Archive | SCOM

In my last blog post, I showed how to create a SCOM Dashboard using Visio.  https://www.scom2k7.com/creating-scom-2012-dashboards-using-visio-2010-or-visio-2013/

Now I am going to show how to add this Dashboard into SharePoint 2010.

To start I need the Microsoft Visio 2010 and SharePoint 2010 Extensions for System Center 2012 found here.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=29268

Part 1 – Installing SharePoint 2010 Integration Components

Here are the pre-requisites:

• System Center 2012 – Operations Manager console or Operations Manager 2007 R2 Authoring Console.
• SharePoint 2010 Enterprise with Visio Services enabled.
• The Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, available from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=131605

First I install the Operations Manager 2012 SP1 console on my SharePoint Server

I also verify that the SharePoint 2010 Enterprise with Visio Services are enabled.

On my SharePoint server I go to the SharePoint Central Administration Page.

I click Configuration Wizards.

I click Launch Farm Configuration Wizard

I click Start the Wizard

I scroll down and verify that the Visio Graphics Service is Enabled.

It appears to be already enabled so I click Cancel.

I verify that Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 installed so I continue on.

Ok now I am ready.

First I need to install the Visio Services Data Provider.

I log on to my SharePoint server as the Farm Administrator so I have all the permissions I need.

Now I copy the Server folder over to my SharePoint 2010 server in the C:\temp\ directory from the Extensions I downloaded earlier.

Then I run setup.exe.  Click Next, Next, Close.

On my SharePoint server, I open the SharePoint 2010 Management Shell as an Administrator

In the Command shell I change directories to

C:\Program Files\Visio Services Data Provider for System Center 2012 – Operations Manager

Now I type in

.\InstallOpsMgrDataModule.ps1

I click enter and it installs

I run

get-spsolution

I see that it says that is is Deployed so I am good.

I also see that another one listed called microsoft.enterprisemanagem…  This is from when I installed the SCOM Dashboard Integration
https://www.scom2k7.com/how-to-view-scom-2012-dashboards-in-sharepoint-2010/  and is not required to make the Visio stuff work.

Part 2 – Configuring SharePoint 2010 Integration Components

Ok now I go back to the SharePoint Central Administration Console.  I click Configure service accounts from the Security Section

From the dropdown I pick Service Application Pool – SharePoint Web Services

I need to grant the scom2k7.com\spsvc access to read SCOM.  I double click on the Operations Manager Read-Only Operators and add my SharePoint service account to the Operations Manager Read-Only Operations user role.

Ok SharePoint is ready.

Part 3 – Adding your Visio Dashboard to SharePoint 2010

I get my SCOM Dashboard Visio document from my previous post.  https://www.scom2k7.com/creating-scom-2012-dashboards-using-visio-2010-or-visio-2013/

I open up the diagram document in Visio 2013

I click Configure to make sure my connection is correct.

I click File, Save As.  Then I click SharePoint and click Browse.

I type in the address of my SharePoint Web page in the address bar.

I choose Save as Type: Visio 2010 Web Drawing

Then I click Double Click on Shared Documents.

Now I hit Save.

I get a warning about some Compatibility issue.  I just click Continue.

I now go to my SharePoint page and click Shared Documents

I click on my Visio Document and it comes up in a web console.

I click Enable (always)

OK now that is done.

Part 4 – Configuring SharePoint 2010 to show your Visio Dashboard as a web part.

I want to add my Visio Dashboard as a Web part to my Original SCOM dashboard.

I browse to the actual SharePoint site where I want to display my dashboard.

Under Site Actions I click Edit Page

I Check Out the page

I put my cursor just below Shared Documents but above my previous dashboard.

I select Business Data.  Then I select Visio Web Access

Then I click Add on the middle right of the page.

I select Click here to open tool pane.

On the right hand side I pick the the … Next to Web Drawing URL

I then select Shared Documents and select my SCOM-Visio.vdw file.

I changed the Automatic Refresh Interval to 1 minute.

I also de-select Show Open in Visio

I click OK at the bottom of the screen

Next I click the Format Text tab at the top and Check In the changes and click continue.

I am finished.  I check out the finished product.

Now I just need to create some really cool looking SCOM Visio Dashboards.

First I download the Microsoft Visio 2010 and SharePoint 2010 Extensions for System Center 2012 from here
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=29268

The install doc says I need these pre-requisites:

• System Center 2012 – Operations Manager console.
• As an alternative, you can also install the Authoring Console from Operations Manager 2007 R2.
• Microsoft Visio 2010 Professional or Premium edition
• Visual Studio Tools for Office 2010
• The Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0

I am running Windows 8 with Visio 2013.

After the install, I launch Visio 2013 and get this message. I click Install.

Now I create Blank Drawing.

At the top I see a new Tab called Operations Manager

I click Configure.

I give it a Name and my SCOM 2012 Web Console address.  I also select Automatic data refresh

Now I just click Insert Shape and add the SCOM object I want in my diagram.

It would be nice if I could multi-select here.

Also I add the Dashboard status so I  know if the link to SCOM is working or not.

Here is my first diagram/dashboard.  It was easier that I thought.   I see tons of possibilities using this.

The SharePoint 2010 MP is one of the most difficult MPs to troubleshoot.  From the surface it appears it have some magical configuration file and configuration tasks.  But if you drill down into the nuts and bolts of the MP it’s really not magical at all.

First make sure you have followed all the steps in the MP Guides http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=4419

Also review the following KB article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2690744

If you are running SCOM 2012 make sure you imported the helper MP http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34697

Ok so I have done all that, but my SharePoint server still shows up as “Not monitored”

First I enable the DebugTrace by going to the Administration View.  In the Tasks pane, I run “Set DebugTrace for SharePoint Management Pack (SCOM 2012)”

After a while I notice that I am getting the following error in the Operations Manager event log on my SharePoint server.

Log Name:      Operations Manager
Source:        Operations Manager
Event ID:      0
Level:         Error
Computer:      SP01.scom2k7.com.com
Description:
Cannot identify which SharePoint farm this server is associated with. Check the management pack guide for troubleshooting information.

So what does this mean? 

I triple checked my configuration using the MP guide and KB2690744

I tried tweaking the SharePointMP.config file a few dozen times. But it didn’t fix the problem.

I start thinking this MP can’t be all that magical and I start to dissect the MP.

Frist I export all the MPs to XML using my MP2XML Pro tool. 

Next I open up the Configure SharePoint Management Pack task and try to understand what it is actually doing.  I found the script that is run by the “Configure SharePoint Management” Task in the SCOM 2012 Helper MP

After I review the PowerShell Script I conclude it only does three basic things.

-  First it creates a Overrides MP called Microsoft.SharePoint.Foundation.2010.Override.xml.

I open up the Override MP and find out all it does is enable discovery and sets the interval and sync time for the discoveries.  I know that this is not my issue so I move on.

– Second it Enables Agent Proxy on the the servers I listed in the SharePointMP.config file

Not so complex.  I could have did this manually.

-Third it sets the Run-As profiles for the SharePoint Discovery/Monitoring Account

Ok so this one seems to be a little more magical!  I can seem to create these from the console, as the Association is System.  But I probably could have just created the associations the normal way.  Not worth spending anymore time on this as I know its correct.

So now what?  I have everything setup correctly but my SharePoint server still shows up as Unidentified!

I go back to the event log that I seen earlier. 

Event ID:      0
Level:         Error
Computer:      SP01.scom2k7.com.com
Description:
Cannot identify which SharePoint farm this server is associated with. Check the management pack guide for troubleshooting information

What is causing this?  After a few searches I don’t find anything useful.  I know the alert is generated by the MP so lets search my exported MPs to see why it’s getting generated.

I search the exported MPs for “Cannot identify which SharePoint farm this server is associated with. Check the management pack guide for troubleshooting information” using Agent Ransack (My favorite file search tool)

I discover this text is coming from the Microsoft.SharePoint.Foundation.2010.xml management pack

I open up the text file and search for the “Cannot identify which SharePoint farm this server is associated with. Check the management pack guide for troubleshooting information”.

I discovery the text is thrown by a PowerShell script when the variable $global:EventLog_Fail_Identify_Farm I called.

I search for $global:EventLog_Fail_Identify_Farm

I discover that the error will be thrown if variable $global:Farm is equal to null.

Lets see what Get-Farm does.

I log into my SharePoint Server.

I launch the the SharePoint 2012 Management Shell and I get this error.

SharePoint Scripts are not working at all on my SharePoint server!  The problem has nothing to do with SCOM.  It’s a SharePoint issue.

I run a regular PowerShell Prompt and try to load the PowerShell extensions and I get this error

“Microsoft SharePoint is not supported with version 4.0.30319.296 of the Microsoft .Net Runtime.”

So how do I fix this?  I search for this error and it turns out it is related to “Windows Management Framework 3.0” being installed.  http://blog.supermega.pro/tag/microsoft-sharepoint-is-not-supported-with-version-4-0-30319-296-of-the-microsoft-net-runtime/

So I remove the Windows Management Framework 3.0

Reboot the SharePoint Server.

Just like that all my servers get discovered and everything starts to work!

If I find any of theses other errors in the future, now I know the process to troubleshoot it.  

EventLog_Fail_Identify_Farm = "Cannot identify which SharePoint farm this server is associated with. Check the management pack guide for troubleshooting information.";
EventLog_Fail_Retrieve_Farm_And_Local = "Failed on retrieving information for SharePoint farm and Sharepoint local machine. Check the management pack guide for troubleshooting information.";
EventLog_Fail_Retrieve_OM_Value = "Failed on retrieving values from SharePoint object model.";
EventLog_Fail_Retrieve_Service = "Failed on retrieving {0} service from SharePoint farm {1}.";
EventLog_Fail_Retrieve_Object = "Failed to find {0} in SharePoint object model.";

Download Link

KB Link

Issues that are fixed in Cumulative Update 7

• Console performs poorly when User Roles are used to scope object access.
• Availability data is not shown for the current day when daily aggregation is used.
• Behavior is inconsistent between some views on web console and console.
• Log files do not roll over when the Unicode log file is monitored.
• Several security issues are fixed.

Cross-platform issues that are fixed in Cumulative Update 7

• Logical disk performance statistics are not collected for some volume types on Solaris computers.
• Some Network Adapters on HP-UX computers may not be discovered.
• Network adapter performance statistics are not collected for HP-UX network adapters.
• The Solaris 8 and 9 agent may not restart after an ungraceful shutdown.

I need the Web Server (IIS) role with the follow server role services:  According to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj656654.aspx#BKMK_RBF_WebConsole

• Static Content
• Default Document
• Directory Browsing
• HTTP Errors
• HTTP Logging
• Request Monitor
• Request Filtering
• Static Content Compression
• Web Server (IIS) Support
• IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility
• ASP.NET
• Windows Authentication

I could go to Server Manager and add the individual roles and features, but I am running Server 2012 so lets make it super simple with PowerShell.

1. Launch the PowerShell command prompt

2. Run this command

Import-Module ServerManager

3. Run this command

Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework-Core,AS-HTTP-Activation,Web-Static-Content,Web-Default-Doc,Web-Dir-Browsing,Web-Http-Errors,Web-Http-Logging,Web-Request-Monitor,Web-Filtering,Web-Stat-Compression,AS-Web-Support,Web-Metabase,Web-Asp-Net,Web-Windows-Auth –restart

4. Press Enter

I then see

And that’s it!  Its much easier than installing on Server 2008 R2..

Daniele Muscetta has created this great webcast to teach you about all the new features in SCOM 2012 SP1 RTM.

The video covers:

• How System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Operations Manager (SCOM) has added support for Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 which provides enhanced network & storage monitoring, including virtual fabric monitoring.
• How the topology has been simplified while monitoring on-premise and in the Windows Azure public cloud using new features like the Global Service Monitoring extensible dashboards.
• Azure SDK support, Linux/Unix authoring & new supported distributions including CentOS, Debian and Ubuntu
  
• Application Performance Monitoring (APM) for improved application insight with WCF, MVC, .NET Windows services, IIS8 & JEE.
  
• Developer and operations (DevOps) integration by extending SCOM data to Visual Studio 2012 and Team Foundation Server 2012.

The official link to the video and more videos such as Orchestrator in System Center 2012 SP1  (by Justin Incarnato) can be found here at the Microsoft Virtual Academy website.

LINK

All System Center Videos

SCOM Premier Field Engineer Scott Murray, has started blogging.  He has some great tips on connecting SCOM to SCOrch.  I recommend you check it out.  

http://sc.scomurr.com/

Many customers have asked me when the print server MP is going to be available for Server 2008 R2.  I would often point them at Kevin Holman’s post here.  But now we have an official MP for 2008 R2 and 2012.

Download: Link

Changes in current version

Print Server Library:

• Disabled and set visible to false for dashboard and performance views.

Print Server 2003:

• Fixed rule for collecting “jobs spooling”

Print Server 2008:

• Added support for monitoring the Print Server Role on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Print Server 2012:

• Added support for monitoring the Print Server Role on Windows Server 2012.

If you haven’t already picked up your Microsoft Surface, Veeam is giving away a free one along with other prizes every month till August 2013.

Find out more about Veeam’s big giveaway.

I have worked with a few customers that are annoyed with the user configuration required to use the new Silverlight SCOM web console.  The web console is often used for one-off application owners or IT staff that are not regularly using SCOM.  It was is a great way to give these users quick access to view the SCOM console so they can get more information about an alert they have received.

SCOM 2012 has extra steps that an end user has to take to get the web console to work.  Users see the “Web Console Configuration Required” screen and are often confused as to what do to. 

To fix this we can automate the configuration process.  This will remove the configuration screens and the end user can access the SCOM web console easily.

Here are my sample GPOs with instructions on how to install them. 
Download: https://www.scom2k7.com/downloads/SCOM_Web_Console.zip

The instructions below will walk you through creating your own GPOs to automate the process.

Here are the high level steps.

1. Automate Install of Microsoft Silverlight
2. Export Client Certificate
3. Export Registry Key(s)
4. Automate Install of Client Certificate
5. Automate Install of Registry Key(s)
6. Verify it works on Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8

1.  Automate Install of Microsoft Silverlight

The first page users are presented with is to install Microsoft Silverlight
 

There are multiple ways to automate this install.  I recommend creating a SCCM package or login script to push the install out to the clients that need it. 

To do an unattended installed, the command(s) you need.

Silverlight_x64.exe /q  or Silverlight.exe /q

Download Silverlight -  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=149156&v=5.0.61118.0

My next challenge is the Web Console Configuration Required screen.  This is the screen that throws off end users as they think the web console is not working and something need to be configured on the backend.

2.  Export Client Certificate

First I  click configure and download the SilverlightClientConfiguration.exe.

I run the tool once.

The tool does two things.  Creates a certificate and creates a registry key.

Now I need to export the client certificate.

I run MMC

Click Add/Remove Snap-in

Add the Certificates

I select Computer account, Local computer, Finish, OK

Then I expand down to Trusted Publishers, Certificates

I right click on the Microsoft Code Signing PCA certificate and export it.

I save it as a DER encoded binary 

I pick a location to save the file and Finish.

3.  Export Registry Key(s)

I open the registry editor

I go to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Silverlight” and export the Key

I open the file in notepad and remove everything but

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Silverlight]
"AllowElevatedTrustAppsInBrowser"=dword:00000001

I also create the same key but for 32-bit systems by removing the Wow6432Node

You can download my copy here. Link

If you know how to add the cert and registry key into AD you can stop reading here.  I will go though the process for anyone who doesn’t know how.

4.  Automate Install of Client Certificate

To automate the install of the client certificate and registry keys I will use Active Directory Group Policy Objects. 

I log into my domain controller and launch the Group Policy Management Console

I right click on my domain and create a OU called SCOM Web Console. (If you already have a OU that contains the computers want to deploy to you can skip this step)

I right click on the OU I created and choose Create a GPO in this domain, and link it here..

I call the GPO SCOM Web Console Components x64.  I will need two GPOs.  One for 32-bit machines and one for 64-bit machines.

I then right click on the GPO and edit it.

In the navigation pane, I open Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Public Key Policies\Trusted Publishers

I right click and Import

I click next and browse to the certificate I exported earlier

I leave the default Trusted Publishers

I click next, and Finish

I use repeat the process to create a GPO for 32-bit systems

Now I have two GPOs with the same certs and configuration

5.  Automate Install of Registry Key(s)

I go back to the same policies I created earlier and edit them.

I start with the 64-Bit policy and go to Computer Configuration\Preferences\Windows Settings\Registry
64-

I create a New, Registry Item.

In the Key Path for the 64-bit GPO I add

SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Silverlight

For the Value name I type

AllowElevatedTrustAppsInBrowser

I change the Value type to Reg_DWORD

Then I change the Base to Decimal and for Value data I type in 1

I click ok.

I repeat the process for the 32-bit one but I add this registry key.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Silverlight

Now I need to create some WMI filters to filter if it’s a 32-bit or 64-bit system.  (Wow this more work then I thought!)

I go back into my Group Policy Management console.

Under WMI Filters I right click and select New..

I call the first one 64-Bit Systems.  For the Description I use the same.

I click add.  Then I Add this query.

Select * from Win32_Processor where AddressWidth = ’64’

I click OK and it looks like this.

I click Save and I repeat the process for the 32-Bit Filter.

But I use this query

Select * from Win32_Processor where AddressWidth = ’32’

I have two WMI filters

I next attach the filters to the GPOs I created earlier.

I go back to the SCOM Web Console Components x64 GPO and click on it

At the bottom of the screen I go to WMI Filtering

I select 64-Bit Systems and click Yes

I repeat the process to attach the 32-Bit filter to the 32-Bit GPO

I now have the filters set and I am done.

Now I just add my clients to OU and they will get the new policy.

5.  Verify it works on Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8

I log into one of my clients, open a command prompt and type gpupdate /force to force the group policy down.

I type in the address of the SCOM 2012 web console and it works without any prompts!

I have tested this on Win8, Win7 SP1 (64-Bit), Win7 SP1(32-Bit), Vista SP2(32-Bit), and XP SP3 (32-bit)

*Note with Windows XP SP3 I had to install the Group Policy Preference Client Side Extensions for Windows XP – http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=3628.  In SP3 these are supposed to be already installed but I couldn’t get the registry group policies to work without reinstalling the GPO extensions.