Technical Reference for the Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack

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This technical reference provides information about the computer attributes, computer groups, notification groups, scripts, and rules in the Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack.

Computer Attributes in the Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 computer group   For virtual machine hosts that have Virtual Server installed, the Virtual Server Management Pack collects the following computer attribute:

  • Microsoft Virtual Server—Verifies that Virtual Server 2005 has been installed on the virtual machine host.

Microsoft Virtual Machines computer group   (New in R2) For the virtual machines that have both Virtual Machine Additions and a MOM agent installed, the Management Pack collects the following computer attributes:

  • VirtualMachineName—The name by which Virtual Server refers to the virtual machine in which the guest operating system is running.

  • VSHostName—The DNS hostname of the virtual machine host or, for a host operating system that is a node in a server cluster, the DNS hostname assigned to the cluster virtual server.

  • VSPhysicalHostName—The DNS hostname of the virtual machine host, regardless of whether the host operating system is a node in a cluster.

  • VSPhysicalHostNameFullyQualified—The fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the virtual machine host, in the format hostname.domainname. Even if the host operating system is a node in a cluster, this is the fully qualified domain name of the host operating system, not the cluster virtual server.

To find out the computer name of a virtual machine, view details for the virtual machine in Computers and Groups view.

These attributes enable the Management Pack to alert administrators if a virtual machine name does not match the computer name of the machine’s guest operating system. If the two names do not match, identification of the virtual machine is inconsistent in MOM.

These features are available only if a MOM agent is running within the guest operating system. If no MOM agent has been installed, the virtual machine is added to the Microsoft Virtual Machines computer group but the attributes are not collected.

Computer Groups in the Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack

The Virtual Server Management Pack includes the following computer groups:

  • Microsoft Virtual Server 2005

  • Microsoft Virtual Machines

Notification Groups in the Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack

(New in R2) The Virtual Server Management Pack includes the following notification group:

  • Virtualization Administrators

Scripts in the Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack

The Virtual Server Management Pack includes the scripts described in Table 9.

Important

To change the parameters of a script associated with an event rule, you update properties of the event rule instead of editing the script directly. Changing a parameter of a script within the Scripts node of the MOM Administrator console does not change parameter’s value in associated event rules. To edit a script parameter for an event rule, in the Properties dialog box for the rule, click the Responses tab, select the script, click Edit, select the parameter, and then click Edit Parameter.

Table 9   Scripts in the Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack

Script

Description

Virtual Server - Service Discovery

(Expanded in R2) Performs service discovery on each virtual machine host, each virtual machine that the Virtual Server service hosts, and each virtual network that the service makes available. This script is enabled by default.

Service discovery by default also verifies whether Virtual Machine Additions is installed on each virtual machine, and updates the state of virtual machines in MOM based on heartbeat thresholds and on the virtual machine’s last status in Virtual Server.

Associated event rule: Virtual Server Service Discovery (Path: Microsoft Virtual Server\Virtual Server 2005\State Monitoring and Service Discovery)

Configurable script parameters:

  • HeartbeatPercentCriticalThreshold—Sets the percentage of expected heartbeats below which a Critical Error alert is generated for the virtual machine and the virtual machine’s state is updated to Red. Default threshold: 15 percent

  • HeartbeatPercentWarningThreshold—Sets the lower threshold of expected heartbeats for which a Warning alert is generated and the virtual machine’s health state is set to Yellow. The default threshold, 50 percent, generates a Warning alert in MOM when the virtual machine emits 15 percent through 49 percent of expected heartbeats.

  • AlertOnNoAdditions—Specifies whether to generate an Error alert if Virtual Machine Additions is not installed on a virtual machine. The alert changes the virtual machine’s state to Red. Default value: True (enabled).

    Important

    It is recommended that you not disable the "Virtual Machine Additions not installed" alert. Unless Virtual Machine Additions is installed, the Management Pack cannot accurately monitor the state of a virtual machine.

Virtual Server - Start Virtual Machine

Starts a virtual machine on the selected virtual machine host after the user chooses the Start Virtual Machine task.

Virtual Server - Pause Virtual Machine

Pauses a virtual machine on the selected virtual machine host after the user chooses the Pause Virtual Machine task.

Virtual Server - Resume Virtual Machine

Resumes a paused virtual machine on the selected virtual machine host after the user chooses the Resume Virtual Machine task.

Virtual Server - Reset Virtual Machine

Restarts a virtual machine on the selected virtual machine host after the user chooses the Reset Virtual Machine task.

Virtual Server - Save Virtual Machine State

Saves state for a virtual machine on the selected virtual machine host after the user chooses the Save Virtual Machine State task.

Virtual Server--Stop Virtual Machine

Stops a virtual machine on the selected virtual machine host, optionally saving state, after the user chooses the Stop Virtual Machine task.

Virtual Machine - Virtual machine name consistency check

Verifies whether the virtual machine name assigned in Virtual Server matches the computer name of the guest operating system. This can only be verified on virtual machines that have both Virtual Machine Additions and a MOM agent installed on the guest operating system. This script is enabled by default.

Associated event rule: Virtual Machine: Virtual machine name does not match computer name (Path: Microsoft Virtual Server\Virtual Machine)

Rules in the Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack

The Virtual Server Management Pack includes the following rule groups and rules.

Microsoft Virtual Server/Virtual Machine

(New in R2) The Virtual Machine rule group includes a single rule that generates an alert if a virtual machine name does not match the computer name of the guest operating system. Table 10 describes that rule.

