configure computers and devices to manage

7/27/2019 Configure Computers and Devices to Manage

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Configure Computers and Devices to

Manage

Now, navigate to the Administration pane. From there, under Device Management find

Agent Managed. Right-click on the Agent Managed item, and choose Discovery Wizard.
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The Computer and Device Management Wizard will start. You must first choose why type of

device you want to discover and manager. You have 3 choices, Windows Computers,UNIX/Linux Computers, or Network Devices. For our example we will choose Windows

Computer, and then click Next.


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On the Auto or Advanced screen, you can choose to let SCOM scan the domain to find thecomputers, or if you want more control over which systems are monitored, you can choose the

Advanced Discovery. If you choose the Advanced option, you can also choose if you want to

discover only servers, clients, or both. Additionally, you can choose which Management

Server you want the discovered systems to be managed by.

Since we only have one Management Server in our lab, we only have one option, but in a

Production environment you can use this to balance the load between multiple ManagementServers.


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Make your appropriate selections, and click Next.

Next you need to specify the Discovery Method that will be used. Again, you can allow

SCOM to scan Active Directory, or you can manually type the computer names for it to check

against.


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From my own personal experience, it is usually best to manually type the names of the

computers, as this gives you more control over what systems are added to SCOM, and how

many at a time.

Choose your appropriate options, and click Next.


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You can now specify the Administrator Account to use. We will accept the default selection

to use the Management Server Action Account, and then click Discover to initiate the process.

SCOM will then go off and attempt to communicate with the specified systems.


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Here is a diagram that shows how computer discovery works in SCOM.

The systems that SCOM is able to communicate with will appear in the Discovery Results.

From there, select the device(s) that you want to install the SCOM agent on.
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In our example we will install the SCOM agent on all systems in our lab environment.

Make your selection(s) and click Next.

On the Summary screen, you can control where the SCOM Agent will be installed. In my

personal experience, the default location is sufficient. You can also provide an Agent ActionAccount. In a lab environment, we can use the Local System, however, in a Production


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environment I have personally seen a designated Agent Action Account (usually a Service

Account) be used in this context.

Make the appropriate selection/input, and click Finish.


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SCOM will then start the Agent installation task. Depending on your network, the number of

devices, etc. it may take a while to complete.

When the discovery and agent installation completes, it should look like this. You can click

Close on the status window.


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Returning back to the SCOM console, you will now see the system(s) that you discovered and

installed the Agent on.


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Congratulations, not only do you have a working SCOM environment, but you also have

SCOM actively monitoring!


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Import Management Packs

So at this point we have SCOM setup and running, along with a few agents installed on other systemsin our environment.

Technically, you could say that we are monitoring our environment, however, this isnt

entirely accurate. In actual reality, SCOM is only monitoring the state of the Agent that is

installed on the systems. Right now, SCOM has no insight into the Operating System, or any

middleware platforms (i.e. SQL, IIS, AD, etc.). We are going to correct that by importing

Management Packs.

Download Management Packs

To start, we need to download the Management Packs (MPs) we want to install. Open a

browser and navigate to the System Center Marketplace (URL:http://systemcenter.....com/en-

US/home).
http://systemcenter.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-US/homehttp://systemcenter.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-US/homehttp://systemcenter.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-US/homehttp://systemcenter.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-US/homehttp://systemcenter.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-US/homehttp://systemcenter.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-US/home


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From here, enter your search term, and click Search. For our example we will enter

Windows Server (I will explain why shortly). Currently there are 539 results, though this

may change depending on when you perform your search.


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In reference to SCOM, we are specifically looking for Monitoring Management Pack as this

marketplace will also contain other packs for use with SCCM, Orchestrator, etc. In our

example of Windows Server, look for Windows Server Operating System Monitoring

Management Pack, and click the title (which will be a hyperlink). This will bring you to that

specific Management Packs page.


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From this page you can read information about it (i.e. which OSs it supports), reviews,

release date, etc. You will need to determine if this Management Pack is applicable to your

environment. This one is applicable to my lab environment I am using, because I have

Windows Server 2012. Click the orange Download button in the top left area of the page.

