



                                  




                               SQUAWK!


                        Multi-server Edition
                             Version 2.5








                  SQUAWK! 2.5.M Documentation Rev 1
                   Copyright 1999  Keith Parkansky






                         Table  of  Contents


Section 1      The SQUAWK! Fine Print (Software License Agreement)


Section 2      Overview


Section 3      Features


Section 4      Workstation Setup


Section 5      Software Installation


Section 6      Program Operation


Section 7      Program Configuration


Section 8      Editing Server Data


Section 9      Paging


Section 10          Reporting


Section 11          Registering The Software





1.  The SQUAWK! Fine Print
                                  
                   The Software License Agreement

IMPORTANT - CAREFULLY READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS LICENSE
AGREEMENT. BY DOWNLOADING THE SOFTWARE AND/OR USING THE SOFTWARE, YOU
ARE CONSENTING TO BE BOUND BY AND ARE BECOMING PARTY TO THIS LICENSE
AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, ERASE
AND OTHERWISE NECESSARILY DESTROY ANY COPIES OF THE SOFTWARE AND/OR 
SUPPORTING DOUCMENTS YOU HAVE OBTAINED OR ARE OTHERWISE IN YOUR 
POSSESION OR UNDER YOUR INFLUENCE OR CONTROL.

1. Grant of License. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in
this software license agreement, Keith Parkansky grants to you, and
you hereby accept, a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use
his proprietary computer software program in executable code form
only, together with its documentation ("Software"), limited by the
number of computers for which the corresponding fee has been paid.

You may not: (1) copy (other than once for backup purposes),
distribute, rent, lease, sublease, or sublicense all or any portion
of the Software; (2) modify or prepare derivative works of the
Software; (3) reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the
Software; or (5) provide commercial services based on the Software.
You agree to keep confidential and use your best effortsto prevent
and protect the contents of the Software from
unauthorized disclosure or use. You are responsible for the
installation, management, operation, and results obtained from the
Software.

2. Key-Codes. A permanent key-code enables the Software to run on one
computer.  A routine in the Software enables the Software for a
limited time period for evaluation purposes not to exceed thirty (30)
calendar days.

3. Copyright and Title. You acknowledge that Software, all user's
manuals, and other supporting documentation constitute valuable
property of Keith Parkansky and that all title and ownership rights
in Software and related materials remain exclusively with Keith
Parkansky.  Keith Parkansky reserves all rights with respect to
Software and supporting documentation under all applicable laws for
the protection of proprietary information,
including, but not limited to, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks,
and patents.  Except as otherwise noted in this Agreement, you shall
not cause or permit unauthorized copying, reproduction, or disclosure
of any portion of the program, or any instructions, manuals, or other
documentation, or the delivery or distribution of any part thereof to
any third person or entity, for any purpose whatsoever, without the
prior written permission of Keith Parkansky. You may not reverse
engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise analyze the Software,
or knowingly allow others to do so. You also agree not to develop
passwords or codes or to determine how Keith Parkansky develops such
codes or knowingly allow others to do so.  These restrictions shall
continue to bind you and its agents and representatives beyond the
termination of this Agreement.

4. Termination. This License Agreement is effective upon downloading
the Software onto your system and/or using the Software and shall
continue until terminated. You may terminate this License Agreement
at any time by destroying the Software and all copies thereof and
erasing all copies residing on the computer equipment.

Keith Parkansky may terminate this License Agreement upon the breach
by you of any term or condition of this Agreement. Upon such
termination by Keith Parkansky, you shall destroy the Software and
all copies thereof and erasing all copies residing on the computer
equipment within 5 days.

5. Limited Warranty. You accept Software "AS IS", "WITH ALL FAULTS",
and in lieu of all other warranties and conditions, expressed or
implied, including, but not limited to, those for merchantability and
fitness for a particular purpose. Keith Parkansky accepts no
responsibility for the operation or performance of the program. The
entire risk of use and consequences of use of the program falls
completely on you and Keith Parkansky shall not be liable in any
respect for any loss claims or injury alleged to have resulted from
use of or in reliance on Software. In this respect, you shall
indemnify and defend against any and all claims, including claims by
third parties or by your employees, which arise directly or
indirectly out of your use or operation of Software. You acknowledge
that you have read the foregoing disclaimers of warranty and
limitation of liability and understand that you assume the entire
risk of use of the Software.

