Load Third Party Performance Metrics Into MOM

Forgive me if this is old hat to you but I’ve google like crazy and not found any documentation on this.  I was asked to look if I could load performance objects and counters from a 3rd party product into MOM.  The problem was that the product in question didn’t have any performance counters and no performance fucntionality existed in the vendor’s management pack.  I was given a "what if" scenario: could I do anything if I had a file with the performance measurements in it?
 
I checked it out.  There appeared to be nothing on the net.  I already knew how to parse a log file so that bit was easy.  But could I use it to load performance counters?  The answer is yes.
 
  • Set up an application log provider that scans a folder for CSV files.  Configure the format as being "Performance Log".
  • Set up a custom management pack.  Create a performance rule that uses the application log provider.
  • Now, configure your 3rd party product to produce a CSV file in the location specified by your provider.  It should be in the format of a Windows Performance Log in CSV format. 

If you need to see what format the file should be in, then run Perfmon and capture a CSV log file.  It looks something like this:

"(PDH-CSV 4.0) (GMT Standard Time)(0)","\DubFS1SAN% Seek Time"
"02/01/2007 11:56:17.600","4.8586022896423113"
"02/01/2007 12:06:18.602","0.17951715634603183"
"02/01/2007 12:16:19.604","0.17951715634603183"
"02/01/2007 12:26:20.606","4.8586022896423113"
"02/01/2007 12:36:21.607","7.9779923785064932"

The header defines the column names.  We’ve got date, time and the performance counter.  Note the counter name is in the format \<server being measured><Object><Counter>.

Associate the management pack with a test computer group and drop some test log files onto it.  Give it a few minutes and then open your Operator Console (don’t use an already open one).  Navigate into "Performance" and open up the server that has the log file on it.  You’ll now find the new objects and metrics are available to report on.  Your MOM Reports shouldn’t have any data until after the report DTS job runs (usually 01:00).

All that remains now is to generate and format this log file.  Your third party product must be able to produce these metrics and you must be able to get the out in some way.  Then you should format them, rename them and drop them into the right location.  In theory, this should all be possible via a scheduled script.

If you are going to try this, please get it running in a VM lab first.  Don’t go filling your report server with uselss junk and deploying test management packs all over the production network.  Once you’ve got the mechanism working, define what you need, restest in the lab again and finally do a pilot rollout on production before you go live.

More Vista Fixes! – When Should I Upgrade?

Bink is reporting that 4 more fixes are available for both Vista 32bit and Vista 64bit.
 
  • KB929685: A high definition audio device may no longer work after you resume Windows Vista from sleep or from hibernation and then restart the computer.
  • KB930163: In Windows Vista, you cannot access any resources on a remote VPN server after you switch a network connection from one network adapter to another network adapter and then dial a VPN connection.
  • KB929762: You receive a Stop 0x9F error when you wake a Windows Vista-based computer that is connected to an IEEE 1394-based device.
  • KB929761: When you run Wusa.exe together with the /quiet option to try to install certain software packages on a Windows Vista-based computer, the installation fails.
  • KB929615: You may not receive audio in the desired language when you use Windows Media Center to view television in Windows Vista
It certainly is proving to be a busy period for Vista updates.  That begs the question: Should I upgrade all of my PC’s now?  I’m normally one to to quite aggressive with upgrades but for a desktop OS, I think I’d be a little conservative.  I’m certainly not recommending that you hold off on Vista until 2010.  I’d say give it 6 months fom now (general availablity) before you start an upgrade.  Common applications and devices still don’t have device drivers to it’d be hard to justify an upgrade.  It also looks like we’re going to go through a bump ride for a while with these bug fixes.  My thought process is, let things settle down and then build all these updates into your teplate build/image.  Fianlly, there’s the hardware thing to consider.  Vista is a beast for CPU and RAM.  I’m wondering if a business PC will require a dual core CPU and 2 GB RAM.  Only testing and time will tell.
 
In the meantime, it doen’t mean you should forget about Vista.  On the contrary.  If possible, anyone with administrative privileges should upgrade now.  UAC will protect their PC’s against threats.  I know, UAC was a pain, but it’s gotten better throughout the beta and RC process.  Application vendors are currently fixing their products so they don’t trigger it.  I’ve left UAC turned on at home.  I like the sense of security it gives me that goes way beyond firewall or anti malware functionality.
 
Next, I’d consider those users with security concerns.  Vista includes functionality such as device locking (group policy), full disk encryption (BitLocker) and DEP that will protect the data on PC’s that you consider at risk. 
 
Application comaptibility is going to be an issue for people.  Admins may not find UAC acceptable.  I highly encourage you to look at the options available rather than lowering your security.
 
  • Admins shouldn’t really log into their "desktop" PC as administrator.  If they use a Virtual Machine (Microsoft Virtual PC is free) then they’ll be able to log into their desktop as a normal user to access email and web and log into their VM as administrator/domain admin to do their work.
  • Some applications might not work now (or ever) on Vista.  Again a VM running Windows XP or Windows 2000 might help those affected users.
  • Check out the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0.