This will bring you to the Microsoft Download Center.

From here you can read further information about system requirements, installation

instructions, etc. When you are ready, click the red Download button.


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You will be prompted with a dialog, asking you which files you want to download. The MSI

file contains the Management Pack, and the DOCX provides more in depth information. I

would recommend downloading both files. From my personal experience, I would read the

entire Management Pack documentation twice (and I have done so for each/every

Management Pack that I have implemented). This serves 2 purposes. First, I highlight points


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that are applicable to the environment that I am implementing it in. Second, I review it a

second time focusing on the points Ive highlighted.

Select the file(s) that you want to download, and click the Next button.


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Download the files to your either your workstation or your SCOM server. I mention your

workstation, only because you probably dont have Microsoft Word installed on your server,

and you need to be able to read the documentation.

At this point to move forward, I will assume that you have downloaded or copied the MSI file

(in this specific example System Center Monitoring Pack-Windows Server Operating

System.msi) to your SCOM server.

Install Management Packs

On your SCOM server, run the MSI to install it. Read and accept the License Agreement and

click Next.

Next select the folder you want to install to.


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There are a few things to take note of at this point. First, remember the directory that the

Management Pack is installed to, as this will be used in a later step. Second, it is

recommended that you select the option to install the Management Pack for Everyone to

avoid any access related issues. Third, and the most important, is that this is actually NOT

installing the Management Pack.

I disagree with the wording used in this dialog, since in fact this is not installing anything, but

rather is extracting the files required for installation (youll see what I mean shortly). But I

digress. Click Next.

Finally, click the Install button.


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The installation will be quick. Once it is complete, click Close.


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When you close the installation dialog, the directory that you installed the Management Pack

to MAY open in File Explorer. I stress may because I havent noticed every ManagementPack that I have installed behave this way. If File Explorer does open, you can close it, as we

will work with these files in another step.


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Now that we have installed the Management Pack so that the .MP files are extracted, we

can now move onto the final step, importing.

Import Management Pack

At this point, we have downloaded the Management Packs we are interested in (in our

example the Windows Server OS), installed it on the SCOM server so that the .MP files are

extracted and available for use. Now we have to import the Management Packs so that SCOM

will have the information required to identify and monitor the technology platform.

Start by opening the SCOM console, and navigating to the Administration space.


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From the Administration space, you can either click on the link Required: Import

Management Packs, or you can right-click on the Management Pack item in the left

navigation pane. I am going to demonstrate using the navigation pane option, since the link

may not always be present after you import a few Management Packs.

So, right-click on the Management Pack item in the navigation pane, and choose Import

Management Packs. This will cause the Import Management Packs wizard to launch.


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From the first and really only dialog screen, click the Add button. You will be presented with

2 options, Add From Catalog and Add From Disk. The Add From Catalog option will

enable you to search the catalog directly, however, most Production systems dont have an

Internet connection, which this option requires.

\


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Therefore, we will demonstrate and choose the Add From Disk option. When you select this

option, you will immediately receive the following prompt. Since, in Production, your server

probably will not have Internet access, we will choose No.


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Now, you will see the File Explorer dialog. From here you need to navigate to the location

that you installed the Management Pack (in our example it is: C:\Program Files (x86)\SystemCenter Management Packs\System Center Monitoring Pack-Windows Server Operating

System\).
http://www.windows-noob.com/forums/uploads/monthly_07_2013/post-20464-0-35892600-1374024771.pnghttp://www.windows-noob.com/forums/uploads/monthly_07_2013/post-20464-0-99927900-1374024769.png


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When you navigate to the location that the Management Pack is installed, you will then see

several .MP files. You can select more than one MP file at a time. Since our lab example is

running on Windows Server 2012, we will select the

Microsoft.Windows.Server.2012.Discovery.mp andMicrosoft.Windows.Server.2012.Monitoring.mp files, then click Open.

The system will add the .MP files to the import list. However, you will notice that there are a

few errors! Why is that? As you can see in the Status Details this is because some

Management Packs have dependencies. To see which dependencies you are missing, click the

Error link.


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You can see from the following 2 examples, that some Management Packs have more than

one dependency.


