Andy Dominey's MOM Blog at myITforum.com

OpsMgr BlogCasts for Free!!

2008-08-13T15:33:34Z

Later today, my OpsMgr blogcasts on the Blogcast Repository site will be free for all to access so you can take a look and see if you like them.

I'll be adding at least 1 video a month starting this month so please check out the guides here: http://blogcastrepository.com/level5/scom/default.aspx

Enjoy!

Andy

Hotfix for OpsMgr on Windows Server 2008

2008-07-29T00:44:15Z

From Techlog.org

This hotfix contains fixes for issues that can occur, either after installation of Operations Manager 2007 SP1 or Essentials 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008, or after the operating system in-place upgrade from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008.

This hotfix should be applied to the following Operations Manager 2007 SP1 roles:

* RMS
* Management Server
* Gateway Server
* Web Console Server
* SCE Server
* Manually installed Agent (This hotfix should be applied directly to manually installed agents. Automatically deployed agents will appear in the Pending Management view to be approved for upgrade after installing this hotfix on the RMS/Management Server/Gateway server roles)

Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1 & System Center Essentials 2007 SP1 Windows Server 2008 Support Hotfix.

New OpsMgr MP’s Released

2008-07-29T00:42:53Z

From Techlog.org…why type when you can copy and paste J

Microsoft has released several new management packs for Operations Manager 2007:

Windows Key Management Service for System Center OpsMgr 2007
The KMS MP monitors core Key Management Service offered by Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 and Vista.

Exchange Server 2007 MP for SC Ops Mgr 2007
This management pack includes scripts and rules to effectively monitor Exchange 2007 and report on performance, availability, and reliability of its server roles.

Terminal Services MP for OpsMgr 2007
The Terminal Services Management Pack monitors the individual Terminal Services components on Windows Server 2000, 2003 and 2008.

Windows Server Operating System MP for OpsMgr 2007
The Windows Server Operating System Management Pack provides the fundamental monitoring basics for computers running the Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008 Operating System.

Windows Server 2008 Application Server MP for OpsMgr 2007
The Windows Server 2008 Application Server Management Pack provides fundamental monitoring for the Application Server role of Windows Server 2008 Operating System.

OpsMgr and Virtualization

2008-07-25T12:38:21Z

Recently, an excellent post has appeared on the Manageability Team blog detailing Microsoft's support of hosting OpsMgr on virtual machines.

Check it out here: http://blogs.technet.com/smsandmom/archive/2008/07/24/support-policy-for-operations-manager-2007-running-on-hardware-virtualization-software.aspx

OpsMgr 2007 SP1 KB951979 Hotfix Released

2008-06-04T10:32:41Z

This fix is scheduled to hit the Microsoft support site over the next few days. Details below:

System Center Operations 2007 Service Pack 1

Hotfix Release Notes

SystemCenterOperationsManager2007-SP1-KB951979-X86-X64-ENU.MSI

May, 2008

The information in this article applies to:

 System Center Operations 2007 Service Pack 1

Note: This patch applies to System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1 Only

Summary

Following problems have been identified with a number of System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1 management packs:

 Unable to discover CSDVersion on Windows Vista machines

 Unable to discover operating system properties on Windows 2000 SP4

 Agent HandleCountThreshold monitor does not restart Health service on exchange agent if HandleCountThreshold is exceeded

 ACS Collection rule references a wrong EventID

 Performance collection raises erroneous alerts for disabled services due to unavailable perf counters

 A script bug prevents cluster discovery where Virtual Server Name is a subset of the Physical Server Name.

This hot-fix resolves these issues.

Symptoms

When affected by these issues, a number of System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1 management packs will be unable to:

 Discover operating system properties on Windows 2000 SP4

 Discover CSDVersion on Windows Vista machines

 Restart Health service when HandleCountThreshold is exceeded

 Collect correct ACS event

 Discover cluster where Virtual Server Name is a subset of the Physical Server Name

 And additionally generates erroneous Alert for Performance Data Source Module when the services are disabled

After applying this fix, these issues should be resolved.

Installation

This hotfix contains four management packs. Install these management packs from an Operations Manager console.

To extract the management pack files contained in this hotfix:

1. Copy the file:

SystemCenterOperationsManager2007-SP1-KB951979-X86-X64-ENU.MSI

To either a local folder or accessible network shared folder.

