Create a Script-Based Unit Monitor in OpsMgr2007 via the GUI

So this is how you do it:

Go to the “Authoring” space of OpsMgr 2007 Operations Console.Select the “Management Pack objects”, then “Monitors” node. Right click and choose “Create a monitor” -> “Unit Monitor”.
You get the “Create a monitor” wizard open:

 

Choose to create a two-states unit monitor based on a script. Creating a three- state monitor would be pretty similar, but I’ll show you the most simple one.Also, choose a Management pack that will contain your script and unit monitor, or create a new management pack.

Choose a “monitor target” (object classes or instances – see this webcast about targeting rules and monitors: www.microsoft.com/winme/0703/28666/Target_Monitoring_Edit… ) and the aggregate rollup monitor you want to roll the state up to.

Choose a schedule, that is: how often would you like your script to run. For demonstration purposes I usually choose a very short interval such a two or three minutes. For production environments, tough, choose a longer time range.


Choose a name for your script, complete with a .VBS extension, and write the code of the script in the rich text box:

As the sample code and comments suggest, you should use a script that checks for the stuff you want it to check, and returns a “Property Bag” that can be later interpreted by OpsMgr workflow to change the monitor’s state.This is substantially different than scripting in MOM 2005, where you could only launch scripts as responses, loosing all control over their execution.

For demonstration purpose, use the following script code:

On Error Resume Next
Dim oAPI, oBag
Set oAPI = CreateObject("MOM.ScriptAPI")
Set oBag = oAPI.CreateTypedPropertyBag(StateDataType)
Const FOR_APPENDING = 8
strFileName = "c:\testfolder\testfile.txt"
strContent = "test "
Set objFS = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objTS = objFS.OpenTextFile(strFileName,FOR_APPENDING)
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
Call oBag.AddValue("State","BAD")
Else
Call oBag.AddValue("State","GOOD")
objTS.Write strContent
End If
Call oAPI.Return(oBag)

The script will try to write into the file c:\testfolder\testfile.txt.If it finds the file and manages to write (append text) to it, it will return the property “State” with a value of “GOOD”.If it fails (for example if the file does not exist), it will return the property “State” with a value of “BAD”.

In MOM 2005 you could only let script generate Events or Alerts directly as a mean to communicate their results back to the monitoring engine. In OpsMgr 2007 you can let your script spit out a property bag and then continue the monitoring workflow and decide what to do depending on the script’s result.

So the next step is to go and check for the value of the property we return in the property bag, to determine which status the monitor will have to assume.

We use the syntax Property[@Name=’State’] in the parameter field, and we search for a content that means an unhealthy condition:


Or for the healty one:

Then we decide which status will the monitor have to assume in the healty and unhealty conditions (Green/Yellow or Green/Red usually)

Optionally, we can decide to raise an Alert when the status changes to unhealthy, and close it again when it goes back to healty.

Now our unit monitor is done.All we have to do is waiting it gets pushed down to the agent(s) that should execute it, and wait for its status to change.In fact it should go to the unhealthy state first.To test that it works, just create the text file it will be searching for, and wait for it to run again, and the state should be reset to Healthy.

This post was orginally posted at http://www.muscetta.com/2007/05/10/create-a-script-based-unit-monitor-in-opsmgr2007-via-the-gui/ I had been looking for a good SCOM vb script article for a long time. I figured I would re-post it here becuase his was so difficult to find. I give Daniele Muscetta full credit for this.

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Nworks MP for VMware for SCOM 2007 Updated Version 3.1.5.4

Nworks has posted their new Version of their Management Pack Version 3.1.5.4 today.

The nworks MP provides full Alerting and Performance charting on the VMware VI3 enterprise system status, as well as operational information.

It will collect :

• Performance & Event data for VMware ESX Hosts, either from Virtual Center or ESX directly

• Performance & Event data for VMware ESX Guest Virtual Machines, either via Virtual Center or ESX directly

• Events and Alerts from Virtual Center in many categories such as security, status/state-change, object creation/deletion and other management & admin actions taken in VC.

• The Topology of the Virtual Infrastructure within VirtualCenter – Datacenters, Folders, Clusters, Hosts and Guests

• Events and Alerts from nworks own VEM Collector service.

http://nworks.com/vmware/downloads.php

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Stale or Old Data Inside Your Ops Manager Console

Do you ever get stale data inside you Ops Manager Console? I did today and it didn’t matter how many times I hit the refresh button it would not go away. This can be fixed by simply adding the /clearcache when you start the Ops Manager Console

1.) Open a command prompt

2.) Type or copy and paste this line.

“C:\Program Files\System Center Operations Manager 2007\Microsoft.MOM.UI.Console.exe” /clearcache

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Updated OpsMgr Backwards Compatibility Management Pack

The Operations Manager Backwards Compatibility MP has been updated to resolve a number of issues and can be downloaded from the following location:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=655cdd06-861e-4342-99b2-8a81e09f6546&DisplayLang=en

The details are as follows:

· Updated MOM 2005 Backwards Compatibility MP (6.0.5000.12)

· Updated System Center Internal Library MP (6.0.5000.16)

· Updated System Center Core Monitoring MP (6.0.5000.16)

· New Backward Compatibility Threshold monitoring type using in Converted MOM 2005 MPs which exposes Threshold values as overrides

· Fixes to the Backward Compatibility Cluster discovery to address problem with converted MPs that monitor clustered Applications

· Fixes conversion issue with MOM 2005 Windows Service rules using wildcards to match on Service names

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Monitoring SNMP v1 devices with Opsmgr 2007

There has been a lot of question about what version Opsmgr 2007 support and for RTM it was only SNMP V2c, but now they have released a QFE that will add support for SNMP v1.

The KB article is KB939364. Note that you will need to call CCS to receive the QFE (but they won’t charge for it)

Link

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Silect’s MP Studio 2007 Now Available

Silect Software (http://www.silect.com/) has released MP Studio 2007 for Operations Manager 2007.

Below is a list of features/benefits stated by their E-mail announcement.

You can download the evaluation copy from here: http://www.silect.com/products/product_info.php

MP Studio 2007 Key Features

Manage overrides to increase operational effectiveness

Quickly and easily review Management Packs before implementation

Manage and track changes to Management Packs to avoid unexpected changes in service monitoring

Understand the differences between Management Packs

Create override Management Packs

MP Studio 2007 Key Benefits

Ensure your service level management objectives are effectively met

Manage customizations to your environment using MP Studio’s extensive override management capabilities

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