6. Limitation of Liability. Keith Parkansky's cumulative liability to
you or any other party for any loss or damages resulting from any
claims, demands, or actions arising out of or relating to this
License Agreement shall not exceed the license fee paid to Keith
Parkansky for the use of the Software. In no event shall Keith
Parkansky be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, but not
limited to, loss of profit, business interruption, loss of business
information, or any other commercial, special, incidental,
consequential, exemplary or other damages) arising out
of the use of or inability to use the Software, even if Keith
Parkansky has been advised of the possibility of such damages. SOME
STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR
INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR
EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

7. Export Controls. You agree that neither the Software nor any
direct product thereof is being or will be shipped, transferred, or
re-exported, directly or indirectly, into any country prohibited by
the United States Export Administration Act and its associated
regulations or will be used for any purpose prohibited by the Act.

8. United States Government Restricted Rights. Use, duplication, or
disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth
in subparagraph (a) through (d) of the Commercial Computer Restricted
Rights clause at FAR 52.227-19 when applicable, or in subparagraph
(c)(1)(ii) of The Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software
clause at 252.227-7013. Contractor/manufacturer is Keith Parkansky,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

9. Governing Law. This Agreement shall be construed, interpreted, and
governed in accordance with the laws of Wisconsin.

10. Contact. Should you have any questions concerning this License
Agreement contact Keith Parkansky at PO Box 1264
Milwaukee, WI  53208





2.  Overview

SQUAWK! is a DOS-based program that runs on a dedicated network
workstation.  It frequently sends out a "SAP request" (Service
Advertising Protocol) which causes all servers in a given broadcast
domain to identify their presence on the network to the requesting
workstation.

SQUAWK! keeps a record of all servers that respond to its' SAP
requests.  If, during one of its' SAP requests a server that
previously responded now fails to respond, SQUAWK! considers that
server to be down.  It will re-issue a SAP request and if the server
still fails to respond it will page a designated contact person.
Each server can have a different contact person designated and, in
addition, a person optionally designated in the program as an
"enterprise contact" can also be paged.  If no contact person is
specified for an individual server, then the enterprise contact is
paged.  Servers which my go down frequently, such as test servers,
can be set to be "ignored" by the program.  While a record for them
is still maintained, no action is taken if they fail to respond.

SQUAWK! is also set up so that a certain combination of circumstances
will indicate that there has been a power failure or a communications
failure involving a hub, switch, or cabling.  If the dedicated
workstation that SQUAWK! is running on is connected to a UPS, and the
hub or switch that it is connected to is not connected to a UPS, then
a facility power failure would result in SQUAWK! not being able to
"see" the network.  The same would be true if the hub or switch it
were connected to failed.  When SQUAWK! Is unable to see the network,
it pages the enterprise contact.

When a server or power/communications failure occurs, SQUAWK!
automatically reduces its' SAP interval to one minute.  This
increases the frequency with which SQUAWK! looks for servers.  When a
server again starts to respond, or when power/communications is
restored, SQUAWK! again pages the designated contacts to alert them
to the recovery.  Details of what is sent to the pager displays are
presented in the Paging section of this document.

In addition to paging designated contacts, SQUAWK! sends alert
messages to the screen and logs all failure data to a log file.  All
screen messages are logged to a text file.  The failure log file is
used to generate numerous optional hard-copy reports and can also be
exported to a text file for import into spreadsheet or database
programs for analysis and graphing.  The screen message log file can
be viewed from within the program.





3.  Features

The SQUAWK! program has the following features:

    Secure monitoring because the "SQUAWK! box" doesn't have to be
  logged into the  network, just attached to it.  It also doesn't use a
  Netware shell (NETX or VLM) so no one can log into the network using
  the "SQUAWK! box" allowing flexibility in its' placement.
    Designed as a DOS-based program so that older surplus 386 and
  486 computers can be used for the dedicated workstation reducing or
  eliminating any necessary hardware investment.
    On-screen displays of servers being monitored, server
  statistics, program/failure messages, failure duration statistics
  upon recovery, and contacts paged with dates and times.

    Message logging to an ASCII text file with date and time stamps.
  The file is viewable from within the program.

