Getting Started with Microsoft System Center Operations Manager

Getting Started with Microsoft System Center Operations Manager

by Kevin Greene
Released June 2016
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781785289743

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Book description

A beginner's guide to help you design, deploy and administer your System Center Operations Manager 2016 and 2012 R2 environments

About This Book

  • Discover how to monitor complex IT environments with System Center Operations Manager using tips, tricks and best practice recommendations from industry experts.

  • Learn how to create eye-catching dashboards and reports to help deliver a tangible return on investment back to your organization.

  • Optimize, troubleshoot and perform disaster recovery in Operations Manager using step by step examples based on real-world scenarios.

    • Who This Book Is For

    The target audience for this book is the IT Pro or System Administrator who wants to deploy and use System Center Operations Manager but has no previous knowledge of the product.

    As a ‘Getting Started’ book, our primary objective is to equip you with the knowledge you need to feel comfortable when working with common monitoring scenarios in OpsMgr. With this in mind, deep-diving into less-common OpsMgr features such as Audit Collection Services (ACS), Agentless Exception Monitoring (AEM) and Application Performance Monitoring (APM) has been intentionally omitted.

    What You Will Learn

  • Install a new System Center 2016 Operations Manager Management Group

  • Design and provision custom views to relevant support teams.

  • Understand how to deploy agents

  • Work with management packs

  • Monitor network devices

  • Model your IT services with distributed applications

  • Create dashboards and custom visualizations

  • Tune, optimize, maintain and troubleshoot System Center Operations Manager

    • In Detail

    Most modern IT environments comprise a heterogeneous mixture of servers, network devices, virtual hypervisors, storage solutions, cross-platform operating systems and applications. All this complexity brings a requirement to deliver a centralized monitoring and reporting solution that can help IT administrators quickly identify where the problems are and how best to resolve them.

    Using System Center Operations Manager (OpsMgr), administrators get a full monitoring overview of the IT services they have responsibility for across the organization - along with some useful management capabilities to help them remediate any issues they've been alerted to.

    This book begins with an introduction to OpsMgr and its core concepts and then walks you through designing and deploying the various roles. After a chapter on exploring the consoles, you will learn how to deploy agents, work with management packs, configure network monitoring and model your IT services using distributed applications. There’s a chapter dedicated to alert tuning and another that demonstrates how to visualize your IT using dashboards. The final chapters in the book discuss how to create alert subscriptions, manage reports, backup and recover OpsMgr, perform maintenance and troubleshoot common problems.

    Style and approach

    A beginner’s guide that focuses on providing the practical skills required to effectively deploy and administer OpsMgr with walkthrough examples and tips on all the key concepts.

