A CD is included with this book to provide add-on value to readers of System Center Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed. Note that the authors and publisher do not guarantee or provide technical support for its contents.
The following content can be accessed from sources other than this CD:
The file ProxyCFG.zip contains the executable tool by Microsoft’s Clive Eastwood for configuring and viewing agent proxying. This is quite useful for configuring OpsMgr 2007, and is discussed in Chapter 8, “Configuring and Using Operations Manager 2007.”
Chapter 8 also includes EnumberateGroupsandMembers.ps1, a PowerShell script by Boris Yanushpolsky of Microsoft that lists groups and the contents of each group.
If you have clustered your RMS, you know the process at present is far from perfect. We discuss RMS clustering in Chapter 10, “Complex Configurations.” The CD includes Microsoft’s update to the ManagementServerConfigTool utility. Microsoft asks that you only use this utility in a test environment. RMSClusterDR.zip also includes instructions to promote back the clustered RMS after you have promoted another Management Server to this role while the clustered server was not available. The good news is this is all supposed to get better with Service Pack 1!
Eugene Bykov (Microsoft) has made a PowerShell script available that creates a Report Operator role. SystemCenterForum took that script and customized it to be parameter driven. We include the customized version, AddReportingUserRole.ps1. As we discuss in Chapter 11, “Securing Operations Manager 2007,” you cannot create a Report Operator role from the Operations console.
If you move your Operational database to another database server, the error messages do not move because they are actually stored in the Master database. We include a script developed by Matt Goedtel of Microsoft (Fix_OpsMgrDb_ErrorMsgs.SQL.sql) to reapply the messages to the new server, which we discuss in Chapter 12, “Backup and Recovery.”
Part of the Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM 2005) Resource Kit, the MP2XML utility can be used as part of a batch process to convert your AKM-formatted management packs to the XML format used by OpsMgr 2007, as discussed in Chapter 13, “Administering Management Packs.” We include MP2XML.exe and its Readme file.
Finding a rule in the Operations console can sometimes be a daunting task. SystemCenterForum provides a PowerShell script (FindRule.ps1), also discussed in Chapter 13. The script searches a group for a specified rule using the display name of the rule.
Microsoft’s best practices for rule and monitor targeting document (Rule and Monitor Targeting Best Practices.pdf) was released in November 2007. It discusses the right and wrong ways to target, and it fits in well with our monitoring discussion in Chapter 14, “Monitoring with Operations Manager.”
The first release of the Operations Manager (OpsMgr) 2007 Resource Kit is referred to as “Wave 1.” The implication is that there will be future “waves.” We include the tools in a zip file, OpsMgr 2007 ResKit.zip, with the Chapter 14 content.
Two scripts (ACSBulkEnableAllAgents.ps1 and ACSBulkEnableGroupDisplayName.ps1) enable ACS in bulk using PowerShell. Microsoft’s Joseph Chan provided the first script during the OpsMgr 2007 beta test cycle. SystemCenterForum later modified the script, producing ACSBulkEnableGroupDisplayName.ps1, which takes the display name of the group as an added parameter. We discuss these scripts in Chapter 15, “Monitoring Audit Collection Services.”
The script SecurityEventPerSecond.vbs, also by Joseph Chan, counts the number of security events generated per second on the local computer. It’s included for your convenience with our Audit Collection discussion in Chapter 15.
The get_thresholds.ps1 PowerShell script, by Boris Yanushpolsky, shows all the thresholds in your management group. The output includes the type of objects the monitor is targeted to, the display name and threshold used by the monitor, whether the monitor generates an alert when its state changes, whether the alert is auto-resolved, and the severity of the alert. We discuss this script in Chapter 16, “Client Monitoring.”
The PowerShell Cheat Sheet, developed by Microsoft, provides tips for using PowerShell to make your environment more flexible and adaptable, which is the topic of Chapter 20, “Automatically Adapting Your Environment.”
Chapter 20 also includes a help file from the Microsoft Scripting Guys. This file (Hey_Scripting_Guy.chm) is a compilation of scripts released by the Scripting Guys over several years. Microsoft does not provide support for these scripts.
We also include an extensive list of management packs, scripts, and references, available only with the book:
Visio Stencils can be used to draw shapes you can use with Microsoft Visio in documenting your OpsMgr installation. We use the OpsMgr2007 (Workflow).vss stencil ourselves throughout the book, beginning in Chapter 3, “Looking Inside OpsMgr.”
The OpsMgr databases sizing spreadsheet is first used in Chapter 4, “Planning Your Operations Manager Deployment.” (We presented the information used by this Excel spreadsheet at TechEd 2007.) OpsMgr Sizing.xls provides sizing information for the three databases used by OpsMgr and the ACS component. We have validated the accuracy of these numbers at various installations and fine-tuned the information discussed at TechEd.
The OpsMgr Pre-installation Checklist assists you with your installation (see Chapter 6, “Installing Operations Manager 2007”). We developed the OpsMgr Pre-Installation Checklist.xls spreadsheet as a quick reference for your use. The spreadsheet includes the major components you will be installing and information you will need to have ready before starting your installation.
