Simple monitoring configuration for SCOM 2012
I'm simply trying to setup SCOM 2012. I've found all kinds of information online about the product, but not to much about configuration of monitoring, at least none that I found. I find it very odd that the product is released, yet the books aren't released until August. What I've done so far is do a discovery of all my servers. To test first, I added one of my test servers under the Agent Managed list. I've read on the forums that supposedly when a server is added the appropriate monitoring features come with it, but I don't have those. I'm attempting to monitor the servers for uptime, diskspace, ect... Can somebody point me in the right direction on how to configure these, possible a blog or whitepaper. I don't understand why I can't find anything on this topic.
May 16th, 2012 5:19pm

Hi Sheld0r: Can I ask if you have downloaded management packs? After a default installation of SCOM 2012, there is only some monitoring of SCOM itself, and not yet any OS or application monitoring. This link covers how to download management packs with SCOM 2007 R2 but also applies to SCOM 2012: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc974494.aspx. Import the Windows Server management packs and you should see some monitoring begin. John Joyner MVP-SC-CDM
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May 16th, 2012 7:07pm

John's link is useful and correct. I just want to add that the 2012 documentation (especially if starting from the beginning) begins here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh509025
May 16th, 2012 7:26pm

Heya John, I haven't downloaded any management packs. I was hoping to monitor all my other servers, not SCOM itself. I've come across a Windows Logical Drive Statistics addon, but I'm not quite sure how to add these to the servers I'm monitoring.
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May 17th, 2012 2:28pm

I still feel this documentation is overview of features and what the product can do, and not so much how to configure. System Center is so complex which is why I was looking for a configuration guide of some kind, hence the book. But as I mentioned this won't be coming out until August which I must say is absurd. I'll continue to search. I've found a couple video of them talking about the features, so I know they exist. That's a start!
May 17th, 2012 2:33pm

Management packs aren't for monitoring SCOM, they're predefined monitors that allow SCOM to more intelligently monitor servers. You want, at a minimum, the Core OS packs, they will have CPU, memory, disk, NIC, etc. monitors for the listed OS version. SCOM works the reverse of many things, everything is on by default. So once you install agents and download a managment pack, the agent will look at the server it is on and decide if the MP applies to it, and automatically expand its monitoring. For instance, if you already had the Core OS pack then you would see general hardware information being monitored on all of your servers, but there would be nothing additional for your Exchange server, as an example. But go an import the Exchange management pack and SCOM will automatically apply it to any Exchange servers and start using the expanded monitoring in the new pack. tl;dr: You have to import MPs to get meaningful monitoring started.
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May 17th, 2012 5:07pm

Thanks for the explaination Matt, now I understand what exactly is needed. So for example I've added the Logical Disk Extension Management Pack to SCOM, but I can't figure out for the life of me how to add it to a server and utilize the package.
May 17th, 2012 5:19pm

Hi Sheld0r: The Logical Disk Extension Management Pack is a community sourced management pack that builds on the Windows core OS management pack. The basic monitors for disks will be in the Windows core OS management pack. Once the core OS management packs are deployed, you could then see data from the community management pack. Please download and import, or directly import from the catalog, the Windows OS management packs. Let us know your experience after that. John Joyner MVP-SC-CDM
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May 17th, 2012 5:28pm

Got them!! I've imported the needed management packs and I'm starting to see how to monitor. But I must say its rather overwhelming with all the options. Diving right into it can be very stressful, but I'm willing to learn. I'm still a little confused on how to setup the specific monitoring options. So far in the legend I see the one server I added and I select it for 'Collect Used Space' but I don't see any data in the graphs. All in all, what I'm looking to do is monitor disk space and get notifications when it hits a certain threshold, or when a server goes down to be notified.
May 17th, 2012 7:48pm

