Windows Performance Collection Rules

 

Updated: May 13, 2016

Applies To: System Center 2012 R2 Operations Manager, System Center 2012 - Operations Manager, System Center 2012 SP1 - Operations Manager

To define a collection rule in Operations Manager based on a Windows performance counter, the object name and counter name of the performance counter to sample must be defined with a frequency that specifies how frequently to sample the data. The instance name only has to be specified if the same counter will be collected for multiple objects on the same agent. If this is the case, a $Target variable will typically be used for the value in the instance name in order to differentiate between the performance values for different objects. The counter must be available on the agent computer that is running the rule or an error will be created in the Operations Manager event log on the agent.

Windows Performance Collection Wizard Options

When you run the Windows performance collection wizard, you will need to provide values for options in the following tables. Each table represents a single page in the wizard.

General

The General page includes general settings for the rule including its name, category, target, and the management pack file to store it in.

Option

Description

Rule Name

The name used for the rule. This appears in the Rules view in the Authoring pane. When you create a view or report, you can select this name to use the data collected by it.

Description

Optional description of the rule.

Management Pack

Management pack to store the rule.

For more information on management packs, see Selecting a Management Pack File.

Rule Category

The category for the rule. For a performance collection rule, this should be Performance Collection.

Rule target

The class to use for the target of the rule. The rule will be run on any agent that has at least one instance of this class. For more information on targets, see Understanding Classes and Objects.

Performance Counter

The Performance Counter page includes the definition of the performance counter to collect and the frequency it should be collected.

Option

Description

Object

Text for the Object name. This is required. You can type in the name of the object or select a property from the target.

Counter

Name of the performance counter.

Instance

Text for the Instance name. This only required if the performance counter has multiple instances. You can type in the name of the instance or select a property from the target.

Include all instances for the selected counter

If select, the Instance box is disabled and the value for each instance of the performance counter is collected.

Interval

Specifies the frequency to collect the performance counter.

Optimized Collection

The Optimized Collection page allows to you to enable and configure optimized collection for the counter. If you select optimization for a collection rule, a value is only collected if it differs from the previous sample by a specified tolerance, either an absolute value or a percentage. This helps reduce network traffic and the volume of data stored in the Operations Manager database. Optimization should be used for performance counters that are expected to only change gradually. For counters that are expected to very significantly from one value to the next, optimized collection should be disabled.

Option

Description

Use Optimization

Specifies whether optimization should be enabled for the counter. If it is disabled, then every sampled value will be collected.

Absolute number

Specifies a value that the number must vary between the current sample and the previous sample for the value to be collected. The value can change in either positive or negative direction.

Percentage

Specifies a percentage of the previous sample that the difference between the current value and the previous value must be for the value to be collected. The change can be in either positive or negative direction.

Creating Windows Performance Collection Rules

Use the following procedures to create a Windows performance collection rule in Operations Manager with the following details:

  • Runs on all agents with a particular service installed.

  • Collects the % Privileged Time for the selected service.

To create a Windows performance collection rule in Operations Manager

  1. If you don’t have a management pack for the application that you are monitoring, create one using the process in Selecting a Management Pack File.

  2. Create a new target using the process in To create a Windows Service template. You can use any service installed on a test agent for this template.

  3. In the Operations console, select the Authoring workspace, and then select Rules.

  4. Right-click Rules and select Create a new rule.

  5. On the Rule Type page, do the following:

    1. Expand Collection Rules, expand Performance Based, and then click Windows Performance.

    2. Select the management pack from step 1.

    3. Click Next.

  6. On the General page, do the following:

    1. In the Rule name box, type % Privileged Time.

    2. In the Rule Category box, select Performance Collection.

    3. Next to Rule Target click Select and then select the name of the target that you created in step 2.

    4. Leave Rule is enabled selected.

    5. Click Next.

  7. On the Performance Counter page, do the following:

    1. Click Select.

    2. In the Select Performance Counter dialog box, type a computer name or browse to a Computer that has the performance counter installed.

      Note

      The name of the computer is not recorded in the rule. The computer is only used to retrieve the details of the performance counter.

    3. In the Object dropdown, select Process.

    4. In Select counter from list, select % Privileged Time.

    5. Click OK.

    6. Clear the text in the Instance box.

    7. Click the arrow to the right of the Instance box and select Service Name (Windows Service).

      Note

      You can also select the name of the service process when you select the counter. The strategy used here is to use the $Target variable to use the Service Name property of the target class. This will resolve to the name of the service when the rule runs. This is to illustrate the use of $Target variables.

    8. Leave the Interval at its default value of 15 minutes.

    9. Click Next.

  8. On the Optimized Performance Collection Settings page, do one of the following:

    - Leave the **Use Optimization** option unselected.
    
      <div class="alert">
    
    
      > [!NOTE]
      > <P>If you select optimization for a collection rule, a value is only collected if it differs from the previous sample by a specified tolerance, either an absolute value or a percentage. This helps reduce network traffic and the volume of data stored in the Operations Manager database. Optimization should be used for performance counters that are expected to only change gradually. In this example, the privileged time of the process is expected to vary significantly between samples so it would not benefit from optimized collection.</P>
    
    
      </div>
    
    - Click **Create**.