Monitor SharePoint Server by using Visio Services and System Center Operations Manager

 

Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010

**Summary:**You can monitor the health of a SharePoint Server 2010 farm visually by using a data-connected Visio Web drawing and Visio Services.

The Visio Toolbox Web site offers a Microsoft Visio 2010 add-in that enables you to create data-connected Web drawings that are connected to System Center Operations Manager data. This article describes how to use this add-in to create a data-connected Web drawing that monitors the status of your Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 farm, publish it to a document library on the farm, and render it by using Visio Services in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010.

To complete the procedures in this article, you must download the following components:

This scenario assumes that you have the following:

  • A SharePoint Server 2010 farm with Visio Services running

  • A System Center Operations Manager deployment that can monitor the SharePoint Server 2010 farm

  • A computer that is running Microsoft Visio Professional 2010 or Microsoft Visio Premium 2010

The following basic steps are required to configure this scenario:

  • Install the Microsoft System Center Operations Manager Management Pack for SharePoint 2010 Products on System Center Operations Manager.

  • Install the System Center Operations Manager console and the Visio 2010 add-in client components on the computer that is running Visio 2010.

  • Install the System Center Operations Manager console and the Visio 2010 add-in server components on the computer that is running the Visio Graphics Service.

Install the Management Pack for SharePoint 2010 Products

In order to monitor SharePoint Server 2010, you must install the System Center Operations Manager Management Pack for SharePoint 2010 Products on System Center Operations Manager.

To install the management pack files

  1. Copy the management pack MSI file to a share that can be accessed from the server that is running System Center Operations Manager and run it.

  2. Read and accept the license agreement and then click Next.

  3. On the Select Installation Folder page, keep the default install location, select the Everyone option, and then click Next.

    Note

    Take note of the installation location. You will have to copy files from this location in the next procedure.

  4. On the Confirm Installation page, click Install.

  5. On the Installation Complete page, click Close.

When you have finished installing the management pack files, copy the following files to the %ProgramFiles%\System Center Management Packs folder on your Operations Manager 2007 R2 management server:

  • Microsoft.SharePoint.Foundation.2010.MP

  • Microsoft.SharePoint.Server.2010.MP

  • SharePointMP.Config

It is important to copy these files because, by default, Operations Manager will look for them in this location when you import the management packs.

Once the management pack files have been installed to disk, you must import the management packs from the Operations Manager Operations Console. The management pack consists of two parts:

  • The Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 management pack

  • The SharePoint Server 2010 management pack

The SharePoint Foundation 2010 management pack is a prerequisite for the SharePoint Server 2010 management pack and must be imported first.

To import the SharePoint Foundation 2010 management pack

  1. Start the Operations Manager Operations Console.

  2. In the left pane, click Administration.

  3. In the right pane, right-click Management Packs, and then click Import Management Packs.

  4. On the Select Management Packs page, click Add, and then click Add from disk.

  5. On the Online Catalog Connection dialog box, click No.

  6. Navigate to the location where you installed the SharePoint 2010 Products management pack files.

  7. Select Microsoft.SharePoint.Foundation.2010.mp and then click Open.

  8. Click Install.

  9. When the process is complete, click Close.

After the SharePoint Foundation 2010 management pack is installed, you can install the SharePoint Server 2010 management pack.

To import the SharePoint Server 2010 management pack

  1. In the Operations Manager Operations Console, in the Administration section, right-click Management Packs, and then click Import Management Packs.

  2. On the Select Management Packs page, click Add, and then click Add from disk.

  3. On the Online Catalog Connection dialog box, click No.

  4. Navigate to the location where you installed the SharePoint 2010 Products management pack files.

  5. Select Microsoft.SharePoint.Server.2010.mp and then click Open.

  6. Click Install.

  7. When the process is complete, click Close.

In order for the management packs to monitor your farm, you must configure them to run using an account that has farm administrator access. This consists of two steps:

  • Create a Run As account within Operations Manager.

  • Configure the management pack to use that Run As account.

To create a Run As account

  1. In the Operations Console, in the left pane, click Administration.

  2. In the left pane, right-click Run As Configuration and then click Create Run As Account.

  3. On the Introduction page, click Next.

  4. On the General Properties page:

    • From the Run As Account type drop-down list, select Windows.

    • In the Display name box, type SharePoint Discovery/Monitoring Account.

      Note

      Type the string exactly as shown. System Center looks for a Run As account that has that name when you configure the management pack.

    • Click Next.

  5. On the Credentials page, type the credentials for an account that has administrative access to your SharePoint Server 2010 farm, such as the Farm Administrator account, and then click Next.

  6. On the Distribution Security page, select the More secure option, and then click Create.

  7. When the account has been created, click Close.

After the Run As account is created, you must configure the management pack to use it.

To configure the management pack

  1. In the Operations Console, in the left pane, click Monitoring.

  2. In the left pane, expand SharePoint 2010 Products, and then click Administration.

  3. From the Action menu, click Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Farm Group Tasks, and then click Configure SharePoint Management Pack.

  4. Keep the default settings and click Run.

  5. When the Task Status page shows a status of Success, click Close.

System Center Operations Manager scans your monitored servers to find your SharePoint Server 2010 farm. Depending on your configuration, this could take thirty minutes or more.

Configure the SharePoint Server application server

You must install or deploy the following components on your SharePoint Server 2010 farm:

  • The System Center Operations Manger Operations Console

    Note

    You must install this component on each application server in the farm.

  • The Visio 2010 add-in server components

Perform the following procedures on each application server in your farm.

To install the Operations Manager Operations Console

  1. On the Operations Manager DVD, run SetupOM.exe.

  2. On the Start page, click Install Operations Manager 2007 R2.

  3. On the Welcome page, click Next.

  4. On the End-User License Agreement page, read and accept the license agreement, and then click Next.

  5. On the Product Registration page, type a User Name and Organization, and then click Next.

  6. On the Custom Setup page:

    1. On the Database drop-down menu, select This component will not be available.

    2. On the Management Server drop-down menu, select This component will not be available.

    3. On the Web Console drop-down menu, select This component will not be available.

    4. Click Next.

  7. On the Customer Experience Improvement Program page, choose whether to join the program, and then click Next.

  8. On the Ready to Install the Program page, click Install.

  9. When the installation is complete, click Finish.

Once the Operations Console has been installed, you must install the Visio Services data provider. This consists of two steps:

  • Run OpsMgrDataModuleSetup.msi to extract the data provider files.

  • Deploy the data provider to the farm.

To extract the Visio Services data provider files

  1. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the directory where you downloaded the add-in and then double-click OpsMgrDataModuleSetup.msi.

    Note

    The .msi program does not install or deploy the data provider to the servers in the server farm. This program simply extracts the deployment package to the location specified.

  2. Read the license agreement, select I Agree, and then click Next.

  3. Specify the installation location, and then click Next.

Once the data providers have been extracted, you must deploy the data provider to the farm.

To deploy the Visio Services data provider to the farm

  1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products, right-click SharePoint 2010 Management Shell, and then click Run as administrator.

  2. Run the following command:

    .\OpsMgrDataModule.ps1

    The OpsMgrDataModule cmdlet installs the deployment package to the solution store for the server farm and then deploys the data module to each of the application servers in the farm.

    After the cmdlet has finished, you can verify that the package was successfully deployed by running the get-spsolution cmdlet. You should see True in the Deployed column next to the opsmgrdatamodule.wsp entry.

In order for Visio Services to refresh the diagrams that are published and connected to Operations Manager data, the Visio Services service application must be configured with credentials that have access to the Root Management Server. This is because the Visio Services service application is executing the data provider that is responsible for returning the updated dataset from the Root Management Server.

The easiest way to configure this is to make the Visio Services application pool account a Read-Only Operator on the Root Management Server.

If you need to determine the application pool account that is configured for Visio Services, use the following procedure:

To determine the Visio Services application pool account

  1. In the SharePoint Central Administration Web site, in the Application Management section, click Manage service applications.

  2. Select the Visio Services service application.

  3. On the ribbon, click Properties.

  4. Note the account listed in the Application Pool area.

  5. Click Cancel.

Once you have determined the application pool account, you must grant this account read-only operator access to the Root Management Server.

