SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Version 6.2 Onboarding Guide Part 1 of 3: Get Started Last Updated: January 14, 2016
Server & Application Monitor Onboarding Guide 5 Product terminology 5 Related Guides 6 Production installation 7 Plan for a production deployment 7 Virtual machine and application server requirements 9 Deployment checklist 9 Prepare the Orion SQL Server database 10 Install a licensed copy of SolarWinds SAM 11 Configure the Orion server and database 11 Before you begin 12 Configure SolarWinds SAM 12 Evaluation installation 14 Install an evaluation copy of SolarWinds SAM 14 Discover 16 What should I monitor? 16 Discovery checklist 16 Discover your servers and applications 18 Add discovered servers and applications to SolarWinds SAM 20 Monitor 23 The relationship between applications and templates 23 Monitor Internet Information Services (IIS) 24 Add AppInsight for IIS to a node 24 View IIS application data 26 Navigate to the AppInsight for IIS details view 26 Navigate to the website details view 26 Navigate to the application pools view 27 Navigate to the performance counter details view 27 Expert knowledge for AppInsight performance counters 28 2
Monitor your operating system 28 Before you begin 29 Apply a template to a node 29 View the application data 30 Configure hardware health monitoring 31 Monitor hardware health 32 Navigate your environment 34 Explore your SolarWinds SAM environment 34 Management actions for nodes, applications, and components 37 Introduction to the AppStack environment 39 Alerts and reports 42 How alerts work 42 Work with preconfigured alerts 44 Manage active alerts 44 List preconfigured, enabled alerts 46 Enable and disable alerts 47 Action types 48 Configure the default email action 48 How reports work 50 Run a preconfigured report 51 Before you begin 52 Generate the report 52 Schedule a report 53 User accounts 54 How user accounts work 54 Create a user 55 Enable Active Directory Windows authentication 56 Change account passwords 56 Get connected 58 3
Access the Customer Portal 58 Create your user profile 58 Explore the Customer Portal 59 Set up additional Customer Portal user accounts 60 Engage with the SolarWinds community 60 Create a thwack account 60 Explore the thwack site 60 Orion multi-module system guidelines 62 Small deployment guidelines 62 Medium deployment guidelines 63 NTA-specific information 64 Large deployment guidelines 64 NTA-specific information 66 Additional references 66 4
Server & Application Monitor Onboarding Guide Welcome to the SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) Onboarding guide. This guide will take you from installation to getting visibility to hardware health, asset inventory and operating and application performance, including customization. It is divided into three progressive objectives: 1. Get started. Plan your implementation, install and configure SolarWinds SAM, and collect, alert and report on your mission-critical environment. Quickly identify performance issues and problems before customers call the help desk. Depending on your workload, you should be able to get started in five or fewer days. 2. Customize. Customize application templates, views, alerts, and reports. Tailor SolarWinds SAM to your internal processes so you can more effectively respond to performance issues. Depending on your workload, you should be able to customize in five or fewer days. 3. Scale and manage. Expand monitoring beyond your mission-critical environment, as well as learn about advanced features and how to maintain your SolarWinds SAM infrastructure. Ensure your long term success with SolarWinds SAM by following our best practice guidelines. Depending on your workload, scale and manage should take you two weeks or less. Existing customers: Following the recommendations in this guide will ensure your system capabilities are appropriate and your environment is sized correctly. Minimum system requirements used during evaluation are not sufficient for a production environment. Access your licensed software from the SolarWinds Customer Portal. If you need any implementation help, please contact our Support Geeks. Evaluators: If you are evaluating SAM, concentrate on the Get Started and Customize objectives. As you work through the guide, you will see some topics that provide information for production deployments. That information is included so that you can get a sense of what a production environment looks like. Download your free 30-day evaluation here. If you need assistance with your evaluation, please contact sales@solarwinds.com. Product terminology Orion Platform: The common backend platform used by the Solarwinds Orion suite of products, including NPM, SAM, NCM, NTA, and more. The platform provides the backbone for navigation, settings, and common features like alerts and reports. It also provides a consistent look-and-feel across products, giving you a single pane of glass for your Orion monitoring tools. Orion Web Console: The web interface you see when you log on to Orion that is used to view, configure, and manage all of your monitored objects. You can access the Orion Web Console from any computer connected to the internet.
