• After you select the appropriate object you will see the override properties page. There may be as few as one rule to multiple rules that you can modify. Here you are going to need detailed knowledge about the technology that you are monitoring.
• At the bottom of this page you will need to select the management pack to save the override to. DO NOT USE THE “DEFAULT MANAGMENT PACK”!
• If you don’t have a custom management pack to save it to you can create one from this window. Just follow the dialog boxes.
• When you are done say ok and the changes will be saved.
• This article will show the basics of how to create an override
• This will not show the values to use. For this product knowledge of the technology being monitored will be required as well as some research.
• Never use the “Default Management Pack” it is selected by default, so be careful to change it to a custom management pack. This creates other potential problems later on. When installing OpsMgr service packs the “Default Management Pack” can be overwritten causing us to lose all changes.
• Never disable a monitor. This can be done as an override. When you disable a monitor it is automatically saved to the “Default Management Pack”.

how-to-move-the-operations-manager-2007-reporting-server

the two databases will be moved to a new SQL server under a new name. And the reporting services role will be moved to its own server serperate from the SQL server. I will post all three manuals that I have created out of this here.

how-to-move-the-operationsmanager-data-warehouse-database-to-a-new-sql-server

the two databases will be moved to a new SQL server under a new name. And the reporting services role will be moved to its own server serperate from the SQL server. I will post all three manuals that I have created out of this here.

how-to-move-the-operationsmanager-database-to-a-new-sql-server

here are the two variables you will be adding to the monitor

parameter name: EventDescription

Alert description: $Data/EventDescription$

1. When you are creating the Event Expression click on insert, then click on button “…: under parameter name

2. Select Use Parameter Name not specified above and enter EventDescription

$Data/EventDescription$

Select an Event Property-EventDescription

3. change your operator to Contains

4. under the Value, enter the words you want to find in the desction field.

Build Event Expresion - operator and value

THIS IS NOT DONE!!!!

5. Continue to build your rule until you arrive at the Configure Alerts page. Enter the value $Data/EventDescription$ in the Alert description window. If you do not you will receive errors.

6. Create the rule, and refresh how ever you like. When i am in a hurry i will restart the health service on the server that I am monitoring.

7. To test your rule the OpsMgr Event Creator tool is not going to work. It does not allow you to create custom descriptions. Log onto the server that you want to monitor and open a command window. Using the eventcreate command type the following

eventcreate /t error /ID 1000/d “fieldxu.exe THIS IS JUST A TEST BY Brad Hearn”

/t sets as an error

/ID is the event id

/d is what will be placed into the description field. Remeber to place quotes around your text.

The alerts will look something like this.

Hope this helps out.

Download the PDF deploying-scom-gateway-server2

Open and test ports

Put a change request into the Network group to open TCP port 5723 both ways from the Gateway server to the MS server.

To test if the ports are open. Log on to gateway server. From a command prompt type

telnet SRVNAME261 5723

If you get a cursor at the top left corner then the port is open. Any other errors indicate that the port is still closed.

Do the same from the management server back to the gateway server.

Certificates need to be deployed (2 types of certificates)

1. Root certificate

a. Import the root certificate for the management servers on the same domain as the CA server

i. Logon on the management server. Open a web Brower and navigate to http://SRVNAME342/certsrv/

ii. Click on Download a CA certificate, certificate chain, or CRL

iii. Click on Download CA Certificate chain

iv. Click on save. And save to a location of your choice. The default file name is certnew.p7b. This is fine. (you can use this cert for all your management servers and gateway server to skip the initial download on this servers if you like.

b. To import the downloaded cert open the certificate MMC

i. Open run and type MMC

ii. Click on file, add/remove snap-in

iii. Click on Add and select Certificates, and click on add again.

iv. Select computer account and say finish

v. Close the window and say ok to the add remove window.

vi. Expand certificates and right click on “Trusted Root Certification Authorities”

vii. When the wizard opens navigate to the downloaded cert is certnew.p7b . You will need to change the file type to PKCS #7

viii. Accept the defaults and finish

ix. Do this on all management servers inside the domain

c. Import the root certificate for the Gateway server that is not attached to the domain as the CA server.

i. Perform step one above to save certnew.p7b. Or use the same cert that was downloaded above. And copy to the gateway server. Then perform step 2 above.

2. Create the Custom OpsMgr Certificate

a. To create the cert. We will use two consoles to do this. Certification Authority mmc and certificate templates mmc

i. Open run and type MMC

ii. Click on file, add/remove snap-in

iii. Click on Add and select Certificate Templates and Certification Authority, and click on add again. And finish

b. Select Certificate Templates

c. In the Certificate Templates Console right click IPSec (Offline request) and then select duplicate template

i. General Tab

ii. Type a name

Request Handling

1. select Allow private key to be exported

2. Click on CSPs…

3. select Microsoft RSA SChannel Cryptographic provider for windows 2003 and Microsoft Enhanced Cryptographic provider 1.0 for windows 2000

iii. Extensions Tab

iv. select the Applications Policies and click on edit

1. remove IP security IKE intermediate

2. Click on add..

3. Select Client Authentication and Server Authentication, and clink on ok twice.

v. Security Tab

1. Users should have read

2. Say ok and close.

3. Add the new custom cert to the certificate authority

i. Open the Certification Authority mmc console

ii. Expand it and right click on certificate templates

iii. Select new, certificate template to issue

iv. Scroll through the list until you find the one you just created. Select it and say ok.

v. It should now show in the right window.

4. Deploy the Custom OpsMgr Certificate to the management servers on the same domain as the CA (need to do the full steps individually for each server)

a. Logon on the management server. Open a web Brower and navigate to http://SRVNAME342/certsrv/

b. Click on Request a certificate

c. Click on Create and submit a request to this CA

d. Select the custom Template

e. Enter a name for the template. This is the full unc name of the server that you are going to install the cert on.

f. Enter the rest of the identity info if you like.

g. Under Key options select the csp that fits your operating system. select Microsoft RSA SChannel Cryptographic provider for windows 2003 and Microsoft Enhanced Cryptographic provider 1.0 for windows 2000

h. Key size 1024

i. Mark keys as exportable

j. Check off Store cert in local computer cert store…

k. Use full unc path as friendly name.

l. Click on submit, say yes.

m. Click on Install this certificate

n. Open run and type MMC

o. Click on file, add/remove snap-in

p. Click on Add and select Certificates, and click on add again.

q. Select computer account and say finish

r. Close the window and say ok to the add remove window.

s. Expand certificates and right click on Personal certificates

t. You should see the new cert here.

5. Deploy the custom Certificate to the Gateway sever in the DMZ.

a. Because the gateway is not part of the same domain as the CA. We need to create the certificate on a different server and export it to a usb drive or other storage device. Then manually copy it to the gateway server and import it.

b. First create the cert from a server on the same domain as the CA. Follow the steps in step 4 first.

c. Next we will export the cert

i. Open run and type MMC

ii. Click on file, add/remove snap-in

iii. Click on Add and select Certificates, and click on add again.

iv. Select computer account and say finish

v. Close the window and say ok to the add remove window.

vi. Expand certificates and right click on Personal certificates

vii. You should see the new cert here.

viii. Right click on the cert and select All tasks, export

ix. The export wizard will open, say next

x. Select Yes, export private key

xi. Select enable strong protection

xii. Enter a password for the import. You will need this password when you export the cert.

xiii. Specify a location and name to save it too.

xiv. And finish

d. Import the cert.

i. Copy the cert to the gateway server. It will have a .pfx extension.

ii. Open run and type MMC

iii. Click on file, add/remove snap-in

iv. Click on Add and select Certificates, and click on add again.

v. Select computer account and say finish

vi. Close the window and say ok to the add remove window.

vii. Expand certificates and right click on Personal certificates

viii. Select All tasks, Import

ix. Browse to the cert you coppied over. You will need to change the file type to PFX to see the cert.

x. Select open, say next, enter password.

xi. Check off Mark this key as exportable.

xii. Say next, make sure the certificate store is personal , click next and finish.

6. Run the momcertimport utility

a. In this step we are going to use the same pfx certificate (the custom personal cert) that we created in step 4. This tool writes the certificate serial number to the registry. This will help OpsMgr components find the the proper certificate for authenticatin easily.

b. You will find the momcertimport utility on the install cd under supporttools\i386.

c. Copy momcertimport.exe and the pfs certificate into the same folder.

d. Open a command prompt, navigate to the folder with both files and type the following command

i. C:\>MOMCertImport.exe certfilename.pfx

ii. There is NO response after the command is successfully initiated.

e. So this on all SCOM management servers. RMS, MS, and Gateway

7. Approve the Gateway Server

a. We will use the gateway approval tool to achieve this. This will setup the gateway server as a management server in SCOM. Once done you can confirm this by looking in the SCOM console under administration, Device Management, Management Servers.

b. The tool has to be run from c:\program Files\System Center Operations Manager 2007

c. Copy Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.GatewayApprovalTool.exe from the support tools directory to c:\program Files\System Center Operations Manager 2007

d. Open the command prompt and type the following command

i. microsoft.enterprisemanagement.gatewayapprovaltool.exe /managementservername=SRVNAME261.domainName.com /gatewayname=domainNamedmz22.domainNamedmz.com /action=create

8. Next you now ready to manually install the agents on the servers in the DMZ

9. Approve the agents in the SCOM console.

Windows 2003/2008
Path: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config
Value: MaxPosPhaseCorrection
Default data: 0xFFFFFFFF (4,294,967,295)
(Note: there is an accompanying MaxNegPhaseCorrection value to control positive time changes.)

Windows 2000
Path:
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters
Value: MaxAllowedClockErrInSecs
Default data: 0xFFFFFFFF (4,294,967,295)
(Note: Windows 2000 has a single value to control both positive and negative time changes.)

