Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise Deployment Guide

Transcription

1 Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise

2 2014 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 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 - October 2014 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 Security in the deployment 10 Demilitarized zones (DMZ) 10 Spotlight clients 12 Permissions 13 Spotlight Diagnostic Server 14 Account permissions on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server 15 Network ports on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server 15 If the Spotlight Diagnostic Server and Spotlight Client are installed on different host computers 16 Diagnostic Server - Access to the Internet 16 Windows Control Panel Internet Options Connections 16 Windows Control Panel Internet Options Advanced 16 Playback Database 18 Spotlight Statistics Repository 20 Monitored systems in the deployment 22 Monitored SQL Servers 24 SQL Server account permissions 24 SQL Server performance counters 25 Network ports and SQL Server connections 26 Monitored Windows servers and hosts of database connections 27 Windows account permissions 28 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 30 Configure COM security 31 3

4 Configure DCOM security Configure WMI permissions 31 Windows domains 32 Enable disk counters 32 Network ports and Windows connections / Windows hosts 33 How to limit the number of ports used by WMI 33 Troubleshooting WMI 34 WMI Test 1 34 WMI Test 2 34 WMI Test 3 34 WMI errors 35 Monitoring the Spotlight Diagnostic Server 39 Installation and upgrade 40 Permissions required during installation 40 Install 40 Upgrade 42 Monitoring your Spotlight on SQL Server connections on a mobile device 43 Preservation of configuration information 43 Uninstall 43 Configure 45 Configure Connections 46 Configure the Playback Database 46 Configure the Spotlight Statistics Repository 47 Configure uploading to Spotlight Essentials 48 Upload health check data to Spotlight Essentials 49 Upload mobile monitoring data to Spotlight Essentials 49 Spotlight Essentials account details 49 Spotlight diagnostic user groups 49 Spotlight user privileges within Spotlight 50 Membership to the Spotlight Diagnostic User Groups 52 Maintenance 54 Back up Spotlight configuration data 54 Start and stop the Spotlight Diagnostic Server 54 Maintenance plan for Spotlight Statistics Repository and Playback Database 54 Database configuration 55 Fragmentation and index performance 55 Database backup 55 About Dell 56 4

5 Contacting Dell 56 Technical support resources 56 Index 57 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 High Availability Yes No 6

7 Features Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise Spotlight on SQL Server Standard 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 System Spotlight Clients Spotlight Diagnostic Server Spotlight Playback Database Spotlight Statistics Repository Monitored Connections Description Spotlight data is viewed on a Spotlight Client. A Spotlight Client can be installed on the same machine as the Spotlight Diagnostic Server but doesn't have to be. There can be many Spotlight Clients. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server is at the core of the Spotlight on SQL Server architecture. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server connects to the monitored systems including the SQL Server instances being monitored. The Spotlight Diagnostic Server collects data that is then supplied in real time to the Spotlight clients. Recent history is stored in the Playback Database. Long term history for reporting and trending is stored in the Spotlight Statistics Repository. For more information, see Monitored systems in the deployment on page 22. 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 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

11 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. 11

12 5 Spotlight clients 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 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) 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. 12

13 Requirement.NET 4 or later Details.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: Windows 7 / Windows 2008 Server / Windows Vista C:\ProgramData\Quest Software\Spotlight C:\ProgramData\Quest Software\Shared C:\Users\<current user>\appdata\roaming\quest Software Windows 2003 Server C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Quest Software\Spotlight C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Quest Software\Shared C:\Documents and Settings\<current user>\application Data\Quest Software\Spotlight 13

14 6 Spotlight Diagnostic Server 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 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) 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) NOTE: The Diagnostic Server is not supported on a cluster..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. 14

15 Requirement SQL Server Management Tools Details 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. 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

16 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 45. Diagnostic Server - 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 48. When monitoring of your Spotlight connections from your favorite mobile device. For more information, see Configure uploading to Spotlight Essentials on page 48. 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. 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. 16

17 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. 17

18 7 Playback Database 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 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 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

19 Requirement Details 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

20 8 Spotlight Statistics Repository 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 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 47. 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 20