    Table of contents

    1. Getting Started with Microsoft System Center Operations Manager
      1. Table of Contents
      2. Getting Started with Microsoft System Center Operations Manager
      3. Credits
      4. About the Author
      5. About the Reviewers
      6. www.PacktPub.com
        1. eBooks, discount offers, and more
          1. Why subscribe?
          2. Instant updates on new Packt books
      7. Preface
        1. What this book covers
        2. What you need for this book
        3. Who this book is for
        4. Conventions
        5. Reader feedback
        6. Customer support
          1. Errata
          2. Piracy
          3. Questions
      8. 1. Introduction to System Center Operations Manager
        1. System Center overview
        2. Introducing Operations Manager
        3. IT as a Service explained
        4. Operations Manager core features
          1. Management group
          2. Operational database
          3. Data Warehouse database
          4. RMS Emulator
          5. Management Server
          6. Reporting Server
          7. Gateway Server
          8. Agents
          9. Consoles
          10. Management packs
          11. Application Performance Monitoring
          12. Network device monitoring
          13. Audit Collection Services
          14. Agentless Exception Monitoring
        5. Minimum installation requirements
          1. OpsMgr Sizing Helper tool
          2. Virtualization support
          3. Database requirements
          4. Operating system requirements
          5. Web console requirements
          6. Firewall requirements
          7. Windows agent requirements
          8. UNIX/Linux agent requirements
        6. Summary
      9. 2. Installing System Center Operations Manager
        1. Designing the environment
          1. Design examples
            1. Single server design
            2. Small distributed server design
            3. Medium distributed server design
            4. Large distributed server design
        2. Creating the service accounts
          1. Creating an OpsMgr security group
        3. Tips for deploying SQL
          1. SQL features and collation setting
          2. SQL Server authentication mode
          3. SQL Server administrators
          4. Configuring SQL memory allocation
        4. Configuring the prerequisites
          1. Operations console prerequisites
          2. Web console prerequisites
          3. Granting Local Administrator rights
        5. Installing your first Management server
          1. Introducing our example organization
        6. Installing additional Management servers
        7. Installing the Reporting server
        8. Deploying the Web console
        9. Deploying a Gateway server
        10. Summary
      10. 3. Exploring the Consoles
        1. Operations console overview
          1. Deploying the console
          2. Connecting to the console
          3. The Monitoring Overview page
        2. Navigating the workspaces
        3. Exploring the Monitoring workspace
          1. Understanding folders
          2. Working with Views
            1. Alert View
            2. Event View
            3. State View
            4. Performance View
            5. Diagram View
            6. Task Status View
            7. Web Page View
            8. Dashboard View
        4. Exploring the Authoring workspace
          1. Management Pack Templates
          2. Distributed Applications
          3. Groups
          4. Management Pack Objects
        5. Introduction to the Reporting workspace
        6. Exploring the Administration workspace
          1. Connected Management Groups
          2. Device Management
          3. Management Packs
          4. Network Management
          5. Notifications
          6. Operations Management Suite
          7. Partner Solutions
          8. Product Connectors
          9. Resource Pools
          10. Run As Configuration
            1. Accounts
            2. Profiles
            3. UNIX/Linux Accounts
          11. Security
            1. Creating a New User Role
          12. Settings
            1. Agent: Heartbeat
            2. General: Alerts
            3. General: Database Grooming
            4. General: Privacy
            5. General: Reporting
            6. General: Web Addresses
            7. Server: Heartbeat
            8. Server: Security
        7. Getting personal with My Workspace
          1. Favorite Views
          2. Saved Searches
        8. Introduction to the Web console
        9. Summary
      11. 4. Deploying Agents
        1. Agent-based monitoring
        2. Agentless monitoring
        3. Deploying Microsoft Windows agents
          1. Windows agent requirements
          2. Using the console to deploy agents
          3. Using a Gateway Server to deploy untrusted agents
          4. Manual agent deployment
          5. Active Directory Integration
        4. Working with multiple Management Groups
          1. Configuring multihoming
            1. Push installation method
            2. Manual configuration method
          2. Removing multihoming
        5. Agent management
          1. Agent actions explained
            1. Properties
            2. Change primary management server
            3. Repair
            4. Uninstall
            5. Delete
          2. Opening agent views
        6. Deploying UNIX/Linux agents
          1. UNIX/Linux agent requirements
          2. Creating a resource pool
          3. Deployment process
        7. Summary
      12. 5. Working with Management Packs
        1. Management packs overview
          1. Sealed management packs
          2. Unsealed management packs
        2. What's inside a management pack?
          1. Classes (Object types)
          2. Relationships
            1. Hosting relationship
            2. Containment relationship
            3. Reference relationship
          3. Discoveries
          4. Monitors
            1. Unit monitors
            2. Dependency rollup monitors
            3. Aggregate rollup monitors
          5. Rules
          6. Views
          7. Tasks
            1. Console tasks
            2. Agent tasks
            3. Diagnostic tasks
            4. Recovery tasks
          8. Reports
          9. Groups
        3. Finding management packs
          1. MP Wiki
          2. OpsMgr MP Catalog
            1. Downloading management pack guides from the catalog
          3. Updates and Recommendations
            1. Get MP action
            2. Get All MPs action
            3. View Guide action
            4. View DLC Page action
            5. More Information action
          4. Locating non-Microsoft management packs
            1. The 'Unofficial' System Center catalog
            2. SystemCenterCentral.com
            3. SystemCenterCore.com
        4. Importing management packs
          1. Extracting the files
          2. Deploying the management pack
          3. Creating a custom overrides management pack
          4. Management pack dependencies
          5. Verifying discoveries
          6. Configuring Run As profiles
          7. Agent proxy not enabled
        5. Exporting unsealed management packs
        6. Deleting management packs
        7. Managing management packs
          1. Boris's OpsMgr tools
            1. MP Viewer
            2. Override Explorer
            3. Proxy Settings
            4. Override Creator
          2. Editing and authoring tools
            1. Notepad++
            2. Silect MP Author
            3. Visual Studio Authoring Extensions
        8. Summary
      13. 6. Managing Network Devices
        1. Network monitoring overview
          1. Multi-vendor support
          2. Multi-device support