Check out this video on navigating the Orion Web Console. Orion Application Server: A Windows server that runs the Orion Web console and collects data from monitored objects. Also called the Orion Main Poller. Orion Database Server: A Windows SQL server that should be hosted on a dedicated server in a production environment, separately from the Orion Application Server. It stores Orion configuration data as well all collected performance and syslog data. Polling Engine (Poller): A Polling Engine controls polling job scheduling, data processing, and queries your monitored devices for performance metrics like CPU, memory, and up/down status. Additional Polling Engines can be licensed to provide additional scalability and capacity. By default, the Orion Server provides one Polling Engine (often referred to as the Main Poller). Related Guides Server & Application Monitor Onboarding Guide: Customize (Part 2 of 3) Server & Application Monitor Onboarding Guide: Scale and Manage (Part 3 of 3)
Production installation Complete the following tasks to install a licensed copy of SolarWinds SAM: Plan for a production deployment Prepare the Orion SQL Server database Install a licensed copy of SolarWinds SAM Configure the Orion server and database Plan for a production deployment Use this table to size your SolarWinds environment. If you are deploying multiple SolarWinds Orion products, refer to the Orion multi-module system guidelines. Server sizing is impacted by: Number of monitored elements: An element is a component monitor, a node, interface or volume. Polling frequency: SolarWinds SAM regularly polls devices to collect data and determine status. If you collect statistics more often than the default 5 minute polling rate, system requirements will increase. Number of simultaneous users: Add 1 GB of RAM for every 25 simultaneous users. SIZE OF DEPLOYMENT LICENSE SIZE WINDOWS APPLICATION SERVER (PHYSICAL OR VIRTUAL) MICROSOFT SQL DATABASE SERVER (PHYSICAL RECOMMENDED) Quad Core Processor 2.5 GHz or better 8 GB RAM Dual Quad Core processor 3 GHz or better 2 x 146 GB 15K Hard 8 GB memory Drives (RAID Mirrored drives for operating system and 6 Small SAM AL150 - AL300 1/Mirrored Settings) 1 GBE NIC Microsoft Windows disks RAID 1+0 for database data files Hardware RAID controller Microsoft Windows Server 2012 or Server 2012 or Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2, with IIS installed * Microsoft SQL Server 2014, 2012, or 2008 R2 Standard Edition.NET 3.5 and 4.0 * Medium SAM AL700 AL1500 Quad Core Processor 2.5 GHz or better Dual Quad Core processor 3 GHz or better 8-16 GB
SIZE OF DEPLOYMENT LICENSE SIZE WINDOWS APPLICATION SERVER (PHYSICAL OR VIRTUAL) MICROSOFT SQL DATABASE SERVER (PHYSICAL RECOMMENDED) 8-16 GB RAM 2 x 146 GB 15K Hard Drives (RAID 1/Mirrored Settings) 1 GBE NIC Windows 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2, with IIS installed * Mirrored drives for OS and six disks RAID 1+0 for database data files Hardware RAID controller Windows 2012 or 2008 R2 Server Microsoft SQL Server 2014, 2012, or 2008 R2 Standard Edition.NET 3.5 and 4.0 * Dual Quad Core processor 3 GHz or better 32-64 GB RAM (expandable) Hardware RAID Controller Disk Subsystem 1 Array 1: 2 x 146 GB 15K Large SAM ALX Quad Core Processor 3 GHz or better 16-32 GB RAM 2 x 146 GB 15K Hard Drives (RAID 1/Mirrored Settings) disks RAID 1 (mirroring) operating system Disk Subsystem 2 Array 2: 2 x 146 GB 15K disks RAID 1 (Pagefile + Extra Storage) Disk Subsystem 3 Array 3: with 6x 15K 146 GB or 300 GB Disks configured in a RAID 1+0 arrays to allow for maximum write performance. This is for your SQL MDF And 1GBE NIC Filegroups Windows 2012 or Disk Subsystem 4 Array 4: with 4x 15K 146 Windows Server 2012 GB or 300 GB Disks configured in a RAID R2, with IIS installed * 1+0 arrays to allow for maximum write.net 3.5 and 4.0 * performance. This is for your SQL LDF Transaction LOG File 1Gbit LAN port Windows 2012 or Windows 2008 R2 Server Microsoft SQL Server 2014, 2012, or 2008 R2 Standard Edition
* If the server does not have IIS or.net 3.5 and 4.0 installed, the installation automatically installs and configures these components for you. If the server has Internet access, use the online version of the installation. If the server does not have Internet access, use the offline version of the installation. Virtual machine and application server requirements Orion application server installations on VMware or Microsoft hosted virtual machines are supported. The virtual machine requirements are identical to the physical server requirements. A dedicated virtual 1GBE NIC is required. Be advised that resource contention could occur in a virtual environment if you have not dedicated physical resources to your Orion Application server virtual machine. Deployment checklist Before installing SolarWinds SAM, complete the pre-installation checklist below. The checklist helps you: Verify that system requirements are met, all required software is installed, and required roles and features are enabled. Gather the information required to complete the installation. Check for antivirus software Determine if any antivirus software is installed on the server or servers where you plan to install Orion. To ensure the installation goes smoothly, exclude these directories before the installation: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2: C:\ProgramData\SolarWinds\ Do not exclude executable files. SolarWinds assumes that C:\ is the default volume. Check system requirements, and identify system resources on which you install the Orion application server and database Confirm that your installation environment meets the minimum system requirements. Use the Local Administrator Account for installation. The Local Administrator Account is not the same as a domain account with local admin rights. A domain account is subject to your domain group policies. Ensure you have the correct version of the installation. If your server has access to the Internet, use the online version of the installation. If the server does not have access to the Internet, use the offline version of the installation.