21 Requirement Details 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

22 Monitored systems in the deployment 9 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 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) 22

23 Requirement Details Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (32-bit and 64-bit) 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 guest machines in a VMware ESX infrastructure. The following versions are supported: VMware vcenter 2.5 (or later) VMware ESX Server 4.0 (or later) 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. 23

24 10 Monitored SQL Servers 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. 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] 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 24

25 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 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. 25

26 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. 26

27 11 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 Spotlight on SQL Server Release Notes 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. See the release notes for System Requirements. 27

28 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. This account is defined when configuring the connection. For more information, see Configure Connections on page 46. You may experience problems with WMI. For more information, see Troubleshooting WMI on page 34. 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. 28

29 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 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 46. 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: 29

30 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 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 46. 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 46. From the Windows command prompt, type dcomcnfg and click Enter to open the Component Services dialog. 30

31 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. 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 46. 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. 31

32 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. 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. 32

33 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. 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

34 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. 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 35. 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. 34

35 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 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 46. 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 33. 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 33.) or enable remote administration exception. 35

36 Error Solution 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. 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 28. 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. 36

37 Error Solution 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: 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 unlodctr MSSQLServerOLAPService 37

38 Error Solution instances named instances lodctr perf-mssqlserverolapservicemsmdctr.ini unlodctr MSOLAP$Your_SSAS_NamedInstanceName lodctr perf-your_ssas_ NamedInstanceNamemsmdctr.ini Tip: Replace Your_SSAS_NamedInstanceName with the 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. 38

39 Error Solution 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 Switch The specified host, user or domain name contains special characters like '-' or '/'. 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. 39

40 12 Installation and upgrade Permissions required during installation Spotlight requires write access to the following folders The Spotlight installation folder Default for the Enterprise Edition Spotlight client (32bit): C:\Program Files\Dell\Spotlight on SQL Server Default for the Enterprise Edition Spotlight client (64bit): C:\Program Files (x86)\dell\spotlight on SQL Server C:\Program Files\Common Files\Quest Shared Windows 7 / Windows 2008 Server / Windows Vista C:\ProgramData\Quest Software\Spotlight Windows 2003 Server C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Quest Software\Spotlight Elevated privileges In many cases, the Spotlight installer will run at elevated privileges in order to perform the required actions. These privileges can specifically be allowed or disallowed by system administrators by means of standard Microsoft Installer (MSI) policy settings. If the Spotlight Diagnostic Server user does not have privileges to start services, that privilege is granted by Spotlight during the installation process, if possible. Multiple users of a system If multiple users of a system install Spotlight for use, the additional users must be local administrators. Install Run the Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise installation executable. The Welcome screen presents a range of options beginning with the two types of installation: typical and compact. During installation you will be prompted to supply details for the Spotlight client, Spotlight Diagnostic Server and Playback Database. 40

41 Table 8: Types of installation Typical Compact Select to install the Spotlight on SQL Server client and/or Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Select to install the Spotlight on SQL Server client and Spotlight Diagnostic Server on the local computer. Table 9: About the Spotlight client installation Component Install location Description Default installation folder (32 bit system) C:\Program Files\Dell\Spotlight on SQL Server Default installation folder (64 bit system) C:\Program Files (x86)\dell\spotlight on SQL Server NOTE: Do not install the Spotlight client in the same location as an existing (but different entity of) Spotlight. If you install a different Spotlight after you have installed Spotlight on SQL ServerEnterprise, do not install the new Spotlight in the Spotlight on SQL ServerEnterprise directory. Table 10: About the Spotlight Diagnostic Server installation Component Install location Description Default installation folder for the Diagnostic Server (32bit and 64bit systems): C:\Program Files\Dell\Diagnostic Server During a Typical install the diagnostic server can be installed on a computer networked to this computer. Diagnostic Server Account The Spotlight Diagnostic Server will run under the specified account. Enter a domain user account or select the local system account. NOTE: When installing the Spotlight Diagnostic Server, Windows administrator privileges are required to register the Spotlight Diagnostic Server as a Windows service and to create the Windows user groups that are used to authenticate Spotlight clients. When installing the Spotlight Diagnostic Server on a remote machine, the Windows account on the Spotlight client must have Windows administrator privileges on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server host. The local computer must be able to authenticate this user. If you are installing the Spotlight Diagnostic Server on a remote machine, ensure the user credentials entered have 41

