Security

Installation requires creating two different service accounts for MOM 2005.

• Management Server Action Account: This service account has several special requirements based on the tasks that it performs. For example, this service account is used to:

  • Install agents on monitored computers

  • Run tasks on agentless monitored computers

  • Retrieve and gather data from agentless monitored computers

  • Access event logs on monitored computers

  • Retrieve and gather data from the Management Server

• Data Access Server (DAS) Account: This service account is used to access the MOM 2005 Database. In order to provide proper database access, it needs:

  • SQL server db_owner role for the MOM 2005 Database

  • Permit server access login authority for the SQL server

With these requirements in mind, many organizations will create a domain admin equivalent service account for the Management Server Action Account and will create a specific domain account with the proper SQL permissions for the DAS account.

Another account of note is the Agent Action Account which is used to collect data from agent-managed computers and to run actions on agent-managed computers. This account, however, is not needed during installation of the MOM 2005 Database or the MOM 2005 Management Server.

Windows Server

MOM 2005 should be installed on Windows Server 2003 whenever possible. However, MOM 2005 does provide support for previous versions of Windows as follows:

• Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 6a: MOM 2005 can monitor these computers as agentless managed computers. In order to manage Windows NT 4.0, WMI 1.5 needs to be installed on each managed computer. MOM 2005 reports can also be viewed from Windows NT 4.0 computers using browsers that support HTML 3.2 and HTML 4.0.

• Windows 2000 Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server with Service Pack 4 or above:

  Can be used for the Management Server, MOM database, MOM Administrator Console and Operator Console, and MOM Reporting Server roles. Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 clients can be managed as either agent-managed or agentless computers. Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 clients can also be used to view MOM reports.

• Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, and Datacenter Edition: Can be used for all roles in a MOM 2005 environment. All Windows Server 2003 computers can be managed as using agents or as agentless clients. All Windows Server 2003 computers can be used to view reports.

• Windows Server 2003 64-bit editions: Cannot be used for any of the MOM 2005 roles except to host the MOM database. The 64-bit edition of SQL Server is required and the MOMCreateDB.exe tool from the Support Tools folder is required to install the database. The Support Tools folder contains the MOMCreateDB.exe for both the 32-bit and 64-bit database versions. The Windows Server 2003 64-bit Editions can be managed using 64-bit versions of the MOM agent or they can be managed as agentless computers. Windows Server 2003 64-bit Edition servers can also be used to view MOM reports.

While it is possible to install MOM 2005 components on a domain controller, it is not recommended because of the following restrictions:

• Product Connectors have not been fully tested on domain controllers and might not function properly.

• There can be only one Management Server in a Management Group if the Management Server is installed on a domain controller.

• Both the MOM database and the MOM reporting database have to be on the same server.

In general, it is a bad idea to install any application on a domain controller. The limitations caused by having MOM 2005 installed on a domain controller really underscore the potential problems beyond the security concerns. Many security experts will strongly discourage installing applications on a domain controller because additional applications increase the attack profile of the server and it is hard enough to properly secure a domain controller.

SQL Server

MOM 2005 needs a place to store all of the data that it receives from the agent-managed and agentless computers on the network. The data can be stored using either SQL Server 2000 with Service Pack 3a and higher or Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE). Using MSDE is not recommended because it has a limit of only 2GB of data, it includes a query governor that can hinder performance, and it also is unable to support the System Center Data Warehouse. As of this writing, MOM 2005 is not officially supported on SQL Server 2005.

One of the most important requirements for a successful implementation of MOM 2005 is the ability to store the data required by the organization. In some cases, a smaller amount of data is needed than in other situations. With MSDE's limitations, it is vital to have SQL 2000 SP3a or higher to store all of the data that will be collected by MOM 2005 and to provide the platform for MOM 2005 reporting.

The MOM 2005 Database is extremely active as it is constantly adding new performance and event information and is using queries to check for potential triggers. SQL Server 2000 best practices dictate putting multiple spindles in the server for performance and database protection. According to best practices, the database and the transaction logs should be on separate drives. Because transaction logs are a potential bottleneck for SQL performance, it is important that transaction logs be placed on fast drives. With the transaction logs separated, it is possible to restore a SQL database to its most current state. The topic of SQL Server 2000 performance tuning is best left to a complete chapter or two in a SQL Server 2000 book, so it will not be covered in depth here. Administrators should follow SQL best practices and involve a SQL database administrator to provide recommendations.