Obtain the SQL Server user name and password of a SQL Server database account with sysadmin rights. This may be your SA account. Contact your SQL Database Administrator for this information. Orion uses this account to create its database and to create a new user with read/write access and ownership over its own database. Prepare the Orion SQL Server database Prepare the Orion SQL Server database The Orion SQL Server database stores all monitoring data. Use the following guidelines to configure the database before you install and configure SolarWinds SAM. If you need assistance installing the SQL Server database, see the Microsoft guidelines. The selected SQL Server instance must support mixed-mode or SQL authentication with strong passwords. A strong password must meet at least three of the following four criteria: Contains at least one uppercase letter Contains at least one lowercase letter Contains at least one number Contains at least one non-alphanumeric character, for example, #, %, or ^ For a new database, the user account must be a member of the dbcreator server role. The sysadmin role and the security administrator (SA) user account are always members of dbcreator. For an existing database, the user account needs only to be in the db_owner database role for the existing database. For a new SQL account, the user account must be a member of the securityadmin server role. The sysadmin role and the security administrator user account are always members of securityadmin. If you are using an existing SQL account, the user account should only be in the db_owner database role for the SolarWinds Orion database. Set the recovery model of the database to Simple. SolarWinds does not support other methods. You must select the authentication method used by the SolarWinds Orion user to access the SolarWinds Orion database. SolarWinds recommends using SQL Server Authentication to ensure the SolarWinds Orion application server can always access the SolarWinds Orion database, even when hosted remotely on a separate server.
Install a licensed copy of SolarWinds SAM Do not install SolarWinds SAM on a domain controller or use the same database server as a Research in Motion (RIM) Blackberry server. 1. Obtain a copy of the software and your activation key from the SolarWinds Customer Portal. See Access the Customer Portal for instructions. The activation key limits your use based on the highest number of monitored network elements. 2. Log in as an administrator to the server on which you are installing SolarWinds SAM. 3. Extract the contents of the downloaded installation.zip file. 4. Run SolarWinds-SAM-<version>-Full.exe. 5. Click Next on the Welcome window. 6. If prompted, install Internet Information Services (IIS). 7. Accept the terms of the license agreement. 8. Accept the default directory, or click Browse and select a directory. 9. Enable Quality of Experience (QoE) traffic monitoring. Enabling QoE installs an agent on the Orion Main Polling Engine. This agent collects packet-level traffic statistics, like network response time and application response time, for any application traffic it sees going to or from Orion. SolarWinds recommends that you enable QoE. 10. Click Next to begin copying the files. Downloading and installing Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and Microsoft.NET Framework 4.0 can take more than 20 minutes. If your system reboots, run the installation again. If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, SolarWinds recommends you add the URL of your Orion website (http://fullorionservername/), the URL of SolarWinds support (http://solarwinds.com/support), and about:blank to the list of trusted sites. 11. When the installation is complete, click Finish. The system prompts you to activate the product. 12. On the activation dialog box, select an Internet option and enter the activation key. Configure the Orion server and database You must configure the Orion server in order to establish a connection between the Orion application server and the Orion database.
Before you begin Prepare the Orion SQL Server database Install a licensed copy of SolarWinds SAM Confirm that the IIS Manager is not open while the Configuration Wizard is running. Close all web browsers. Configure SolarWinds SAM 1. If the Configuration Wizard does not load automatically, start the Configuration Wizard in the SolarWinds Orion > Configuration and Auto-Discovery program folder. 2. On the Welcome dialog box, click Next. 3. If prompted to stop services, click Yes. 4. On the Database Settings dialog box, select an SQL Server and authentication method, and click Next. Use SQL Server Authentication to ensure the SolarWinds Orion server can always access SQL Server, even when hosted remotely on a separate server. 5. On the Database Settings dialog box, click Create a new database or select an existing database, and click Next. Only use alphanumeric characters in database names. 6. On the Database Account dialog box, create a new account or use an existing account, that the polling engine and web console use to access the database, and click Next. 7. On the Website Settings dialog box: a. Select All Unassigned unless your environment requires a specific IP address for the Orion Web Console. b. Specify the Port and the Website Root Directory where the system will install the web console files. If you specify any port other than 80, include that port in the URL used to access the Web Console. c. Click Yes Enable automatic login using Windows Authentication for that function. 8. If prompted to create a new directory or website, click Yes. 9. Review the list of services to install, and click Next. 10. Click Yes if prompted to disable the SNMP Trap Service and enable the SolarWinds Trap Service. 11. On the Completing the Orion Configuration Wizard dialog box, click Next. 12. When completed, click Finish to launch the Orion Web Console. 13. Log in with user name admin and leave the password field blank.
The Orion Web Console opens. For security purposes, SolarWinds recommends that you change the password to your admin account.
Evaluation installation Complete the following task to install an evaluation copy of SolarWinds SAM: Install an evaluation copy of SolarWinds SAM Install an evaluation copy of SolarWinds SAM For evaluation installations, you can install the Orion server and the Microsoft SQL Server database on the same machine. The installer automatically installs SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Express. You can use that database, or configure the server to use another MS SQL database. Do not use MS SQL Server Express in a production deployment. If you want to use a separate Microsoft SQL Server database, or you are installing SolarWinds SAM into a production deployment of another module, see Plan for a production deployment. SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR... EVALUATION ENVIRONMENTS ONLY EVALUATION AND PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENTS Windows 7 Windows 7 SP1 Windows 8 (except for Standard Edition) Windows Server 2008 SP2 Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Windows 8.1 (except for Standard Edition) Windows Server 2012 Windows 8.1 Update 1 (except for Standard Edition) Windows Server 2012 R2 Do not install SolarWinds SAM on a domain controller or use the same database server as a Research in Motion (RIM) Blackberry server. 1. Download an evaluation version from www.solarwinds.com. This installation is functional for 30 days and for evaluation purposes only. No activation key is required. 2. Log in to the server as an administrator. 3. Run SolarWinds-SAM-<version>-Eval.exe. 4. If prompted, register your email address. 5. Click Next on the Welcome window. 6. Click Express Install to use the Microsoft SQL Server Express database that is installed with the product, or click Advanced Install to use your own Microsoft SQL Server database. 7. Select your preferred settings.
