There is a new version of the Client OS Management Pack and the addition of the Information Worker Management Packs available at the MS Connect website.

The Client Operating System and Information Worker Management Packs enable System Center Operations Manager 2007 to monitor the health, reliability, and performance of Windows Client Desktops and Information Worker Applications.

Client OS Supported

• Windows 2000 PRO
• Windows XP

 Vista support will be available later

The Microsoft Information Worker Management Pack monitors the reliability and performance of Windows and Office Information Worker applications. By detecting, alerting, and reporting on critical reliability related events and performance indicators, this Management Pack helps identify top issues that are affecting for Windows and Office Information Worker applications and end users.

The Microsoft Windows Client Operating System Management Packs monitor the availability and performance of Windows Client operating systems (2000 Professional and XP). By detecting, alerting, and responding to critical events and performance indicators, this Management Pack helps identify, correct, and prevent possible Windows Client related outages.

 

 

Pete Zerger (MOM MVP) and I collaborated on a OpsMgr 2007 Notification How-to Guide.

One of the many enhancements in Operations Manager (SCOM) 2007 is the new notification framework. The new platform offers more flexibility in configuration of notification subscriptions out of the box than was available in the previous version of Operations Manager, as well as several new features. The addition of alert escalation and notification, via Instant Messenger (MS LCS 2005) are just a couple of exciting new offerings in SCOM 2007 notification services. This guide will step through the configuration steps and options for setting up SMTP and IM notification in SCOM 2007.

Read the Guide here.

A new version of the Active Directory management pack is available for download at Microsoft Connect webpage. This updated version of the AD MP addresses several issues in the original AD MP that shipped with RC2.  Specifically it fixes:

• AD Topology Discovery
• Discovery of DCs with non-US locales
• Discovery of Windows Server 2000 DCs
• Fixed problem: Defect: AD MP for Windows Server 2000/2003 – local discovery of the Domain Controller fails if targeted DC is using a non-US date/time/number format 
• Fixed problem: Defect: AD MP for Windows Server 2000 (all locales – under certain conditions)  

There is some additions for SCOM 2007 available at MS Connect website

OpsMgr 2007 RC2 – SDK docs and samples
This package contains the OpsMgr 2007 RC2 SDK documentation chm. It also includes samples that show a number of scenarios around using the SDK apis to insert data into OpsMgr 2007 and also using the Operations Manager connector framework.

Management Pack Building Resources for RC2
This package contains everything you will need to build a management pack on OpsMgr 2007 RC2. It includes the following:
-Authoring guide (PDF)
-Sample MPs
-Application MPs (XML files)
-Schema XSD and MAML schema files
-Authoring Console
-System Management packs

Also “OpsMgr Management Pack Guides” has been updated since RC2 release

Operations Manager RC2 is now available at Microsoft Connect

Some of the news are

• Improved reporting
• More reports by default
• More stable
• Improved performance
• Cluster support
• Improved documentation

A new function in SCOM 2007 is the possibility to send alert with instant messenger (IM). This functions make easier to send alerts to mobilphones and PDA. I have done some test sending alerts with Microsoft Live Communication to Microsoft Office Communicator. You can setup your Microsoft Live Communication server to send alerts to regular MSN Messenger accounts.

• Picture1 – Settings for IM msg that will be send away
• Picture2 – Msg at the operators side

With the correct handheld devide it will be no problem to get the alert and then start troubbleshot when you are on the run, not with all new nice functions in SCOM 2007 :) 

System Center Operations Manager 2007 has a new really good looking web console. Some of the news are

• Almost all common tasks can be done diectly from the web console, for example to watch state viewes and diagram
• Start tasks
• Work with maintenance mode
• If a operator have a custom made view (my workspace) this view will be visable from the web cosnole too. 

A nice function is that role based security also works in the web console. If a operator only se SQL related information in System Center Operations Manager console the operator will only see that in the web console too.

I have upload some pictures at my screenshot page. If you havent work with the web console in MOM 2005 there is a picture of it here. Picture1 shows the mainpage that you will see directly after login. Picture2 shows a active alert. Picture3 shows a all machines status view and picture6 shows all function if you right-click a computer, notice maintenance mode. Picture4 and picture5 shows the possibility to access my workspace directly from the web console.

Today System Center Operations Manager 2007 RC1 was published at Microsoft Connect

Some of the news

• There is a new tool to migrate from MOM 2005, MOM 2005 to OpsMgr 2007 Migration tool
• The documentation is heavy improved, more information and more details
• SCOM 2007 console is updated, much faster GUI, more information and more working functions
• Simplify installation, working links during installation
• Gateway server, a serverservice to monitor machines in non-trusted domains
• Discovery of machines based on Active Directory is working
• Self tuning thresholds, MP can tune itself based on your environment 

 I have upload some new pictures under screenshots

Microsoft Audit Connection Service (ACS) is a new function in SCOM 2007 that can collect logs from machines. All logs are saved in a special Audit Collection database. You can then run reports against the database to see trends and do security analyzes. You can also trace a user over many systems. In SCOM 2007 beta 2 scenarios.doc there is a number of scenarios, if you would like to test ACS (2.5.2 Audit Collection) you will have to change connection string to  data source = FASQL01; initial catalog = dbAudit 

FASQL01 is the SQL server and dbAudit is the database. You replace the connection string under Home/Audit Reports/Db Audit in SQL reporting.

 

To import a management pack from MOM 2005 to SCOM 2007 you can do like this

1. Export the management pack from MOM 2005 with Administrator Console
2. Convert the AKM file to XML with MP2XML, from MOM 2005 resource kit
3. Convert the XML file to SCOM 2007 XML format with the MPConvert tool that is included in the SCOM 2007 software package
4. Import the XML file into SCOM 2007 with Operator Console