Operations Manager client monitoring mode enables the administratorsto monitor operating systems and applications for error. Client monitoring configures clients to send error reports to an Operations Manager Management Server insted of Microsoft. With the reporting function client monitoring mode can then generate reports based on these errors. Error reports can be send from the Ops Mgr server to Microsoft. Two good things about AEM are that clients dont need a agent and all client settings are controlled by a group policy.

Windows Error reporting is a feature of Windows XP and Windows 2003 server. If you are running Windows 2000, this is a function included in applications, for example Office.

A great benefit of this are that administrators can get a report about application problems within the organisation. This information can be foundation for software upgrade, software updates and purchase of new software. This information will help administrators to get a overview of software problems within the organisations, and that can help the organization to maintain the productivity instead of fighting with software filled with problems.

 

 

  

This is not post a complete step by step guide about configure AEM, if you are having problem with this, please contact me in a news group and I will help you. Here is a general overview how to setup AEM (step by step guide will be uploaded later…)

1. Enable client monitoring mode on management server in the Administration part of the Console. This will start a wizard where you will input for example a directory to store the client monitoring mode data. You can also replace Microsoft and enter your own organization name, this will be in the dialog box when a application crash at a client. During this wizard a ADM file will be created, including all GPO settings that you need to control clients.
2. In a GPO, import your ADM file created during step 1, then enable all policies from that ADM file. Some settings will be set to disable even if you set them to enable. You will have to “show GUI” within them to keep them enable, but you dont have to do that, it will work anyway.  

That should do it! Now your management server will recive errors and you can see reports about applications with errors. You can look at this in the console, under monitoring and Agentless Exception Monitoring. There are a number of defaul views

• Application Error Events, all applications from all machines
• Application View, state view that lists applications
• Crash Listener View, management servers listening for failure/errors
• Error Group View, applications errors by error group
• System Crash View, computers that have an OS failure

Under Administration/Settings/Error Transmission you can setup everything about forwarding errors to Microsoft. Don´t forget to setup this.

If you want to test your AEM settings there are a couple of good ways, first a KB how to generate blue screens and then BANG.

This post was written in collaboration with Björn Axéll, thanks for good discussions and tips.

System Center Operations Manager provides an easy-to-use monitoring environment which includes thousands of event and performance monitors across hundreds of operating systems and applications to provide a single view of the health of an organization’s IT environment. The evaluation edition is valid for 180 days after installation.

File Name: OM2007 EvalCDImage.exe
Version: 2007
Date Published: 3/23/2007
Language: English
Download Size: 280.8 MB

You can download it here

Are you missing the repeat count column in Operations Manager 2007 default Active Alert view? Then you can simple right-click the view, choose “Personalize view…” and check “Repeat Count” under “Columns to display”. Then click OK and you have the repeat count column again. Note that in the “Personalize View” window you can choose how to sort columns, for example if you choose severity you will fast see which alert in the view that are the most serious. 

As you might notice there are only two resolution states in Operations Manager 2007, new and closed. Most likely you want to add more states. That you can do like this:

1. Start Operations Console
2. Click Administration and then Settings
3. Right-click Alerts and choose Properties
4. In the “Global Management Group Settings – Alerts” windo click “New…” and add resolution state. Click Ok, and then Ok again in the first box.
5. Now you can right-click a active alert (under Monitoring) and set the new resolution state

System Center Operations Manager 2007 is RTM, Released to Manufacturing. Build 06.0.5000.0 was the golden version. There will be a trial version available soon, at Microsoft System Center webpage, here.

Are you running OM 2007 yet? If you do, you have presumably noticed all new features.  When you look in the Authoring pane of the Operations Console you will see a number of new features under management pack objects. In this post I will try to explain some of the news regarding management packs.

 

Attributes
Attributes are almost the same as in MOM 2005, but here are a couple of news that you should know as a OM 2007 administrator. In MOM 2005 a attribute check one registry key or a registry value. In OM 2007 a attribute can check the registry or WMI query, this is controlled by the “Discovery Type”. When creating an attribute an object type must be selected as a target for it. A object type can include a number of attributes, for example a number of registry values. You can then create a group that has a dynamic inclusion rule for servers that only have that object type. In MOM 2005 you did this with a forumla at the computer group object.  

Monitors
What is the main diffrence between a rule and a monitor?

Monitors exists for every instance in the system, rules act independently of one another

Monitors are the only thing that can affect the state of an instance

For example, a monitor can be used to estimate the state of a event (if it exist) or the value of a performance counter. The result of that control the health state of a target and the alerts that are generated. There are three types of monitors:

Unit monitors (created to monitor specific part of a application, device or service)

Aggregate rollup monitors (this type of monitors roll up the health of monitors beneath them according to a defined algorithm.)

Dependency rollup monitors (roll up health state from targets linked by either a hosting or a membership relationship)

Object Discoveries
Object Discoveries are used to find objects in the network that need to be monitored. In a management pack there are a number of types of objects that the management pack monitors. Every management pack also includes object discoveries to find the specific objects on the network that are of the types monitored by the management pack. Under the object discoveries node you will see a list of all object discoveries in the management group.

Rules
Rules are like rules in MOM 2005, used to collect data and generate alerts. Rules can be used for a large number of reasons, the most common scenarios are:

Collect events from Windows event logs

Collect SNMP events, SNMP traps and SNMP Performance

Collect Windows performance data

Collect WMI performance data

Collect event and performance data from scripts

Alert on Windows events and/or SNMP traps

Tasks
Tasks are used to run commands/action on managed machines. A great feature in OpsMgr 2007 is the possibility to combine run-as accounts with tasks. The default account for tasks are the action account.

Views
Views are groups of managed objects that have commonality, which is defined in the view properties. When you select a view a database query is made and the result of the query are displayed in the result pane. There are a number of views that you can access from the opertions console

Alert View (Display alerts that meet specific criteria, for example all SQL alerts)

Event View (Display events that meet specific cirtiera)

State View (Display relationship between components, computers and computer groups)

Performance View (View performance objects and counters, also historical operations data

Diagram View (View a praphical view of a set of objects and how they relate to each other)

Task Status View (Display tasks that meet specific criteria)

Web Page View (Displays a Web page)

Dashboard View (View any data that OpsMgr collect in two diffrent view types side by side on one window, for example logical disk state and logocal disk alerts.)

 

Pete and I updated our guide on configuration of notification in OM 2007. The updated version includes steps for configuration of self-service notification as review of enhancements in the notification engine. You can download the new version here

There has been beta news groups for a while but today a number of public news group open for System Center Operation Manager 2007. You will find them at news.microsoft.com , their names are microsoft.public.opsmgr.*

See you there !