Insight: Machine Groups
Overview
Use this page to create and organize machine groups so you can configure infrastructure monitoring for many machines at once. A machine group is a named set of machines whose monitoring status and performance-counter collection you manage together instead of configuring each machine individually. Grouping machines this way lets you enable or disable monitoring, review machine health, and scope configuration to systems that belong together.
Before a machine can join a group, LoadGen must already know about it; machines are registered through Configuration: Insight: Machines and then appear here, unassigned, in the Needs Onboarding card until you drag them into a group. Once organized, the infrastructure metrics a group's machines report feed into Insight: Dashboard, where you review performance data scoped by the groups you define here.
On this page, you can search existing groups by name, create a new group, edit or duplicate one, delete groups you no longer need, and toggle each group's monitoring on or off. You also drag newly detected machines out of Needs Onboarding into the group where they belong.
Key concepts
- Machine Group - A named set of machines whose infrastructure monitoring settings, performance-counter collection, and enabled state you configure together instead of one machine at a time. (related: Configuration: Insight: Machines)
- Needs Onboarding - The system group that holds machines LoadGen has detected but that haven't yet been dragged into a machine group.
- WMI - Windows Management Instrumentation, the protocol LoadGen uses to collect the performance counters counted in a group's counter stat (for example, '12 WMI').
When to use it
- A new machine has started reporting to Insight and is waiting in Needs Onboarding.
- You're setting up infrastructure monitoring for a new environment and need a logical grouping for its machines.
- You need to pause monitoring for a set of machines during planned maintenance without losing their configuration.
- You want to replicate an existing group's configuration for a similar set of machines.
- You need to find a specific machine group among many to edit or delete it.
- A machine group is no longer needed and should be removed.
Before you begin
- At least one machine must already be known to Insight; machines are added or discovered through Configuration: Insight: Machines before they can be assigned here.
- Decide a unique name for any new machine group; the page rejects a name that matches an existing group.
- Sign in with an account that has access to the Insight configuration area; the page is reached from the Insight section of the navigation.
Common workflows
Onboard a newly detected machine into a group
Persona: Infrastructure monitoring admin
- Find the machine's chip in the Needs Onboarding card.
- Expect: The machine appears inside the amber-bordered Needs Onboarding card, separate from your machine group cards.
- Drag the machine chip onto the target machine group card.
- Expect: The chip moves into the target group's machine list, the Needs Onboarding count drops, and the target group's machine count badge increases by one.
Verify: The Needs Onboarding card shows a lower count (or 'No machines awaiting onboarding'), and the target group's machine chip list now includes the machine with a status dot.
Create a new machine group
Persona: Infrastructure monitoring admin
- Click New Machine Group.
- Expect: A dialog opens prompting for a name for the new machine group.
- Type a unique name, for example svc.lg.godwit, and confirm.
- Expect: The dialog closes and a new machine group card appears in the list with a machine count of 0.
Verify: The new group card is visible in the list under the name you entered, ready to receive machines dragged from Needs Onboarding.
Pause monitoring for a machine group
Persona: Infrastructure monitoring admin
- Switch off the Enabled toggle on the group's card.
- Expect: The toggle changes from green to off, and the group is marked inactive.
Verify: The card's toggle shows off, indicating the group's machines are no longer being polled for new infrastructure metrics until you switch it back on.
Steps
Step 1
Open the Machine Groups page from the Insight section of the navigation.
Expected result: The page loads showing the Needs Onboarding card, which reports no machines awaiting onboarding, and the LoadGen Demo machine group card listing one online machine, LOADGEN-W22-01.
This page is where you organize machines into groups so you can configure their infrastructure monitoring together instead of one machine at a time.
- Search machine groups filters the cards below by name.
- Each machine group card shows an Enabled toggle indicating whether that group's monitoring is currently active.
-
New Machine Group and Refresh sit in the page header for creating a group or reloading the list.
