8. Tracking Changes Using Jobs View Use Change Tracking to identify all changes made by a job
9.
10.
11. Discussion: Identifying Monitoring and Reporting Needs for a Virtual Environment Monitoring and reporting needs for a virtual environment
12.
13. Prerequisites for Integrating Operations Manager When designing the integration with Operations Manager : Operations Manager server must be available Deploy the Operations Manager server in the same or trusted domain as the VMM servers Ensure the System Center Data Access service account has SPN registration permission Ensure all VMM server and virtual machines are in the same Operations Manager management group Deploy the required management packs Configure required administrative permissions
Presentation: 60 minutes Lab: 60 minutes This module helps students to use jobs for troubleshooting tasks in System Center Virtual Machine Manager. After completing this module, students will be able to: Monitor Jobs in Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 Integrate System Center Operations Manager with VMM 2008 R2 Configure Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO) Required materials To teach this module, you need the Microsoft Office PowerPoint® file 10215A_12.ppt. Important It is recommended that you use PowerPoint 2002 or a later version to display the slides for this course. If you use PowerPoint Viewer or an earlier version of PowerPoint, all the features of the slides might not be displayed correctly. Preparation tasks To prepare for this module: Read all of the materials for this module. Practice performing the demonstrations and the lab exercises. Work through the Module Review and Takeaways section and determine how you will use this section to reinforce student learning and promote knowledge transfer to on-the-job performance. Make sure that students are aware that there are additional online resources for the module on the Course CD.
As you begin this module, ask students whether they have done any troubleshooting in VMM. If they have, ask them to describe their experiences with the VMM jobs, and how they have used the jobs information? Stress that all actions in VMM are jobs, including trivial tasks such as refreshing the view in VMM Administrator Console. Each action is represented as a single job, but the job may have multiple steps.
Use the screenshots on the slide to describe the different ways that jobs are displayed in the Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console. Point out that the three views contain similar information. Question: How have you used the Jobs view or the Jobs page as you have been working with VMM in the labs in this course? Answer: Answers will vary. Students should have noticed the different job views, but may not have interacted with the information. If the students have done any troubleshooting, they likely will have used the Jobs view or Jobs page to see why some jobs failed.
Consider showing the different options for canceling or restarting jobs in VMM. You can start a task, cancel the task, and then restart it. Also if there are any virtual machines listed in the VMM console with a failed status, show the options that are available when you try to repair the virtual machine.
Discuss the importance of being able to filter the Jobs view in VMM administrator console. Use the screen shot on the slide to discuss the implications of selecting each of filtering options. Point out that when you select more than one check box in a category, the list shows jobs that match both selections. However, when you select filters across multiple categories, the view displays only jobs that match all the criteria.
Use the screenshot on the slide, or an actual job in VMM, to show the level of detail that the Change Tracking tab provides. Point out that every job has a Change Tracking tab, even jobs that do not make changes to the environment.
Demonstration steps 1.On NYC-HOST1, open the Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console. 2.In the left pane, click Jobs . 3.In the Jobs view, click the Status column header. Verify that the jobs are listed by Completed, Failed, and Completed w/ Info status. 4.Click the Result Name column header. Verify that the list is sorted by virtual machine or other object that was modified by the job. 5.Click the Owner column header. Verify that the job list is sorted by the person who performed the task. Locate the Self-Service tasks that Alan performed. 6.In the Search field at the top of the window, type HA-Test . In the drop-down list box at the right side of the Search field, click Start date . Verify that the tasks related to the highly available virtual machine are listed. 7.Click the X in the Search field. Verify that the jobs continue to be listed by start date. 8.In the left pane, click Virtual Machines . On the VMM toolbar, click Jobs to view the Jobs window. 9.In the Jobs window, click Name to sort the jobs by name. Locate a job with the name Create virtual machine , and then click it. 10.Describe the information displayed on the Summary pane. 11.On the Details pane, show the steps that were performed when running the job. 12.On the Change Tracking tab, review the changes that the job made, and then close the Jobs window. 13.In the Jobs view, expand each of the filter options under the Filters heading. Select one of the options under each heading, and show the resulting filter. 14.Beside Filters , click Clear . 15.In the left pane, click Virtual Machines . 16.Click a virtual machine, and then in the lower pane, click the Latest Job tab. Review the information displayed. Question: How will you use the Jobs view in your VMM deployment? Answer : Answers will vary, but the three main reasons for using the Jobs view will be to track jobs that are running, troubleshoot failed jobs, and review changes to the VMM environment.
