There are so many tools currently developed that it is hard to know where to find them. Here is a list that I know of maybe it’s helpful to you.
Please let me know if I’m missing one.
Some time ago I showed you can use PowerShell to create Events for OpsMgr 2007. And according to the comments quite some people have questions about Event parameters. After creating the first version of the PowerShell Create Events for OpsMgr 2007 script, Ken added some functionality and one was modifying the question to not only add a EventLog Description but also a EventLog Parameter.
I found some info on MOM 2005 parameters on Rory McCaw’s weblog, but except that article I could not find much info on Event Log parameters. So hopefully this will explain what parameters are and how they can be used in OpsMgr 2007.
Every Windows event has description text that is filled in by the values of different parameters. You can find the Eventlog parameters of an event by using the Log Parser. (if you know an easier way on Windows 2003 Servers let me know). Log parser is a powerful, versatile tool that provides universal query access to text-based data such as log files, XML files and CSV files, as well as key data sources on the Windows® operating system such as the Event Log, the Registry, the file system, and Active Directory®.
Example of EventLog Parameters in an Eventlog:
C:\Program Files\Log Parser 2.2>LogParser.exe "SELECT Top1 Strings AS Parameters FROM Application WHERE EventID=301"
Result:
So in this example you can use four parameters in your OpsMgr Rules or Monitor.
Eventlog Parameters can be used in OpsMgr Rules and Monitors. An example where you can find EventLog Parameters used is the Windows Activation State Monitor in the Windows Server 2003 MP. This is a 3 State Event Log Monitor and this monitor looks for EventLog Parameters and the values found in the Eventlog change the state of the monitor.
Healthy: Look for EventId 1006 in Application Log of Source Windows Product Activation Warning: Look for EventId 1005 in Application Log of Source Windows Product Activation and Params/Param[1] > 6 =< 15 Critical: Look for EventId 1005 in Application Log of Source Windows Product Activation and Params/Param[1] =< 6
You can use the PowerShell Create Events script from Ken to test your monitors or rules with with one EventLog parameter. So it won’t work if you need to test a Rule or Monitor which uses more than one parameter in the Eventlog.
So if you want to test the Windows Activation State Monitor and want to Change the State to Critical, you need to create an Event with the next values:
More info about this event can be found on EventID.Net
Today I did my Microsoft System Center Operations Manager Configuring Exam and passed with a score of 980 points. Still room for improvement…
http://twitpic.com/1lc8
I thought it was easy, but I work with the product every day and I still love it ;-)
Some month ago I created a PowerShell Event Creator and quite some people liked what I did ;-) Now Ken has made some great additions to this PS script. How cool is that?
This are the additions he made:
I've tested it and and I like it.
You can download the new PowerShell Event Creator here.
Thanks Ken for making this PowerShell Event Creator script better!
So why should you use MPViewer if you have all the features and more in Silect MP Studio Lite? You can easily install and use the MPViewer, it’s only one executable ;-) For some of the missing features you can use other tools (like the Module Explorer and Override Explorer). One thing I’m really missing is the ability (from both) to export the MP to Excel. Export to Excel is available in latest version.
This should not be that difficult I would think if you use some PowerShell commands. Here an example to export the monitors for the Windows Server 2003 ManagementPack.
Source: Microsoft Download Center
With Microsoft Visio 2007 Pro the user now has the ability to connect data to diagrams and use data graphics to make the visualization more meaningful and impactful. The OpsManager and ConfigManager Solution for Visio 2007 Pro helps you visualize your key reports. Using the solutions framework which utilizes an easy to configure web server component provided for your environment you can now easily connect data from OpsManager and ConfigManager in Visio 2007 Pro. Download the Visio add in and the web server component to connect and generate datasets to connect to your existing diagrams or auto generate your diagrams for your infrastructure monitoring needs. See your data from OpsManager and ConfigManager live in Visio diagrams Today by downloading this valuable Visio Add-in free.
I’m trying to use Twitter more and more and why should not we use it for notifying about new OpsMgr downloads? I’ve created a “tweet” about the Remote Operations Manager 2007 Deployment Guide and RelNotes available on Microsoft Download Center.
Scott Hanselman has written an excellent article about Twitter: The Uselessfulness of Micro-blogging. Maybe we can use Twitter a message bus for OpsMgr MPs or downloads?
