Each computer or other device you want to monitor with Big Brother must be defined in the bb-hosts file on the Big Brother server. This file's format is based on the UNIX /etc/hosts file, with some modifications. Each line defining a host to test has the format:
IP-ADDR HOSTNAME # DIRECTIVES
IP-ADDR is the 12-digit IP address in dot notation: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
HOSTNAME is the name of the host, in one of two formats:
If FQDN is set to TRUE in bbdef.sh, it is a fully qualified domain name: host.domain.com. This is usually the case.
if FQDN is not set to TRUE, it is only the host name, without the domain: host
DIRECTIVES are preceded by the # sign. The directives define what type of Big Brother server this host is and/or define the tests to perform on this host.
Here is a sample host definition:
0.0.0.0 bbserver.quest.com # BBDISPLAY BBPAGER BBNET ftp dns smtp pop3
This host is a Big Brother server: it creates the display pages (BBDISPLAY), sends notifications (BBPAGER), and performs network tests (BBNET). In addition to the standard connectivity test, Big Brother checks this host for FTP, DNS, SMTP, and POP3.
Here is another example:
192.168.17.80 bobo.quest.com # ftp smtp pop3 http://bobo.quest.com/ dns
This host is checked for FTP, SMTP, POP3, DNS, and for HTTP at the Web address bobo.quest.com. It is not a Big Brother server.
For more details about defining Big Brother servers or about defining the tests to perform on a host, follow the links above.
Tip. If you want the same host to appear in more than one place on the Big Brother display page (or on multiple pages), you can include more than one host definition for it. If you do this, include the directives for the tests to perform only on the first definition line. On all other lines for this host, use the noconn directive, which tells Big Brother not to perform any tests based on this line. For example, if you wanted the host bobo.quest.com, which has already been defined by the sample line above, to be included on the display again, you would use:
192.168.17.80 bobo.quest.com # noconn
Note. To monitor local host resources, you must install the Big Brother client on the machine being monitored (this is necessary even if the computer has the Big Brother server software installed). For UNIX clients, host and server information must be specified in the etc/bb-hosts file on the client host. We recommend you define all hosts in the bb-hosts file on the server, then copy the file from the server to all UNIX client hosts. You do not have to specify the individual tests performed by the client (cpu, disk, messages, processes, and services); if the client is installed, it performs the tests and sends the results to the server. Windows clients do not use the bb-hosts file.
Modem banks are a special case when defining devices to test. Rather than a standard host line, as described above, you enter a dialup line:
dialup modem-bank-name IP-Address ###
Modem-bank-name is the name to be used on the display page.
IP-Address is the starting IP address of the modem bank.
### is the number of modems (addresses) on that bank.
For example:
dialup modem-bank 204.19.116.20 4
The results of the dialup test are displayed at the bottom of the bb.html and bb2.html pages, after any summary lines, not on any defined page or subpage. A green dot is displayed for IP addresses that are currently used and a clear dot is displayed for IP addresses that are not used.
This test can take a long time if your modem banks have many unused modems as the test will time out to determine the connection status.
Note. Do not confuse this dialup line with the dialup directive you can use on other host lines.
In most situations, Big Brother uses the host name returned by the uname -a command. If you want to use a different name for a particular host, you can create an alias for that host. To do so, first create the alias on the client host. Then, use the alias name in place for the real hostname when defining the host in bb-hosts on all Big Brother servers (BBDISPLAY, BBPAGER, BBNET).
Also, you must include the testip directive for the host on the BBNET server because the alias is unlikely resolvable by DNS; if you do not, the network tests will likely fail.
Note: For how to define an alias on a Windows client host, see the Windows client help file.