2. Then run:

SystemCenterOperationsManager2007-SP1-KB951979-X86-X64-ENU.MSI locally on each applicable computer that meets the predefined criteria.

Note: The installation path is typically the following:

Program Files\System Center Hotfix Utility

You can run SystemCenterOperationsManager2007-SP1-KB951979-X86-X64-ENU.MSI from either Windows Explorer or from a command prompt.

For detailed instructions on the tasks described above, see the Knowledge Base article as referenced in the Additional Information section of this document.

This hotfix contains the following updated Management Packs which must be imported into Operations Manager. These management packs are located in the folder noted above.

Microsoft.SystemCenter.2007.mp (Version 6.0.6278.19)

Microsoft.SystemCenter.ACS.Internal.mp (Version 6.0.6278.19)

Microsoft.SystemCenter.Internal.mp (Version 6.0.6278.19)

Microsoft.Mom.BackwardCompatibility.mp (Version 6.0.6278.19)

Additional Information

For additional information about this issue, see KB article KB951979 at <http://support.microsoft.com/>. For additional information and downloads, see <http://www.microsoft.com/mom>.

Release Notes Copyright Information

Information in this document, including URL and other Internet Web site references, is subject to change without notice and is provided for informational purposes only. The entire risk of the use or results of the use of this document remains with the user, and Microsoft Corporation makes no warranties, either express or implied. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document might be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft might have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property.

Microsoft, MS-DOS, Windows, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A. and/or other countries/regions.

Silect MP Implementation and Lifecycle Management Webinar

2008-05-26T10:21:00Z

Randy Roffey of Silect asked me to make you all aware of the following Webinar to be held on Wednesday 28^th May 2008. Silect are experts on MP management and so this should be a good one.

Enjoy!

Join us for a Webinar on May 28

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/355396121

This presentation will focus on process considerations and how MP Studio features can function as the foundation for a repeatable process.

If you have multiple management packs, multiple management groups and multiple administrators working with Operations Manager, having a well defined process is critical to a successful implementation of Operations Manager 2007. Even with smaller implementations, having a defined process for handling change requests for management packs is critical to avoiding costly downtime and unnecessary errors.

If ITIL and MOF are important to you, if Change Management and Version control are important functions in your organization, if auditing changes in management packs is something you would like to be able to do, then this webcast could be the most important event you attend all year!

All participants who sign up for the presentation will receive a copy of the Implementation Guide v1.0 Quick Reference by email after the presentation.

Title:		MP Implementation and Lifecycle Management

Date:		Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Time:		11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT

Everybody Loves Raymond...

2008-05-01T13:33:00Z

Raymond Chou that is

Raymond is a fellow OpsMgr MVP hailing from Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. He has setup up a great blog of his experiences with OpsMgr which can be found here: http://mymomexperience.blogspot.com/

Pete Zerger, another brilliant MVP made a comment on the blog and I couldn't have put it better myself:
"Raymond is someone with great insights into the product and the process for whom I have a great deal of respect. Definitely one to bookmark."

Andy

System Center Search Vista Gadget

2008-05-01T08:48:11Z

Finally a gadget we can all appreciate J

Some very clever people have written and released a Vista sidebar gadget which enables you to search just the System Center group of products or individual System Center products. The results returned are spot on and include data from TechNet, MSDN, Blogs and KB articles.

My good friend Maarten Goet has written a much more eloquent post about this tool which can be found here: http://www.techlog.org/archive/2008/04/30/system_center_content_search

I have 'borrowed' the download link from him though...thanks Maarten J

System Center Content Search

OpsMgr Level 5 Guide Videos

2008-04-27T18:16:00Z

I am very pleased and excited to announce that I am currently working on a set of OpsMgr Level 5 Guides for the Blogcast Repository. Once completed and published, they will cover advanced aspects of OpsMgr such as deploying a gateway server, configuring RMS clustering and creating your first management pack.

I will update my blog again once they are completed with a link to the videos that you can subscribe to but I'd just like to thank Brian and the team at Blogcast Repository for this opportunity!

I hope you find the guides useful. Please feel free to contact me if you have any other ideas for videos as once I finish the initial set, I'll be taking requests J

Whilst you are waiting for my video's to be completed, check out the site here: http://blogcastrepository.com/level5/

Thanks,

Andy

OpsMgr 2007 Authoring Console Released!

