Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise Deployment Guide

Transcription

1 Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise 11.2

2 2015 Dell Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This guide contains proprietary information protected by copyright. The software described in this guide is furnished under a software license or nondisclosure agreement. This software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the applicable agreement. No part of this guide may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording for any purpose other than the purchaser s personal use without the written permission of Dell Inc. The information in this document is provided in connection with Dell products. No license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual property right is granted by this document or in connection with the sale of Dell products. EXCEPT AS SET FORTH IN THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS SPECIFIED IN THE LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR THIS PRODUCT, DELL ASSUMES NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER AND DISCLAIMS ANY EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY WARRANTY RELATING TO ITS PRODUCTS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL DELL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR LOSS OF INFORMATION) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS DOCUMENT, EVEN IF DELL HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. Dell makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this document and reserves the right to make changes to specifications and product descriptions at any time without notice. Dell does not make any commitment to update the information contained in this document. If you have any questions regarding your potential use of this material, contact: Dell Inc. Attn: LEGAL Dept 5 Polaris Way Aliso Viejo, CA Refer to our web site (software.dell.com) for regional and international office information. Patents Protected by U.S. Patent #6,901,582. Additional patents pending. Trademarks Dell, the Dell logo, Toad, Toad World and Spotlight are trademarks of Dell Inc. and/or its affiliates. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista, Windows Server, Internet Explorer, Hyper-V and SQL Server are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. VMware and ESX Server are either registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Citrix and Xen are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Pentium is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. Legend CAUTION: A CAUTION icon indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if instructions are not followed. WARNING: A WARNING icon indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. IMPORTANT NOTE, NOTE, TIP, MOBILE, or VIDEO: An information icon indicates supporting information. Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise Updated - March 2015 Software Version

3 Contents Welcome to Spotlight on SQL Server 6 Editions of Spotlight on SQL Server 6 Systems in the Deployment 8 Size of the deployment 9 Co-existence with Performance Analysis 9 Spotlight Client 10 Installation 10 Deployment 10 Spotlight Client requirements 11 Permissions 12 Spotlight Essentials 13 Configuration 13 Deployment 13 Spotlight Mobile 15 Configuration 15 Deployment 15 Spotlight Diagnostic Server 16 Installation 16 Deployment 16 Additional 17 Spotlight Diagnostic Server requirements 17 Account permissions on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server 18 Network ports on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server 19 If the Spotlight Diagnostic Server and Spotlight Client are installed on different host computers 19 Access to the Internet 19 Windows Control Panel Internet Options Connections 19 Windows Control Panel Internet Options Advanced 20 Verification 20 Playback Database 21 Deployment 21 Configuration 21 Additional 21 3

4 Playback Database requirements 21 Spotlight Statistics Repository 23 Deployment 23 Configuration 23 Additional 23 Spotlight Statistics Repository requirements 24 Monitored systems in the deployment 25 Configuration 25 Deployment 25 Monitored systems supported 27 Monitored SQL Servers 29 SQL Server account permissions 29 SQL Server performance counters 31 Network ports and SQL Server connections 32 Monitored Windows servers and hosts of database connections 33 Windows account permissions 33 How to configure WMI with minimum required user permissions Setup permission to read data Grant permissions to get information about services Provide access to the Registry keys used by Spotlight Run Windows Component Services 36 Configure COM security 36 Configure DCOM security Configure WMI permissions 37 Windows domains 38 Enable disk counters 38 Network ports and Windows connections / Windows hosts 39 How to limit the number of ports used by WMI 39 Troubleshooting WMI 39 WMI Test 1 40 WMI Test 2 40 WMI Test 3 40 WMI errors 41 Monitoring the Spotlight Diagnostic Server 45 Security in the deployment 46 Demilitarized zones (DMZ) 46 Installation and upgrade 48 4

5 Permissions required during installation 48 Install 48 Upgrade 50 Monitoring your Spotlight on SQL Server connections on a mobile device 51 Preservation of configuration information 51 Uninstall 51 Configure 53 Configure Connections 54 Configure the Playback Database 54 Configure the Spotlight Statistics Repository 55 Configure uploading to Spotlight Essentials 57 Upload health check data to Spotlight Essentials 57 Upload mobile monitoring data to Spotlight Essentials 57 Spotlight Essentials account details 57 Spotlight diagnostic user groups 58 Spotlight user privileges within Spotlight 58 Membership to the Spotlight Diagnostic User Groups 61 Maintenance 62 Back up Spotlight configuration data 62 Start and stop the Spotlight Diagnostic Server 62 Maintenance plan for Spotlight Statistics Repository and Playback Database 62 Database configuration 63 Fragmentation and index performance 63 Database backup 63 About Dell 64 Contacting Dell 64 Technical support resources 64 Index 65 5

6 Welcome to Spotlight on SQL Server 1 Spotlight on SQL Server monitors the activity of SQL Server instances. Spotlight displays a visual representation of the status of the databases in your enterprise, enabling you to drill down to graphical flows that illustrate the rate at which data is moving between server components. Icons display the value of key statistics and measurements. A range of visual graphs and tabular grids provide you with detailed information about your SQL Server instance. The components and dataflows change color to show you the source of any problem. When Spotlight on SQL Server detects a condition that it considers is a potential problem, it not only informs you about it, but advises you what you could look at to diagnose the problem further and suggests corrective actions. Spotlight on SQL Server seamlessly combines data from several disparate sources into a single user interface. It collects and combines data from Windows performance counters, SQL Server system tables, SQL Server commands and the Windows registry, and presents them in logically related screens. Editions of Spotlight on SQL Server This is a guide for Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise. Features Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise Spotlight on SQL Server Standard Architecture Deployable with separate Spotlight Diagnostic Server and multiple clients. Single installation Heat Map Yes Yes Playback Database Yes Yes Spotlight Statistics Repository and Spotlight Reporting and Trending Yes No notifications on alarms Yes No Upload data to Spotlight Essentials Yes Yes Monitored Connections Microsoft SQL Server Yes Yes Microsoft SQL Server Replication Yes No Availability Groups Yes No 6

7 Features Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise Spotlight on SQL Server Standard Hyper-V Server Yes Yes Microsoft Windows Yes Yes Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services Yes Yes Microsoft SQL Azure Database Yes Yes VMware Server Yes Yes NOTE: The Spotlight on SQL Server Diagnostics Drilldown is available only in Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise. 7