Question: What monitoring and reporting features would make is easier for the project team at Contoso as they work on virtualizing the production servers? Answer : There are number of ways that the project team can use monitoring and reporting as they work on virtualizing servers: Monitoring and reporting of virtualization candidates. To identify which servers to virtualize first, Contoso requires some way to identify the current usage patterns for the existing servers. If the project team can provide this information in reports for management, they are able to make a convincing case to receive a budget that covers the virtualization of specific servers. Monitoring Hyper-V host servers. Because the project team does not have the budget to develop an entire Hyper-V infrastructure up front, they must monitor the Hyper-V host servers carefully as they migrate virtual machines. They must track usage patterns and provide reports identifying when Hyper-V hosts reach their capacity, to identify when to expand that host capacity. Monitoring SAN storage space. The project team also needs to monitor the space that the virtual machines on the SAN use, to predict when the SAN will reach capacity and when the company will require new disk space. Monitoring virtual machines. As Contoso virtualizes production servers, the requirement for availability and performance is more important than it was for test or development computers. To ensure that the virtual machines are performing at an acceptable level, Contoso needs to monitor the virtual machines. Question : What monitoring and reporting features will you require in your organization as you implement virtualization? Answer : Answers will vary, depending on where organizations are in their virtualization deployments. If organizations are just starting with virtualization, the requirements are probably similar to the list above. As organizations virtualize more and more machines, monitoring and reporting the environment becomes more important.
As you discuss the features and reports, emphasize that integrating the two products makes Operations Manager information accessible from within the VMM Administrator Console. When you open a report, you are opening a Web-based view of information that is stored in Operations Manager. When you open the Diagrams pane, the Operations Manager Administrator Console launches and displays the Operations Manager view of the VMM environment. Point out that all of this information is directly accessible in the Operations Manager Administrator Console.
If students are not familiar with Operations Manager, consider spending some extra time describing and demonstrating the Operation Manager requirements for configuring the integration with VMM. In particular, consider demonstrating how to import a management pack, and show the components that make up a management pack.
As you describe the process for integrating Operations Manager with VMM, describe the steps that are already completed in the lab setup. In the lab, SQL Server® 2008 and SQL Server 2008 SP1, and Operations Manager, are installed and configured. The students will complete the remaining steps in the lab.
Demonstration Steps To perform the following demonstration, you must install the Operations Manager Administrator Console on the VMM server. You should complete the following steps before starting this demonstration: 1.On NYC-HOST1, open Windows Explorer, and browse to E:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Learning\\10215\\Labfiles . 2.Double-click SetupOM.exe . 3.In the System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Setup page, click Install Operations Manager 2007 R2 . 4.On the Welcome page, click Next . 5.On the End-User License Agreement page, click I accept the terms in the license agreement , and then click Next . 5.On the Product Registration page, click Next . 6.On the Custom Setup page, click Database , and then click This component will not be available . 7.Click Management Server , and then click This component will not be available . 8.Click Web Console , and then click This component will not be available . Click Next . 7. On the Customer Experience Improvement Program page, click Next , and then click Install . 8.On the Completing page, clear the Start the Console check box, and click Finish . Step 1: Add the VMM Administrator to the Report Operator Role 1.On NYC-SVR3, open the Operations Manager console. In the Administration pane, under Security , click User Roles . 2.In the User Roles pane, double-click Operation Manager Report Operators . 3.The Operation Management Report Operators – User Role Properties dialog box appears. Click Add . 4.The Select Users or Groups dialog box appears. In the Enter the object names to select field, type administrator . 5.Click Check Names . 6.Click OK twice.