Any thoughts about the idea? Please let me know.
Savision showed their new version Live Maps 2.0 on MMS, and because I’ve been a beta tester I can already tell you it has some great new features.
NEW FEATURES Live Maps Web Console The Live Maps web console displays Live Maps maps in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 6.0 and above). Any map can be accessed directly by using its unique URL.
Alarm Sounds New alerts and state changes can be announced using the new, configurable alarm sound. Alarm sounds can be customized by copying a WAV sound file to %Program Files%\System Center Operations 2007\AlarmSounds.
Updated Maps The following country map templates have been updated:
The following items have been fixed or improved in this release:
Isn’t it cool you now see the Live Maps in Microsoft Internet Explorer?
This new release will probably available at the end of next week. Please watch their website for this latest release.
Did you remember the Event Creator for MOM 2005 which was available in the Resource Kit? You could use this tool to create events for testing Management Packs. Event Creator enables you to choose event sources for the existing event logs that are currently registered. You can probably use this tool also for testing in your OpsMgr environment but why not use PowerShell?
You have at least installed PowerShell on you Management Server(s) so why not use PowerShell to create events for testing?
With some help from the PowerShell Guy I created a PowerShell script to create events in the eventlog.
Or you can download the PowerShell script from the PowerShell Code Repository.
Source: Ian Blyth
Ian gives a clear evaluation of System Center Capacity Planner for OpsMgr 2007.
“I can say now that I am very disappointed with it and can’t see me using it at all even if it is the official sizing tool.”
The only thing I can say, I’ve used it a couple of times to check my own designs with the results of SCCP. Just have a look if it’s a useful tool for you or not.
Here is a link to the System Center Capacity Planner Download Catalog.
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the System Center Content Search Windows Gadget.
This gadget makes it easier to find help for Microsoft System Center products because it uses Live Search macros to search specific sites instead of the entire web. Search results are only returned from sites that are known to contain helpful information about System Center products.
But did you know you can easily extend this Gadget to have your own searches included? I’ve added my own website to the System Center Content Search Gadget (SCCSG).
But you can much more than that. What about creating your own Windows Live Search Macro and adding it to the SCCSG?
Ok let’s start. Here is an example. Maybe you also have this issue I sometimes have. You have seen some answer to your OpsMgr question in one of your RSS feed websites, but don’t know where anymore and didn’t save all the rss posts in your favorite RSS Reader. You can use Windows Live Search and only search in Feeds, but that would also include some websites to which you didn’t subscribe.
But did you know you can create your own Live Search Macros? These are like mini search engines tailored to any topic. When you create a search macro, a home page is automatically created. That way, your search macro is easy to use, easy to save as a favorite, and simple to share with your family and friends. And you know what? These Live Search Macros are also used in the SCCSG!
Just take a look at the flyout.js file in the C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets\systemCenterContentSearch.gadget\js\flyout.js
As you can see they used a Live Search Macro. Just open the next Live Search Macro “http://search.live.com/macros/microsoft_user_assistance/sc_operations_manager_technet/?FORM=OIJT” and you will be able to search the System Center Operations Manager documentation in the TechNet library. How cool is that?
Ok, now we know we can create our own Live Search Macros let’s start creating one for our own RSS feeds. Here are the steps:
Now your own Live Search Macro is ready to be used in the SCCSG. To add your own Live Search Marco to SCCSG you need to make a copy of the flyout.js file in the C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets\systemCenterContentSearch.gadget\js\ folder. This is your backup if something goes wrong ;-)
Steps to extend the SCCSG with your own Live Search Macro:
Yes it worked! So now you have added your own Windows Live Search Macro to the SCCSG!
Be creative and let me know which great OpsMgr Macros you have created. Have fun!