8 2 Systems in the Deployment The components of a deployment are as follows. Component Spotlight Client Spotlight Essentials Spotlight Mobile Spotlight Diagnostic Server Playback Database Spotlight Statistics Repository Monitored systems in the deployment Description View Spotlight data in real time, in playback mode and generate reports. Comprehensively configure Spotlight. A Spotlight Client is installed on a Windows server. Many Spotlight Clients can connect to one Spotlight Diagnostic Server. View Spotlight data in real time in your favorite web browser. View performance analytics. One Spotlight Essentials account services all systems connected to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. View Spotlight data in real time on your favorite mobile device. Configure Spotlight Mobile with Spotlight Essentials credentials. Enable uploading of data to Spotlight Mobile in the Spotlight Client. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server is at the core of the Spotlight on SQL Server architecture. All Spotlight data passes through the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server is a Windows service. It runs under Windows credentials. Recent history is stored in the Playback Database. The Playback Database is deployed on SQL Server. One Playback Database services all systems connected to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Long term history for reporting and trending is stored in the Spotlight Statistics Repository. The Spotlight Statistics Repository is deployed on SQL Server. One Spotlight Statistics Repository services all systems connected to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server collects data from monitored connections that is then supplied in real time to Spotlight Clients and where applicable Spotlight Essentials through to Spotlight Mobile. 8

9 3 Size of the deployment How many SQL Servers Instances do you expect to monitor? Number 1-25 SQL Server Instances More than 25 SQL Server Instances Description The Spotlight Diagnostic Server, playback database and Spotlight Statistics Repository can all be installed on the same machine, as long as that machine meets the minimum hardware requirements listed in the release notes. It is recommended that the playback database and Spotlight Statistics Repository be installed on a machine other than the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. The machine(s) that host the playback database and the Spotlight Statistics Repository should be configured with an appropriate amount of I/O bandwidth to meet demand. If your environment uses a storage area network (SAN) it may be possible to install the Spotlight Statistics Repository and the playback database on the same server. Maximum Spotlight on SQL Server is designed to monitor a maximum of 100 SQL Servers, Analysis Services or Replication instances and 100 Windows servers. Exceeding this recommended limit on 32 bit environments may result in poor performance or product instability, due to the 1 Gb memory limit. On 64 bit environments theoretically more connections can be monitored as the 1 Gb limit no longer applies, however testing of this has been limited. Co-existence with Performance Analysis If you are using Spotlight on SQL Server and Performance Analysis, observe the following. Spotlight on SQL Server and Performance Analysis (middleware) must be on separate disk volumes. This prevents out of disk space conditions which may affect monitoring. Spotlight on SQL Server and Performance Analysis repositories can co-exist when more than 25 SQL Server instances are monitored provided the hardware specifications of the machine that the repositories are installed on are adequate. 9

10 4 Spotlight Client View Spotlight data and comprehensively configure Spotlight in a Spotlight Client. Installation The Spotlight Client is installed on a Windows server. The Spotlight Client is installed with Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise. For more information, see Install on page 48. A Spotlight Client can be installed on the same Windows server as the Spotlight Diagnostic Server but does not have to be. Many Spotlight Clients can connect to one Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Deployment Use a Spotlight Client to configure the Spotlight Diagnostic Server and other components of the deployment. Spotlight Diagnostic Server Spotlight Essentials Playback Database Spotlight Statistics Use the Spotlight Client to Configure the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Where there are multiple Spotlight Diagnostic Server the Spotlight Client can connect to (configure) one Spotlight Diagnostic Server (deployment) at a time. Use the Spotlight Client to Configure uploading to Spotlight Essentials. This Spotlight Essentials configuration services all systems connected to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Use the Spotlight Client to configure the Playback Database. One Playback Database services all systems connected to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Use the Spotlight Client to configure the Spotlight Statistics Repository and generate reports. One Spotlight Statistics Repository services all systems connected to the Spotlight Diagnostic 10

11 Repository Monitored systems in the deployment Server. Use the Spotlight Client to manage monitored connections. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server collects data from monitored connections that is then supplied in real time to Spotlight Clients and where applicable Spotlight Essentials through to Spotlight Mobile. Spotlight Client requirements Table 1: Client requirements Requirement Platform Memory Hard disk space Details 1 GHz Pentium 4 PC 1 GB RAM 200 MB This space should exist on a local disk drive rather than a network drive. Operating system Microsoft Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit) Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (64-bit) Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit) Screen resolution Minimum Resolution: 1280x1024 DPI scaling is supported for large fonts, Windows 8.1 and above. CD-ROM drive or Internet connection This is required for installation only. Table 2: Additional software requirements Requirement SQL Server Client Tools Details Required to use the Discovery Wizard to locate SQL Servers on your network. SQL Server Client Tools can be found on the Microsoft SQL Server installation media. Client Connectivity Tools - Required to monitor an Analysis Services server. 11

12 Requirement.NET Details It is recommended that the latest.net be installed. Minimum.NET 4.5..NET is required for the Performance Health drilldowns and the Spotlight Report Viewer. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later. Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) MDAC includes the ODBC and other components that enable a connection to be established to a SQL Server database. The database may be local or remote. Your client machine must have MDAC 2.7 (or later) installed. MDAC is available from the Microsoft website: To find out the version of MDAC that you are currently running, you can download an application from the Microsoft website called the Component Checker Tool. Review the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article for more information: Microsoft Report Viewer 2010 Ensure the Microsoft Report Viewer is installed and operational. The redistributable package is available from: The Report Viewer is used to view the Reporting and Trending Reports. Permissions During operation, the Spotlight Client requires write access to the following file locations: C:\ProgramData\Quest Software\Spotlight C:\ProgramData\Quest Software\Shared C:\Users\<current user>\appdata\roaming\quest Software 12

13 Spotlight Essentials View Spotlight data in your favorite web browser. Monitoring features on the Spotlight Essentials web site include a heat map, an alarms list, alarm details and the ability to snooze and acknowledge alarms. Sign in with Spotlight Essentials credentials to Configuration 1. Create a Spotlight Essentials account if you do not already have one. Go to the Spotlight Essentials web site. 2. Use a Spotlight Client to Configure uploading to Spotlight Essentials. Data is uploaded from the Spotlight Diagnostic Server to Spotlight Essentials. TIP: In a corporate enterprise your Spotlight Essentials account may receive a request to join an organization. You may create an organization through your Spotlight Essentials account. Many Spotlight Essentials accounts can join and leave an organization. Performance analysis data is uploaded to the organization and is available to all members of the organization. Members of the organization see a combined heat map and alarms list. Deployment One Spotlight Essentials account can be configured to multiple Spotlight Diagnostic Server (deployments). Spotlight Diagnostic Server Data is uploaded from the Spotlight Diagnostic Server to Spotlight Essentials. Ensure the Spotlight Diagnostic Server has access to the Internet. For more information, see Access to the Internet on page 19. Use the Spotlight Client to Configure uploading to Spotlight Essentials. A Spotlight Diagnostic Server can be configured to one Spotlight Essentials account. The address of the Spotlight 13