PowerShell scripts for bulk-importing management packs (ImportMP.ps1) and for starting and stopping maintenance mode (maintenance mode.ps1 and stop maintenance mode.ps1) are introduced in Chapter 8.
From the Microsoft Operations Manager 2000 Resource Kit, the Configurelogs.exe utility automates the process of setting Event log configurations by using an input file that lists the server names. It is discussed as part of Chapter 9, “Installing and Configuring Agents.” The MOM 2000 Resource Kit is no longer available on the Microsoft website.
OpsMgr_x86.sms is an SMS/SCCM package for pushing out the Operations Manager agent. We include this as a tool to help the process of agent installation, also discussed in Chapter 9.
Backup.bat, a backup script for files used by OpsMgr 2007, automates the process of backing up databases, management pack and report source files, and other customized files used by OpsMgr. Also included in the backups.exe self-extracting zip file is ExportMP.ps1 (a PowerShell script to export unsealed management packs) and SaveKey.exe (which saves the RMS encryption key). These two utilities are required by the batch file. We also include a readme file (Readme for Backup Scripts.doc). We describe the philosophy behind the batch script in Chapter 12. You can customize the batch file as necessary for your particular environment.
PingTest.vbs, a Visual Basic Ping script, can be launched by a rule. An example of this is provided in Chapter 14.
The All Audit Policy Changes audit report (Policy_Changes_-_All_Audit_Policy_Changes.rdl) is a custom report we created to track changes in audit policy. This is discussed in Chapter 15.
Discover-and-Add-Network-Devices.ps1 is a PowerShell script for discovering and adding network devices. It was developed in conjunction with Chapter 17, “Monitoring Network Devices.”
Sample scripts for Configuration Manager and Active Directory are included in ConfigMgr Scripts.zip and Sample AD scripts.zip, respectively. These are useful for automatically adapting your environment. See Chapter 20 for additional information.
GW-Assign-Failover-MS.ps1 is a PowerShell script used to assign a failover Gateway Server for an System Center Essentials configuration. The script is a very helpful utility when implementing Remote Operations Manager, discussed in Chapter 21, “Reading for the Service Provider: Remote Operations Manager.” We used the information at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb381392.aspx to create the script.
For Chapter 23, “Developing Management Packs and Reports,” we developed several management packs that we include on the CD. These include the Microsoft Forefront Security management pack, which defines a new OpsMgr class (Forefront Client Security) based on discovering computers with a certain Registry key, the OpsMgr Unleashed management pack, and the OpsMgr Database Tracking management pack. With this last management pack (which we sealed), we also use two Transact SQL scripts to establish the required tracking tables and load the scripts that update these tables.
The Database Tracking management pack requires SP 1 of OpsMgr 2007; the other management packs can run with the RTM version (with the System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Update applied) or SP 1.
The OpsMgr Unleashed management pack is a collection of tools we have written for OpsMgr. This includes several PowerShell scripts we created tasks for so you can execute them from the Operations console:
Resolve_alerts.ps1 was altered from a script written in the newsgroups by Neale Brown of SystemCenterForum. This PowerShell script is used by the Resolve Alerts task to close old alerts, as we discuss in Chapter 23. The task is visible as an action in the Resolve Alerts view.
AlertstoHTML.ps1 converts alerts as a HTML-formatted table, saving them in a file named alerts.html in the root of the C: drive (you certainly can change that location, which is specified in the last line of the PowerShell script). It is invoked by the Export Alerts to Html task.
The script email_alert.vbs is used by the Forward Alerts via Email tasks (there are two versions of this task because the syntax of the task changed with SP 1). The version of the task that works with the OpsMgr RTM is Forward Alerts via Email (RTM), whereas the version for SP 1 is named Forward Alerts via Email (SP 1).
Another tool is the Event ID lookup task. Right-click a given alert and open the Event view, where you will see a task on the Actions pane for EventID Lookup. Selecting this task takes you to EventID.NET, which gives you information about that Event ID.
MonitorProcess monitors the number of processes running for a specific process name. The monitor is activated through an override for the System Center Managed Computer (any OS) to enable the rule for a computer and define the name and range of the acceptable number of process for that computer.
The CD also includes the OpsMgr.Unleashed.zip file, which has the two PowerShell scripts, email_alert.vbs, and the OpsMgr.Unleashed.xml management pack. EventID lookup and MonitorProcess are included in the management pack.
Reference URLs (see Appendix E, “Reference URLs”) are provided as live links. These include more than 200 (clickable) hypertext links and references to materials and sites related to Operations Manager.
A disclaimer and unpleasant fact regarding live links: URLs change! Companies are subject to mergers and acquisitions, pages move and change on websites, and so on. Although these links were accurate in late 2007, it is possible some will change or be “dead” by the time you read this book. Sometimes the Wayback Machine (http://www.archive.org/index.php) can rescue you from dead or broken links. This site is an Internet archive, and it will take you back to an archived version of a site...sometimes.