Configure the Cove Backup Check

Set up the Cove Backup check to monitor N-able Cove (Backup Manager) sessions per data source.

Written By Stefan Steuer

Last updated 28 days ago

Configure a Cove Backup Check

The Cove Backup check monitors N-able Cove (Backup Manager) on the device where it is installed. octoja's agent reads the latest backup-session state per data source (File System, MS SQL, Exchange, Hyper-V, VMware and so on) and alerts when a backup is old, failed, or interrupted.

Requirements

  • N-able Cove Backup Manager installed on a Windows, macOS, or Linux device
  • The octoja agent installed on the same device
  • The Cove backup service running (the check reports critical if it is not)

Not sure if Cove is the right product? Look for "Backup Manager" in Programs and Features on Windows, or /opt/MXB/ on Linux. Cove is also sold by MSP vendors under N-able partner brands — the underlying ClientTool is the same.

Steps

  1. Make sure the octoja agent is installed on the device that has Cove Backup Manager.
  2. Go to Devices and open that device.
  3. Click the Checks tab → Add Check → Cove Backup.
  4. Choose a Data source — All data sources (default) evaluates every Cove data source on the device; pick a specific one (File system, MS SQL Server, Exchange, etc.) to scope the check.
  5. Adjust the Warning threshold (hours) and Critical threshold (hours) if 24 h / 48 h are not right for your backup schedule.
  6. Click Add Check.
FieldWhat it does
Data sourceWhich Cove data source to evaluate. Default All data sources covers everything Cove protects on this device. Pick a single source (e.g. MS SQL Server) to alert only on that workload
Warning threshold (hours)Alert as warning if the latest successful backup session is older than this (default: 24 hours)
Critical threshold (hours)Alert as critical if the latest successful backup session is older than this (default: 48 hours)

What triggers an alert?

ConditionSeverity
Cove ClientTool not found on the deviceFailure
Cove backup service is not runningCritical
No backup sessions found yet (for example, before the first Cove backup has run)Warning
Latest session is Failed, Interrupted, or AbortedCritical
Latest session is CompletedWithErrorsWarning
Latest successful session is older than the critical thresholdCritical
Latest successful session is older than the warning thresholdWarning
Latest session is InProcess or NotStarted (a backup is running or queued)OK
Latest session is Completed within the warning thresholdOK

Tips

  • A typical setup: warning at 24 hours, critical at 48 hours. That gives you a heads-up after one missed nightly run and a critical alert after two.
  • For workloads with a slower cadence (weekly backups of an archive volume), raise both thresholds — otherwise the check will flap on every quiet day.
  • If you protect multiple data sources with very different schedules, configure one Cove Backup check per data source rather than a single All data sources check — the per-source thresholds will fit the cadence of each workload.
  • If you run Cove on multiple devices, install the octoja agent on each one and add a Cove Backup check per device.

The first result appears in the device's Checks tab shortly after the agent picks up the check; after that, the check runs every 60 minutes by default.

See also: Cove Backup Check Reference