A potential configuration, used to improve throughput to the database, is to have a separate and dedicated network connection directly attached from the MOM 2005 server to the SQL Server 2000 server.

Figure 3-1 shows a separate network connection between the MOM 2005 server and the SQL 2000 server. Using this configuration, which will take some manipulation on the side of the MOM 2005 server so that is uses just the dedicated network, will increase the bandwidth that is available between the MOM 2005 and SQL 2000 servers. This kind of configuration can improve performance in situations where the standard network is congested or where it uses slower technologies. For example, the standard server network might be using a switched 10/100 megabit network while the dedicated MOM/SQL network can be gigabit. We don't recommend that you use this configuration unless the environment is experiencing performance issues caused by poor network connectivity between the MOM 2005 server and the MOM database hosted on the SQL 2000 server.

Figure 3-1

Microsoft recommends a dedicated SQL server for the MOM 2005 Database installation. Depending on the size of the organization and the number of managed computers, a dedicated SQL server will be required to meet performance needs. Many organizations, however, have invested a great deal into clustered SQL servers with multiple processors and large amounts of memory that are attached to very fast storage area networks. In many cases, a dedicated SQL server is not necessary to meet performance requirements.

There are a few other requirements for the SQL Server 2000 server that is hosting the MOM 2005 database. The following are needed:

• The SQLSERVERAGENT must be set to Automatic.

• SQL Reporting Service is needed for Reporting. Reporting is not a requirement for a MOM 2005 installation; however, if Reporting is required by the business, then SQL Reporting Services is required.

• IIS must be installed for SQL Reporting Service if MOM 2005 Reporting is going to be on the same server.

• ASP.NET and COM+ are required to support the reporting content.

Installation of the MOM 2005 Database

Once you've checked the potential MOM 2005 Management Server and Database components, you can perform the installation. MOM 2005 Database best practices include:

• Use the MOM 2005 Performance and Sizing guide to help determine the database size.

• Use a dedicated SQL server for the MOM 2005 Database.

• Put the database and log files on separate physical drives.

• Place the paging file on a separate physical drive away from the operating system, the database, and the log files.

Follow these steps to perform the installation:

1. In the initial setup window, click the Install Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 link.

2. Click Next on the Welcome to the Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Setup Wizard.

3. Accept the license agreement and click Next.

4. Enter the User Name, Organization Name, and the CD Key, and click Next.

5. Select the Custom radio button and click Next.

   Note

   The Typical installation option installs the Database, Management Server, and both consoles. The Custom installation option is needed if the MOM Connector Framework or the MOM Product Connector is needed and also if the Database and Management Server roles are to be separated and installed on different servers.

6. Unselect the MOM 2005 Management Server and the MOM 2005 User Interfaces components (see Figure 3-4 for the resulting view) and click Next.

   
   Figure 3-4

7. Click Next on the Prerequisite Check Passed window.

8. Select the SQL Server database instance using the drop-down box and click Next.

9. Select the Advanced button on the Database and Log File Options window, as in Figure 3-5.

   
   Figure 3-5

10. In the Database Files Location window, use the two Change buttons to move the database and log files to the best locations for performance and redundancy and then click OK.

    Note

    Microsoft does not recommend configuring the database (once it is installed) to Automatically grow file because the maximum OnePoint database size supported is 30GB. The optimum size for performance is 15GB.

11. Select the Database size per planning or select the default and grow the database as needed in the future and click Next.

12. Assign the Management Group Name (this name cannot be changed without performing a complete reinstallation of MOM 2005) and click Next.

    Note

    We suggest that you establish a naming convention prior to installation. For example, the names may be based on geographic areas or business divisions.

13. Enter the Data Access Server Account information, which includes the User Account, Password, and Domain or local computer information, and click Next.

14. Check the Enable error reporting check box or leave it unchecked and click Next.

    Note

    If enabling error reporting, it can be sent automatically or it can be queued up for approval before sending the information. In both cases the error reports are encrypted and do not contain any potentially sensitive organization information.

