Glossary Of Terms

action account

The Windows account that is used by the MonitoringHost.eemxe processes to gather data from providers and to run actions, such as scripts, command-line batch files, on monitored devices.

agent

An Operations Manager component that is installed on Windows-based computers you wish to monitor. The agent collects data, compares sampled data to predefined values creates alerts and runs responses.

Agentless managed computer

A computer without an agent that is monitored by a management server or a proxy agent.

agent-managed computer

A computer that has an agent installed on it and reports to a management group.

alert

In Operations Manager, an alert is an item that indicates that a predefined situation has occurred on a monitored object. Alerts are defined by rules.

alert rule

A rule that detects a specific condition and generates an alert.

alert severity

The property of an alert that indicates its seriousness; for example, Service Unavailable, Security Issue, Critical Error, Error, Warning, Information, and Success.

Alert view

A view in the Operations Manager Operations Console that displays the alerts that the console user has the rights to see about a specific object.

Agentless Exception Monitoring (AEM)

A feature in Operations Manager that allows the collection of client application crash data to a single location on a management server, resulting in data that can then be analyzed by your company for patterns. In addition, the Management Server can forward the AEM data to Microsoft for analysis rather than having each individual client forward the data.

Audit Collection Services (ACS)

A service, that collects and forwards all security events from monitored computers to a central database. ACS requires Operations Manager 2007.

class

An item that is targeted for all operations. For example, SQL Server databases or logical drives. Classes can exist in a parent-child relationship with each other with the child class inheriting properties from the parent class. In general a class is a template that defines a set of objects of a certain kind and the properties of those objects.

company knowledge

An editable field of a rule or monitor where you can capture any relevant information about the required steps to resolve an alert that was raised by the rule or monitor. See also: product knowledge

containment relationship

In a model, a containment relationship represents the idea that one object is included in a set of objects that all have something in common. Containment relationships are primarily used to indicate some type of administrative grouping like those created by the Operations Manager Group Wizard. Any individual object can be included in many different sets. In addition, the lifetime of the object is not dependent on the lifetime of the set. For example, a Windows Server 2003 Domain controller is a member of the 'All Windows Servers' set of objects as well as being a member of the 'All Windows Server 2003 Computers' and 'All Domain Controllers' sets. Also, the existence of the domain controller computer is not dependent upon the existence of any of the sets it belongs to, it can be discovered by Operations Manager without the 'All Windows Servers' group having been discovered.

Data Warehouse database

The database that stores operations data for long periods of time. This data is then used by the Operations Manager 2007 Reporting Server to build reports. By default this database is named OperationsManagerDW.

Data Warehouse server

The server that hosts the OperationsManagerDW database.

Event view

A view in the Operations Manager Operations Console that displays specified events in the management group that the console user has the rights to see.

Favorite view

A view available from the My Workspace area of the Operations Console where you can save views that you regularly use, similar to how you save a Web page to your Favorites list in Internet Explorer.

gateway server

A server role in Operations Manager 2007 that enables the monitoring of computers that lie outside of the Kerberos trust boundaries (Kerberos realm) of the management group.

heartbeat

A message, sent by an agent to its owning management server that tells the management server the agent is functioning. In addition, the heartbeat informs Operations Manager of the current rules evaluated by the agent and requests updates, if necessary.

hosting relationship

In a model, a hosting relationship represents the idea that one object exists only within the context of a parent object. In this relationship there can be a one to many ratio of parent objects to child objects, but only a 1:1 ration between a child object and its parent, For example, any given logical drive can only belong to one computer, though a single computer may have multiple logical drives. Also, the logical drive must have a computer on which it exists, if the computer that hosts the logical drive ceases to exist, so does the logical drive itself.

management group

The basic functional unit of an Operations Manager 2007 implementation that can perform monitoring. It must contain a SQL Server 2005 database server, a Root Management Server, one or more Operations Consoles and one or more agents. In addition it can also contain a Reporting Server, gateway server, Audit Collection Services server, and additional collector management servers.

management pack

A grouping of classes, Monitors, Object Discoveries, Rules, Tasks, Views, and Knowledge that provide Operations Manager management servers and agents with the information necessary to monitor an application.

management server

An Operations Manager server that provides a communication channel between the database server and the managed objects within the management group.

model

In Operations Manager, a software representation of hardware, software, services and other logical components that are in your environment. The model captures the nature of those components and the relationships between them.

monitor

In Operations Manager, a state machine that uses events, performance data, and other information to define the state of an object, such as an application. The rollup of the monitors for an object determines the overall state of the object—for example, healthy, warning, or error.