14 Diagnostic Server is managed in the Spotlight Client. Playback Database Spotlight Statistics Repository Monitored systems in the deployment One Playback Database services all systems serviced by the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Use a Spotlight Client to configure the Playback Database. Use a Spotlight Client to access the Spotlight Statistics Repository. Use a Spotlight Client to manage the connections monitored by the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. 14

15 Spotlight Mobile Monitor Spotlight connections on your favorite mobile device. The Spotlight Mobile app is available for native Windows 8, Windows 8 Phone, ipad, iphone and android app. For more information see the Spotlight Essentials web site. Monitoring features include a heat map, alarms list and alarm details. You can snooze and acknowledge alarms. Configuration 1. Create a Spotlight Essentials account if you do not already have one. Go to the Spotlight Essentials web site. 2. Use a Spotlight Client to Configure uploading to Spotlight Essentials. 3. Download and Install Spotlight Mobile. Refer to the Spotlight Essentials web site. 4. Sign in to Spotlight Mobile with your Spotlight Essentials account. Deployment Spotlight Mobile monitors data from all Spotlight Essentials accounts configured to the Spotlight Mobile device. Spotlight Diagnostic Server Playback Database Spotlight Statistics Repository Monitored systems in the deployment The address of the Spotlight Diagnostic Server is managed in the Spotlight Client. Use the Spotlight Client to stop / start monitoring the Spotlight Diagnostic Server (deployment) through Spotlight Essentials by Configure uploading to Spotlight Essentials. One Playback Database services all systems serviced by the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Use a Spotlight Client to configure the Playback Database. Use a Spotlight Client to access the Spotlight Statistics Repository. Use a Spotlight Client to manage the connections monitored by the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. 15

16 5 Spotlight Diagnostic Server The Spotlight Diagnostic Server is at the core of the Spotlight on SQL Server architecture. All Spotlight data passes through the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server collects data regardless of whether a Spotlight client is connected. As data is collected only once, there is no unnecessary replication of data. Data is evaluated on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server so that all Spotlight clients receive consistent information. Historical data is saved in one place, avoiding unnecessary replication of data. Installation The Spotlight Diagnostic Server is a Windows service. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server is installed with Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise. For more information, see Install on page 48. Consider installing the Spotlight Diagnostic Server on a computer that is always switched on. Internet access is required where Spotlight Essentials is in use or Auto Update enabled. Deployment Spotlight Client Spotlight Essentials Spotlight Mobile Playback Database Spotlight Statistics Repository The Diagnostic Server supplies data in real time to Spotlight Client(s) and where applicable Spotlight Essentials through to Spotlight Mobile. Use a Spotlight Client to Configure Spotlight Diagnostic Server and configure the uploading of data to Spotlight Essentials. Where Spotlight Essentials is in use the Spotlight Diagnostic Server requires access to the Internet. One Playback Database services all systems connected to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Use a Spotlight Client to configure the Playback Database. Enable use of the Spotlight Statistics Repository in a Spotlight Client. One Spotlight Statistics Repository services all systems connected to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. 16

17 Monitored systems in the deployment The Spotlight Diagnostic Server collects data from monitored connections that is then supplied in real time to Spotlight Clients and where applicable Spotlight Essentials through to Spotlight Mobile. Use a Spotlight Client to manage the monitoring of connections. Additional Access to the Internet Network ports on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server Back up Spotlight configuration data Start and stop the Spotlight Diagnostic Server The Spotlight Diagnostic Server requires access to the Internet when using Auto Update or Spotlight Essentials. Ensure in the deployment of Spotlight on SQL Server that the following ports are open. Spotlight configuration data is stored in the conf folder on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. You can perform backups of the Spotlight configuration data by backing up this folder regularly. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server is a Windows service and can be started and stopped via the Windows Control Panel. Spotlight Diagnostic Server requirements Table 3: Spotlight Diagnostic Server requirements Requirement Platform Memory Hard disk space Details 2 GHz Pentium Dual Core 2 GB RAM 300 MB If the Diagnostic Server s connection to the Spotlight Statistics Repository or Playback database is interrupted, the Diagnostic Server will cache data to the local disk. In this event, an extra 2 MB per hour, per monitored server is required. Operating system Microsoft Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit) 17

18 Requirement Details Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (64-bit) Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit) NOTE: The Diagnostic Server is not supported on a cluster or High Availability Always On..NET.NET 3.5 or later. Table 4: Additional software requirements Requirement SQL Server Client Tools Details Required to use the Discovery Wizard to locate SQL Servers on your network. SQL Server Client Tools can be found on the Microsoft SQL Server installation media. Client Connectivity Tools - Required to monitor an Analysis Services server. SQL Server Management Tools Required to monitor an Analysis Services server, a SQL Server Replication environment, and the use of Session Trace and SQL Analysis when monitoring a SQL Server. The SQL Server Management Tools are available from any SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2012 or SQL Server 2014 edition except SQL Server Express and SQL Server Compact. The version required corresponds to the latest version of SQL Server that you are monitoring. Note, if you are monitoring SQL Server 2000 servers, you need the Management Tools from SQL Server Internet Access Required by Auto Update and Spotlight Essentials and monitoring of your Spotlight connections from your favorite mobile device. Account permissions on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server During operation the Spotlight Diagnostic Server requires write access to the PROGRAM FILES folder. The minimum Windows privilege level required to run the Spotlight Diagnostic Server is Power User. If the Spotlight Diagnostic Server is in a different domain to the domain that the Spotlight Clients are in, the domain that the Spotlight Diagnostic Server is in must trust the domain that the Spotlight Client users are in. 18

19 Network ports on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server Port Description 3843 This is the default port for retrieving data on the network. This port must be open on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. TCP 3166 This is the default port for the data collection subsystem of the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. No external connections are required on this port. If a firewall is installed on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server then ensure this port is open. TCP 443 This port is used by Spotlight Essentials. Ensure this port is open when Spotlight Essentials is enabled. For more information, see Configure uploading to Spotlight Essentials on page 57. If the Spotlight Diagnostic Server and Spotlight Client are installed on different host computers Port TCP Description Open port TCP if you intend to use the Alarm Actions feature of Spotlight. For more information, see Configure on page 53. Access to the Internet The Spotlight Diagnostic Server requires access to the Internet: When Auto Update is enabled. When uploading of performance data to Spotlight Essentials. For more information, see Configure uploading to Spotlight Essentials on page 57. When monitoring of your Spotlight connections from your favorite mobile device. For more information, see Configure uploading to Spotlight Essentials on page 57. Windows Control Panel Internet Options Connections On the computer hosting the Spotlight Diagnostic Server: 1. Open the Control Panel Internet Options. 2. Select the Connections tab. 3. Click LAN Settings. 4. Ensure the settings on this screen are appropriate to the settings of your local environment. NOTE: After the Spotlight Diagnostic Server is installed, restart the Spotlight Diagnostic Server after changes are made. For instructions see Start and stop the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. 19

