VITAL SIGNS Quick Start Guide Rev 2.6.0
Introduction 2 VITAL SIGNS FROM SAVISION / QUICK START GUIDE 2014 Savision B.V. savision.com All rights reserved. This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. The content of this manual is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Savision B.V. Savision B.V. assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this manual. Except as permitted by such license, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Savision B.V. Any references to company names, organizations, persons, or places are for demonstration purposes only and are not intended to refer to any actual company, organization, person or place. Copyrighted and/or trademarked materials remain the property of their respective owners. REVISION NUMBER: 2.6.0
Introduction 3 Contents 1 Introduction... 4 1.1 Supported Systems... 4 1.2 Related Documentation... 4 1.3 Document Conventions... 4 1.4 Contacting Savision... 5 2 Initial Configuration... 6 2.1 Licensing Model... 6 2.2 Installing Licenses... 6 2.3 Configuring Default Credentials... 7 2.4 Integrating with System Center... 9 2.5 SCOM Management Pack... 11 2.6 Setting Up Operations Manager Tasks... 11 2.6.1 Operations Manager 2012... 12 3 Registering Connections... 14 3.1 Windows Server Connections... 14 3.2 SQL Server Connections... 16 3.3 Hyper-V Server Connections... 19 3.4 Exchange Server Connections... 21 4 Performing Analysis... 26 4.1 Opening a Connection... 26 4.2 Running Calibration... 27 4.3 Rerunning Calibration... 28 5 Known Issues... 29 5.1 Remote PowerShell Quota Exceeded... 29 5.2 Virtual Networks With Same Name... 29 5.3 Virtual Machines With Same Name... 29 5.4 Exchange 2007 Support... 29
Introduction 4 1 INTRODUCTION This guide describes the steps required to successfully configure and run Vital Signs, release 2.6.0 from Savision. The content herein is intended for system administrators responsible for the implementation, configuration and upkeep of enterprise-class IT systems. The document is organized as follows: Chapter 1, Introduction, provides the scope and purpose of the document. Chapter 2, Initial Configuration, provides basic setup and integration instructions. Chapter 3, Registering Connections, shows how to connect Vital Signs to target systems. Chapter 4, Performing Analysis, explains how to open a connection for analysis and use the calibration feature. Chapter 5, Known Issues, describes any known issues in the product. 1.1 SUPPORTED SYSTEMS Vital Signs supports the following systems as targets for performance analysis. Vital Signs for Windows Server supports Windows Server 2003 and higher. Vital Signs for SQL Server supports SQL Server 2005 and higher. Vital Signs for Hyper-V Server supports Hyper-V Server 2008 and higher. Vital Signs for Exchange Server supports Exchange Server 2007 and higher. 1.2 RELATED DOCUMENTATION Other documents available in regard to Vital Signs include the following: Vital Signs Installation Guide provides the procedures to install the Vital Signs product. Vital Signs Frequently Asked Questions summarizes basic knowledge points for quick understanding and dissemination throughout an IT organization. 1.3 DOCUMENT CONVENTIONS The following conventions are used throughout the document: Application Elements Window names, field labels, links, and other user interface (UI) elements are italicized.
Introduction 5 Code Samples Scripts, program source code, configuration files and the like are handled in this fashion: AddObjectProperty attributemap {element: value, element: value} End-user Entry Things you type including user names, passwords, responses and commands are shown in bold. Notes Notes and observations are emphasized as follows: Note: you can also use CTRL-Q to quit. Warnings Warnings convey limits, ramifications, negative impacts or other important information as follows: Warning: do not close the window before the process ends. 1.4 CONTACTING SAVISION For additional information, go to www.savision.com/support or email support@savision.com.