42 Component Description Windows administrator privileges on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server host and can be authenticated on the Spotlight client machine. The user is added to all Spotlight Diagnostic User Groups. If the user does not have privileges to start services the required privileges are granted by the Spotlight on SQL ServerEnterprise installation process. Diagnostic Server Users Autoupdate Diagnostic Server Add users to the Spotlight diagnostic user groups if required. For more information, see Spotlight diagnostic user groups on page 49. When selected the diagnostic server will receive minor updates (scripts and configuration) automatically. When not selected, all updates to the diagnostic server will require a new version and installation of Spotlight on SQL Server. NOTE: An outgoing HTTPS connection to a web site is used to retrieve the updates. Enabling of Auto-update does not open a port that allows incoming connections. Table 11: About the Playback Database installation Component Instance Authentication Database Description Select the Windows server to install the playback database on. The Playback database can be installed on the same server as the Spotlight client and Spotlight Diagnostic Server or a different server. Select Windows or SQL server authentication. Optionally rename the database. The default name is SpotlightPlaybackDatabase. If the database has not already been created, click Create to create the database. Upgrade You can upgrade only from Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise10.5 or 10. If you are using an earlier version of Spotlight, upgrade to 10 before upgrading to 11. To upgrade Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise 1. Back up the Diagnostic Server\Agent directory. C:\Program Files\Dell\Diagnostic Server\Agent 2. On each Spotlight client, run the Spotlight on SQL ServerEnterprise executable. NOTE: The playback database and Spotlight Statistics Repository are upgraded automatically. Your enterprise may have multiple Spotlight clients. Ensure all Spotlight clients are included in the upgrade process. If the Spotlight client and Spotlight Diagnostic Server are running different versions of Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise, the client will be unable to connect to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. 42

43 Spotlight on SQL ServerEnterprise and Spotlight on SQL ServerStandard are separate products. You cannot upgrade from Spotlight on SQL ServerStandard to Spotlight on SQL ServerEnterprise. Monitoring your Spotlight on SQL Server connections on a mobile device If you have monitored your Spotlight on SQL Server connections on a mobile device in the past and intend to continue then the following additional upgrade instructions are required. 1. Uninstall the Spotlight Web Publisher via Windows Control Panel Programs and Features. The Spotlight Web Publisher was required in the past to monitor SQL Server connections on a mobile device. It is now important that you uninstall it. By default the Spotlight Web Publisher was installed on the same computer as the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. 2. Start Spotlight. Click Configure Spotlight Essentials. Select Upload mobile monitoring data to Spotlight Essentials. Ensure your Spotlight Essentials account details are correct. Preservation of configuration information The following information on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server is preserved when you upgrade: Connection properties for all monitored servers (including changes to scheduling and alarms) Enterprise views Collection properties Alarm Actions (These include running a program and sending an .) Planned Outages Global options such as user-created Error Log rules Configuration information for the Spotlight Statistics Repository (this applies only if you installed the Spotlight Statistics Repository from an earlier version of Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise) and the playback database. Uninstall Multiple Spotlight clients and servers may be involved. Uninstall the Spotlight Diagnostic Server before you uninstall all Spotlight clients. 1. Uninstall the Spotlight Diagnostic Server For the Windows server on which the Spotlight Diagnostic Server is installed: 1. Open Windows Control Panel. 2. Select Programs and Features 3. Select Spotlight Diagnostic Server and click Remove. NOTE: A running Spotlight Diagnostic Server is automatically shut down before being uninstalled. You can backup your customizations before you delete the application by backing up the Diagnostic Server\Agent directory. 43

44 2. Uninstall Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise Clients Repeat for each Windows server on which a client is installed: 1. Open Windows Control Panel. 2. Select Programs and Features 3. Select Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise and click Remove. The Playback Database and Spotlight Statistics Repository The Playback Database and Spotlight Statistics Repository are not removed when Spotlight is uninstalled. You may delete them independently. You may use the Playback Database again with another Spotlight installation. 44

