Understanding Management Pack Operations

  • Article

This section provides the following information:

  • The types objects the Server Virtualization Management Pack discovers.

  • How the health rollup works.

  • How you can use the Server Virtualization Management Pack to monitor your virtualized environment.

  • How you can view the information provided by the Server Virtualization Management Pack in the Operations Manager 2007 Operations Console.

Objects Discovered by the Server Virtualization Management Pack

The Server Virtualization Management Pack discovers the following objects:

  • Virtual Machine Manager 2007 Managed Virtual Machine

  • Virtual Machine Manager 2007 Agent

  • Virtual Machine Manager 2007 Managed Host

  • Virtual Machine Manager 2007 Host Group

  • Virtual Machine Manager 2007 Engine Server

  • Virtual Machine Manager 2007 Library Server

  • Virtual Machine Manager 2007 Database

  • Virtual Machine Manager 2007 Self-Service Server

  • Virtual Machine Manager 2007 Self-Service Web site

  • Virtual Machine Manager 2007 Management Group

  • Virtual Server 2005 R2

  • Virtual Machine

  • Virtual Machine Computer

For information about discovering objects, see "Object Discoveries in Operations Manager 2007" (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=101192).

How Health Rolls Up

The Server Virtualization Management Pack views Virtual Machine Manager as a layered structure, where each layer depends on the layers beneath it to be healthy. The top of this structure is the entire Virtual Machine Manager environment (known as the Management Group), and the lowest layer includes all of the VMM Agents. When the state of one or more objects in a lower level changes significantly, the state of the objects in the upper levels changes accordingly. This action is called "rolling up health."

A significant change is determined by the number of objects that change state and the severity of the impact the change has on the system. The way in which the upper layers change in response to changes in the lower layers is determined by the Management Pack.

Monitors

The Server Virtualization Management Pack includes the monitors described in the following table.

Monitor Name Description

AgentService.Monitor

The Agent Service unit monitor indicates the availability of the VMM Agent service on a managed virtual machine host or a library server. If the VMM agent is not running, the monitor is in a critical state (red). If the state is unknown, monitoring has not yet begun for the server.

A critical “Virtual Machine Manager Agent service stopped” alert is generated when this monitor is in a critical state. The alert is resolved automatically when the monitor returns to a healthy state.

ManagedHost.Monitor

The Managed Host unit monitor indicates whether Virtual Server 2005 R2 is running on a virtual machine host that is managed by VMM. If Virtual Server is not running, the monitor is in a critical state (red). If the state is unknown, monitoring has not yet begun for the host.

A critical “Virtual Server service stopped” alert is generated when this monitor is in a critical state. The alert is resolved automatically when the monitor returns to a healthy state.

Engine.VMMService

The VMM Service unit monitor indicates the state of the Virtual Machine Manager service on the VMM server. If the VMM service is not running, the monitor is in a critical state (red). If the state is unknown, monitoring has not yet begun for the VMM service.

A critical “Virtual Machine Manager service stopped” alert is generated when this monitor is in a critical state. The alert is resolved automatically when the monitor returns to a healthy state.

Engine.AgentService.Monitor

The ServerAgent Service unit monitor indicates the state of the VMM agent on the VMM server. If the VMM agent is not running, the monitor is in a critical state (red). If the state is unknown, monitoring has not yet begun for this object.

A critical “Virtual Machine Manager Agent service stopped” alert is generated when this monitor is in a critical state. The alert is resolved automatically when the monitor returns to a healthy state.

On the VMM server, the VMM agent performs the Library Server role, refreshing the default library share and any other library shares that have been designated on the server. If the VMM server has been added to VMM as a host, the VMM agent also performs the Host role.

LibraryAgentService.Monitor

The Library Agent Service unit monitor indicates the availability of the VMM Agent service on a library server in VMM. If the VMM agent is not running, the monitor is in a critical state (red). If the state is unknown, monitoring has not yet begun for the library server.

A critical “Virtual Machine Manager Agent service stopped” alert is generated when this monitor is in a critical state. The alert is resolved automatically when the monitor returns to a healthy state.

A library server makes shares available to store file-based resources in the VMM library, which is managed centrally through Library view in the VMM Administrator Console. The VMM agent on the library server provides metadata to VMM about the shares that have been identified as library shares and the resources on those shares. For more information, see “About the Virtual Machine Manager Library” in Online Help for Virtual Machine Manager.

VMHealthEvent.Monitor

The Virtual Machine Health Monitor checks the status of virtual machines managed by VMM and reports significant state changes. Please enter common causes and resolutions for the following VM state changes, which affect the state of the monitor.

Self-ServiceSiteAvailabilityRollup

The Self-Service Site dependency monitor indicates the availability of the VMM Self-Service Portal as a rollup of all availability monitoring of the selected self-service Web server.