    Failure logging to a database for reporting and the ability to
  export data to a delimited ASCII text file for use in a database or
  spreadsheet.

    The ability to set the program to individually "ignore" servers
  (ex: test servers that may be taken down frequently).

    A primary pager contact for each server plus an optional
  "enterprise" contact to be paged  when any server being monitored
  fails to respond.

    Customizable dialing parameters to accommodate a wide variety of
  numeric pagers, and alpha pagers or cellular phones which support
  numeric messaging.

    Pagers requiring an "access code" in the dial string are
  accommodated.

    The ability to disable the paging feature.

    A pager test function.

    The ability to set the frequency of the SAP generation (the "SAP
  interval") to check server responses.

    If a server fails to respond, an additional SAP is sent 1 minute
  later to ensure that the identified server is truly unavailable
  before the paging process is initiated, reducing the possibility of
  false alarms.

    An audible failure alarm that repeats approximately every 6
  minutes that MUST be manually reset (using the F3 key).  This is a
  backup method of notification should a page ever fail to go through
  for some reason.  It also allows you to run your SQUAWK! box with the
  monitor turned off without fear of missing an important notification.

    Automatically notifies you (via on screen message) of, and
  creates new records for, new  servers responding to SAP requests.

    New servers can optionally be set to be ignored by default.

    You can configure your "SQUAWK! box" in such a way that it will
  page the Enterprise Contact in the event of a possible power failure.
  Power failures are also logged to the failure database for
  statistical reporting and analysis.  (Connecting your "SQUAWK! box",
  and, if used, the external modem, to a UPS is necessary.)

    A 3-minute start-up delay (which can by bypassed with a key
  stroke) which gives servers a chance to fully start up in case of a
  prolonged power failure

    A variety of selectable hard-copy reports can be generated with
  the ability to set a "starting date" filter.  These reports not only
  provide detailed failure data on individual devices but summary
  statistics such as enterprise-wide total down-time.

    Includes the utility COMDOG to "sniff out" your modem and
  identify its' comm port.

    Includes the utility SAPCHECK to determine if your workstation
  is properly configured and whether the single- or multi-server
  version of SQUAWK! is needed.





4.  Workstation Setup

SQUAWK! is meant to be run continuously on a dedicated workstation,
meaning it is the only program executed on this workstation and,
because it runs continuously, the workstation cannot be used for any
other purpose.  The fact that SQUAWK! is a DOS program means you can
use older, possibly surplus, PCs to set up a "SQUAWK!-box".


Hardware Requirements

The following are the minimum requirements for a "SQUAWK!-box":

386 CPU
1 megabyte memory
20 megabyte hard-drive
Color CGA or EGA video
NIC card
*2400 baud internal modem configured as COM1 or COM2
or
*COM1 or COM2 system serial port to which a 2400 baud external modem
can be connected.
DOS 5.0 or higher
**UPS

*Not needed if you don't plan to use SQUAWK!'s paging function
** Not needed if you don't want to receive power or communications
failure notifications

Naturally, using a system with a 486 CPU would improve the
performance of your "SQUAWK!-box" but having a larger hard-drive or
more memory will not improve performance.  However, a hard-drive with
a lower "access" time which would improve performance.

While not a PC component, if you want to use the paging feature of
SQUAWK!, you'll also need an analog telephone line for your modem.
However, this telephone line does NOT have to be dedicated to the
"SQUAWK!-box".  Any existing analog telephone line can be used.
However, the telephone line must be "free" when SQUAWK! tries to page
someone or the page will not go through.


Netware Client Software

In addition to having DOS 5.0 or higher installed on the "SQUAWK!-
box", you will need to install the Netware client software.

Newer versions of the Netware client (Client32) are not compatible
with SQUAWK!.  Use an earlier version (before Client32) of the
client.  The recommended client software files is  available for
download from the SQUAWK! Web site.
Important Note:  The Netware client software includes a STARTNET.BAT
file which loads the necessary client files.  By default, the Netware
shell (either VLM or NETX) is one of the commands in the STARTNET.BAT
file.  A Netware shell should NOT be loaded when using SQUAWK!.

