Common Third-Party Product Connectors

Common Third-Party Product Connectors

Several existing third-party product connectors are available to you as an administrator. (Some are fee-based; others are available as free downloads.) Management Pack and Product Connector Catalog on Microsoft's web site (http://www.microsoft.com/management/momprodconnectors.mspx) can help you to find all of the registered product connectors. Let's briefly cover a few of the commonly used product connectors.

HP Network Node Manager 1.0 Product Connector for MOM

HP Network Node Manager (NNM) allows MOM 2000 SP1 and MOM 2005 to forward alerts to HP Network Node Manager with a few key alerts fields. The latest version of this product connector as of this writing is 2.0.156.0. The NNM product connector contains the following components :

• MOM-to-HP Network Node Manager product connector service

• MOM management pack used to mark alerts for forwarding to HP Network Node Manager

• Management pack to manage the MOM-to-HP Network Node Manager product connector service

• HP Network Node Manager configuration files used to configure HP Network Node Manager

• User's guide

HP Openview 1.0 Product Connector for MOM

This connector allows MOM 2000 SP1 and MOM 2005 to forward alerts to HP Openview and keep several pieces of key data between the two systems synchronized. The latest version of this product connector as of this writing is 2.0.157.0. The HP Openview product connector consists of the following components :

• MOM-to-HP Openview product connector service

• MOM management pack used to mark alerts for forwarding to HP Openview

• Management pack to manage the MOM-to-HP Openview product connector service

• HP Openview configuration files used to configure HP Openview

• User's guide

Tivoli TEC 1.1 Product Connector for MOM

The Tivoli product connector allows MOM 2000 SP1 and MOM 2005 to forward alerts to Tivoli TEC and keep several pieces of key data between the two systems synchronized. The latest version of this product connector as of this writing is 2.0.157.0. The Tivoli TEC product connector consists of the following components :

• MOM-to-Tivoli product connector service

• MOM management pack used to mark alerts for forwarding to Tivoli TEC

• Management pack to manage the MOM-to-Tivoli TEC product connector service

• Tivoli TEC configuration files used to configure Tivoli TEC

• User's guide

MOM 2005 Management Pack Developer's Guide

MOM users wishing to create their own management packs can utilize the Management Pack Developer's Guide. You can find this document on Microsoft's Downloads web site and you can elect to download the entire guide or a specific chapter (there are eight chapters in the guide). The guide provides "best practices" information for developing management packs that is focused on the new features found in MOM 2005.

Creating Management Packs

Creating a management pack is a very easy process, as outlined here:

• Enable Authoring Mode in the Administrator Console.

• Create all rules groups, rules, and their associated computer groups, notification groups, providers, and scripts.

• Export your custom rule groups and rules via the Import/Export Management Pack Wizard in the Administrator Console.

The first step in creating a MOM management pack is to enable authoring mode in the Administrator Console. Author Mode enables user interface features that allow you to create and edit vendor-specific knowledge. In addition, it also enables advanced properties for rules and other read-only or disabled items. To enable authoring mode launch the Administrator Console, right-click on Rule Groups, and select Enable Authoring mode (see Figure 11-2).

Figure 11-2