2008-04-27T18:06:21Z

The excellent OpsMgr Authoring Console, used to assist with creating Management Packs, has now been officially released.

Authoring console is now available

Today, April 25, 2008, 3 hours ago | Jonobie Ford

The System Center Management Pack Authoring Console 2007 has been released to the Web! If you'll be at the Microsoft Management Summit next week, stop by the Authoring Session SO04 - Tools and Best Practices for Authoring Management Packs for Operations Manager 2007 session for additional information.

The web package can be downloaded from these links:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/4/3/f438d6a0-290c-42b8-8f9c-c6660f89e1aa/OpsMgr07_x64_AuthConsole.exe
http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/4/3/f438d6a0-290c-42b8-8f9c-c6660f89e1aa/OpsMgr07_x86_AuthConsole.exe

HP BladeSystem MP Updated

2008-04-22T09:10:46Z

The HP BladeSystem MP has been updated to version 1.6.2.

Version 1.6.2 addresses the following:

Bug Fixes:
Fixed the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Manager to support the regional and language settings on Windows Operating System.
Fixed the HP BladeSystem Management Pack for Alert Parameter Replacement Failure on Operations Manager 2007 SP1.

Download the updated HP BladeSystem Management Pack, version 1.6.2 here.

Thanks to Stuart Renes for the information.

Andy

Awesome MVP Summit!!

2008-04-22T08:33:20Z

Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed the recent MVP Summit. Once again the OpsMgr product team went all out to make the MVP's feel welcome and once again, they succeeded.

Plus there was the added bonus of seeing some of my fellow MVP's again, some of which feel like family now....you know who you are J

Roll on next year!!

Andy

Updated MOM and OpsMgr Management Packs

2008-04-08T18:45:02Z

Updated MP: Exchange 2007 MP for MOM 2005 (08.01.0240.001) – now supports Exchange Server 2007 SP1

Yesterday, April 07, 2008, 3:05:00 PM | CliveEastwood

The Exchange 2007 Management Pack for MOM 2005 has been updated and released to the Web http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=30eebc7c-a35a-41ae-9cd1-2047847fde85 . The MP has been undated to add support for Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1.

Release notes for the Exchange 2007 MP can be viewed here http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=7FAEFFB9-A691-44B0-9364-83DA0E55924B&displaylang=en

What changed:

 Renamed some event rules to better reflect their purpose

 Improved some report descriptions

 Updated for performance counter name changes

 Fixed PowerShell issue when one or more necessary parameters are not passed to a cmdlet

 Updated many reports to use a 90%-100% scale rather than dynamic scale to gain visual fidelity in that range. Affected reports are as follows:

o ActiveSync Internal Service Availability

o Mailbox Service Availability

o Mailflow Local Service Availability

o Mailflow Remote Service Availability

o Outlook Web Access External Service Availability

o Outlook Web Access Internal Service Availability

o Unified Messaging Local Fax Service Availability

o Unified Messaging Local Voice Service Availability

o Unified Messaging Remote Voice Service Availability

 Added/Modified Event Rules:

o Added: Transport message rejection because of lack of disk space

o Added: Transport message rejection because of memory consumption exceeding the configured threshold

o Added: 10 error level event rules for Active Directory directory server Rights Management Server (RMS) in the Bridgehead Agents Messaging Policies health manifest

o Added: 3 error level event rules for the Transport receive connector in the Bridgehead Transport common health manifest

o Modified: Escalated "The STARTTLS certificate will expire soon" from warning to error alert

 Removed many miscellaneous outdated event rules

 Enabled collection of performance data for reporting in Test-WebServiceConnectivity ScriptResponseRule

 Added support for Test-ReplicationHealth cmdlet; removed numerous event rules made redundant by this addition

 Added support for Test-POPConnectivity cmdlet execution through the management pack and monitoring service

 Added support for Test-IMAPConnectivity cmdlet execution through the management pack and monitoring service

 Changed all outdated references from "Bridgehead" to "Hub Transport"

 Added 'From' and 'MediaSecured' property support for Test-UMConnectivity for the monitoring service

 Added 'LightMode' property support for Test-ActiveSyncConnectivity, Test-WebServicesConnectivity and Test-OWAConnectivity

