Apply monitoring templates to existing devices

You can apply monitoring templates to existing devices that already have Windows, Mac or Linux Agents installed. You can apply the templates on all devices at a Client and Site level, or on individual or multiple devices.

Monitoring templates use a hierarchical structure. Templates assigned at the Client level are applied to all Sites and devices under that Client, and templates assigned at the Site level are applied to all devices under that Site.

If you apply a monitoring template to a Client or Site, all future devices added to the Client or Site use that monitoring template. Even if you change the monitoring template at the device or lower level, it is overwritten by the applied monitoring template.

When you apply a monitoring template, a persistent outbound connection is used to immediately communicate the upgrade to the Agent. If the connection is unavailable, the Agent upgrades the next time it checks in. After the upgrade command is received by the Agent, it may take several minutes to complete the upgrade.

Monitoring templates are queued for installation on devices that are offline or overdue. The queued monitoring templates are applied the next time a device reports to the All Devices view. Only the first monitoring template request is queued for devices that are offline or overdue—any subsequent monitoring template requests are not queued.

Prerequisites

Before you apply monitoring templates to an Agent, you must:

Apply monitoring templates to all devices at one Client or Site:

  1. On the All Devices view, right-click the target Client or Site in the Client list.
  2. Select Apply Monitoring Template.

    The Apply Monitoring Template dialog displays.

  3. Select the type of devices to update; servers or workstations.
  4. Use the following Configuration steps to select the target template and configure.
  5. Click Apply to save.
  6. Review your changes and enter the password you used to log into the All Devices view to confirm.

Apply monitoring templates to single or multiple devices:

  1. On the All Devices view North-pane, go to the Servers or Workstations tab.
  2. Select a single device or multi-select devices with the same operating system (Shift and left-click for a range, Control and left-click for specific devices).

    Checks are only added to servers and workstations capable of supporting that check. For example, a Windows check cannot be added to a Mac workstation, and a Mac monitoring template cannot be applied to a Windows computer.

  3. Right-click one of the devices and select Monitoring Templates > Apply Monitoring Template.

    The Apply Monitoring Template dialog displays.

  4. Use the following Configuration steps to select the target template and configure.
  5. If you are updating multiple devices, verify the target devices, and click Run. If you are updating only one device, click Apply.
  6. Review your changes and enter the password you used to sign into N-sight RMM to confirm.

Configuration steps

  1. Choose Select monitoring templates.

    Rather than apply a monitoring template, you can Run the check detection scan to automatically add applicable checks. The check detection scan performs the default check discovery scan, which automatically adds or replaces checks for supported products and the Standard checks for the device type.

    When a discovered check is replaced by a template check, all technical and client-facing notes are removed.

    The check detection scan is supported for Windows devices only.

  2. Move the target templates from the Available Templates to the Selected Templates panels to stack up to ten templates.

    See how to stack templates: WATCH THE VIDEO

    Monitoring templates are processed in the order shown in the Selected Templates panel. All checks and automated tasks in the first (top) template are applied first and then all duplicates identified in the subsequent templates are omitted.

    To promote or demote a monitoring template in the Selected Templates panel drag the template to the required position.

    When multiple templates with different check frequencies are selected, only the frequency from the last template in the Selected Templates panel is applied. Ensure the template with the frequencies you want to apply is last in the Selected Templates panel.

  3. To Select update behavior, choose one of the following:

    If you choose to replace existing checks with checks in the template, all technical and client-facing notes on the replaced checks are removed.

    ChoiceDescription
    Add the new checks and tasks to the existing checks and tasks (default) Retain the existing checks and automated tasks and only add any new checks or automated tasks from the Selected Templates panel.
    Add the new checks and tasks to the existing checks and tasks and replace existing checks and tasks with those in the template in the event of duplicatesDetermines how checks or automated tasks already running on the Agent are handled in the event of duplicates in the Selected Templates panel.

    To identify existing automated tasks, the descriptive name entered in the monitoring template must precisely match the name of the automated task already assigned to the device.

    If the descriptive name does not match that already in use on the device, a new automated task is added to the device.

    Replace the existing checks and tasksReplaces all of the existing checks and automated tasks with those from the Selected Templates panel.
  4. Select Apply .
  5. Review the monitoring template changes.
  6. Enter the password you used to sign into N-sight RMM to confirm.

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