Initial Configuration 6 2 INITIAL CONFIGURATION 2.1 LICENSING MODEL This section summarizes the Vital Signs licensing model. Vital Signs uses different license types to control access to key product features. The license types are as follows: Vital Signs product license allows you to run the product; all customers require this license. Dashboard licenses allow you to access and use a particular analytical dashboard. This release supports four types of dashboards: Windows Server, SQL Server, Hyper-V Server, and Exchange Server. Customers require one dashboard license for each type of server used with Vital Signs. System Center connector license allows Vital Signs to integrate with Microsoft System Center. Contact Savision for information regarding licensing plans and bundling options. 2.2 INSTALLING LICENSES This section describes how to add dashboard licenses to your Vital Signs console. (1) From within the Vital Signs console, open the Administration workspace by clicking the Administration bar found in the bottom left corner of the console.
Initial Configuration 7 (2) Click Licenses. Click Add License. (3) Copy the License text provided by Savision and paste it into the Add License Key window. Click OK. Note: repeat the steps above for each Vital Signs license provided by Savision. 2.3 CONFIGURING DEFAULT CREDENTIALS This section describes how to configure default credentials for accounts used in the connection registration process. Using default credentials simplifies the connection registration process so that you can get Vital Signs up and running more easily. Default credentials can be independently configured for Windows Server, SQL Server, and Exchange Server connections. SQL Server default credentials supports both Windows authentication and SQL authentication. Additionally, credentials to the Vital Signs host can be configured which are used for enabling remote PowerShell for both Hyper-V Server and Exchange Server connections. (1) From within the Vital Signs console, open the Administration workspace by clicking the Administration bar found in the bottom left corner of the console.
Initial Configuration 8 (2) Expand Security. Expand Default Credentials. Click Windows Server. Type a Username, Password, and Domain to serve as the default credentials for connecting to Windows Servers in your network. Note: ensure the account provides administrative privileges. Click Save. (3) In the Default Credentials collection, click SQL Server. Select an authentication mode from the Authentication Mode drop-down list. (4) Type a Username, Password, and Domain to serve as the default credentials for connecting to SQL Servers in your network. Note: ensure the account provides administrative privileges. Click Save.
Initial Configuration 9 (5) In the Default Credentials collection, click Vital Signs. Type a Username, Password, and Domain to serve as the default credentials for performing administrative tasks against the Vital Signs Server. For example, these credentials are used for enabling Remote PowerShell Sessions for the Exchange Server and Hyper-V Server dashboards. Note: ensure the account provides administrative privileges. Click Save. (6) In the Default Credentials collection, click Exchange Server. Type a Username, Password, and Domain to serve as the default credentials for reading data from the Exchange Servers in your network. Note: ensure the account provides administrative privileges. Click Save. 2.4 INTEGRATING WITH SYSTEM CENTER This section describes how to integrate Vital Signs with System Center Operations Manager 2012 (SCOM) and System Center Service Manager 2012 (SCSM).
Initial Configuration 10 The Vital Signs dashboards read alerts, incidents, and historical performance data from SCOM and SCSM and display this information in the context of the impacted system. Additionally, tasks are created in SCOM for launching Vital Signs in the context of the selected system. Vital Signs reads alert and incident data from SCOM and SCSM and displays them in context of the impacted system. Vital Signs will also query for historical data from the SCOM Operational Database and present that data alongside the real-time performance data collected by Vital Signs. Vital Signs will only be able to present historical data from SCOM if a management pack is present that collects the data. In general, these management packs are available from Microsoft for their various server and application products. In the particular case of Hyper-V, the Vital Signs installation contains a management pack that collects additional data beyond the Microsoft management pack. Further, the Hyper-V Dashboard Overview page requires that Microsoft s Windows Server Hyper-V Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007 is installed. (1) From within the Vital Signs console, open the Administration workspace by clicking the Administration bar found in the bottom left corner of the console. (2) Click Connectors. (3) Click Add Connector. Click Operations Manager or Service Manager.
