Lesson 1: Diagnostic Tools

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Diagnostic tools provide you with a behind-the-scenes view of Systems Management Server functions. This view of the SMS activities helps you to resolve problems when an SMS function is failing.


After this lesson, you will be able to

  • Explain the purpose of the SMS status reporting system.
  • View status message summaries and details.
  • Use the SMS Service Manager console, SMS Trace, and SMS Tracer.
  • Use SMS Performance Monitor counters.
  • Use WBEMDiag and WBEMTest to diagnose WBEM access problems.
Estimated Completion Time: 60 minutes

Status Messages

SMS 2.0 integrates a rich status reporting system into the SMS Administrator console. The status reporting system has been used in previous chapter exercises. This chapter explains how to configure and fully utilize this system in order to quickly determine the status of a site system, component, package, or advertisement. Reported status may be simply the operational status of a site system or component, or it may include actual detail and milestone messages indicating the process flow of an SMS operation, such as software distribution.

The System Status node in the SMS console tree is the starting point for accessing the SMS status reporting system. Figure 14-1 shows the System Status node and the nodes contained within this node. Notice that there is a critical error being reported to the central site server.

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Figure 14-1. Viewing site status from the System Status node.

There are four nodes under the System Status node. These nodes (also called objects) categorize, by function, all status messages processed by the SMS status message system. These object categories and their functions are:

  • Advertisement Status
  • Displays detailed status information on advertisement distribution to CAPs. Client computers report advertisement receipt and execution back to the status message system, which is then displayed in the Advertisement Status object.

  • Package Status
  • Displays detailed status information on the creation and distribution of packages and programs.

  • Site Status
  • Provides a summary view and a detailed view of individual SMS components running on the site server or other site systems. Figure 14-1 shows a summary view in the details pane for site S01.

  • Status Message Queries
  • Provides a facility for creating custom status message queries using the SMS Query Builder. (To read about Query Builder, see Chapter 8.) Status message queries are useful for creating custom views of specific messages, such as all messages from a specific computer, messages with a specific message ID, or messages with a specific component (such as SMS Distribution Manager to view software distribution package processing).

Configuring the Status Message Reporting System

The status message reporting system is highly configurable. The status summarizers, status reporting component configuration, and status filter rules allow you to control the behavior and reporting level of the SMS status reporting system.

Configuring the Status Summarizers

Status summarizers collect status data only for the local site. If a parent site exists, the summarizers send status summaries to the parent site by default. The child site status data appears at the parent site under the System Status node. Except for the Distribution Manager component, status summarizers are configured from the Status Summarizers node, which is found under the Site Settings node of a site (Figure 14-2).

The following configuration options are available from the properties of the status summarizers:

  • The General tab (available for all status summarizers appearing under the Status Summarizers node)
  • Status summarizers are enabled and disabled from this tab. You can also configure whether a status summarizer reports to its parent site and set the priority of sending status messages to the parent site from this tab. The Component Status Summarizer contains an additional setting that allows you to configure how long before component status messages are globally reset. The Site System Status Summarizer schedules how often site system status information is summarized.

  • The Thresholds tab (available for the Component Status Summarizer, and the Site System Status Summarizer)
  • For the Component Status Summarizer, the threshold describes how many warning events of a specific type or critical events of a specific type must occur before the event generates a 'Warning' or 'Critical' status message. This is set on a per-component basis.

    For the Site System Status Summarizer, the threshold describes the minimum amount of free space available in storage objects, such as the site database devices, that generate a warning or critical threshold message. You can add more storage objects that monitor available disk space on site system disks.

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Figure 14-2. Configuring the Component Status Summarizer.

Configuring Status Reporting Properties

The quantity of status data collected is quite large because the status reporting system collects information from all site components by default. Server component and client component status reporting is controlled from the Status Reporting object of the Component Configuration node, as shown in Figure 14-3.

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Figure 14-3. Controlling the status reporting configuration from the Status Reporting Properties dialog box.

You can choose which types of messages to report, whether or not to report details if a failure occurs, and whether to log messages to the Windows NT Event Viewer Application log. These settings can be made separately for site system (server) components and client components.

There are three message types: audit, milestone, and detail. An audit message type indicates a change made by a user, usually an administrator, to the SMS configuration. For example, if the administrator changes a site configuration setting, the following audit message is recorded:

User "DOMAIN1\Administrator" modified client configuration "Client Component Status Reporting" in the site control file at site S01.

A milestone message type indicates the onset of a definable event that starts a component processing cycle, such as the SMS Site Control Manager detecting that a configuration change request has been received. A detail message type indicates the processing that occurs as a result of a milestone, such as the SMS Site Control Manager creating a new master site control file as a result of the milestone event described in the previous example.

Detail messages track steps within a specific operation. They are generally only meaningful within the context of the larger task. You may want to report detail messages in an error situation to more thoroughly understand the problem.

Milestone messages are classified by severity level: informational, warning, or error. The severity reported depends on whether the specific operation being performed was successful or unsuccessful.

Only milestone and detail message types are configurable from the Status Reporting object in the details pane of the Component Configuration node.

