WebWatch

A Web Site Monitor for Win9x/ME/NT/2000/XP

December 2003: V5.3 Now also monitors registry entries for presence and correctness
- Monitor one site FREE and indefinitely with trial version

March 2003: V5.0 Now also monitors FTP sites and files, and system memory

What is WebWatch?
What can it do?
Sample Control File
Registration and Licensing Information
Download a copy
What's new in WebWatch

What is WebWatch?

If you run one or more commercial or mission-critical Web sites, WebWatch will save you time, money and stress! It is a Web and FTP site monitor program which will regularly and automatically request pages or directory listings from any sites you like, and take corrective or notification action if any are "down", invalid or can't be contacted. It will also monitor the health of the computer on which it is running itself.

Web and FTP sites are now a critical information tool for many businesses — critical to the businesses owning the sites, and to those who provide Web site services.

Unfortunately, the Internet is a complex organism, and prone to failure. Connections get lost, domain names get "mislaid", servers go down and with automated Web sites there are yet more layers which might go wrong.

WebWatch keeps an eye not just on connections (which any ping program can do), but also on the Web servers themselves, and any Web site applications behind them... Above all, it does so in an automated fashion, running the checks every minute, every hour — as often as you need.

We encourage you to try WebWatch out by downloading a copy, looking at the help file and sample control file that comes with it and, of course, using it to monitor your own sites!

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What can WebWatch do?

Here are nine good reasons to use WebWatch:

It can monitor one (Free), up to 4 (Standard version) or an unlimited number (Extended version) of independent Web URLs, checking them as often as you like.
It can monitor FTP servers, specific directories or collections of files to check for bad connections, missing files or unwanted file accumulations (by size, age or count)
It can monitor disk, file and memory conditions on the WebWatch machine itself
It can identify problems including lost connections or server down, bad or lost pages, misbehaving CGI applications, and can even tell you if keywords are missing from the requested page. It also incorporates special checking features for the Webhub site automation framework.
When WebWatch finds something wrong, it can:
- Log the problem
- Display it
- Sound an audible alarm via speaker and sound card
- Send a warning email (or fax via a faxmail service) to one or more addresses
- Send a message via an alternate route if email itself is down!
- Send a message via TurboNote+
- Send a pager message to one or more pagers using Ron Tanner's PowerPager32 DLL
- Run an external program on the WebWatch computer (e.g. a LAN messaging system)
- Request another URL from the Web server (such as a CGI URL which runs an on-site program to fix the problem or restart the server)
  All of these actions can be independently customised for each URL!
It's small (the executable is under 1MB) and will run on any Win9x-or-later computer with an active Internet connection, including through a proxy server!
Although it is a Windows program, you can use it to effectively monitor Web sites running on any server, anywhere in the world (including on the same machine of course!)
Regular and flexible reporting options include emailing of accumulated error logs (if any) access counts and timing information
And, as a special bonus feature, WebWatch has an option to check all the external links in any file or site document you want — no more worries about off-site links going astray when they move!

Using WebWatch, you can of course monitor your own sites, but you can also offer a "Site Watch" service monitoring any mission-critical sites out there. So rather than costing you money, WebWatch actually offers you a new revenue-earning opportunity.

ISPs using WebWatch or a Site Watch service will be able to reassure their clients that "our sites are independently monitored every hour of the day — if something goes wrong, we'll know about it and take action." That's an important service offering and a notable competitive edge...

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Sample Control File

Below is a sample control file (webwatch.ini), which includes comments and examples illustrating how many of the key features work. Far more information is found in the help file included when you download WebWatch.

[Control]
; lines are ignored if they start with a semi-colon like this one,
; or from the semi-colon on on lines like those following

; General controls and test mode settings
SkipHttp=No	; Yes==>don't do HTTP requests
SkipFTP=No	; Yes==> don't do FTP requests
SkipEmail=Yes  	 ; Yes==>don't do Email transmissions,
	;change to "No" when the Mailhost and address are correct
SkipPager=Yes  	 ; Yes==>don't send Pager messages
	;change to "No" when you are ready to go live.

