nPulse Copyright 2001, Horsburgh.com.
Author: Steve Horsburgh, shorsburgh@horsburgh.com
Version: 0.50


---------
Overview
---------

nPulse is a web-based network monitoring package for Linux and Unix-like
operating systems. It can quickly monitor tens, hundreds, even thousands
of sites/devices at a time on multiple ports. nPulse is written in
Perl and comes with its own (SSL optional) web server for extra security. 

Also, instead of re-inventing existing code, nPulse uses many excellent
OpenSource (GPL) products including
 * Nmap                              www.insecure.org/nmap [required]
 * Perl                              www.cpan.org          [required]
 * OpenSSL                           www.openssl.com       [optional]
 * Net::SSLeay and Mail::Mailer      www.cpan.org          [optional]
 * Java Telnet App                   www.mud.de/se/jta     [included]
 * A modified version of miniserv.pl www.webmin.com        [included]

------------------
Required Software
------------------

Linux/Unix Version 2.1 or greater  (www.redhat.com)
Perl       Version 5.002 or later  (www.cpan.org)
Nmap       Version 2.51 or later   (www.insecure.org/nmap)

nPulse is entirely written in Perl 5. For port scanning it uses the excellent
package Nmap, available from www.insecure.org. nPulse will not work without Nmap. 


------------------
Optional Software
------------------

OpenSSL      Version 0.9.6 or greater (http://www.openssl.org/)
Net::SSLeay  Version 1.04 or greater  (http://www.cpan.org/)
Mail::Mailer Version 1.21 or greater  (http://www.cpan.org/)


--------------------------
Installation Instructions
--------------------------

1. Unpack the distribution into a directory of choice, preferably one owned
   by root and not visible to other users.

   CMD: tar -zxf npulse-0.5.tar.gz
   or
   CMD: gunzip npulse-0.50.tar.gz
        tar -xf npulse-0.50.tar

   (If you are reading this, then you probably have already done so. :)

2. As root, execute the setup file.

   CMD: ./setup.sh

3. Follow the instructions.

4. That's it. (Advanced users might want to tweak the preferences file.)


--------------
Documentation
--------------

Sorry, I've not had much time yet...

Just go to the home page and click on the 'Setup' button.
Then either manually enter the ip addresses (NUMERIC ONLY) and ports, or
enter a numeric ip address range into the discover box and let 
it figure out the config file.

Example:
192.168.0.1-3,5 21,23,80

This checks addresses 192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.2, 192.168.0.3, 192.168.0.5
for activity on ports 21, 23, and 80.

Then click on the 'Recheck' or 'Auto Check' button to start monitoring.

The rest should be fairly intuitive.

Note: if browser timeouts occur, go to the Status page and wait for 
scan completion.

Note: to change the admin password do the following:
  1. As root, issue the following command:
     # ./usermod -m admin newpassword


-------
Testing
-------

nPulse server has been tested on the following platforms:
(if you have tested others, please let me know and I'll include them)

   - Redhat Linux 6.1, 6.2
   - SGI Irix 6.3, 6.4
   - FreeBSD 4.0                by David Bishop <david at bishop.dhs.org>
   - Mandrake/Linux 7.2         by Brett J. Goldstein <bjgol at yahoo.com>
   - Redhat Linux 7             by Irmund Thum <ithum at bunt.com>
   - Debian Linux               by Mike Dickinson <mdickinson at bnsmail.net>

nPulse has been 'view' tested with the following browsers:
(if you have tested others, please let me know and I'll include them)

   - Windows    Internet Explorer       4.72, 5.0, 5.5
   - Windows    Netscape Navigator      4.5, 4.7
   - Macintosh  Internet Explorer       5.0
   - Macintosh  Netscape Navigator      4.5, 6.0
   - Linux      Netscape Navigator      4.72, 4.75
   - NetPositive                by David Bishop <david at bishop.dhs.org>
   - Opera 4.0b5                by Irmund Thum <ithum at bunt.com>
   - Galeon 0.8.4               by Irmund Thum <ithum at bunt.com>
   - Solaris 8  Navigator 4.73  by Brian Johnson <brian at netcom.duke.edu>

------------
Bugs
------------

Please send all bug reports (and solutions if you have them) to
npulsebug@horsburgh.com

Known Bug: The Autorecheck icon and href are not updated properly.
           The operation is correct, but the display is incorrect.
           Clicking on the 'Recheck' button will correctly display
           the icon.

---------
Copyright
---------

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.

See the file COPYING for additional information


-----------
Disclaimer
-----------

This is BETA software.
Everything should work, but no guarantees!

You have been warned..........

nPulse Copyright 2001, Horsburgh.com.