Configuring Status Filter Rules

Status reporting properties allow you to configure general, global message type reporting settings for all SMS site components. Each component message is configured individually from the Status Filter Rules node, as shown in Figure 14-4. You configure filters to take specific actions based on messages received.

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Figure 14-4. The status filter rules appearing in the details pane of the Status Filter Rules node.

Status filter rules allow you to configure actions in response to very specific messages. This is similar to the Alerts function in SMS 1.2.

The status filter rules appearing in the details pane are displayed in priority order. Status filter rules are run from top to bottom and are configured to be dependent upon each other. Therefore pay close attention to the order of the rules. For example, a status filter rule appearing at the top of the details pane may be configured so that if the message type is detected, no more lower priority status filter rules will run.

To create a status filter rule beyond what appears in the details pane, define the source and type of message, and then select an action or actions that should be performed if that message is received. Figure 14-5 illustrates this procedure.

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Figure 14-5. Configuring a status filter rule from the Status Filter Rules node.

The message can be isolated to a specific message ID from a specific component running on a specific site system.

Available actions include:

  • Write the message to the SMS database and store it for a specified number of days.
  • Report the message to the Windows NT Event Viewer Application log.
  • Messages that are written to the Windows NT Event Viewer Application log can then be forwarded to an NMS using the SMS Event to Trap Translator.

  • Replicate the message to the parent site, and specify a priority.
  • Run a program, such as a pager application.
  • Do not forward to status summarizers.
  • This prevents the message from being included in summary message displays.

  • Do not process lower-priority status filter rules.
  • This prohibits lower-priority status filter rules from being run on this specific message.

Status Summarizers

A status summarizer is a thread of the SMS Executive that collects status messages and summarizes their data in the details pane of the SMS Administrator console. Status summaries provide a snapshot of the status of components (threads and processes) and site systems. The SMS Status Summarizer thread of the SMS Executive receives status messages for different object categories and summarizes the overall "health" of a component or site system related to that object.

The four summarizers are:

  • Component Status Summarizer
  • Receives and summarizes component status messages. Component status summary information is located under the Site Status node.

  • Site System Status Summarizer
  • Actively queries the status of configured site systems. Site system summary status is located under the Site Status node.

  • Advertisement Status Summarizer
  • Receives and summarizes advertisement status. These summaries are located under the Advertisement Status node.

  • Distribution Manager
  • Generates and summarizes package status. These summaries are located under the Package Status node.

As shown in Figure 14-6, each status item displays a status severity level of 'OK,' 'Warning,' or 'Critical.'

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Figure 14-6. The three status message severity levels generated by the status message summarizers.

A green checkmark indicates a status of 'OK.' A yellow exclamation mark indicates a 'Warning' status, and a red X indicates there is a 'Critical' error at the site system or with the SMS component. Summarizer thresholds control how many particular status events occur before a warning message or a critical message is generated.

Viewing SMS Status Messages

Sometimes summary status reporting does not provide the level of detail necessary to resolve problems or determine the exact status of a component, site system, advertisement, or package. The SMS Status Message Viewer provides a view of all status messages that are generated at a site.

The Status Message Viewer is started by selecting Show Messages from the Action menu when any of the following nodes or objects are selected in the SMS Administrator console:

  • A site listed below the Site Status node.
  • A component listed in the details pane of the Component Status node.
  • A site system role listed in the details pane of the Site System Status node.
  • A Status Message Query listed in the details pane of the Status Message Queries node.

Figure 14-7 shows the Status Message Viewer.

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Figure 14-7. The Status Message Viewer showing descriptive text about an Inbox Manager warning message.

Many status message descriptions are verbose to help you resolve a problem quickly. As shown in Figure 14-7, these message descriptions can be longer than the row in which the message is written. When you point the mouse arrow at the descriptive text, a text box appears that wraps the descriptive text into a viewable area.

The Status Message Viewer is similar to the Microsoft Windows NT Event Viewer, with the following exceptions:

  • You can print messages.
  • You can sort any column by clicking the column header.
  • There is an advanced Find feature.
  • You can selectively delete status messages.
  • You can export messages.
  • You can more easily filter messages.

NOTE
Depending on the number of status messages you have, the Status Message Viewer may take several minutes to populate. Status messages can be browsed while waiting for the Status Message Viewer to fully load the status messages, and the status bar will indicate the number of status messages displayed.

Creating and Running Status Message Queries

Creating a Status Message Query or selecting an existing Status Message Query to run, pre-filter the messages that are displayed. Figure 14-8 shows how to access and run existing status message queries appearing in the details pane of the Status Message Queries node.

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Figure 14-8. A Status Message Query showing all messages for a specific component (Inbox Manager) at a specific site.

You may have a specific computer, specific messages, or some other set of criteria that you want to use to narrow down the list of messages displayed. Create a query by selecting the Status Message Queries node, and then selecting New and then Status Message Query from the Action menu. This is shown in Figure 14-9.

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Figure 14-9. Creating a new Status Message Query.

Notice in Figure 14-9 that the Status Message Query Properties dialog box is the SMS Query Builder interface. The Status Message Query Properties dialog box automatically defines the results set of the query using all attributes of the following classes:

  • Status Messages
  • Status Message Strings
  • Status Message Properties

When you define the criteria of the query, you will see that each 'Criterion type' comes from the three classes just listed. If you are not familiar with Query Builder, read Chapter 8.