8. Accept the terms of the license agreement. 9. Enable quality of experience traffic monitoring. Enabling QoE installs an agent on the Orion Main Polling Engine. This agent collects packet-level traffic statistics, like network response time and application response time, for any application traffic it sees going to or from Orion. SolarWinds recommends that you enable QoE. 10. Review the list of software the system installs. Downloading and installing Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and Microsoft.NET Framework 4.0 can take more than 20 minutes. If your system reboots, run the installation again. If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, SolarWinds recommends you add the URL of your Orion website (http://fullorionservername/), the URL of SolarWinds support (http://solarwinds.com/support), and about:blank to the list of trusted sites 11. When the installation is complete, the system configures the product. Click Finish to open the Orion Web Console Login page. If the login page does not open automatically, start the Orion Web Console in the SolarWinds Orion program folder. 12. Log in with user name admin and leave the password field blank. The Orion Web Console opens. For security purposes, SolarWinds recommends that you change the password to your admin account.
Discover This section contains the following discovery topics: What should I monitor? Discover your servers and applications Add discovered servers and applications to SolarWinds SAM What should I monitor? Network Sonar Wizard discovers your application servers and applications that you then add to the Orion database for monitoring. SolarWinds SAM can monitor an application, or it can be configured to monitor a custom collection of application components, process monitors, and performance counters. Depending on your needs, SolarWinds can assess the status of every aspect of your application, and the health of the application as a whole. SolarWinds recommends adding a limited number of application servers, including Exchange, IIS, SQL, Linux, and Unix. After you have the monitoring, alerts, and reports set up, SolarWinds recommends adding more servers. Discovery checklist When you run the Discovery Wizard, you will be asked to provide IP addresses and credentials for the devices you want to monitor. SolarWinds recommends that you gather this information before running the Discovery Wizard. Determine the devices to monitor Determine the protocol used to monitor your devices If you are monitoring devices using SNMP, you must enable SNMP on those devices because it is not enabled by default. SNMP is primarily used to monitor network devices, for example, routers, firewalls, and switches. To enable SNMP, consult the device vendor documentation. If you are monitoring Windows servers, use WMI, which is usually enabled on Windows devices by default. WMI is the preferred polling method because some SolarWinds SAM features are not available if you use SNMP. Agentless monitoring using WMI is not recommended when the poller and the device are separated by a firewall. To overcome this limitation, SolarWinds provides an optional agent that allows you to securely monitor Windows servers and applications by WMI. If you want to use SNMP for Windows, then you must install and configure an SNMP agent. Linux/Unix servers are generally monitored with SNMP and SSH Script Monitors that require user credentials.
The following table outlines the pros and cons of using SNMP and WMI. For Windows servers, SolarWinds recommends using WMI polling. For a non-windows server, SolarWinds recommends using SNMP. SNMP WMI Bandwidth, CPU, memory usage on the host/poller Monitoring across firewall/nat-ed WAN connection Uses more bandwidth, CPU, and memory than SNMP per poll. Requires an agent for secure monitoring over one port. Windows mount points and application metrics Cannot collect Windows mount point statistics or application level metrics. For additional information about WMI vs. SNMP polling, see this knowledge base article. When configuring your SNMP-enabled network devices for monitoring: For correct device identification, monitored devices must allow access to the SysObjectID. Unix-based devices should use the version of Net-SNMP (5.5 or later) that is specific to the Unix-based operating system in use. If SNMPv2c is enabled on a device you want to monitor, by default, SolarWinds SAM attempts to use SNMPv2c to poll the device for performance information. To poll using only SNMPv1, you must disable SNMPv2c on the polled device. SolarWinds SAM can monitor VMware ESX and ESXi Servers versions 4.0 and later. VMware Tools is not required on virtual machines running on monitored ESXi and ESX servers, but additional information, including IP addresses, are made available when VMware Tools is installed on virtual machines hosted by monitored ESXi and ESX Servers. IP ranges or individual IP addresses you want the system to scan as it discovers your network. SNMP v1/2c community strings and SNMP v3 community strings and credentials of the devices you want to monitor. Log in credentials for each monitored device.