Operations Console

The Operations Manager interface that you use to perform monitoring, administration, authoring, and reporting functions.

Operations Manager Connector Framework

An interface to the SDK Service that allows applications to synchronously communicate with the Root Management Server.

Operations Manager database

A SQL Server 2005 database, named OperationsManager by default, which stores configuration data, operations data, and security data.

Operations Manager Health Explorer

A feature of Operations Manager where you can view and then take action on alerts, state changes, and other significant issues generated by monitoring objects on your network.

Operations Manager Reporting server

The server role that is responsible for building and presenting reports.

Performance view

The Operations Console pane that displays specified performance information.

product connector

A software component that is used to synchronize data between Operations Manager and other management systems.

product knowledge

Content, embedded in rules and monitors, that contains information from the management pack author about the causes of an alert and suggestions on how to fix the issue that caused an alert to be raised.

reference relationship

In a model, a reference relationship indicates that participating objects work with one another with none of the dependencies or restrictions that exist in the hosting or containment relationships. For example, a network router and an Exchange Mailbox server may work together in providing e-mail services. In addition to working with the Exchange Server, the network router works with any other server or device that it routes network traffic for. Also, the Exchange Mailbox server works with all the other Exchange Servers and certain global catalog servers in the organization to provide e-mail services.

Reporting Data Warehouse

An Operations Manager 2007 component that managers the OperationsManagerDW database and that can be independently installed.

resolution state

The state of an alert in relation to its status in the resolution cycle, and includes default resolution states such as New, Acknowledged, and Resolved.

Root Management Server

The first management server installed for a management group that performs unique functions in the management group. Specifically, it hosts the SDK and Config services and is the target server that all consoles attach to.

rule

In Operations Manager 2007, the definition of what events and performance data to collect from computers, and what to do with the information after it is collected.

Run As account

A Windows account that can be associated with a Run As Profile, and can use Windows Authentication, NTLM, Basic, or Digest methods of authentication.

Run As profile

A profile that associates an identity with a module so that it can run as that identity.

SDK client

An application that uses the Operations Manager class libraries to connect to the SDK Service, and includes Operations Console, the Web Console, the Operations Manager Command Shell, and other customized applications.

SDK service

A Windows service that runs on the Root Management Server in each management group, and allows client applications to access Operations Manager data and functionality.

synthetic transaction

A feature in Operations Manager that can be used to test the availability or performance of a given service or application from the perspective of an end user or to confirm the functionality of a low level service.

task

In Operations Manager, a predefined command, script or pierce of code that can be run on a monitored computer.

user role

A combination of a profile that defines actions users can take, such as OpsMgr Administrator or OpsMgr Operator, and a scope, which is the objects the users can take those actions on, such as all Exchange servers. A user role is a security boundary in Operations Manager 2007. The Operations Manager administrator can use user roles to control access to views and tasks for Operations Manager users assigned to that role.

view

In the Operations Console, the organization of the data from the OperationsManager database that meet filtering criteria. Operations Manager has predefined views and allows the creation of custom views.

Web Console

An Operations Manager Web-based interface that you use to perform monitoring functions.

Discovery Wizard Hangs while trying to discovery a machine.

Summary

After you have added a machine name to the running version of the screen below and click next and discover, the discovery wizard hangs.

Causes

Causes include:

o   DTC Service is not running:

o   SQL Server Broker is not activated.

o   The Run As Action Account is not correct.

 Resolution

Do one or more of the following:

1. Go to start then to Administrative Tools. Select Service Manager

The above image is the result of going from the general view to the Application server view. The two DTC services are not running.  Click on the service and click on the run button.  Close down the console and Go to Start, Administrative Tools and click on services:

Stop System Center Data Access. Stop System Center Management. Restart System Center Data Access. Restart System Center Management.

Try to ping the box using the Command Prompt with Run As Administrator rights. If this works, bring up System Center Management Console. And try discovering the same computer.

If the discovery still hangs, go to Start, Select All Programs and expand SQL Serve r 2008 R2:

Click on the SQL Server Management Studio console and connect to SQL Server once the console is up. Once connected, expand the database view to expose OperationsManager. Highlight OperationsManager and right click on it. Go to properties and click on it.