          3. Multi-protocol support
          4. Additional SNMP monitoring options
        2. Requirements and considerations
          1. Resource pools
          2. Firewall rules
          3. Management packs
          4. User roles
        3. Understanding network discovery
          1. Discovery rules
          2. Discovery types
            1. Explicit discoveries
            2. Recursive discoveries
          3. DNS resolution of network devices
          4. Run as accounts
          5. Run as profiles
          6. Discovery stages
            1. Probing
            2. Processing
            3. Post-processing
        4. Discovering network devices
          1. Network Device Discovery Failure
        5. Managing network monitoring
          1. Network monitoring folder
          2. Working with node tasks
            1. Ping
            2. SNMP Get
            3. SNMP Walk
            4. Telnet console
            5. Traceroute
        6. Monitoring interfaces
          1. Working with network adapter groups
            1. Advanced network adapters group
            2. Critical network adapters group
            3. Managed computer network adapters group
            4. Relay network adapters group
          2. Interface stitching
        7. Dashboards
          1. Network Summary Dashboard
          2. Network Vicinity Dashboard
          3. Network Node Dashboard
          4. Network Interface Dashboard
        8. Reports
          1. Device reports
          2. Interface reports
        9. Summary
      14. 7. Configuring Service Models with Distributed Applications
        1. Distributed applications overview
        2. Creating distributed applications
          1. Understanding distributed application templates
            1. .NET 3-Tier Application template
            2. Line of Business Web Application template
            3. Messaging template
            4. Blank (Advanced) template
          2. Modeling your IT service
        3. Configuring health rollup policies
        4. Creating service level objectives
        5. Editing distributed applications
          1. Building synthetic transactions for websites
          2. Creating a TCP port monitor
          3. Updating the service model
        6. Adding distributed application views
          1. Creating a Diagram view
          2. Creating an Alert view
          3. Creating an SLA view
        7. Summary
      15. 8. Alert Tuning the Easy Way
        1. Alert tuning overview
        2. Defining an alert management process
          1. Choose your Management Packs wisely
          2. Read the Management Pack guides
          3. Work with the infrastructure and IT service owners
        3. Alert resolution states
          1. Creating a custom resolution state
        4. Working with alerts generated by monitors
          1. Overriding monitor generated alerts
          2. Closing versus disabling alerts generated by monitors
        5. Working with alerts generated by rules
          1. Overriding rule generated alerts
          2. Closing versus disabling alerts generated by rules
        6. Sky Blue to the rescue!
        7. Using the alert widget
        8. One script to 'Rule' them all
        9. Get the full picture with Health Explorer
          1. Using the Health Explorer navigation bar
            1. Reset Health
            2. Recalculate Health
            3. Refresh
            4. Properties
            5. Help
            6. Overrides
        10. Using custom tasks to tune alerts
          1. Creating the 'Google It!' task
          2. Creating the 'Run Remote Desktop Connection' task
          3. Creating the 'Run PuTTY' task
        11. Contextual Tuning with distributed applications
        12. Tuning with the Alert Data Management feature
        13. Managing overrides
          1. Working with the Overrides view
          2. Using reports to manage alerts and overrides
        14. Summary
      16. 9. Visualizing Your IT with Dashboards
        1. Exploring dashboard layouts and templates
          1. Column Layout
          2. Object State Dashboard template
          3. Service Level Dashboard layout
          4. Summary Dashboard template
        2. Widgets
          1. State Tiles widget
          2. Contextual widgets
          3. Performance widgets
          4. Detail widgets
          5. Image widget
          6. SLA widgets
          7. PowerShell widgets
        3. Impressing your boss with the Topology Widget
          1. Creating a dashboard image with Microsoft Visio
        4. Microsoft workload dashboards
        5. Unlocking the hidden datacenter dashboard template
        6. Community dashboard resources
        7. Third-party dashboard solutions
          1. Savision
          2. SquaredUp
          3. OpsLogix
        8. Summary
      17. 10. Creating Alert Subscriptions and Reports
        1. Alert notifications overview
        2. Working with alert notification channels
          1. E-mail (SMTP)
            1. Configuring the Windows Integrated Authentication Account
          2. Instant Message (IM)
          3. Text message (SMS)
          4. Command
        3. Adding Subscribers
        4. Configuring Subscriptions
          1. Creating Subscriptions from the Administration workspace
          2. Scoping Subscriptions from the Monitoring workspace
        5. Testing Subscriptions
        6. Managing Subscriptions
          1. Enabling and disabling Subscriptions
          2. Stefan Roth's MAS Tool
          3. Copying subscriptions
        7. Reporting overview
        8. Configuring SQL Reporting Services
        9. Scoping the Report Operators role
        10. Working with reports
          1. Running reports
          2. Linked reports and views
          3. Use targeting to save time
          4. Saving reports
          5. Accessing reports from the Web console
          6. Exporting reports
          7. Scheduling reports
          8. Publishing reports
        11. Useful Microsoft reports
          1. Windows Server Operating System Reports
          2. Availability reports
          3. SLA reports
        12. Community reports
          1. Veeam report library for System Center
          2. SCOM Health Check Reports V3
        13. Summary
      18. 11. Backing Up, Maintenance and Troubleshooting
        1. Backing up and recovering OpsMgr
          1. Backing up the databases with SQL
          2. Backing up unsealed management packs
          3. Backing up other important OpsMgr files
          4. Recovering the OpsMgr databases
        2. Working with Maintenance Mode
          1. Manually enabling Maintenance Mode
          2. Scheduling Maintenance Mode with OpsMgr 2012 R2
          3. Scheduled Maintenance Mode in OpsMgr 2016
        3. Using SQL queries for maintenance
        4. The Self Maintenance Management Pack
        5. Database grooming and maintenance
          1. Operational database free space requirements
          2. Grooming the Operational database
          3. Grooming the Data Warehouse database
        6. Deploying update rollups
        7. Troubleshooting common OpsMgr issues
          1. Working with the Operations Manager management pack
          2. Introducing System Center Internal Task Library
          3. Agent troubleshooting
            1. Gray health states
            2. Clearing the agent cache
            3. Using the HSLockdown tool
          4. Useful troubleshooting reports
        8. Summary
      19. Index

    Product information

    • Title: Getting Started with Microsoft System Center Operations Manager
    • Author(s): Kevin Greene
    • Release date: June 2016
    • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
    • ISBN: 9781785289743