VMware host credentials. The system requires read-only permissions. Windows credentials: domain or local admin. Discover your servers and applications Check out this video on object discovery. Before you begin: Enable Windows devices for WMI Enable the networking devices you want to monitor for SNMP The first time you run discovery, SolarWinds recommends adding a limited number of application servers, including Exchange, IIS, SQL, Linux, and Unix. The examples in this guide focus on monitoring IIS and the operating system of your application server, but the same steps are applicable to monitoring any application. 1. If the Discovery Wizard does not start automatically after configuration, click Settings > Network Sonar Discovery, and click Add New Discovery. 2. To monitor an SNMP-enabled device, enter the credentials, and click Next. 3. The Agents panel appears. The QoE agent monitors packet-level traffic. If there are any nodes using agents, select the Check all existing nodes. This setting ensures that any agents you deploy, including the one on your Orion server, are up-to-date. If there are no nodes using agents, you can leave this option unchecked. 4. To discover VMware vcenter or ESX hosts on your network, enter the credentials, and click Next. 5. To discover WMI or RPC-enabled Windows devices: a. Click Add New Credential. b. Select <New credential>, and provide required information. c. Confirm the Password, click Add, and then click Next. SolarWinds recommends that you monitor Windows devices with WMI instead of SNMP. 6. Click Specific Nodes, add a limited number of IP addresses, and click Next. If you use the IP Ranges option, and this is your first discovery, limit the range to 512 or fewer IP addresses.
7. On the Discovery Settings panel, click Next. 8. Accept the default frequency and run the discovery immediately. Discovery can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the number of application servers you are discovering.
Add discovered servers and applications to SolarWinds SAM After the Network Sonar Wizard discovers your network, the Network Sonar Results Wizard opens, allowing you to import servers and applications into SolarWinds SAM. Nodes that are discovered do not count against your license count. Only nodes that you have added to the Orion database count against your license. When you manually run discovery, the system automatically selects all network elements to be monitored. You must clear the check boxes for elements you do not want monitored. For this example, Windows devices with IIS are highlighted. If you are discovering your network for the first time, SolarWinds recommends that you monitor a small number of critical servers. 1. Make sure that only the device types you want to monitor are selected, and click Next. If a device appears as unknown vendor, SolarWinds SAM could not validate the credentials. As a result, SolarWinds SAM can only detect if the device is up or down, and cannot collect any other data. To resolve this issue, verify the SNMP configuration on the device. If the credentials still cannot be validated and you have an active SolarWinds contract, contact technical support.
2. Ensure the interfaces you want to monitor are selected, and click Next. SolarWinds recommends that you do not monitor WAN, QoS, multi-port, and virtual NIC interfaces. SolarWinds SAM only discovers interfaces on WMI nodes. 3. Ensure the volume types you want to monitor are selected, and click Next. SolarWinds recommends that you do not monitor compact disks and removable disks. 4. Select the applications to monitor, and click Next. In this example, Microsoft IIS is selected and will be configured for monitoring in a later topic.
5. Review the list of elements to be imported, and click Import. 6. When the import completes, click Finish. 7. Click the Home tab. The Home tab contains resources that may take a few minutes to populate with data.
Monitor This section includes instructions on how to configure monitoring: The relationship between applications and templates Monitor Internet Information Services (IIS) Monitor your operating system Configure hardware health monitoring Monitor hardware health The relationship between applications and templates In SolarWinds SAM, an application is a collection of component monitors inherited from a template. A component monitor queries for values returned by a process, counter, status, or script. SolarWinds SAM uses the data received to display vital statistics concerning the health of the system. Templates provide blueprints for the applications to be monitored. You can customize templates, and use only the component monitors you need to monitor a specific environment. SolarWinds SAM provides the following types of templates: AppInsight application templates are preconfigured templates that provide detailed information. If you have business-critical Exchange, Microsoft IIS, or Microsoft SQL instances, use the AppInsight templates to monitor these applications. These templates have their own mechanism of discovering elements of an application dynamically. They also have special licensing. If you have other business-critical applications, apply one of the many preconfigured application templates that ship with SolarWinds SAM. SolarWinds recommends deploying a single template, making necessary edits to customize it to your environment, and then deploying the edited template on all similar applications. You can also obtain a template from the thwack community for an application not shipped with SAM. If you have a custom, homegrown application that you need to monitor, you can build a custom template. The following illustration explains the template and application relationship. If you make a change at the template level, the applications based on that template will be affected. Conversely, if you make a change at the application level, only the individual application will be affected. This inheritance relationship is beneficial if you need to make a lot of changes. For example, rather than making one change to 100 applications (and therefore 100 changes), you can change one item that will affect all 100 applications based on that template.
Monitor Internet Information Services (IIS) SolarWinds SAM includes AppInsight Applications that provide a level of detail beyond what other templates can provide, allowing you to monitor virtually every aspect of your application. The AppInsight for IIS application provides: Control over web sites and application pools Separate, detailed metrics on each website or pool, instead of just a summary level Monitoring log space usage on each website individually, ASP.NET requests monitoring SSL expiration monitoring If the system did not scan for AppInsight for IIS during discovery, you can add it if you know which monitored servers are running IIS. In this example, the AppInsight for IIS application template is applied to a Windows node. Add AppInsight for IIS to a node 1. From the web console, navigate to the Node Details page of any WMI node running IIS. You must know which nodes are running IIS. 2. From the Management resource, click List Resources.
