Hardware SMS Gateway for The Dude Network Monitor

  • Published In: Tutorial
  • Created Date: 2018-12-25
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The Dude network monitor is an application developed by the Latvian company MikroTik that can significantly improve the operation of the network environment. The application automatically scans all devices in specific subnetworks, draws and complies a network map as well as tracks services of devices and warns if some services have issues. A current version of The Dude server (when writing this article, it was the version 6.43.7 Stable) works under RouterOS only and allows monitoring the entire network infrastructure, from routers and switches to servers and virtual machines. Devices for microclimate monitoring of server rooms and remote controlling of the power supply (IP PDU) by NetPing company can also be connected to The Dude network monitor. A connection process is explored in details here. Also, we examined the process of configuration of e-mail notifications from The Dude in our blog before. In this article, we will consider a way of expanding the functionality of The Dude for sending SMS notifications about monitoring events (SMS gateway for The Dude). To send SMS, it is possible to use the next devices by NetPing company:

A feature of SMS notifications will allow IT personnel to react to network events quicker and minimize business downtime caused by the IT equipment failure. Also, a company will be able to significantly save on third-party services for sending SMS because in this case, the price of SMS will correspond to the price charged by the cell phone operator with no additional commissions.

Equipment Requirements

  • One of the NetPing devices listed above with a preinstalled SIM card – 1 pc.;
  • MikroTik router or a PC/Server/Virtual machine with the installed operating system RouterOS – 1 pc.;
  • A network administrator's PC (OS Windows) – 1 pc.;
  • The local network – 1 pc.

In our example, we use The Dude, built in Router OS of the version 6.43.7 Stable. There is a need to install software for the administrator's PC: The Dude client 6.43.7 and WinBox 3.18 (the latest versions for the moment of writing this article). The installation is trivial and does not need any special configurations. To get the information about the installation and configuration of The Dude network monitor, it is possible to address the official documentation.

Configuring NetPing Devices

In our case, to send SMS notifications, there is a need to perform only a part of a basic configuration (namely configure network parameters to access the network) of the devices NetPing SMSUniPing server solution v4/SMSNetPing 8/PWR-220 v4/SMS and install a working SIM card with a positive balance in the slot of a built-in GSM modem. It is possible to read about a basic and auxiliary configuration of devices in the next documentation:

Implementing the Sending of SMS Notifications from The Dude Monitoring System

Let's consider that the NetPing SMS gateway for sending and receiving SMS notifications is available in the local network with the next parameters:

  • IP address – 192.168.1.200;
  • Login – visor;
  • Password – ping.

For sending SMS, use the URL-encoded command that is run by the Fetch utility that is built into the RouterOS. The command for sending SMS will have the next view:

/tool fetch url="http://visor:ping@192.168.1.200/sendsms.cgi?utf8" http-method=post http-data="[+70000000000] Service [Probe.Name] on [Device.Name] is now [Service.Status] ([Service.ProblemDescription])"

where:
http://visor:ping@192.168.1.200/sendsms.cgi?utf8 – is a command for sending SMS using the NetPing SMS gateway for sending and receiving SMS notifications. If necessary, specify your data here for connecting to the NetPing SMS.
[+70000000000] – is a destination phone number for notifications. It is specified in the international format, starting with +7. Square brackets are a must. It is possible to send SMS notification to up to four destination numbers by having specified them in square brackets separated by a comma without spaces. If no destination numbers are specified, SMS will be sent to the destination numbers specified in the settings on the page «GSM SETUP» of a web interface of the NetPing SMS device.
Service [Probe.Name] on [Device.Name] is now [Service.Status] ([Service.ProblemDescription]) – is a text of an SMS notification. Internal variables of The Dude network monitor are used (in square brackets).

Now, let's continue to configuring The Dude network monitor. On the administrator's PC for monitoring, open The Dude client. Specify the IP address of the MikroTik router with enabled The Dude network monitor (1), login and password for accessing a router (2) and click the button «Connect» (3):

The Dude connecting to the server

Then, choose a menu item «Notification» (1) from the menu on the left in the window that opens, and click the button «Add» (2) in the main part of the window:

The Dude creating a new notification

And fill in the form that opens:

The Dude configuring a new notification

Where: 
Name – is a notification name, «SMS» in our example;
Check a checkbox Enabled;
Type – is a notification type, choose «execute on server» from a drop-down list;
Command – in the field, write command for sending SMS that has been examined above. A complete list of variables of The Dude network monitor for using them in the text of SMS notification is available in the list under the button «Insert Variable» (3).

Save the changes by clicking the button «Apply» (1). Then, go to the tab «Advanced» (2), and click statuses, when changing which, an SMS notification will be sent (1):

The Dude configuring events for a new notification

Save a new notification by clicking the button «OK» (2).

Then, we need to apply a new notification type, that has been created, to monitoring objects. To do this, open the server settings (the button «Settings») (1), and go to the tab «Polling»(2) in the window that opens:

The Dude applying a new notification to monitoring objects

In the field «Notification», check a checkbox next to the line «SMS» (3) and click the button «Ok» (4).

Now, when statuses of monitoring objects are changed, a system administrator will receive notifications of the next view via SMS:

SMS example from The Dude Network Monitor

Therefore, we extended the functionality of The Dude network monitor by adding a feature of sending SMS notifications using a hardware gateway for sending and receiving SMS notifications NetPing SMS.


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