Once the Status Message Query is created, you run the query, as shown in Figure 14-8. A saved Status Message Query allows you to run the query any time you want to view a specific type of message.

NOTE
After you learn about the SMS Service Manager, you will complete exercises using the status message system described in this section.

SMS Service Manager

The SMS Service Manager allows you to view and control component states (started, stopped, paused, resumed) and log component activity to ASCII files. The SMS Service Manager is started from the SMS Service Manager node, which is contained below the Tools node. Figure 14-10 illustrates how to start the SMS Service Manager from the SMS Administrator console.

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Figure 14-10. Starting the SMS Service Manager from the SMS Administrator console.

As shown in Figure 14-10, SMS site components are listed for the site in two ways: Either all components for the site are contained under the Components node, or components listed by site system are contained under the Servers node.

After selecting a component from the details pane (Figure 14-10), buttons on the SMS Service Manager can be used to control the state and logging settings for the component or components. Only buttons relevant to each component's state are available. For example, as shown in Figure 14-11, the SMS Hierarchy Manager component is started so the Start component item (single triangle) is not available. The buttons available on the toolbar are also available from the Components menu.

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Figure 14-11. Toolbar buttons available for the SMS Hierarchy Manager when it is started.

From the details pane of the SMS Service Manager, multiple components are selected using the ctrl and ctrl + shift keyboard combinations. This feature allows you to control the component states or logging settings for multiple components at the same time. If multiple components are selected and logging is then configured, the logging option allows you to log the data for the selected components to a single log file. You can also control the size that the log file is allowed to grow.

All columns appearing in the details pane of the SMS Service Manager are sortable in ascending or descending order. For example, sorting by the 'Component Type' column sorts services (also called processes) and threads of the SMS Executive. Figure 14-12 shows this sort order.

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Figure 14-12. Sorting by the Component Type column.

TIP
If you need to stop all threads of the SMS Executive, use the SMS Service Manager to stop the SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER and then stop the SMS_EXECUTIVE. You should stop the SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER first, since it may attempt to restart the SMS_EXECUTIVE if it is stopped. You can also use the Windows NT Services application to stop these services.

Exercise 62: Using SMS Service Manager

In this exercise, you will use SMS Service Manager to enable logging of SMS component activity, determine the status of SMS components, and stop and start a component.

NOTE
Complete this exercise from Computer 1.

  1. Start the SMS Administrator console.
  2. In the SMS console tree, find and expand the Tools node.
  3. Select the SMS Service Manager.
  4. From the Action menu, select All Tasks and then choose Start SMS Service Manager.
  5. The SMS Service Manager appears with site S01 displayed in the SMS Service Manager console tree.

In the following steps, you will enable logging for all SMS components. The log files generated will be used in the remaining exercises for troubleshooting. In previous exercises, you enabled logging of specific components.

  1. In the SMS console tree, expand S01.
  2. Components and Servers appear in the Service Manager console tree.

  3. In the Service Manager console tree, select Components.
  4. The list of SMS components appears in the details pane.

  5. From the Component menu, choose Select all.
  6. The list of SMS components appears selected in the details pane.

  7. From the Component menu, choose Logging.
  8. The SMS Component Logging Control Dialog _ Multiple components dialog box appears.

  9. Select Logging enabled, and then click OK.
  10. View the contents of d:\SMS\LOGS.
  11. Notice that additional log files are generated as each component processes requests.

In the following steps, you will query components to determine their status.

  1. Switch to SMS Service Manager.
  2. In the Service Manager console tree, expand Servers.
  3. The site server appears in the Service Manager console tree.

  4. In the Service Manager console tree, select SERVER1.
  5. The list of SMS components installed on the server appears in the details pane.

  6. Use the data in the details pane to answer the following questions.
  7. Which components are actual SMS services (processes)? Hint: Sort the list of components by clicking the 'Component Type' column.
  8. Answer

  9. From the Component menu, choose Select all.
  10. From the Component menu, choose Query.
  11. Each of the SMS components are queried for current status, and the results appear in the details pane. Active components have a green triangle in the circle preceding the component name, while inactive components appear with a red square.

  12. Which components have a status of 'Stopped'? Hint: Sort the list of components by clicking the 'Status' column.
  13. Answer

In the following steps, you will stop and then restart a component.

  1. Under Component Name, select SMS_CLIENT_CONFIG_MANAGER, and then from the Component menu, click Stop.
  2. If the status of this component does not change, from the Component menu, select Query.
  3. The component is queried for its current status and is updated in the details pane. Notice the visual display changed to a red square and the status is listed as 'Stopped.'

  4. From the Component menu, choose Start.
  5. If the status of this component does not change, from the Component menu, choose Query.
  6. The component is queried for its current status and is updated in the details pane. Notice the visual display changed to a green triangle, and the status is listed as 'Running.'

  7. On the File menu, click Exit.
  8. The SMS Service Manager window closes, and the SMS Administrator console appears.

Exercise 63: Viewing SMS Component Status Using System Status

In this exercise, you will use the SMS status message system to view the status of SMS components and servers.

