Checklist: Performing Monthly Maintenance Checks

Ensure the master secret key is backed up and readily available on offline storage (reliability check).

How to Back Up the Master Secret (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=151395).

Ensure that failover for all clustered services has been tested (reliability check).

Reviewing and Testing SQL Server Cluster Configuration for Failover ScenariosTesting Group Failover

Ensure that the Enterprise SSO service is clustered (reliability check).

Clustering the Master Secret Server

Ensure that the BizTalk Server databases are clustered under SQL Server services (reliability check).

Clustering the BizTalk Server Databases

Ensure that at least two physical BizTalk servers are part of the BizTalk group (reliability check).

Ensuring Multiple Servers Are Part of a BizTalk Group

Determine whether any unstable code is being used, and if so, use separate hosts (reliability check).

High Availability for BizTalk Hosts

Perform functional testing of all new BizTalk applications (reliability check).

• Testing an Application
  
  
• Staging Tasks for BizTalk Application Deployment (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154686).
  
  

Configure and schedule backup BizTalk Server jobs (reliability check).

• How to Configure the Backup BizTalk Server Job (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=153813)
  
  
• How to Schedule the Backup BizTalk Server Job (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154674)
  
  

Ensure that the correct version of a set of assemblies is installed on each BizTalk machine (integrity check).

Use the BizTalk Assembly Checker and Remote GAC tool (BTSAssemblyChecker.exe) to check the versions of assemblies deployed to the BizTalk Management database and to verify that they are correctly registered in the GAC on all BizTalk Server computers. You can use this tool to verify that all the assemblies containing the artifacts of a certain BizTalk application are installed on all BizTalk nodes. The tool is particularly useful in conjunction with a solid versioning strategy to verify that the correct version of a set of assemblies is installed on each BizTalk machine, especially when side-by-side deployment approach is used. The tool is available with the BizTalk Server 2010 installation media at Support\Tools\x86\BTSAssemblyChecker.exe.

Determine whether there are any unnecessary BizTalk applications, artifacts, and configurations (administration check).

• Remove all unnecessary BizTalk applications, artifacts, and configurations.
  
  
• For more information about removing a BizTalk application or artifact using the BTSTask command-line tool see RemoveApp Command (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154687).
  
  
• For more information about removing an artifact from an application using either the BizTalk Server Administration console or the BTSTask command-line tool, see How to Remove an Artifact from an Application (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154688).
  
  

Check the BizTalk Server Administration console for any non-approved changes (administration check).

Using the BizTalk Server Administration Console (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154689).

Check BTSNTSvc.exe.config for any non-approved modifications (administration check).

BTSNTSvc.exe.config File (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154690).

Check the BizTalk Server-related registry keys for any non-approved modifications (administration check).

Microsoft Knowledge Base article 256986,”Windows registry information for advanced users” (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=158859).

Run the Best Practices Analyzer for BizTalk Server (administration check).

BizTalk Server Best Practices Analyzer (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83317).

Ensure that the latest service packs and updates are installed (administration and security check).

Microsoft Update (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154691).

Ensure that the artifacts for different trading partners are not installed on the same host (security check).

Configuring Hosts and Host Instances

Ensure that BizTalk Server is using only domain-level users and groups (security check).

Domain Groups (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154692).

Ensure that the MSDTC Security Configuration is enabled (security check).

Follow guidelines in the “Set the appropriate MSDTC Security Configuration options on Windows Server 2003 SP1, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Vista” section of Troubleshooting Problems with MSDTC (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154693).

Determine whether the BizTalk Server cache refresh interval needs to be increased (performance check).

How to Adjust the Configuration Cache Refresh Interval

Determine whether the throttling options of each host need to be adjusted (performance check).

• For information about inbound and outbound host throttling, see What is Host Throttling? (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154694).
  
  
• For information about triggers, actions, and mitigation strategies for inbound and outbound throttling, see the “Throttling condition triggers, actions, and mitigation strategies” section of How BizTalk Server Implements Host Throttling (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154695).
  
  

Determine whether unnecessary tracking is enabled, such as orchestration, shape, and Business Rule Engine (BRE) event tracking (performance check).

• How to Disable Tracking
  
  
• Planning for Tracking
  
  
• Best Practices for Tracking
  
  

Determine whether you are using a dedicated host for tracking maintenance (performance check).

Configuring a Dedicated Tracking Host

Check the BizTalk Server database sizes for an increasing trend (performance check).

• For more information about sizing the tracking database, see Tracking Database Sizing Guidelines (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154677).
  
  
• For more information about sizing the MessageBox, BizTalkDTADb, and BAMPrimaryImport databases, see Identifying Bottlenecks in the Database Tier (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154678).