WhatsUp Gold 2023.1 Release Notes

The following options have been added to the Role/Sub role Editor dialog applicable to the automatic monitoring of devices following discovery:

• Discovery Options:
  • Default behavior. Devices matching this role will be considered as per the normal discovery process.
  • Always show devices. Devices matching this role will be visible in the discovered network.
  • Always hide devices. Devices matching this role will be hidden in the discovered network.
  • Delete devices. Devices matching this role will be deleted from the discovered network.
  • Delete devices and add to global exclusions. Devices matching this role will be deleted and added to the global exclusion list.

• Monitoring Options:
  • Do not auto-monitor devices. Devices matching this role will not automatically be monitored.
  • Auto-monitor new devices. New devices matching this role will be automatically added to the monitored network after discovery.
  • Auto-update existing monitored devices. Existing monitored devices matching this role will be updated after discovery.
  • Auto-monitor and auto-update devices. New devices will be automatically added to the monitored network or existing monitored devices will be updated that match this role.

Please note, for these selections to take effect, you must have the applicable Automatic Monitoring Settings options enabled. These can be found on the Options tab of the Discovery wizard.

The WhatsUp Gold monitors library now contains a monitor which allows you to create individual SNMP monitors for each row in a table on a device (e.g., interface, disk, fan) based on specific discovery conditions. While this monitor can be assigned directly to a device, it is designed to be configured and assigned to a role or subrole prior to running a discovery scan. When a device is discovered and assigned a role/subrole with the SNMP table monitor applied, individual SNMP active monitors are then applied to each table row on that device. For detailed information and instruction, please see the SNMP Table Monitor help topic.

The options applicable to monitored devices available in the Discovery Scan wizard have been expanded and enhanced for this version of WhatsUp Gold. When the Monitored Devices checkbox is enabled, the following related options are available:

• Automatically update monitored devices. Enable this option to refresh both host and system properties for monitored devices. Please note, the Keep Details Current option in Device Properties must be enabled.
  • Update names for Interface and SNMP Table Active Monitors. Enable this option to update device names as part of the discovery scan based on new information found on the device applicable to interface state (active or inactive).
  • Enable or disable Interface and SNMP Table Active Monitors. Enable this option to allow Interface Active Monitors to be enabled or disabled as part of the discovery scan based on new information found on the device applicable to interface state (active or inactive).
  • Include user-defined/assigned roles. Enable this option to ensure any roles previously assigned to the device(s), including those previously defined by the user, are retained following refresh/rescan.
  • Reset Device.
    • Reset Monitors. Enable this option to wipe all monitors and related history from the device(s).
    • Reset Attributes. Enable this option to reset attributes on the device(s).
  • Remove Stale Data. Enable this option to reset the inventory and discovery data for the user-defined time period. Please note, the historical monitoring and configured data is retained.

The Attributes tab now supports the creation of custom SNMP, WMI, and InfoSet discovery attributes using dynamic percent variables. These attributes may be added to either roles or subroles. Additionally, InfoSet discovery attributes gather information using existing data stored in the WhatsUp Gold database. For detailed information and instruction, please see the Custom Attributes help topic.

The Credentials Library user interface has been enhanced to include a new column entitled Devices using this credential. Here, you'll see the quantity of devices to which each configured credential is currently assigned.

Each number displayed is hyperlinked and, when clicked, launches a subsequent dialog presenting a list of devices using that credential. Additionally, the credential-specific dialog allows you to filter the information displayed by device/device group and to change the selected credential without leaving the dialog.

The User Preferences dialog now allows you to choose your desired Time Format. You can choose to display times in WhatsUp Gold using either 12 or 24-hour format.

In previous versions of WhatUp Gold, you needed to indicate during the installation process if you wanted to either install or connect to an existing instance of Elasticsearch for the purposes of using WhatsUp Gold Log Management. You can now connect to an existing Elasticsearch instance post-installation using the WhatsUp Gold user interface.

Select Log Management > Log Management Settings from the SETTINGS menu to launch the Log Management Settings dialog. Here, you can define your Elasticsearch server by entering the applicable IP address, port number, username and password. Please note, this dialog also allows you to indicate if you'd like to use SSL for your connection to Elasticsearch as well as configure your desired Log Collection and Syslog Server Settings. For detailed information and instruction, please see the Log Management Settings help topic.

The Monitors tab within the Device Properties view now presents additional information about each monitor on the device including any actions and policies applied.

Actions and policies listed in this column are hyperlinked and, when clicked, launch the Actions Applied full page report.

The Alert Center dashboard has been enhanced for this version of WhatsUp Gold. The list of thresholds displayed can be sorted by either number of items out of threshold (high to low) or by threshold name alphabetically. The number in parentheses to the right of each threshold name displayed is the number of items either out of threshold or currently in threshold (that were previously out of threshold) depending on your Alert Center Dashboard view selection for a set period of time. Please note, although the number shown in parentheses may exceed 10,000 initially, only the most recent 10,000 items can be displayed once the threshold is selected. At right, is the list of items applicable to the threshold selected in the column at left. The information presented is dependent upon the type of threshold selected. Click the … icon to the left of any individual item to select either Item Details or to launch a related full-page report. For detailed information and instruction, please see the Alert Center help topic.

