detects a network device is down, LAN-Alarm will send out a page within the first minute. The second page will go out within two minutes of the first page. LAN-Alarm Page 13 8. File Server and IP Device Setup Screen (Cont.) Pause Time Before PIN #: Some numeric pagers use a PIN number. If your numeric pager uses a PIN number then you may need to enter some commas here to pause before the PIN number is sent and after the pager number is dialed. Each comma represents 2 seconds. If your numeric pager does not use a PIN number, then ignore this field. Pauses are not required for alphanumeric pagers and this field is ignored. PIN Number: If you selected an alphanumeric pager then you must enter a PIN number. You may obtain this PIN number from your paging service provider. The PIN number is also referred to as a Control number, Alpha number, pager number, etc. Some numeric pagers use a PIN number. If your numeric pager uses a PIN number then enter it here. You can enter up to 5 PIN numbers per pager number by separating each PIN number by one comma. This will allow you to page up to 5 different people for one pager number and up to 15 people for one file server. For example, you can enter 4531869,4531977,4532833 in the PIN number field and page these three pagers. Pause Time Before Message: If you selected a numeric pager, then you must enter a pause time. The default pause time is 12 seconds. You can change the pause time by adding or deleting the commas. Each comma represents 2 seconds. When LAN-Alarm calls a numeric pager, it will pause before it sends the numeric message. For some paging systems, 12 seconds may be too long, and others too short. If your paging system does not work with a 12 second pause before LAN-Alarm sends the message, you can regulate it by deleting or adding commas. Pauses are not required for alphanumeric pagers and this field is ignored if pager type is equal to 'A'. Message: If you selected an alphanumeric pager, and you are monitoring Novell file servers then a default message is provided 'Your Network File Server is Down'. This message also includes the LAN-Alarm Page 14 8. File Server and IP Device Setup Screen (Cont.) Message: (Cont.) name of the file server you entered. If you are monitoring devices using an IP address, then the message 'Your Network Device is Down' including the IP address in the message. You can override this message by entering your own message. The alphanumeric message can not be greater then 80 characters. If you selected a numeric pager, then you can only enter a numeric message. You can also enter an '*' which will display a '-' on your numeric pager. You can enter a different message for each file server so you can identify which file server went down. When adding servers or devices, the information remains on the screen making it easier to add multiple records by just changing the server name or device address. You must remember to change the pager message to reflect the new server name or device address since that information does not change on the screen. When you are done entering the file server name or IP address and pager information click on the Update button. This will add a record if the network device is a new one or update the record if the device is one that was already added before. After you are done adding all the network devices, click on the Done button and LAN-Alarm will be installed if you ran the Install program. If you ran the Setup program then your existing installation will be updated. Once you installed LAN-Alarm, then to change any data run the Setup program. This will allow you to change the comm setup and file server and IP device setup. When you run the Setup program, you can update the network device record. You can click on the Query button to query the network device records. You can also just enter the file server name or IP address, tab to the next field and the record for that device will display. Once the record is up on the screen, you can change the data and click on the Update button to update the record or click on the Delete button to delete the record. LAN-Alarm Page 15 9. Trouble-shooting LAN-Alarm If you ever bring a network device down for maintenance that LAN-Alarm is monitoring, you should stop LAN-Alarm first by pressing the ESC key. If you don't, LAN-Alarm will page you whenever you bring down a device it is monitoring. There are several ways you can test LAN-Alarm. One way is to enter a non existent file server name or IP address during the install process. Then run LAN-Alarm. LAN-Alarm will not see the network device and call your pager. Or you can also down your device. If you are monitoring only one Novell file server and down your server, LAN-Alarm may take up to 10 minutes to recover from the abort, retry message when connection is lost. You will see the clock stop on the LAN-Alarm screen and LAN-Alarm will call your pager in about 10 minutes. If you have more then one Novell server, then the PC can recover quickly by attaching to another server and call your pager immediately. Make sure you run the LANALARM.BAT batch file and not just the ALARM.EXE