Client Monitoring
Applies To: Operations Manager 2007, Windows Server 2012
The Client Monitoring Management Pack deploys a set of rules and monitors to a computer that represents an Active Directory client. These rules and monitors provide monitoring data, such as connectivity, latency and availability, from the perspective of the client.
Your monitoring needs dictate where you decide to place the Active Directory client and how many clients you choose. When you make your decision, consider the following factors:
Servers that have applications that depend on Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), such as computers running Microsoft Exchange Server, are good candidates for client monitoring.
The Active Directory client-monitoring measurements include network time. Therefore, measurements differ, depending on where your client computer is located. Use information about network speeds to place Active Directory client monitoring on computers in strategic locations. For example, if you have a branch office that is connected to a domain controller with a T1 connection, you would probably use client monitoring on one of the branch office computers to monitor the experience for the users who are connected with the T1 connection.
Client monitoring generates overhead and should not be used for every Active Directory client in an installation. Instead, turn it on for selected computers that give you a representative picture of the environment. For example, you might perform client monitoring from one server in a branch office, or you might pick one server per Exchange Server deployment.
Configuration
After you import the Active Directory Client Management pack, client monitoring is performed on computers that you add to the AD Client Monitoring Discovery rule.
You should create a specific group in Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 to use for monitoring replication. Add to that group only a select number of computers that you want to monitor. To learn about creating groups in Operations Manager 2007, see Creating and Managing Groups (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=166047).
Warning
Do not enable client monitoring on all your member servers or desktop client computers running Windows. If you have too many clients running transactions only for the sake of monitoring, you can degrade the performance of your Active Directory deployment.
To perform the procedures in this section, you must be a member of the Operations Manager Administrators group in the Operations console. For more information, see Account Information for Operations Manager 2007 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=165736).
To add a computer to the AD Client Monitoring Discovery rule
In the Operations Console, click Authoring.
Expand Management Pack Objects, and then click Object Discoveries.
In the Object Discoveries pane, right-click AD Client Monitoring Discovery, click Overrides, click Override the Object Discovery, and then click For a group.
Note
If you do not see the rule, check that your scope is set to include Active Directory Client Perspective by clicking the Scope in the Operations Console toolbar.
In the Select Object dialog box, click the group of computers that you have created for the purpose of client monitoring, and then click OK.
In the Override Properties dialog box, ensure that the Override box that corresponds to Enabled in the Parameter Name column is selected, and then change Override Value to True.
In Select destination management pack, select the management pack that you created for ADMP Customizations, as described in Create a New Management Pack for Customizations. If you have not yet created a management pack for your overrides, you can click New to create one now. Click OK.
Client Monitoring Modes
After it is deployed correctly, client monitoring runs in one of four modes. The default mode is (3) Local Site Mode. However, the administrator can select a mode for each computer that is running client monitoring. The following table lists the four client monitoring modes.
| Mode | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Full |
All domain controllers in the same domain as the client computer will be monitored. No additional configuration is necessary. The client automatically discovers all the domain controllers in its domain by using Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). |
2 |
Specific |
Domain controllers in the specified list of sites will be monitored. The administrator provides a list of sites to be monitored. Client monitoring determines the domain controllers that are contained in the list of sites. The list is maintained on the client computer in the form of a test file. |
3 |
Local Site |
All domain controllers in the same site as the client computer will be monitored. No additional configuration is necessary. The client automatically discovers all the domain controllers in its site by using LDAP. |
4 |
Specific |
Only domain controllers that are listed will be monitored. The administrator provides a list of domain controllers to be monitored. The list is maintained on the client computer in the form of a test file. |
The administrator configures the mode for client monitoring, including (if necessary) the list of specific sites or domain controllers, by setting overrides.
To set overrides
Open the Operations Console, and then click Authoring.
Expand Management Pack Objects, and then click Rules.
In the Rules pane, in Look for, type AD Client Update, and then click Find Now.
Note
If you do not see Look for, ensure that you have Find selected on the Operations Console toolbar.
Right-click the AD Client Update DCs rule, click Overrides, click Override the Rule, and then click For a group.
Note
If you are unable to find the AD Client Update DCs rule, check that your scope is set to include the Active Directory Client Perspective by clicking Scope in the Operations Console toolbar.
In Select Object, click the group of computers that you have created for the purpose of client monitoring, and then click OK.
Select the Override box that corresponds to Enabled in the Parameter Name column.
Ensure that the Override Value is set to True.
Select the Override box that corresponds to Site Discovery Mode in the Parameter Name column.
In the Override Value column, type the number of the mode that you want to configure. The mode can be 1, 2, 3, or 4. (See the table of modes described earlier in this section.)
Note
- If you set mode 2, you should enable the Sites override and provide a list of sites in the form of a comma-delimited string of site names, such as
site1,site2,site3.
- If you set mode 4, you should enable the Domain Controllers override and provide a list of domain controllers in the form of a comma-delimited string of domain controller fully qualified domain names (FQDNs), such as
dc1.contoso.com,dc2.contoso.com,dc3.contoso.com.
- If you set mode 2, you should enable the Sites override and provide a list of sites in the form of a comma-delimited string of site names, such as
In Select destination management pack, select the management pack that you created for ADMP Customizations, as described in Create a New Management Pack for Customizations. If you have not yet created a management pack for your overrides, you can click New to create one now. Click OK.