In response to iMacros reaching End-Of-Life in November 2023, the WhatsUp Gold Application Monitoring End User Monitor Component has been deprecated for this and all subsequent releases. Please note the following related changes to WhatsUp Gold:

• The End User Monitor Script option no longer appears in the Select Component Type dialog.
• The EUM Component Settings (iDrone Manager Service URL) section no longer appears in the Application Monitor Settings dialog.
• The EUM Monitored count no longer appears in the License Details dialog.
• The Import Application Profile functionality has been updated to no longer accept profiles containing an EUM component.
• The user is no longer prompted to create an iDrone database instance during WhatsUp Gold installation.

Please also see the following additional WhatsUp Gold documentation:

Lifecycle Information

Lifecycle Policy Guide

Product Compatibility Guide

Ideation Portal

Scope of Support

Security Guidelines

Hardware requirements vary depending on the WhatsUp Gold configuration. Increasing the number of devices monitored, number of monitors, types of monitors, polling intervals, or other configuration options can result in additional load on the server and database. Hardware configuration adjustments may be required to optimize performance for your network.

WhatsUp Gold supports the following Windows Server platforms:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2022

• Microsoft Windows Server 2019
• Microsoft Windows Server 2016

For evaluation purposes, WhatsUp Gold operates on Windows 10 and 11. However, production level support requires Windows Server versions only.

• Installing WhatsUp Gold on a domain controller is not recommended or supported.
• If WhatsUp Gold is hosted in virtual environments, to prevent licensing issues, make sure that you assign a static MAC address to the virtual machine on which WhatsUp Gold is operating. Refer to your virtual machine software help documentation for information about assigning a static MAC address for the virtual machine.
• WhatsUp Gold requires quad-core processors @ 2.6 GHz (min). If you are installing WhatsUp Gold on a virtual machine, make sure that your guest VM has at least four CPU cores allocated to it. Refer to additional Hardware requirements guidelines.

WhatsUp Gold requires a database to maintain data about monitored devices, store system configurations, and save user specified customizations. The database may be co-located with the WhatsUp Gold installation, or may be hosted on a remote machine. Data services for WhatsUp Gold can be provided by the following database servers. The following database versions are supported:

• Microsoft SQL Server 2017
• Microsoft SQL Server 2019
• Microsoft SQL Server 2022

The WhatsUp Gold installer automatically installs/enables IIS on platforms where it is supported.

WhatsUp Gold requires the following Web Server Role Services for IIS at a minimum:

• Web Server
• ASP .NET
• Static Content
• HTTP Redirection
• Default Document

WhatsUp Gold requires the Microsoft .NET Framework and other Microsoft packages for scripting. The following are required software framework and support packages:

• .NET 4.8, included in installation program.
• PowerShell 2.0 (Optionally required for PowerShell scripting. Not included in the WhatsUp Gold installer. Refer to the Microsoft MSDN web site for more information about installing PowerShell).
• Microsoft Windows Scripting Host v5.7 (or later).
• Microsoft SAPI 5.1 (required for Text-to-Speech actions).

The following web browsers are currently supported for use with WhatsUp Gold:

• Microsoft Edge
• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
  Tip: does not support any version of Internet Explorer in Compatibility or Quirks mode.

The WhatsUp Gold Log Management feature collects log data from monitored devices and stores that data for reporting and analysis in an Elasticsearch database, which can be either installed locally on the WhatsUp Gold server, or can be a remote instance of Elasticsearch.

The WhatsUp Gold server requires the following to support a remote Elasticsearch instance:

• CPU speed >= 2.6 GHz
• CPU count >= 8 cores
• RAM >= 16 GB

The WhatsUp Gold server requires the following to support a local Elasticsearch instance:

• CPU speed >= 2.6 GHz
• CPU count >= 8 cores
• RAM >= 32 GB
• Disk space >= 585 GB

Depending on the network environment and product deployment, WhatsUp Gold can poll up to 100,000 metrics with one WhatsUp Gold server and additional pollers. Additional pollers installed on your WhatsUp Gold system transmit active monitor and performance monitor data to the WhatsUp Gold server. Extending polling activity across multiple pollers increases the number of devices for which WhatsUp Gold can poll and collect data to send back to the WhatsUp Gold system. Using additional pollers, WhatsUp Gold can efficiently scale polling operations to a larger number of network devices, ultimately providing the capacity to monitor and manage larger networks. Additional pollers may be installed on any Windows system on the network, other than the WhatsUp Gold server.

Minimum requirements for each additional poller:

To maintain adequate operation and security protection for your WhatsUp Gold deployment, we recommend the following:

• Install WhatsUp Gold and any components in a locked server room or cabinet so that physical access is restricted to trusted administrators.
• Install WhatsUp Gold software components on dedicated servers. Do not use these servers for any other purpose.

This version of WhatsUp Gold supports direct upgrade installations from WhatsUp Gold v20.0.2 and newer. If you are running an earlier version of WhatsUp Gold, you must first upgrade to v20.0.2 before installing the latest version of WhatsUp Gold. Make sure to clear the browser cache so the user interface displays the new web application pages after the upgrade. As always, before performing an upgrade be sure to back up your database. If you are using the SQL Express database included in WhatsUp Gold, this can be done by the installer/updater before proceeding with the upgrade. Refer to the Installing WhatsUp Gold guide for details about installation, upgrade, repair, and uninstall.

To see the list of currently supported versions of WhatsUp Gold, please refer to the Product Life Cycle page.