 Added 'LightMode' property support for Test-POPConnectivity and Test-IMAPConnectivity

 Updated all reports to use provided client language for localized dates

MP Update: Exchange 2003 Management Pack (6.0.6278.5) for Operations Manager 2007

Yesterday, April 07, 2008, 1:30:09 PM | CliveEastwood

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9ff454f4-6d34-4fb9-9e0b-f5b68c6edc4f&DisplayLang=en

The following list contains the issues that are fixed in version 6.0.6278.5 of the Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007:

· Fixed an issue with Outlook Web Access (OWA) monitoring using custom URLs so that the Management Pack now looks for the CustomUrls registry key instead of the CustomOwaUrls registry key (consistent with previous versions of the Management Pack).

· Fixed an issue with data collection rules for mailbox or public folder size in MB. On monitored servers running Exchange Server 2003 and using Regional and Language Options other than English (United States) an issue can occur where the size of the mailbox or public folder is reported incorrectly, This will also affect the associated reports.

See the updated MP Guide with the Management Pack.

Engyro Connectors Free?!

2008-02-26T23:23:22Z

I have heard rumours over the past few hours that since Microsoft's acquisition of Engyro, they are now offering the Engyro connectors to customers who have purchased OpsMgr 2007 for free!

This is really good news although I am still waiting to find out how to obtain these connectors. I'll blog an update as soon as I have one.

Andy

OpsMgr 2007 SP1 Released!

2008-02-24T21:37:43Z

New news today is that OpsMgr 2007 SP1 has been released. By Monday 25^th Feb the updated code should be uploaded to the links below:

Andy

Operations Manager MVP

2008-01-02T14:51:20Z

Hey all,

Firstly I would like to say congratulations to Kerrie Meyler who was awarded her first MVP award today. About time J

Also, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to me being awarded again for the 3^rd year running. You know who you are and thanks J

Andy

Happy Holidays!!

2007-12-24T17:41:55Z

Just a quick message to wish you all a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year! Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the MOM/OpsMgr community this year especially my good friends Pete Zerger, Cameron Fuller and Cliff Hobbs and to all the MVP's.

Thanks to the Microsoft OpsMgr Product team (esp, Justin and Omar) for all your help and support.

Here's hoping I'll be lucky enough to be re-awarded the MVP next year so I can continue to be surrounded by such excellent people.

Andy

SDK and Config Services Failing to Start

2007-12-05T18:47:00Z

Hey,

Just ran into an issue that I thought I'd blog about. I was getting an issue with OpsMgr 2007 SP1 where my SDK and config services would not start on the Root Management Server. In the Operations Manager event log I was seeing Event ID 26380 stating that the SDK service was failing due to an unhandled exception. Further down the description there was an 'Access Denied' to a %Program Files%\System Center Operations Manager 2007 subfolder.

Also in the Application log, I was seeing .NET 2.0 errors everytime I tried to restart the Config service.

After checking folder permissions and various other things, I looked on the net and after trawling for about 30 minutes gave up. I finally stumbled on the issue. For some reason, the user accounts had been removed from the local administrator group on the RMS....Doh!

So if you are seeing the same problem, save yourself a lot of time and check the local administrator group on the RMS first.

Andy

Forefront Security 10.1 for Exchange MP for OpsMgr 2007 Released!

2007-12-05T14:13:00Z

The Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 supports the 10.1 version of Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with Service Pack 1. The MP supplies critical events and alerts on virus and worm activity to Operations Manager 2007, and also monitors the health and availability of these products.

The Management Pack for Forefront Security for Exchange Server 10.0 can be found here

Configuration Manager 2007 MP for OpsMgr 2007 Released!

2007-11-15T14:19:00Z

The Microsoft Configuration Manager 2007 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 provides proactive monitoring of your Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 environment. This management pack includes:

Before you install the Configuration Manager 2007 Management Pack, read the Configuration Manager 2007 User's Guide. The guide includes the instructions you need to correctly deploy, configure and use the management pack.

