Wednesday, May 22, 2013

[OpsMgr 2007 R2][OpsMgr 2012] Retrieve in one click all knowledge articles for rules and monitors for provided MPs


Hey !

For my own need, I've developed a script to export all knowledge articles from MPs in my SCOM environment. All 'MAMLContent' and 'HTML content' for rules and monitors are exported to HTML files. All files are now shared on my Google drive. 

You want to know what has been written for a monitor or a rule or monitor, why it's generating an alert, What Microsoft gives to fix the issue reported by the alert, just open the MP Knowledge Articles page in the menu on my blog or click on this link : MP Knowledge Articles.


A small issue has been detected : some rules / monitors don't have a Name or DisplayName (Bad provided MPs) and link in the index to page corresponding to the rule / monitor is not available.  Issue is now fixed - I've to re-share all the sources... 

Let me know if you have trouble to use this knowledge extract !

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

[OpsMgr 2007 R2 SP1][OpsMgr 2012] System Center Management Pack for Windows Server Operating System - What's new in version 6.0.7026.0


The April 2013 update (version 6.0.7026.0) of the Windows Server Operating System Management Pack contains the following changes:

  • Fixed a bug in Microsoft.Windows.Server.2008.Monitoring.mp where the performance information for Processor was not getting collected.
  • Made monitoring of Cluster Shared Volume consistent with monitoring of Logical Disks by adding performance collection rules. (“Cluster Shared Volume - Free space / MB”,”Cluster Shared Volume - Total size / MB”,”Cluster Shared Volume - Free space / %”,”Cluster Disk - Total size / MB”,”Cluster Disk - Free space / MB”,”Cluster Disk - Free space / %”)
  • Fixed bug in Microsoft.Windows.Server.ClusterSharedVolumeMonitoring.mp where the Cluster disks running on Windows Server 2008 (non R2) were not discovered.
  • Fixed bug 'Cluster Disk Free Space Percent' and Cluster Disk Free Space MB' monitors generate alerts with bad descriptions when the volume label of a cluster disk is empty.
  • Added feature to raise event when NTLM requests time out and customers are unable to use mailboxes, outlook stops responding, due to the low default value for Max Concurrent API registry Key (HLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameters) , which is a ceiling for the maximum NTLM or Kerberos PAC password validations a server can take care of at a time. It uses the “Netlogon” performance counter to check for the issue.


Read more on Kevin Holman article  >>>>> HERE <<<<<




This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties.

Monday, May 13, 2013

[Orchestrator 2012] Patching Orchestrator Runbook Servers while Maintaining High-Availability

Balancing server patching with maintaining the availability of the services that run on these servers can be a difficult task for an IT Pro, with lots of repetitive, time-consuming, and error-prone steps. Luckily, Orchestrator has emerged as an effective automation tool to help IT Pros manage the patching process. But what about when the Orchestrator service itself needs to be patched? How can an IT Pro ensure their enterprise automation continues to function despite the patching of the servers running Orchestrator components?

Joe Levy has published an interesting post to expose all steps to follow to be able to maintain high availability when patching Runbook Servers.




This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties.

[OpsMgr 2012] Recommended Agent OS Fixes and Updates

This article discusses fixes and updates recommended for Microsoft System Center 2012 Operations Manager (OpsMgr) Agent computers.



1. Make sure that your agents, management servers, and gateways are running the latest Update Rollup (UR). At the time this article was written, the latest UR is UR2 for System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2802159

2. For System Center 2012 without SP1 the latest UR is UR3 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2756127

3. All agents, management servers, and gateways should be running the latest version of the JET EDB hotfix for Windows.

For Windows 2008 R2 and for Windows 7: The latest version of the JET EDB hotfix for Windows is included in Service Pack 1 (SP) for these operating systems.

For Windows 2008 and for Windows Vista:Install the hotfix rollup that is mentioned in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

KB2553708 - A hotfix rollup that improves Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 compatibility with Advanced Format disks (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2553708)

For Windows Server 2003: 
Install the hotfix that is mentioned in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

KB981263 - Management servers or assigned agents unexpectedly appear as unavailable in the Operations Manager console in Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981263)

4. There is an Avg. Disk Sec/Transfer issue that returns a very large value that is incorrect. For more information, see the following articles, as appropriate for your operating system:

For Windows 2008 R2 or for Windows 7:

KB2470949 - The RegQueryValueEx function returns a very large incorrect value for the "Avg. Disk sec/Transfer" performance counter in Windows Server 2008 R2 or in Windows 7 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2470949)

For Windows Server 2008 or for Windows Vista:

KB2495300 - Invalid "Avg. Disk sec/Transfer" value returned by the RegQueryValueEx function in Windows Server 2008 or in Windows Vista(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2495300)

5. You do not receive event notifications after you back up and then clear event logs in Windows Server 2008 or in Windows Vista. Therefore, OpsMgr is prevented from providing a warning for events after the event logs are cleared.