45 13 Configure Configure Spotlight for your enterprise. Select options from the Configure ribbon. Icon Ribbon Select Connections Description Add and delete monitored connections. Configure properties of monitored connections. Alarms Configure the thresholds and severities that determine when alarms are raised. Alarm Actions Scheduling Setup actions for Spotlight to take when an alarm is raised. The actions Spotlight can take include running a program and sending an . Conditions on taking the action can be defined, such as the day of the week, the time of day, the severity of the alarm, the alarm type and the connection type. Schedule data collections. Planned Outage SQL Analysis SQL Server Response Time Custom Counters Error Log Entries Monitored Files Spotlight Enter the scheduled maintenance times for monitored connections. Spotlight will treat monitored connections as unavailable at the scheduled times, so will not raise alarms or collect data during the outage period. Configure the filters used to gather SQL Analysis data. Define the SQL statement that is used to measure response time. For monitoring connections to SQL Server and Windows servers, create and configure Custom Counters. Define the SQL error log entries for Spotlight to alarm on. For monitoring connections to Windows servers, track the growth of certain (log) files. Configure the appearance of Spotlight. Diagnostic Server Spotlight Essentials Configure the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Spotlight Essentials is a free service provided by Dell that analyzes your performance data, gives you reports and insight into your performance and allows you to compare your experience to everyone else that uses the service. 45

46 Configure Connections Add and delete monitored connections. Configure properties of monitored connections. 1. Click Configure Connections. 2. Select the connection type. 3. Click Add a new connection. Configure the Playback Database The playback database stores recently collected data. Storing playback data allows Spotlight to show both current and recent data and lets you replay the behavior of a monitored connection. NOTE: Each Spotlight Diagnostic Server requires its own playback database. To store playback data 1. Click Configure Diagnostic Server. 2. Select Configure the Playback Database. 3. Complete the following: Option Instance Description Type or select the name of a SQL Server to host the playback database. Clicking the down arrow displays a list of available instances. 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 cannot be installed on SQL Server Store playback data for n days Windows authentication SQL Server authentication Specify the number of days you want Spotlight to store playback data. The number of days specified corresponds to the number of days of history available to Playback. The default is seven days. The minimum is two days. Select this option to connect to the playback database using the Spotlight Diagnostic Server credentials, that is the credentials of the user logged in to the Spotlight client. Select this option to connect to the playback database using SQL Server credentials and then complete the User and Password fields. User A valid user that enables Spotlight to connect to the instance hosting the playback database. Password The password required to connect the specified user to the 46

47 Option Description instance hosting the playback database. Database Create The name of the playback database. The default database is SpotlightPlaybackDatabase. If you want your playback database to have a different name to the default, type a new name in the Database field before you click the Create button. To create a new playback database, click Create and enter the authentication details required to create the playback database. The authentication details must have permissions to create databases. Configure the Spotlight Statistics Repository NOTE: This feature is available only in Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise. Spotlight uses a repository to store archived data. For information on disk space requirements:- See Spotlight Statistics Repository You can reduce the size of the repository by: Limiting the number of collections archived Reducing how often data is collected Reducing the data retention period. See "Schedule Data Collection" in the online help for information on the options that affect the size of the repository. You can install a new repository on any computer system that has a SQL Server 2005 instance or later running, or select an existing data repository to use. 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 cannot be installed on SQL Server To configure the Spotlight Statistics repository 1. Click Configure Diagnostic Server. 2. Select Configure the Spotlight Statistics Repository. 3. Complete the following options: Option Enable use of the Description When this option is selected, Spotlight stores data in the Spotlight Statistics 47

