High CPU Utilization issues when importing the DHCP Management Pack

Some of us experienced a very high CPU Utilization issue after importing the DHCP Management Pack (6.0.6383.0). It was due to some heavy usage of discovery scripts.

I'm glad that its now all fixed with the release of the new 6.0.6452.0 version that is now in the MP Catalog

Here are some of the changes that was made by the product team. (Thanks guys!! sending you the some beer vouchers soon)

• Changed the discovery script so that it discovers same instances every time and does not cause changes in their properties (it causes changes in OpsMgr configuration each time).
• Rewrote script-based module in the following way – now it returns all data for all components (scopes, superscopes, etc.) instead of returning data only for requested one. It allowed SCOM to cook it down and now instead of 1000 scripts only one instance is run.
• Rewrote script-based module in the following way – instead of returning many property bags (4000 for 1000 objects) it returns only one big property bag. It allowed to lower significantly transferred data.
• Added performance mapper for unit monitors based on huge property bags. It allowed to significantly improve performance since now only small package of data is transferred between MonitoringHost and HealthService.
• Removed On-Demand-Detection for monitors based on huge property bags since SCOM SP1 does not support cook down for such scenarios and it leads to very high CPU consumption upon any changes in configurations/restarting HealthService.
• Optimized script populating all data from DHCP server (it analyzed with regex expression big output upon iterating through all objects every time, now it does it only once). It allowed to significantly improve performance for this module (it consumed 100% of one CPU for minutes).

New Active Directory MP 6.0.6452.0 released

Not sure about you... but I've been waiting for this for awhile. I had some issues with the previous AD MP and was told that it would be addressed in this one.

The new Active Directory Management pack (ver. 6.0.6452.0) has been released to the MP Catalog

It boasts a couple of improvements:

• Discovery of Windows Server 2008 DC and Read Only DC (RODC). Including also the discovery of FSMO roles
• Windows Server 2008 replication monitoring. Including a cool Multiple SLA workflow that can be configured
• Forests that have 2-way transitive trusts can now be discovered and reflected in the improved topology views (Forest, Domain, Site, Site-Link, Replication Connection)
• New essential services roll-up to accurately reflect services such as Sysvol, DFS, NetLogon, DCLocator
• of course.. support for Windows Server 2008 32-bit and also 64-bit

I've just imported the MP and will be updating this post after a some drives down the fast lane.

Operations Manager R2 announced at Tech ED Barcelona!

I wish i was there... sigh.. Barcelona.. the sun... spanish girls in bikini... OH and of course.. Tech Ed.

Thanks to those that posted in comments about what they wanted to see in R2 in an earlier post. I'm happy to inform that some of those comments were taken very seriously and it was announced in Barcelona that R2 would include some very nice additions and improvements.

Some of which are the Cross Platform inclusion that allows monitoring of Unix & Linux, Service Level Dashbard improvement and some new features. The announcement was made by Barry Shilmover.

You can view the video here... http://edge.technet.com/Media/Operations-Manager-with-Barry-Shilmover/

And the official announcement... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/opsmgr/dd239186.aspx

Timeline?... within H1 of 2009. Watch this blog for updates once we've got more info :)

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 has RTMed

The ship has landed. System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 is RTM.

Download from http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/virtualmachinemanager/en/us/default.aspx

Some of the new areas that are available with the product are:

• Hyper-V management
• VMWare management through Virtual Center
• Cluster support
• Delegated Administration
• Physical resource optimization with PRO Tips

Installing Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 (Updated)

Having been working with Softricity and Softgrid 4.1 & 4.2, my initial guess was that installing App-V 4.5 would have been a piece of lemon pie. Well I was certainly dealt with a piece of that on my face when i finallyl got down doing it. After 2 and a half days of wracking my brains and the feeding frenzy that entailed, i finally got it working. phew.. So if anyone out there is still at it.. here's a guide of how i did it in hope that it would help save some of your brain cells :)

If you don't already know, App-V 4.5 comes in an install base of 3 different scenarios. The traditional Softgrid approach (with management server), the new Streaming Server scenario (where AD is not required) and Standalone.

This steps is for the first approach... installing the Application Virtualization Management Server scenario.