program. If you are using another batch file like the AUTOEXEC.BAT to run LAN-Alarm, it is best to just copy the contents of LANALARM.BAT to that batch file. If you find that LAN-Alarm always goes into the Alarm status and pages you when you run the program, you may not have specified the network drive during installation. To verify if you have specified the correct network drive letter, at the DOS prompt type the DIR.DAT file and the third line in the file should specify your first network drive letter. If it doesn't, then you need to rerun the install program and make sure you identify your network drive on the Installation Location Screen then click on OK then click on Quit. If you always need to be logged into the server to get LAN-Alarm to run properly, this may be a symptom of not specifying the network drive letter during installation. Follow the same procedure in the above paragraph to correct the problem. The ABORT.EXE program is a TSR that allows the PC that's running LAN-Alarm to recover from the abort, retry error message which occurs when the server the PC is attached to goes down. If the PC is running VLMs, the ABORT.EXE may not recover. If this occurs then it is recommended to run NETX instead of VLMs. ABORT.EXE has been certified to work with MS-DOS COMMAND.COM only and may not work with other DOS operating systems or COMMAND.COMs. ABORT.EXE is known not to work with Norton's version of COMMAND.COM. LAN-Alarm Page 16 10. Trouble-shooting The Alphanumeric Paging Process If you are not familiar with alphanumeric pagers and how they work, you may need to get acquainted. We have tried to make this process as simple and painless as possible, but unfortunately the paging service providers are not cooperating. If you are having problems getting LAN-Alarm to send your alphanumeric pager a page, and you just want to test LAN-Alarm to see if it works, you can still send a numeric page to your alphanumeric pager. Just enter "N" for Numeric Pager under Pager Type on the File Server and IP Device Setup Screen and enter the pager number used to send numeric pages to your alphanumeric pager. LAN-Alarm is based on the IXO Telocator protocol and has been tested with many paging service providers. Although the IXO protocol is assumed to be the standard, not all paging service providers follow the standards to the letter. Because of this, we cannot account for every possible variation and therefore you may need to make some adjustments. When LAN-Alarm calls the paging service provider, LAN-Alarm expects to receive specific prompts before it responds with the appropriate replies such as Pager (PIN) number and Message. If LAN-Alarm is unable to send a page to your alphanumeric pager then follow these trouble-shooting procedures. LAN-Alarm will try 5 times to send a page. When LAN-Alarm retries sending a page you will see a message in the Paging Status Window "Trying to Connect to Paging Company. Retry 2 of 5." If LAN-Alarm fails after 5 tries, the program will create or append to the ERROR.LOG file records with date and time stamp indicating that LAN-Alarm was never able to send a page. The ERROR.LOG file is an ASCII file. Each of the 5 times LAN-Alarm tries sending a page to your pager, LAN-Alarm creates a file called PAGE1.TMP through PAGE5.TMP. These are ASCII files that can be viewed using the DOS TYPE command at the DOS prompt. These files will contain the prompts sent by your paging service provider when LAN-Alarm dials the pager number. By looking at these files you can see what your paging service provider is sending and compare it to what LAN-Alarm is expecting. LAN-Alarm Page 17 10. Trouble-shooting The Alphanumeric Paging Process (Cont.) To see the prompts that LAN-Alarm expects to receive run the PAGER.EXE program. You will see a screen that says Alphanumeric Pager Setup with the following two windows. One is labeled Pager Prompts and the other labeled Pager Responses. LAN-Alarm Alphanumeric Pager Setup Pager Prompts Pager Responses 1 CONNECT 1 ^M 2 ID= 2 M 3 Page 3 PIN Number (Ignore) 4 Message 4 MESSAGE (Ignore) 5 xxxxxxxxxxxx 5 6 xxxxxxxxxxxx 6 7 xxxxxxxxxxxx 7 8 xxxxxxxxxxxx 8 9 xxxxxxxxxxxx 9 10 xxxxxxxxxxxx 10 When LAN-Alarm calls your pager it is expecting the pager prompts identified here and will send the corresponding responses. The prompts listed here are not the complete prompts but a portion of the prompt that uniquely identifies it. For example, the complete prompt sent by the paging service provider requesting the pager number may look like "Please Enter Pager Number:" or "Enter Page Id:". Looking for "Page" in the prompt as identified here on line three will work for either prompt. Once LAN-Alarm receives this prompt, LAN-Alarm will send the pager or PIN number you supplied on the File Server and IP Device Setup Screen. That's why it is ignored here and should not be entered. The x's in lines 5 through 10 are there so blanks or spaces will not be considered a valid prompt. By looking in the PAGE.TMP files you may see in these files a prompt for pager number that looks like "Please Enter ID". Since the word "Page" does not appear