48 Option Spotlight Statistics Repository Instance Description Repository for reporting purposes. Clear this option to stop storing data in the Spotlight Statistics Repository. This option must be selected to use Spotlight Reporting and Trending. Type or select the name of a SQL Server to host the Spotlight Statistics repository. Clicking the down arrow displays a list of available instances. 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 cannot be installed on SQL Server Windows authentication SQL Server authentication Select this option to connect to the repository using the Windows user name and password of the user logged in to the Spotlight client. Select this option to connect to the repository using SQL Server credentials. Complete the User and Password fields. User A valid user that enables Spotlight to connect to the instance hosting the Spotlight Statistics Repository. Password The password required to connect the specified user to the instance hosting the Spotlight Statistics Repository. Database Create Type the name of the database you are using as the Spotlight Statistics Repository. To create a new Spotlight Statistics Repository, type a name in the Database field and then click Create. To change the default name of the repository database or the location of the corresponding data and log files, click Configure repository data and log files. By default, the repository and data log files are created in the same location as those of the model database. Configure uploading to Spotlight Essentials Spotlight Essentials is a free service provided by Dell. The Spotlight Essentials health check provides a prioritized list of key system health issues enabling you to pinpoint and address these issues within your SQL Server infrastructure. Mobile monitoring enables you to monitor your SQL Server connections remotely via mobile devices. To configure the upload of data to Spotlight Essentials 1. Click Configure Spotlight Essentials. 48

49 Upload health check data to Spotlight Essentials Select this option to enable uploading of performance data to Spotlight Essentials for analysis. Spotlight Essentials analyzes your performance data, gives you reports and insight into your performance and allows you to compare your experience to everyone else that uses the service. Performance data is uploaded to Spotlight Essentials once an hour. Click Read more for more information on the Spotlight Essentials service, particularly if you want more information before uploading data. Upload mobile monitoring data to Spotlight Essentials MOBILE: Select this option to enable monitoring of your Spotlight connections from your favorite mobile device. Click Read more for more information including setup and installation of the app on your mobile device. IMPORTANT: If you have monitored your Spotlight on SQL Server connections on a mobile device in the past then you must uninstall the Spotlight Web Publisher via Windows Control Panel Programs and Features. The Spotlight Web Publisher was required in the past to monitor SQL Server connections on a mobile device. It is now important that you uninstall it. By default the Spotlight Web Publisher was installed on the same computer as the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Spotlight Essentials account details These Spotlight Essentials account details are used by the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. This section must be filled in. Once filled in, the (or username) signed in under is provided. Fields or Username Password Description To sign in to Spotlight Essentials or change the account details used by the Spotlight Diagnostic Server, enter the appropriate (or username) and password to Spotlight Essentials and click Sign in. Click Register Now to create a Spotlight Essentials account. Registration is free. Spotlight diagnostic user groups Spotlight creates the following Windows local user groups during installation. These groups determine what rights a Spotlight user has within Spotlight. For more information, see Spotlight user privileges within Spotlight on page 50. For details of membership see Membership to the Spotlight Diagnostic User Groups. 49

50 Group Spotlight Diagnostic Users Spotlight Diagnostic Administrators Spotlight Diagnostic Read-Only Description Members of this group are granted user privileges to Spotlight on SQL Server. They can do the usual diagnostic tasks. For example, they can view the home page, the drilldown pages, browse the playback data and change alarm thresholds. Members of this group are granted administrator privileges in addition to user privileges. They can kill database sessions and change sensitive configuration items. NOTE: Administrative changes are logged. The logged entry includes the date, time, connection name, user and client IP address, a brief description of the action, and whether it succeeded or not. The log file is:..\agent\log\admin-audit.log in the Spotlight on SQL Server installation folder (Diagnostic Server). Members of this group can view the home page, the drilldown pages, the playback data and alarm cases. They cannot make changes to Spotlight's operation. For example, they cannot alter the state of the Spotlight on SQL Server and Monitored Servers. Spotlight user privileges within Spotlight When Spotlight executes a user action such as kill a session it does so via the connection Spotlight has made to the host or instance (Configure Connections). These actions are only performed if the user from the Windows session is a member of a Spotlight Diagnostic group that is allowed to perform the action (Membership to the Spotlight Diagnostic User Groups). The Spotlight Diagnostic Groups are as follows. For further definition see Spotlight diagnostic user groups. Administrator - Spotlight Diagnostic Administrators User - Spotlight Diagnostic Users Read-only - Spotlight Diagnostic Read-Only Some of these icons, particularly those on the Configure Ribbon Tab, have multiple access locations. For example, you can open the Spotlight Essentials icon from the Configure Ribbon Tab or the Spotlight Essentials Ribbon Tab. The level of service available to the user group is the same, no matter where the icon is opened from. Configure Ribbon Tab Administrator User Read-only Add/Delete connection profiles Yes Yes No Connections Add/Replace/Delete tags Yes Yes No Enable/Disable monitoring connections Yes Yes No Alarms Configure Yes Yes No Ignore Yes Yes No Run a program when a threshold is reached Yes No No Yes Yes No Scheduling SQL Yes Yes No 50

