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What's New in Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction and What’s New 1
Licensing Updates 2
Licensing Changes to the System Center Server Management Suite 3
Licensing of Cross Platform Applications 4
New in Service Pack 1 4
SP 1 Highlights 4
Gateway Enhancements 5
Clustered RMS Enhancements 6
RMS Encryption Key Backup 6
R2 Highlights and Capabilities 7
Importing Management Packs 9
New and Updated Templates 11
User Interface 13
Run As 14
IIS 7 and ASP.NET 64-Bit Apps 14
Large-Scale Monitoring of URLs 15
Maintenance Mode 15
32-Bit Performance Counter Support on 64-Bit Systems 15
Web Console (Health Explorer) 15
Notification Subscription Wizard 16
Service Level Monitoring 17
Reporting Enhancements 19
Recalculating and Resetting Monitor States 21
Power Consumption Monitoring 22
Summary 22
Chapter 2 Unix/Linux Management: Cross Platform Extensions 23
Supported Platforms and Requirements 23
Preparing to Discover Unix/Linux Computers 27
Name Resolution 28
Account Information Gathering 28
Update WinRM 29
Configuring Accounts and Profiles 30
Importing the Unix/Linux Management Packs 36
Discovering and Monitoring Unix/Linux Computers 39
Discovering 39
Manually Installing the CrossPlat Agent 45
Notes on Unix Commands 48
Common Agent Deployment Errors 50
Additional Reference Material on CrossPlat 51
Monitoring (Where Do You Find Everything?) 53
Integrating Unix/Linux Computers in OpsMgr 54
OpsMgr Console 54
Health Explorer 56
Reports 57
Tasks 58
Integration with Distributed Applications 59
Bridgeways Management Packs 61
The Bridgeways VMware ESX Management Pack 62
The Bridgeways Apache Management Pack 68
Novell SUSE Management Pack 70
Logical Disk Volume Recovery 72
Cron Service Recovery 73
Performance Collection 76
Custom Scripting in the SUSE Management Pack 77
Management Pack Templates 83
Unix/Linux Log File Template 83
Unix/Linux Service Template 84
Connectors 86
Summary 96
Chapter 3 Operations Manager 2007 R2 and Windows Server 2008 97
Installing Operations Manager 2007 R2 97
Hotfixes 98
Prerequisite Changes 99
Roles and Features 99
The Windows 2008 Firewall 103
After Installation 106
Upgrading to Operations Manager 2007 R2 109
Upgrading to OpsMgr 2007 R2–Currently on Windows 2008 109
Upgrading to OpsMgr 2007 R2–Currently on Windows 2003 111
Upgrading to OpsMgr 2007 R2–Known Issues 111
Additional Windows 2008 Considerations 112
Windows Server 2008 SP 2 112
Windows Server 2008 R2 112
Server Core 113
Windows Server 2008 Updated or New Management Packs 114
Summary 116
Chapter 4 Using SQL Server 2008 in OpsMgr 2007 R2 117
Core OpsMgr Component Support 117
High Availability with Standard and Enterprise Editions 119
Database Maintenance with Standard and Enterprise Editions 120
Setup 121
Hardware Best Practices 121
Upgrading Databases from SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008 123
SQL 2008 Reporting Services 128
Post-Installation Steps for SQL Server 131
Operations Manager 2007 R2 Reporting 133
Architecture 133
Enhancements 135
Database Maintenance 138
Operational Database Maintenance 139
Data Warehouse Maintenance 144
Useful SQL Queries 145
Operational Database SQL Queries 146
Data Warehouse Database SQL Queries 148
Miscellaneous SQL Queries 149
Summary 151
Chapter 5 PowerShell Extensions for Operations Manager 2007 153
Windows PowerShell Basics 153
Installing and Accessing PowerShell 154
General PowerShell Concepts 155
Basic Navigation and Functionality 157
Cmdlet Structure 157
Getting Started 159
Special Variable $_ 161
Comparison Operators 162
Filtering Cmdlets 162
Sorting and Selecting Cmdlets 165
Formatting Cmdlets 166
Conditional Statements 167
Looping Statements 170
Providers 171
Profiles 172
Using the Operations Manager PowerShell Shell 173
Monitoring:\ Provider 174
Listing OpsMgr Shell Cmdlets 175
Commonly Used Cmdlets 175
Get-Alert and Monitoring:\ 177
Incorporating the Operations Manager SDK 179
PowerShell Performance 180
PowerShell and Operations Manager Examples 181
General PowerShell Examples 181
Operations Manager Examples 184
PowerShell Best Practices 191
Summary 191
Chapter 6 Management Solutions for Small and Midsize Business 193
Windows Small Business Server 2008 194
SBS 2008 Native Management Features 194
Remote Operations Manager Scenarios for SBS 2008 197
Windows Essential Business Server 2008 198
EBS and Essentials 198
EBS with Remote OpsMgr 200
Preview of System Center Essentials 2010 202
Essentials 2010 Setup Experience 203
Using the Essentials 2010 Virtualization Features 205
Other New Essentials 2010 Features 208
Summary 211
Chapter 7 Operations Manager and Virtualization 213
The Case for VM Management 213
Virtualization Challenges and Rewards 214
VM Management Standards: Cloud Computing Enabler 215
Managing VMs without VMM 216
Choosing Not to Deploy Virtual Machine Manager 217
Monitoring Virtual Server 218
Monitoring Windows Server Hyper-V 219
Monitoring VMware ESX with OpsMgr 220
Installing VMM and Connecting It to OpsMgr 221
Installing Virtual Machine Manager 222
Integrating Operations Manager with VMM 225
The VMM Management Pack 227
ESX vCenter Integration 232
Adding a VMware Virtualization Manager 232