To grant the Visio Services account Read-Only Operator access to the RMS

  1. In the Operations console, open the Administration view.

  2. In the Administration pane, expand Administration, expand Security, and then click User Roles.

  3. In the User Roles pane, right-click Operations Manager Read-Only Operators, and then click Properties.

  4. In the Operations Manager Read-Only Operators – User Role Properties dialog box, on the General Properties tab, click Add.

  5. On the Select User or Groups dialog box, enter the Visio Services application pool account, and then click OK.

  6. Click OK.

Install the Visio add-in client components

You must install the following components on each computer that is running Visio 2010 where you want to use the Visio Add-in for System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2:

  • The System Center Operations Manger 2007 R2 Console

  • The Visio 2010 add-in client components

To install the Operations Manager Operations Console

  1. On the Operations Manager DVD, run SetupOM.exe.

  2. On the Start page, click Install Operations Manager 2007 R2.

  3. On the Welcome page, click Next.

  4. On the End-User License Agreement page, read and accept the license agreement, and then click Next.

  5. On the Product Registration page, type a User Name and Organization, and then click Next.

  6. On the Custom Setup page:

    1. On the Database drop-down menu, select This component will not be available.

    2. On the Management Server drop-down menu, select This component will not be available.

    3. On the Web Console drop-down menu, select This component will not be available.

    4. Click Next.

  7. On the Customer Experience Improvement Program page, choose whether to join the program, and then click Next.

  8. On the Ready to Install the Program page, click Install.

  9. When the installation is complete, click Finish.

Once you have installed the Operations Console, install the Visio 2010 add-in client components.

To install the Visio Add-in client components

  1. On the computer that is running Visio 2010, run OPPSMGRADDINSETUP.MSI.

  2. On the Welcome page, click Next.

  3. On the License Agreement page, read and accept the license agreement, and then click Next.

  4. On the Select Installation Folder page, choose an installation location or keep the default, and then click Next.

  5. On the Confirm Installation page, click Next.

  6. When the installation is complete, click Close.

Create and publish an Operations Manager Visio drawing

Once Operations Manager has started monitoring your SharePoint Server 2010 farm, you can view a diagram of the farm within the Operations Console. This diagram can be exported to Visio 2010 and published to SharePoint Server 2010, where it will remain connected to live Operations Manager data.

The basic steps that you must follow to create and publish an Operations Manager Visio drawing are as follows:

  1. Export the diagram from the Operations Manager Operations Console.

  2. Open the diagram in Visio 2010.

  3. Modify the diagram as needed.

  4. Publish the diagram to SharePoint Server 2010.

To export a diagram from the Operations Console

  1. On the computer where Visio 2010 is installed, open the Operations Console.

  2. In the left pane, click Monitoring.

  3. In the left pane, expand SharePoint 2010 Products.

  4. Click Diagram View.

  5. On the toolbar drop-down menu, click To Visio.

  6. Type a file name and then click Save.

Once the diagram is exported, you can open it in Visio 2010, modify it if necessary, and then publish it to SharePoint Server 2010, where it can be rendered by Visio Services.

To publish the data-connected drawing to SharePoint Server 2010

  1. Open Visio 2010.

  2. Click File, click Open, and then open the diagram that you exported from the Operations Console.

  3. Modify the diagram if you want.

  4. Click File, and on the File page:

    1. Click Save and Send.

    2. Click Save to SharePoint.

    3. In the Locations section, choose the location where you want to save the drawing, or click Browse for a location.

    4. Under File Types, click Web Drawing.

    5. Click Save As.

  5. Navigate to the location on your SharePoint Server 2010 site where you want to save the drawing, type a file name, and then click Save.

Once the drawing is published, you can view it directly from the document library or incorporate it into the Visio Web Access Web Part. Note that the frequency of data refresh for the Web drawing depends on the data refresh settings configured in Visio Services Global Settings and in the Visio Web Access Web Part if applicable.

See Also

Reference

Get-SPSolution

Concepts

Configure Visio Services for a BI test environment