20 Windows Control Panel Internet Options Advanced On the computer hosting the Spotlight Diagnostic Server: 1. Open the Control Panel Internet Options. 2. Select the Advanced tab. 3. Ensure Use HTTP 1.1 and Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy connections are selected. NOTE: After the Spotlight Diagnostic Server is installed, restart the Spotlight Diagnostic Server after changes are made. For instructions see Start and stop the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Verification Verify access to the Spotlight Essentials web site. Use a web browser to look up the following URLs. Look up URL Description Display of the Spotlight Essentials home page confirms HTTPS port 443 is open. Display of the text Welcome to Spotlight Web API! confirms access for uploading. 20

21 6 Playback Database Recent history is stored in the playback database. Deployment The Playback Database is deployed on SQL Server. The Playback Database is created on install of Spotlight on SQL Server. For more information, see Install on page 48. One Playback Database services all systems connected to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Configuration Use a Spotlight Client to Configure the Playback Database. Additional Maintenance plan for Spotlight Statistics Repository and Playback Database Spotlight can automatically run maintenance procedures for the Playback Database. Due to its nature, it is highly recommended that regular maintenance is performed to maintain efficient data retrieval. Playback Database requirements Table 5: Playback database requirements Requirement Database sizing Hard disk space Details The MS Model database is used. The database size usually starts at about 3MB (data size) and 1MB (log size). Requires approximately 270 MB for each monitored SQL Server instance 21

22 Requirement Details and the corresponding monitored Windows host on which the SQL Server instance resides. Retains 7 days of historical data for each connection in the playback database by default. This is configurable. This estimate assumes default configuration in an average environment. Actual space used will depend on your environment and any data collection/storage configuration changes that are made. For more information, see the Spotlight on SQL Server Sizing Wizard. You can access the wizard from the Spotlight Installation Center. SQL Server The playback database can be installed on: SQL Server 2014 SQL Server 2012 SQL Server 2008 R2 SQL Server 2008 SQL Server 2005 NOTE: Due to the size of the playback database, it is recommended that this database is not installed on a SQL Express instance. The playback database is not supported on a cluster or High Availability Always On. The playback database cannot be installed on SQL Server Other requirements The SQL Browser service must be running on the machine where the playback database is installed. Alternatively you can use the host and port number of the (named) SQL Server instance you want to connect to, when creating a connection and connecting to the playback database. Use the following syntax: HOST,PORT Where HOST is the machine name and PORT is the port for the (named) SQL Server instance. For more information, see Configure the Spotlight Statistics Repository on page 55. The TCP protocol must be enabled on the instance where the playback database resides. Maintenance The Diagnostic Server runs maintenance procedures daily at 3am for the playback database. This is configurable. It is highly recommended that regular maintenance is performed on the playback database. The recommended maintenance plan is outlined in the online help and in this guide. For more information, see Maintenance plan for Spotlight Statistics Repository and Playback Database on page

23 7 Spotlight Statistics Repository NOTE: This feature is available only in Spotlight on SQL ServerEnterprise. Long term history for reporting and trending is stored in the Spotlight Statistics Repository. Deployment The Spotlight Statistics Repository is deployed on SQL Server. Enable use of the Spotlight Statistics Repository in the Spotlight Client. Create the Spotlight Statistics Repository in the Spotlight Client. One Spotlight Statistics Repository services all systems connected to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Configuration Use a Spotlight Client to enable, create and Configure the Spotlight Statistics Repository. Additional Maintenance plan for Spotlight Statistics Repository and Playback Database Spotlight can automatically run maintenance procedures for the Spotlight Statistics Repository. It is highly recommended that regular maintenance is performed to maintain efficient data retrieval. 23

24 Spotlight Statistics Repository requirements Table 6: Spotlight Statistics Repository Requirements Requirement Database sizing Hard Disk Space Details The MS Model database is used. The database size usually starts at about 3MB (data size) and 1MB (log size). Approximately 1.2 GB for each monitored SQL Server instance and the corresponding monitored Windows host on which the SQL Server instance resides. This estimate assumes default configuration in an average environment. Actual space used will depend on your environment and any data collection/storage configuration changes that are made. For more information, see the Spotlight on SQL Server Sizing Wizard. You can access the wizard from the Spotlight Installation Center. SQL Server The Spotlight Statistics Repository can be installed on: SQL Server 2014 SQL Server 2012 SQL Server 2008 R2 SQL Server 2008 SQL Server 2005 NOTE: Due to the size of the Spotlight Statistics Repository, it is recommended that this database is not installed on a SQL Express instance. The Spotlight Statistics Repository is not supported on a cluster or High Availability Always On. The Spotlight Statistics Repository cannot be installed on SQL Server Other Requirements The SQL Browser service must be running on the machine where the Spotlight Statistics Repository is installed. Alternatively you can use the host and port number of the (named) SQL Server instance you want to connect to, when creating a connection and connecting to the Spotlight Statistics Repository. Use the following syntax: HOST,PORT Where HOST is the machine name and PORT is the port for the (named) SQL Server instance. For more information, see Configure the Spotlight Statistics Repository on page 55. The TCP protocol must be enabled on the instance where the Spotlight Statistics Repository resides. Maintenance By default, the Diagnostic Server runs maintenance procedures daily at 3am for the Spotlight Statistics Repository. It is highly recommended that regular maintenance is performed on the Spotlight Statistics Repository. The recommended maintenance plan is outlined in the online help and in this guide. For more information, see Maintenance plan for Spotlight Statistics Repository and Playback Database on page

25 Monitored systems in the deployment Spotlight monitors the following categories of connections. Connections Monitored SQL Servers Database cloud service Monitored Windows servers and hosts of database connections Virtualization Description Connect Spotlight to SQL Server instances. Connect Spotlight to SQL Azure. Connect Spotlight to Windows servers including the hosts of monitored SQL Server instances. Connect Spotlight to virtual environments and virtual guest machines in a virtual environment. NOTE: Spotlight on SQL Server is designed to monitor a maximum of 100 SQL Servers, Analysis Services or Replication instances and 100 Windows servers. Exceeding this recommended limit on 32 bit environments may result in poor performance or product instability, due to the 1 Gb memory limit. On 64 bit environments theoretically more connections can be monitored as the 1 Gb limit no longer applies, however testing of this has been limited. Configuration The Spotlight Diagnostic Server collects data from monitored connections. Use a Spotlight Client to manage the connections monitored by Spotlight. Deployment Spotlight Client Spotlight Essentials Spotlight Mobile Spotlight Diagnostic Server View Spotlight data on Spotlight Client(s) and where configured on the Spotlight Essentials web site and Spotlight Mobile. Configure the Spotlight deployment in a Spotlight Client. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server collects data from monitored connections that is then supplied in real time to Spotlight Clients and where applicable Spotlight Essentials through to Spotlight Mobile. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server collects data regardless of whether a Spotlight client is connected. As data is 25

