Don Hite at myITforum.com : MOM 2005

Unable To Connect To MOM 2005 Administrator Console Insufficient Privileges Error

dhite — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 11:43:37 GMT

If you attempt to open the MOM 2005 Administrators Console that is hosted on a Windows 2003 server with Service Pack (SP) 3 applied you may receive the following error:

You do not have the appropriate privilege to connect to this MOM Management Server.

You must be a member of at least the MOM Users group. Contact your MOM Administrator if you need access to the MOM Administrator Console.

The problem simply is an issue dealing with local Windows 2003 Sever security. To remotely access the MOM Operators console your domain account needs to be a member of the Distributed COM Users group on the Windows 2003 Sever.

To correct this issue add the affected user account to the Distributed COM Users group. To simplify the process you can create a new User group and add the members that you want to be able to access the operators console remotely to it. Then simply add this group to the Distributed COM Users group. This will ease your management a bit and allow you the flexibility to add and remove accounts as needed especially if the newly created user group has a descriptive name such as “Remote MOM Users”.

MOM 2005 Reporting Numerous False Heartbeat Alerts To The Console

dhite — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 16:51:06 GMT

If you find that when you open the MOM 2005 Operators console there are numerous heartbeat alerts present stating that the managed computers are unreachable or even that they are offline the issue may be a domain time synchronization issue. This is particularly true if the MOM server and the MOM One point SQL Database are on separate servers.

This may be due to the fact that the current system time setting on the MOM 2005 server is out of synchronization with the domain time or is out of synchronization with the MOM SQL Database.

In a Windows 2003 server domain the domain time is set and determined by the Windows 2003 primary server (As long as it is a PDC Enumerator) and it is the official time keeper for the domain. As far as your Windows XP or better workstations are concerned by default they synchronize their local system time with the Windows 2003 primary server or the domain automatically.

To correct these issues synchronize the time for the MOM server and the MOM database server with the domain. You can do so by running any of the following from with a command prompt window:

Net Time %LogonServer% /Set /y

Net Time \\PDC_Host_Name /Set /y

Net Time \\ PDC_Host_IP_Address /Set /y

Unable To Connect To MOM 2005 Operators Console With An Access Denied Error

dhite — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 11:11:59 GMT

If you attempt to open the MOM 2005 Operators Console that is hosted on a Windows 2003 server with Service Pack (SP) 3 applied you may receive the following error:

Access denied to server: Mom_Server_Name

VBS Script To Enumerate MOM 2005 Computer Group Names And Send To Excel

dhite — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 13:03:49 GMT

This VBS script will allow you to enter a MOM 2005 server name into an input dialog box and it will then write the computer group names to an excel spreadsheet and enumerate whether or not they are enabled.

VBS Script:

strComputer = InputBox ("Enter MOM Server Name")

Set objExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application")

objExcel.Visible = True

objExcel.Workbooks.Add

intRow = 2

objExcel.Cells(1, 1).Value = "Computer Group"

objExcel.Cells(1, 2).Value = "Enabled"

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\MOM")

Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from MSFT_ComputerGroup")

For Each objItem in colItems

objExcel.Cells(intRow, 1).Value = objItem.Name

objExcel.Cells(intRow, 2).Value = objItem.IsEnabled

intRow = intRow + 1

objExcel.Range("A1:B1").Select

objExcel.Selection.Interior.ColorIndex = 19

objExcel.Selection.Font.ColorIndex = 11

objExcel.Selection.Font.Bold = True

objExcel.Cells.EntireColumn.AutoFit

Set objSheet = objExcel.ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets(1)

Set objRange = objExcel.Range("A1")

objRange.Sort objRange,1,,,,,,1

MsgBox "Done"

MOM 2005 Reporting Install Failure Error 2755

dhite — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 12:58:51 GMT

If you attempt to install MOM 2005 reporting for an existing MOM 2005 server you may receive the error 2755. This error is generated when the installation source files are not local to the MOM server.

You cannot install MOM 2005 or the Reporting feature from a Terminal service session or by a mapped network drive where the installation media has been copied. It is also important to note that if you place the MOM installation media in a CD-ROM drive and share that drive on one server you cannot use a UNC or mapped drive to install MOM or the MOM reporting on another server.

Momresources Org BlogCasts And Videos For MOM 2005

dhite — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 18:59:53 GMT

How to implement custom scripts in MOM 2005

Step-by-step video on how-to implement custom scripts in MOM 2005, by Pete Zerger

http://www.it-jedi.net/videos/Custom_Scripts_in_MOM_2005/Custom_Scripts_in_MOM_2005.html

Configuring Overrides in MOM 2005

Explanation of overrides in MOM 2005 from by Gordon McKenna on blogcastrepository.com

http://www.blogcastrepository.com/blogcasts/folders/mom/entry408.aspx

Technet Script Center Scripting MOM Series

dhite — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:07:07 GMT

Part 1 – The Basics

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/topics/mom/mom1.mspx

Introduces the concepts behind MOM scripts compared to those in Windows Script Host and the common and different objects used by each. You will learn how to get output data from a script into the MOM workflow.