The above values control the largest positive (and negative, for Windows 2000) time correction in seconds that the Windows Time service will allow. If a time change larger than these values is received the Windows Time service will reject it and log an error in the System event log. The default value for domain controllers is 0xFFFFFFFF, which effectively allows for any time change to be accepted.

The general recommendation is to use a lower value. The new default in Windows Server 2008 is a positive/negative value of 48 hours (0×2A300 or 172,800 seconds). An even lower value can be used however the lower the value the more important operational processes and monitoring becomes since there is an increased chance of domain controllers rejecting time changes.

A GPO can also be used to manage the value. Windows 2003 and above natively include GPO settings to control the relevant Windows Time service values. A custom administrative template would be needed to manage Windows 2000 based domain controllers.

For 2003 and above, the GPEditor exposes these settings under \Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Windows Time Service\Global Configuration Settings\.

The values that should also be modified for Domain Controlers
are below.

Value name / Default value in GPEditor / Default for a DC

LargePhaseOffset / 1,280,000 / 50,000,000
SpikeWatchPeriod / 90 / 900
MaxPollInterval / 5 / 10
MinPollInterval / 10 / 6
UpdateInterval / 30,000 / 100
PhaseCorrectRate / 1 / 7

Value name / Default value in GPEditor / New recomended value for a DC

MaxPosPhaseCorrection / 54000 / 172800

MaxNegPhaseCorrection / 54000 / 172800

To veryify that the settings have been applied open your regisry editor and check the following Key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\W32Time\Config

Follow the following steps to monitor a service and have it restarted automatically by SCOM if it fails.

Steps

Create a management pack to store the monitor in

Create a group that the monitor will be applied against

Create a monitor that watches the service

Create overrides (apply to group)

Create the recovery task

Step 1: Create the Management Pack

In the managment console under Administration right click on Management Packs and select “Create Management Pack”. Give this new MP a meaningfull name and continue.

Step 2: Create the Group

• In the Authoring Pane right click on “create new group” Give this new group a meaningful name. A description. And select the management pack that you created.

Important: Do not use the default management pack. You can do it. But this will create problems when trying to remove MP in the future. Always use Custom MP’s.

• Say next. Click on Add/remove objects on the Explicit Group Members. Enter a server name and search. Select your computer object and say ok. You can now add dynamic and exclusions. I am not going into that on this post so except all defaults.

Step 3: Create the Monitor

• In the Authoring Pane right click on monitors and select Create a monitor, then Unit Monitor.

• Expand Windows Services, and select “Basic Service Monitor”. Select the custom management pack.

• Provide a name for the monitor. I am going to create this monitor to watch Windows Update services. Select the monitor target as windows Server Operating System. Select the Parent Monitor as Availability.

• Next Browse to the server, or any server with the service running. and select the service.

• The next window shows how the monitor sees the health state. Accept the default.

• The last window is how the alerts are configured.

• uncheck the “Generate alerts for this monitor:” for now. This will prevent any unwanted alerts until we are ready.

Step 4: Apply to group

Lets apply this MP against the group that we created earlier and disable it for all other servers.

Fist disable the rule for all servers

• Find the new rule under Authoring\monitors. The easiest way to do this is to change your scope. Click on the Change scope in the top right corner
• Look for windows server operating System and select it and say ok.

• Expand the monitor, right click on it and select properties.

• Select Disable and “For all objects of type: windows Server Operating System”

• Next Right click on the same monitor and select override, Override the Monitor, for a group

• Start to type the name of the group you created and select it.
  
• Place a check beside “Parameter name”. Change the override setting to True. This will enable the rule for the group.

• Say OK to save.

STEP 5: Create Recovery Task

• In the Authoring Pane right click on monitors and select the monitor you created by right clicking on it and select properties.
• Click on the Diagnostic and Recovery Tab
• Under the configure recovery Tasks select Add… and choose “Recovery for Critical Health State”
  
• Select Run command
• Provide a meaningful name and description
• Select the recovery target as Windows server operating system
• Check run recovery automatically and recalculate monitor state.

• Next, for the full path to the file type C:\WINDOWS\system32\net.exe This will spawn the net command
• for the parameters type start service name. We are starting windows update service. Here is the best way to find the service name. Open services by opening the run box and type services.msc

• now that you have the actual service name lets enter it in the parameters field. so you would type “Start wuauserv”

• Once you have clicked on create you are done.

On your server open up you Group Policy Object Editor

Navigate to Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Event Log

The following settings are to be done for each log separately.

Set your Maximum values in increments of 64kb. I decided to go as close to 5mb so I am using 4992kb.

Set your retention method to “as needed”

the Group Policy snap-in under Local Computer Policy\User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel\Display

Select Screen Saver Executable name and enter the location of the screen saver you are going to enforce.

Here you can specify the screen saver you want. I am using the blank screen saver

Select ok.

Next you need to enable Loop Back so that the computer OU can use the Users GPO.

Navigate to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Group Policy\User Group Policy Loopback processing mode\