Creating Maps using Visio

• create a Visio network diagram as usual
• insert status or status connector stencil from the BigSister shapes
• in their custom property BigSister enter the name of a group (e.g. SERVERS) or a status item (e.g. srv1.conn)
• draw a rectangle around the whole diagram - it is ok if it is transparent
• name the diagram examplemap
• export the diagram as PNG under the name example.png
• save the diagram as VDX file
• copy the two files to the BigSister configuration directory on the server (usually /etc/bigsister)
• run bsvisio example.VDX > example.cfg
• add %image example.cfg to your bs-display.cfg

The BigSister Visio stencils can be downloaded from https://sourceforge.net/projects/bigsister/files/Big%20Sister/1.12/BigSister.vss/download. Do not expect too much, the file merely contains the two status stencils. You will still need some nice stencils for the devices you want to appear in your map.