15. Select the appropriate radio button for the Active Directory Configuration window and click Next.

    Note

    Selecting Yes for this window allows use of the same security credentials for all agents and MOM 2005 Management Servers in the environment. Selecting No for this window means that multiple security credentials will be required to deploy, update, and manage deployed agents and MOM 2005 Management Servers; however, it does allow flexibility in highly secure environments where multiple non-trusting domains are in use and where standalone servers are deployed.

16. Click Install to install the MOM 2005 Database to the SQL Server 2000 server.

17. Click Finish to complete the installation of the MOM 2005 Database.

18. Using Enterprise Manager on the SQL Server 2000 server, set the database authentication to Windows only if possible.

19. Using Enterprise Manager, set the SQL Server service account to run as Local System and verify that SQL Server is configured to use TCP/IP for client connections.

    Note

    Involve the Database Administration team, if possible, in the configuration and tuning of the database. It may not be possible to set the authentication to Windows only because in many environments the SQL server will support other databases, which may have other requirements including the need for SQL Server authentication. It is also possible that SQL cannot be run under Local System if other databases have different needs.

Installation of the MOM 2005 Management Server

Follow these steps to install the MOM 2005 Management Server:

1. Log on to the server using an account with administrative credentials that also has the db_owner permission to the OnePoint database created earlier and "DBO" access to both the master and the msdb databases on the SQL server.

2. After starting the setup program, check the prerequisites on the server that will host the MOM 2005 Management Server role. After all the requirements have been checked, it is time to start the installation.

3. In the initial setup window, click the Install Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 link.

4. Click Next on the Welcome to the Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Setup Wizard.

5. Accept the license agreement and click Next.

6. Enter the User Name, Organization Name, the CD Key, and click Next.

7. Select the Custom radio button and click Next.

   Note

   The Typical installation option installs the Database, Management Server, and both consoles. The Custom installation option is needed if the MOM Connector Framework or the MOM Product Connector is needed and also if the Database and Management Server roles are to be separated and installed on different servers. In this case, the Database has already been installed, and this process will install the Management Server component on a different server. Microsoft recommends installing the Web Console on a separate server; however, it can be installed on the Management Server at this time.

8. Unselect the MOM 2005 Database and verify that the MOM 2005 Management Server option is selected, as in Figure 3-6, and click Next.

   
   Figure 3-6

9. Click Next on the Prerequisite Check Passed window.

10. Select the MOM Database Server Instance and the port number and click Next.

    Note

    Alternative port numbers are often used as security measures. Many virus attacks are focused on known ports, such as the default SQL port of 1433. The port number can be changed on the SQL server using Enterprise Manager.

11. Enter the Management Server Action Account information and click Next.

    Note

    If the account is a domain administrator equivalent account, a warning will be provided.

12. Enter the Data Access Server Account information and click Next.

13. Click Install to copy all of the files and to allow the MOM 2005 installation process to configure the server.

14. Click Finish to complete the installation of the MOM 2005 Management Server.

Installation of additional Management Servers can be done using these same steps. All MOM 2005 Management Servers that are in the same Management Group can be administered using the MOM Administrator Console on any of the Management Servers in the Management Group.

Installation of the MOM 2005 Administrator and Operator Consoles

The MOM 2005 Administrator and Operator Consoles were installed on the Management Server in the previous section. The problem with installing the consoles on the Management Server is that administrators have to use the Management Server for day-to-day administration. It is not a good idea to use tools directly on a server. Most systems administrators are not going to want to let MOM administrators have the ability to use Terminal Services to directly connect to the MOM 2005 Management Server for administration, so it is important to have the ability to install the consoles on MOM 2005 administrators' desktops. Installation of the consoles requires .NET Framework v1.1. To install the MOM 2005 Administrator and Operator Consoles:

1. Log onto the server using an account with local administrative credentials.

2. After starting the setup program, check the prerequisites on the server that will host the MOM 2005 Management Server role. After all the requirements have been checked, it is time to start the installation.