NOTE
Complete this exercise from Computer 1.

  1. Switch to the SMS Administrator console.
  2. In the SMS console tree, expand the System Status node.
  3. In the SMS console tree, expand the Site Status node.
  4. In the SMS console tree, expand the S01 _ Central Site node.
  5. The Component Status and Site System Status nodes appear in the SMS console tree.

  6. In the SMS console tree, select the Component Status node.
  7. The components appear in the details pane with current status results. In the details pane, notice SMS_CLIENT_CONFIG_MANAGER shows a status of 'Started.'

  8. In the details pane, select the SMS_CLIENT_CONFIG_MANAGER.
  9. From the Action menu, select Show Messages and then choose All.
  10. The SMS Status Message Viewer for <S01> <Central Site> window appears displaying all status messages for the selected component. Notice the most recent messages in the window, which indicate the service stopping and starting.

  11. In the 'Message ID' column, select 501. Then from the View menu, choose Detail.
  12. The Status Message Details dialog box appears.

  13. In the 'Description' box, notice that the status of the component is 'Stopping' as a result of an administrator or the operating system.
  14. Click Previous.
  15. The Status Message Details dialog box appears. In the 'Description' box, notice the status of the component is 'Stopped.'

  16. Click Previous.
  17. The Status Message Details dialog box appears. In the 'Description' box, notice the status of the component is 'Started.'

  18. Click OK.
  19. The SMS Status Message Viewer for <S01> <Central Site> window appears displaying all status messages for the selected component.

  20. From the File menu, click Exit.
  21. You just viewed the status messages that were generated by the selected component as it was stopped and started.

In the following steps, you will use the status message system to view the status of a site system.

  1. In the SMS console tree, select Site System Status.
  2. The site system status objects appear in the details pane. Notice there are entries for the various site system roles that the local computer is performing.

  3. How large is the drive on which SMS is installed?
  4. Answer

  5. Under Role, click SMS Site Server.
  6. From the Action menu, select Show Messages and then choose All.
  7. The Status Messages: Set Viewing Period dialog box appears allowing you to specify the date and time period of messages to view.

  8. Click Skip to view all messages from the site server.
  9. The SMS Status Message Viewer for <S01> <Central Site> window appears displaying all status messages for the selected site system role. Notice the numerous messages in the display.

  10. Click the 'Message ID' column.
  11. The SMS Status Message Viewer for <S01> <Central Site> window displays all status messages for the selected site system role sorted by message ID. You should see messages for the SMS_CLIENT_CONFIG_MANAGER as it stopped and started.

  12. From the File menu, select Exit.

In the following steps, you will create a customized status message viewer query to display specific messages.

  1. In the SMS console tree, select Status Message Queries.
  2. The available status message queries appear in the details pane. Notice that there are many status message queries available to view a variety of status messages.

  3. From the Action menu, select New and then choose Status Message Query.
  4. The Status Message Query Properties dialog box appears.

  5. In the 'Name' box, type CCM Startup and then click Edit Query Statement.
  6. The CCM Startup Query Statement Properties dialog box appears. Notice that by default all status message attributes will be displayed in the details pane.

  7. Click the Criteria tab.
  8. Notice no criteria are used to determine which messages to display.

  9. Click the yellow star button.
  10. The Criterion Properties dialog box appears.

  11. Click Select.
  12. The Select Attribute dialog box appears.

  13. In the 'Attribute class' drop-down list box, select Status Message.
  14. In the 'Attribute' drop-down list box, select Component, and then click OK.
  15. The Criterion Properties dialog box appears. Notice Status Message _ Component appears in the 'Where' field.

  16. Click Values.
  17. The Values dialog box displays all valid components.

  18. In the window, select SMS_CLIENT_CONFIG_MANAGER and then click OK.
  19. The Criterion Properties dialog box appears.

  20. Click OK.
  21. The CCM Startup Query Statement Properties dialog box appears. Notice the one criteria listed that will search for messages by the SMS Client Configuration Manager.

  22. Add an additional criterion to view messages with a message ID of 500.
  23. The CCM Startup Query Statement Properties dialog box appears. Notice that the criteria listed will search for messages by the SMS Client Configuration Manager that have a message ID equal to 500.

  24. Click OK.
  25. The Status Message Query Properties dialog box appears.

  26. Click OK.
  27. The available status message queries appear in the details pane.

In the following steps, you will test the customized status message viewer query to display specific messages.

  1. In the details pane, select CCM Startup.
  2. From the Action menu, select Show Messages.
  3. The SMS Status Message Viewer for <S01> <Central Site> window appears displaying all status messages for the SMS Client Configuration Manager that have a message ID of 500. Notice that this is a small number of messages than were displayed when all messages for the SMS Client Configuration Manager were viewed at the beginning of this exercise.

  4. From the File menu, select Exit.

SMS Log Files

There may be times when the Status Message Viewer does not provide enough information to troubleshoot a problem or track a component's activity. In these cases, you can view log files to determine the cause of a problem. Both server components (processes and threads) and client agents generate log files.

