Ping Commands
The Cortex can monitor the state of IP networks and IP-connected device through the use of 64 configurable Ping commands on the Cortex 360 and 32 Ping commands on the Cortex 320. The input identifier (ID) of these commands is 1N, 1N2, 1N3…etc.
For any ping request that is configured and that does NOT receive a proper ping reply, the corresponding Identifier will become active (high). This input can then be used to generate alarms, log events, or take action such as pulsing a relay to power-cycle a network device. The commands can also be useful to automatically diagnose problems in multi-branch networks.
Please see this article for details about the generic Main screen, Description screen and Vocal Description screen.
Below is the Actions configuration menu screen of the Ping Command inputs.
1 – ID: ID of the selected input. Select from the drop-down menu.
2 – I/O DESCRIPTION RETRIEVAL: Click to retrieve and display the current normal or active description. Normally hidden to minimize data transfer on low speed or high fee data connections.
3 – ACTION TYPE: Selects the action type that will happen when an out-of-limit condition occurs. 3 types are available: Major alarm, Minor alarm, and Command (CMD). On CMD, no alarm will be triggered. Use this Action when you want to take actions without triggering any alarms.
4 – QUALIFIER: Qualifying element (operand) which can be any input, output, flag, timer, SNMP GET, Logic Gate, etc. Essentially any ID in the Cortex can be used to mute or unmute the input to prevent it from taking any action. When the Qualifier is active, the input will be monitored and be able to generate alarms. When the qualifier is non-active (or normal), the input will be muted and it will not be able to generate an alarm. To invert the Qualifier’s level, simply put a ! in front of its ID. For example, use !1D01 to invert it. Leave the Qualifier field blank for a “don’t care” condition.
5 – PING ADDRESS: IP address that will be Pinged and monitored.
6 – CONTROLLED OUTPUT: Outputs to be controlled (on/off) based on the state of this input. The two output types allowed are relays (both physical and virtual) and SNMP SETs. For the relays, adding a P suffix will Pulse the relay (ex: 1R01P), L will Latch it and R will Release it.
7 – MAXIMUM NUMBER OF RETRIES: Number of times a Ping Command will try to ping a non-responsive IP address before it turns to an active (high) state. Maximum is 5 times.
8 – DELAY BETWEEN RETRIES: Amount of time between retries (see #7). Maximum is 9 seconds.
9 – ENABLE: Enable / disable the Ping Command.
10 – SYSTEM LOG: Log the input’s activity in the System Log.
11 – PING PERIOD: Amount of time between each ping request when normal. Maximum is 9999 minutes (about 2 hours and 45 minutes).
12 – SIGNALLING ON – ALARM: Enables / disables alarming. When checked, any out-of-limit condition will automatically generate an alarm. When unchecked, no alarm will be triggered when an out-of-limit condition occurs.
13 – SIGNALLING ON – RETURN TO NORMAL: Enables / disables Return To Normal signalling. When checked, a notification will be generated when the input changes back to its normal state after an out-of-limit alarm condition. When unchecked, no notification will be sent when the initial alarm condition returns to normal.
14 – REFRESH / READ: Refresh / read the screen content.
15 – SAVE / WRITE: Save the screen content.
16 – EXIT: Exit menu.
Quick-Access Menu
A quick-access menu is available by right-clicking on any Ping Command input line in the main relay menu screen. This quick-access menu offers several manual commands, including one that is only available here, the Ping Test.
1 – CONFIG: Access the configuration menu of the selected Ping Command. Bulk configuration is possible.
2 – PING TEST: Manually generate a ping request for test purposes.
3 – ENABLE: Enable the selected Ping Command input.
4 – DISABLE: Disable the selected Ping Command input.