By default, the first screen visible will be General and this is where you can view the owner of the database.  If you need to change it, later on, you can by highlighting the OperationsManager database, click on new query and type in:
sp_changedbowner 'new owner goes here'
Then click on the “! Execute” tooltip button below the menus.
On the left side where General is highlighted, move your mouse down to Options and click it. Scroll down to the Service Broker. Below it should be Broker Enabled and it should be set to true.  If it isn’t, click inside the false and a dropdown will allow you to set it to true. The image below will show you what this looks like.

Go to Start, Administrative Tools and click on services. Find SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) . Stop and Start the service.

Stop System Center Data Access. Stop System Center Management. Restart System Center Data Access. Restart System Center Management.

Bring up System Center Operations Manager and try discovering the machine.

SCOM 2007 R2 Exporting A ManagementPack

Situation:

Your boss doesn’t like the information the newly installed ManagementPack is providing and wants you to uninstall it.  How is this done?

A standalone ManagementPack is very easy to delete. Libraries are a bit more complex. They tend to require the removal of dependency ManagementPacks first. 

Resolution:

1.       Go to start -> All Programs->System  Center Operations Manager 2007 R2. Expand the view.

2.       Move down to Operations Console and double click on it to start the program.

3.       After the console is up, move the cursor to the Administration ribbon on the left of the console window and double click on it.

4.       Move down the options on the left until you find Management Packs and double click it.

5.       Once the ManagementPacks are in the middle window, refresh the view as many times unsealed ManagementPacks don’t show up right away.  You do this by going to the top of the ManagementPack list and just above the list, right click and click on the refresh option.

6.       Now, go through the list of ManagementPacks until you find the one you’re looking for.

7.       Highlight it, right click on it and click on the delete option.

8.       A dialog box will appear asking you if you’re sure you want to do this. Click Yes.

SCOM 2007 R2 Counters View

As you can see, the Avanade Managementpack (mp) has a ton more performance counters included in it than you had in the Microsoft.Windows.Server.2008 mp. In fact, you’re seeing all of the performance counters for each area.

Of course, nine chances out of ten, you don’t need or want them all, so, the idea here is to show you how to do some filtering.

Remember, we’re dealing here with an unsealed mp.  Meaning, we can make modifications to it and, once happy with the output, seal the mp.

Okay, I selected the performance counters for the Logical Disk:

Because his view includes the totals – the _Total instance of the counters is a collective summary – you may want to eliminate it and only deal with those counters. Click on authoring:

If it is not already expanded, double click on ManagementPack Objects and then click on rules.  You should see the above pane.  See where it says Change Scope on the top right corner of the center window?  Click on that.

After you’ve opened that window,  click on clear all.  After that, select all targets.  Then, type in Avanade.

Select the Avanade.Server.2008.LogicalDisk Class and then click next. You should now see 23 counters.

Select  the very top one:  Avanade Server 2008 LogicalDisk PercentFreeSpace Rule Collection and double click it.

You should now see this:

Select the configuration tab. At this point, you’ll see some edit buttons. Click on the very top one.

You should see:

The rule is set to fire off every 5 minutes or 300 seconds. Notice that the Object is LogicalDisk, the Counter Name is % Free Space and the Instance is not set.  Indeed, the rule is set for collecting all instances.

So, if you want to change this to record only specific named instances, uncheck the Include all instances of selected counter and then click the arrow button to the right of the instance textbox.

You should see a menu of all the properties – or fields :

Since the DeviceID is responsible for the drive letters, I would select that. Once you’ve done this,  click Okay and then Apply and then Okay.

You will not be able to delete entirely the information as it persists in the database.   But you will have made the changes to the counters you want to keep.

SCOM 2007 R2: Common Agent Push errors

Below are some common push failures.

The MOM Server detected that the following services on computer "(null);NetLogon" are not running. These services are required for push agent installation. To complete this operation, either start the required services on the computer or install the MOM agent manually by using MOMAgent.msi located on the product CD. Operation: Agent Install

Remote Computer Name: dc1.opsmgr.net

Install account: OPSMGR\localadmin

Error Code: C000296E

Error Description: Unknown error 0xC000296E

Solution: Netlogon service is not running.  It must be set to auto/started

The MOM Server detected that the Windows Installer service (MSIServer) is disabled on computer "dc1.opsmgr.net". This service is required for push agent installation. To complete this operation on the computer, either set the MSIServer startup type to "Manual" or "Automatic", or install the MOM agent manually by using MOMAgent.msi located on the product CD.

