Release Notes for Ipswitch WhatsUp Gold 2017

In this File

Release Notes for Ipswitch WhatsUp Gold 2017

Release information

Product name

WhatsUp Gold 2017

 

Version

v2017

 

Release date

v2017 Service Pack 1 - September 13th, 2016
v2017 - July 11, 2016

 

Important: After upgrading WhatsUp Gold, please restart the WhatsUp Gold server and clear the cache and local storage for browsers on all machines that will access the WhatsUp Gold server.

New in WhatsUp Gold 2017

WhatsUp Gold 2017

Important information before you upgrade

Features that will be made available in subsequent releases of WhatsUp Gold 2017

Feature

Notes

Distributed Edition

Feature will be made available in a subsequent release of WhatsUp Gold 2017.

Failover

Feature will be made available in a subsequent release of WhatsUp Gold 2017.

Storage Monitoring

Feature will be made available in a subsequent release of WhatsUp Gold 2017.

Dashboard Migration

Existing dashboards will not migrate from previous versions. We recommend that customers recreate their dashboards in the new UI to achieve the full power of WhatsUp Gold 2017. We have provided a dashboard snapshot viewer tool in the new UI which will show PDF versions of legacy dashboards to help in this process. This tool is located under Admin > View Legacy Dashboards.

Device Cloning

Device copy is available as an option and can be used until cloning is implemented.

Root Device Dependency Creation

Existing root devices will migrate on an update. As alternative up dependencies can be set using bulk update to make manual creating multiple dependencies easier until this feature is available.

Link Lines

Any custom maps with existing custom link lines will migrate with an upgrade.

Scheduled Reports migration

Scheduled reports will have to be manually recreated in WhatsUp Gold 2017.

Deprecated Features

Feature

Workaround

Admin Console

The WhatsUp Gold Win32 Admin console is being deprecated. Only features that cannot be accomplished in the web interface are still available. Ipswitch will continue to migrate all capabilities from the Win32 Admin console to the Web UI.

Dashboard Viewer

The flexibility of the new UI allows for the use of multiple windows with multiple views. This will continue to be enhanced to allow the use of standard browser rotation tools.

Mobile Access

Ipswitch plans to develop new mobility tools to support the new UI.

Total Devices by Type (dashboard report)

WhatsUp Gold 2017 has moved to Roles and Subroles as the primary way to identify devices and assign monitors. A new report to show Total Device by Role will be available in a subsequent release.

Important: A scalability project is in progress for Service Pack 1 that will allow users to view a larger number of devices. In the initial WhatsUp Gold 2017 release, you may experience Map performance issue when viewing thousands of devices. 

New in WhatsUp Gold 2017 Service Pack 1

For more information about the WhatsUp Gold 2017 Service Pack 1 release, see Service Pack 1 Release Notes.

New in WhatsUp Gold 2017 Service Pack 2

For more information about the WhatsUp Gold 2017 Service Pack 2 release, see Service Pack 2 Release Notes.

New in WhatsUp Gold 2017 Service Pack 3

For more information about the WhatsUp Gold 2017 Service Pack 3 release, see Service Pack 3 Release Notes.

System Requirements

Operating system requirements

WhatsUp Gold supports the following Windows Server platforms:

Database requirements

Important: As part of the upgrade to WhatsUp Gold 2017 the SQL Server Express database included with WhatsUp Gold will be updated to SQL Server 2014 Express.

Important: If you use a remote SQL database, instead of the default install that occurs as part of the default WhatsUp Gold installation, refer to the WhatsUp Gold Database Migration and Management Guide for information about other WhatsUp Gold database configurations.

Note: The collation of Microsoft SQL Server being used to host WhatsUp Gold databases should be set to SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS.

Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS collation is allowed, but is not recommended as it could cause errors in operation.

Additionally, the collation of each of the aforementioned WhatsUp Gold databases should also be set to SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS.

Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS collation is allowed, but is not recommended as it could cause errors in operation.

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. Please note, if you are upgrading from SQL Server 2008 to SQL Server 2014, SQL server must be at Service Pack 2 or later prior to upgrading.

