# OpManager Administrator Guide

- [Synchronization](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/administrator-guide.html#data-synchronization)
- [Alerts and notifications](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/administrator-guide.html#alarms)
- [User management](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/administrator-guide.html#user-management)
- [Dashboard and reports](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/administrator-guide.html#dashboard-and-reports)
- [Probe details page](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/administrator-guide.html#probe-details)

## Synchronization across the Central & Probe servers

While monitoring multiple, remote locations, the pooled data presented in the Central server should be accurate. OpManager provides real time, accurate information over multiple, remote sites by synchronizing the data between the Central and the Probe servers.

**Data Synchronization:**

When a custom device in the IT infrastructure needs to be monitored, a suitable device template can be created in OpManager. Instead of creating a new device template in every Probe server, OpManager allows you to create a suitable template once in the Central server. This data will be synchronized with the Probe servers and you can start monitoring the devices right away in all the Probe servers.

For e.g, Addition of device templates, Deletion of an alarm, etc.,

Any data that is created or deleted in Probe servers will be synchronized with the Central server and vice versa.

**Configuration Synchronization:**

The changes made to the configurations in the Central server and probe servers will be synchronized as mentioned in the table below.

✓ - Synchronized  
✗ - Will not be synchronized

| Configuration Changes | Central to Probe | Probe to Central |
|---|---|---|
| Device Template | ✓ | ✓ |
| Device Categories | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Fields | ✓ | ✗ |
| Rule Engine | ✗ | ✗ |
| Vendor Template | ✗ | ✗ |
| Interface Template | ✗ | ✗ |
| URL Template | ✓ | ✓ |
| Device Downtime schedule | ✗ | ✗ |
| Groups | ✗ | ✗ |
| Alarm Escalation Rules | ✗ | ✗ |
| Quick Configuration Wizard | ✗ | ✗ |
| Performance Monitors | ✓ | ✓ |
| Application Monitors | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows Services | ✓ | ✓ |
| VMware Events | ✗ | ✗ |
| Processes | ✓ | ✓ |
| Files | ✓ | ✓ |
| Folders | ✓ | ✓ |
| Agents | ✗ | ✗ |
| Service Monitors | ✓ | ✓ |
| URLs | ✓ | ✓ |
| EventLog Rules | ✓ | ✓ |
| SNMP Trap Processors | ✓ | ✓ |
| Syslog Rules | ✓ | ✓ |
| Script Templates | ✓ | ✓ |
| IP SLA | ✓ | ✓ |
| Notification Profiles | ✗ | ✗ |
| Workflow | ✗ | ✗ |

**Discovery process in OpManager Enterprise Edition**

Discovery is the process of identifying physical and virtual resources such as routers, switches, servers, firewalls, virtual machines, and interfaces in your networking environment and collecting information about them.

Since Probe servers act as polling engines, the discovery process should be initiated in the Probe servers only. In the Central server, a unified view of all the devices discovered in all the Probes is displayed.

**Device discovery**

- [Adding Device Credentials](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/add-credentials.html)
- [Discovering Networks](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/discover-networks.html)
- [Discovering Individual Devices](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/add-device.html)
- [Adding devices using SSH](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/adding-devices-using-ssh.html)
- [Configuring Discovery Rule Engine](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/configuring-discovery-rule-engine.html)
- [Layer 2 Discovery](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/how-to/draw-layer2-maps.html)

## Alert & Notification mechanism

**Alerts** - Alerts/Alarms are messages representing failure or fault in your networking environment. Alerts are triggered due to threshold violations, SNMP traps, and device failures. Alerts will be generated for all devices, processes, and services monitored by OpManager.

**Alert Categories in OpManager**

| Alerts | Color Representation |
|---|---|
| Clear | Green |
| Attention | Yellow |
| Trouble | Orange |
| Critical | Red |
| Service Down | Purple |

**Monitoring devices & services in OpManager**

To monitor and manage network resources such as devices, follow the instructions in [this page](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/host-resource-monitoring.html).

- Alerts will be generated by Probe servers only based on threshold violations, SNMP traps received, etc.,
- Alerts generated by Probe servers will be synchronized with the Central server. A unified view of all the alerts is provided in the Central server.

**Notification Profiles**

Notification profile in OpManager is used to notify a network administrator of faults in the network, and for hierarchical escalation. It is also used to perform actions such as logging trouble tickets, running a system command, and much more when an alert is generated.