VerboseFTP=No

LogToFile=Yes	; Record problems in WebWatch.Log as well as display
Frequency = 1	; One minute between each set of URL tests
	  ; (can customize for each URL), could also have been specified as 60s

DaysBetweenMasterReports=1	;Only Changeable for Registered versions, 0 = disabled
AlarmSound=ringin.wav		; If not defined, uses Windows "exclamation"
MaxError=1			; Take error action after the FIRST error

; Overall Email setup details
MailFrom=WebWatch@yoursite.com	; origin for emails sent from the site
MasterEmail=you@yourDomain.com	; For URLS with no Email1 defined (see below)
FaxEmail=fax@faxmail.com		; For faxing error reports via Faxmail service...
MailHost=smtp.yourisp.com
MailPort=25			;default usually you shouldn't have to change this
MessageSubjectLine=!!!SPIS WebWatch problem report from ^!!!
ReportMessageSubjectLine=SPIS WebWatch summary from ^
EmailFallBack=Pager1		; if email fails, default is TurboNote

; All-important proxy information (if you are using a firewall or proxy server)
Proxy=MyProxy:80		; A proxy server that all http requests will be sent through
;ProxyAuthName=			; only include this if it is required...
;ProxyAuthPassword=		; ditto

; Overall FTP setup details
FTPProxy=MyProxy:21
FTPProxyType=Open		;  default=User
FTPPassiveMode=No		; Set to Yes if there are problems getting dir listings

; Overall TurboNote setup details
MasterTurboNote=Peter  		; the default recipient of any TurboNotes sent by Webwatch
TurboNotePath=c:\Program Files\TurboNote\tbnote.exe	; that's the default actually

;Overall Pager setup details.
PagerPort=COM2	;where is the modem we dial the pager with?
ModemInitString='AT&F0&K0&I0&M0B1M0&N0M1L1~ATE0V1S7=30~'
ModemDialString=atdt	;this is the default, so you don't really need to specify it

; Set default actions to take if none is specified
DefaultAction=Email1,MajorError1	; This is the default anyway...
ReportAction=Email1		; Where to send each Site report

; Error handling controls
TimeOut=60s	; 60 seconds (page requests, FTP logons, etc)
MaxError=3	; Allow 3 regular errors before an ErrorN is triggered
MaxMajorError=2	; Allow 2 MajorErrors before a MajorErrorN is triggered
ClearMajorErrorsOnGoodPageFetch=Yes	; so temporary glitches don't accumulate

; That's the end of the [Control] section

; Below we define header information for faxmailed responses
[FAX]
1=SENDER-ID:      steve
2=CHARGE-CODE:    Just a charge code
3=FAX:            (03) 356-3342
4=REPORT-TO:      peter@spis.co.nz
5=REPORT-TYPE:    NONE
6=password
7=END:

; Below we define the URLs we want to check, AND their sequence.
; Note that this sequence of URLS *could* be used to automate some
; kind of on-site operation which was set up to be URL-controlled.
; If so, you'd use WebWatch's command-line script override option
; to run a script composed for that purpose,
; e.g. WebWatch UPDATE_SITE.INI
; (it would have a Frequency of 0 for a one-off operation then exit)

[URLS]
SPIS=http://webcentre.co.nz		; watch our home page
FTPExample=ftp://anonymous()@spis.co.nz/spis	; our FTP server, see below
TurboNote=http://TurboNote.com/TNPLUSINTRO	; watch this page
DriveC=C:,500	; warn if less than 500MB free on WebWatch machine's C drive
WatchMailDir=c:\email-queue\*.001	; Check counts/ages of these files
WatchSignalFile=c:\signals\fatalerror?.ini ; watch for this (single) file
WatchMemory=40	; error if < 40MB Physical memory available

; Here are default overrides for the SPIS checks (which just looks at
; the home page of our site):
[SPIS]
Email1=you@yourDomain.com   ; default person to send warning emails
Email2=webmaster@ISP.com    ; Email2..9 can be defined and used for specific kinds of errors
NoConnectAction=Email2,Alarm     ; Beep and email your ISP
UnknownErrorAction=Email2,Alarm  ; As above
BadURLAction=Email1,Alarm        ; Tell you (that's the default behaviour actually)
proxy=none   ;over-ride the Proxy declaration in the [Control] section

