Documentation forIpMonitor
Effective December 31, 2024, IpMonitor will reach its end of life and will no longer be available or supported. If you liked IpMonitor, consider trying another SolarWinds product.

CPU Usage monitor

The CPU Usage monitor uses Local or SNMP communication to test the amount of processor capacity available on the local machine, a remote system running Microsoft® Windows® or Linux, or an SNMP-enabled device.

Use the CPU Usage monitor to:

  • Detect heavy CPU utilization before it impacts system performance
  • Alert administrators when the CPU utilization exceeds the specified threshold

Create a CPU Usage monitor

  1. Click Devices in the toolbar.
  2. Locate and click the targeted device you want to monitor.
  3. In the toolbar, click Add > Add New Monitor.
  4. In the Select Monitor page, click CPU Usage.

  5. Enter the details of the server you want to monitor.

    1. Enter the IP address or host name of the target server.

    2. Select the Use SNMP checkbox if the monitor will communicate with an SNMP-enabled network device.

      An SNMP Agent and the SNMP Service must be running on the monitored device for SNMP communications.

    3. Enter the UDP port number that the device responds on. Port 161 is the default port.
    4. Select the SNMP version used by the device. ipMonitor and the target device or server must use the same SNMP version.

    5. Select the Use RPC/WMI checkbox to enable communications between ipMonitor and a targeted server (if required).

      An authenticated server connection requires a client access license (CAL). An authenticated workstation connection consumes a client connection.

    6. (Optional) Select a credential for monitoring. When selected, ipMonitor uses the credential account and password information to authenticate to the target machine and test the status.

  6. Click Next.

  7. Select the interface and monitoring thresholds.

    1. Click the Communication Type drop-down menu and select a method used by ipMonitor to connect to the specified server.

    2. Select the processor to monitor.

    3. Enter the maximum CPU usage percentage allowed on the system.
    4. Enter the short-term threshold values. ipMonitor uses the test results accumulated over the period of time set within the Sample Size parameter to detect a slow CPU load creep versus a spike in processor use.
  8. Click Next.

  9. Create the new drive space monitor.

    1. Select the Enable Monitor checkbox to enable this monitor.
    2. (Optional) Select the remaining checkbox if you want to begin to record the test results. The result will be used to generate the Recent Activity and Historical reports.

  10. Click Create.

    The new monitor displays in the Devices tab

Attach a CPU Usage monitor to an alert

  1. Click Devices in the toolbar.
  2. Locate and click the targeted device you want to monitor.

  3. In the toolbar, click Add > Add New Monitor.

  4. In the Select Monitor page, click CPU Usage.
  5. Complete the Add CPU Monitor Wizard.

Test results

The following table lists the test results when the monitor is in an Up state.

Test Result Description
Usage The CPU load currently on the system represented as a percentage (%).
Usage-avg The average CPU load on the system represented as a percentage (%). This result is based on the tests performed during the length of time specified in the Sample Size field.