Step 2: Enable Reporting in VMM 1.On NYC-HOST1, on the desktop, double-click SCVMM Admin Console . 2.In the left pane, click Administration . 3.In the Administration pane, click System Center . 4.In the Details pane, double-click Operations Manager Reporting URL . 5.In the Reporting Settings dialog box, select the Enable Reporting check box. 6.In the Reporting server URL field, type http://NYC-SVR3/ReportServer . 7.Click OK . Step 3: Verify that reporting is configured 1.On NYC-HOST1, in the VMM Administrator Console , in the left pane, click Reporting . 2.In the Reports pane, click Virtual Machine Utilization , and click Open report . 3. Review the information provided for each virtual machine, and then close the report. Question: Does your organization already have Operations Manager deployed? If yes, will you be integrating Operations Manager with VMM? If not, do the integration features provide enough features for you to deploy Operations Manager? Answer : Answers will vary. If organizations have Operations Manager deployed, implementing the integration is fairly simple. By doing so, VMM administrators can view the Operations Manager virtualization reports using the familiar VMM Administrator Console. If organizations do not have Operations Manager deployed, it will require significant effort to configure the environment.
Describe the functionality that PRO provides. Again, stress that this feature makes use of the information that Operations Manager collects and stores in its database. This feature also makes use of the rules and alerts configured into Operations Manager management packs. Consider showing the information that is stored in one of PRO management packs. To show the details of what is being monitored in a management pack, click Authoring in the Operations Manager administrator console, expand Management Pack Objects, and click Monitors. In the Details pane, you can filter the display using words like PRO and Host, and then you locate the monitors running in Operations Manager. Question : In what ways is PRO different than VMM reporting? Answer : PRO provides interactive information about performance or configuration issues on the Hyper-V hosts or virtual machines, along with recommendations for addressing the issues. VMM reports present performance or utilization statistics, but the reports do not include any recommendations or steps that you can take to address issues.
Use the screen shots on the slide to describe the different options for configuring PRO. On the first screenshot, point out that this configuration is set at the VMM Server level. By default, whatever settings you apply at this level will be applied to all host groups. The second screen shot applies to a host cluster. Point out that you can change the PRO properties at the host group or host cluster level. The third screen shot shows how to remove a virtual machine from having host level PRO tips automatically applied to the host.
Demonstration Steps Step 1 Configure the Action account for Operations Manager 1.On NYC-SVR3, in the Operations Manager Administrator Console, click Administration . 2.In the Administration pane, expand Run As Configuration , and then click Accounts . 3In the Details pane, point out that Contoso\\Administrator is listed in the Action Account sections. 4.On NYC-HOST1, in the VMM Administrator console, click Administration. 5.In the Administration pane, click User Roles . 4.In the Details pane, double-click Administrator . 5.The User Role Properties for Administrator (Administrator) dialog box appears. Click the Members tab. 6.Ensure CONTOSO\\Administrator is listed. The Action account that Operations Manager uses must be a member of the Administrator user role in VMM to ensure that PRO tips can be implemented. 7.Click OK . Step 2: Configure the Operations Manager root management server 1.In the Administration pane, click System Center . 2.In the Details pane, double-click Operations Manager Server . 3.The Operations Manager Server dialog box appears. In the Server name field, type NYC-SVR3 . 4.Click OK . Step 3 Configure PRO for the VMM Server 1.In the Administration pane, click General . 2.In the Details pane, double-click PRO Settings . 3.The PRO Settings dialog box appears. Select Enabled PRO tips . 4.Click Automatically implement PRO tips. 5.Click OK . Step 4: Configure PRO for an individual host cluster 1.In the left pane, click Hosts . 2.Right-click HVCLuster , and then click Properties . 3.On the PRO tab, clear the Inherit PRO setting from parent Host Group check box. 4.Select the Enable PRO on this Host Cluster check box. Under this setting, click Warning and Critical . 5.Ensure that the Automatically implement PRO on this Host Cluster check box is not selected. 6.Click OK .
Step 5: Remove a virtual machine from PRO host-level actions 1.In the left pane, click Virtual Machines . 2.In the virtual machine list, right-click 10215A-NYC-SVR1 , and then click Properties . 3.On the Settings tab, select the Exclude virtual machine from PRO host-level actions . 4.Click OK . Question: When would you choose to implement the different options for implementing PRO? Answer : You might choose to prevent or modify the settings for implementing PRO on a host group or host cluster if there is something unique about the hosts or virtual machines in the host group. For example, if you have a host group that you are using for test or development virtual machines only, you may choose not to implement PRO for that host group. Similarly, you might choose to exempt an individual virtual machine from PRO host-level actions because there is something unique about that virtual machine, such as if the virtual machine should not be migrated to another host computer.