Environment Pre-requisites:

App V Management Server
- Windows Server 2003 SP1 [In my test environment, I used Windows Server 21003 R2 SP2]
- IIS 5.0 with ASP.NET [I used IIS 6.0]
- .NET Framework 2.0
- MMC3.0 [I didn't need to install this seperately as it had been included in my SP2]
- Download/Prepare SQL Server 2005 Express Edt. SP2

Client
- Windows XP Pro [I had a Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista Business SP1]
- IE 6

Preparation before App-V

Prep in AD:

1. Create a AD group. This group will be used to grant administrative priviliges to managing App V. (E.g. AppV Admin). Then grant this group Local Admin privileges on the App V Server
2. Create another AD Group. This group will be used to to be assigned to the App V Provider Policy that grants users access to the virtual apps. (E.g. AppV Users)
3. Create a user account that will be used to manage App-V. (E.g. sgadmin)
4. Make the above created user account a member of the AppV Admin group
5. For the purpose of testing, I created a domain user account and made it a member of the AppV Users group (sguser)

Prep on App V Management Server:

1. Install all pre-requisites (.NET Framework 2.0, MMC 3.0, IIS, ASP.NET)
2. Launch installation of SQL Server 2005 Express (In 4.5, MSDE is no longer 'supported')
3. Accept the licensing terms and conditions check box, then click Next
4. In the Installing Prerequisites window, Click Install
5. Click Next when complete. Configuration check will be performed
6. At the installation Welcome screen, click Next
7. Click Next after the pre-requisite check is performed
8. In the Registration Information page, enter a name and Company, then de-select the Hide advanced configuration options. Click Next
9. Ensure Database Services is selected as Installed on Local Drive, then click Next
10. In the Instance Name page, select Default Instance, then click Next (u can use a named instance as well)
11. In the Service Account page, accept all defaults and click Next
12. In the Authentication Mode page, accept all defaults and click Next
13. In the Collation Settings page, accept all defaults and click Next
14. In the Configuration Options page, enable the Add user to SQL Administrators role check box, then click Next
15. In the Error Usage and Reporting page, accept all defaults and click Next
16. Click Install
17. When setup is complete, click Next
18. Click Finish. Then RESTART THE SERVER. This is needed or else the App V setup will not detect the database.
19. Once rebooted, launch the SQL Server Surface Area Configuration Tool from the Start All Programs Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Configuration Tools
20. In the SQL Server Surface Area Configuration Tool Welcome screen, click on the Surface Area Configuration for Features link
21. Click on the CLR Integration node on the left tree pane. Then on the details pane on the right, enable the Enable CLR Integration check box
22. Then click on the OLE Automation node on the left tree pane. Then on the details pane on the right, enable the Enable OLE Automation check box
23. Next, launch the SQL Server 2005 Configuration Manager. 
24. Expand SQL Server Network Configuration then Click on the Protocols node on the left pane, then on the right, enable the TCPIP protocol
25. Restart the SQL Server service

NOTE! Point 20 to 24 was what caused me the 2 and a half day installation delay. I'm not a SQL Express guru and these steps is not mentioned in the MS Trial Guides. If point 20 and 21 is not done, you'll notice that you'll get DB connection errors. Typically when you try to launch your App V console (Error 0000C800)

Installing Application Virtualization Management Server:

1. Launch the App V Management Server installer
2. Accept the licensing terms and conditions check box, then click Next (you have no choice :))
3. In the Microsoft Update page, select the I don’t want to use Microsoft Update option, then click Next (This is only because my test enviornment did not have an Internet connection)
4. In the Registration Information page, enter a name and Organization, then click Next
5. In the Setup Type page, accept the Typical option and click Next
6. In the Configuration Database page, ensure (local) is selected from the dropdown list of servers, then click Next (or the name of your db server/instance)
7. Select the Create New Database option, and accept the default name of APPVIRT (if you resent this name, feel free to change it )
8. Click Next
9. On the Secure Communication Mode page, click Next.
10. On the Port Settings page, click Next
11. On the Administrator Group page, type the name of the Microsoft Application Virtualization Administrators group (AppV Admin for me), and then click Next.
    You can also type the first few letters of the group name, and then click Next, to display a list of groups. Click the relevant group, and then click Next.
12. On the Default Provider Group page, type the name of the Microsoft Application Virtualization Users group (App V Users for me), and then click Next. This is the group to which all users must belong for access to Microsoft Application Virtualization-enabled applications.
13. On the Content Path page, accept the default location of the Microsoft System Center Application Virtualization Management Server content folder, and then click Next.
14. Click Install
    The wizard will copy the necessary files, install services, and create a database as specified in the preceding steps. When the wizard finishes, the Microsoft System Center Application Virtualization Management Console shortcut is displayed in the Administrative Tools group
15. Click Finish when done
16. In Windows Explorer, go to %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft System Center App Virt Management Server\App Virt Managment Server and share the content folder. Ensure that Read access to this folder is given to Everyone.
17. Launch the Services (services.msc) mmc console and ensure that the Application Virtualization Management Server service is started. If not, Start it.
18. You can now launch the console.
19. The first time the console is launched, a window will pop up to ask what the Web Service to connect to.
20. Enter the name of your App V Management Server or localhost if its on the same machine. Uncheck Secure Connections and ensure it is operating on port 80. If the logged on user is a member of the AppV Admin group then leave the Current Credentials option selected. Then click OK to connect.