Log files for the SMS site system components are located in smsdir\Logs. There is a log file for each site system component. By default, the server log files are not enabled. When they are enabled, the default maximum size is set to 1 MB. Each log file is disabled or enabled and the maximum file size is set using the SMS Service Manager. Also, selecting multiple components in the SMS Service Manager allows you to consolidate logging into a single log file.

Client computers store their log files in windir\Ms\Sms\Logs. There are log files for the SMS Client Service and SMS client agents. By default, each log file is set to a maximum size of 100 KB, but can be set in the registry of Windows 32-bit client computers by modifying the LogFileSize value of the client computer under the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\SMS\CLIENT\
SITES\SHARED\sitecode\CONFIGURATION\CLIENT PROPERTIES.

Viewing log files can be useful not only for troubleshooting, but to learn about the tasks of each component. To isolate a component's tasks:

  • Delete (or rename) the current log files.
  • Generate the activity for the component, such as logging on, creating an advertisement, or metering an application.
  • View the data that was logged to the component's log file.

SMS Trace

SMS log files may be viewed by any program that can display ASCII text files. As an alternative, use the utility SMS Trace, which is contained on the SMS 2.0 installation CD-ROM, to view log file contents. Not only does SMS Trace display the current contents of a log file, it displays any new entries written to the file without requiring the file to be reopened.

NOTE
You installed SMS Trace in Chapter 10, Exercise 47.

To install the SMS Trace utility, run Traceinst.exe from the Support\ RESKIT\BIN\platform\Smstrace directory on the SMS 2.0 compact disc. An SMS Trace menu item, which starts the utility, is created in the Systems Management Server program group.

SMS Trace allows multiple log files to be opened simultaneously. It also allows you to search and highlight text.

NOTE
When SMS Trace opens, it displays the name "SMS Tracer." However, SMS Tracer and Tracer are separate log file viewing utilities.

Another useful SMS utility is Tracer. Tracer creates a separate command window for each log file specified and displays any new entries written to the log file. It does not display any entries in the log file prior to starting Tracer.exe. This tool is helpful in viewing entries as they are written to the log file without having to delete the file or search for the current date and time. Tracer is installed in the smsdir\SMSTRACE\platform directory when SMS Trace is installed, or it can be installed independently. The syntax for running tracer is:

TRACER filename.log /full

Figure 14-13 shows SMS Tracer when it is running in verbose mode. The /full switch is optional.

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Figure 14-13. Tracer showing the activity of the SMS Executive service.

NOTE
A component's logging function must be enabled before SMS Trace or Tracer can track the activities of the component.

When you are finished running Tracer, you can simply exit the command window, or press ctrl + c to end the trace and keep the command window open.

Exercise 64: Using SMS Trace

In this exercise, you will use SMS Trace to view SMS log files. You will then use it to verify a configuration change to a component.

NOTE
SMS Trace was installed in Chapter 10, Exercise 47. If you did not complete that exercise, return to Chapter 10 and complete it now.

  1. Click Start and then point to Programs.
  2. A menu of choices appears.

  3. Point to Systems Management Server and then select SMS Trace.
  4. The SMS Tracer application appears. While the name of the running application is "SMS Tracer," this is not TRACER.EXE discussed prior to this exercise.

  5. From the File menu, select Open.
  6. The Open dialog box appears.

  7. Select D:\SMS\LOGS\CCM.LOG and then click Open.
  8. The SMS Tracer window displays the contents of the CCM.LOG file. This is the log file for the SMS_CLIENT_CONFIG_MANAGER that was stopped and started at the beginning of this exercise.

  9. From the Search menu, select Find.
  10. The Find dialog box appears.

  11. In the 'String' field, type Shutting down and then click Next.
  12. The SMS Tracer window displays the first occurrence of the text Shutting down.

  13. From the Search menu, click Next.
  14. Repeat the previous step until you reach a shutdown with a recent time. This shutdown message was generated when you used the SMS Service Manager to stop the component.

    Just a few lines below the shutdown message, you should find the message "Client Config Manager main thread starting." This startup message was generated in Exercise 64 when you restarted the component.

  15. On the File menu, select Exit.
  16. SMS Tracer closes.

    You have used the SMS Service Manager, SMS status messages, and SMS log files to determine the status of an SMS component.

Performance Monitor

SMS 2.0 provides several Performance Monitor objects containing counters that are used to monitor the performance of the SMS system. The objects added by the SMS installation are shown in Figure 14-14.

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Figure 14-14. Performance Monitor objects added by the SMS installation procedure.

SMS performance counters are included in the following Performance Monitor objects:

  • SMS Discovery Data Manager: DDR processing data
  • SMS Executive Thread Status: Threads of the SMS Executive that are running, sleeping, or yielding
  • SMS In-Memory Queues: Objects dequeued and enqueued
  • A dequeued memory object is a message added to memory that was passed from one component to another. A enqueued memory object is a message removed from memory that was passed from one component to another.

  • SMS Inventory Data Loader: MIF processing performance data
  • SMS Software Inventory Processor: Software inventory processing performance data
  • SMS Standard Sender: Intersite and intrasite network (LAN or WAN) transmission performance data
  • SMS Status Messages: Message processing performance data
  • SMS Software Metering: License processing performance data

NOTE
SQL Server also installs a number of objects into Performance Monitor. If you suspect that poor performance in the site may be caused by SQL Server, track SQL Server object counters.