; Here are default overrides for the TurboNote Site checks:
[TurboNote]
Email1=you@yourDomain.com
IgnorePeriodStart1=5:30 ; Don't check in this period (scheduled downtime)
IgnorePeriodDuration1=5 ; minutes   (max nine such periods can be specified)
Program1=NOTEPAD.EXE    ; this could be a pager program, for example
SendURL1=http://TurboNote.com/cgi/RebootMe.bat  ; if it can connect, that is!
Fax1=03 384-5138
Match1=/TurboNote+   ; If the word TurboNote+ is NOT found on the page, then...
MatchAction1=Program1,SendURL1,Fax1,Alarm,Pager2  ;  do all this, see below for Pager2
TimeoutAction=Email1,Alarm
NoConnectAction=Program1,Email1,Alarm,pager1
UnknownErrorAction=Program1,Email1,Alarm

[FTPExample]
Email2=sidekick@you.com    ; Email2..9 can be defined and used for specific kinds of errors
MaxFiles=99
MinFiles=0
MaxFileAge=100h ; defaults to mins
MaxFileSize=20000000 ; bytes, error if larger than this
MonitorDirectory1=*.exe	; look at the EXEs in the default FTP dir
FileCheck1=Email2	; email them if age/size/count are wrong
MonitorDirectory2=/secret/*.zip	; look at zip files in /secret
FileCheck2=Email1,Alarm	; and do this if they fail size/count/age checks
NoConnectAction=Email2
TimeoutAction=Email3


[WatchSignalFile]
MinFiles=0
MaxFiles=0	; This basically says: if file c:\signals\fatalerror?.ini EXISTS, it's an error!

[WatchMailDir]
MaxFiles=50	; If we get to more than 50 such files, there's a problem
MinFiles=0
MaxFileAge=5h	; defaults to mins
MaxFileSize=2000	; bytes!
AllowTemporaryFileLimitBreak=True	; so temp conditions don't worry us, but trends do
TurboNote1=Joe "message here boss	; What message to send, to whom
FileCheckError=TurboNote1		; Send via TurboNote


; Define the Pagers to call.
[PAGER1]
ACTION=BEEPER
PagerPhoneNumber=555-12345689 ;required
Delay=10                      ;seconds, required, recommend at least 10
DigitsToSend=101**1234567     ;required

[PAGER2]
Action=SendAlphaPage                      ;another possible action
baud=2400                                 ;default 300
PagerPhoneNumber=555-12345678             ;the service number of the Pager service
PagerID=244233                            ;obvious enough
MaxCharPerBlock=40    ;Characters per line of your page defined by your pager service
message=Webwatch problem: Check your email for details
DebugFile=Pager2.bug     ;only works for sendAlphaPage. Provides a file to help with pager problems

; And that's it!

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Registration and Licensing Information

Registration entitles you to:

Your personal Registration Number, which will allow you to set the MasterEmail reminder message frequency, and to monitor up to four sites (Standard version) or an unlimited number of sites (Extended version)
The latest version and documentation, if updated
Rapid email assistance with any problems you encounter when using WebWatch
Free upgrades (downloaded from this Web site) as far as version 5.9
Our thanks for supporting quality products for Web site hosts and developers

Prices

Standard version: 1-4 sites. Registration: $NZ 95 (approx $US 64)
Extended version: Unlimited sites. Registration: $NZ 195 (approx $US 130)

To register WebWatch, download the latest version from this site, and see the Registration topic in the Help file — there's a handy form there you can use.

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Downloading WebWatch

Go ahead and download WebWatch V5.3, unzip it into any directory, and see the help file for information on getting started. Here is the link:

WebWatch 5.3, including help file and examples (647K)

New In WebWatch V5.3

Monitoring of Registry contents and values
Improved and more flexible alert message subject lines
SMTP authentication for those servers which require it
Smaller program size

New In WebWatch V5.0 (March 2003)

FTP site and directory/file monitoring (by file count, size and age)
Memory monitoring on the local (Webwatch) machine
Improved local directory/file monitoring
TurboNote+ messaging support
Email fall-back support to another service if email sending fails for any reason
Smarter directory/filecount monitoring
Improved user interface, including new shortcuts and options
Extended reporting information

A detailed list of improvements is in the new help file. If you are an existing user, you'll find that this version is fully compatible with the control files from previous versions, so upgrade the program and help while keeping your existing control file, then check out the new features in the help!

Enjoy!

While you're waiting for the download, why not leave your email address so we can notify you of any significant improvements to the product? We won't bother you with minor amendments, but we'd be happy to advise you when a major upgrade occurs.

Name:  

Email:

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