3. Select Microsoft IIS to enable AppInsight for IIS data collection, then click Submit. List resources shows all monitorable features of a node. 4. Click the All Applications resource to verify the addition by clicking the Applications. 5. Enter your IIS credentials when prompted, and click Configure Server.
For troubleshooting information, see Troubleshooting AppInsight for IIS. View IIS application data SolarWinds SAM displays IIS data in views. The type of view determines the level of detail. For example, the AppInsight for IIS details view provides a rollup of information about that IIS server, including statistics about all the sites on the server, application pools, and connections. Navigate to the AppInsight for IIS details view 1. From the web console, locate the All Applications resource by clicking the Home tab. 2. Expand the AppInsight for IIS tree by clicking [+]. 3. Click an IIS application to view. From the Applnsight for IIS details view you can view the status and details for Sites, Applications Pools, and Performance Counters by clicking elements in each of these resources. Navigate to the website details view From the AppInsight for IIS details view, click a website in the Sites resource. The Sites resource shows every site hosted by that server.
Navigate to the application pools view From the AppInsight for IIS details view, click an application pool in the Application Pool resource. The Application Pool resource show the memory and CPU usage of each site on the server. Navigate to the performance counter details view From the AppInsight for IIS details view, click a performance counter in any resource. For example, click ASP.NET > Requests Rejected.
Expert knowledge for AppInsight performance counters General information is provided for a selected counter, in addition to possible problems and troubleshooting steps, where applicable. Find expert knowledge on the performance counter details page. AppInsight for IIS can help you monitor and troubleshoot IIS. However, a software monitoring solution cannot detect failed hardware issues, such as insufficient RAM or a failed cooling fan. To detect hardware issues, you also need to enable hardware health monitoring. Monitor your operating system If your server runs Windows Server 2012, you can use the Windows Server 2003-2012 Services and Counter template to provide vital metrics about the operating system. The Windows Server 2003-2012 template monitors the following components: Service: Distributed Transaction Coordinator Service: Security Accounts Manager Service: Remote Registry
Total Available Memory (MB) Page File Usage Disk Queue Length Virtual Memory % Processor Time Service: Server Service: Plug and Play Pages per second Logical Disk: Average Disk Queue Length Physical Disk: Average Disk Queue Length Before you begin Ensure you have both WMI access and Windows Administrator credentials on the server you want to monitor. Windows Performance Counters use Remote Procedure Call (RPC) for communication which uses TCP port 445. If testing fails once the template has been assigned to a node, you can use the WMI protocol. Apply a template to a node 1. From the web console, click Settings. 2. Under Product Specific Settings, click SAM Settings. 3. Under Application Monitor Templates, click Manage Templates. 4. Locate your template and click Assign to Node. 5. Select the Windows nodes you want to monitor for the operating system on the left pane, click the green arrow to move it to the right pane, and click Next. 6. Choose the credentials, click Assign Application Monitors, and click Done. The Windows Server 2003-2012 template is used to demonstrate how to monitor your operating system.
It will take several minutes for the initial poll to complete and resources to display data. View the application data After you apply the template, you can view the status of the application in the All Applications resource on the Summary tab. To view the application details, expand the application to navigate to the Application Details page. Use this same procedure to apply any application template.
The All Applications resource is an excellent method for monitoring and troubleshooting software. However, when software has been ruled out as the problem, check the hardware health. Configure hardware health monitoring SolarWinds SAM monitors hardware health information such as fan, power supply, memory, CPU, and so on, on the following types of hardware: VMware hosts HP ProLiant Dell PowerEdge IBM X-Series HP C7000 and HP C3000 BladeSystems Dell M1000e Blade Enclosure For SolarWinds SAM to monitor hardware health information, the Hardware Monitoring Agent, provided by the software manufacturer, must be installed, configured, and enabled on each system. Once enabled server-side, you must either: Run a discovery so that SolarWinds SAM can detect that the Hardware Monitoring Agent has been enabled. SolarWinds recommends this approach if you have multiple nodes where the Hardware Monitoring Agent has been enabled, or if you are not already monitoring those nodes. Go to the Node Details page, select List Resources, then check the Hardware Health option. To configure hardware health monitoring: 1. From the web console, click the Home tab. 2. In the All Nodes resource, click the node you want to monitor.
3. Click List Resources. 4. Select Hardware Health of Servers, and click Submit. Monitor hardware health The Hardware Health Overview resource provides insight into server hardware issues, such as a failed cooling fan, critical CPU temperature, and so on. 1. Click Home, and locate the Hardware Health Overview resource. 2. To view a status, click its label. 3. Click the node you want to review.
4. Review the Current Hardware Health resource. Sensors listed as Critical should be investigated.
Navigate your environment SolarWinds SAM includes many views that provide resources to help you troubleshoot your environment. This section highlights a few of the most common tools and views. As you explore SolarWinds SAM, note that some resources and views are not visible by default and can be added by editing your settings. Explore your SolarWinds SAM environment Introduction to the AppStack environment Explore your SolarWinds SAM environment Most resources in the SolarWinds SAM environment are actionable. For example, drilling down to and clicking an individual node in the All Nodes resource on the Summary page takes you to the Node Details page. The Node Details page contains resources that provide information about this node. The following example shows the Management resource, which is one of many resources available on the Node Details page. Clicking Manage Nodes from the All Nodes resource opens the Manage Nodes page and allows you to take action on multiple nodes.