Initial Configuration 11 (4) Type the address of the Management Server. For SCOM, this will be the Root Management Server. This can be an IP address, NETBIOS server name, or fully qualified domain name. Type a Username, Password and Domain for a user that has permissions sufficient to read alert data from SCOM or incident data from SCSM depending on the selection made in the previous step. Click OK. 2.5 SCOM MANAGEMENT PACK In the folder to which you installed Vital Signs, you will find a SCOM Management Pack contained under %Vital Signs Install%/Management Packs/Hyper-V. The Savision Vital Signs Management Pack for Hyper-V 2008 (Savision.VitalSigns.HyperV.2008.mp) is provided for the collection of historical data. It also contains a number of monitors and views that Savision believes are generally useful in monitoring a Hyper-V installation. The Savision Vital Signs Management Pack for Hyper-V 2008 is optional. Install it only if you wish to see historical data in the Vital Signs for Hyper-V dashboard or you wish to make use of the monitors and views within the Management Pack. 2.6 SETTING UP OPERATIONS MANAGER TASKS This section shows how to configure System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) tasks so they launch Vital Signs. Tasks to launch Vital Signs are created that target Windows Servers, SQL Servers, Hyper-V Servers, and Exchange Servers.
Initial Configuration 12 Note: before creating tasks in SCOM, complete the steps found in the section Integrating with System Center above. 2.6.1 OPERATIONS MANAGER 2012 (1) From within the Vital Signs console, open the Administration workspace by clicking the Administration bar found in the bottom left corner of the console. (2) Click Connectors. (3) Right-click the Operations Manager connector and click Add Tasks.
Initial Configuration 13 (4) Click OK. Tasks are now available in System Center Operations Manager.
Registering Connections 14 3 REGISTERING CONNECTIONS Connections serve as channels between Vital Signs and registered target systems. A connection for each system is required to perform data collection and analysis. 3.1 WINDOWS SERVER CONNECTIONS This section describes how to register a connection for a Windows Server host. (1) From within the Vital Signs console, open the Analysis workspace by clicking the Analysis bar found in the bottom left corner of the console. (2) Right click the Microsoft Windows Server folder and click Register Microsoft Windows Server.
Registering Connections 15 (3) Type the address of the Windows Server to register. This can be an IP address, NETBIOS server name, or fully qualified domain name. (4) Click the radio button Use Default Credentials. (5) If System Center integration was configured, select the target system managed in System Center. Vital Signs will attempt to automatically select the matching target system. Use Select to manually select the target system.
Registering Connections 16 (6) If desired, click the checkbox Open dashboard after registration to automatically open the dashboard after registration. Click Finish. 3.2 SQL SERVER CONNECTIONS This section describes how to register a connection for a SQL Server host. (1) From within the Vital Signs console, open the Analysis workspace by clicking the Analysis bar found in the bottom left corner of the console. (2) Right click the Microsoft SQL Server folder and click Register Microsoft SQL Server.
Registering Connections 17 (3) Type the address of the SQL Server to register. This can be an IP address, NETBIOS server name, or fully qualified domain name. (4) Click the radio button Use Default Credentials. (5) Select the target SQL instance from the SQL Instance Name drop-down box.
Registering Connections 18 (6) Click Use Default Credentials. (7) If System Center integration was configured, select the target system managed in System Center. Vital Signs will attempt to automatically select the matching target system. Use Select to manually select the target system. (8) If desired, click the checkbox Open dashboard after registration to automatically open the dashboard after registration. Click Finish.
Registering Connections 19 3.3 HYPER-V SERVER CONNECTIONS This section describes how to register a connection for a Hyper-V Server host. (1) From within the Vital Signs console, open the Analysis workspace by clicking the Analysis bar found in the bottom left corner of the console. (2) Right click the Microsoft Hyper-V Server folder and click Register Microsoft Hyper-V Server. (3) Type the address of the Hyper-V Server to register. This can be an IP address, NETBIOS server name, or fully qualified domain name.
Registering Connections 20 (4) Click the radio button Use Default Credentials. (5) PowerShell Remoting must be enabled for the Hyper-V dashboard. If it is not enabled, click the button Enable PowerShell Remoting. (6) Confirm that PowerShell Remoting is enabled.
Registering Connections 21 (7) If System Center integration was configured, select the target system managed in System Center. Vital Signs will attempt to automatically select the matching target system. Use Select to manually select the target system. (8) If desired, click the checkbox Open dashboard after registration to automatically open the dashboard after registration. Click Finish. 3.4 EXCHANGE SERVER CONNECTIONS This section describes how to register a connection for an Exchange Server.
