Documentation

TCP Port Connect Check

About Port Connect Checks

The Port Connect check performs a simple TCP network connect call on any port you specify. It's protocol agnostic and can be used against any number of TCP network services. It simply reports if a connection was possible or not. The check can be configured to send you notifications if it is able to connect or if it is unable to connect.

When to use Port Connect Checks

There are many different scenarios where a Port Connect check would be a good choice including:

If you need to monitor the availability of a service which NodePing doesn't currently have a specific check for
If you need to monitor that your firewall is actively allowing traffic to a specific port - the check will notify you if it is unable to connect.
If you need to monitor that your firewall is blocking or dropping traffic to a specific port - the check will notify you if it is able to successfully connect.

Using Port Connect Checks

To set up a Port Connect check,

Select PORT from the Check type drop down.
Give it a friendly label to identify this check in lists and notifications.
Select the geographical region you'd like the check to be run from.
Enable Automated Diagnostics if you'd like detailed technical info about the failure that may help you troubleshoot a failure.
Set how often (in minutes) you want the check to run in the Check Frequency field.
Enter the host you'd like to monitor. The fully qualified domain name or the ip address is required.
Enter the port number the service is running on. This is required.
Choose 'Accepts connection' if the service should be available and you would like to receive alerts if the check is unable to connect. Choose 'Does not accept connection' if the service should not be available (it should be offline or blocked by a firewall) and you would like to receive alerts if the check is able to successfully connect.
Set a time out threshold in seconds. This is how long the check will try to connect. The default is 5 seconds.
Set the Sensitivity. The default 'High' is usually appropriate as it provides two immediate rechecks (three checks total) before declaring the check up or down. If the service often fails, you may want to lower the 'Sensitivity' to receive fewer notifications.
Set the notifications for this check. More information about notifications.