51 Configure Ribbon Tab Administrator User Read-only Analysis SQL Server Response Time Custom Counters Error Log Entries Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Monitored Files Spotlight Appearance Yes Yes Yes Assistance Yes Yes Yes Start-up Yes Yes Yes Troubleshooting Yes Yes Yes Change the Diagnostic Server address Yes Yes Yes Diagnostic Server Configure the auto-update facility Yes Yes No Configure the mail server used by the Diagnostic Server Yes Yes No Configure the maintenance schedule for the Playback and Spotlight Statistics Repository databases Yes Yes No Configure the Playback database Yes Yes No Configure the Spotlight Statistics Repository Yes Yes No Configure Uploading data to Spotlight Essentials Yes Yes No Specify the location of your Web Reports server Yes Yes No Spotlight Essentials Configure Uploading data to Spotlight Essentials Yes Yes No Monitor Alarms Action Administrator User Read-only Acknowledge Snooze Alarm Yes Yes No Yes Yes No 51

52 Monitor Alarms Action Administrator User Read-only Ignore Alarm Yes Yes No Monitor SQL Server Drilldowns Administrator User Read-only Memory Buffer Cache Clear Cache Yes No No Procedure Cache Clear Cache Yes No No SQL Activity Sessions Kill Session Yes No No Databases Support Services Indexes Update Statistics Yes No No SQL Agent Jobs Start Job Yes No No Service Status Start / Stop Service Yes No No Cluster Services Take Offline Yes No No Cluster Services Bring Online Cluster Services Move Group Configuration Change parameter Yes No No Error Log Cycle Error log Yes No No Monitor Windows Drilldowns Administrator User Read-only Processes Processes Terminate Yes No No Services Start Yes No No Services Stop Services Pause Services Resume Membership to the Spotlight Diagnostic User Groups Membership to the spotlight diagnostic user groups is against the connection Spotlight has made to the host or instance as defined by the connection details (Configure Connections). How do I become a member of the Spotlight The Windows user on the Spotlight client machine that installed Spotlight on SQL Server is automatically added to all groups. Your Network Administrator can add other members to the Spotlight Diagnostic User 52

53 Diagnostic User Groups? What if I am not a member of a Spotlight Diagnostic User Group? What if I want to increase my level of membership? groups as required. Members can be Windows users or Windows domain groups. Aliases are not supported. Contact your Network Administrator. You need to be a member of at least one Spotlight Diagnostic User Group to connect your Spotlight on SQL Server client to the diagnostic server. Contact your Network Administrator. The privileges available to you corresponds to the highest Spotlight Diagnostic User group you are a member of. Spotlight Diagnostic Read- Only users have the fewest privileges, but if you are also a member of the Spotlight Diagnostic Administrators group then you will have administrator privileges. Any change to a user s role by modifying these Windows groups will not take effect until that user restarts their Spotlight client and it reconnects to the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. For this reason, it is recommended that the Spotlight Diagnostic Server be restarted if the role changes need to take immediate effect. 53

54 14 Maintenance Back up Spotlight configuration data 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. Notes conf folder location Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise C:\Program Files\Dell\Diagnostic Server\Agent\conf Start and stop the Spotlight Diagnostic Server The Spotlight Diagnostic Server is a Windows service and can be started and stopped via the Windows Control Panel. To start or stop the Spotlight Diagnostic Server 1. On the Spotlight Diagnostic Server, open Windows Control Panel. 2. Click Administrative Tools Services. 3. From the list of available services, double click on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server name as follows: Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise - Spotlight Diagnostic Server. 4. Click Start to start the Spotlight Diagnostic Server. Click Stop to stop the service. NOTE: If you attempt to stop the Spotlight Diagnostic Server whilst a program or command line action that runs in response to an alarm is still executing, the Spotlight Diagnostic Server will wait until that program or command line action has ended before stopping. Maintenance plan for Spotlight Statistics Repository and Playback Database It is recommended that a maintenance plan for both the Spotlight Statistics Repository and the playback database is implemented. 54