in the prompt, LAN-Alarm will fail sending the pager number. By replacing the word "Page" on the third line with "Enter ID", LAN-Alarm will now send the pager number when it sees the prompt "Please Enter ID". The prompts are case sensitive, so enter all data exactly as it appears in the PAGE.TMP files. When LAN-Alarm is sending out a page, you will see a Paging Status window providing the status of the paging process. The first message you will see if you provided an initialization string is, "Initializing Modem". After the modem is initialized, you will then see the message "Connecting to LAN-Alarm Page 18 10. Trouble-shooting The Alphanumeric Paging Process (Cont.) Paging Company". If you supplied the correct number, you will see a message "Connected to Paging Company". If the number you supplied is incorrect or there is a problem connecting to the paging service provider, you will see a message that says "LAN-Alarm never got connected to paging company, call tech support". When trying to send a page to an alphanumeric pager, you must make sure the pager number you entered is a number that will provide a modem signal or tone. You can dial the pager number using your phone and if you do not hear a modem, then you have an incorrect number. This is a common mistake for users unfamiliar with alphanumeric pagers. Your paging service provider will be able to give you the correct number to enter. If you see the CONNECT prompt in the PAGE.TMP files and nothing else, you still may be dialing a wrong pager number. Call your paging service provider and ask them for a phone number that will allow you to use an ANSI terminal to send an alphanumeric message to your pager. Once LAN-Alarm has successfully connected to your paging service provider, you will see the message "Connected to Paging Company". LAN-Alarm is now waiting for the "ID=" prompt. If LAN-Alarm receives the "ID=" prompt, you may see the message "Received Pager Id Prompt". If LAN-Alarm never gets the "ID=" prompt, then you will see a message "LAN-Alarm never got the pager id prompt, call tech support". If LAN-Alarm never receives the "ID=" prompt from the paging service provider, then the first item to check is the PAGE1.TMP through PAGE5.TMP files. Check and see if the paging service provider sent anything after the "CONNECT" message. Your paging service provider may use some other prompt besides "ID=". If this is the case then change the second line in the Pager Prompts using the PAGER.EXE program. Change it to the prompt your paging service provider sends. Once you make the changes rerun LAN-Alarm. If there is no message after the "CONNECT" prompt then the next item to check is the baud rate. Make sure you configured the modem setting to 300 baud. Some high speed modems using the new 16550 uart may not support low speeds. Most paging companies only exchange data at 300 baud even LAN-Alarm Page 19 10. Trouble-shooting The Alphanumeric Paging Process (Cont.) though they may connect at higher speeds. You may be able to get your modem to operate at 300 baud by adding an initialization string in the Communication Setup Screen. You will want to add the string to enable the old Bell 212A standard rather then the new CCITT protocol. You can do this by adding the B1 or N0 to the initialization string depending on your modem. You need to refer to your modem manual to find out which parameter sets your modem to the old Bell 212A standard. Run the SETUP.EXE program and add "ATB1" to the initialization string in the Communication Setup Screen and click on OK. In the File Server and IP Device Setup Screen click on Done and rerun LAN-Alarm. If changing the initialization string and baud rate to 300 does not fix the problem of not getting the "ID=" prompt, you may want to try an old 2400 baud modem. Keep the baud rate at 300 and try it with and without the initialization string. If LAN-Alarm still fails, you can call NETMan or send an e-mail to netman3@ix.netcom.com. If you call your paging service provider they can tell you what you need to do to get the "ID=" prompt. Special characters may need to be sent to the paging service provider once LAN-Alarm receives the "CONNECT" message. To have LAN-Alarm send these special characters, change the first line under Pager Responses. Replace the "^M" with the special character. Once LAN-Alarm receives the "ID=" prompt, the status window may show "Received Pager ID Prompt". LAN-Alarm will then send an "M", indicating manual mode. If you do not see "Sending Personal Identification Number" in the status window, then LAN-Alarm never received the PIN # prompt. You will see the message "LAN-Alarm never got pager PIN # prompt, call tech support." Check the PAGE1.TMP files to see if the "Page" prompt appears after the "ID=" prompt. Remember LAN-Alarm is expecting "Page" after the "ID=" prompt. If some other prompt is given by your paging service provider then replace "Page" with that prompt. If that is not the problem then some paging companies do not use a response of "M" for the ID code. If your paging company expects some other response for the "ID=" prompt, you will need to