PA Server Monitor Ultra: How to setup PA Server Monitor

PA Server Monitor is a POWERFUL server and network monitoring software developed by Power Admin LLC. The main function of the software is to monitor the performance of servers and network devices in Windows and Linux environments. Below is a very simple architecture of the PA Server Monitor. See this guide for the PA Server Monitor review and product details.

It is worth noting that the customers' data is kept on their servers and NEVER stored in the cloud.

How to setup PA Server Monitor

The PA Server Monitor 8.2 can be download from the following link and has a rich and fully functional 30 day trial period. Kindly utilize this opportunity to test the PA Server Monitor features.

Now that we have downloaded the PA Server Monitor setup, I will work you through the installation and configuration
– Double click on the setup as shown below

You will be required to accept the User Account Control as shown below

Next, you will be required to select your desired language. I will be selecting English language as shown below

Click on “Ok” as shown above in order to proceed to the next steps. This will prompt the PA Server Setup wizard
– Click on Next

Accept the software license agreement as shown below and Click on “Next”.

Browse to your desired location (folder) where you would want the PA Server Monitor installed to.
– I will choose the default location and then
– Click on Next.

I will be installing the following two components, ” The Central Monitoring Service” and “the Console User Interface”.

The Satellite Monitoring Service, also referred to as "Satellite" for short is an optional monitoring engine. It monitors in a similar fashion as the Central Monitoring Service. Satellites are typically installed where the Central Monitoring Service doesn't have access (on the other side of a firewall in a corporate environment, or at a remote location across the Internet.

By default, all three tasks are selected. Click on Next to continue

Review the settings and if there is anything you do not like, click on “Back” to make the changes. When you are done,
– Click on “Install”.

This will continue with the installation of The PA Server Monitor as shown below.

Get Started with Your PA Server Edition Trial

You will be prompted to start your Trail when the installation is complete. Select the PA Server edition you would love to test and click on “Install Trial License.”
– If you select close, you will be prompted to Install the trail license at a later stage too.

In the next window, you will have to specify whether you want to start the PA Server Monitor Service or launch the PA Server Monitor Console by selecting the associated checkboxes, and then
– Click on “Finish” to exit the setup as shown below.

Now the setup is complete.
– The PA Server Monitor will start all services and will launch the PA Server Monitor console because we have selected this option. since I have the PA monitoring service install on this server, I will select the “Local host” option and
– Click on OK.

You will be prompted with the startup wizard. The start Wizard will help you achieve the following and help you setup monitoring for your network.
1. Define a few notification actions
2. Quickly add some computers to be monitored
3. Create some default monitors for those computers

Proceed to Active Directory and create a Service account in order to be able to complete this step. I have done this as shown below.

Now, enter the accounts information (monitoring service credential and click on Okay.
– Note: You can also choose to skip this step and continue running the monitoring service as a “Local System”.

You will be notified that the service will now be started. Click on OK.

Next, you will have to configure the E-Mail Action. This is very vital and one of the most used alerting mechanism today.
– You can skip this step if you wish to.

SMTP Server Configuration and Email Notification

If you have an SMTP Server in your organization, you can enter the value in the field provided. Since I currently do not have an SMTP server running in my environment. Also attached, is the e-mail notification received from the server.
– I will check the box close to “send message directly without using the SMTP Server”
– Click on Test and
– Click on “Ok” to complete the email action setup.

Configure the log file settings: I will leave all settings as default and click on “OK” in order to proceed.

Run the Smart Config: As we can see from figure below, smart config has quietly pinging my local subnet in order to find available servers.
– As you can see, four servers have been discovered already.
– To begin a new smart config scan, click on the “Begin the smart config process” as shown below.

A new window will be prompted requesting you to select additional actions. When you are done, click on “Ok”.

Now that all intial configuta´tions have been completed., you can now close the setup wizard window

The PA Admin console will be displayed and the devices that were detected are being displayed in the window below.

How to change your custom report logo:

To change the logo of the PA Server Monitor, please follow the steps below-
– Click on Setting

Click on the Report Settings as shown below

You will have to browse to the following location and copy the logo graphic file to the following directory
– Ensure to enter the “Logo name” in the Filename field as shown

C:\Program Files\PA Server Monitor\Reports\shared

Furthermore, When you are done, click “Ok” and then “Ok ” again to close the Settings window.

How to install the PA Server License: However, To have your PA Server licensed, you will have to click on the “License” menu as shown below
– This will open up the License Management window
– Moreover, Click on the “Add License” button.

Note: You can purchase a license on the fly, and even check support and maintenance and as well as license upgrade.

You will have to browse to the location where you have the license saved. As you can see I have it under the Downloads folder.

Click on Yes to allow activation as shown below

As you can see, the license activation was successful.

Just click on Ok through the other windows and finally click on close.

How to update and Upgrade the PA Server Monitor: PA File Server Monitor can be upgraded by simply installing the latest version on top of your existing installation. Your settings and databases will be upgraded as needed.

If you wish to learn more about this amazing tool, kindly take a look at this official guide. Below are some screenshots from my environment. I cannot explain everything in detail, with the attached PDF, you will be able to explore this powerful tool.

I hope you found this blog post helpful. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment session. I welcome you to follow me on Twitter and Facebook.