The Netware shell is the software that will generate a "Error
accessing device NETWORK" error message if the workstation cannot
"see" the network.  This error message will hang the "SQUAWK!-box"
and the execution of the SQUAWK! software will halt.  Without a
Netware shell loaded, the SQUAWK! box will page the "enterprise
contact" when it can no longer see the network as this would indicate
a power failure or communications failure has taken place.

If necessary, use a text editor to edit the STARTNET.BAT file to "rem
out" the Netware shell command.  The following is an example
STARTNET.BAT file for a system with a 3C509 NIC card and the shell
rem'ed out:

CD\NWCLIENT
LSL.COM
3C509.COM
IPXODI.COM
rem VLM
CD\

You may also want to further edit the STARTNET.BAT file to load the
client files into upper memory.  However, be sure you have upper
memory configured correctly using the memory manager commands in the
CONFIG.SYS file.  A sample CONFIG.SYS file and STARTNET.BAT file are
available for download on the SQUAWK! Web site.  A STARTNET.BAT file
to load the client files into upper memory would be:

CD\NWCLIENT
LH LSL.COM
LH 3C509.COM
LH IPXODI
rem VLM
CD\

This will make more of the conventional memory area available for the
SQUAWK! software.

The following is an acceptable CONFIG.SYS file for use with DOS 5 or
above:

DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
FILES=50
BUFFERS=30
STACKS=9,256
SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM C:\DOS\
LASTDRIVE=Z

Note that the "NOEMS" parameter in the EMM386 command is important as
it makes the upper memory area available to the client files.

The following is an acceptable AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

CALL C:\NWCLIENT\STARTNET.BAT
PROMPT=$P$G
PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\SQUAWK
C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE C
BREAK=ON
VERIFY=ON
CD\SQUAWK
SQUAWK

Note that SQUAWK!'s INSTALL program will add the SQUAWK command to an
existing AUTOEXEC.BAT file and add the SQUAWK directory to the search
path.

It is important that you restart the system after making any changes
to the STARTNET.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, or AUTOEXEC.BAT files.

Note that you will not be able to log into the network from this
workstation because no Netware shell is loaded.  However, in a sense
this is security feature which will allow you some flexibility in
where you locate your "SQUAWK!-box".


SAPCHECK

Once you've gotten everything configured correctly, you may want to
used the supplied SAPCHECK utility to test your network connectivity.

Simply type in SAPCHECK at the DOS prompt.  If you are successfully
connected to the network you will see either a single server or a
list of servers appear on the screen.  SAPCHECK gives servers about
10 seconds to respond and then the DOS prompt will reappear.

DO NOT START SQUAWK! if SAPCHECK does not display any servers.  If
SAPCHECK does not display any servers, there is not connection to the
network.  Check your hub, cabling, NIC configuration, and client
software configuration.


COMDOG

The SQUAWK! installation program will ask you for your modem's COM
port number.  If you are not sure what it is, run the supplied COMDOG
utility to "sniff out" your modem and display the COM port number.





5.  Software Installation

The SQUAWK! files are distributed as a single, compressed, self-
extracting "ZIP" file.  Copy the distribution file to a temporary
directory or a high-density floppy disk and type in the name of the
distribution file.  For example, if the file you downloaded is
SQUAWK2M.EXE, type in
SQUAWK2M at the DOS prompt and press Enter to uncompress the files.

If you uncompressed the files on a system that is one other than your
"SQUAWK!-box", copy the files to a floppy disk.  (Note that it is not
necessary to copy the original distribution file to the floppy disk.)

NOTE:   You MUST install the SQUAWK! files using the INSTALL.EXE
program !

If you simply copy the files to your hard-drive, the program will not
work.  The SQUAWK! software can be installed from a floppy disk or
temporary directory on the hard-drive, or from a server volume (see
"Tip" below).  The SQUAWK! files can only be installed to the C:
drive.

Tip: If your "SQUAWK!-box" does not have a floppy drive, you can
     temporarily un-rem the Netware shell command, restart the
     system, log into the network, and install the software from a
     server volume.  However, after the installation you must
     remember to log out, re-rem the shell command, and restart the
     system.

Installation of the software is simple.  Type in INSTALL at the DOS
prompt and answer a few questions about your modem and enterprise
contact person (if you have one) and that's it !  Once the software
is installed simply cold boot (power off and back on) the system to
start the program.


"New" Servers

The first time the program runs it will "discover" all the servers on
your network and create records for them.  Naturally, all of these
servers will be flagged as "New" by the program.