Hi SCOM has a steep learning curve - I have found these resources useful: http://www.systemcentersolutions.co.uk/index.php/scom/entry/operator-learning-roadmap-for-operations-manager http://blogs.technet.com/b/kevinholman/archive/2010/09/02/operations-manager-101-download.aspx (although this was written for SCOM 2007 R2, I don't see anything that is specific to that version). Configuring monitoring and tuning are key items and this is explained in these links: Best practices to use when you configure overrides in System Center Operations Manager 2007 (still applies in SCOM 2012) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943239 Best practice for creating overrides for Management Packs http://blogs.technet.com/b/momteam/archive/2007/05/02/best-practice-for-creating-overrides-for-management-packs.aspx How to Monitor Using Overrides http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb309719.aspx General Guides: http://thoughtsonopsmgr.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/storing-overrides-good-bad-and-ugly.html http://systemcentersolutions.wordpress.com/category/overrides/ What is new in SCOM 2012: http://scug.be/blogs/dieter/archive/2012/01/21/scom-2012-what-s-new-default-behavior-of-overrides.aspx Cheers GrahamRegards Graham New System Center 2012 Blog! - http://www.systemcentersolutions.co.uk View OpsMgr tips and tricks at http://systemcentersolutions.wordpress.com/
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May 18th, 2012 4:17am

Hi SCOM has a steep learning curve - I have found these resources useful: http://www.systemcentersolutions.co.uk/index.php/scom/entry/operator-learning-roadmap-for-operations-manager http://blogs.technet.com/b/kevinholman/archive/2010/09/02/operations-manager-101-download.aspx (although this was written for SCOM 2007 R2, I don't see anything that is specific to that version). Configuring monitoring and tuning are key items and this is explained in these links: Best practices to use when you configure overrides in System Center Operations Manager 2007 (still applies in SCOM 2012) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943239 Best practice for creating overrides for Management Packs http://blogs.technet.com/b/momteam/archive/2007/05/02/best-practice-for-creating-overrides-for-management-packs.aspx How to Monitor Using Overrides http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb309719.aspx General Guides: http://thoughtsonopsmgr.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/storing-overrides-good-bad-and-ugly.html http://systemcentersolutions.wordpress.com/category/overrides/ What is new in SCOM 2012: http://scug.be/blogs/dieter/archive/2012/01/21/scom-2012-what-s-new-default-behavior-of-overrides.aspx Cheers GrahamRegards Graham New System Center 2012 Blog! - http://www.systemcentersolutions.co.uk View OpsMgr tips and tricks at http://systemcentersolutions.wordpress.com/
May 18th, 2012 4:19am

Jackpot Graham!!!! That's epic!! Thank you so much! That is exactly what I was looking for mate. Cheers!!
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May 18th, 2012 2:15pm

That's the bit that's so hard to get with SCOM, if it applies then it starts monitoring automatically without any further configuration required. Since you downloaded the OS MP, which I know has a Performance monitor for Logical Disk Utliization, it's already applied itself to your agent-ed server. The tricky bit is that the agent knows everything there is to know about the server it's on, and it also knows about every management pack installed on the SCOM server. If the two match up (I'm on a server with Exchange installed - I know about an Exchange Management Pack) then it automatically applies the management pack the next time it does a check (every few minutes.) This is why it's a good idea to create your own management pack items disabled by default, then override them for the desired servers to "enabled." That way you don't spam up the warehouse with results. For your server, go to Health Explorer and start expanding things, you'll get the hang of what your Management Packs contained. You can later go to the Performance - Disk and override for a particular value, I think the default is 90% or 300mb.
May 18th, 2012 2:48pm

You know Matt, I'm starting to think SCOM isn't worth using for monitoring the network. It seems like you have to go through so much just to get a simple monitor up and running. Other NMS solutions, granted they are built for just monitoring, you can get up and running pretty quickly. At this point in time, my question is whether implementing SCOM in this manner is worth it? Does it offer benefits with other features I'd like to add? Eventually I'm thinking taking our network resources to the cloud as a HA solution. Were you successful in getting SCOM to monitor servers and devices on your network?
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May 21st, 2012 5:08pm

Hey gents, I'm starting to find that SCOM really, really is deep. I'm starting to wonder if all this head thrashing is worth it. What do you guys think?
May 24th, 2012 6:17pm