obtain the ID Passcode from your paging service provider and replace the "M" in the second line of Pager Responses with the correct passcode. LAN-Alarm Page 20 10. Trouble-shooting The Alphanumeric Paging Process (Cont.) Once LAN-Alarm receives the proper pager number prompt then the status window will show "Sending Personal Identification Number". The next message that should appear in the status windows is "Sending Message to Pager". If this message does not appear then LAN-Alarm will display the message "LAN-Alarm never got the message prompt, call tech support.". Check the PAGE1.TMP files to see what the paging service provider is sending and modify the Pager Prompts accordingly. If you are still unsuccessful in getting LAN-Alarm to send an alphanumeric page to your pager, then please call NETMan or send an e-mail to netman3@ix.netcom.com and we will get it to work for you. Please include as much information as possible such as Pager number, PIN number, Paging Service provider phone number and contents of the PAGE1.TMP through PAGE5.TMP files. Also if you did get LAN-Alarm to send a page to your pager but had to make changes to get LAN-Alarm to send a page, please let us know so we can update the LAN-Alarm software. LAN-Alarm Page 21 11. Loading the TCPIP Driver To Monitor IP Devices If you want to monitor devices on your network that have an IP address, then you need to load the TCPIP.EXE program after you load your other network drivers. This is the last network driver to load. To test out the TCPIP driver and the PING program to ensure they work properly, at the DOS prompt type TCPIP. It should load without any error messages and you should come back to the DOS prompt. Then ping one of your devices using the IP address for that device. For example if your IP address is 128.128.0.10 then enter "PING 128.128.0.10" at the DOS prompt. You should see the message "128.128.0.10 Answered". If you don't, then you are not getting to the device or there is a problem with the TCPIP driver loading properly. This may be due to the NET.CFG not having the correct sections. A sample NET.CFG file is provided showing you what is required in your NET.CFG file. You must have a Link Support, Protocol TCPIP and Link Driver section with the following lines in each section. If these sections are not in your NET.CFG file then add them to your NET.CFG file. Link Support Buffers 8 1500 MemPool 4096 Protocol TCPIP ip_address 158.123.1.10 (Your PCs IP Address) Link Driver Frame ETHERNET_802.3 # ethernet II packets Frame ETHERNET_II # 802.3 packets Protocol IPX 0 ETHERNET_802.3 #make IPX use 802.3 Once you have the TCPIP driver working you can add the TCPIP driver to the LANALARM.BAT file just before the ABORT /AA >> NUL: line. You may want to add the TCPIP line to the batch file then run the batch file and exit the LAN-Alarm program and test the PING program once again. LAN-Alarm Page 22 12. Running LAN-Alarm Under Windows 3.1 LAN-Alarm will run under Microsoft Windows as a DOS application either in foreground or background. Windows MUST be running in 386 enhanced mode for LAN-Alarm or any DOS application to run in background mode. To run in background mode make sure the PIF file you use for LAN-Alarm has background checked off under Execution. This allows any DOS application to run in background. A PIF file is provided for you to use called LANALARM.PIF and has the proper settings for most PCs to run LAN-Alarm in background. When you set up LAN-Alarm under Windows make sure you use the PIF file. You should test LAN-Alarm using the PIF file because you may need to change some PIF settings to support your PC configuration. LAN-Alarm also comes with an icon called LANALARM.ICO. You can use this icon if you set up LAN-Alarm to run under Windows. LAN-Alarm Page 23 13. LAN-Alarm Program Files ABORT.EXE This program handles the abort, retry error message that will appear when the Novell file server the PC is attached to goes down. In order for LAN-Alarm to send out a page, the PC must recover from the abort, retry error message. Normally the abort, retry will cause a PC to lock up until a user response of 'A' or 'R' is given. This program is a TSR and automatically supplies the abort response. ALARM.EXE This program monitors the network devices to check if they are up and running and sends out the pages. ANSI.COM This program loads the ANSI.SYS driver if it is not loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file. ANSI.SYS is needed by LAN-Alarm COMM.DAT This is a data file that stores the communication setup parameters. DIR.DAT This is a data file storing the directory information from the Installation Location Screen. ERROR.LOG If a network device goes down and LAN-Alarm is having trouble sending out a page through the paging service provider then it will create an ERROR.LOG or append to an existing ERROR.LOG if one exists. If this file is created then you will want to determine why there was a problem sending out a page. INSTALL.DAT This is a data file used by LAN-Alarm during the installation and setup of LAN-Alarm. LAN-Alarm Page 24 13. LAN-Alarm Program Files (Cont.) INSTALL.EXE This program installs the LAN-Alarm software and sets up the configuration parameters. This program should be run when you want to install the software on a PC. To change any configuration parameters once the installation is complete, then run the SETUP.EXE program. INSTDIR.EXE This is one of LAN-Alarm's program files executed during the installation. It is called by the INSTALL.EXE program. This program should not be run on it's own. LANALARM.BAT This is the Batch file that needs to be executed to run LAN-Alarm. This batch file runs the ABORT.EXE, ANSI.COM and the ALARM.EXE programs. LANALARM.DAT This file contains the network device names and pager information entered during the installation. DO NOT edit this file to change any parameters or LAN-Alarm may not work properly. Use the SETUP program to modify the LANALARM.DAT file. The SETUP program can be used to add or delete network devices as well as modify the pager information. LANALARM.ICO A LAN-Alarm icon for Windows users. LANALARM.LOG This file is created the first time LAN-Alarm detects a network device is down and appended to thereafter. Two lines are written to this file each time LAN-Alarm calls your pager. For example the two lines written to this file are; * Network Device PROD1 was down on 06-07-1994 at 21:58:57 Calling pager number 7283456 LAN-Alarm Page 25 13. LAN-Alarm Program Files (Cont.) LANALARM.PIF If you run LAN-Alarm under Windows then you may want to use this PIF file. This PIF contains the proper settings to run LAN-Alarm under Windows. NET.CFG This is a sample NET.CFG file containing the necessary sections for the TCPIP driver to load properly. This file is provided to show you what sections to add to your NET.CFG file. PAGE1.TMP - PAGE5.TMP These files are created every time LAN-Alarm calls an alphanumeric pager. PAGE1.TMP is always created. PAGE2.TMP through PAGE5.TMP are created if LAN-Alarm cannot send a page to your alphanumeric pager and has to retry. LAN-Alarm will try 5 times to send a page to your alphanumeric pager. These files can be used to help determine why LAN-Alarm is having trouble sending out pages to your pager. PAGER.EXE If LAN-Alarm is having trouble sending out a page to your paging service provider because it is not waiting for the correct prompts or sending the correct responses, you can run this program to change the pager prompts and responses. You are provided with the standard pager prompts and responses but this can be changed to suit your needs. PAGER.RCV This file contains the pager prompts expected from the paging service provider when sending out a page. This file can be modified by the PAGER.EXE program. PAGER.SND This file contains the responses once the pager prompts are received. This file can be modified by the PAGER.EXE program. LAN-Alarm Page 26 13. LAN-Alarm Program Files (Cont.) PING.EXE This program is used to ping the IP device to see if they are up. README.DOC Documentation file. The one you're reading now. SETUP.EXE Once you installed LAN-Alarm and you want to change any communication or file server and pager information, the SETUP.EXE programs allows you to change these parameters. TCPIP.EXE This is the TCPIP driver required to ping the IP devices on your network. This driver must be loaded if you are checking IP devices. WELCOM.EXE This program is called by the INSTALL.EXE program during installation of LAN-Alarm and should not be run on its own. LAN-Alarm Page 27 14. Pricing and Ordering Information LAN-Alarm is licensed by the number of network devices you want to monitor. LICENSE Price -------------------------- ----- Unregistered Version - FREE 5 Network Device Version - $ 49 10 Network Device Version - $ 79 15 Network Device Version - $109 20 Network Device Version - $149 25 Network Device Version - $189 Unlimited Network Devices - $239 To order your copy of LAN-Alarm, send check or money order in United States dollars only. Foreign currency will NOT be accepted. Company Purchase Orders are accepted. Just send a copy of the P.O. or call with P.O number. For COD add an additional $10. A copy of LAN-Alarm and softcopy documentation can be sent via e-mail if requested. Please provide your e-mail id. A software disk and hardcopy documentation will be sent in addition to being sent by e-mail. For orders outside the United States excluding Canada, please add an additional $10 for shipment of software disk and hardcopy documentation. To avoid shipping charges on international orders, order LAN-Alarm and softcopy documentation via e-mail only. Please send inquiries and orders to; NETMan 505 Walker Rd. Safety Harbor, Fl 34695 U.S.A. Voice (813) 799-2883 FAX (813) 724-8316 Internet ID netman3@ix.netcom.com LAN-Alarm comes with full technical support. Call anytime between the hours of 9:00 AM through 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time or send an e-mail. You can upgrade from any version of LAN-Alarm by paying the difference between your version and the upgrade version. NETMan will provide one year of free upgrades and unlimited technical support. 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