How to restart a remote device automatically using IPHost’s Web Transaction Monitor?
Q: I need to remote restart some network devices periodically. This operation is accessible through the web interface and requires authentication. Is it possible to automate these actions using the IPHost functional?
A: Web Transaction Monitor (WTM) is the most suitable monitor type for that purpose.
WTM is a tool for web-sites, web applications, and web-services monitoring, that allows you to run sequences of HTTP requests in order to check a web site or application availability and performance.
WTM can be used not only for monitoring but also for web automation, for instance, to periodically reboot your network devices.
You need to create a WTM monitor for each device that should be rebooted automatically. It is helpful to use a monitor copy function if you have many devices. You can record your actions required for rebooting using a built-in WTM-recorder – simply navigate through device’s web interface. Usually it includes filling an authorization form and activation of the reboot command. All these steps will be stored and will be regularly performed according to the specified schedule. You can also run this monitor (these actions) manually if needed. Usage of the WTM-recorder is similar with usage of your usual web-browser.
Then you should complete monitor setup – define the monitor polling interval, alerts and regular reports. If you want to reboot a device, for instance, once a day, you should set the polling interval to 86,400 seconds.