Even if you did nothing at this point you would be notified of
failures, provided an enterprise contact was entered during the
installation and their Server failure paging option is set to "Y"
(Yes).  (See the Program Configuration section for details.)  "New"
servers are those who's configuration page has never been opened.
However, any server without a pager ID has a `99' code sent to
enterprise contact's pager.

For instructions on how to set up your servers, see the Editing
Server Data section below.





6.  Program Operation

The SQUAWK! Screen

The SQUAWK! screen has three main areas:

The "clock bar" near the top of the screen displays current date and
time, the time of the next SAP, and a countdown timer to the next
SAP.  When a failure is initially detected, the SAP interval is
automatically reduced to one minute and remains at that interval
until the failure is rectified.  During this time of a reduced SAP
interval, the time of the next SAP and the countdown timer are
displayed in high intensity and the times flash.

The "Status" area shows numerous server-related statistics including
the number of servers being monitored and their names, how many
servers are currently flagged as new, how many servers are not 
responding, how many servers are set to be ignored, and the total 
number of server records in the database.  Note that the number of 
servers being monitored added to the number of servers being ignored 
should equal this total number of servers.  When a server stops 
responding, and it is not set to be ignored, the "Not responding" 
display will change to high intensity and flash.  In addition, the 
server's name in the list of monitored servers will be displayed at 
high intensity and flashing.

The "Message" area of the screen is a scrolling area where program
messages are displayed.  These messages are also written to a log
file with date and time stamps and this log file can be viewed from
within the program.  See the "On-Screen Messages" heading below for
more information.

This is fourth area near the bottom of the screen which lists the
program's function keys.  See the "Function Keys" heading for more
information.


Function Keys

SQUAWK! uses eight function keys.  The following is a description of
each of their uses.

F2 - Edit Server Data

The F2 key is used to edit the parameters for your servers.  When you
press the F2 key a scrollable list of servers appears.  See the
Editing Server Data section for details.

F3 - Reset Audible Alarm

Whenever a failure occurs an audible alarm is triggered.  This
audible alarm is two long tones which repeat approximately every six
minutes.

The audible alarm has two purposes.  First, it acts as a backup means
of notification should a page fail to go through for some reason.
The second purpose is to allow you to run your "SQUAWK!-box" with the
monitor turned off without fear of missing a notification.

Note that the audible alarm can only be reset manually by pressing
the F3 key.

F4 - View Message Log

Each message that is displayed in the "Messages" area of the screen
is also written to an ASCII text file with date and time stamps.  The
F4 key allows you to view this file from within the program.

F5 - Info

Pressing the F5 key will display a window listing the various pager
codes and "SQUAWK!-box" beep codes that you could encounter while
running SQUAWK!.  The site designation number is included in the
display of pager codes for power failures and unidentified server
failures.  See the Paging section for details.

F6 - Reports

The F6 key will display a pop-up menu of hard-copy report selections.
The reports are covered in detail in the Reporting section later in
this document.  Note that you must have a locally-attached printer in
order to print reports because without a network shell accessing
network printers is not possible.

F7 - Configuration

The F7 key brings up the program configuration window.  See the
Program Configuration section later in this document for a detailed
explanation of the various fields in the configuration window.

F8 - Test Paging

The Paging Test function allows you to page someone using the dialing
parameters specified in the Program Configuration.  When you press
the F8 key a window pops up with entry fields for the pager number
and an optional access code, as well as a number to display on the
pager.  Do NOT enter any dialing or pager prefixes or suffixes in
these fields.

NOTE: It is a good idea to use the Paging Test function following the
installation of SQUAWK! to verify that the modem is properly attached
and that the data entered in the Program Configuration is correct.

F10 - Exit

Press the F10 key to stop running SQUAWK!.  Normally when the key is
pressed is pressed you will get a confirmation window asking you if
you want to stop monitoring the network.  However, if there has been
an IPX-related program error, the confirmation window will not appear
because no monitoring can take place with an IPX-related failure.


On-Screen Messages

There are four types of on-screen messages displayed in the
"Messages" area of the SQUAWK! screen.

General  -  General messages are displayed in normal white text when
the program starts up.  These indicate the success of initializing
the program, checking modem connectivity, etc.

