As with almost all Microsoft products, there is an MP to monitor ConfigMgr 2012. This MP is such a divergence from the previous ConfigMgr 2007 MP, I wanted to take a moment and point out the differences.
- Not a conversion MP!
The previous ConfigMgr 2007 MP was actually a conversion MP from MOM 2005. This caused major issues in supporting that management pack, and there were a long list of things that needed “fixing” along the way, which resulted in required updates to the MP. The ConfigMgr 2012 MP was written from the ground up alongside ConfigMgr 2012. It plugs directly into the registry and WMI to connect to the built in health analyzer in ConfigMgr. Because it is not a conversion MP, there is no longer a dependency on the backwards compatibility MP.
- NO SCRIPTS in the Monitoring MP!
The previous MP has about 12 scripts, which fed hundreds of rules which generate alerts. These scripts were problematic, and left very few options for override tuning. Now the MP primarily uses shared datasources which leverage WMI or registry data.
- Lines of code
The precious MP had 125,000+ lines of code in the XML. The new MP has less than 40,000. That is a huge reduction.
- Number of workflows
The previous MP had over 900 rules. The current MP has 214 rules, and only ONE is enabled out of the box! All the monitoring comes from Monitors now.
- Disabled workflows out of the box.
Out of the box, the 2012 MP ships with ALL performance collection rules disabled. This allows the customer to turn these on if they desire all this performance data in their console or for reporting. This lessens the impact of the MP on the monitored servers, and the SCOM infrastructure. Additionally, there are many monitors that are disabled out of the box, due to uncommon monitoring scenarios, un-deployed roles, or potential noise. The guide neatly calls these out.
- A well documented guide and appendix.
The current MP ships with a REALLY well documented MP guide that explains what is necessary to get the MP working, and an appendix which outlines every class, and detailed information about each discovery, rule, or monitor, including data source info.
- Simpler health rollup and class
This thing is so simple – its beautiful!
Here is a breakdown on the MP:
What does it do??? (Key Monitoring Scenarios)
- Replication Health
- SQL replication between sites
- Primary > CAS > Primary
- Primary to Secondary
- Receiving and Sending
- Replication Configuration
- Service broker validity
- SQL port
- SQL firewall port
- SQL disk space
- SQL DB certificate validity
- Backup and Recovery status
- Component Availability
- Inbox Manager
- Site component manager
- Management Point
- Outbox
- WSUS
- Site System status
- Deployment Status
- Component status
- Service Availability
- Alert on critical service status
- SMSexec
- SMS Agent Host
- Dependent services
- WMI
- SQL
- IIS
- BITS
- WSUS
- Server Role Availability
- Asset intelligence
- Management Point
- Reporting Point
- Software Updates
- Distribution point
- Application catalog
- Enrollment point
- Fallback status
- Endpoint protection
- Backlog monitoring (DDR, Inventory)
- General Health (Process/Processor)
- Database connection status
- Software update synchronization (WSUS)
- DP Configuration
What’s in the MP?
Microsoft.SystemCenter2012.ConfigurationManager.Library.mp
- 13 Discoveries
- 84 Classes
- 14 Groups
Microsoft.SystemCenter2012.ConfigurationManager.Discovery.mp
- 13 Discoveries
- 2 Classes
Microsoft.SystemCenter2012.ConfigurationManager.Monitoring.mp
- 145 Monitors
- 214 Rules (all but one disabled)
- 199 Monitoring Views
- 34 Reports
What’s required from a configuration perspective?
Not much!
- Make sure your agents run as Local System
- Enable agent proxy for site servers
- Create an override MP for your tuning specific to this MP.
Optional configuration:
- Check out the disabled rules and monitors documented in the guide and see if you want them enabled.
- 52 performance threshold monitors that might need to be adjusted for your environment (see guide)
- 15 manual reset monitors. Optionally disable these and enable 15 rules which are corresponding to these, if your organization cannot support manual reset monitors (most cannot)
Distribution
Summary:
Looks like a solid MP, very simple to deploy, configure, and LIGHT YEARS better than that ConfigMgr 2007 MP. Very nice!
With the new dashboarding capabilities in OpsMgr – creating a single pane of glass for the ConfigMgr team was never simpler:
