Monitoring ISA Server

There are a number of ways that you can monitor an ISA server. You can use ISA Server's alerts functionality, you can view the status of ISA Server's services and user sessions, and you can create usage reports. In addition to these methods, ISA Server automatically logs certain data, which you can analyze in external programs if you want.

Working with Alerts

ISA Server comes configured to alert you when any of a number of errors or problems occurs. Additionally, you can set up alerts to perform certain actions when they occur, such as send an e-mail message or run a program.

To work with alerts, use the following steps:

  1. To view alerts generated on the ISA server, open the Monitoring object under the desired server or array, and then select the Alerts folder, shown in Figure 31-59.

    Figure 31-59. The Alerts folder.

    Most alerts are written to Event Viewer as well as the Alert folder. You can turn this feature off on an individual alert basis.

  2. To reset an alert that doesn't automatically reset itself, select the Alert and click the Reset Alert link.
  3. To view a list of alerts configured on the ISA server, open the Monitoring Configuration object under the desired server or array, and then open the Alerts folder, shown in Figure 31-60.

    Figure 31-60. ISA Server alerts.

  4. To temporarily disable an alert (you can easily enable it later), select the alert and then click the Enable or Disable toolbar button (the button changes depending on whether an alert is enabled or disabled to begin with).
  5. Double-click an alert to modify its properties, and then use the Events and Actions tabs to control what events should trigger the alert and what actions should occur when the alert is triggered.
  6. To create a new alert, choose New-Alert from the Action menu, and then use the wizard to specify the conditions for the alert.

Viewing Service and Session Status

To view the current status of the three main services (Web Proxy, Firewall, and Scheduled Content Download), open the Monitoring object under the desired server or array, and then click the Services folder. To start or stop a service, select it and then click the Start A Service or Stop A Service link, as shown in Figure 31-61.

Figure 31-61. Viewing ISA Server's services.

To view the current client sessions on the ISA server, open the Monitoring object under the desired server or array, and then click the Sessions folder. To disconnect a session, select the session and click the Disconnect A Session link.

Working with Reports

ISA Server provides a handy tool that you can use to obtain information on the server's usage statistics. There are two parts to using reports: creating them and viewing them. To create and view a report, use the following steps:

  1. To create a report, open the Monitoring Configuration object under the desired server or array, and then open the Report Jobs folder.
  2. Choose the Action menu's New-Report Job command.
  3. Enter a name for the job and a description in the General tab.
  4. Click the Period tab and specify how much time the report should cover (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or a custom period).
  5. Click the Schedule tab and specify when to start the report and how often to create it, as shown in Figure 31-62.

    Figure 31-62. Creating a report job.

  6. Click the Credentials tab and enter the user name, domain, and password that are authorized to access and create report information on the desired server. Click OK when you're done.
  7. To view reports that have been already run (their start time must come to pass first), open the Monitoring object under the server or array the report was run on, and then open the Reports folder. Open the folder containing the type of report you want to view, and then double-click the desired report to display the report in the Web browser (see Figure 31-63).

    Figure 31-63. A report.

Working with Logs

Besides alerts and reports, ISA Server automatically creates log files with information about the Firewall service, the Web Proxy service, and ISA Server's packet filters. What you do with this information is up to you-perhaps you want to perform your own data analysis on it using Microsoft Excel or a specialized statistical package—but there are several aspects of this data collection that you can control. For example, you can decide whether to use standard text files or to go to a database for more detailed analysis, as well as the level of detail stored. To configure logging, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Monitoring Configuration object under the desired server or array, and then open the Logs folder, shown in Figure 31-64.
  2. Double-click a log to configure its properties.
  3. To disable logging for the specified service, clear the Enable Logging For This Service check box, shown in Figure 31-65.

    Figure 31-64. The Logs folder.

    Figure 31-65. The properties for a log.

  4. To store the log as a file, leave the File option selected and use the following settings to configure how the file is stored:
    • Format Selects the method used to format the text file. The W3C extended log file format provides the most information, but you can also use the ISA Server file format if you don't need as much data.
    • Create A New File Specifies how often to create a new log file.

    Click Options to change log file settings, such as where the log files are stored, whether to compress the log files, and how many log files to store before deleting the oldest ones.

  5. To store the log in a database, choose the Database option and then use the following settings:
    • ODBC Data Source (DSN) The ODBC connection name. You need to set up this connection to the database beforehand using the ODBC Control Panel tool or another database configuration tool.
    • Table Name The table in the data source in which to store the log information.
    • Use This Account Click Set Account to specify which user account to use when connecting to the database.
  6. Click the Fields tab to control what fields are logged, and then click OK when you're finished.

Real World

Performance Monitoring

When you install ISA Server, it installs a preconfigured performance monitoring chart for use with the Performance Monitor MMC snap-in, as shown in Figure 31-66. You can use this chart to monitor the overall health and success of Proxy Server. For more on performance monitoring, see Chapter 33.

Figure 31-66. The ISA Server Performance window.



Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Administrator's Companion
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Administrators Companion
ISBN: 0735617856
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 320

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