Identifying the Root Management Server in Operations Manager 2007

Applies To: Operations Manager 2007 R2, Operations Manager 2007 SP1

The root management server is the first management server for a management group. Features unique to the root management server include:

  • The Web console connects to the root management server.

  • The root management server contains the root management server encryption key, which is used to read and write data to the OperationsManager database.

  • You enter the computer name for the root management server when installing reporting.

  • While the System Center Data Access and System Center Management Configuration services will be installed on both a root management server and a management server, these two services should be running only on the root management server and they should be disabled on the management server.

You might need to identify the root management server if you want to install a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate for the Web console, to find the computer name, or to back up the root management server encryption key. Use the following procedure to identify the root management server.

To identify the root management server using the Operations console

  1. Log on to the computer hosting an Operations console with an account that is a member of the Operations Manager Administrators role for the Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 management group.

  2. In the Operations console, click the Administration button.

  3. Expand Administration, expand Device Management, and then click Management Servers.

  4. In the Management Servers pane, the management server with Root Management Server equal to Yes is the root management server.

If the root management server has failed, the Operations console will be unable to connect; however, the computer name that the Operations console attempted to connect to will be displayed.

If a computer with an installation of the Operations console is unavailable, you can use the following procedure to examine the registry of any computer hosting a management server or gateway server.

Warning

Incorrectly editing the registry can severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on your computer.

To identify the root management server using the registry

  1. Log on to the computer with an account that is a member of the Administrators group.

  2. On the Windows desktop, click Start, click Run, type regedit and then click OK.

  3. On the Registry Editor page, expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, expand SOFTWARE, expand Microsoft, expand Microsoft Operations Manager, expand 3.0, and then click Machine Settings.

  4. In the results pane, examine the string DefaultSDKService. The value of this string contains the name of the computer hosting the root management server.

    Note

    A management server that was recently promoted to a root management server might not be immediately reflected in the registry.