26 collected only once, there is no unnecessary replication of data. Data is evaluated on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server so that all Spotlight clients receive consistent information. Playback Database Spotlight Statistics Repository Recent history is stored in the playback database. One Playback Database services all systems connected to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Long term history for reporting and trending is stored in the Spotlight Statistics Repository. One Spotlight Statistics Repository services all systems connected to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. 26

27 8 Monitored systems supported Table 7: Spotlight on SQL Server is able to monitor the following connections Requirement SQL Server Details Spotlight can monitor SQL Server instances of the following versions: SQL Server 2014 (32-bit and 64-bit) SQL Server 2012 (32-bit and 64-bit) SQL Server 2008 R2 (32-bit and 64-bit) SQL Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit) SQL Server 2005 (32-bit and 64-bit) Spotlight on SQL Server also supports MSDE (2000), SQL Express (2005) and SQL Server 2008 Express Edition. Note that use of these versions to host playback or Spotlight Statistics Repository databases is not supported. Spotlight continues to monitor SQL Server 2000 instances Service Pack 3 or later, however no further support (fixes) will be provided. Spotlight cannot monitor earlier versions of SQL Server (version 7.x and earlier). Spotlight supports all SQL Server sort orders, including case-sensitive and binary sort orders. Spotlight cannot monitor SQL Server instances where the instance name contains non-us ASCII characters. Database Cloud Service Windows Server Spotlight can be used to monitor SQL Azure. Spotlight can monitor the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit) Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (64-bit) Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (32-bit and 64-bit), however as this operating system is deprecated, WMI issues will no longer be 27

28 Requirement Details investigated by support. On each monitored instance, Spotlight requires the network setting "File and Print Sharing" to be enabled and any firewall to be configured to: open port 1434 for UDP packets open the SQL Server TCP port (default is 1433) Virtualization Spotlight can monitor virtual environments and virtual guest machines in a virtual environment. The following is supported: VMware ESX infrastructure. VMware vcenter 2.5 (or later). VMware ESX Server 4.0 (or later) Hyper-V 6.2 and above. The username used to connect to the virtual guest machine must have at least a read-only role. Connection Limit Spotlight on SQL Server is designed to monitor a maximum of 100 SQL Servers, Analysis Services or Replication instances and 100 Windows servers. Exceeding this recommended limit on 32 bit environments may result in poor performance or product instability, due to the 1 Gb memory limit. On 64 bit environments theoretically more connections can be monitored as the 1 Gb limit no longer applies, however testing of this has been limited. 28

29 9 Monitored SQL Servers This section refers to the SQL Servers that Spotlight monitors. Section SQL Server account permissions SQL Server performance counters Network ports and SQL Server connections Description Ensure each SQL Server connection from the Spotlight Diagnostic Server has access to a SQL Server account that is a member of the sysadmin server role. Spotlight on SQL Server uses sys.dm_os_performance_counters (sysperfinfo for SQL Server 2000) to retrieve data for many of its displays. In some rare cases, this table may not contain information. The port connection to the SQL Server must be open for data to be retrievable over the network. SQL Server account permissions Ensure each SQL Server connection from the Spotlight Diagnostic Server has access to a SQL Server account that is a member of the sysadmin server role. This can be a SQL Server login (such as 'sa'), or the Spotlight Diagnostic Server can be installed to run under a Windows account that is trusted by SQL Server. Alternatively, run the following SQL script (as sysadmin) to grant the required permissions to user TrustedUser. Note the comment lines at the end of the script and un-comment as appropriate for your environment. use master grant ALTER TRACE to TrustedUser grant VIEW SERVER STATE to TrustedUser grant VIEW ANY DEFINITION to TrustedUser USE [master] GO CREATE USER [TrustedUser] FOR LOGIN [TrustedUser] GO USE [msdb] 29

30 GO CREATE USER [TrustedUser] FOR LOGIN [TrustedUser] GO grant VIEW DATABASE STATE to TrustedUser use msdb EXECUTE = = 'TrustedUser' use msdb EXECUTE = = 'TrustedUser' grant select on dbo.log_shipping_monitor_history_detail to TrustedUser grant select on dbo.log_shipping_monitor_primary to TrustedUser grant select on dbo.log_shipping_monitor_secondary to TrustedUser grant select on dbo.log_shipping_primary_databases to TrustedUser grant select on dbo.log_shipping_secondary_databases to TrustedUser grant select on dbo.log_shipping_primary_secondaries to TrustedUser grant select on dbo.log_shipping_primaries to TrustedUser grant select on dbo.log_shipping_secondary to TrustedUser grant select on dbo.log_shipping_secondaries to TrustedUser grant select on dbo.sysjobs to TrustedUser grant select on dbo.sysalerts to TrustedUser grant select on dbo.sysjobhistory to TrustedUser grant execute on dbo.sp_help_jobhistory to TrustedUser grant select on msdb.dbo.syssessions to TrustedUser grant select on msdb.dbo.sysjobactivity to TrustedUser use master grant EXECUTE on xp_servicecontrol to TrustedUser grant EXECUTE on xp_enumerrorlogs to TrustedUser grant EXECUTE on xp_readerrorlog to TrustedUser grant EXECUTE on xp_sqlagent_enum_jobs to TrustedUser grant execute on xp_regread to TrustedUser int 30

31 sysname nvarchar(4000) table ( row int identity, name sysname ) insert (name) select name from master.dbo.sysdatabases; > 0 begin =name where row = N'USE ' + quotename(@dbname) + N'CREATE USER [TrustedUser] FOR LOGIN [TrustedUser]'; exec (@use) - 1 end -----un-comment the following line for SQL Server 2008 and above. --Grant CONTROL SERVER to TrustedUser -----un-comment the following line for SQL Server 2012 and above. --Grant ALTER ANY EVENT SESSION to TrustedUser SQL Server performance counters Spotlight on SQL Server uses sys.dm_os_performance_counters (sysperfinfo for SQL Server 2000) to retrieve data for many of its displays. In some rare cases, this table may not contain information. When this is the case, Spotlight on SQL Server will not be able to collect the data it requires, and will display "0" for many of its components. Most obvious will be the Memory icons on the home page, which will show 0 MB of memory used by SQL Server. Also, many of the flows on the home page will show no activity, and many drilldowns will show incomplete information. Spotlight on SQL Server raises an informational alarm shortly after connecting if it detects that the sysperfinfo or sys.dm_os_performance_counters table contains no data. You can confirm the existence of this problem by running the following SQL in the appropriate version of SQL Server Management Studio for SQL Server: select * from sys.dm_os_performance_counters or for SQL Server 2000 by running the following SQL in Query Analyzer: select * from master..sysperfinfo If this query returns no records, then your SQL Server performance counters are missing and Spotlight on SQL Server will not be able to operate correctly. 31