Since multiple IT teams are employed to monitor remote locations, the alerts generated for a particular remote network should be notified to the respective team. This aids in faster troubleshooting and avoiding unwanted alerts. Similarly, if any Probe server stops communicating with the Central server, the central server loses visibility into that particular network. This needs to be notified to the admin/technician monitoring the Central server.

OpManager lets network admins configure dedicated Notification Profiles in the Central server as well as in the Probe servers.

For configuring notification profiles, follow the instructions in [this page](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/configuring-notifications.html).

- For email notification to function, [Mail Server Settings has to be configured](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/mail-server-settings.html).
- For SMS notification to function, [SMS server settings has to be configured](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/sms-server-settings.html).
- TheNotification Profiles that are configured in the Central server will not be synchronized with Probe servers and vice versa.

## User Management

Enterprise networks span over multiple locations. For monitoring these remote locations, dedicated IT teams are employed. OpManager Enterprise Edition makes it easier to manage user access, and roles for multiple IT teams with User Management. Since remote locations are handled by different teams, the required access/roles can be created in the respective Probe servers, making it easier for managing users. Without using an external third party identity management tool, users can be managed within OpManager. User Management in OpManager involves;

- Restricting access to users
- Providing role-based access to users
- Providing scope-based access to users

For adding users in OpManager, follow the instructions in [this page](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/add-domain.html).

- User profiles created in the Central server will not be synchronized with probe servers.
- Similarly, user profiles created in probe servers will not be synchronized with the Central server.

## Dashboards & Reports

**Dashboard** - Dashboard provides a graphical summary of your entire IT infrastructure in one place. It displays real-time information of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in the form of populated graphs, summary of various devices, monitors, and much more.

Dashboards can be easily customized in the Central and probe servers.

**Site SnapShot widget in the Central server** provides an at-a-glance view of the remote sites being monitored. It lists the probes along with the number of devices and active alarms. You can also embed the widget in your website by clicking on the 'Embed Widget' icon. This helps in monitoring remote sites without logging into OpManager.

To customize a dashboard, follow the instructions in [this page](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/Custom-Dashboard.html).

**Report** - Report is a record of all the alerts in OpManager over a predefined time frame. Reports are generated for devices, interfaces, business views and much more. With reports, performance of networking devices can be tracked. OpManager has 100+ pre-built reports. Reports are highly customizable and can be created/scheduled as per requirement.

**Central** - Consolidated reports for all Probe servers and Probe specific-reports can be generated in Central.

**Probe** - Reports of all networking devices in the monitored location can be generated in Probe servers.

Click the links below to know more about:

- [Types of Reports](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/reporting.html)
- [Creating New Reports](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/create-new-report.html)
- [Editing Reports](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/edit-reports.html)
- [Scheduling Reports](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/schedule-reports.html)

## Probe Details page

Probe Details page provides an overview of the number of probes under the Central Server and the status of each probe. It displays information such as Probe Name, IP Address of server in which the probe is installed, Probe status, Number of managed devices & Last contact time. Email notification can be configured for Probe Down alert in this page.

**Probe Status**

**Running** - Probe is up and communicating with the Central server

**Server Down** - Probe is down

**Connection Lost** - Probe is not communicating with the Central server

If the probes are configured for *High Availability* (Failover Mechanism)

**Running as Primary** - Probe is up and running in the primary server

**In Stand-by mode** - Probe is running in secondary server. Primary server is down.

**Accessing Probe Details page**

- Go to **_OpManagerCentral > Settings > Configuration > Probe Details_**.
- The Probe Details page is displayed with the list of all probes.

**Editing Probe Information**

- Go to **_Settings > Configuration > Probe Details_**.
- Click on the required Probe from the list of Probes.
- **Edit Probe Details** pop up window appears.
- By default, the details such as *NAT Protocol, NAT Name, NAT Port* are entered in their respective fields.
- These details can be edited by clicking on them.

**Adding recipient for Probe Down notification**

- Go to Settings > Configuration > Probe Details.
- Click on the required Probe from the list of Probes.
- **Edit Probe Details** pop up window appears.
- Enter the name and the email address of the individual to be notified in the *Contact Name* and *Contact Email* fields respectively.

For email notification to work, [Mail Server Settings has to be configured.](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/mail-server-settings.html)