The first thing you need to do is get the Java client via the download page. Choose either the zip or the tarball, whichever you prefer.

If you use PGP, I recommend you verify the archive you have just downloaded, just in case it has been corrupted or maliciously altered. There are some instructions available.

Now that you have the Java client, you need to decompress it. To decompress the tarball on Linux/UNIX use 'tar -xvzf servicemon-ver.tar.gz' and for the zip use 'unzip servicemon-ver.tar.gz'. On Windows, WinZip can decompress both types of archive. Then simply copy the contents of the archive to wherever you'd like it to live on your system.

You will need the Sun Java Runtime Environment in order to run the Java client.

Once you have the JRE, you can run the Java client with 'java -jar servicemon_Client.jar' on Linux/UNIX or by double-clicking on servicemon_Client.jar in Windows.

Once the Java client is running, you'll get a small, blank window with a menu bar. Click File -> Edit Hosts and enter the hosts running servicemon that you wish to monitor in the format specified. A typical host entry looks like this:
192.168.0.254:myserver

Once you have added your hosts you can either wait 10 minutes for the new hosts to be checked, or restart servicemon.

Hosts that could be contacted are shown in green, those that don't appear to be reachable or running servicemon are shown in red. Services that are running have a green icon, failed services have a red icon and services which have had to be restarted have an amber icon. The service status will be updated every 10 minutes, but bear in mind that servicemon only checks services once an hour so this is not realtime monitoring.

That's all there is to it. As you've probably noticed, the Java client is a little rough around the edges and in need of some polishing. This will happen over time (if you want to do it, feel free!). If you find any bugs or have any other comments, please get in touch.

servicemon
simple service monitoring