If you install WhatsUp Gold on:

You have these database options:

 

Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Express Edition 32-bit or 64-bit Local

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise
32-bit or 64-bit
Local/Remote

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Standard or Enterprise
32-bit or 64-bit
Local/Remote

Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Standard or Enterprise
32-bit or 64-bit Local/Remote

Microsoft SQL Server Cluster 2008, 2008 R2, 2012, or 2014
Enterprise or Datacenter
32-bit or 64-bit
Remote only

Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Standard or Express

*Windows 10

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*Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate (64-bit local)

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Windows Server 2008 SP2

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Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

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Windows Server 2012

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Windows Server 2012 R2

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Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard (WhatsUp Gold 2017 Service Pack 2 and later)

 

 

 

 

 

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Please note, if you are running SQL Server 2012 on SP3, you need to install additional binaries from Microsoft to prevent potential database issues. This problem occurs because certain 32-bit binaries are missing from SQL Server 2012 SP3. Please refer to the applicable Microsoft support documentation for additional information.

*For evaluation purposes, WhatsUp Gold operates on Windows 7, 8.1, and 10. However, production level support requires Windows Server versions only.

Web server requirements

Web services are required for the web-enabled functionality and reporting provided by WhatsUp Gold:

If you install WhatsUp Gold on:

IIS version 7.x

IIS version 8.x

Windows 7 Professional / Enterprise / Ultimate

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Windows 8.1

 

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Windows Server 2008 R2

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Windows Server 2012 R2

 

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Important: Web server requirements for IIS 7.x or 8

The WhatsUp Gold installer automatically installs/enables IIS 7.x or 8 on platforms where it is supported. If needed, you can verify which IIS 7.x or 8 OS features are installed/enabled and properly configured from the Turn Windows features on or off dialog. Verify that the Web Server (IIS) Roles Services listed below have been installed and are enabled.

WhatsUp Gold requires the following Web Server Role Services for IIS 7.x or 8 at a minimum:

Framework and accessibility requirements

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

Please note, the Microsoft .NET Framework option is required. However, the following feature/component options cannot be enabled in the Microsoft .NET Framework options:

Web interface requirements

The following web browsers are currently supported for use with WhatsUp Gold 2017:

Important: WhatsUp Gold does not support any version of Internet Explorer in Compatibility or Quirks mode.

Supported virtual environments

WhatsUp Gold supports virtual hosts and virtual machines running on the following virtual environments:

Supported wireless devices

Important: Because of the volume of data collected and stored for wireless infrastructure devices, Ipswitch recommends that you use Microsoft SQL Server to store the data collected by WhatsUp Gold.

Wireless supports the following devices:

Important: If you are monitoring Cisco Aironet Autonomous access points Ipswitch recommends that you run IOS 12.3 or newer. Inaccurate data may be reported with older IOS versions.

Supported storage devices

WhatsUp Gold supports NetApp FAS series storage devices.

Network traffic analysis software requirements

Network traffic analysis requires:

Note: Network traffic analysis performs well in most WhatsUp Gold configurations that use the default SQL Server Express Edition database. However, some data collections over 10 GB or configurations where data is collected and archived over a long period of time will benefit from the additional performance capabilities of other SQL Server Editions. For more information about WhatsUp Gold supported SQL databases, see the release notes Database requirements section. Also, please consult applicable Microsoft guidelines for the SQL Server database edition that best fits your requirements.

Hardware requirement 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.

Minimum server recommendations

 

100 Devices /
500 Monitors*
minimum required

2,500 Devices /
12,500 Monitors*
minimum required

20,000 Devices /
100,000 Monitors*
minimum required

Processor(s)

Quad-core

Quad-core

Quad-core

Processor speed

2.6 GHz or more

2.6 GHz or more

2.6 GHz or more

RAM

8 GB

16 GB

WhatsUp Gold Server: 8 GB
Dedicated SQL Server:
32 GB (64 GB recommended)

Database type

SQL Server 2014 Express Edition

Dedicated Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 / Microsoft SQL Server 2012 / Microsoft SQl Server 2014

Dedicated Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 / Microsoft SQL Server 2012 / Microsoft SQl Server 2014

Hard drive

25 GB or more free space

OS/Application - 15 GB or more free space in RAID 1

Database files - 4 x 100 GB in RAID 10

OS/Application - 15 GB or more free space in RAID 1

Database files - 8 x 250 GB in RAID 10

Log files - 2 x 100 GB in RAID 0

Temp database files - 2 x 250 GB in RAID 0

For more information about moving SQL Server database and log files, see the WhatsUp Gold Database Migration and Management Guide

Network interface card

Minimum 100 Mbps (1 Gbps preferred)

