From version 0.9 on there is a option to automatically check statuses of configured hosts for selected subnets, and discovery of new hosts. I received some related questions about it, so here is a short description and guide for it.

Firstly, pcntl support for php cli is advised so phpipam can do parallel icmp checks, this greatly reduces time required for checking status. You can check if your installation is ok with following command: 
php -m | grep pcntl

1.) Configure the parameters for pinging

Set the time parameters for status under Administration > IPAM settings (Ping status intervals), phpipam will set host as down/up based on this values. Also, set the proper icmp parameters and paths.


2.) Select which networks to check

subnet scan selection

Now you have to select which subnets should scan for statuses for configured hosts.

Go to edit subnet and check “Check hosts status”. This will tell the cron script to check the status of hosts inside this subnet. “Discover new hosts” will try to find new hosts for this subnet and will automatically add them to phpipam database.

3.) Add cron script

I suggest checking it per 15 minutes:

# update host statuses exery 15 minutes
*/15 * * * * /usr/local/bin/php /usr/local/www/phpipam/functions/scripts/pingCheck.php
*/15 * * * * /usr/local/bin/php /usr/local/www/phpipam/functions/scripts/discoveryCheck.php

Change the paths according to your installation of course 🙂

That should be it. I would advise to run the script manually for the first time to see if any errors are present.

brm