32 Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, the SQL Server Performance Monitor counters will not show up as they should. Often, but not always, this problem can be fixed by following these steps. To enable performance counters 1. At the command prompt, type the following: unlodctr.exe MSSQLServer 2. Then type: lodctr.exe <SQL Server path>\binn\sqlctr.ini 3. Reboot the server. More information can be found in the SQL Server Knowledge Base at Network ports and SQL Server connections Ensure ports are open as outlined in the Microsoft KBase article that describes SQL Server firewall connectivity issues. 32

33 10 Monitored Windows servers and hosts of database connections This section refers to the Windows servers that Spotlight monitors and the Windows servers that host the database connections that Spotlight monitors. Section Windows account permissions Windows domains Enable disk counters Network ports and Windows connections / Windows hosts How to limit the number of ports used by WMI Monitoring the Spotlight Diagnostic Server Description The Spotlight Diagnostic Server executes WMI queries against the Windows server on which the SQL Server is currently running. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server needs to have access to a Windows account that can retrieve this information. This account will normally be a member of the Administrators group on the server. Spotlight can only connect to Windows servers and databases hosted on Windows servers in a domain. Spotlight cannot connect to Windows servers in a workgroup. Spotlight on SQL Server cannot display some disk information properly unless the Windows server host has disk performance counters enabled. The port connection to the SQL Server must be open for data to be retrievable over the network. In order to effectively use WMI between fire walled hosts, you can limit the number of ports used by the DCOM subsystem and only open those ports. To monitor the Windows server that hosts the Spotlight Diagnostic Server, Windows requires that the Spotlight connection use Windows authentication. Windows account permissions To retrieve performance counter information, the Spotlight Diagnostic Server executes WMI queries against the Windows server on which the SQL Server is currently running. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server needs to have access to a Windows account that can retrieve this information. This account will normally be a member of the Administrators group on the server. 33

34 This account is defined when configuring the connection. For more information, see Configure Connections on page 54. You may experience problems with WMI. For more information, see Troubleshooting WMI on page 39. How to configure WMI with minimum required user permissions In some environments it may not be feasible to connect to the Windows server with an account that is a member of the Administrators group. The following instructions are provided for these environments. Note that there are known issues with this procedure as documented below. 1. Setup permission to read data 2. Grant permissions to get information about services 3. Provide access to the Registry keys used by Spotlight 4. Run Windows Component Services 5. Configure WMI permissions Following are known issues with configuring WMI with minimum required permissions Known Issue The OpenSessions collection Description The OpenSessions collection sends a list of the open Windows network sessions to your server. The list includes who is connected and from where, how long they have been connected and how many files they have open. The OpenSessions collection is used in: The Windows Server Home Page Network panel Open Sessions count. The Network Drilldown Sessions page. Spotlight does not alarm on this data. The Physical Disk Drive collection The Physical Disk Drive collection populates the Disks Drilldown Disk Summary page. This drilldown contains a list of the physical disks installed on the server. Its data is relatively static as it only changes when disks are added, removed or repartitioned. Inside of this known issue a Generic Failure error will be returned. 1. Setup permission to read data NOTE: This is step 1 of the procedure for how to Configure WMI with minimum required user permissions. Spotlight User is the windows user that will be used in the connection to the Windows server and/or Windows host of the database connection. For more information, see Configure Connections on page

35 1. Click Control Panel Administrative Tools Computer Management to open the Computer Management dialog. 2. Double click Local Users and Groups Groups. 3. Double click Performance Log Users. Add the Spotlight User to this group. OK. 4. Double click Performance Monitor Users. Add the Spotlight User to this group. OK. 2. Grant permissions to get information about services NOTE: This is step 2 of the procedure for how to Configure WMI with minimum required user permissions. Spotlight User is the windows user that will be used in the connection to the Windows server and/or Windows host of the database connection. For more information, see Configure Connections on page 54. Retrieve the user SID From the Windows command prompt, type powershell and click Enter to open the Powershell. Run the following command to retrieve the user SID of the Spotlight User. Replace domainname and username with the domain name and user name for the Spotlight User account. [wmi]"win32_useraccount.domain='domainname',name='username'" Retrieve the current SDDL for the Services Control Manager From the Windows command prompt, run the following command to retrieve the current SDDL for the Services Control Manager. The SDDL is saved in the file called file.txt. sc sdshow scmanager > file.txt The SDDL looks something like this. For more information see Microsoft KB D:(A;;CC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;SU)(A;;CCLCRPWPRC;;;SY)(A;;KA;;;BA)S: (AU;FA;KA;;;WD)(AU;OIIOFA;GA;;;WD) Modify the SDDL Copy the section of the SDDL that ends in IU (Interactive Users). This section is one complete bracketed clause ie (A;;CCLCRPRC;;;IU). Paste this clause directly after the clause you copied from. In the new text, replace IU with the user SID of the Spotlight User. The new SDDL looks something like the following: D:(A;;CC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;IU) (A;;CCLCRPRC;;;S A Z )(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;SU)(A;;CCLCRPWPRC;;;SY)(A;;KA;;;BA) S:(AU;FA;KA;;;WD) (AU;OIIOFA;GA;;;WD) Set the security credentials for accessing the Service Control Manager The sdset command on sc sets the security credentials for accessing the Service Control Manager (scmanager). Note the permissions on scmanager are being replaced. Setting security credentials is not additive. That s why 35

36 we needed to copy the existing permissions. sc sdset scmanager "D:(A;;CC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;SU) (A;;CCLCRPWPRC;;;SY)(A;;KA;;;BA)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;S A Z )S:(AU;FA;KA;;;WD)(AU;OIIOFA;GA;;;WD)" 3. Provide access to the Registry keys used by Spotlight NOTE: This is step 3 of the procedure for how to Configure WMI with minimum required user permissions. Spotlight User is the windows user that will be used in the connection to the Windows server and/or Windows host of the database connection. For more information, see Configure Connections on page 54. On the Windows server and/or Windows host of the database connection in RegEdit open the following nodes. On each node HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control 1. Right click and select Permissions. 2. Add the Spotlight User. OK. 3. Select the Spotlight User. Select Read access. 4. Run Windows Component Services NOTE: This is step 4 of the procedure for how to Configure WMI with minimum required user permissions. Spotlight User is the windows user that will be used in the connection to the Windows server and/or Windows host of the database connection. For more information, see Configure Connections on page 54. From the Windows command prompt, type dcomcnfg and click Enter to open the Component Services dialog. Configure COM security 1. From the Component Services dialog click Computers My Computer. 2. Right click My Computer and select Properties. 3. From the Properties dialog, click COM Security. 4. From Access Permissions, click Edit Limits. a. Add the Spotlight User. b. Allow Remote Access. 36