This download contains the following documentation for System Center Operations Manager 2007: • Operations Manager 2007 Deployment Guide: This guide steps you through the deployment process for System Center Operations Manager 2007. • Active Directory Management Pack Guide for Operations Manager 2007: This document includes a Management Pack overview, deployment procedures, and monitoring scenarios for the two Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Management Packs • Exchange Management Pack Guide for Operations Manager 2007: This guide includes a Management Pack overview, deployment procedures, and monitoring scenarios for the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007. • SQL Management Pack Guide for Operations Manager 2007: The SQL Server Management Pack provides both proactive and reactive monitoring of SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 for an enterprise environment. • Windows Server Operating System Management Pack Guide for Operations Manager 2007: The Microsoft Windows Server Management Packs monitor the performance, health, and availability of Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Microsoft Windows Server 2003. • Windows Client Operating System Management Pack Guide: The Windows client operating system Management Packs are intended for use in gathering data on client computers or individually monitoring designated mission-critical client computers. • Operations Manager 2007 Terminal Services Management Pack: This guide includes an overview of the Management Pack, deployment procedures, and monitoring scenarios for the Terminal Services Management Pack. • Operations Manager 2007 Security Guide: This guide provides you with security-related information as it pertains to Operations Manager 2007. • Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Guide: This guide includes a Management Pack overview, deployment procedures, and monitoring scenarios for the Microsoft Windows Server Internet Information Services 2000 and 2003 Management Packs for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007. • Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Terminal Services: This guide includes an overview of the Management Pack, deployment procedures, and monitoring scenarios for the Terminal Services Management Pack. • The Operations Manager 2007 Design Guide: This guide steps the reader through the steps necessary to develop a complete architectural plan for their OpsMgr2007 implementation. • Operations Manager 2007 Backup and Recovery Guide: This guide provides guidance in planning for backup and recovery of System Center Operations Manager 2007 server roles and components. The information in this guide will complement your existing recovery strategy to avoid service disruption. • Operations Manager 2007 Operations Guide: This guide s a comprehensive resource that can be used to understand and use your Operations Manager 2007 implementation to your best advantage. It teaches the Operations Manager administrator what to do after successfully deployed a Management Group for the first time. • Operations Manager 2007 MigrationGuide: This guide is intended to help you understand the migration process from Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 (MOM 2005) to Operations Manager 2007 and the tools that are used in the process. • Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Authoring Guide The Microsoft Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Authoring Guide provides detailed information on how to author management packs for System Center Operations Manager 2007. This guide includes detailed conceptual documentation, tutorials, and a reference section. • Operations Manager 2007 Report Authoring Guide This guide provides an overview of the Operations Manager reporting feature, including procedures for generating pre-populated reports and authoring custom reports. There is also reference information for users looking to create custom reports.
I already posted an article on using Twitter and now I’ve create a MPNotifier Twitter account.
So if you want to know about the latest MPs just follow the MPNotifier Twitter.
As you might have noticed I’ve been using Twitter quite often lately. On my previous weblog I installed a Drupal Twitter module for updating Twitter with my latest blog posts. But now I migrated to Technet Blogs I didn’t had this possibility anymore, so I looked for an easy way to have my latest blog posts updated to Twitter.
I searched for “rss2twitter” on Windows Live Search and found a perl script but that didn’t work for me. It just failed with the next errors:
“C:\Temp\rss2twitter>rss2twitter.exe Malformed UTF-8 character (1 byte, need 4, after start byte 0xf1) at C:\Temp\rss 2twitter\rss2twitter.exe line 128.”
So I though why not use PowerShell? With the help of Out-Twitter from Doug Finke it was quite easy.
So here is the PowerShell RSS2Twitter script:
Source: Techlog
This gadget makes it easier to find help for Microsoft System Center products because it uses Live Search macros to search specific sites instead of the entire web. Search results are only returned from sites that are known to contain helpful information about System Center products. Use the settings in the gadget to pick the System Center product that you want to find information about, and then enter a search term in the gadget to get customized search results.
Go download Gadget via source.
You can even filter on products ;-)
Below is a link to a targeting poster that we have created to help select the proper targets when creating rules and monitors. The poster illustrates some of the most common scenarios and provides best practices on how to properly target rules and monitors.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/a/7/fa73e146-ab8a-4002-9311-bfe69a570d28/BestPractices_Rule_Monitor_REV_110607.pdf
Today I stumbled on a great tool for documenting your database SqlSpec 3.7 from Elsasoft.
SqlSpec will generate easy-to-read database documentation for any of the following platforms:
You can read more about the many features of SqlSpec here.
But we as System Center specialists are probably mostly interested in our SQL Server 2005 OperationsManager, OperationsManagerDW and ReportServer databases;-)
So I connected SqlSpec to my OperationsManager database and let it run (for some time).