Failure  -  Failure messages are displayed in bright cyan text.
These messages are preceded by the word "Failure" and indicate that a
server or power failure has been detected.  Failure messages are
followed with a paging sequence if paging is enabled.

Alert  -  Alert messages are displayed in bright white text.  These
messages are preceded my the word "Alert" and indicate that a server
or the power has recovered.  They also are displayed when the program
starts as a reminder if paging is disabled.

Error  -  Error messages are preceded by the word "Error" and have
nothing to do with the network or power.  They relate to a problem
with the SQUAWK! program or the "SQUAWK!-box" configuration.  Error
messages will be displayed if there is a problem accessing a program
file or modem.  With a properly configured "SQUAWK!-box" you should
rarely if ever see an error message.


Failure Processing

The following sequence occurs if a server stops responding to the SAP
requests (and is not set to be ignored) or a power failure is
detected:

    In the case of a server failing to respond (and in the case of
  an IPX socket failure which is rare), the "Next SAP:" and countdown
  timer displays begin to flash and the SAP Interval is reduced to one
  minute at which time another SAP is executed.  This is to guard
  against a false alarm due to a temporarily overloaded server.

    The appropriate Failure message is displayed.

    In the case of a server failure the designated contact is paged
  and/or the enterprise contact is paged if enabled in the Program
  Configuration.  In the case of a power failure the enterprise contact
  is paged if one has been entered in the Program Configuration.

    The Status area of the screen is updated to reflect the down
  server or servers, or the power failure.

NOTE:  If several servers are reported as being down it is likely a
case where a piece of the communications infrastructure common to
them, such as a hub, has failed.  It multiple non-responding servers
are located at the same facility or in the same geographical area of
a city it could also mean that the facility or that area of city has
lost electrical power.


The SAP Interval remains at one minute as SQUAWK! continues to look
for the down server(s) to again start responding or for the power to
be restored.

When the server(s) begin to respond or the power is restored, SQUAWK!
will:

    Send the appropriate Alert message to the screen.

    Page the appropriate contacts (those that had been paged when
  the failure occurred).

    Update the Status area of the screen to reflect the recovery.

    Update the FAILURE.DAT file.

    Return to the normal SAP interval and continue to monitor the
  network.


NOTE:  When a power failure occurs, SQUAWK! records the fact that a
power failure is active and records the date and time to a file.  If
the "SQUAWK!-box" exhausts its' UPS batteries and shuts down, it will
check for the existence of this data when it starts back up and
report/record the power failure/recovery appropriately.





7.  Program Configuration

The Program Configuration screen (F7 key) contains user settings
which affect the operation of the program and allows you to customize
SQUAWK! to suit your operation.  There are four areas on the Program
Configuration screen.


General

The General area has two settings:

SAP Interval  -  The SAP Interval is the number of minutes between
SAPs.  The default value is 5 minutes and valid entries range from 1
to 999.

The SAP Interval represents a trade-off between speed of notification
and bandwidth use.   "SAPping" causes packet traffic on your network
as the servers respond to the SAP request.  The lower the SAP
Interval the more traffic the "SQUAWK!-box" will add to your network,
but you may receive a quicker notification of a server or power
failure.  The higher the SAP Interval the less traffic the "SQUAWK!-
box" will place on your network but failure notifications may take
longer.  (Note that if a server or the power fails within the last
few minutes of a SAP interval the notification would not be any
faster or slower for different SAP Interval values.)

Note that the SAP interval is automatically reduced to one minute
upon an initial non-response of a server and all during a failure
condition.

Ignore New Servers ?  -  You can set SQUAWK! to automatically set
newly discovered servers (servers that began responding to SAP
requests that had never responded before) to be ignored so that they
are not reported or recorded when they fail to respond.  The default
value in "N" (No).


Modem

The Modem area has two settings:

Modem Comm Port  -  This is the PC comm port number that an external
modem is connected to or an internal modem is configured as.  The
COMDog utility included with the distribution file can be run to
identify this port number.  Comm port numbers 1 and 2 are supported.
Comm 2 is the default value.

Dialing Prefix  -  If your modem is connected to a telephone line
where a prefix number is required to access an outside line, enter it
here.  This setting is blank (no prefix) by default.