WBEMTest Diagnostic Tool

Occasionally it may be necessary to isolate a problem between the WBEM namespace and the SMS Provider interface. WBEMTest allows you to test connectivity with the WBEM namespace and access from the WBEM namespace to the site database through the SMS Provider. WBEMTEST.EXE and other WBEM utilities are located in the windir\SYSTEM32\WBEM directory on the site server.

WBEMTest is a graphical user interface to the WBEM namespace. It can be used to verify connectivity, but can also be used to look at the objects in the namespace and to verify access to data in the site database. This tool is useful for developers who are writing WBEM-enabled applications or using the SMS software development kit (SDK) to enhance the SMS Administrator console.

To verify connectivity to a WBEM namespace, connect to one of the following namespaces:

  • Root\Cimv2 for hardware inventory
  • Root\sms for the SMS namespace
  • Root\sms\site_sitecode for the specific site namespace

Clicking the Connect button in WBEMTest allows you to establish a connection to a namespace. Figure 14-15 shows how to establish a connection with the site S01 namespace.

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Figure 14-15. Connecting to the Root\sms\site_s01 namespace.

Once the connection is established, you can view or configure WBEM class objects and object instances. More information on WBEMTest can be found in the SMS 2.0 Tool Kit.

Exercise 65: Using WBEM Support Tools

In this exercise, you will use the WBEMTest support tool to verify connectivity to the SMS namespace. This tool is important for verifying WBEM namespace connectivity if problems exist in accessing the SMS database from a WBEM-enabled application like the SMS Administrator console, or if problems exist in collecting hardware inventory on client computers.

NOTE
The WBEM namespace is independent of the SMS database. Therefore, the SMS services and the SQL Server database need not be running in order to complete this exercise.

  1. Stop the SMS processes using either SMS Service Manager or the Windows NT Services application. Stopping the processes will also stop all threads of the SMS Executive process. Make sure to stop the following processes:
  2. SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER
    SMS_EXECUTIVE
    SMS_SQL_MONITOR
    SMS_NT_LOGON_DISCOVERY_AGENT

  3. Stop the MSSQLSERVER service either through the Windows NT Services application or by using the SQL Server Service Manager application.
  4. Start C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\WBEM\WBEMTEST.EXE.
  5. The Web-based Enterprise Management Common Information Model Object Manager application appears. Notice that under 'Namespace,' root\default is listed.

  6. Click Connect.
  7. The Connect dialog box appears.

  8. In the 'Server \ Namespace' field, type root\sms and then click Login.
  9. The Web-based Enterprise Management Common Information Model Object Manager application appears. Notice that under 'Namespace,' root\sms is listed. This indicates the connection to the WBEM SMS namespace was successful.

  10. Click Connect.
  11. The Connect dialog box appears.

  12. In the 'Server \ Namespace' field, type root\sms\site_s01 and then click Login.
  13. The Web-based Enterprise Management Common Information Model Object Manager application appears. Notice that under 'Namespace,' root\sms\site_s01 is listed. This indicates the connection to the WBEM SMS namespace for site S01 was successful.

  14. Click Enum Classes.
  15. The Superclass Info dialog box appears.

  16. Click Recursive, and then click OK.
  17. The Query Result dialog box appears. Notice the objects that are displayed.

In the following steps, you will use the WBEMTest utility to display the list of predefined collections. Normally, you would view this in the SMS Administrator console. However, if the SMS Administrator console cannot be accessed, this can help verify that the WBEM namespace and the database can be accessed. Since you will be accessing the SMS database to retrieve object instance data, you must start the Microsoft SQL Server.

  1. Start the MSSQLSERVER service either through the Windows NT Services application or by using the SQL Server Service Manager application.
  2. Switch to the WBEMTest application.
  3. In the list of objects appearing in the Query Results dialog box, double-click SMS_Collection.
  4. The Object editor for SMS_Collection dialog box appears. Notice the qualifiers, properties, and methods that are associated with the collection object.

  5. Click Instances.
  6. The Query Result dialog box appears. Notice the default collections displayed. This information was extracted from the site database.

  7. Click Close.
  8. The Object editor for SMS_Collection dialog box appears.

  9. Click Close.
  10. The Query Result dialog box appears.

In the following steps, you will use the WBEMTest utility to display the site hierarchy.

  1. In the list of objects, double-click SMS_Site.
  2. The Object editor for SMS_Site dialog box appears. Notice the qualifiers, properties, and methods that are associated with the site object.

  3. Click Instances.
  4. The Query Result dialog box appears. Notice the site codes displayed. The parent site and any child site codes appear.

  5. Click Close.
  6. The Object editor for SMS_Site dialog box appears.

  7. Click Close.
  8. The Query Result dialog box appears.

  9. Click Close.
  10. The Web-based Enterprise Management Common Information Model Object Manager application appears.

  11. Click Exit.

Health Monitor (HealthMon)

Health Monitor is an application that uses Performance Monitor counters to show real-time status of computers running Windows NT/2000. It allows you to determine the overall "health" of these computers by displaying color-coded icons indicating system status (Figure 14-16).

click to view at full size

Figure 14-16. The HealthMon console showing status information.