37 c. Click OK to close the Access Permission dialog and save changes. 5. From Launch and Activation Permissions, click Edit Limits. a. Add the Spotlight User. b. Allow Remote Launch and Remote Activation. c. Click OK to close the Launch and Activation Permission dialog. 6. Click Ok to close the Properties dialog and save changes. Configure DCOM security 1. From the Component Services dialog double click Computers My Computer DCOM Config Windows Management and Instrumentation. 2. Right click Windows Management and Instrumentation Properties. 3. Click Security Launch and Activation Permissions Edit. a. Add the Spotlight User. b. Allow Remote Launch and Remote Activation. c. Click OK to close the Launch and Activation Permission dialog and save changes. 4. Click OK to close the Windows Management and Instrumentation Properties dialog and save changes. 5. Configure WMI permissions NOTE: This is step 5 of the procedure for how to Configure WMI with minimum required user permissions. Spotlight User is the windows user that will be used in the connection to the Windows server and/or Windows host of the database connection. For more information, see Configure Connections on page 54. From the Windows command prompt, type wmimgmt.msc and click Enter to open the WmiMgmt dialog. 1. Right click WMI Control (Local) Properties. 2. Click Security. 3. Expand the Root node. Select cimv2. 4. Click the Security button to open security settings for WMI on this computer. 5. Click Advanced to open the advanced security settings for this WMI namespace. Add the Spotlight User. Click Edit. Allow: Execute Methods Enable Account Remote Enable Read Security Ensure these permissions apply to this namespace and all the namespaces under it by selecting This namespace and subnamespaces in the Apply to drop down box. 37

38 Click OK to save the new permissions. 6. Click OK to close the Advanced Security Settings dialog. Click OK to close the Security for ROOT dialog. 7. Returning to the Root node, select DEFAULT. 8. Click the Security button to open security settings for DEFAULT. 9. Click Advanced to open the advanced security settings. Add the Spotlight User. Click Edit. Allow: Execute Methods Enable Account Remote Enable Read Security Ensure these permissions apply to this namespace and all the namespaces under it by selecting This namespace and subnamespaces in the Apply to drop down box. Click OK to save the new permissions. 10. Click OK to close all dialogs. Windows domains Spotlight can only connect to Windows servers and databases hosted on Windows servers in a domain. Spotlight cannot connect to Windows servers in a workgroup. To use Windows Authentication to connect to a SQL Server, and the SQL server is in a different domain to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server, the domain that the Spotlight Diagnostic Server account resides in must be trusted by the Domain that the SQL Server is in. Enable disk counters Spotlight on SQL Server cannot display some disk information properly unless the Windows server being monitored has disk performance counters enabled. This affects the Disk Activity component on the home page, various I/O charts on the SQL I/O Activity tab and Windows Activities drilldowns, and disk graphs on the Databases drilldown. Spotlight on SQL Server raises the Disk Counters alarm if it detects that disk counters are not enabled on the Windows server being monitored. To enable disk data collection 1. Open a command line window on the Windows server. 2. Type the following at the command prompt: diskperf -y 3. Restart the Windows server. 38

39 Network ports and Windows connections / Windows hosts Data must be retrievable over your network The port connection to the SQL Server must be open for data to be retrievable over the network TCP/IP 1433 by default How to limit the number of ports used by WMI Windows WMI uses the RPC and DCOM subsystems in Windows. The ports that are used in WMI are autonegotiated between hosts. In order to effectively use WMI between fire walled hosts, you can limit the number of ports used by the DCOM subsystem and only open those ports. The following outlines instructions to limit the number of ports that DCOM will use. Follow these instructions on each monitored host. 1. Open regedt32.exe 2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Rpc 3. If there is no subkey titled "Internet", create one. 4. Inside the Internet key, create a REG_MULTI_SZ value named "Ports". Each line of the Ports value should specify a range of ports available to DCOM. For this example, add a single line that reads " ". 5. Add a new REG_SZ value named "PortsInternetAvailable", set it to "Y" 6. Add a new REG_SZ value named "UseInternetPorts", set it to "Y" 7. Open up TCP port 135 to internal traffic. (It may also be necessary to open up UDP 135) 8. Open up the DCOM port range (e.g ) to internal traffic. See the following link for more information: You may experience problems using WMI. For more information, see Troubleshooting WMI on page 39. Troubleshooting WMI Spotlight on SQL Server uses WMI queries to retrieve performance counter information from the Windows server on which SQL Server is running. Spotlight needs access to this information before it can connect to the Windows host and the SQL Server running on the Windows host. In addition to the following tests, you may want to consider a WMI Diagnostic Utility provided by Microsoft. It is a utility to help system administrators diagnose and repair problems with the WMI service. See: 39

40 WMI Test 1 This test checks that requests are reaching WMI. Run this test from the Windows server being monitored. 1. Click Control Panel Administrative Tools Event Viewer to open the Event Viewer. 2. Click View Show Analytic and Debug Logs to select this menu option. 3. Click Applications and Service Logs 4. Click to expand Microsoft Windows WMI-Activity 5. Right click Trace Enable Log. Tip: To save log entries, right click Trace Save All Events As. 6. If nothing is displayed then the request never reached WMI. The issue is a security or networking issue. If events with error messages are displayed then those events can be investigated. If you encounter WMI errors: For more information, see WMI errors on page 41. WMI Test 2 This test checks that Microsoft tools can connect to WMI. Run this test from the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. 1. Login to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server under the account used to run the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. 2. Click Control Panel Administrative Tools Computer Management. 3. Right click Computer Management (Local) Connect to another computer. 4. Specify the \\HOSTNAME where HOSTNAME is the name of machine you want to monitor with Spotlight. 5. Click Services and Applications. 6. Right click WMI Control Properties to open the WMI Control Properties dialog. 7. Ensure the General tab is open. If successful, try to monitor HOSTNAME with Spotlight again. WMI Test 3 This test checks that WMI is working and returns data properly. If you encounter WMI errors: For more information, see WMI errors on page Run this command on the machine you want to monitor. Run this command locally from the command prompt. wmic path Win32_PerfRawData_PerfDisk_LogicalDisk get FreeMegabytes 40