Managing ESX Hosts and Guest VMs 234
Performance and Resource Optimization 236
Enabling PRO Tips 236
VMM Native CPU and Memory PRO Feature 237
PRO-Enabled Vendor Management Packs 239
Using VMM in DMZs and Untrusted Domains 240
OpsMgr and VMM Agent Alternate Security Modes 240
VMM and OpsMgr Agent Architecture Differences 243
Virtualizing OpsMgr 2007 and VMM Components 244
Summary 246
Chapter 8 Management Pack Authoring 247
What’s in a Management Pack? 248
MP Authoring Tools 248
The Authoring Console 249
The Operations Console 249
An XML Editor 249
A Script Editor 250
Scripting in OpsMgr 2007 251
Preparing Your Development Workstation 251
Types of Scripts in OpsMgr 2007 Management Packs 252
Nuts and Bolts of the OpsMgr Scripting API 253
Logging an Event 254
Scripting for Health Monitoring and Displaying Performance 255
Using a Script in Discovery 256
Designing Your Management Pack 259
Identifying Application Components (Classes) 260
How the Components Are Related (Relationships) 260
Defining the Health Model (Health Rollup) 261
Design Best Practices 262
Design Worst Practices (AKA Good Stuff NOT to Do) 262
Discovering Application Components 262
Discovery Best Practices 264
Discovery Worst Practices 264
Building Your Management Pack 264
The Point-of-Sale Batch Processing Application 265
Naming Conventions 265
Classes and Relationships 267
Service and Health Model in the POS Batch Processing Application 268
Using the R2 Authoring Console to Create Object Classes and Relationships 269
Creating the Object Classes and Relationships 270
Object Discoveries 272
Monitoring 277
Product Knowledge 280
Modules: The Building Blocks of Workflows 280
Data Source 281
Condition Detection 281
Write Action 281
Probe Action 281
Workflow Summary 282
Advanced Authoring: Creating a Custom Workflow 283
Step-by-Step: Creating a Custom Workflow with Cook Down 284
Create the Custom Data Source 285
Create the Monitor Type 286
Create the Custom Unit Monitor 289
Create the Performance Collection Rule 290
Create a Performance View 292
Verifying Cook Down 296
Troubleshooting Cook Down 298
Reports 303
Tips for a Successful MP Authoring Experience 305
Summary 305
Chapter 9 Unleashing Operations Manager 2007 307
Distributed Environments 307
Explaining Distributed Environments 307
Distributing Management Servers and Gateways 309
Agent Deployment and Management 314
Remote Operations 317
High Availability 320
Clustering the OpsMgr Components 321
Root Management Server High Availability 323
Advanced Cluster Configurations 325
Clustering Alternatives 326
Business Continuity 327
Backup and Recovery 328
SQL Log Shipping and Database Mirroring 332
Visio Add-In for OpsMgr 2007 332
Beyond the Basics of ACS 338
ACS in OpsMgr 2007 R2 338
ACS Noise Filtering 340
ACS Access Hardening 341
Auditing SQL Server 2008 344
Auditing Cross Platform 347
Secure Site Log Replay 348
Community Resources 349
Network Monitoring Using Distributed Applications 350
Monitoring Redundant LAN Links 350
Using the Distributed Application Designer 351
Targeting 356
Objects in OpsMgr 2007 356
What You Can Target 358
Using Management Pack Templates 366
Using the Authoring Console to Create a Target 371
Summary 389
Appendix A OpsMgr R2 by Example 391
Active Directory MP 391
How to Install the Active Directory MP 391
Tuning/Alerts to Look for in the Active Directory MP 394
Active Directory Management Pack Evolution 407
Exchange 2007 MP 407
How to Install the Exchange 2007 MP 408
Exchange MP Tuning/Alerts to Look for 409
SQL Server MP 410
How to Install the SQL Server MP 410
SQL MP Optional Configuration 411
SQL MP Tuning/Alerts to Look for 411
SQL Server Management Pack Evolution 415
Windows Server MP 416
How to Install the Windows Server MP 416
Windows Server MP Tuning/Alerts to Look for 417
Windows Server Management Pack Evolution 420
Operations Manager MP 420
How to Install the Operations Manager MP 420
Operations Manager MP Tuning/Alerts to Look for 420
DNS MP 427
How to Install the DNS MP 427
DNS MP Tuning/Alerts to Look for 428
DNS Management Pack Evolution 433
Group Policy MP 433
How to Install the Group Policy MP 433
Group Policy MP Tuning/Alerts to Look for 434
Group Policy Management Pack Evolution 436
DHCP MP 436
How to Install the DHCP MP 436
DHCP MP Tuning/Alerts to Look for 437
DHCP Management Pack Evolution 439
Print Server MP 439
How to Install the Windows Print Server MP 439
Windows Print Server MP Tuning/Alerts to Look for 440
Print Server Management Pack Evolution 440
SharePoint MP 441
How to Install the SharePoint MP 441
SharePoint MP Tuning/Alerts to Look for 441
Configuration Manager MP 443
How to Install the Configuration Manager MP 443
How to Configure the Configuration Manager MP 444
Configuration Management MP Tuning/Alerts to Look for 447
TMG MP 447
How to Install the TMG MP 447
How to Configure the TMG MP 448
TMG MP Tuning/Alerts to Look for 453
Appendix B Reference URLs 455
General Resources 455
Microsoft’s OpsMgr Resources 464
Blogs 467
OpsMgr Shell 469
PowerShell Information 470
Cross Platform 471
Connectors 471
The System Center Family 472
Public Forums 473
Appendix C Available Online 475
SQL Server Resources 475
Authoring Resources 476
ACS Resources 476
Reference URLs 477
Index 479