Feature Bullet Summary:
The System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 provides improved capabilities for Configuration Manager 2007 monitoring, including the following:

Updated Management Packs

2007-11-13T10:25:00Z

The following Management Packs have recently been updated:

Operations Manager 2007

Windows Server 2000/2003 Operating System

Microsoft

11/8/2007
(6.0.5000.25)

Microsoft Windows Server 2000/2003 Operating System Management Pack
Microsoft Windows Server 2000/2003 Operating System provides the fundamental monitoring basics for computers running the Windows Server 2000 and 20003 Operating System. 9/28/2007 - Updated release Version 6.0.5000.25

Windows Print Server 2003

Microsoft

11/6/2007
(6.0.5000.36)

Microsoft Print Service Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007
Provides Print Server performance and health monitoring on Windows® 2000 and later Operating Systems. Requires OpsMgr 2007 MOM 2005 Backward Compatibility MP Update 6.0.5000.1 (or higher).

New System Center Catalog is Live

2007-11-13T10:23:00Z

The links are as follows:

All Products https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/scp/catalog.aspx
Operations Manager 2007 https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/scp/opsmgr07.aspx
Operations Manager 2005 https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/scp/opsmgr05.aspx
Operations Manager 2000 https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/scp/opsmgr00.aspx
Configuration Manager 2007 https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/scp/configmgr07.aspx

New and Updated OpsMgr 2007 Management Packs

2007-10-09T13:02:00Z

The following Management Packs have been released/updated in the past couple of weeks.

Active Directory Federation Services 2003	The ADFS Management Pack monitors the health of ADFS components. It includes a set of views, and it provides monitoring for the following core components: Federation Service, Federation Service Proxy, Claims-aware Web Agent, and Windows NT token-based Web Agent. The ADFS Management Pack detects problems with health and availability, and it provides alerts for those problems. Requires OpsMgr 2007 MOM 2005 Backward Compatibility MP Update) 6.0.5000.12 (or higher)	Microsoft	10/01/2007
Compute Cluster Server 2003	The Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 Management Pack monitors performance, health and availability of Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster 2003 (CCS). This management pack includes rules that monitor critical CCS services, capture operational errors, and collect important cluster performance counters. By alerting on critical operational issues, this Management Pack highlights problems with the Windows Compute Cluster early so administrators can take action quickly. And by collecting and providing views of important performance counters, this Management Pack increases the ability of cluster administrators to monitor cluster performance. Requires OpsMgr 2007 MOM 2005 Backward Compatibility MP Update 6.0.5000.12 (or higher)	Microsoft	10/01/2007
Live Communications Server 2005	This MP is designed to be used for monitoring LCS 2005 events, collecting LCS component-specific performance counters in one central location, and for raising alerts for operator intervention as necessary. By detecting, sending alerts, and automatically responding to critical events, this Management Pack helps indicate, correct, and prevent possible service outages or configuration problems, allowing you to proactively manage DNS and identify issues before they become critical. The management pack monitors and provides alerts for automatic notification of events indicating service outages, performance degradation, health monitoring, and centralized management. Requires OpsMgr 2007 MOM 2005 Backward Compatibility MP Update) 6.0.5000.12 (or higher)	Microsoft	10/01/2007
Windows DHCP Server 2000/2003	Collects events generated by the Microsoft Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Service (DHCP) in Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. Ensures this critical part of your Windows infrastructure is working correctly, and helps prevent costly service outages. Requires OpsMgr 2007 MOM 2005 Backward Compatibility MP Update 6.0.5000.1 (or higher). 9/28/2007 - Updated Release Version 6.0.5000.33	Microsoft	10/01/2007
Windows Server 2000/2003 Operating System	Microsoft Windows Server 2000/2003 Operating System provides the fundamental monitoring basics for computers running the Windows Server 2000 and 20003 Operating System. 9/28/2007 - Updated release Version 6.0.5000.25	Microsoft	10/01/2007
Windows Distributed File Systems 2003	The Distributed File System 2003 Management Pack monitors events placed in the Application event log by DFS and raises alerts to indicate possible service outages or configuration problems that require operator intervention. Using embedded expertise, this Management Pack highlights performance, health, and availability conditions that indicate problems. It can even identify issues before they become critical, thus providing you with a level of customer responsiveness that increases the overall availability and performance of your Windows Operating Systems. As a result, this Management Pack will reduce the cost of ownership by enabling proactive management and reducing resolution times for the issues identified. By detecting, alerting on, and automatically responding to critical events and performance indicators, this Management Pack helps indicate, correct, and prevent possible DFS service and share outages, and plays an important role in ensuring that your DFS infrastructure is working correctly and available.	Microsoft	09/24/2007
Windows DNS Server 2000/2003	This MP is designed to be used for monitoring DNS 2000 or DNS 2003 events, collecting DNS component-specific performance counters in one central location, and for raising alerts for operator intervention as necessary. By detecting, sending alerts, and automatically responding to critical events, this Management Pack helps indicate, correct, and prevent possible service outages or configuration problems, allowing you to proactively manage DNS and identify issues before they become critical.	Microsoft	09/24/2007
AEM (Agent-less Exception Monitoring)	A Management Pack that enables you to identify generic errors sent by Windows Error Reporting (WER) clients to Management Servers that are AEM-enabled. Without this mapping function these errors appear in Operations Manager as "unknown application" and "unknown version".	Microsoft	09/12/2007