An 'OK' status appears as a green checkmark, a 'Warning' status appears as a black exclamation point with a yellow background, 'Critical' status appears as a white X with a red background, and a 'Disabled' status appears as an empty circle.

The HealthMon console communicates with the HealthMon Client Agent. Any Windows NT/2000 computers not running the HealthMon Client Agent appear in the HealthMon console tree as a white down-arrow with a blue background.

The HealthMon console and agent installation routines are contained on the SMS 2.0 installation CD-ROM under the HEALTHMON directory. There is a version of HealthMon for the x86 platform and the Alpha platform. If HealthMon is installed on a Windows NT version 4.0 computer, SP4 or later is required.

Health Monitor contains several built-in monitored system objects as well as BackOffice_specific monitors. For each of these objects, there is one or more monitoring policies. A policy defines a condition to monitor, such as free disk space. Health Monitor utilizes Microsoft Performance Monitor counters and automatically writes generated events to the Health Monitor console. These events are also written to the Windows NT Event Viewer logs.

The built-in hardware monitors include: Processor, Memory, Paging File, Physical Disk, Network Interface, Server Work Queues, and Server. The built-in BackOffice application monitors monitor the following Microsoft BackOffice applications: SMS, SQL Server, SNA Server, Exchange, and Internet Information Server. Figure 14-17 shows the built-in monitors as they appear in HealthMon.

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Figure 14-17. The built-in monitors.

How Health Monitor Works

Health Monitor works by listening for events generated when specific conditions occur that indicate a problem with a server, such as low disk space or high CPU utilization.

The monitored system uses WBEM providers to gather health data. The HealthMon Client Agent, running on the monitored system, generates WBEM events and then forwards the events to the HealthMon console.

Health Monitor Console

The Health Monitor administrative interface is an MMC snap-in that runs on Windows NT version 4.0 or higher computers. It provides both high-level and detailed views of the status of both Windows NT/2000 computers and Microsoft BackOffice applications. Systems that are to be monitored are added to the list of monitored resources. A single Windows NT/2000 Server computer or BackOffice application may be monitored by multiple Health Monitor consoles simultaneously.

NOTE
You can add the HealthMon snap-in to the SMS Administrator console tree when running the SMS Administrator console in author mode. Choose Add/Remove snap-in from the Console menu. For more information on adding an MMC snap-in, refer to the MMC online documentation.

The MMC snap-in can view selective monitored systems as a whole or view each system individually. It can also view all monitored objects of the systems, for example processors, as a whole. If it is determined that one of the monitored systems is having a processor utilization problem, the application indicates which system is having the processor problem. Figure 14-18 shows the all-processor view of monitored systems in the site.

click to view at full size

Figure 14-18. Viewing all processors for all monitored Windows NT/2000 computers.

NOTE
The 'Details' option was selected from the View menu to show all information in the details pane.

Each of the monitored objects comes with a predefined threshold that triggers an event, such as a percentage of CPU utilization for a specified period of time. Each threshold can be modified for each individual monitored system. For example, if one system has a low-end processor, it is already assumed it will have a higher CPU utilization than the high-end processors in the network.

Special Configuration Procedures

The physical disk monitor requires that disk performance counters be enabled by running DISKPERF -y at the Windows NT command prompt. In Windows 2000, disk performance counters are enabled through Device Manager.

To monitor the network interface, install the SNMP Service on the client computer. If you are supporting the Event to Trap Translator Client Agent on your Windows NT/2000 client computers, the network interface performance counters are automatically installed when the SNMP Service is installed.

Exercise 68: Using Health Monitor to Monitor Windows NT Computers

In this exercise, you will use Health Monitor to monitor Windows NT computers.

  1. Click Start and then point to Programs.
  2. A menu of choices appears.

  3. Point to Systems Management Server and then select HealthMon.
  4. The HealthMon console appears as a snap-in to the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).

  5. In the HealthMon console tree, expand HealthMon, Monitored Systems, and then select All Systems.
  6. Notice there are no systems displayed in the details pane. This is because each monitored system must be added to each console that is monitoring it.

  7. In the HealthMon console tree, select Monitored Systems.
  8. From the Action menu, select New, and then choose System.
  9. The New Monitored System dialog box appears.

  10. Type SERVER1, and then click OK.
  11. The HealthMon console appears with the site server displayed in the HealthMon console tree under the Monitored Systems node. Notice that the Monitored Systems, All Systems, and SERVER1 icons change to white arrows in a blue circle, indicating an unknown condition.

    When the HealthMon Client Agent sends data to the console, these icons will change to green check marks in a white circle.

  12. Add COMPUTER2 to the HealthMon console.
  13. In the HealthMon console tree, expand SERVER1.
  14. The Components and Events objects are displayed in the HealthMon console tree under the server.

  15. Select the Components node.
  16. The list of monitored components is displayed in the details pane. Notice that all enabled objects have green checkmarks in white circles, while the disabled objects (Physical Disk, Network Interface, and the Microsoft BackOffice services), have empty white icons.

In the following steps, you will enable disk performance monitor counters.