Part 2 – Getting Data into a Script

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/topics/mom/mom2.mspx

Focuses on getting data into a MOM script. This includes working with parameters and retrieving information from the MOM object that launches the script.

Part 3 – Writing and Debugging

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/topics/mom/mom3.mspx

Insight into the logistics of writing and debugging a script in MOM. This article covers the use of different editors and utilities for performing these functions.

Part 4 – Best Practices

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/topics/mom/mom4.mspx

Discussion of best practices and answers to general questions, such as: When should you generate an alert as opposed to an event with a MOM script? How complex should a MOM script be before you break it into multiple parts? What about security?

MOM 2005 Windows Only Authentication

dhite — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:12:00 GMT

If you are installing MOM 2005 on a new install of SQL server you must have the server set to use Windows only authentication rather than SQL Server And Windows authentication.

SQL Server And Windows authentication is misleading in that some folks believe this setting will allow both SQL and Windows authentication and this is true however MOM 2005 expects only Windows authentication.

If you already have the SQL server set to use SQL Server And Windows authentication you can easily change the authentication mode without the need to reinstall SQL.

Follow the steps below to change the authentication from SQL Server And Windows to Windows Only

1. Connect to the MOM SQL Database Server.

2. Select the SQL Server Name

3. Right mouse click on it and select “Properties” From the context menu.

4. Select the “Security” tab and change the “Authentication” from SQL Server And Windows to Windows Only

5. Click “OK” to make the change.

6. Finally select “OK” once again to restart the SQL server services.

SQL Query To return MOM Resources Heartbeat Age

dhite — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 12:08:35 GMT

This MOM SQL query will return the heartbeat age in days for all MOM resources.

SQL Query:

Select

C.Name,

DateDiff(D, H.LastHeartbeat, GetDate()) 'Last Heartbeat Age'

From Computer C

Join ComputerHeartbeat H on C.IdComputer = H.IdComputer

SQL Query To Enumerate All MOM Alerts

dhite — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 16:11:12 GMT

This SQL query will return information about the alerts that are currently in your MOM database.

SQL Query:

Select

Comp.Name,

Alert.Name,

Alert.Culprit,

'Alter Level' = Case

When Alert.AlertLevel = 10 Then 'Success'

When Alert.AlertLevel = 1 Then 'Windows NT Workstation'

When Alert.AlertLevel = 20 Then 'Information'

When Alert.AlertLevel = 30 Then 'Warning'

When Alert.AlertLevel = 40 Then 'Error'

When Alert.AlertLevel = 50 Then 'Critical Error'

When Alert.AlertLevel = 60 Then 'Security Breach'

When Alert.AlertLevel = 70 Then 'Service Unavailable'

Else 'Undetermined'

End,

'Resolution State' = Case

When Alert.ResolutionState = 0 Then 'New'

When Alert.ResolutionState = 85 Then 'Acknowledged'

When Alert.ResolutionState = 170 Then 'Assigned to a help desk or local support'

When Alert.ResolutionState = 180 Then 'Assigned to a subject matter expert'

When Alert.ResolutionState = 190 Then 'Requires scheduled maintenance'

When Alert.ResolutionState = 200 Then 'Assigned to an external group or vendor'

When Alert.ResolutionState = 255 Then 'Resolved'

Else 'Undetermined'

End,

Alert.RepeatCount 'Alert Count',

Convert(VarChar(10), Alert.TimeRaised, 101) 'Time Raised',

Convert(VarChar(10), Alert.TimeOfLastEvent, 101) 'Last Event'

From Computer Comp

Join Alert on Comp.IDComputer = Alert.IDComputer

Order By Comp.Name

SQL Query To Retrieve All MOM Server User Accounts

dhite — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 13:18:05 GMT

This simple SQL query will return the MOM Server user names and the time stamp when the account(s) was created.

SQL Query:

Select

Name 'User Name',

Convert(VarChar(30), TimeAdded, 109) 'Account Created'

From [User]

Where Name <> 'N/A'

Order By 'User Name'

Possible MOM 2005 SQL Database Installation Issues

dhite — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 19:01:39 GMT

Installing MOM 2005 is a relatively start forward process and easily accomplished in most cases. If you are installing MOM reporting the install can become slightly more complicated in the time required to install the feature since you have to install Visual studio and SQL reporting in most cases.

However as a rule it is an easy install and the Prerequisite Checker includes checks that will promptly notify you of preinstall requirements that have been met and those that have not been met. As the install progresses as with most installs you can encounter issues or errors that roll back the installation process and this is where frustration takes its toll on most people. This was particularly true after the initial release of MOM 2005 since there was not an abundance of official Microsoft solutions available.