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So, to be able to import the Windows Server 2012 Operating System Management Pack(s),

we need to also import 3 additional Management Packs. Thankfully, we can import all of

these Management Packs at the same time. So, click Cancel on the Import Management Pack

Error dialog, and go back to the Import Management Packs dialog and click Add > FromDisk, and select the other dependant Management Packs.

Your Select Management Packs dialog should then look similar to this:


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Now all you have to do is click the Install button. The import will begin, and may take some

time depending on the number of Management Packs you are importing.

Once the import has completed, click Close.


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You can confirm that the Management Packs have been successfully imported, but looking

for them in the Management Pack list.


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Additionally, when a new Management Pack is imported, there may be new/updated Reports

included. As well, if you navigate to the Monitoring space, you will see new folders/views for

the technology platform that the Management Pack relates to.

In our example, we now see the Microsoft Windows Server folder, and within there it has a

Windows Server State view that shows the status of the server(s). With this new Management

Pack imported into SCOM (specifically the Discovery Management Pack), SCOM is now

able to identify systems that are running this technology platform. This is how it works for allManagement Packs (i.e. SQL, IIS, WSUS, AD, etc.). SCOM will now start Alerting to issues

that pertain to the technologies that it can detect and monitor.


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Congratulations, your SCOM environment is now able to monitor your Windows Server 2012

Operating System and report/alert on any issues. For any other technologies, repeat the same

steps described.


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Ennable notification channel

Start by opening the SCOM console and navigate to the Administration space. You will notice

a section called Notifications, and beneath that section, 3 other items: Channels,

Subscribers, and Subscriptions.


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Channels

Start by right clicking on Channels and selecting New Channel. From there select the type

of channel you want to create. In this example we are going to create an E-Mail (SMTP)channel.

On the Description screen, you can accept the defaults for Channel Name and Description,

unless you want to provide something specific. Make the applicable decision, and then

click Next.


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On the Settings screen, click the + Add button to enter an SMTP server.


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Enter the server FQDN, Port Number, and the Authentication Method applicable to your

environment, and then click OK.


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You will be returned to the Settings screen. On here you must enter a Return Address. Please

note that this address does not need to be a real email address, so it literally can be anything

(i.e. see my example). In a Production environment, you may want to enter a Distribution List

for a specific team, but that is a decision you have to make for your implementation. Nowclick Next.

On the Format screen, you can customize what the Email subject will display, along with the

information provided in the email. Additionally, you can control the email Importance and

Encoding.


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As an example, from my personal experience, for one SCOM implementation I created 4

different SMTP channels, one for each zone (i.e. PROD, UAT, TST, DEV). For the

DEV/TST zones, we set the Importance to Low, for UAT we left it at Normal, and for PROD

we set it to High. This way when the various teams received the Alert emails (i.e. the SQL

team), they could immediately identify which emails (and thus which Alerts) they needed to

respond to immediately. Again, this is more of a design/configuration decision.

Make the applicable changes and click Finish.

You will receive indication that the channel was successfully created. Click Close.


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Back in the SCOM console your newly created channel will now appear.


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Congratulations, now you have a channel setup. But, that still doesnt get Alerts via email to

your support team. For that, we need Subscribers.

Subscribers

To send Alerts via email, SCOM needs email address to send to. So lets now configure some

Subscribers.

Start by right clicking on Subscribers and select New Subscriber.

The Notification Subscriber Wizard will start. On the Description screen it asks for a name,

and even gives you the ability to look a user up in Active Directory. Note, as per the sentence

on the screen, this is just to make it easier to identify.

Side Note: Did you notice the typo/spelling mistake? It says indentify and not identify.


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Enter a name and then click Next.

On the Schedule screen, you can choose either to Always send notifications or Notify only

during the specified times. If you choose the second option, click the Add button to create therequired schedule. For our example we are going to accept the default to Always send

notifications. Make you choice and click Next.


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If you want to specify a schedule, make the applicable changes on the prompt provided and

click OK.


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Now you need to add the email address that will be used for this Subscriber. Click the Add

button.


