1.3 Managing Monitored Items

Manage Monitored Items in the Actions menu enables you to add, configure, and delete the services and MySQL instances you intend to monitor. The Manage Items window has two tabs: Services and Instances. This section describes the following aspects of Managed Items window:

• Services Tab

• Instances Tab

• MySQL Server Connections

Services Tab

When MySQL is configured as a local service, MySQL Notifier adds the service to the Services tab automatically. With the Services tab open, you can select the following options that apply to all services being monitored:

• Notify me when status changes

• Update MySQL Notifier tray icon based on service status

The next figure shows the Monitored Items windows with the Services tab open. This tab lists the service name, the computer where the service is hosted, and the current status of each service monitored by MySQL Notifier.

Figure 1.2 MySQL Notifier: Manage Monitored Services

To stop monitoring a service, select it from the list of monitored services and click Delete.

To begin monitoring a service, click Add to open the Add Service window. Select a computer from the drop-down list, locate and select the service to be monitored from the list, and then click OK. Use the Filter field to reduce the set of services in the list or select Only show services that match auto-add filter to reuse the general-options filter from the Options menu.

A variety of Windows services (including MySQL) may be selected as the following figure shows. In addition to the service name, the list shows the current status of each Windows services for the selected computer.

Figure 1.3 MySQL Notifier: Add New Services

Instances Tab

When MySQL is configured as a MySQL instance, MySQL Notifier adds the instance to the Instances tab automatically. With the Instances tab open, you can select the following options that apply to each instance being monitored:

• Notify me when status changes

• Update MySQL Notifier tray icon based on service status

• Monitor MySQL Instance status every [ # ] [ seconds | minutes | hours | days ]

The next figure shows the Instances tab open and both options selected. Monitoring the instance status is set to every two minutes in this example. This tab shows the instance name, the database driver, and the current status of the instance.

Figure 1.4 MySQL Notifier: Manage MySQL Instances

To stop monitoring an instance, select it from the list of monitored MySQL instances and click Delete.

To begin monitoring an instance, click Add to open the Monitor MySQL Server Instance window. Use the Filter field to reduce the set of instances in the list or select Show MySQL instances already being monitored to show monitored items only.

Optionally, you can select a connection from MySQL Workbench to monitor. Click Add New Connection, shown in the next figure, to create a new connection.

Figure 1.5 MySQL Notifier: Adding New Instances

MySQL Server Connections

New server connections are configured in the MySQL Server Connection window. Connection names must be unique. An alert icon (!) indicates that an option value is required. The figure that follows shows the MySQL Server Connection window with the Parameters tab selected.

Figure 1.6 MySQL Notifier: MySQL Server Connection

For each connection, provide the connection details, click Test Connection to confirm the MySQL connection is valid, and click OK to save the new connection. The type of connection you create can vary depending on the configuration of the server, the client host computer, and the level of security you want. MySQL Notifier supports the following connection types:

Basic connections.  A basic connection is either unencrypted or encrypted (in MySQL 8.0, SSL is enabled by default) and the connection is made using standard TPC/IP, which is the default connection method in MySQL Notifier to connect to the MySQL RDBMS. Basic connections are easy to configure, particularly if MySQL Notifier and the MySQL server are on the same host computer or operate within the same local area network. To configure a basic connection, set the Connection Method option to TCP/IP (standard) and use the Parameters tab to configure the connection.

SSL connections.  Both the MySQL server and the client must be configured to enable SSL encryption (see Using Encrypted Connections). To configure this type of connection, set the Connection Method option to TCP/IP (standard) and use the Parameters tab to configure the basic connection. Next, select the SSL tab to identify the appropriate files. MySQL Server uses the PEM format for certificates and private keys. In addition to providing the paths to certificate files, you can specify the SSL mode to use for your connection. The following table describes each Use SSL option value and indicates which files are required.

Table 1.1 Use SSL Option Values

Option value	Description
No	Do not use SSL. No SSL files are required.
If Available	Use SSL if the server supports it, but allow connection in all cases. No SSL files are required; however, providing the SSL CA file is the best practice for connections made to MySQL 8.0 servers.
Require	Always use SSL and deny a connection if the server does not support SSL. Do not perform server certificate validation. No SSL files are required.
Require and Verify CA	Always use SSL. Validate the certificate authorities (CA), but tolerate a name mismatch. Requires the SSL CA file.
Require and Verify Identity	Always use SSL and fail if the host name is not correct. Requires valid SSL CA, SSL Cert, and SSL Key files.

SSH connections.  SSH tunnels permit you to connect to a MySQL database from behind a firewall when the MySQL server port is blocked. To configure this type of connection, set the Connection Method option to Standard TCP/IP over SSH and use the Parameters tab to configure the connection.

Additional considerations:

• The SSH server communicates with a MySQL server instance in an unencrypted or encrypted mode, based on the value selected for the SSL mode (see Table 1.1, “Use SSL Option Values”). Select the SSL tab to specify a value for the Use SSL option.

• The account you use to run MySQL Notifier must be authorized on the SSH server in advance. To authenticate your account (specified by SSH User Name), you can use one of the following strategies:

  • SSH User Name and SSH Password only

  • SSH User Name and SSH Key File only

    Your SSH server may require that you to also provide the SSH Passphrase property when using a key file. An invalid pass phrase generates an exception.

  • SSH User Name and SSH Key File (SSH Passphrase) and SSH Password

    The combination of user name + key file (passphrase) + password can perform fallback authentication when the key file and pass phrase are valid, but an error occurs on the server. Specifically, the first attempt to connect uses the key file, and if it fails, the next attempt to connect uses the password instead. If the SSH key file is null or empty, but the SSH password is provided, MySQL Notifier attempts to connect using the SSH password only.