Pager

The Pager area has three settings:

DISABLE paging  -  You can disable the paging functionality in
SQUAWK! by changing this setting to "Y" (Yes).  If you do, SQUAWK!
will still report failures to the screen, via audible alarm, and will
still log failures to the FAILURE.DAT file.  If paging is disabled,
you will receive a reminder alert message when the program is
started.

Message Termination Character  -  Most pager services support a
telephone keypad entry to indicate that the message to send to the
pager has been entered and you wish to terminate the message entry.
The default value of a pound sign (#) is the most widely supported.
This termination character is appended to the pager ID string sent to
the modem.  If you have problems using the termination character, try
leaving this field blank.

Message Send Delay  -  The "send delay" is a quiet period of time
between the dialing of the pager number and the entry of the numeric
message.  i.e. the time it takes the pager service to answer the
call. The default value of 15 seconds is usually adequate for most
pager services.  It is better to have this delay be longer than
necessary than too short.  If the delay is too short pages may not go
through.


Optional

This is the area for specifying an "enterprise contact".  An
enterprise contact is the person who will be paged in the event of a
power failure/recovery.  If no enterprise contact is specified, no
paging notification of power failures/recoveries will occur.

When Server failure paging is set to "Y" (Yes) the enterprise contact
(referred to as the "EC" in the hard-copy reports) will be paged if
any server stops responding.  That includes being paged in addition
to a contact specified in a server record.  The default value is "Y"
(Yes).

When entering the pager number for the enterprise contact, enter the
pager number only.  Do NOT enter any dialing prefixes or message
suffixes.

NOTE:  If the same person is going to get paged for all server
failures, it is easier to enter this individual as the enterprise
contact, set Server failure paging to "Y" (Yes), and leave the
individual server contact fields blank.

Once the information is entered, press Ctrl-W to save the information
and return to the main screen.  Any changes can be discarded by
pressing the Escape key.  You can also restore all the settings to
their default values by pressing Ctrl-R, and then Ctrl-W to write
them to the configuration file.





8.  Editing Server Data

When you press the F2 key a scrollable list of servers appears.
Moving the highlight bar to the desired server and pressing Enter
will bring up the configuration page for that server.




Description - This is a text field that allows you to enter a brief
description of the server.  It will be included in hard-copy reports.

IGNORE this server  -  This setting's default is "N" (No).  If you
set this value to "Y" (Yes), SQUAWK! will not check to see if the
server responded to a SAP request.  You can use this option for a
server that you may be taking down for repair or for servers that may
be taken down frequently such as test servers.

Pager ID - This is a numeric field for the number that will be
displayed on the pagers of those paged should this server ever go
down.  If left blank, a `99' pager code will be displayed.

Contact Name - The name of the contact person to page should this
specific server ever go down.  Depending on the program
configuration, the enterprise contact may also be paged.  If the
contact information for an individual server is left blank, the
enterprise contact may be paged, again, depending on the program
configuration.  (See the Program Configuration section for details.)

Contact Pager - The pager number for the contact person for this
server.  Do not enter any dialing prefixes (such a `9' to get an
outside line) in this field.  That is entered in the program
configuration.  Enter only the number that is required to reach the
pager once an "outside line" has been obtained.

Access Code - Some pager services require entering an access code to
reach a specific pager after the pager number is dialed.  Enter any
required access code here.  If none is required, leave the field
blank.

Once the information is entered, press Ctrl-W to save the information
and return to the server list.  Any changes can be discarded by press
the Escape key.

You can copy a server's information to other servers simultaneously
by doing the following:

    Select the desired "source" server in the server list and press
  Enter to display its' configuration page

    Press Ctrl-C to copy the information to the buffer and bring up
  a "tag list" of servers

    Go through the tag list and press the space bar to tag the
  "target" servers

    Press Enter to copy the information to the target servers

Note that this copy operation copies ALL of the source server's
information to the target servers so you may have to go to each
server to modify the Description or Pager ID fields.

Pressing Ctrl-R will delete a server's record.  However, there is no
point in deleting a record for a server when the server is still
active on the network.  Doing so will just cause another record for
the server to be regenerated on the next SAP cycle.  Only delete
records for servers that are taken out of service.  If you want to
stop monitoring a server, go to its' configuration screen and set
IGNORE this server to "Y" (Yes).