41 2. Run either of the following commands on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. wmic /node: HOSTNAME /user: DOMAIN\USER path Win32_OperatingSystem get BuildNumber, Caption, CSDVersion, Version or wmic /node: HOSTNAME /user: DOMAIN\USER path Win32_PerfRawData_PerfDisk_LogicalDisk get FreeMegabytes HOSTNAME DOMAIN\USER Identify the host computer you want to monitor with Spotlight. Use the fully qualified domain name, machine name or IP-address. Valid Windows login credentials. WMI errors The following is a guide to troubleshooting WMI errors. Error The RPC server is unavailable. Exception from HRESULT: 0x800706BA Solution Spotlight on SQL Server is not able to establish a connection with the Windows server to be monitored. Verify the following: The address of the server is entered correctly. Verify correct host name or IP address. For more information, see Configure Connections on page 54. Verify the host is available (not currently shut down). The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service is running on the Windows server to be monitored. Verity that "Remote Procedure Call (RPC)" is running and set to auto start after restart. TCP Port 135 is open to internal traffic on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server and the Windows server to be monitored. WMI opens an undetermined port in addition to port 135. This can be troublesome in a firewalled environment. Specifying a port range for WMI is recommended for this type of environment. For more information, see How to limit the number of ports used by WMI on page 39. The Windows server to be monitored is not blocked by the firewall. Either configure WMI to use a fixed ports range (For more information, see How to limit the number of ports used by WMI on page 39.) or enable remote administration exception. Follow these steps to enable remote administration exception. On the Windows server to be monitored: 1) Open the Group Policy Object Editor (gpedit.msc), open Computer Configuration Administrative Templates Network Network Connections Windows Firewall 2) Open either Domain Profile or Standard Profile, depending on which profile you want to configure. 41

42 Error Solution 3) Enable the following exceptions: "Allow Remote Administration Exception" and "Allow File and Printer Sharing Exception". The "TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper" service is running. Verity that "TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper" is running and set to auto start after restart. The "Windows Management Instrumentation" service is running on the Windows server to be monitored. Verity that "Windows Management Instrumentation" is running and set to auto start after restart. Access is denied. Exception from HRESULT: 0x (E_ ACCESSDENIE D) WMI connection time outs WMI query failed: Invalid class. [0x ] The Windows user specified is unknown to the Windows server or does not have administrator rights. For more information, see Windows account permissions on page 33. The timeout value defaults to the value DCOM specifies (usually 60 seconds). You can adjust this value via dcomcnfg.exe The WMI class does not exist on the Windows server being monitored. Solution: Recreate the WMI classes. Windows Connections Either of the following will recreate the WMI classes: Open a command prompt window and run the following command: wmiadap /f Use the Microsoft Extensible Counter List (Exctrlst) utility to enable the following counters: Win32_PerfDisk, Win32_PerfNet, Win32_PerfOS and Win32_PerfProc B7EC-4DA6-92AB BA4 A reboot of the Windows server is required. SQL Server Analysis Services Connections Either of the following will recreate the WMI classes: Open a command prompt window on the server hosting the SQL Server Analysis Services instance. Run the following command: 42

43 Error Solution wmiadap /f Unregister and re-register the WMI classes. To do so: 1. On the problematic machine with SQL Server Analysis Services installed, find out the SQL installation path. See below for the default installation path. Your installation path may be different. SQL Server Analysis Services 2014 C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS12.MSSQLSERVER\OLAP\bin\Counters SQL Server Analysis Services 2012 C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS11.MSSQLSERVER\OLAP\bin\Counters SQL Server Analysis Services 2008 C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS10.MSSQLSERVER\OLAP\bin\Counters SQL Server Analysis Services 2005 C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.2\OLAP\bin Note: You are looking for the folder that contains the following files: For unamed instances: MSSQLServerOLAPService perf-mssqlserverolapservicemsmdctr.ini For named instances: MSOLAP$Your_SSAS_NamedInstanceName perf-your_ssas_namedinstancenamemsmdctr.ini If you need to check the named instance name, use services.msc. 2. At the command prompt, change folder to the installation path. For example, cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS10.MSSQLSERVER\OLAP\bin\Counters 3. Run the following commands to unload and load counters: unamed instances named instances unlodctr MSSQLServerOLAPService lodctr perf-mssqlserverolapservicemsmdctr.ini unlodctr MSOLAP$Your_SSAS_NamedInstanceName lodctr perf-your_ssas_ NamedInstanceNamemsmdctr.ini Tip: Replace Your_SSAS_NamedInstanceName with the 43

44 Error Solution SQL Server Analysis Services named instance name. If you need to check the named instance name, use services.msc. 4. Run the following command to parse all the performance libraries on the Windows server and refresh the performance counter classes on the Windows server: wmiadap /f 5. Use wbemtest.exe to verify the WMI Classes exist. WMI query failed: Invalid query. [0x ] The columns returned by the WMI class are incomplete or unexpected. Solution: On the Windows server to be monitored, update the WMI classes by running the following command at the command prompt. wmiadap.exe /f See for more information. 0x User credentials cannot be used for local connections [0x800705af] This error occurs when wmic command is executed locally on the target machine and credentials specified The paging file is too small for this operation to complete. You may find the following link useful: WMI query failed: Out of memory. [0x ] 1. At the command prompt run "wbemtest" 2. Connect to the "root" namespace (not "root\default", just "root") 3. Click Open Instance. Specify " 4. Select Local Only for easier readability. You will see the threshold values. 5. Increase the MemoryPerHost value to something greater. For example, double it (256 MB) 6. Save Property 7. Save Object 8. Click Exit. 9. Restart WMI services. Invalid verb The wmic command has attempted to access a WMI class that does not exist. Solution: Check the spelling of parameters on the wmic command. Invalid Global The specified host, user or domain name contains special characters like '-' or '/'. 44

45 Error Switch Solution Solution: Modify the command by adding quotation marks. wmic /node: 'MonHostFQDN' /user: 'DOMAIN\USER' path Win32_PerfRawData_PerfDisk_ LogicalDisk get FreeMegabytes Monitoring the Spotlight Diagnostic Server To monitor the Windows server that hosts the Spotlight Diagnostic Server, Windows requires that the Spotlight connection use Windows authentication. In Configure Connections when creating / editing a Windows connection to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server host, select the Use Diagnostic Server credentials option. 45

46 11 Security in the deployment Running Spotlight on SQL Server in an environment with a firewall may require ports to be opened between the Spotlight Diagnostic Server and monitored SQL Servers and/or the Spotlight Diagnostic Server and Spotlight clients. Network ports on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server Network ports and SQL Server connections Network ports and Windows connections / Windows hosts SQL Server account permissions Windows account permissions How to limit the number of ports used by WMI Demilitarized zones (DMZ) Scenario: The Spotlight Diagnostic Server and monitored SQL Servers are inside a DMZ TCP 3843 The Spotlight Client communicates with the Spotlight Diagnostic Server using port 3843 TCP and UDP. These ports need to be opened on the firewall. UDP 3843 TCP Open port TCP if you intend to use the Alarm Actions feature of Spotlight. For more information, see Configure on page

47 Scenario: The Spotlight Diagnostic Server is outside a DMZ; the monitored SQL Servers are inside a DMZ TCP 3843 These are the UDP and TCP ports between the Spotlight Client and Spotlight Diagnostic Server. UDP 3843 UDP 1434 Open this port on the firewall to locate a SQL Server instance by port number. 47