The All Applications resource on the Summary page allows you to drill down to the individual applications and component monitors of an application. The Application Details page provides details about the individual application and actions you can perform on that application. This allows you to manage templates and applications to node assignments, or unmanage multiple applications at one time.
Clicking Manage Applications from the All Applications resource takes you to the Manage Applications page where you can troubleshoot and resolve issues on multiple applications. Expanding application name shows all the component monitors associated with that application. Clicking a component monitor will take you to the Component Monitor details page where you can view detailed information and perform additional actions.
Management actions for nodes, applications, and components Orion provides a variety of options for managing nodes, applications, and components, similar to the way the Windows Task Manager works.
USE THE... Edit Node List Resources Unmanage Poll Now Rediscover Add New Alert Real-Time Process Explorer Service Control Manager Real-time Event Log Viewer Reboot TO... edit the properties of the node as well as polling method used. view and edit the what is monitored. suspend polling and collection of statistics for a set period of time. reschedules a job to run "now" in the job scheduler, meaning, if the job scheduler is already full, the job may not execute immediately, but it will execute sooner than the next scheduled poll cycle. to rediscover the node. create a new alert for the node. stop, start, and select the processes to monitor. stop, start, and restart services. view a list of system events and start monitoring events. restart the remote computer. These controls are available on the detail page of the node, application, or component in the Management resource.
Introduction to the AppStack environment SolarWinds SAM provides an Application Stack (or AppStack) with an interactive visual map that displays a detailed view of your environment, helping you to identify the root cause of performance and availability issues. Use AppStack to assess the overall health of your environment and to troubleshoot specific and related problems. AppStack provides a more thorough analysis of root cause problems in your environment when combined with Storage Resource Manager, Virtualization Manager, and Web Performance Monitor. The AppStack view is also available at the application layer, and only shows the relationships for that application. This view is called the Mini-Stack. 1. Click Home > Environment. The AppStack environment generates categories that show the status of objects in your IT environment. Object on the left are the highest priority.
2. Click an object to highlight related objects and gray out unrelated objects. 3. Click Spotlight to remove unrelated objects.
4. To investigate further, click the selected object. The selected object opens to the relevant Details page.
Alerts and reports This section includes information on working with preconfigured alerts and reports: How alerts work Work with preconfigured alerts How reports work Run a preconfigured report How alerts work An alert is notification that there is a problem with a monitored element. Orion comes with hundreds of predefined alerts for common problems such as a node or application going down, SSL certificate expiration, website failures, and many other problems. Many predefined alerts are enabled by default, so if there is a problem, you will be alerted as soon as you start monitoring. SolarWinds recommends that you identify who will receive warning or critical alerts. Alerting on an application: SolarWinds SAM provides many preconfigured application alerts that notify you if the status of an application has changed (for example: up, down, or unknown) based on whether a component monitor has reached a warning or critical threshold. One alert can notify you about a warning, critical, down, or unknown state for the application. Alerting on a component: If you create an alert for each component monitor in your application template, you will receive one alert for each component that exceeds a threshold. Alerting on a component monitor can be beneficial if you have custom scripts where you must be notified if the output of the script crosses a specific threshold. By default, alerts appear in the Active Alerts resource on the Orion Home page.
To see all alerts, you can click the All Active Alerts button in the Active Alerts resource, or you can go to Home > Alerts. On this page, you can: Acknowledge an alert that you are working on Click on any alert to go to the Alert Details page for more information Click Manage Alerts to enable/disable, add or edit any alert.
You can create your own alerts, either by duplicating and editing a predefined alert, or by creating a custom alert. Alerting is very powerful and can be complex, with multiple trigger conditions, reset conditions, and actions. Work with preconfigured alerts Manage active alerts When an alert triggers, any associated alert actions also trigger, and the alert appears on the All Active Alerts page. In the all Active Alerts page you can view the details of alert, view the details of the monitored element that triggered the alert, and acknowledge the alert. 1. To view the alert details, click the alert. The Active Alert Details page appears.
2. To view the details of the network object that triggered the alert, click an object. The details page of the selected object appears.
3. To acknowledge an alert: a. Click Acknowledge. b. Enter a note and click Acknowledge. When acknowledged, the alert will not trigger again. List preconfigured, enabled alerts SolarWinds SAM ships with 21 preconfigured, enabled alerts, and a number of disabled alerts that you can enable and make operational. To see the list of preconfigured, enabled alerts: 1. Click Home > Alerts 2. Click Manage Alerts.
3. In the Group by field, select Enabled. 4. In the Type field, sort by Out-of-the-box. 5. Review the list of preconfigured, enabled alerts. Enable and disable alerts To enable or disable alerts, on the Manage Alerts page, click On or Off in the Enabled column.
Action types You can configure an alert to trigger one or more actions, such as: Send an email Send a page Manage a virtual machine (for example, power on/off) Log the alert to send a file A complete list of alert actions is available on the Add Action dialog box that you see when you configure an alert. Configure the default email action A common alert action is to send an email. To send an email, Orion requires a designated SMTP server that you configure.
