Run As profile configuration helper v1

Boris Yanushpolsky has written another useful tool for us. The "Run As profile configuration helper" tool that makes it possible to configure a RunAs profile for agents in bulk. This will be very useful.
You can download it from Boris Blog.

How to find the correct Active Directory MP documentation

If you have tried to get the latest MP guide for the Active Directory you might have seen this.

The AD MP documentation you find in the SP1 documentation package released February 27 2008 have this release history:

Release Date
March , 2007 Original release of this guide
July, 2007 Updated Documentation

But in January 15 2008 a newer version is available on Microsoft Download:

Management Pack Release History:
Initial Release 3/23/2007 Version 6.0.5000.0 1/15/2008 - Updated Guide - same version

Release Date Change
March , 2007 Original release of this guide
July, 2007 Create a New Management Pack for Overrides
Updated topics in this release: Configure an Account for Replication Monitoring
October, 2007 Monitors and Overrides for Management Packs
December, 2007 Added discussion of Global Catalogs.
Revised procedure for changing intersite latency

.
This documentation comes together with the AD MP with version 6.0.5000.0.


Together with Operations Manger 2007 SP1 comes the AD MP with version 6.0.6278.0. but there is no MP Guide attached.

Conclusion:
So take the AD MP Guide from the January 15 Web release of AD MP 6.0.5000.0 and use the AD MP from the Ops Mgr 2007 SP1 then I think you are on the right track if you have upgraded your Ops Mgr 2007 installation
But who can be sure?

What is updated?

Just a few days after shipping Operations Manager 2007 SP1 with the SQL MP 6.0.6278 you can find this on Microsoft Download.

Quick Details
File Name: SQL Server System Center Operations Manager 2007 MP.msi
Version: 6.0.6247.5
Date Published: 2/27/2008
Language: English
Download Size: 1.4 MB

Is this a down grade, is this a documentation update to the "old" web release (6.0.6247.) from december, is the december web release of the SQL MP the same as the one released on the SP1 package with just a version update. Has any one documented this? Who knows?

I hope Microsoft knows that we still care...

It is time to find what was fixed and what got broken with Operations Manager 2007 SP1 offical RTM

With Operations Manager 2007 SP1 offical RTM it is time to find what was fixed and what got broken.

The SP1 introduces a bug for the Active Directory monitoring:

DC Last Bind monitors on NON-US, at least on many of the western European regional settings, have a x1000 factor added. So if the AD Last Bind time is 0,016 sec. Ops Mgr 2007 SP1 alerts with 16 sec. DC Bind Time. This is probably because we use "," as delimiter and the US ".". If you open one of the alerts "AD Last Bind Latency...." and goes to the Product knowledge and run the inline task "Check current LDAP response time" the task returns the correct value of 0,016 sec. This worked with Ops Mgr 2007 RTM but it is broken with SP1. There will probably be a web update of the AD MP during March for this.

Dicovery of Windows 2003 CPUs are still disabled by default in SP1:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948097

The CPU percentage Utilization monitors are targeted to the Windows server 2003 processor class. However, there is no available Windows server 2003 processor class instance by default, due to the corresponding discovery rule: Discover Windows CPUs is disabled by default.

Resolution:

1. In Operations Manager Console, open Authoring -> Management Pack Objects -> Objects Discoveries.
2. Search for the discovery rule "Discover Windows CPUs".
3. In the properties window of this rule, go to Overrides. Set overrides on all Windows server 2003 operations system role type objects. Check override on the Parameter named "Enable".
4. Save the override setting.
5. When the "Windows server 2003 processor" is working, the CPU percentage Utilization monitors will also work.

I will continue reporting on this in the days to come..

Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 is RTM

Download Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 upgrade package here.

Microsoft has released the Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 1.

Overview
System Center Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 helps you increase efficiency while enabling greater control of your IT environment—so you can spend more time driving business success. With Service Pack 1 there are new features have been enabled in the product and new scenarios which are now supported by the product team.

Feature Bullet Summary:
Improved Console Performance
Increased Scale Limits
Disaster Recovery solution for all OpsMgr roles
Supported in-place upgrade from RTM to Service Pack 1


If you are interested in evaluating Operations Manager 2007 and do not currently have the product installed, you can download an evaluation copy from the following link - Operations Manager 2007 SP1 Evaluation Edition

Implementing Operations Manager 2007 at Microsoft IT

A presentation on how Microsoft IT implemented Operations Manager 2007.
Download the document here.