3. In the initial setup window, click the Install Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 link.

4. Click Next on the Welcome to the Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Setup Wizard.

5. Accept the license agreement and click Next.

6. Enter the User Name, Organization Name, and the CD Key, and click Next.

7. Select the Custom radio button and click Next.

8. Clear the MOM 2005 Database and the MOM 2005 Management Server options and verify that the MOM 2005 User Interfaces option is enabled, as in Figure 3-7, and click Next.

   
   Figure 3-7

9. After the prerequisites have been verified, click Next.

10. Enter the name of the Management Server (or the one that you want to initially connect to if there are multiple Management Servers) and click Next.

11. Click Install to copy all of the files and to allow the MOM 2005 installation process to configure the consoles on the computer.

12. Click Finish to complete the installation of the MOM 2005 Management Server.

Discovering Computers and Deploying Agents

Up to this point, the MOM 2005 Database has been installed along with the MOM 2005 Management Server and the consoles. With the basic infrastructure installed, the next step is to install agents on all computers that should be managed. Keep in mind that in most organizations, not every single computer is monitored and managed by MOM 2005 because of resource constraints. The resource constraints can be the MOM 2005 environment capacity, network limitations, and administrator limitations.

MOM 2005 has a wonderful built-in capability to search the network and find all computers that are available. Administrators can then identify those that should be monitored and managed by MOM 2005, and then administrators can have MOM 2005 deploy the agents.

One of the features that has been discussed already is the ability to have agent-managed computers configured so that they report to specific Management Servers and have the ability to failover to a secondary Management Server in the event their primary Management Server is unavailable, as displayed in Figure 3-8. For example, if an organization has two Management Servers, half of the managed computers can be configured to use one Management Server as their primary server and the other half can be configured to use the other Management Server as their primary server. Each managed computer can then use the other Management Server as a secondary server. See the section "Configuring Multihomed Agents" later in this chapter for more information.

Figure 3-8

Discovering Computers

Once the Management Servers are installed, the next step is to configure discovery rules so MOM 2005 can find the computers to be managed. Computer Discovery rules can be as simple as specifying a computer name or creating search criteria. Using custom search information allows for greater flexibility and for separation of computers among multiple Management Servers.

It is very important that similar rules are not created on multiple Management Servers in the same Management Group. If a computer can be discovered by multiple Management Servers, it will automatically change primary servers each time a Management Server does its scheduled discovery. For example, if two Management Servers both had discovery rules configured to find domain controllers, the first Management Server to run its automatic discovery would deploy its agent, and then the second Management Server would deploy its agent as well when it runs its scheduled discovery.

To create a Computer Discovery Rule, use the following steps:

1. On a computer with the MOM 2005 Administrator Console, open the Administrator Console, expand the Administration folder, and expand the Computers folder, as shown in Figure 3-9.

   
   Figure 3-9

2. Right-click on Computer Discovery Rules and select Create Computer Discovery Rule, as in Figure 3-10.

   
   Figure 3-10

   Note

   Default Computer Discovery Rules exist to install agents on existing Management Servers. Additional rules will be listed below the default rules after they are created. The default rules for Management Servers cannot be deleted.

3. Use the drop-down box to select the Management Server where this rule will be used.

4. Use the drop-down box to select the Rule type of Include or Exclude.

5. Manually type in the Domain name information either using the NetBIOS domain name or using the fully qualified domain name.

6. In the Computer name, select the matching option and the characters of the match.

   Note

   Using the Computer name part of the rule allows organizations with naming standards to implement those standards as part of the search criteria. For example, if all web servers are named with the same prefix, that prefix string can be used to discover those particular computers only. MOM 2005 supports only the use of English characters for computer names.

7. Use the drop-down box to select the Computer type from Servers, Clients, or Servers and Clients.

   Note

   Specifying Servers or Clients causes discovery to take longer as the Management Server has to contact each individual computer and check its operating system and its role.

8. Use the drop-down box to set the Initial Management Mode from the options of Agent-managed, Agentless managed, and Unmanaged.

9. Use the Apply query criteria to domain controllers option.

Figure 3-11 is an example of the discovery of all servers in the domain and configuring them to use the Management Server named Bester. Using wildcards generates a warning that the rule may discover all computers or a very large number of computers. In smaller organizations, it would not be a problem. Larger organizations may put an extremely heavy load on the Management Server, especially if it is set to automatically deploy agents for all discovered computers set to become Agent-managed.