Operation: Agent Install

Install account: OPSMGR\localadmin

Error Code: C0002976

Error Description: Unknown error 0xC0002976

Solution:  Windows Installer service is not running or set to disabled – set this to manual or auto and start it.

The Agent Management Operation Agent Install failed for remote computer dc1.opsmgr.net.

Install account: OPSMGR\localadmin

Error Code: 80070643

Error Description: Fatal error during installation.

Microsoft Installer Error Description:

For more information, see Windows Installer log file "C:\Program Files\System Center Operations Manager 2007\AgentManagement\AgentLogs\DC1AgentInstall.LOG

C:\Program Files\System Center Operations Manager 2007\AgentManagement\AgentLogs\DC1MOMAgentMgmt.log" on the Management Server.

Solution:  Enable the automatic Updates service…. Install the agent – then disable the auto-updates service if desired.

SCOM 2007 R2: Authoring Links and Tips

Situation:

You are tasked with creating a new ManagementPack for your organization. You post a sign outside your cube:  “HELP WANTED!”  You have no idea what one is much less how to put one together.

Solution:

The authoring Guide inside the tools directory will help. 

So will the links below:

http://www.authormps.com

http://www.planetmps.com

Tip #1:

All ManagementPacks start this way:

<ManagementPack ContentReadable="true" mlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

  <Manifest>

    <Identity>

      <ID>ADMS.Windows.Server</ID>

      <Version>1.0.000.0</Version>

    </Identity>

    <Name>ADMS Windows Server</Name>

    <References>

      <Reference Alias="System">

        <ID>System.Library</ID>

        <Version>6.1.7221.0</Version>

        <PublicKeyToken>31bf3856ad364e35</PublicKeyToken>

      </Reference>

    </References>

  </Manifest>

</ManagementPack>

Tip #2:

The ID of the ManagementPack needs to be exactly the same name of the saved xml.  In-other-words, the ManagementPack filename would be: ADMS.Server.xml.

Tip #3:

The friendly name of the ManagementPack is generally the name of the ManagementPack without the file extension and the dots.

Tip #4:

The version number below the ID is very important as when you make changes to the ManagementPack and import it into the console you need to increase the version number or your changes will not go into effect.

Tip #5:

The naming conventions for the references are fairly standard.  Below are the core references you’ll want to use:

ALIAS	ID	Version	Public Key Token
System	System.Library	6.1.7221.0	31bf3856ad364e35
Windows	Microsoft.Windows.Library	6.1.7221.0	31bf3856ad364e35
Heath	System.Health.Library	6.1.7221.0	31bf3856ad364e35
Performance	System.Performance.Library	6.1.7221.0	31bf3856ad364e35
SC	Microsoft.SystemCenter.Library	6.1.7221.0	31bf3856ad364e35
SCDW	Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataWarehouse .Library	6.1.7221.0	31bf3856ad364e35
SCIG	Microsoft.SystemCenter.InstanceGroup .Library	6.1.7221.0	31bf3856ad364e35
Reports	Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataWarehouse .Report.Library	6.1.7221.0	31bf3856ad364e35

Tip #6:

Why use the System.Library?  Because it is the core system library that every other library references.

Why is it referenced by every other library? Because, classes are the way you create tables in the SCOM database and classes are required for discoveries, rules and monitors to work correctly.

Tip #7:

Why use the Microsoft.Windows.Library?  Because it is the core windows library.

Additional usable classes and relationships are standard hardware and software features and, again, are required for discoveries, rules and monitors to work correctly.

Tip #8:

Why use the System.Health.Library?  All monitoring and the views that represent the data generated by the monitors use the health library.

Tip #9:

Why use the System.Performance.Library?  Any area that represents performance such as performance rule collections and alerts use the Performance library.

Tip #10:

Why use Microsoft.SystemCenter.Library?  Essentially, this library binds SCOM to the ManagementPack. From Classes to Views – including folders – this library is used to make the mp and SCOM interactive.

Tip #11:

Why use the Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataWarehouse.Library?  Long term storage of performance counter information is added by referencing this library.

Tip #12:

Why use the Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataWarehouse.Reports.Library? If you plan on using linked reports in the ManagementPack, referencing this library enables you to create and use them.

Tip #13:

Why use the Microsoft.SystemCenter.InstanceGroup.Library? If you plan creating groups and adding computers to those groups, referencing this library allows you to discover and bind the computer relationships with the groups.