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This will cause another wizard to launch, the Subscriber Address wizard. Again you are

prompted for a name, but only for the use of identification later, and does not factor into how

the Notifications work. From my personal experience, on this screen I would add the users

name so that I knew who it was for (i.e. in case from the email address it is not apparent). In

my example, I used my own name, and entered Ermie, Adin. Make your decision and then

click Next.


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On the Channel screen, you need to specify the channel to use for Notifications for this

individual. Click the down-arrow for the selection list.


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In our example, since we only have an SMTP Channel setup/configured, we will choose

Email (SMTP). You will also be required to supply a Delivery Address for use with the

selected channel. Make the appropriate selection and enter the required information and then

click Next.


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On the Schedule screen, you can create a schedule (exactly like the option we had before) but

this is specific for the user that you are adding. This may seem confusing right now, because,arent we already adding a user as a subscriber? Yes, but you can use the Subscriber option

like an email distribution list.

For example, the very first Subscriber Name that you enter could be the name of a team, like

say SQL Team. You can then use the Subscriber Address wizard to add the individual team

members email addresses.


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You may have to try some different configurations to find the right combination that will

work for you. Make applicable configurations and then click Finish.

Back on the Notification Subscriber Wizard, which is where you will be after clicking Finish

on the Subscriber Address wizard, click Finish.


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The wizard will then go off and create the Subscriber, and you will receive confirmation once

it is complete. Click Close.


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Returning to the SCOM console you will now see your Subscriber that you created.


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You now have Channels setup, and Subscribers to send to, but you still need a trigger to send the

Notifications. We are now going to configure the final piece, Subscriptions.

Subscriptions

OK, we now need a way to trigger SCOM to send Alert notifications to our Subscribers. We

do this through Subscriptions.

Start by right clicking on Subscriptions and select New Subscription.

On the Description screen, create a name for the Subscription. For example, from my personal

experience, I would create a subscription based on zone and technology (i.e. PRODSQL

Alerts). Enter a name, and click Next.


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On the Criteria screen, you can modify the conditions that will trigger the Alert to be sent to

the Subscribers via the Subscription.

NOTE: This guide does not cover the vast and complex options on Condition customization. I

would recommend searching online if you need help, and best of all, try different options.

Make your customizations and then click Next.


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On the Subscribers screen, click the Add button.


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From here, you can search for any existing Subscribers you have already created. Select them

(you can add more than one), press Add, and then click OK.


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Your added Subscribers will now appear in the list. Click Next.


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Now you can add the Channels to use for this Subscription. Click the Add button.


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Similar to the Subscribers search, you can search for Channels. Find the Channel(s) you want

to add, click the Add button, and then click OK.


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You Channel(s) will now be displayed in the list. Notice that on this screen you can also

customize a delay in notifications being sent out. Why would you want to have a delay?

Heres an example from my personal experience.

Imagine that you are part of an Operations team that is on-call and paged when there are

issues with Production servers. You have a Subscriber/Subscription setup specifically for

paging. When a system that is being monitored by SCOM loses its ability to communicate

with the Agent installed, it throws an Alert about the Agent being unreachable. SCOM also

attempts to ping the system to confirm that there is an issue with either just the SCOM Agent,

or if the system is in fact down. If ICMP is blocked in the environment, even if there is only

an issue with the SCOM Agent, the Server down Alert will still be generated. This will thencause the individual to be paged to respond.


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This sounds fine, and normally it is. However, sometimes SCOM can lose connectivity with

the Agent for one reason or another, though it may only last a few minutes (i.e. network

bandwidth, backups running, etc.). If there is no delay in sending notifications, then even if

SCOM loses connectivity for a moment, someone will be paged. If there is a delay enabled,and SCOM loses connectivity to the Agent and that connection is re-established within the

delay timeframe, then no notification/paging will occur.

I speak from personal experience, being paged multiple times in a night, just because SCOM

lost connectivity to the Agent; not that the server(s) were actually down!

Make applicable changes, and click Next.

Review the information on the Summary screen, and then click Finish.


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You will receive confirmation that the Subscription was created successfully, then click

Close.


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Back in the SCOM console, your Subscription will now be present.


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