9.  Paging

SQUAWK!'s paging function uses a modem to dial a pager number and
send the series of tones that comprise the message to be displayed on
a numeric pager.  The paging function can be tested using the Test
Paging feature (F8 key).


Paging Sequence - Power Failures

If an "enterprise contact" was entered during the installation or
using the Program Configuration option, this person is paged when a
power failure is detected and when the power is restored.

NOTE:  The enterprise contact will be paged upon power restoration
even if the "SQUAWK!-box" exhausts its' UPS batteries and shuts off.

If no enterprise contact is entered, no power failure/recovery paging
takes place.


Paging Sequence - Server Failures

Once SQUAWK! has determined that a server is no longer responding, it
begins the following paging sequence:

-    If a contact person has been entered for the down server, this
   person is paged
-    SQUAWK! checks to see if the enterprise contact's Server failure
   paging is set to "Y"
-    If it is set to "Y" (Yes), the enterprise contact is paged


Pager Codes

There are six possible events for which a code is sent to a pager for
display.  They are:

-    Power failure
-    Power recovery
-    Unidentified server failure
-    Unidentified server recovery
-    Identified server failure
-    Identified server recovery

The pager codes for the "power" and "unidentified server" events
contain a site designation number.  This aids in determining the
source of the page if you are running SQUAWK! at multiple sites.  For
"identified servers", the pager ID number entered in the server's
configuration screen is sent to the pager.

NOTE:  An "unidentified server" is a server for which no pager ID
number was entered in the server's configuration screen.

The following are the pager codes for an installation who's site
designation is "7777".  (This is  the number used for pages sent by
an evaluation copy of SQUAWK!.  Otherwise the site designation is the
first four digits of the registration key-code.)

     -077770-    Power failure at site 7777
     -177771-    Power recovery at site 7777

     -977779-0   Unidentified server failure at site 7777
     -977779-1   Unidentified server recovery at site 7777

     -nnnnnn-0   Server `nnnnnn' is down  (where `nnnnnn' is the server's pager ID)
     -nnnnnn-1   Server `nnnnnn' is back up  (where `nnnnnn' is the server's pager ID)





10.  Reporting

There are five hard-copy reports available from the SQUAWK! Reports
menu (F6 key).  There is also a sixth option to export failure data
to an ASCII text file for import into database and spreadsheet
programs.

In order to print reports you will need a locally attached printer.
This is because your "SQUAWK!-box" doesn't use a network shell so
accessing a network print is not possible.

With each selection you are prompted to enter an optional reporting
period start date.  If you leave this date field blank and press
Enter all failure data will be included dating back to when SQUAWK!
was installed.  If no data matches the start date/server parameters
of your request, you will see a "No data to report" message.

Reports

Failure Summary Report  -  This report lists each server individually
and gives cumulative failure and downtime statistics for each.  It
also gives a cumulative summary of "enterprise wide" (broadcast
domain-wide) failures and down-time.

Individual Server Report  -  This report gives a cumulative summary
for the selected server plus lists each failure with fail time,
recovery time, and down-time.

Power Failure Report  -  This report is the power failure equivalent
of the above Individual Server Report.

Detailed Report of All Failures  -  This lists all individual
failures grouped by server name and "power", and is sub-sorted by
fail date.

Export Failure Data To Text File  -  This selection will write the
failure data to a comma-delimited ASCII text file named FAILURE.TXT.
The layout of fields for each line in the file is as follows:
          Server Name         Variable length
          Failure Date        8 characters        yyyymmdd
          Failure Time        5 characters        hh:mm
          Recovery Date       8 characters        yyyymmdd
          Recovery Time       5 characters        hh:mm
          Days down           Variable length
          Hours down          1 to 2 characters
          Minutes down        1 to 2 characters

Server Setup Listing  -  This selection does not use the failure
database but rather the server database.  It lists each server along
with the data from their configuration including address, hops, who
is contacted in case of failure,  whether the server is set to be
ignored, whether the server is flagged as new, and any description
that was entered.





11.  Registering The Software

Registering (purchasing) your copy of SQUAWK! will remove the 30-day
evaluation limitation.

When you register the software you will be e-mailed a key-code number
which you enter into the SQUAWK! program while it is running.

You can obtain registration information on the SQUAWK! Web site at
www.squawkware.com.