Since SQL server is required to host the MOM 2005 database it is important that the SQL installation is working as expected. Here we will discuss the two most frequent and easily corrected SQL issues.

You may receive the error that the SQL services are not correctly configured to start automatically. This is quite common if you are performing a clean install on new hardware or integrating MOM in your environment for the first time. It is simply a matter of setting the SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) and the SQL Server Agent (SQLSERVERAGENT) services from manual to automatic in the services applet.

You may also encounter the error that the MOM database connectivity failed which is also a common issue when performing a clean install especially when the server is not connected to the Local Area Network (LAN) or the server is still in a workgroup and not joined to the domain where the setup application cannot connect to the SQL backend database.

Connect the server to the LAN if the Network Interface Card (NIC) is not connected. If the server is still in a workgroup add it to the domain or rerun the install and use domain credentials that have administrative permissions in the domain for the server hosting the SQL database.

The MOM Service And MOM Host Tasks

dhite — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 20:49:05 GMT

Here you will find information on the tasks that the MOM Service and the MOM Host perform.

The MOM Service (MomService.Exe) performs the following tasks:

Communicates with the agents

File transfers between server and managed servers

Reads and writes application ands security event logs

Reads the WMI event provider

The MOM Host (MomHost.Exe) performs the tasks that follow:

Executes managed code responses

Executes scripts and responses

Manages agent installation and uninstalls

Monitors and collect windows event log data

Monitors and collects application log data

Monitors and collects WMI data

Updates agent configuration

As you can see the MOM Service is the workhorse here however the MOM Host seems to have the most responsibilities.

Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Workgroup Edition

dhite — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:43:46 GMT

The MOM 2005 Workgroup Edition like the regular MOM 2005 edition will provide you and your organization with the tools and processes necessary to maintain and monitor your infrastructure server’s event management among other things. It does so by giving you tools to proactively monitor events and alert you when issues arise based on the criteria of the management pack(s) you install.

The MOM 2005 Workgroup Edition is deigned for infrastructure organizations that have a small environment such as a small business, a training or teaching facility or for anyone with ten servers or less to manage. The workgroup edition is comparable to the full version of MOM 2005 however the following are not included in the Workgroup edition:

Reporting Console

SQL Server Reporting and Database

MOM Connector Framework

Bi-directional Multi-Tiering

Note: See the document Edition Comparison of MOM 2005 and MOM 2005 Workgroup for a complete listing of the features available:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/opsmgr/2005/evaluate/wrkgrpoverview.mspx

The MOM 2005 Workgroup Edition is a standalone management tool and as such all of the MOM components are installed onto the same physical server including its database. This simply means that you can only have one MOM server in your organization and it cannot communicate with other MOM servers. This means that you cannot link other MOM servers to it even if they are all MOM 2005 Workgroup Edition servers.

The MOM 2005 Workgroup Edition requires a server Client Access License (CAL) for each of the servers that it is to manage (No more than 10) and requires a SQL server license however no device management or Operation Management Licenses (OML’s) are needed. SQL server 2000 is initially required and can be licensed as a per processor license or per server if needed.

Download 180 Day Eval:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/a/0/ca0d338f-81a2-4ad7-9e16-0a3f629262bb/MOM2005-WorkGroup-Eval.exe

The MOM Remote Pre-Requisite Checker Utility

dhite — Sun, 27 May 2007 13:26:12 GMT

The MOM Remote Prerequisite Checker (MomNetChk.Exe) is a remote Network check utility that is included in the MOM 2005 Resource Kit available as a download at the end of this post.

The utility can be run on a server or workstation and does not have to be a MOM server or MOM agent managed machine to execute as long as the MomNetChk.exe and the MomNetChk.exe.manifest files are in the same directory folder on the local machine from where the applet is being executed from.

When executed the tool opens with the local host machine as the computer name but you can enter a remote server machine name to run the pre-requisite checks on. Once the machine has been scanned the tool will identify if the necessary services and ports are available for an agent push or will accept a discovery. The tool also enumerates the information listed below and marks them as either an Error (Red) Warning (Orange) or Success (Green). When you select one to view such as the MCF – TCP information under the Connector Framework leaf the information is presented to you in the right hand side with the collected information.

Channel

Mom Channel - TCP

Computer Discovery

Machine Discovery

Connector Framework

MCF - TCP

Database

OLE DB Port 1433 - TCP

OLE DB Port 1434 - TCP

Push Agent

Net Logon Service

NetBIOS name service – TCP

NetBIOS session service – TCP

Ping – ICMP

Remote Registry service

RPC endpoint mapper – TCP

SMB ober IP - TCP

Windows Installer Service

Web Console

Web Console - TCP

Note: You can also select “Save to log file” to export the collected results to a log file for future reference.

Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Resource Kit

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/mom/2005/downloads/tools/reskit.mspx