If the Web site is unavailable, this monitor is in a critical state (red). If the state is unknown, the Server Virtualization Management Pack has not yet begun monitoring the VMM Self-Service Portal.

Self-ServiceAvailabilityRollup

The Self-Service availability monitor is a rollup monitor for availability monitoring for virtual machine self-service within this System Center Virtual Machine Manager management group.

If any Self-Service Portal associated with the selected VMM server is unavailable, this monitor is in a critical state (red). If the state is unknown, monitoring has not yet begun for one or more self-service Web servers.

Virtual machine self-service enables the VMM administrator to grant users permission to create and operate their own virtual machines within a controlled environment on a limited group of virtual machine hosts. For more information, see “About Virtual Machine Self-Service” in Online Help for Virtual Machine Manager.

DatabaseAvailabilityRollup

The Database availability monitor is a rollup monitor for the Database Status monitor in Microsoft SQL Server for the VMM database. If the monitor is in a critical state (red), some issue with SQL server is preventing VMM from accessing the database. If the state is unknown, monitoring has not begun for the SQL Server instance that contains the VMM database.

HostGroupAvailabilityRollup

The Host Group availability monitor is a rollup monitor for all availability monitoring of host groups on a VMM server in VMM. The monitor rolls up availability of all child host groups in the root host group, All Hosts. A host group’s availability is gauged by the state of all hosts in the host group. A host’s availabiliy, in turn, is gauged by the state of the VMM agent and the Virtual Server service on the host.

If any of the host groups is in a critical state (red), this monitor also is in a critical state. If the state is unknown, monitoring has not yet begun for one or more child host groups.

EngineAvailabilityRollup

The Engine availability monitor is a rollup monitor for all availability monitoring for VMM server in VMM.

If the VMM server is not available, this monitor is in a critical state (red). If the state is unknown, monitoring has not yet begun for the VMM server.

LibraryAvailabilityRollup

The Library availability monitor is a rollup monitor for all availability monitoring for library servers in VMM that have been added to the selected VMM server. If the VMM agent on any library server is not running, the state is critical (red). If the state is unknown, monitoring has not yet begun for the VMM agent on the library server.

Library servers make shares available to store file-based resources in the VMM library, which is managed centrally through Library view in the VMM Administrator Console. The VMM agent on the library server provides metadata to VMM about the shares that have been identified as library shares and the resources on those shares. For more information, see “About the Virtual Machine Manager Library” in Online Help for Virtual Machine Manager.

HostGroupManagementGroupAvailabilityRollup

The Host Group Management Group availability monitor is a rollup monitor for all availability monitoring for host groups in this VMM management group—that is, all host groups on the selected VMM server. An unknown state indicates that either no host groups have been configured on the VMM server or no hosts have been added to the custom host groups.

VMM administrators can create host groups for ease of monitoring and managing hosts and the virtual machines deployed on the hosts. Host groups can be used to determine the resources reserved for host operating systems and to administer virtual machine self-service. For more information, see “About Host Groups” in Online Help for Virtual Machine Manager.

AgentManagedHostAvailabilityRollup

The Agent Managed Host availability monitor is a rollup monitor for all availability monitoring for virtual machine hosts that are managed by the selected VMM server in VMM.

A critical state (red) indicates that one or more managed hosts is not available because either the VMM Agent service or the Virtual Server service on the host is not running. If the state is unknown, monitoring has not yet begun for one or more of the managed hosts.

Alerts

The Server Virtualization Management Pack includes alerts described in the following table.

Alert Name Description

Engine.AgentServerRemoving

A VMM agent is being removed from a virtual machine host, a library server, or the source machine for a physical-to-virtual machine (P2V) conversion.

Engine.AgentVersionStateError

A VMM agent on the virtual machine host or library server is not compatible with the current version of VMM.

Engine.VirtualServerVersionStateError

A VMM agent on the virtual machine host or library server is not compatible with the current version of VMM.

Engine.AdminConsoleNotPresent

Operations Manager detected a VMM server that does not have the VMM Administrator Console installed on it. To perform actions on virtual machines that are managed by VMM from the Operations Console, the VMM Administrator Console must be installed on the VMM server.

If the VMM Administrator Console is not installed on the VMM server, the Server Virtualization Management Pack still monitors the VMM server, the VMM database, library servers, managed hosts, and the virtual machines on those hosts. You also can start and stop the VMM service and VMM agents on hosts and library servers from the Operations Console. However, you cannot start, stop, pause, shut down, save state, or create checkpoints for virtual machines on managed hosts.

Engine.DBInconsistent

A database that VMM uses has entered an inconsistent state or has been corrupted, possibly because of hardware issues (VMM error 2602), or VMM is unable to connect to the database because the database is in an inconsistent state (VMM error 2603).