Figure 3-11

After installing a new Management Server and configuring the Computer Discovery Rules, the discovery will not happen until the scheduled time. Discovery can be forced to take place immediately for a single Management Server or for all Management Servers. To manually force computer discovery for a single Management Server, use the following steps:

1. Open the MOM 2005 Administrator Console, expand the Administration folder, expand the Computers folder, and click on Management Servers.

2. In the right-hand pane, right-click the individual Management Server and select Run Computer Discovery Now.

To manually force the computer discovery for all Management Servers, use the following steps:

1. Open the MOM 2005 Administrator Console, expand the Administration folder, and expand the Computers folder.

2. Right-click Management Servers and select Run Computer Discovery Now.

A manual discovery should be run during off hours to identify all new computers for management.

Deploying Agents

After discovery of all computers to be managed, it is time to deploy agents to those computers unless they are set to be automatically installed. By default, all discovered computers are put into the Pending Actions folder, as in Figure 3-12.

Figure 3-12

Configuring Agentless Managed Computers

Because not all computers can be managed using agents, MOM 2005 supports agentless managed computers. Computers discovered by the Management Server that cannot be installed with an agent will be visible in the Unmanaged Computers folder, as shown in Figure 3-14.

Figure 3-14

To configure an unmanaged computer to be an agentless managed computer, follow these steps:

1. Open the MOM 2005 Administrator Console, expand the Administration folder, expand the Computers folder, and click Unmanaged Computers.

2. Right-click on the computer in the right-hand pane and select the Start Agentless Management option, as shown in Figure 3-15.

   
   Figure 3-15

3. Click on the Pending Actions folder.

4. Right-click on the computer and select the Start Agentless Management Now option.

Agentless management takes significantly more resources than using agents because the Management Server has to remotely connect to the computer and collect and retrieve information that would normally be handled by the locally installed agent on an agent-managed computer. Agentless management should be used only when it isn't feasible to install an agent, such as on an NT 4.0 computer.

Configuring Agent Failover

Agent-managed computers can be configured to point to failover to a secondary Management Server in case its primary Management Server is not available. In order to build this configuration, an administrator needs to deploy agents to all of its primary managed computers from the primary Management Servers.

Setup automatically installs and configures each Management Server in a Management Group as a redundant Management Server for the other Management Servers in the Management Group. If an agent is unable to connect to its primary Management Server, it will automatically failover to another Management Server within the same Management Group. It is possible, however, to control which Management Server will be used for the failover server. If only two Management Servers are in the Management Group, configuring agent failover is not needed. Use the following steps to configure redundant Management Servers for failover:

1. Open the MOM 2005 Administrator Console, expand Administration, expand Computers, and then click Management Servers.

2. Select the Management Server from the right-hand pane.

3. Right-click the Management Server and select Properties from the context menu.

4. Click the Failover tab.

5. Enable or disable the check boxes to specify which Management Server(s) should be used for redundancy.

Controlling the failover of agents allows for better control of resources in the event of a Management Server failure versus letting agents failover without control and possibly overloading a particular Management Server.

Configuring Multihomed Agents

While an agent-managed computer can automatically failover to any Management Server in the same Management Group, the same cannot be said for Management Servers in other Management Groups. A multihomed agent configuration is not designed for failover.

There are times when two or more Management Groups, up to a maximum of four Management Groups, need to manage and monitor the same computer. For example, in some organizations, one team handles the hardware and operating systems while another team handles the applications, such as Exchange Server 2003, and is responsible for the application itself. In these situations, a computer can be configured to report to multiple Management Groups. In order to configure multihomed agents, the agents must first be installed for use by the first Management Group using any of the methods shown earlier in this chapter.

Once the MOM 2005 agents have been deployed to managed computers for the first Management Server, use any of the processes to install the agents, again, from other Management Servers in any other Management Groups that will be used to manage and monitor the computers. If a manual installation process is used, the installation steps include a few different options because the agents are already installed. The installation software detects that the agents have already been installed on the target computers so the Modify option is required to complete the additional installation.