For Windows 2008 or for Windows Vista:

KB2458331 - You cannot receive event notifications after you back up and then clear event logs in Windows Server 2008 or in Windows Vista (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2458331

Note
 This issue does not occur in Windows Server 2008 R2 or in Windows 7.

6. The "Win32_Service" WMI class leaks memory in Windows Server 2008 R2 and in Windows 7:

KB981314 - The "Win32_Service" WMI class leaks memory in Windows Server 2008 R2 and in Windows 7 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981314)

Note
 This issue is resolved in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and in Windows 7 SP1.

7. A hotfix is available that improves the stability of the Windows Management Instrumentation repository in Windows Server 2003:

KB933061 - A hotfix is available that improves the stability of the Windows Management Instrumentation repository in Windows Server 2003 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933061 

8. WSH binaries are overwritten by Windows File Protection after you install Windows Script 5.7 on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP:

KB955360 - WSH binaries are overwritten by Windows File Protection after you install Windows Script 5.7 on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955360)

For Operations Manager, this may be the cause of high CPU utilization.

9. A managed application has a high number of thread handles and event handles in the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0:

KB968760 - A managed application has a high number of thread handles and of event handles in the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968760) 

For Operations Manager this causes a high number of handles.

10. The CPU usage of an application or a service that uses MSXML 6.0 to handle XML requests reaches 100% in Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows XP Service Pack 3, or other systems that have MSXML 6.0 installed:

KB968967 - The CPU usage of an application or a service that uses MSXML 6.0 to handle XML requests reaches 100% in Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows XP Service Pack 3, or other systems that have MSXML 6.0 installed (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968967) 

For Operations Manager, this behavior causes high CPU usage for the Monitoringhost.exe process. 

11. New AFD connections fail when software that uses TDI drivers is installed on a Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista SP1 system that is running on a computer that has multiple processors:

KB961775 - New AFD connections fail when software that uses TDI drivers is installed on a Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista SP1 system that is running on a computer that has multiple processors (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961775) 

12. FIX: You receive a "Provider Load Failure" error message or the Wmiprvse.exe process stops responding when you use a SQL Server WMI provider to obtain information about SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, or SQL Server 2008 R2 services:

KB980142 - FIX: "Provider Load Failure" error message or the Wmiprvse.exe process stops responding when you use a SQL Server WMI provider to obtain information about SQL Server 2012, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, or SQL Server 2008 R2 services (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/980142) 

13. Extended Protection for Authentication: This feature enhances the protection and handling of credentials when authenticating network connections by using Integrated Windows Authentication (IWA). In Operations Manager, there may be some errors doing a client push. In this case, a network trace would contain the following:

Server Error, (91) Invalid user identifier

For more information, view the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

KB968389 - Extended Protection for Authentication (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968389) 

14. KB982168 - Description of the rollup update for the .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 on Windows XP and on Windows Server 2003 (976765, 980773 and 976769): June 8, 2010 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982168) 

15. KB982167 - Description of the rollup update for the .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 and the .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 on Windows XP and on Windows Server 2003 (976765 and 980773): June 8, 2010http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982167) 

16. KB968936 - A rollup hotfix package for Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering WMI provider (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968936) 

17. There is a memory leak in IIS when stress-testing our IIS discovery. This QFE is important for whoever uses OpsMgr with the IIS MP, and even more important when the APM feature is used in OpsMgr 2012. For more information, view the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

KB2618982 - FIX: Memory leak in Rhs.exe after you configure the IIS 7.5 W3SVC service in a Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 failover cluster (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2618982) 

18. KB2547244 - The WMI service and the WMI providers stop responding when you use WMI performance classes to monitor performance on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2547244)

19. KB2505348 - High CPU usage or a lengthy startup process occurs during WMI repository verification when a large WMI repository exists in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2505348) 

20. KB 2617858 - Unexpectedly slow startup or logon process in Windows Server 2008 R2 or in Windows 7 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2617858)  

21. KB2692929 - "0x80041001" error when the Win32_Environment WMI class is queried by multiple requestors in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2692929) 

22. KB960718 - FIX: The host process of the application crashes when the CounterExists method or the Exists method is called on a multiprocessor computer in IIS 6.0 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960718) 

23. KB973275 - Only the first character appears for some strings in the event messages when you query the DFS Replication event log on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973275)

24. KB932370 - The number of physical hyperthreading-enabled processors or the number of physical multicore processors is incorrectly reported in Windows Server 2003 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932370)