100 Mbps (1 Gbps preferred)

1 Gbps

Video display resolution

1280 x 1024 or higher

1280 x 1024 or higher

1280 x 1024 or higher

Sound card

SAPI-capable sound card required for Text-to-Speech actions

SAPI-capable sound card required for Text-to-Speech actions

SAPI-capable sound card required for Text-to-Speech actions

¹Modem and phone line

Required for pager, SMS, and beeper actions; modem pooling is not supported

Required for pager, SMS, and beeper actions; modem pooling is not supported

Required for pager, SMS, and beeper actions; modem pooling is not supported

¹GSM modem

Required for SMS Direct actions

Required for SMS Direct actions

Required for SMS Direct actions

¹Connection to modem is through a USB or serial port

Recommendations for accessing WhatsUp Gold

Ipswitch recommends accessing the WhatsUp Gold server using a browser installed on a remote machine. The following specifications are recommended for optimal performance when accessing the WhatsUp Gold server.

 

100 Devices /
500 Monitors*
minimum required

2,500 Devices /
12,500 Monitors*
minimum required

20,000 Devices /
100,000 Monitors*
minimum required

RAM

8 GB

8 GB

16 GB

Processor

i5 Class

i7 Class

i7 Class

Video display resolution

1280 x 1024 or higher

1280 x 1024 or higher

1280 x 1024 or higher

Sound card

SAPI-capable sound card required for Text-to-Speech actions

SAPI-capable sound card required for Text-to-Speech actions

SAPI-capable sound card required for Text-to-Speech actions

*The performance for the number of devices and monitors supported is dependent upon several system variables such as server processor and memory size, polling frequency, round-trip time (RTT) for polling distance, the amount of time for which data is archived in the database, types of monitors polled (for example, SNMP-type monitors are significantly more efficient than WMI monitors), and other factors.

Poller requirements

Depending on the network environment and product deployment, WhatsUp Gold can poll up to a maximum of 20,000 devices and up to 100,000 monitors with one WhatsUp Gold server and additional pollers (additional pollers required depend on the amount of SNMP and WMI monitors). 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 required for each
additional poller

 

Processor(s)

Dual-core

 

Processor speed

2 GHz

 

RAM

4 GB

 

Hard drive space for application

2 GB

 

Network interface card

100 Mbps

 

OS support

See Operating system and virtual environment requirements section above

 

Installing WhatsUp Gold

WhatsUp Gold 2017 supports direct upgrade installations from WhatsUp Gold v15.x, or v16.x. If you upgrade from a previous version of WhatsUp Gold, make sure to clear the browser cache so the user interface displays the new web application pages after the upgrade. Refer to the Installing and Configuring WhatsUp Gold guide for details about installation, upgrade, repair, and uninstall. As always, before performing an upgrade be sure to back up your database, if using the SQL Express database included in WhatsUp Gold this can be done by the installer/updater before proceeding with the upgrade.

Important: Ipswitch does not support upgrades for WhatsUp Gold custom database modifications.

If the WhatsUp Gold installer detects database changes to your WhatsUp Gold database schema, it warns you of the issues and proceeds with the install. In future WhatsUp Gold releases, the installer will not proceed until the installer warnings are addressed.

Offline Installation and Activation

Important: If you are unable to connect to the Internet, you must use the offline installer package to install WhatsUp Gold. Download the package from your Ipswitch Account using a connected machine, then run the installer on your designated server. When prompted to enter your activation number, select Use offline activation mode and proceed with the activation process. If you are an evaluator and do not have access to an Ipswitch Account, please contact Ipswitch Customer Service for assistance.

Note: Customers with pure IPv6 environments must use offline activation.

Troubleshooting

Potential SQL Server installation errors

Configuring the firewall to allow WMI traffic

WhatsUp Gold uses Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to monitor and restart Windows Services. For each device that is assigned an NT Service Active Monitor, you must supply the Windows credentials. Also, when creating a Service Restart Action, you must supply Windows credentials for each Action. Credentials must have administrative permissions on the remote server. Local accounts with credentials that match remote accounts are no longer required to monitor remote servers.

For more Troubleshooting information, see the Troubleshooting section in the application Help or refer to the WhatsUp Gold Support Site.

For more information

Following are information resources for WhatsUp Gold. This information may be periodically updated and available on the WhatsUp Gold web site.