When MOM 2005 agents are installed on agent-managed computers, the Management Server installs all of the software on the agent-managed computer and configures the settings with the Management Server's name for the first Management Server. When Management Servers from other Management Groups install agents, they do not add additional software to the agent-managed computer; they just update the information regarding the Management Servers where the agent reports its information.

Installing MOM 2005 Web Console

The MOM 2005 setup program provides the capability to install the Web Console on a separate computer. It is possible to use the MOM 2005 setup program to manually install and uninstall agents from a managed computer. Manually installed agents can be a security concern in that it isn't possible to tell whether they are valid computers. Typically, mutual authentication is used.

1. Log onto the server using an account with administrative credentials.

2. After starting the setup program, check the prerequisites on the server that will host the MOM 2005 Web Console by clicking the Check Prerequisites link.

3. After you have checked all the prerequisites, click the Install Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 link.

4. Click Next on the Welcome to the Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Setup Wizard.

5. Accept the license agreement and click Next.

6. Enter the User Name, Organization Name, the CD Key, and click Next.

7. Select the Custom radio button and click Next.

   Note

   The Typical installation option installs the Database, Management Server, and both consoles. The Custom installation option is needed in this situation to install just the Web Console.

8. Clear the MOM 2005 Database, the MOM 2005 Management Server, and the MOM 2005 User Interfaces options. Go back and enable the MOM 2005 Web Console option and verify that the Custom Setup is configured as in Figure 3-16 and click Next.

   
   Figure 3-16

9. Click Next in the Prerequisite Check Passed window.

10. Select the MOM Database Server Instance and the port number, and click Next.

    Note

    Alternative port numbers are often used as security measures. Many virus attacks are focused on known ports, such as the default SQL port of 1433. The port number can be changed on the SQL server using Enterprise Manager.

11. Enter the Management Server Action Account information and click Next.

12. Enter the Data Access Server Account information, which includes the User Account, Password, and Domain or local computer information and click Next.

13. Click Install to install the MOM 2005 Web Console.

14. Click Finish to complete the installation of the MOM 2005 Web Console.

Once the Web Console is installed, it can be accessed through the http://www.servername:1272 to confirm its connectivity and functionality. The Web Console should have good connectivity with the SQL server because it directly accesses the MOM 2005 Database. The Web Console, does not connect to a Management Server; it connects to the MOM 2005 Database to provide content.

Installing MOM 2005 Reporting

The MOM 2005 Reporting component is an optional component for MOM 2005. Although it is not required, many organizations use its built-in reports and the capability to create custom reports from the data stored in the MOM 2005 Reporting database.

MOM 2005 Reporting requires:

• SQL Server 2000, SP3a or higher

  • Database Authentication set to Windows only is preferred; however it will work with SQL Server and Windows authentication.

  • SQL service account configured to use Local System for security context; however it will run under an account with the proper permissions.

  • TCP/IP must be an enabled protocol.

• SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services, SP2 or higher

• MSSQLSERVER and SQLSERVERAGENT set to start automatically when the computer starts

• Schedule Task Account

  Note

  The Schedule Task Account is used to provide the proper permissions to run the task that transfers data from the MOM 2005 Database to the MOM 2005 Reporting database. This account needs to be a domain account if the MOM 2005 Reporting database is on a different server than the MOM 2005 Database. The setup routine will configure the proper permissions for this account.

• Data Transfer Task Account

  Note

  The Data Transfer Task Account is used to provide the security context for transferring the data from the MOM 2005 Database to the MOM 2005 Reporting database. This account needs to have the permissions required to access and copy the data from one SQL database to the other.

• Reporting User Account

  Note

  The Reporting User Account is used to provide the security context for the MOM 2005 Reporting server to connect to the MOM 2005 Reporting database and access the information needed to generate reports. This account must have database permissions to the Reporting database.

• Visual Studio .NET 2003 to create new reports

  Note

  Visual Studio .NET 2003 is not required to view standard reports, but it is required in order to modify and customize existing reports, and it is also required to develop new reports.

Once SQL 2000 and SQL 2000 Reporting Services have been installed and are properly service packed and patched according to the latest standards, SQL needs to be configured to meet the requirements of MOM 2005 Reporting.

