J.C. Hornbeck: We recently released the System Center Essentials 2007 Technical Walkthrough CD which is an interactive self-paced learning tool that explains the process of installing and operating Essentials 2007.
If you ever thought about System Center Essentials and whether it fit the needs of your organization, this is a great place to start.
Download the ISO for more information.
Stefan Stranger: 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.
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Walter Chomak: This post is a slight divergence from the typical technical postings. I’d like to discuss OpsMgr and diagnostic practices, specifcally using the ‘Differential Diagnosis (DDx)’ method. Yes. I am a big fan of House, MD. No. This is not where I thought of this. I learned about using DDx in IT some time ago by one of my professors.
You would be surprised, or maybe not, at how many customers request assistance with diagnostics and troubleshooting. I use to think that after OpsMgr was deployed and working correctly my job was done. I could not have been any more incorrect. Some, well most, of my customers were overwhelmed with the type I alerts. (I refer to type I alerts as actionable alerts, a real condition that must be resolved. Examples include low disk, failed SQL job etc.) They did not have a sound method of troubleshooting or diagnosing situations where a solution was not readily apparent. I always took for granted that once they were ‘alerted’ to a problem they could simply assign it to the correct SME and be done with it.(
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Walter Chomak: A sample script that enables you to extract a list of computer names from your custom SQL Server database and add them to an Active Directory security group. The security group can then be referenced in the Agent Assignment and Failover Wizard to automate agent assignments to Management Servers.
1. Queries customer SQL asset database.
2. Populates custom security group with computer accounts of computers returned by the SQL query.
Download Active Directory Integration Sample Script
Today Savision announced Live Maps version 2.0.
After a successful launch of Live Maps 1.0 for Operations Manager 2007 we are proud to announce Live Maps version 2.0. Live Maps 2.0 comes with a number of new features that enable you to get even more out of your System Center Operations Manager investment.
So what's new in Live Maps 2.0?
• Web console - share your maps over the web
• Audible alarms - never miss a critical alert anymore
• Improved performance - solve your problems faster
• New editions and prices - more value for money
Live Maps 2.0 is available for
download today and will be on display at the Teched IT Pro in Orlando (booth 1530). The new features can also be watched in this
webcast.
When CPU and memory resource consumption are running at or near 100%, the first thing an administrator wants to check is what processes are running at the time the excess resource consumption took place. The problem is that by the time you can get to a machine and retrieve a list of running processes, the condition has improved and the evidence gone.
This problem can be easily overcome in Operations Manager or Essentials 2007 using a new feature called a diagnostic to automatically perform data collection tasks at the time a condition is encountered. However, you will not find the appropriate diagnostic in place out of the box.
The diagnostics in this sample Retrieve Running Processes MP (link provided at the end of this article) , which automatically retrieve a list of running process the moment the alert threshold is breached, ensure the offending process information is captured. Simply download and import into your environment to make immediate use of this feature (no configuration required).(
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Richard Smith: Recently, I have had to create a bigger scratch space (the MDT X: drive) in Windows PE to deal with the injection of a largish driver during a Windows Vista deployment. The driver in question is the NVidia driver for the Lenovo P60 and P61 and because of the limited scratch space under PE 2.0, this was causing an issue at injection time. There is a scratch file change (registry hack) that can be made to Windows PE 2.0 and below to change the scratch file space from the default 32 Mb - however this is unsupported.(
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Arlindo Alves from Microsoft Belgium posted two articles on how to install the just released System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Beta.
Installing System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Beta Part I
In the first part Arlindo explains how to install the server components of SCVMM 2008 Beta.
Installing System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Beta Part II
In the second part Arlindo describes the console installation.
On any Operations Manager administrators daily to-do list should be alert review and rule tuning.
Effective alert tuning means that every alert should ideally have its place. This does not always work out, but you definitely want to have a bucket for classifying most common possibilities. Generally this is done with custom alert resolution states (only NEW and CLOSED exist by default).