Installing the Client:

1. Launch the Client Installer
2. In the Installation Prerequisites Window, click Install
3. On the Application Virtualization Desktop Client window Welcome Screen, click Next
4. Accept the licensing terms and conditions check box, then click Next
5. In the Microsoft Update page, select the I don’t want to use Microsoft Update option, then click Next
6. In the Registration Information page, enter a name and Organization, then click Next
7. In the Setup Type page, select the Custom option and click Next
8. In the Destination Folder page, accept the default location and click Next
9. In the Application Virtualization Data Location, accept defaults and click Next
10. In the Cache Size Settings page, accept defaults and click Next
11. In the Runtime Package Policy Configuration, accept defaults and click Next
12. In the Publishing Server page, select the Set up Publishing Server now checkbox
    a. Display Name: Name of your AppV Server (APPVSVR for me)
    b. Type: Application Virtualization Server
    c. Hostname: Name of your AppV Server (APPVSVR for me)
    d. Port: 554
13. Click Next
14. Click Install
15. Click Finish when complete

This should get it going. Next step... publish some sequenced apps and get down to funky town!!

Multi Host Ping Monitoring

In a recent deployment, our customer had asked how they would be able to perform some constant connectivity testing. So, we installed the Multi Host Ping Monitoring MP that can be downloaded from SystemCenter Forum. We've been using this MP since 1.0 and works pretty well.

This cool and simple MP can be used to test connectivity to a URL as well and provides alerts when the threshold for time out seconds are breached.

Intervals for the testing can be configured and these return as collection data to run performance analysis on.

It also comes with pre-defined views! What more can you ask for! :)

You can get it here... http://www.systemcenterforum.org/multi-host-ping-mp-20-beta-now-available/

SCUG launched!!

We had a great launch of the System Center User Group, Malaysian Edition. About 84 people attended the launch and from that we gathered about 65 members on Day 1. I was superly excited about this.

Andrew McMurray, a Technology Specialist from Australia spent about 45 minutes talking to us about the System Center Roadmap and showcased the Config Manager R2 and its integration with SoftGrid

Jeff Low from Redmond then gave us a surprise visit to showcase to us some new stuff coming in MDOP. New DART tools as well as the all new Kidaro solution. Which was super cool.

The crowd got some chances to win prizes sponsored by Microsoft, Easy Safe and Redynamics Asia.

After the awe of technology, we came back down to earth to have a scrumptous dinner.

It was also a great that our local media decided that our event was worth covering :). Thanks Jo... http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2008/8/14/technology/20080814104157&sec=technology

Overall, I had a great time at the launch and I hope this community will remain useful for many years to come.

Photos of the launch can be viewed on my SkyDrive http://cid-528396cd62a32ef8.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/SCUG

We have continuous request for membership and hope that we can reach our 100 member mark by end of this year. Awesome!!

Our next event will be on September 30th at the Microsoft Auditorium, KLCC, Malaysia and I'll be speaking on the topic "ACS Masterclass - Installing, Configuring, Optimizing"

Jalsoft Xian Network Manager Io SP2 BETA released

Its good to be back to blogging after a long lay off due to work schedules.

About a week or so ago, Jalasoft announced that a Service Pack 2 for their popular Xian Network Manager Io will be released somewhere in the November timeframe. I just got news today that the BETA is already released.

In case this is new to you, Xian Network Manager is an excellent add-on to Operations Manager 2007 that allows you to proactively monitor network devices. It does a pretty good job and has a well built Management Pack.

Pete Zerger of System Center Forum wrote a great article on it and can be found at http://systemcenterforum.org/wp-content/uploads/Jalasoft_Series_rollup.pdf

From what i understand, Service Pack 2 will introduce a couple of architecture changes. The first and most important change is that they are no longer using the SDK on the Root Management Server (RMS) to send alerts and counters to OpsMgr2007. Instead the load can now be taken by any Management Server and so preventing any overload of the RMS. Now you can send without any problem thousands of counters per minute to OpsMgr2007. It is expected that this enhancement can increase the performance by more than 400%! Cool...

This would also mean that to scale, all you would need to do is just to add additional Management Servers.

Other changes in SP2 are improved management packs which are faster to load and require less instance space on OpsMgr2007. More robust SNMP module is also added to increase performance

I've downloaded the BETA today and will be testing it out. Will post any findings here.