25. KB2812950 - The MOMPerfSnapshotHelper.exe process crashes or experiences high CPU usage in Windows Server 2008 SP2 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2812950)

26. KB2484832 - FIX: ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception when you resize or scroll a window that has a DataGrid control in a .NET Framework 4.0-based WPF application (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2484832)

27. Windows Management Framework 3.0 - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34595

28. KB2159286 - FIX: The Remote Registry service crashes when an application tries to retrieve performance counter data from an instance of SQL Server on another computer (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2159286).
Note This is a "FAST PUBLISH" article created directly from within the Microsoft support organization. The information contained herein is provided as-is in response to emerging issues. As a result of the speed in making it available, the materials may include typographical errors and may be revised at any time without notice. See Terms of Use for other considerations.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties.

[OpsMgr 2012] Boris Yanushpolsky 's Tools by Daniele Muscetta - New update


Here is the latest update from Daniele :

  •  May 9th 2013 with MPViewer 2.3 that now can also handle MP Bundles that contain multiple ManagementPacks in a single bundle.

Many thanks to him to always improve the tools !






Get latest updates directly on : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dmuscett/archive/2012/02/19/boris-s-tools-updated.aspx

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties.

[OpsMgr 2012] SP1 upgrade fails with error "Failed to set DW upgrade scenario"


When performing an upgrade to OpsMgr 2012 SP1, the upgrade process fails with the following error:
Failed to set DW upgrade scenario: Threw Exception.Type: System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException, Exception Error Code: 0x80131904, Exception.Message: Cannot open database "OperationsManagerDW" requested by the login. The login failed.
In order to be able to relaunch the upgrade, verify that the correct Data Warehouse server name and SRS database instance name exist in the registry on the Management Server:
Data Warehouse server name:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Operations Manager\3.0\Setup\DatawarehouseDBServerName
NOTE: This is a DWORD value and is the NetBIOS name or FQDN of the server.
SRS database instance name:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Operations Manager\3.0\Reporting\SRSInstance
NOTE: The default SQL instance name is MSSQLSERVER but may be different in your environment if using a named instance.

Please read the original post on This page



This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties.

[OpsMgr 2007 R2 SP1][OpsMgr 2012] System Center Management Pack for Windows Server Operating System - upgrade to version 6.0.7026.0

The System Center Management Pack for Windows Server Operating System provides the fundamental monitoring basics for computers running the Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003, 2003 R2, 2008, 2008 R2 and 2012 Operating System.



File name:Date Published:
OM_MP_WindowsOS.docx5/6/2013
Version:File size:
6.0.7026.0
146 KB
  • The System Center Management Pack for Windows Server Operating System consists of the following management packs: Microsoft Windows Server Library, Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Discovery, Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Monitoring, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Discovery, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Monitoring, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Monitoring BPA, Microsoft Windows Server Clustered Shared and Volume Monitoring, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, and Microsoft Windows 2000 Server. The System Center Monitoring Pack for Windows Server Operating System monitor the performance, health, and availability of Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2, 2003and Windows 2000 Server. 

By detecting, alerting on, and automatically responding to critical events and performance indicators, these management packs reduce resolution times for issues and increase the overall availability and performance of your systems running the Windows Server operating systems, thereby helping to reduce the total cost of ownership.

Feature Summary
  • Availability
    • Key Operating System Services: Required services are checked for status (for example, running, not running, or paused)
    • Storage: Logical hard drives are checked for availability, sufficient free space, and integrity of the NTFS partition.
    • Network: Network adapters are checked for connection health, name and IP address conflicts.
  • Performance
    • Processor: System processor(s) performance is checked system-wide. Processors can optionally be monitored on a per processor basis.
    • Memory: Memory consisting of physical memory and virtual memory (also known as page files) is monitored using the following performance indicators:
      • Available memory (in MB)
      • Pages per second
      • Page file percent usage
    • Disks and Partitions: Logical disks/partitions and physical disks are monitored, and performance data is collected for average disk seconds per read, disk seconds per write, and disk seconds per transfer. Monitoring is also provided for fragmentation of logical disks. Depending on which version of the operating system is being monitored, either logical or physical monitoring is enabled by default. Refer to the MP guide for more detail.
    • Network Adapter: Network adapters are monitored for the number of bytes received per second, the number of bytes sent per second, and the total bytes per second. In addition, the health state of the network adapter is evaluated and is set to Healthy if connected and Critical if disconnected.

