Content of this webpage:

• What is "-Mortens HostAlive-" ?
• Screenshots
• Download latest version
• Version history [separate page]
• Further plans (and suggestions)
• Frequently asked questions [separate page]
• Final words [separate page]
• Contact information (bug report)

-Mortens HostAlive- is a multi-ping tool to easily check the online status of computers in a TCP/IP network. Therefore it pings those hosts in a (configurable) time interval. Furthermore -Mortens HostAlive- can scan TCP service ports for active (running) web-services.
The setup is quite easy: Add the hosts you want to watch to a list (IP-addresses and domain names are supported). Set-up a ping time interval and -Mortens HostAlive- will report you the online-status (ping answer and connect results to ports). On a configurable status (broken/alive/changed) Mortens HostAlive allows (cyclic) exports of a report as a HTML- or CSV-file, sending an email report or simply showing a message and/or playing a sound.
The history of pings for a host can be viewed in a chart in different views next to some statistical analysis.
This program is freeware!

Here you can see some screenshots of -Mortens HostAlive-:
Click on each of it to see it in full-size.

The latest version of -Mortens HostAlive- is: v1.20 (build 55, compiled 04th Sep 2005).
There are three versions for you to download:
(Many thanks to Andreas Kneiseler for providing webspace.)

1.) The full version - 2.40 MB.
This is a .zip-archive which includes the full setup with install/uninstall feature and all needed libraries.
Please follow these instructions to install:

• Unextract the .zip-archive to a temporary directory (e.g. "c:\Temp")
• Run "setup.exe" which will guide you through the install procedure.
• Finished... ;-)

2.) The update version - 207 kB.
This package has no or only the updated libraries included. You can use it if you already have all needed Visual Basic libraries properly installed or as an update for -Mortens HostAlive- version(s) after v1.09.
Please download the file and follow these instructions to install:

• Unextract the .zip-archive to a temporary directory (e.g. "c:\Temp")
• Copy the extracted files "HostAlive.exe", "example.css" and "mha_lic.txt" to your -Mortens HostAlive- installation directory, normally located at "C:\program files\Mortens HostAlive".
  If you are asked to overwrite an existing file confirm with "Yes".
• Read a possibly included file "readme.txt" for further instructions.
• Verify your configuration settings after the first run of the updated version. They might need to be re-adjusted.
• Finished... ;-)

3.) The -Mortens HostAlive- Converter This is a tool (AddOn) for -Mortens HostAlive- that allows converting plain-text (ASCii) files with host informations into -Mortens HostAlive- host list files. Upon a lot of requests I decided to implement this tool. To install simply extract the archive to your Mortens HostAlive installation directory and run it.
Please note: This converter has been integrated in the actual release of -Mortens HostAlive-.

4.) See Beta-section for test-releases. To install follow the instructions as stated above for an update.

By the way: You are WELCOME to report bugs or making any suggestions on -Mortens HostAlive-. I will always try to consider this in the next version(s).

Please note: -Mortens HostAlive- was developed using M$ Visual Basic v6.0 (SP5).

I have collected the following user inquiries (so far) scheduled to be implemented in a later release.
Please note: The following list is not being updated regularly. Please do not ask me about your request being not listed here if I have answered you already via email.
Furthermore the order presented here might not be the order of implementation.

• Concerning host list:
  • Ability to easily add an IP range to host list.
• Concerning settings:
  • Ability to provide "backup-" SMTP servers for Email-report.
  • Support to send individual emails for each host.
  • Support for proxy-servers.
• Concerning logging (history):
  • Ability to log to different (several) log-files depending on the host-setup.
  • Adding lowest/highest response time (more?!) to statistics.
  • Support for sending SysLog messages (via UDP).
• Concerning application behaviour:
  • Support to configure an "activity time" for MHA when it shall run.
  • Support for "independent" messages that will not stop MHA from running.
  • Support for other languages that English.
  • Support for running MHA as service (unsure!).
  • Adding a help file and context-sensitive online-help.
• (...)