Engine.DBOpFailed

A database operation in VMM failed (VMM error 2604), or VMM is unable to connect to the VMM database because of a general database failure (VMM error 2605). Database operations can fail for a variety of reasons, including client time-outs due to a high volume of requests, temporary network failures, SQL Server service failure, SQL Server configuration issues, or insufficient disk space for a database or transaction log that VMM uses.

Engine.ConnectToDBFailed

VMM is unable to connect to a database because of a fatal database error or for some other reason.

Engine.NewHostAdding

A server is being added to VMM as a managed virtual machine host. If the server already is hosting virtual machines through Virtual Server, the VMM agent is installed, and VMM begins managing the host and the virtual machines that are deployed on the host. If the server is not already serving as a host, Virtual Server and the VMM agent are installed. For more information about adding hosts, see About Adding Hosts (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98840) in Virtual Machine Manager Help.

Engine.HostRemoving

The Host role is being removed from a server that is a virtual machine host in VMM. If the host also has other roles in VMM—for example, if it also serves as a library server—only the Host role is removed, and the VMM agent continues to perform the other roles. If the server has only one role, the VMM agent also is removed.

Note

Removing a host from VMM does not remove Virtual Server from the host. You can continue to manage the virtual machines on the host by using Virtual Server.

Engine.HostAgentNotResponding

The VMM agent on the host did not respond to a communication from the VMM server that manages the host. This alert is generated only the first time that the host does not respond.

Engine.NewAgentServerAdding

A VMM agent is being installed on the server. The server will serve as either a virtual machine host or a library server in VMM.

Engine.AgentServerNotResponding

On a virtual machine host, this alert indicates that either the VMM agent is not responding or Virtual Server is not running. On a library server, this alert indicates that the VMM agent is not responding.

Engine.ServiceFailed

The VMM service on the VMM server encountered an unexpected error and shut down.

Engine.TaskFailure

A user-initiated job or internal job in VMM did not complete successfully.

Library.ServerAdding

The server is being added to VMM as a library server. In VMM, all file-based resources that are used in creating virtual machines must be added to the VMM library. The library is a catalog of resources used to create and configure virtual machines. The library contains files stored on library shares, and it contains operating system, hardware, and template configurations stored in the VMM database. For more information, see About the VMM Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98981) in Virtual Machine Manager Help.

Library.ServerRemoving

The Library Server role is being removed from a server that is a library server in VMM. If the library server also has other roles in VMM—for example, if it also serves as a virtual machine host—only the Library Server role is removed, and the VMM agent continues to perform the other roles. If the server has only one role, the VMM agent also is removed.

Library.AgentNotResponding

VMM was unable to contact the library server at the indicated date and time. When a VMM agent stops responding, a single alert is raised in the Operations Console. Check the library server’s status in VMM for more information.

Reports

The Server Virtualization Management Pack enables VMM to generate the reports described in the following table.

Report Name Description

Virtualization Candidates

Helps identify physical computers that are good candidates for conversion to virtual machines. You can use the Virtualization Candidates report to identify little-used servers and display average values for a set of commonly requested performance counters for CPU, memory, and disk usage, along with hardware configurations, including processor speed, number of processors, and total RAM. You can limit the report to computers that meet specified CPU and RAM requirements, and you can sort the results by selected columns in the report.

Virtual Machine Allocation

Provides information that you can use to calculate chargeback to cost centers for virtual machines. You can set up this report by Cost Center grouping to summarize CPU, memory, disk, and network usage for virtual machines within your cost centers. The cost center is a property of virtual machines, which can also be set on virtual machine templates.

Virtual Machine Utilization

Provides information about resource utilization by your virtual machines. For a specified time period, this report shows average usage and total or maximum values for virtual machine processors, memory, and disk space. You can use this report to identify under-utilized or over-utilized virtual machines and determine whether any changes are necessary.

Host Utilization

For the specified time period and host group, this report shows the number of virtual machines running on each host and the average usage and total or maximum values for host processors, memory, and disk space. You can double-click a host in the list to display a graph of CPU and memory usage on the host.

Host Utilization Growth

Shows the percentage of change in resource usage and the number of virtual machines running on selected hosts during a specified time period.

Management Pack Details

Use the following procedure to see knowledge about a monitor and the associated override values.

To see knowledge for a monitor

  1. In the Operations Console, click the Authoring button.

  2. Expand Management Pack Objects, and then click Monitors.

  3. In the Monitors pane, expand the targets until you reach the monitor level. Alternatively, you can use Search to find a particular monitor.

  4. Right-click the monitor, and then click Properties.

  5. To see knowledge for the monitor, click the Product Knowledge tab.

  6. To view any overrides set on the monitor, click the Overrides tab