Field reference
| Field | Purpose | Format / Validation | Required | Default |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search machine groups | Filters the visible machine group cards to those whose name matches your search text, so you can find a specific group quickly when you have many. | free text | No | - |
| New machine group name | Names the machine group you're creating or duplicating. Choose a name that identifies the machines it will contain, since this is the only label operators see when scanning the list. | free text | Yes | - |
| Enabled toggle | Turns monitoring collection on or off for the group's machines. Switch it off to pause monitoring for every machine in the group without deleting the group's configuration; switch it on to resume collection. | on/off toggle | - | - |
Column reference
| Column | What it shows | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Machine group name | Identifies the group. | This is the label you search on and the name shown in the Edit and Duplicate dialogs. |
| Machine count badge | Shows how many machines currently belong to the group, or, on Needs Onboarding, how many machines are waiting to be assigned. | A higher number means more machines share this group's monitoring configuration; 0 machines on Needs Onboarding means every detected machine has already been assigned to a group. |
| Counter count stat | Shows how many WMI performance counters are configured for collection across the group's machines. | A higher count means more performance counters are being polled for this group's machines; use it to compare how intensively different groups are monitored. |
| Updated date | Shows when the group's configuration was last changed. | An old date suggests the group's membership or settings haven't been revisited recently. |
| Machine chip | Lists each machine assigned to the group and its connection status. | A green dot means the machine is online and reporting; if a chip shows a different color, check that machine's connectivity. |
Controls reference
Refresh
Reloads the machine groups list and the Needs Onboarding card from the server.
When to use: Use it after a machine has been added to Insight, or after dragging a machine between groups, to confirm the change was saved.
Side effects: Read-only: it reloads data but does not change any machine group or machine assignment.
New Machine Group
Opens a dialog to name and create a new machine group.
When to use: Use it when you need a new group to organize a set of machines that don't fit an existing group.
Side effects: Mutating: confirming the dialog creates a new, empty machine group that appears in the list.
Create Machine Group
Opens the same create-group dialog, offered as the call-to-action when no machine groups exist yet.
When to use: Use it the first time you set up infrastructure monitoring, before any group exists.
Side effects: Mutating: creates a new machine group once you provide a unique name.
Edit
Opens the selected machine group's settings so you can change its name.
When to use: Use it to rename a group as its purpose or membership changes.
Side effects: Mutating once saved: updates the group's stored name.
Duplicate
Opens a dialog to copy the selected machine group's configuration into a new group.
When to use: Use it to quickly set up a similar group without re-creating its settings from scratch.
Side effects: Mutating: confirming Duplicate in the dialog creates a new machine group; Cancel closes the dialog without changes.
Delete
Opens a confirmation dialog, then permanently removes the machine group.
When to use: Use it when a group is no longer needed, for example after decommissioning the machines it contained.
Side effects: Mutating and destructive: once confirmed, the group and its monitoring configuration are permanently removed.
Clear Search
Clears the text in Search machine groups and restores the full list.
When to use: Use it when a search returns No Matching Machine Groups and you want to see all groups again.
Side effects: Read-only: only clears the filter, no data changes.
Cancel
Closes the Duplicate dialog without creating a copy.
When to use: Use it if you opened Duplicate by mistake or change your mind about the new group's name.
Side effects: Read-only: no machine group is created.
Verify the result
When machine groups are organized correctly, the Needs Onboarding card shows 'No machines awaiting onboarding' or only the machines you haven't assigned yet, and every other machine appears as a chip with a status dot inside the machine group card you placed it in. Each group card's machine count badge matches the number of chips shown, and its Enabled toggle is green if monitoring is active for that group. If a machine you expect to see is missing from every card, click Refresh before assuming it hasn't been detected. If a new group doesn't appear after creating it, check for a 'Name is required.' or 'A machine group with this name already exists.' message and try again.
Troubleshooting
- Symptom: A machine you just connected never appears under Needs Onboarding or in any group. Fix: Click Refresh to reload the list; if it's still missing, confirm the machine was added in Configuration: Insight: Machines.
- Symptom: Dragging a chip from Needs Onboarding to a group doesn't seem to move it. Fix: Make sure you drop the chip directly on the target machine group card, then click Refresh to confirm the move was saved.
- Symptom: Creating a group fails with 'A machine group with this name already exists.' Fix: Use Search machine groups to check for the name first, then choose a different one.
- Symptom: The create or edit dialog won't save and shows 'Name is required.' Fix: Type a name in the field before confirming; it cannot be left blank.
- Symptom: Duplicating a group fails with a 'Failed to duplicate' message. Fix: Close the dialog, click Duplicate again, and give the copy a unique name; if it keeps failing, confirm the source group still exists.
- Symptom: The list shows No Matching Machine Groups. Fix: Click Clear Search to remove your search text and see the full list again.
Related articles
- Prerequisite: Configuration: Insight: Machines - machines must be added or discovered there before they can be onboarded into a group here
- Next step: Insight: Dashboard - infrastructure metrics from a group's machines are reviewed there
- See also: Main: Insight - overview of the Insight module this page belongs to