1. Click Settings > Configure Default Send Email Action. 2. In the Default Recipients section, provide the email addresses of default recipients, separated by a semicolon. 3. Under the Default Sender Details heading, provide the default Name of Sender and the default Reply Address. 4. Under the Default SMTP Server section: a. Provide the Host name or IP Address of the SMTP Server and the designated SMTP Port Number. For example, 192.168.10.124, port 25. b. If you want to use SSL encryption for your alert emails, select Use SSL. Selecting SSL automatically changes the SMTP port number to 465. c. If your SMTP server requires authentication, select This SMTP Server requires Authentication, and then provide the credentials. d. Click Use as Default.
How reports work Reports provide a bridge between detailed views (which provide point-in-time information) and alerts (which tell you there is a problem). Reports can contain detailed, current state information, or they can contain historical data. You can run an ad-hoc report, or schedule reports to be sent to you automatically, as a PDF, a web page, or email. For example, use a schedule when you want to receive the Asset Inventory report every Monday morning. SolarWinds recommends that you identify who needs to receive performance or status reports, and how often they should receive them. SolarWinds provides predefined reports for each Orion module. Click Home > Reports to see the available predefined reports.
On the All Reports page, you can select any report and click View Report to run it immediately. You can create your own custom reports by either editing an existing report or creating a report from scratch. Reports can combine any number or type of Orion resources, including charts, tables, and gauges. You can customize the size of the report, the layout, and add a logo and a footer. Run a preconfigured report This example illustrates how to run and schedule the Asset Inventory preconfigured report. The Asset Inventory dashboard allows you to maintain a current and detailed inventory of your environment's hardware and software. Automatic inventory data collection benefits those interested in tracking asset depreciation, gathering information for insurance purposes, or managing and maintaining your infrastructure.
Before you begin You must enable Asset Inventory data collection before you generate the Hardware Asset Inventory report. 1. In the Web Console, click Settings > Add Node. 2. In the Add Node wizard, the option to display Asset Inventory is available after a node has been defined. Select Asset Inventory to enable Asset Inventory data collection. Generate the report The following example illustrates how to locate and generate an asset inventory report. 1. From the web console, click Home > Reports, and select a report. 2. Click View Report. View Report becomes enabled after you select a report.
Schedule a report 1. From the Web Console, click Home > Reports > Manage Reports. 2. From the Report Manager tab, select a report, then click Schedule Report > Create New Schedule. 3. Configure the properties, frequency, and actions as needed in the wizard. 4. When completed, review the summary, and click Create Schedule.
User accounts This section provides information on working with user accounts: How user accounts work Create a user Enable Active Directory Windows authentication Change account passwords How user accounts work Check out this video on account permissions and limitations. User accounts consist of three types of permissions: Basic account permissions View assignments Application specific settings Before you begin, consider what tasks the user must perform, and what views and menu bars are most suitable. Default users can log in to the Orion Web Console and see information available in views, resources, and reports. For administration and customization tasks, users need extra rights. TASK ACCESS (SELECT YES FOR THIS OPTION OR DO AS INSTRUCTED) Add and edit user accounts and reset passwords. SolarWinds recommends that you do not allow users to change their own Orion Web Console account passwords. Add, edit, and delete nodes. Enable/disable monitoring elements. Add, edit, schedule, and delete reports. Add, edit, and delete alerts. Allow Administrator Rights Allow Node Management Rights Allow Account to Unmanage Objects Allow Report Management Rights Allow Alert Management Rights
TASK ACCESS (SELECT YES FOR THIS OPTION OR DO AS INSTRUCTED) To only allow some actions, keep No in Allow Alert Management rights and Allow items in the Alerts section as appropriate. Customize views. Access only a set of devices (type, location, department, and so on). Allow Account to Customize Views Click Add Limitation and define the limitation. If you create a new account and do not configure the SAM User Role, you will not be able to fully manage applications within SAM. Create a user Check out this video on adding a new user account. 1. Log in to the Orion Web Console, and click Settings. 2. Click Manage Accounts in the User Accounts grouping, and click Add New Account on the Individual Accounts tab.
3. Select Orion individual account, and click Next. 4. Provide the account credentials, and click Next. 5. On Define Settings, provide rights that allow the user to perform assigned tasks, select default views and menu bars, and then click Submit. Enable Active Directory Windows authentication The SolarWinds Web Console can authenticate Active Directory users and users who are members of Active Directory security groups. Install and configure Active Directory on your local network. 1. Start the Configuration Wizard in the SolarWinds Orion > Configuration and Auto-Discovery program folder. 2. Select Website, and click Next. 3. Provide the appropriate IP address, port, and website root directory, and select Yes Enable automatic login using Windows Authentication. 4. Click Next, and complete the Configuration Wizard. 5. Log in to the Orion Web Console using the appropriate domain and user, providing Domain\Username or Username@Domain as the web console user name. Change account passwords When you log in to the Orion Web Console, SolarWinds recommends that you change the password for the Admin account. Only users with administrator rights can change the password. 1. Log in to the Orion Web Console, and click Settings. 2. Click Manage Accounts in the User Accounts grouping. 3. Select a user, and click Change Password.
4. Enter and confirm the new password, and click Change Password.