Some might just be scared of deploying a new OS and all the software on it.  That’s just not excusable these days.  There ahve never been more options.  The following will all deploy images of a disk with the OS and applications all installed and configured:

  • Ghost
  • WAIK (free)
  • WDS (part of WAIK and Windows 2003 SP2)
  • SMS 2003
  • CM 2007 (March 2007, approx)

The following can be used to install and manage software:

  • Group Policy (part of AD)
  • SMS 2003
  • CM 2007 (March 2007, approx)

Is Vista a big leap?  Yes.  Is it big and scary enough that you should run and hide under your duvert cover?  No.  Take my advice: Do a limited deployment so your IT staff can become familiar with the product, deployment and management of it.  Then target those staff who can benefit from the product.  During this time, test and develop your applications and procedures.  When you are ready, pull the trigger and deploy it.  With some planning and preparation, you;ll avoid the situation that many companies are in now, panicking over NT upgrades and meeting system requirements for new business solutions.

Credit: Bink for the update news.

Reliability Update For The USB Stack In Vista

Microsoft released an update to fix problems in Vista that are encountered if:
 
  • You have a Windows Vista.
  • You are running 2GB RAM or more.
  • You have an nVidia nForce EHCI controller.

There is both a 32bit and a 64bit update, that are both available for download.  It’s also available via Windows Update.

Credit: Michael Russell.

Windows Vista Activation Grace Period – Up to 120 Days

I just saw this one on Bink.  It might be handy for anyone who’s evaluating Vista or like me, is not too keen to use their limited number of TechNet/MSDN activations in lab work but find the default 30 day window to be too restrictive.  There’s a command you can run (slmgr -rearm and then reboot) that extends the activation grace period.  You can do this three more times to extend the grace period up to 120 days.

Credit: Bink.

Automated Password Synchronisation Solution Guide for MIIS 2003

I’m seeing more and more people starting to look into using account/password synchronisation tools such as MIIS 2003 and/or ADAM.  Microsoft published a guide lastnight that promises you that this "Step-by-Step document shows how to install, configure, and use PCNS and management agents to receive and send password change requests" so that you can synchronise passwods between domain controllers, presumably in different forests.

Convert Physical Machine to Virtual Machines – Free

VMware has announced that VMware Converter 3.0 (Starter Edition)  or P2V is now going to be free.  It’s available for download right now.

For anyone who is migrting their physical environment to VMware Server or ESX this will be good news.  There is still an Enterprise Edition which I think must still be paid for.  There is a feature comparison table.

You’re still left with an important question … are you happy with the physical machine’s configuration and health?  If so then a conversion may be suitable.  If not, then a new build is probably the way to go.

Credit: Michael Pietrzak.

Network Diagnostics Technologies in Windows Vista

Microsoft has released a document on some new network diagnostics/troubleshooting tools and methodologies included in Vista.  They say:

With Windows Vista, Microsoft introduces two new tools designed to make diagnosing network problems easier: the Network System Icon and the Network Diagnostics Framework (NDF). With these tools, users can troubleshoot and resolve common network connectivity issues—such as Internet connectivity, file sharing, wireless networking, and the like—themselves, potentially reducing support costs.

So "users can troubleshoot and resolve common … issues".  Hmm.  As an administrator, I hated "have a go heros".  They caused more damage than the original problem.  If there’s a problem I wanted Helpdesk to know about it.  That way if they or my server team spotted a trend then we could nail the actual cause of the problem … and disembowel the Superman wannabe.

These tools may prove handy for home users and for IT staff, though.

Windows Powershell 1.0 for Vista

The new scripting language, Windows Powershell 1.0, is finally available for Windows Vista.  You can download the x64 and the x86 editions now. 

Powershell is important because it crosses all of the new enterprise products.  There’s already support for Exchange 2007, there will be support for System Center Operations Manager 2007, System Center Data Protection Manager V2 and System Center Virtual Machine Manager.

The other key feature is that it really makes complex fucntions much more simple.  Anyone familiar with VBS scripting will know that you often have to write libraries of functions just to do simple tasks.  Powershell promises to solve this.

Can You Deploy Office 2007 Via Group Policy?

Short answer: NO.

MS really screwed the pooch on this one.  They spent years convincing administrators the world over that we should make full use of group policy and "IntelliMirror".  I’ve succesfully used GPO to deploy Office 2000, XP and upgrade to 2003.  Along comes Office 2007 and we find that in Microsoft’s efforts to make us all users of XML, they’ve forgotten that lots of their customers use GPO to distribute Office.  That functionality got left behind somewhere.  I really hope they come up with a solution because this sends a really bad signal out to those who adopt solutions that are recommended by Microsoft.  You could argue that we should be using SMS, CM 2007 or SCE2007 (latter two in the near future) but not everyone has a budget for those enterprise management poducts.

Darren Mar-Elia has done a lot of work looking at Office 2007 deployment.  He’s the source of my information on GPO deployment no longer working.  It’s well worth checking out.  I did a document early last Summer for my last employer on how to distribute Office 2007 beta with Configuration Manager 2007 beta.