And when it's finished you can view you the complete OperationsManager database in a Compiled HTML file or in a Webbrowser. You even have a Dependency Graph for for instance the Alert Table. How cool is that!
If I find more interesting info with this tool about the OperationsManager databases I'll let you know.
TechNet Magazine spend a great deal of time introducing you to what System Center can do for you. Whether it's managing your virtual machine environments to keep abreast of needs and performance, or using new Asset Inventory Service from Microsoft to keep an eye on the software you deploy inside your organization, System Center has you covered.
Check it out!
Source: SCUG.nl Forum
One of our members of the SCUG.nl Forum found a solution for an issue when converting the MOM 2005 MP for Symantec Backup Exec 11d to OpsMgr 2007 MP.
During the import of the converted MP you see the next message "The client has been disconnected from the server. Please call ManagementGroup.Reconnect() to reestablish the connection. The communication object, System.ServiceModel.Channels.ServiceChannel, cannot be used for communication because it is in the Faulted state."
If you look in the eventlog you see that the time notation is not correct. If you remove the next lines from the xml:
<TimeGenerated> <Range> <After>02/22/06 20:10:49</After> <Before></Before> </Range> </TimeGenerated>
It should work.
Thanks to Cor.
Source: Kevin Holman's OpsMgr Blog
"One step it seems people often overlooks when upgrading to OpsMgr 2007 RC1 SP1 - is to update their management packs.
The management packs that ship with the product are RTM version (6.0.5000.0)
Often, users will have updated many of their Management Packs to the latest version available on the web.... from the catalog:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/scp/catalog.aspx
However.... a step often overlooked when upgrading to the RC1-SP1 version of OpsMgr - is that you should update your MPs to the SP1 version. These are included in the SP1 media in the \ManagementPacks directory. The correct version is 6.0.6246.0 for RC1-SP1 MP's."
Read more at source.
Source: Bernardo Sanchez Blog
In this video you get a quick overview of how Xian Network Manager Io works with System Center Operations Manager 2007. Focus will be on: - Adding devices / servers - Adding monitoring rules - performance data and alerts in OpsMgr 2007 - Xian Io Reports within OpsMgr 2007
You can download the video here.
Source: Notes on System Center Operations Manager
"As described in this KB article, OpsMgr2007 is using ETW/WPP tracing which was not very customer consumable. The conversion to readable text was required with the use of TMF files which did not ship with RTM version of the product. So decision was made and things changed with SP1 release (and such were also present with SP1 RC)."
Read more on source.
Source: Microsoft Internal
Have you ever wanted to send e-mail notifications with the high importance flag set?
It's possible but you have to start your favorite XML editor ;-)
Modifying Microsoft.SystemCenter.Notifications.Internal MP XML to Support Email Priority/Importance
Steps:
Once the new management pack is active, recipients should see subsequent email messages from subscriptions that use the modified write action modules display the new priority attribute.
You can also support priority levels for non-MS clients using the X-Priority header with a numeric value, e.g. <Headers><Header><Name>X-Priority</Name><Value>5</Value></Header></Headers>.
This is tested this in our lab using the SP1 RC and RTM builds of SCOM 2007. The mail clients used for testing were Outlook 2003 and Outlook Express 6.
Yesterday I arrived for my three weeks internal Microsoft Services Training in Redmond and today I still had some time to spent and so I emailed Justin Incarnato to ask if I could meet some of the OpsMgr team members. Luckily he had some time and together with my German Premier Field Engineer colleague Uwe Stuertz we visited the Microsoft Campus where the OpsMgr team is working.
Now I could finally see the faces of Justin Incarnato, Dhananjay Mahajan, Marius Sutara and many others who I only "speak" via email of conf calls. How cool is it to meet your heroes?
From left to right (Uwe, Justin and me ;-)
So for you MVP guys. This is the room of Justin where the MVP conf calls take place. It's a small room...
Source: Boris Yanushpolsky
Boris has released a new version of his already famous MPViewer. It's version 1.3.
Check out his website for more info.
Maybe I should try to contact Boris when I'm here during my internal Microsoft Services training so I can ask if he can implement an auto update feature in his MPViewer ;-)