Configure the Monitoring Environment

  • Article

The extent to which you configure your monitoring environment depends on several factors, such as business requirements, the complexity and size of your organizations MOM deployment, and the level of MOM expertise in your IT support group.

Things to consider when configuring your monitoring environment:

  • What user accounts do you need to implement for monitoring your computers?

  • What individuals or groups of individuals in IT support do you need to notify?

  • What computer groups and associated rules do you need for monitoring specific computers or groups of computers?

  • What information does your support staff need in order to do their job successfully?

  • Are there any requirements or opportunities for using built-in or custom tasks to support problem resolution?

  • Do existing rules need to be customized to provide the best fit for the hardware and software that you want to monitor?

Figure 3.1 illustrates the sequence of tasks that are used to configure a MOM monitoring environment.

You can implement the configuration that is described, as appropriate for your MOM deployment.

Figure 3.1 Configure the monitoring environment

OG_Ch3_CfgMonitoring

The following tasks are labeled according to the process shown in Figure 3.1, and each task heading identifies the minimum MOM local group membership that is required to undertake the task.

Task 1 - Add users to MOM local groups (MOM Administrator)

IT support staff have to be added to one of the MOM local groups described in Chapter 2, "MOM 2005 Feature Overview". For more information about MOM security, see The Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Security Guide, which is available at the MOM product Web site.

Note

    All members of the Local Administrators group are automatically added to the MOM Administrators group.

Use the following procedure to add users or domain groups to the MOM Users group.

Add a user to the MOM Users group

  1. Log on to the MOM Management Server with an account that has sufficient privileges to add users to a local group.

  2. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Computer Management.

  3. Expand Local Users and Groups, and then click Groups.

  4. Right-click MOM Users and pick Add to Group to open the MOM Users Properties page.

    Note

        In Windows Server 2000, the dialog is named Select Users or Groups, and the format for adding a user is: domain\user.

  5. Click Add to open the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog.

  6. At the Enter the object names to select prompt, type in name of the user that you want to add, and then click OK to close the dialog.

  7. Click OK to close the MOM Users Properties page.

You can use the preceding procedure to add users to the other MOM groups, based on the tasks that the users need to perform. For example, any user who needs to edit rules or create a new rule has to be added to the MOM Authors group.

Task 2 - Add Operators (MOM Author)

You need identify the operators that you want to notify, how they should be contacted, and when they should be contacted. To do this, run the Create Operator dialog from the Administrator console.

Use the following procedure to create an Operator.

To create an Operator

  1. In the Navigation pane, expand Management Packs.

  2. In the Navigation pane, right-click Operators.

  3. Pick Create Operator to open the dialog for creating an operator.

  4. Follow the instructions in the dialog.

Note

    Any changes that you make to a Management Pack are not immediately deployed to managed computers. By default, the MOM Management Server scans for rule changes every five minutes. Refer to Chapter 7, "Administrator Console Reference" for more information about Global Settings. See Also: "Commit Configuration Changes".

Commit Configuration Changes (MOM Author)

If you want to commit Management Pack configuration changes immediately after they are made, use the following procedure in the Administrator console.

Commit configuration changes.

  1. In the navigation pane, right-click Management Packs.

  2. Pick Commit Configuration Change.

Task 3 - Create Notification Groups (MOM Author)

Notification Groups support sending notifications to a group of operators, rather than individual operations.

Note

    MAPI notifications are not supported in MOM 2005. Use SMTP or Exchange solutions for sending notifications.

After you have finished creating operators for your MOM environment, you can add them to one of the existing Notification Groups provided by the MOM Management Pack, or you can create a new notification group.

Note

    Predefined notification groups are determined by the Management Packs that you install. The MOM Management Pack creates the Operations Manager Administrators group and the Operations Manager Notification Testing group. A newly created notification group needs to be referenced by a rule response before notifications are sent to the group.

You use the Administrator console to create a notification group.

Create a notification group

  1. In the Navigation pane, expand Management Packs, and then expand Notification.

  2. Expand Notification Groups to view the groups that are available.

  3. Right-click Notification Groups and pick Create Notification Group to open the Notification Group dialog.

  4. Follow the instructions in the dialog to create the group and identify the operators that you want to be members of the group.

Task 4 - Create new computer group (MOM Author)

By using custom computer groups, it is possible to further organize the monitoring and management of computers in your organization. For example, you can create a computer group that consists only of Web servers, and use a computer group as a container for the servers that you specify.

Use the Administrator console to create a new computer group. After you create the computer group, it is necessary to associate the computer group with a rule group.

Create a new computer group

  1. In the Navigation pane, expand Management Packs.

  2. Right-click Computer Groups and pick Create Computer Group to start the Create Computer Group Wizard.

  3. Follow the wizard steps to create a new computer group.

Task 5 - Associate rule group with computer group (MOM Author)

Use the Administrator console to associate a computer group with a rule group.