Thanks,

Andy

System Center Operations Manager 2007 Resource Kit Tools Released!

2007-09-13T17:23:00Z

The new OpsMgr 2007 Resource Kit tools have been released to the web.

There are some really cool tools including a Vista sidebar gadget.

Check out Clive Eastwoods blog post for more information:
http://blogs.technet.com/cliveeastwood/archive/2007/09/12/system-center-operations-manager-2007-resource-kit-tools-released-to-the-download-center.aspx

Andy

System Center Virtual Machine Manager RTM!

2007-09-07T08:37:00Z

Microsoft's System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007 (SCVMM) has released to RTM.

From the Microsoft website:

"Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007, part of the Microsoft System Center family of system management products, provides a simple and cost-effective solution for unified management of physical and virtual machines, consolidation of underutilized physical servers, and rapid provisioning of new virtual machines by leveraging the expertise and investments in Microsoft server technology."

"Benefits include:

• Centralized deployment and management of virtual machines
• Intelligent Placement analysis to determine the best servers for virtualization
• Quick physical-to-virtual and virtual-to-virtual conversion
• Ease of use with a familiar interface and seamless integration with other Microsoft products
• Faster deployments with administrator-managed self-service provisioning
• Resource efficiency with server consolidation and increased processor utilization
• Quick automation via PowerShell scripting integration"

Try it now.

-->

More informaiton can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/scvmm/default.mspx

Andy

New Converted Management Packs Released

2007-09-05T09:15:00Z

Four new converted Management Packs have been released for OpsMgr 2007.

Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS) - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=bf9bda7f-6c4c-4a49-89b8-43126a75dd4e&DisplayLang=en

Windows Routing and Remote Access Server (RRAS) - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7eb093db-c46b-4516-881d-7180c4e8f097&DisplayLang=en

Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA) - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6bf3b468-0473-41a1-9ea1-f3bcec7aa562&DisplayLang=en

Distributed Transaction Coordinator (DTC) - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=10ea7b5b-1be3-4490-a1ea-973670a2d3b9&DisplayLang=en

These are also available from the Management Pack catalog: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/mom/catalog/catalog.aspx?vs=2007

Management Pack Updates released

2007-08-28T10:10:00Z

The following Management Pack updates are available for Operations Manager 2007.

System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Update

Brief Description

The Microsoft System Center Operations Manager Management Pack update is an update to the previously released System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007. This update addresses few enhancements, updated content for rules and monitors and bug fixes.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0d7fc438-4eb9-496e-a664-54d43a577576&displaylang=en

AND

Operations Manager 2007 Data Warehouse Library Management Pack

Brief Description

This Management Pack contains definitions and workflows for the Operations Manager 2007 Data Warehouse features

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=09f74984-7e9d-42ef-8b38-ad770b084363&displaylang=en

Back from holiday!!

2007-08-28T10:07:00Z

Just a quick post to say I'm back from holiday now and will be posting again!

Operations Manager database size estimator

2007-07-26T10:59:00Z

Ian Blyth has created an Excel spreadsheet to help calculate possible sizes for your Operations Manager databases based on the size estimation figures from Cameron Fuller.

The original article can be found HERE

The Excel Spreadsheet can be downloaded HERE

nWorks VMWare Management Pack for OpsMgr 07 released!

2007-07-26T10:56:00Z

nWorks have just released their Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007. The nWorks Management Pack provides excellent granular monitoring of VMWare environments and the visualisation of the components in OpsMgr is well laid out.

Check it out here: http://www.nworks.com/vmware/index.php