Table 10   Virtual Machine Rules

Rule

Description

Type

Enabled

Severity

Virtual Machine: Virtual machine name does not match computer name

(New in R2) This rule generates an Error alert if the name assigned to a virtual machine in Virtual Server does not match the computer name of the guest operating system.

In MOM alerts and displays, a virtual machine is identified either by its computer name or by its virtual machine name but not by both names. To identify the virtual machine consistently in all displays, it is recommended that you rename the virtual machine to match the computer name of the guest operating system.

This alert is generated only if the guest operating system has both Virtual Machine Additions and a MOM agent installed.

Event

Yes

Error

Microsoft Virtual Server/Virtual Server 2005/Core Service

This rule group includes event rules, a notification rule, and the performance rules that collect CPU, memory, and disk usage data for virtual machines. Table 11 describes the rules in this rule group.

Table 11   Core Service Rules

Rule

Type

Enabled

Severity

Virtual Hard Disk: Low disk space

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Hard Disk: NTFS file system is required

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Hard Disk: Unable to access or write to disk

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: Administrator needs to check virtual machine

Event

Yes

Critical Error

Virtual Machine: Cannot mount virtual floppy disk

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: Device is not available

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: Duplicate MAC address

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: Fatal error - parent differencing disk is invalid

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: IDE disk error

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: Incompatible saved state

Event

Yes

Service Unavailable

Virtual Machine: Linked disk error

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: Low disk space

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: NTFS file system is required

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: The Virtual Server 2005 Evaluation Kit license has expired

Event

Yes

Service Unavailable

Virtual Machine: Unable to access or write to disk

Event

Yes

Critical Error

Virtual Machine: Virtual Machine Additions is out of date

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: Virtual machine could not be started

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: Virtual machine has experienced a fatal error

Event

Yes

Critical Error

Virtual Machine: Virtual machine has insufficient memory

Event

Yes

Critical Error

Virtual Machine: Virtual machine improperly configured

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: Virtual network could not be found

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Machine: Virtual Network Services driver error

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Server configuration: Cannot access or write to file

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Server: Cannot save changes to the virtual machine configuration file

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Server: Fatal error

Event

Yes

Service Unavailable

Virtual Server: Invalid entry in virtual machine configuration file

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Server: Invalid parent disk

Event

Yes

Critical Error

Virtual Server: Invalid XML configuration file

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Server: Low disk space

Event

Yes

Critical Error

Virtual Server: Low memory

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Server: No physical network adapter was found

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Server: Non-fatal exception

Event

Yes

Critical Error

Virtual Server: The Virtual Server 2005 Evaluation Kit license has expired

Event

Yes

Service Unavailable

Virtual Server: The Virtual Server installation has become corrupted

Event

Yes

Critical Error

Virtual Server: User has insufficient permissions

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Server: Virtual machine configuration file is corrupt

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Server: Virtual Machine Helper service error

Event

Yes

Error

Virtual Server: Virtual Machine Network Services driver error

Event

Yes

Error

VMRC: Port in use

Event

Yes

Critical Error

VMRC: Server not a domain member

Event

Yes

Warning

VMRC: Service principal name (SPN) could not be registered

Event

Yes

Critical Error

VMRC: User could not connect

Event

Yes

Error

Notify Virtualization Administrators of alerts with severity of Critical Error or greater

Notification

Yes

Not applicable

VM Disk Space Used

Performance Measuring

Yes

None

VM RAM Used

Performance Measuring

Yes

None

VM CPU Utilization

Performance Measuring

Yes

None

Microsoft Virtual Server/Virtual Server 2005/State Monitoring and Service Discovery

Table 12 describes the rules in this rule group.

Table 12   State Monitoring and Service Discovery Rules

Rule

Type

Description

Enabled

Virtual Server Service Discovery

Event

This rule performs service discovery for physical computers running the Virtual Server service, the virtual machines that the service hosts, and the virtual networks that the service makes available. By default, a service discovery is performed every 4 hours.

This rule generates several types of alert, and contributes to state monitoring. The rule resets the state of a virtual machine based on the number of expected heartbeats received since the previous service discovery or based on the virtual machine’s current status in Virtual Server.

By default, if 50 percent or more of expected heartbeats are reported, the machine’s state is set to Green, 15 percent through 49 percent of expected heartbeats sets the state to Yellow (Warning), and 14 percent or fewer of expected heartbeats sets the state to Red (Critical Error). You can change the Warning and Critical Error thresholds by editing script parameters for this rule. For more information, see the scripts discussion, earlier in this topic.

If Virtual Machine Additions is not installed on a virtual machine (and therefore the heartbeat cannot be monitored), an error is generated and the virtual machine’s state is set to Red.

Yes

Virtual Server Service Health Check

Event

If the Virtual Server service is in a Stopped state, this rule generates a Service Unavailable alert and sets the state of the virtual machine host to Red.

Note

The alert severity for this rule is conditional. To change the severity of the “Service Unavailable” or the “No problem” condition, open the Properties dialog box, click the Alert tab, and then edit the Alert Severity field.

Yes

Notify Virtualization Administrators of alerts with severity of Critical Error or greater

Notification

This rule notifies members of the Virtualization Administrators notification group through an e-mail message or a page response if any rule in the State Monitoring and Service Discovery rule group generates an alert with a severity of Critical Error or Service Unavailable.

Yes