Step 4 – Activate Your First Check

Set up a monitoring check on a device and see it run

Written By Erdinc Akay

Last updated 26 days ago

A check is an automated test that octoja runs on a device at regular intervals. For example, a Disk Space check watches how full your drives are and flags it when free space is running low. Checks are the foundation of monitoring in octoja.

Before you start

  • You need at least one device with the agent installed and connected (see Step 3).

Steps

  1. Go to Configuration → Check Library in the left sidebar.
  2. Browse the available checks. For your first check, Disk Space, Disk I/O, or Service Status are good choices — they work on every platform with no extra setup. The walkthrough below activates Disk I/O as an example; the flow is the same for any check.
  3. The Check Library is a read-only catalog for browsing the available checks — each card shows the check's name, description, category, author, and supported platforms, and you can search or filter by category and platform. You configure a check (its Display Name and threshold fields) later, when you add it to a device in steps 6–8.
  4. Now go to Devices in the sidebar, and click on the device you want to monitor.
  5. Click the Checks tab on the device detail page.
  6. Click Add Check and select the check type you chose (the walkthrough below uses Disk I/O).
  7. Fill in the check-specific fields. Every check has a Display Name field; the remaining inputs depend on the check you picked. For Disk Space, pick a Threshold mode and then set the mode-specific thresholds:
FieldWhat to enter
Display NameA short label so you can recognize this check in the device's Checks list (for example, System disk).
Threshold modePercent values compares used space against the drive size; Absolute values compares free space in MB; Combined (both) only triggers when both thresholds are exceeded. Percent values is the easier starting point.
Warning — used space (%) / Warning — free space (MB)The value where you want an early heads-up. In Percent mode, 80% used is a good starting point.
Critical — used space (%) / Critical — free space (MB)The value where you want an urgent alert. In Percent mode, 95% used is typical.
  1. Click Add Check to confirm.
  2. Wait for the first check interval to pass, then return to the device's Checks tab to see the result.

The walkthrough below shows the full activation flow on a fresh device — Devices page, device detail, Checks tab, Add Check, picking Disk I/O, confirming, and the new check appearing in the list:

Animated walkthrough — open the Devices page, click a workstation row (VOG-WS-101) to open its detail page, click the Checks tab (which shows "No monitoring checks assigned"), click Add Check, select Disk I/O from the check picker, confirm Add Check; the dialog closes and the new Disk I/O check appears in the device's Monitoring Checks panel with status Pending.

What the statuses mean

StatusMeaning
OKThe check passed — everything is within normal range.
WarningThe warning threshold was reached — worth keeping an eye on.
CriticalThe critical threshold was reached — action is needed.
FailureThe check ran but could not produce a result — for example, the agent could not reach the resource being measured.
PendingThe check has not run yet — you will see this right after adding a check, until the first result arrives.

Here is what the Checks tab looks like once a few checks are running:

The Checks tab on the CONTOSO-DC01 device detail page showing three checks from the Web Server Bundle config package (Disk Space, HTTPS Endpoint, Web Services), all in Critical state; the Critical 3 badge in the panel header reflects the rolled-up status.

Tip: If a check stays without a result for more than a few minutes, open the device detail page and confirm the agent is still online — the Online / Offline pill in the device header shows the current connection state.

CheckWhat it monitorsWhy it matters
PingNetwork reachabilityCatches network outages and latency spikes before users complain
SSL / HTTPWebsite availability and certificate expiryPrevents embarrassing expired-certificate warnings on your public sites
Disk SpaceDrive capacityAvoids full-disk outages (the most common preventable failure)
Service StatusWhether a specific Windows service or Linux daemon is runningAlerts you if a critical service like SQL Server or nginx stops

Next step

Continue to Step 5 – Get an Overview at a Glance.

You have covered the basics — explore what else octoja can do, for example Monitor Device Performance Live or Deploy Software to Devices.