Hi Sheld0r: (My 2-cents, and I am a little bias!) I would put SCOM out there as 'worth it' because you really can bet your business and/or career on SCOM and it won't let you down. A properly tuned SCOM management group with the correct management packs/correctly configured is going to keep your infrastrucutre running or let you know early and exactly what is going wrong. That is true across the hundreds of applications and services that there are management packs for. No other montioring solution is as comprehensive and as focused on the end-to-end delivery and consumption of services. The alternatvies are network monitoring tools adapted to monitor some applications. SCOM monitors applications deeply in the context of their infrastructure. There is nothing like SCOM. SCOM has a steeper learning curve than simple network monitoring applications, but less steep than big tools like IBM Tivoli or HP OV.John Joyner MVP-SC-CDM
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May 24th, 2012 7:14pm

You know what John, after a response like that I want to learn SCOM even more! I just have to keep diving into it and not get overwhelmed. I take it you got SCOM running in your environment pretty solid?
May 24th, 2012 8:02pm

SCOM is the backbone of our business and has been for years. Tips: 1. Get a basic management group working with just the Windows OS management packs imported. 2. Groom the alerts and monitors so there is a minimum of noise and false positives. 3. Import additional application management packs one by one. For each, allow an observation period of several days for grooming of that management pack, before proceeding to the next. 4. Never 'disable' a monitor or rule. Always create your own custom management pack, then to disable a monitor or rule, make an Override that disables it, and save the Override to the custom management pack. 5. Only import management packs for applications you need to run your business. No 'nice to haves' -- keep it simple. John Joyner MVP-SC-CDM
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May 24th, 2012 9:28pm

SCOM is the backbone of our business and has been for years. Tips: 1. Get a basic management group working with just the Windows OS management packs imported. 2. Groom the alerts and monitors so there is a minimum of noise and false positives. 3. Import additional application management packs one by one. For each, allow an observation period of several days for grooming of that management pack, before proceeding to the next. 4. Never 'disable' a monitor or rule. Always create your own custom management pack, then to disable a monitor or rule, make an Override that disables it, and save the Override to the custom management pack. 5. Only import management packs for applications you need to run your business. No 'nice to haves' -- keep it simple. John Joyner MVP-SC-CDM
May 24th, 2012 9:31pm

I'd very much second everything John has said. The marketing material is all about quickly deploying agents and management packs but it is a quick way to being overwhelmed with alerts. As John says - keep it as simple as possible and take it as slowly as possible. Deploy a management pack at a time - tune the alerts - then move on to the next one. SCOM is here to stay and as part of Microsofts Private Cloud System Center suite is only going to get more useful to know as part of a career path. So the investment now is worth it in the long run. http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager/archive/2012/05/22/upcoming-webcast-series-bare-metal-to-private-cloud.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager/archive/2012/05/22/private-cloud-demo-extravaganza-videos.aspx http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/video/private-cloud-jump-start-01-introduction-to-the-microsoft-private-cloud-with-system-center-2012 Regards Graham New System Center 2012 Blog! - http://www.systemcentersolutions.co.uk View OpsMgr tips and tricks at http://systemcentersolutions.wordpress.com/
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May 25th, 2012 2:52am

I'd very much second everything John has said. The marketing material is all about quickly deploying agents and management packs but it is a quick way to being overwhelmed with alerts. As John says - keep it as simple as possible and take it as slowly as possible. Deploy a management pack at a time - tune the alerts - then move on to the next one. SCOM is here to stay and as part of Microsofts Private Cloud System Center suite is only going to get more useful to know as part of a career path. So the investment now is worth it in the long run. http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager/archive/2012/05/22/upcoming-webcast-series-bare-metal-to-private-cloud.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager/archive/2012/05/22/private-cloud-demo-extravaganza-videos.aspx http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/video/private-cloud-jump-start-01-introduction-to-the-microsoft-private-cloud-with-system-center-2012 Regards Graham New System Center 2012 Blog! - http://www.systemcentersolutions.co.uk View OpsMgr tips and tricks at http://systemcentersolutions.wordpress.com/
May 25th, 2012 2:55am

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