MOM 2005 Reporting should be installed before importing and configuring management packs. Management packs contain rules for collecting performance data and event monitoring data. The information collected by the management pack can be used in reports. MOM 2005 management packs contain additional reports that can be used by the MOM 2005 Reporting environment. If MOM 2005 Reporting is installed after management packs have been imported into the MOM 2005 Management Server, then the reports will have to be installed separately.

Installing MOM 2005 Reporting creates a scheduled task that transfers the data in the MOM 2005 Database to the MOM 2005 Reporting database. This data is transferred before the MOM 2005 grooming process removes older data. Because this database is meant to contain long-term data, it is not limited to 30GB as the MOM 2005 Database is.

Selecting the Server for MOM 2005 Reporting

As with all servers, some of the choices are dependent on organizational requirements having to do with performance and security requirements. Proper planning and testing should be done to verify that performance and security requirements can be met with the proposed environment.

MOM 2005 Reporting can be installed on the same SQL Server 2000 server as the MOM 2005 Database. Performance may be a problem with both databases on the same SQL server depending on when reports are run, when backups are run, and whether the MOM 2005 Database is just too busy with its processes. If performance of the SQL server is not an issue, it would be a large cost savings to have both databases on the same server.

MOM 2005 Reporting can also be installed on the same server as the Management Server. If the environment is small enough or if the server is scaled to handle the load, MOM 2005 Reporting, the MOM 2005 Database, and the Management Server components can all be installed on the same server. It is possible to combine the roles, but capacity planning needs to be done and testing should also be done to confirm that the information behind the capacity planning is good information. If installing MOM 2005 Reporting on a Management Server, make sure the same folder is not used for the installation as was used for the Management Server. If the same folder is used, it will corrupt the installation of the Management Server and remove the proper permissions from the folder.

Follow the steps here to install MOM 2005 Reporting:

1. Log onto the computer where MOM 2005 Reporting will be installed and run the setup program from the MOM 2005 installation media.

   Note

   Make sure the account that is used for installation has administrative privileges for the local server as well as the server hosting the MOM 2005 Database.

2. After starting the setup program, check the prerequisites on the server that will host the MOM 2005 Reporting component by clicking on the Check Prerequisites link and selecting the MOM 2005 Reporting radio button.

   Note

   Select the Remove SQL Server Reporting Services Server check box and enter the Server Name if SQL 2000 Reporting Services is installed on a remote computer.

3. After all the prerequisites have been checked, click the Install Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Reporting link.

4. Click Next on the Welcome to the Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Reporting Setup Wizard.

5. Accept the license agreement and click Next.

6. Enter the User Name and Organization Name and click Next.

7. Verify the Destination Folder is correct and click Next.

8. Enter the name of the SQL Server Reporting Services Server Name if it is different than the name automatically entered and click Next.

9. Click Next on the Prerequisite Check Passed window.

10. Select the MOM Database Server Instance and the port number, and click Next.

    Note

    Alternative port numbers are often used as security measures. Many virus attacks are focused on known ports, such as the default SQL port of 1433. The port number can be changed on the SQL server using Enterprise Manager.

11. Enter the MOM 2005 Database Server information and click Next.

12. Use the drop-down box in the SQL Server Database Instance window to select the proper SQL instance and click Next.

13. In the Database and Log Files Information window, enter the database size for the Reporting database; then use the Advanced button and the two Change buttons in the Advanced window to move the database and log files to the best locations for performance and redundancy. Click OK, and then click Next.

    Note

    This database can be configured to Automatically grow file (once it is installed), unlike the MOM 2005 Database, because the maximum size of the Reporting database is not constrained to 30GB in size.

14. Enter the Data Transfer Task Account information and click Next.

15. Enter the Reporting User Account information and click Next.

16. Select the Yes, I want to send operational reports (Recommended) radio button and click Next.

    Note

    The option is to select the No, I do not want to send operation reports radio button. The operational reports are XML files with non-proprietary information about how effective MOM 2005 is in the organization. This information includes statistics such as the number of alerts and counters processed. A sample can be found at http://www.go.microsoft.com/fwlink?linkid-21241.

17. Click Install to install MOM 2005 Reporting.

18. Click Finish to complete the installation of MOM 2005 Reporting. Once installed, the reporting console should appear as shown in Figure 3-17.

Figure 3-17