Alert: Agent proxying needs to be enabled
If you have ever seen this error referring to proxying needing turned on for your OpsMgr Management Servers, the error can be misleading.
Alert: Agent proxying needs to be enabled for a health service to submit discovery data about other computers.
Source: SERVERMP01.contoso.com
Path: SERVERMP01.contoso.com
Last modified by: CONTOSO\OpsMgrAdmin
Last modified time: 9/11/2008 6:14:43 PM Alert description: Details:Health service ( 37BCD2D5-B326-759F-ECAC-101C5686D158 ) should not generate data about this managed object ( F7EC25A7-B73F-9EF0-6F54-E6412C4D22DD ).
Alert view link: "http://SERVERMP01:51908/default.aspx?DisplayMode=Pivot&AlertID=%7be3caf6e9-d5c6-40b7-bda7-a6d2878ff6a0%7d"
Notification subscription ID generating this message: {9485BB60-F40A-73B2-0116-258366F705A1}
Your first thought might be that your Management Server doesn't run an agent, so why would it need proxying turned on? Also, you will find that proxying is enabled by default on Root Management Servers to begin with, so what does this really mean?
Well, let me help you identify where you actually need to have the proxying enabled. Using the following PowerShell script (thanks Boris - http://blogs.msdn.com/boris_yanushpolsky/archive/2008/01/24/troubleshooting-event-id-33333-logged-by-the-data-access-layer.aspx), you will be able to identify the real agent that is causing the alert to be raised.
Get-MonitoringObject -id:'<GUID from alert>' | ft DisplayName
In the above alert, I would run with the initial GUID provided in the alert details ...
Get-MonitoringObject -id:'37BCD2D5-B326-759F-ECAC-101C5686D158' | ft DisplayName
... to find out that I need proxying enabled on my domain controller. This is because I had the Active Directory Server 2003 Discovery Management Pack installed and the DC is used to discover the AD topology. There are additional times that you may need this, as for discovery in clustered services, but the most common time I have seen it is in initial installations when adding the AD Management Packs (Since most installations want this).
So before you go enabling discovery on all of your secondary MSs, run the above script and save some time and headache.