Associate rule group with new computer group

  1. In the Navigation pane, expand Management Packs.

  2. Expand Rule Groups and locate the rule group that you want to associate with a computer group.

  3. Right-click the rule group that you want to configure, and then pick Associate with Computer Group to open the properties page for the rule group.

  4. On the Computer Groups tab, click Add to view a list of available computer groups.

  5. In the Select Item page, click the computer group that you want, and then click OK.

  6. Click OK to save your changes and close the properties page.

Task 6 - Create/modify console scope (MOM Administrator)

Console scopes provide a way to partition operational responsibility within a Management Group by filtering information for your operations support staff. This partitioning makes it easier for your support staff to monitor the specific computer groups that they are responsible for.

Use console scopes to associate a set of computer groups with a list of users.

The console scope contains the assigned set of computer groups that the user can access through either the Operator console or the Web console. These computer groups are used to populate the list of computers displayed in the Computer Groups list in the console tree. This limits the users to seeing only those computers that are in the computer groups associated with their console scope. However, console scopes are not a security mechanism that you can use to limit user access to computer groups.

When a user opens the Operator console, the console program establishes a connection with the last MOM Management Server that it was connected to, and accesses the MOM database to retrieve the console scope that is associated with the user.

MOM provides three console scopes that can be used immediately; the default settings for these scopes are:

  • MOM Administrator Scope - associated with all computer groups.

  • MOM Author Scope - associated with all computer groups.

  • MOM User Scope - not associated with any computer group.

Best practices

The following best practices are based on customer feedback.

  • Map Operator roles and responsibilities to the Computer Group structure; this enables you to integrate MOM with your existing processes.

  • Create console scopes for each section of your IT Operations group that needs to view, and work with operational data, such as alerts.

You use the Administrator console to create or modify a console scope.

Create a new console scope

  1. In the Navigation pane, expand the Administration node.

  2. Right-click Console Scopes and pick Create Console Scope to start the Create Console Scope Wizard. Click Next to begin creating a console scope.

  3. Follow the wizard steps to create a console scope.

Modify a console scope

  1. In the Navigation pane, expand the Administration node.

  2. Click Console Scopes to display the existing console scope in the Details pane.

  3. In the Details pane, right-click the name of the scope that you want to modify, and then pick Properties.

  4. Use the General and Users tabs to make the changes that you want, and then click OK to close the properties dialog box.

Task 7 - Create a new task (MOM Author)

You use the Administrator console to create a new task.

Create a task

  1. In the Navigation pane, expand Management Packs.Right-click Tasks, and then pick Create Task to start the Create Task Wizard.

    Note

        The task that you create will be saved at the location where you started the wizard. For example, starting the wizard from the Microsoft Operations Manager folder (below the Tasks folder) results in the new task getting stored at that location in the folder hierarchy.

        When you right-click Tasks you also have the option to create a folder that you can use for organizing any new tasks that you create.

  2. Follow the wizard steps to create a task.

After you create the task, it will appear in the Operator console Tasks pane, but will only be active for the View type (Alerts, Events, Computers) that you configured.

Note

    If the Operator console was open when the task was created, you have to refresh the console to see the new task.

Task 8 - Add or modify rule groups and rules (MOM Author)

In addition to modifying any of the existing rules in MOM, you can create new rule groups and rules. As noted in the "MOM Management Pack" section, consult the Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Management PackGuide before modifying existing rules.

Note

    Before you can modify existing rules you have to enable Authoring mode. Authoring mode activates user interface features in MOM that enable you to create and edit vendor specific knowledge. Enabling Authoring mode also enables advanced properties on rules, groups and other items that are read-only or disabled by default. The Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Management Pack Guide provides detailed information about Authoring mode.

Create a rule group

  1. In the navigation pane, expand Management Packs and click Rule Groups.

  2. Expand Rule Groups and navigate to the location where you want to create a rule group.

  3. Right-click the folder where you want to create a rule group and pick Create Rule Group to open the Rule Group properties page.

  4. Provide a name and description, and company knowledge, if you want.

  5. Click Finish to save the Rule Group. You will be asked if you want to deploy the rules in the rule group to a group of computers. It is recommended that you do not do this until you have finished adding rules to the rule group.

Create a rule

  1. In the Navigation pane, expand Management Packs and click Rule Groups.

  2. Expand Rule Groups and navigate to the rule group where you want to create a rule.

  3. Expand the rule group that you have selected and right-click the type of rule that you want to create (Event Rules, Alert Rules, or Performance Rules).