Demonstration steps Step 1: Trigger a PRO tip 1. On NYC-Host1, open a command prompt, type e: , and then press ENTER. 2.Type CD E:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Learning\\10215A\\Labfiles\\StressTool\\amd64 , and then press ENTER. 3.Type StressTool 90 , and press ENTER . 4.Open the VMM Administrator Console, and wait for the PRO Tip to appear. If the PRO Tip does not appear within a minute, start another instance of CPUStress, and then run it with the same configuration. Step 2: View details about a PRO tip. 1.In the PRO Tips window, click NYC-HOST1.contoso.com . 2. In the bottom pane, click Cause and Resolution . Review the information and the suggested resolution. Step 3: Implement a PRO tip. 1.In the PRO Tips window, click Implement . 2.In the VMM Administrator Console, click Jobs . Verify that a job has been triggered to implement the fix for a PRO tip. Click the job, and then review the job details. 3.Click the command prompt window, and then press Ctrl+C . Close the command prompt. 4.In the PRO Tips window, click Dismiss . Question: What happened when you selected the PRO Tip was implemented [MSOffice1] ? Answer : Operations Manager determined that the cause of the high CPU utilization was not the virtual machines, so it did not migrate a virtual machine. [MSOffice1] Huh?
Before the students begin the lab, read the scenario associated with each exercise to the class. This will reinforce the broad issue that the students are troubleshooting and will help to facilitate the lab discussion at the end of the module. Remind the students to complete the discussion questions after the last lab exercise. Exercise 1: Configuring the Integration of VMM and Operations Manager In this exercise, students will: Install the System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 prerequisites. Install System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2. Add Management Packs. Configure Operations Manager through VMM Setup. Exercise 2: Configuring and Testing VMM Reporting In this exercise, students will: Deploy a Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Reporting Management Pack. Add the VMM Administrator to the Report Operators Role. Install the Operations Manager Console on the VMM Server. Enable reporting in VMM. Verify that reporting is configured. Exercise 3: Configuring and Validating PRO In this exercise, students will: Configure the Action account for Operations Manager. Configure the Operations Manager root management server. Configure PRO for the VMM Server. Configure PRO for an individual host cluster. Verify that reporting is configured. Note: The lab exercise answer keys are provided on the Course Companion CD. To access the answer key, click the link located at the bottom of the relevant lab exercise page.
Use the questions on the slide to guide the debriefing after students complete the lab exercises. Question : Why did you disable PRO Tips from being applied to 10215A-LON-SVR1 in this lab? Answer : The virtual machine is stored on the local hard drive on the Hyper-V server rather than on shared storage. If VMM tried to migrate the virtual machine to another host as a result of a PRO tip, the migration would fail. Question : Why do you need to install the Operations Manager console on the VMM server? Answer : In order to access the Diagram view in VMM, you must install the Operations Manager console on the VMM server.
Review Questions 1.You have just started a new task in VMM Administrator console and want to view the status of the task. What should you do? Answer : Open the Jobs view in VMM Administrator console, and click on the job that the task created. You can view details on the job status in the Details pane. 2.You have enabled the integration of VMM and Operations Manager, and you can view reports in VMM Administrator Console. But PRO tips are not displayed in the VMM. What should you do? Answer : You need to make sure that PRO is enabled for the host group that you are working with. You can enable PRO at the VMM server level or at each host group level. Real-World Issues and Scenarios 1.The information technology (IT) managers in your organization want to be able to track virtual machine usage in your VMM and Hyper-V deployment. You have enabled reporting in VMM, and you can view the reports, but the IT managers cannot. They can open View other information in VMM Administrator Console. What should you do? Answer : Add the IT managers group to the Report Operators group in Operations Manager. Users must be part of this group to view the reports in VMM. 2.Your organization is considering implementing PRO, but has not implemented any highly available virtual machines on host clusters. Your manager has asked you to justify the expense and effort of implementing PRO without failover clustering. Answer : While you will not get the benefit of automated live migration without failover clustering, you can still take advantage of many other PRO features. You can use the PRO Tips as alerts so that you are notified when there are issues with the environment, and then you can take corrective actions.