The System Center Monitoring Pack for Windows Server Operating System consists of the following five management packs: Microsoft Windows Server Library, Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Discovery, Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Monitoring, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Discovery, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Monitoring, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Monitoring BPA, Microsoft Windows Server Clustered Shared and Volume Monitoring, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, and Microsoft Windows 2000 Server. The Microsoft Windows Server management packs monitor the performance, health, and availability of Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2, 2003 and Windows 2000 Server.

By detecting, alerting on, and automatically responding to critical events and performance indicators, these management packs reduce resolution times for issues and increase the overall availability and performance of your systems running the Windows Server operating systems, thereby helping to reduce the total cost of ownership.

  • Availability
    • Key Operating System Services: Required services are checked for status (for example, running, not running, or paused)
    • Storage: Logical hard drives are checked for availability, sufficient free space, and integrity of the NTFS partition.
    • Network: Network adapters are checked for connection health, name and IP address conflicts.
  • Performance
    • Processor: System processor(s) performance is checked system-wide. Processors can optionally be monitored on a per processor basis.
    • Memory: Memory consisting of physical memory and virtual memory (also known as page files) is monitored using the following performance indicators:
      • Available memory (in MB)
      • Pages per second
      • Page file percent usage
    • Disks and Partitions: Logical disks/partitions and physical disks are monitored, and performance data is collected for average disk seconds per read, disk seconds per write, and disk seconds per transfer. Monitoring is also provided for fragmentation of logical disks. Depending on which version of the operating system is being monitored, either logical or physical monitoring is enabled by default. Refer to the MP guide for more detail.
    • Network Adapter: Network adapters are monitored for the number of bytes received per second, the number of bytes sent per second, and the total bytes per second. In addition, the health state of the network adapter is evaluated and is set to Healthy if connected and Critical if disconnected.
  • Known Issue: If the BPA monitor is enabled, then there will be an error in the PowerShell script which is a know issue in the Agent. This has been fixed in Operations Manager next update which is coming up. 

Release History:
  • 5/6/2013 - Update release, version 6.0.7026.0
  • 9/25/2012 - Update release, version 6.0.6989.0
  • 6/6/2012 - Update release, version 6.0.6972.0
  • 10/18/2011- Update release, version 6.0.6958.0
  • 9/30/2011 - Update release, version 6.0.6957.0
  • 3/19/2010 - Updated release, version 6.0.6794.0, to resolve an issue with discoveries failing to query the Win32_PowerPlan WMI class.
  • 9/18/2009 - Updated release, version 6.0.6667.0, introduced support for the Windows Server 2008 R2 Operating System and made a series of updates. Refer to the MP guide for further details.
  • 10/20/2008 – Updated release, version 6.0.6321.35. Refer to the MP guide for further details. 
  • 7/27/2008 - Updated version, 6.0.6278.22: Introduced support for the Windows Server 2008 Operating System and addressed some issues from the previous release. Refer to the MP guide for further details.
  • 5/27/2008 – Same version as released on SP1 media, version 6.0.6278.0, and released on Microsoft Download Center.
  • 2/22/2008 - Updated release, version 6.0.6278.0, and released on SP1 media
  • 1/15/2008 - Updated MP Guide - same version
  • 11/8/2007 - Updated MP Guide - Software version still 6.0.5000.25
  • 10/23/2007 - Updated MP Guide - Software Version still 6.0.5000.25
  • 9/28/2007 - Updated release, version 6.0.5000.25
  • 3/23/2007 - Initial Release, version 6.0.5000.0 
  • Supported Operating System
    Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012
        Other Requirements: All management packs (MPs) included in this download are supported on System Center Operations Manager 2007 (SP1, R2).

        The following should be considered when importing the management packs into a management group which does not have OpsMgr SP1 installed:
        • The Library, Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 specific management packs can be imported into a management group that does not have OpsMgr 2007 SP1.
        • The Windows Server 2008 specific management packs are not supported, and will not import, into a management that does not have OpsMgr 2007 Service Pack 1 installed. This is due to the fact that monitoring of Windows Server 2008 is not supported without Service Pack 1.
        The Windows Server Operating System Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 is designed to monitor the following versions of the base Operating System:

        • Microsoft Windows Server 2012
        • Microsoft Windows Server 2008
        • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
        • Microsoft Windows Server 2003
        • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2
        • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

        NOTE:
        • You need to install the English MP before you import localized language packs.
        • Note that the localized language packs are not updated with this release, and will not import on Operations Manager 2012. The language packs will be updated in an upcoming release.
        • The Microsoft.Windows.Server.Reports Management Pack will only import on systems that use SQL Server 2008 as the Database and is not currently supported on SQL Server 2005.

        All support is subject to Microsoft’s overall support lifecycle (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?Linkid=26134) and the Operations Manager 2007 SP1 Supported Configurations (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?Linkid=90676) document. 

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties.