System Center 2012 R2 Operations Manager RTM now available on MSDN as well as the rest of the System Center 2012 Suite!
Archive | SCOM
How to update your Surface RT from Windows 8.1 Preview to 8.1 RTM
Launch the Store app
Windows Key + R to launch the run dialog.
Paste this then click ok:
ms-windows-store:WindowsUpgrade
Then click Download
Then install the update GA Update Rollup by running Windows Update.
Veeam Management Pack for VMware v6.5 Released
I was recently working with a customer that had this solution configured in full production and I must say it is impressive. They were getting really useful alerts about disk I/O issues and Virtual CPUs being overloaded. Everything in the MP just seemed to work from alerts to dashboards to reports . It is worth checking out.
http://www.veeam.com/vmware-microsoft-esx-monitoring.html
New features in 6.5
New enhanced fault tolerance
Automatic re-targeting of data collection ensures continuous delivery of monitoring
data. Even if vCenter goes down, it will not have an impact on monitoring. If vCenter
should fail, Veeam MP will automatically fail over and reconfigure so that data will
then be collected directly from vSphere hosts. And failback is automatic—when
vCenter is restored, Veeam MP returns to the default data collection method
without interruption.
New configuration tracking and alert correlation
New configuration tracking shows what has changed in the vSphere environment,
so if there’s an issue with resources or capacity, you’ll have a correlation of events
to help you pinpoint the cause. This new report offers detailed tracking of
configuration properties for all vSphere objects, including clusters, datastores,
network switches, hosts and VMs
New monitoring and reporting for Veeam Backup & Replication
Veeam MP v6.5 discovers the Veeam Backup & Replication environment to provide monitoring, status, availability, performance and
reporting of your backup infrastructure directly in the Operations Manager console.
If you already have Veeam Backup & Replication, Veeam MP will be able to monitor all infrastructure created by Veeam Backup
& Replication, including proxy servers, repository servers, WAN accelerators, backup jobs running on backup servers, and more.
Repositories are monitored for free disk space and availability; Backup Proxies and WAN accelerators are monitored for availability.
Veeam MP also monitors the global cache (deduplication) and sends out alerts if the cache cannot be created.
Veeam MP provides performance metrics for individual backup jobs running on backup servers, with alerts that are specific to
each job. The backup jobs are monitored to alert on job failure and job duration (optional). Veeam MP also collects backup-related
performance metrics such as size of transferred data or compression and deduplication rate. The backup jobs can be grouped by
server and by type (e.g., replication, backup, copy, etc.) Veeam MP discovers and displays the topology of the backup infrastructure.
Veeam MP delivers advanced analysis reports that include:
- Protected and unprotected VMs: shows which VMs have valid recovery points for the specified period. The report includes
information on the completion status of recent backup and replication jobs, with the number of restore points available for
each listed VM. It helps you identify the VMs that lack proper backup protection, either because of failed or outdated backup or
configuration error. - VM Verification: details VMs where automated verification (i.e., SureBackup® jobs performed by Veeam Backup & Replication)
has checked that all restore points are recoverable. The report shows how many protected VMs have been tested and verified,
the status of SureBackup job completion and the test details. - Restore Operator Activity: shows what was restored, by whom, when and where. The report provides audit information on
all types of restore actions (file, application-level and VM restores by authorized persons) performed across the selected Veeam
Backup & Replication servers. - Backup Copy Job: tracks performance and status for backup copies, evaluating the efficiency of backup data transfer through
WAN accelerators and estimating the reduction in network traffic. Traffic usage history is documented and accompanying
tables report the amount of data transmitted and include individual job properties. - Capacity Planning for Backup Repositories: analyzes the amount of free space on backup repositories and predicts when the
repository will run out of available storage capacity. The report recommends how to adjust the allocated storage resources to
meet future demands for backup storage, ensuring there is sufficient space for backup data at any point in time.
How to set Agent proxy enabled for all agents in SCOM 2012
Here is an updated PowerShell script that can be used to set agent proxy in SCOM 2012.
param ($MSSvr)
Import-Module -Name "OperationsManager"
New-SCManagementGroupConnection -ComputerName:$MSSvr;
## set proxy enabled for all agents where it is disabled
$NoProxy = get-SCOMagent | where {$_.ProxyingEnabled -match "False"}
$NoProxy|foreach {$_.ProxyingEnabled=$true}
$NoProxy|foreach {$_.ApplyChanges()}
Download: setproxyenabled12.txt
To run from a PowerShell Command Prompt you need to supply parameter MSSvr
It would look something like this.
.\setproxyenabled12.ps1 -MSSvr "OM01.scom2k7.com.com"
Kevin Homan has an excellent post from SCOM 2007 on why you would want to do this. http://blogs.technet.com/b/kevinholman/archive/2010/11/09/how-to-set-agent-proxy-enabled-for-all-agents.aspx
Jeff Blankenburg – You have too much time
Off the topic of SCOM. Jeff Blankenburg delivers an interesting presentation on how we waste our time.
Jeff Blankenburg – You have too much time from The Kalamazoo X Conference on Vimeo.
Disable The Server Manager Dashboard on Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2
It was not real obvious to me how to disable the Server Manager Dashboard that launches every time I login to a Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 Server.
Personally I find it annoying unless the server is running one of the built-in roles.
In Server 2008 R2 it was a simple check box.
In Server 2012 and 2012 R2 it is a little more hidden.
To disable the Server Manager at login you need to go to
Manage
Server Manager Properties
Then Check the check box for “Do not start Server Manager automatically at logon”
Download Windows 8.1 RTM, Visual Studio 2013 RC and Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM Today
Starting today, we will extend availability of our current Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 Pro and Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM builds to the developer and IT professional communities via MSDN and TechNet subscriptions. The Windows 8.1 RTM Enterprise edition will be available through MSDN and TechNet for businesses later this month. Additionally, today we’re making available the Visual Studio 2013 Release Candidate.
Updated SQL Management Pack released with sweet new SQL Server 2012 Dashboard
Download: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10631
Changes in This Update
SQL Server Management Pack version 6.4.0.0 includes the following changes:
· New Dashboard for SQL Server 2012 DB
· New Monitors and Rules – only for SQL 2008 and SQL 2012
o Collect DB Active Connections count
o Collect DB Active Requests count
o Collect DB Active Sessions count
o Collect DB Active Transactions count
o Collect DB Engine Thread count
o Thread Count monitor
o Transaction Log Free Space (%) monitor
o Transaction Log Free Space (%) collection
o Collect DB Engine CPU Utilization (%)
o CPU Utilization (%) monitor for DB engine
o Buffer Cache Hit Ratio monitor
o Collect DB Engine Page Life Expectancy (s)
o Page Life Expectancy monitor
o Collect DB Disk Read Latency (ms)
o Collect DB Disk Write Latency (ms)
o Disk Read Latency monitor
o Disk Write Latency monitor
o Collect DB Transactions per second count
o Collect DB Engine Average Wait Time (ms)
o Average Wait Time monitor
o Collect DB Engine Stolen Server Memory (MB)
o Stolen Server Memory monitor
o Collect DB Allocated Free Space (MB)
o Collect DB Used Space (MB)
o Collect DB Disk Free Space (MB)
o SQL Re-Compilation monitor
· SPN monitor improved
· Support for special symbols in DB names.
· Improved AlwaysOn seed discovery
· Run As configuration changes to support Low privilege for SQL Server 2012 Cluster
· Improved performance of AlwaysOn discovery
· Custom User Policy Discovery and Monitoring performance optimization
· Hided AG health object from Diagram view
· Minor changes
Free ebook and Hands on Lab for Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview Release
Get the high-level overview you need to begin preparing your deployment now. This book is based on the Preview release and will be updated to cover Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM.
Download the PDF version of this title here (108 pages, 5 MB).
The MOBI format is here.
Hands on Lab: Getting to Know Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview
Team Foundation Service – A great place to store your Management Packs using the Visual Studio Authoring Extensions
I recently started building Management Packs using the Visual Studio Authoring Extensions. Using Visual Studio in the past, I used a local Team Foundation Server for versioning of my C# projects. Maintaining a TFS server for one user is a pain as I am constantly updating it for the newest version of Visual Studio. I recently found out about the new cloud based Team Foundation Service on Azure.
The great thing about this is that it’s free for MSDN subscribers (and everyone right now). I can access my projects from any computer anywhere in the world.
Right now I only have a few projects. But I plan on building a library of examples so that whenever I am building a MP I can quickly find and reference an MP I created in the past.