55 Both the Spotlight Statistics Repository and playback database support a large number of monitored servers and automatically maintain the age of data available. Due to the nature of the automatic purging of old data, the data may become fragmented and this may decrease the efficiency of data retrieval operations over time. This topic provides guidance on how to configure and automate the maintenance of the Spotlight Statistics Repository and the playback database. Database configuration The Spotlight Statistics Repository and the playback database do not require the database to be run under the Full Recovery model. However, since Spotlight uses the model system database to create the repository, your Spotlight repository may inherit the Full Recovery setting. Unless you are required to use the Full Recovery model and are prepared to perform regularly scheduled log file backups, we recommend you change the repository recovery model to Simple. Doing so will help maintain a considerably smaller transaction log file. To change the repository database to Simple recovery, run the following command: ALTER DATABASE [SpotlightStatisticsRepository] SET RECOVERY SIMPLE; Fragmentation and index performance The Spotlight Statistics Repository implements a star schema because of the data warehousing-style simplicity it offers for data storage and retrieval. The star schema implements a primary fact table that references a number of dimension tables. The fact table holds collections and alarm data, and the dimension tables hold definition information on everything from instance information to collection names. Spotlight maintains the age of the data in the repository, but the continuous INSERT and DELETE operations performed for data insertion and purging can lead to fragmentation. Fragmentation will eventually lead to increased CPU and I/O resource consumption. Although the playback database uses a simpler schema, its data will also become fragmented over time as new data is inserted and old data purged. To best address performance concerns, fragmentation should be minimized and index statistics should be kept up-to-date. Spotlight's scheduled maintenance feature does this automatically. By default, the Spotlight Diagnostic Server runs maintenance procedures daily at 3am for the playback database and Spotlight Statistics Repository. The maintenance schedule can be changed in Spotlight Options. See the online help for more information. Database backup The Spotlight Statistics Repository and playback database should be included in the list of important databases which have a disaster recovery plan associated with them. The implementation of this task is dependent on the policies and infrastructure of your organization. 55

56 About Dell Abo ut De ll Dell listens to customers and delivers worldwide innovative technology, business solutions and services they trust and value. For more information, visit Contacting Dell Technical Support: Online Support Product Questions and Sales: (800) Technical support resources Technical support is available to customers who have purchased Dell software with a valid maintenance contract and to customers who have trial versions. To access the Support Portal, go to The Support Portal provides self-help tools you can use to solve problems quickly and independently, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In addition, the portal provides direct access to product support engineers through an online Service Request system. The site enables you to: Create, update, and manage Service Requests (cases) View Knowledge Base articles Obtain product notifications Download software. For trial software, go to Trial Downloads. View how-to videos Engage in community discussions Chat with a support engineer 56

57 B back up 54 C configuration data 54 configure Diagnostic Server 45 playback database 46 Connection Manager 46 connections D add 46 add multiple 46 delete 46 edit 46 view 46 Diagnostic Server DMZ 10 E configure 45 requirements 14 start, stop 54 error codes, WMI 35 F firewalls 10 I install 40 M P permissions 15, 24, 33, 39 Spotlight client 13, 40 playback database configure 46 R requirements 18 requirements Diagnostic Server 14 playback database 18 Spotlight client 12 Spotlight Statistics Repository 20 S SQL Server 22 Spotlight client permissions 13, 40 requirements 12 Spotlight Statistics Repository configure 47 install 47 maintenance plan 54 requirements 20 set up 47 SQL Server permissions 24 SQL Server machine T requirements 22 troubleshoot WMI 35 Index maintenance plan 54 57

58 U uninstall 43 upgrade 42 W Windows permissions 15, 33, 39 windows account permissions 28, 32 WMI issues 35 58