  4. Click Create Event|Alert|Performance Rule to open a rule dialog.

  5. Follow the steps in the dialog to create and configure the rule that you want.

Note

    If the Operator console was open when the rule was created, you have to refresh the console to see the new rule.

Task 9 - Customize the Operator Console (MOM User)

Chapter 2, "MOM 2005 Feature Overview", provided information about the different views, and the various levels of filtering that an Operator console user can apply. This section builds on this information to describe how you can customize the console.

Note

    The supported number of Operator consoles per management group is 15.

The default appearance of the Operator console is shown in Figure 3.2. The primary work areas are labeled.

OG_Ch3_OperatorLayout

Figure 3.2 Primary work areas of the Operator console

In Figure 3.2, note that all of the panes are displayed, and a single pane is provided for results. Also, by default, all of the available toolbars are visible. You can show or hide panes, configure the display of information in the Results pane, save data in the results pane, and show or hide toolbars. Use the following procedures to work with panes and toolbars.

Show or hide panes

  • On the Menu and toolbar, click View and then select or deselect the check-box of the item that you want to change. If you hide the Tasks pane, you can use the Tasks button to show/hide this pane whenever you want.

Use the following procedure to configure the display of information in the Results pane for all of the views except the Diagram view.

Configure the display of information in the Results pane

  1. Right-click within the Results pane,and pick Personalize View to open the Personalize View dialog box. This dialog displays Available columns: and Displayed columns:, areas that list the information fields that are available for the view and that are currently displayed in the view.

  2. To change the order of a field that is displayed, click the field name and click either the Move Up or Move Down button to move the item.

  3. To remove a field that is displayed, click the field name and then click the Remove button.

  4. To add a field to the displayed fields, click the field name shown in the Available columns: list, and then click the Add button.

  5. When you have finished customizing the view, click OK to save the results.

When you are working with items in the Results pane, you can copy all of the information that is displayed for an item and save it as a text file.

To copy and save information displayed in the results pane

  1. In the Results pane, click the name of the view item that you want to save.

  2. Right-click the item and then click Copy Formatted Data.

  3. Create a new file using any text editor and paste the data that you copied into the file.

    Note

        You can bulk-select items in the Results pane and copy everything that you selected.

Show or hide toolbars

  • On the Menu and toolbar, click View and then pick Toolbars. Select or deselect the check-box for the toolbar that you want to show or hide.

    Note

        Referring to Figure 3.2:

    • The State Indicators toolbar consists of buttons A, B, and C, which are health indicators. (A = Critical, B = Warning, and C = Successful)

    • The View toolbar consists of buttons D, E, and F. (D = Alert View Properties, E = Personalize View, and F = Edit view time filter)

    1. An option that IT staff may want to use is the multi-pane capability of the Operator console. This option is illustrated in Figure 3.3.

OG_Ch3_ModifiedOperator

Figure 3.3 Customized Operator console

Using Figure 3.2 as a reference, follow these steps to create the three-pane view illustrated in Figure 3.3.

Enable multiple Results panes

  1. In the Menu and Command bar, click File and then pick Console Settings to open the Console Settings dialog box.

  2. At the View pane configuration: prompt, use the list box and select three panes.

  3. Click OK to save the configuration.

There are now three results panes shown in the console, with the top one pre-selected for the Alerts view.

Associate a view with a Results pane

  1. Click the pane below the Alerts results pane and click the Computers and Groups navigation button to associate that view with the second pane.

  2. Click the pane below the Alerts results pane and click the Computers and Groups navigation button to associate that view with the second pane.

  3. Click the pane below the Computers results pane and click the State navigation button to associate the State view with this active pane.

  4. Click View on the Menu and Command bar; clear the check-box beside the Navigation pane and the Tasks pane to hide these views.

  5. Click File on the Menu and Command bar and then click Save As to save the current Operator console configuration. The console is saved as an .omc file using the name that you provide. Operators can create and save multiple custom consoles that they can either use individually, or share.

In addition to the views that are provided, an Operator console user can create private or public views.

All of the predefined views provided with MOM are public, and are created and populated by the Management Packs that are installed. If a view is created in the PublicViews folder, it is visible to anyone who uses the Operator console. Private views must be created in the My Views folder, and are only seen by the Operator who created the view. The following procedure for creating a view can be used for creating a view for either the Public Views or My Views folders.

Create a view

  1. Click the My Views navigation button to show the contents of the folder in the Navigation pane.

  2. In the Navigation pane, click All My Views and pick New. You have the option of creating a new folder or picking the type of view that you want to create. If you plan to have many views, it is recommended that you use folders to organize the views that you create.

  3. Pick the type of view that you want to create to open a Create New - [View Type] dialog.

  4. Use the dialog to create the new view.

    Note

        The MOM online Help provides detailed information about criteria that are available for defining the different types of views.