Registering Connections 22 (1) From within the Vital Signs console, open the Analysis workspace by clicking the Analysis bar found in the bottom left corner of the console. (2) Right click the Microsoft Exchange Server folder and click Register Microsoft Exchange Server. (3) Type the address of the Exchange Server to register. This can be an IP address, NETBIOS server name, or fully qualified domain name.
Registering Connections 23 (4) Click the radio button Use Default Credentials. (5) PowerShell Remoting must be enabled for the Hyper-V dashboard. If it is not enabled, click the button Enable PowerShell Remoting. (6) Confirm that PowerShell Remoting is enabled.
Registering Connections 24 (7) Click the radio button Use Default Credentials. (8) If System Center integration was configured, select the target system managed in System Center. Vital Signs will attempt to automatically select the matching target system. Use Select to manually select the target system.
Registering Connections 25 (9) If desired, click the checkbox Open dashboard after registration to automatically open the dashboard after registration. Click Finish.
Performing Analysis 26 4 PERFORMING ANALYSIS This section describes how to (a) open a predefined connection to commence data collection and (b) use the calibration feature to set performance thresholds appropriate for your environment. 4.1 OPENING A CONNECTION Follow the steps below to open a connection to a target system. Note: A Windows Server is shown in the examples that follow; use the same steps for SQL Servers, Hyper-V Servers and Exchange Servers while substituting SQL Server, Hyper-V Server, or Exchange Server for Windows Server in the procedures. (1) From within the Vital Signs console, open the Analysis workspace by clicking the Analysis bar found in the bottom left corner of the console. (2) Expand the Microsoft Windows Server folder. Double click a connection to open it. Data collection and analysis for the connection begins immediately.
Performing Analysis 27 4.2 RUNNING CALIBRATION This section describes how to use Vital Sign s calibration feature. Calibration collects and analyzes data from the connected system to create intelligent thresholds for performance counters. For best results, Savision recommends running calibration during a period of normal activity for the connected system. (1) When a new connection is launched, an alert appears prompting to run calibration. Click Yes. (2) Select a calibration period (longer periods produce better results). Click OK. The alert window shows the remaining time left for the calibration process. (3) When the calibration process is done, click Yes to save the results. Calibration is complete.
Performing Analysis 28 4.3 RERUNNING CALIBRATION The calibration process can be run again at any time in the future by doing the following: At the top-right of the Vital Signs console, click the dropdown menu next to the target system s name. Click Calibration. Click Calibrate.
Known Issues 29 5 KNOWN ISSUES This section describes the known issues with Vital Signs v2.6.0. 5.1 REMOTE POWERSHELL QUOTA EXCEEDED It is possible that you may experience the following error message when using Vital Signs for Exchange Server or Vital Signs for Hyper-V Server: The WS-Management service cannot process the request. This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells, which has been exceeded. Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user. By default, only 5 concurrent remote PowerShell connections can be made to Windows Server. Refer to the following article for instructions on how to modify this quota: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ee309367(v=vs.85).aspx 5.2 VIRTUAL NETWORKS WITH SAME NAME Although not recommended, Hyper-V does allow for virtual networks to be created with the same name. In this case, Vital Signs for Hyper-V Server will incorrectly report the usage of any virtual network that has duplicate names as the sum of all virtual networks with that name. 5.3 VIRTUAL MACHINES WITH SAME NAME Although not recommended, Hyper-V does allow for virtual machines to be created with the same name. In this case, Vital Signs for Hyper-V Server will incorrectly report performance metrics of any virtual machine that has duplicate names as the sum of all virtual machines with that name. 5.4 EXCHANGE 2007 SUPPORT Exchange 2007 Server SP1 Update Rollup 1 or greater is required for Vital Signs to successfully connect. Update Rollup 1 added the ability to use impersonation when using Remote PowerShell. Please refer to the following for more information: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943937