The underlying philosophy is that consistent evaluation of alerts, and appropriate disposition leads to 1) a higher percentage of actionable alerts over time, 2) remediation of lingering service issues in the environment and 3) greater respect for Operations Manager and the importance of the monitoring function by IT support staff and service owners 4) and theoretically, better tuned (and thus better performing) IT services.(
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Are you having a growing number of virtual machines that may not be patched on a regular basis because they are offline? Wouldn't it be nice to have a way to maintain them with the most up-to-date security patches? Now, you have a free solution! Yes - FREE!
Introducing Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool (Beta)
The
Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool manages the workflow of updating large numbers of offline virtual machines according to their individual needs. To do this, the tool works with Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007 (VMM) and with software update management systems (at present, either Microsoft Windows Server® Update Services 3.0 (WSUS) or Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007).(
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In April 2008, Microsoft made available to selected testers (including the MOM MVPs) a pre-release version of the Windows 2008 Base OS and IIS management packs (MPs) for OpsMgr 2007. Having these MPs is important since without a MP designed to monitor Windows Server 2008 systems, those servers with Windows 2008 running an OpsMgr agent show a "not monitored" state in the Operations console, since the Windows 2003 and Windows Server libraries cannot monitor Windows 2008.
When these management packs are imported into an existing OpsMgr 2007 management group, you are able to enjoy accurate OS health state for those Windows 2008 servers with OpsMgr agents installed on them, rather than showing the not monitored status. (
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Justin Van Buren: At MMS, we had the opportunity to talk with Bill Anderson (a longtime program manager for System Center Configuration Manager) and Dave Randall (Microsoft Program Manager for System Center Configuration Manager) about some of the most powerful benefits of combining native Intel vPro technology support with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007. Listen to the video and find out how Intel vPro Technology enhances Config Manager 2007 from Bill and Dave.(
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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.
William Vambenepe: I was hoping that by the time MMS was over there would be more clarity about the
“Cross Platform Extension” to System Center that Microsoft announced there. But most of the comments I have seen have focused on two non-technical aspects:
Microsoft is interested in heterogeneous management and
Microsoft makes use of open source. That’s also the focus of
Coté’s coverage.
So what? Is it still that exciting, in 2008, to learn that Microsoft recognizes that Linux and OSS are major players in enterprise computing? If Steve Ballmer eventually gets hold of Yahoo, do you think his first priority will be to move all the servers to Windows or to build up its search and advertising audience? It’s been now 10 years since the
Halloween documents came out. They can be seen as the start of Microsoft’s realization that Linux/OSS are here for good. It is not surprising to see that one of their main authors is now the driving force behind WS-Management, an effort that illustrates the acceptance of heterogeneity and the need to deal with it (on Microsoft’s terms if possible, of course). The WS-Management effort started years ago and it was a clear sign that Microsoft knew it had to tackle heterogeneous management (despite the reassuring talk that “it’s all about making Windows the most manageable platform” to HP and others). Basically, Microsoft is using WS-Management to support heterogeneity without having to do too much work: by creating an industry standard that everyone writes to and that Microsoft uses internally. Heterogeneous management is intrinsic to DSI if DSI is to be anything more than a demo.(
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The OpsMgr team is working with the Windows team on getting the necessary hotfixes ready for release. Links for these hotfixes will be available on the KB article that will be published end of this month.
Here is a heads up on what we are tentatively planning on supporting (
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Walter Eikenboom: @ MMS 2008 there was a session about Licensing for the System Center Suite. Normally Licensing looks like University Math but they made it easier. When you are using SMS and MOM 2005 your would pay for each product and per managed client, were for MOM de clients could be Standard OML or Enterprise OML and for SMS the client and server license would vary as well. With this wide variety of possibilities the calculations for the complete license investment could take quite a while and some checking and cross check the different client and server roles.
But now with the Server Management Suite Enterprise (SMSE) licensing model things are made easy. Normally easier is more expansive and in this case it sometimes is. When your just going to buy SCOM or SCCM licenses and your using standard OML for SCOM you still have to make a good calculation before going to the SMSE license type. (
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Bob Muglia kicked off the annual Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) at the wonderful Venetian in Las Vegas by talking about Dynamic IT. Dynamic IT is about the vision that Microsoft is having for dynamic datacenters and centers around 4 key pillars; Unified & Virtualized, Service-Enabled, User-Focused and Proces-Led & Model-Driven. This vision is a 10 year effort, and Microsoft is currently at the 5-year milestone.