Overview
Describes how the Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 (OpsMgr 2007) was implemented to improve Microsoft IT's infrastructure management service offerings. OpsMgr 2007 provides a centralized monitoring infrastructure with increased reliability and granular rights delegation. By implementing OpsMgr 2007, Microsoft IT improved operational efficiency and reduced the cost of IT lifecycle investments.

Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Management Pack

Download Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Management Pack here.

Overview
The Windows Server Update Services 2003 Management Pack collects performance data and generates comprehensive diagnostic reports that give you the information you need to analyze problems and develop corrective actions.

Management Pack Release History
2/14/2008 - Initial Release v.6.0.5000.0

How to make Inline tasks in Ops Mgr MPs

My friend Rikard Ronnkvist has written a good note on how to make Inline tasks in Ops Mgr MPs. You know the links in the knowledge part of the alerts. We are currently working together setting up som LOB MPs and he have done som reverse engineering since this amongst other features is not documented. You find his instructions at www.snowland.se

Why the Virtual Candidates Reports is empty

We are currently deploying Virtual Servers on the Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V technology. So far we are experiencing a big improvement from the previous Microsoft Virtualization products. As a longtime user of MOM 2005 and Ops Mgr 2007 we finally should have use of the Virtual Candidates Reports often showed at keynotes on Microsoft events like MMS. So I tried to find some candidates amongst our 400 physical servers but no one was selected by the report. I changed the values in the report to a maximum and still no servers. As a good Ops Mgr Admin I dived in to the MP world of Ops Mgr 2007. There must be something wrong with the Virtual Machine Manager MP (This is the MP that deliver the reports. The VMM MP runs a vb script that makes a separate performance collection for the Virtual Candidates reports. This report is kicked with 4 parameters and if one of those is missing the scripts just ends. After some testing with the parameters i found that the script is aimed at servers discovered by the Ops Mgr Internal MP as Virtual Machine = "False". The Ops Mgr Internal MP is discovering Virtual Machines with the WMI query to Win32_Baseboard and asking for "Manufacturer". If the answer is "Microsoft Corporation" then the server is discovered as Virtual Machine = "True" and you can see this in the Ops Mgr Console. But if the answer is "Intel Corporation" ,as it is if you run a virtual server inside of VMware workstation, the server is discovered as Virtual Machine "False". This was not my problem. We are running all HP Proliant Servers(Rather standard..) and they don´t respond to the WMI query Win32_BaseBoard (Manufacturer). The answer is "blank" and the discovery is therefore "" instead of "True" or "False".
When the VMM MP kicks the script to collect the performance for Virtual Candidates one of the 4 parameters is "" (blank, as the Virtual machine discovery is blank) and the script ends and no information is collected and my reports are empty. I don’t know if this is the result if you run servers of other brands like Dell. Right now I’m considering writing my own discovery to set the Virtual Machine to "False" to finally get my reports. After some research I found that Config Manager 2007 uses another WMI query to discover HP as Manufacturer and this query works with my HP Proliant Servers....

Service Manager release delayed until 2010

On Monday 11th February Microsoft announced that the Service Manager’s planned release has been delayed until the first half of 2010. A refresh of the Service Manager beta will be released towards the end of 2008. In the System Center Team blog Paul Ross, responsible for the product marketing of System Center Service Manager, is informing why the release is delayed. You can find more information around this in the System Center Service Manager FAQ.

DPM 2006 Management Pack

Download DPM 2006 management pack for Operations Manager 2007 here.

Brief Description
This DPM management pack for Operations Manager 2007 supports monitoring for Data Protection Manager 2006. Requires OpsMgr 2007 MOM 2005 Backward Compatibility MP Update 6.0.5000.16

Overview
This management pack is designed for monitoring DPM events, collecting component-specific performance counters in one central location, and raising alerts for operator intervention as necessary. By detecting, sending alerts, and automatically responding to critical events, this DPM MP helps indicate, correct, and prevent possible service outages or configuration problems, allowing you to proactively manage your Data Protection Manager environment and identify issues before they become critical.
Management Pack Release History
2/14/2008 - Initial Release v.6.0.5000.0