  1. In the details pane, select Physical Disk, and then from the Action menu, choose Enable.
  2. By clicking Enable, you enable the monitoring of this component. Notice that the Physical Disk icon has now changed to a yellow warning triangle. No data will be reported to the client agent until the disk performance monitor counters are enabled.

  3. From the Console menu, select Exit.
  4. A Microsoft Management Console message box appears prompting to save changes to HealthMon.

  5. Click Yes.
  6. Open a Windows NT command prompt.
  7. Enable disk performance monitor counters by typing diskperf _y and then press ENTER.
  8. A message appears indicating the counters are enabled and will be active after the next system restart.

  9. Restart Computer 1, and then log on as ADMINISTRATOR with no password.
  10. Start HealthMon, and then find and expand the Monitored Systems node and then expand SERVER1.
  11. The HealthMon window appears with the site server displayed in the HealthMon console tree under the Monitored Systems node and the list of monitored components in the details pane. Notice the Physical Disk icon has changed to green, indicating a healthy disk condition.

NOTE
The enabled components appear with a white arrow in a blue circle until the HealthMon Client Agent has started and reported data to the console.

In the following steps, you will configure the Health Monitor console to monitor SMS on Computer 1.

  1. In the HealthMon console tree, select SERVER1. Then from the Action menu, choose Properties.
  2. The SERVER1 Properties dialog box appears.

  3. Under Components, select SMS, and then click OK.
  4. The Components and Events objects are displayed in the console tree under the server.

  5. From the View menu, select Detail.
  6. Under SERVER1, select Components.
  7. The list of monitored components is displayed in the details pane. Notice SMS now has a red icon indicating an unhealthy condition.

  8. In the previous exercise you shut down the SMS services appearing in the Services application. From the Services application, restart the SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER. The component manager will automatically start all SMS services that should be running on the site server.

NOTE
Wait until the SMS Executive service has started before continuing.

  1. Switch to the HealthMon console. Then under SERVER1, click Components.
  2. The list of monitored components is displayed in the details pane. Notice that SMS now has a green icon.

In the following steps, you will monitor all systems, focusing on an individual component.

  1. In the HealthMon console tree, select and expand the Monitored Components node.
  2. Notice all monitored components appear under the Monitored Components node in the HealthMon console tree and in the details pane.

  3. Select and expand Processor from the HealthMon console tree, and then select Systems.
  4. The list of monitored systems appears in the details pane, each displaying the status of the processor object. In this case, you are viewing SERVER1 and COMPUTER2.

In the following steps, you will configure the thresholds to use when determining the status of a component.

  1. In the HealthMon console tree, select SERVER1. Then from the Action menu, choose Properties.
  2. The SERVER1 Properties dialog box appears.

  3. Under Components, double-click Processor.
  4. The Processor Properties dialog box appears displaying all counters that are used to determine whether the processor is in a normal, warning, or critical state.

  5. Under the 'Processor properties' box, select Percent Total System Time, and then click the Thresholds tab.
  6. The Processor Properties dialog box appears displaying all thresholds that are used to determine whether the Percent Total System Time is in a normal, warning, or critical state.

  7. Under 'Critical thresholds,' set the 'Alarm' setting to Greater Than 20.
  8. Configure the 'Duration' setting to 10.
  9. Under 'Warning thresholds,' set the 'Alarm' setting to Greater Than 10.
  10. Configure the 'Duration' setting to 10, and then click OK.
  11. The SERVER1 Properties dialog box appears.

  12. Click OK.
  13. Under SERVER1, select Components.
  14. The list of monitored components is displayed in the details pane. Notice that Processor may not be at 100 percent normal.

  15. If Processor is still at 100 percent Normal, generate CPU activity by switching between (or starting additional) applications.
  16. Notice Processor should drop below 100 percent Normal activity, and may generate a 'Warning' or 'Critical' alert, depending on the amount of processor activity sustained.

  17. Reset the processor counters to their original values.
  18. 'Critical' was originally set to Greater Than 90. 'Warning' was originally set to Greater Than 70. The 'Duration' for each was set to 300.

  19. On the Console menu, select Exit.
  20. A Microsoft Management Console message box appears prompting to save changes to HealthMon.

  21. Click Yes.

SMS 2.0 Resource Kit Tools

The SMS 2.0 installation CD-ROM contains a number of useful troubleshooting tools under the \SUPPORT\RESKIT directory. Descriptive text about these programs is contained in the TOOLS.HTM file at the root of the resource kit directory. The tools are classified by the functions or operating system that they support. There are troubleshooting tools for the following functions:

  • Maintaining the site hierarchy
  • Maintaining the site database
  • Monitoring, analyzing, and maintaining inventory
  • Monitoring, testing and analyzing software distribution
  • Analyzing log files, schedule files, and error codes and testing computer-to-computer communications
  • Configuring and controlling the Remote Tools Client Agent
  • Controlling and removing SMS client components
  • Analyzing client computer discovery data

Additional troubleshooting tools found on the Windows NT and Windows 95 resource kits are also included on the CD-ROM. This is not the full set of Windows resource kit utilities, only those that are particularly helpful in troubleshooting SMS-related problems.



Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 Training Kit
Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 Training Kit
ISBN: 1572318341
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 1999
Pages: 107

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