Technical Reference for the Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack
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:
|
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 |