Exchange Server 2010 Monitoring Management Pack

This management pack includes scripts and rules to effectively monitor Exchange 2010 and report on performance, availability, and reliability of its server roles.

Quick details

Version:

14.02.0071.0

Date Published:

4/6/2011

Files in this download

The links in this section correspond to files available for this download. Download the files appropriate for you.

File Name	Size
Exchange Server 2010 Management Pack Guide.doc	1.0 MB	DOWNLOAD
Exchange2010ManagementPackForOpsMgr2007-EN-i386.msi	6.0 MB	DOWNLOAD
Exchange2010ManagementPackForOpsMgr2007-EN-x64.msi	6.0 MB	DOWNLOAD

Overview

The Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 monitoring management pack is designed to be used for monitoring Exchange 2010 events, collecting Exchange component-specific performance counters in one central location, and for raising alerts for operator intervention as necessary. By detecting, sending alerts, and automatically correlating critical events, this management pack helps indicate, correct, and prevent possible service outages or configuration problems, allowing you to proactively manage Exchange servers and identify issues before they become critical. The management pack monitors and provides alerts for automatic notification of events indicating service outages, performance degradation, and health monitoring.

Feature SummaryThe Exchange Server 2010 Monitoring Management Pack includes rules and scripts to monitor and report on performance, availability, and reliability of all Exchange 2010 server roles including. 

• Mailbox Server Role
• Client Access Server Role
• Hub Transport Server Role
• Edge Transport Server Role
• Unified Messaging Server Role

Release History

• 4/6/2011 - Updated release, version 14.02.0071.0
• 11/9/2009 - Original release of the English version and language packs, version 14.0.650.7.

System requirements

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003 x64 editions, Windows Server 2008

• Other Software: System Center Operations Manager 2007 or later.

Instructions

To use the English version of the Exchange Server 2010 Monitoring Management Pack, you only need to download and install the English (EN) version of the Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Management Pack. The English version of the management pack includes the Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Management Pack application and the required files to use the management pack in English.

If you want to use a localized version of the management pack, you must first download and install the English version of the management pack. Then, you must download and install the language pack for your respective language. The English version of the management pack includes the Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1 Management Pack application that is a prerequisite for all localized versions of the management pack.

For detailed information about installing and using this management pack, download and read the Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1 Management Pack Guide. That guide is available for download on this Web page.

Changes in This Update:

The Exchange 2010 SP1 version of the Exchange 2010 Management Pack includes significant improvements beyond those included in the RTM version of the Exchange 2010 Management Pack. The following list includes some of the new features and updates:
· Capacity planning and performance reports   New reports dig deep into the performance of individual servers and provide detailed information about how much capacity is used in each site.
· SMTP and remote PowerShell availability report   The management pack now includes two new availability reports for SMTP client connections and management end points.
· New Test-SMTPConnectivity synthetic transaction   In addition to the inbound mail connectivity tasks for protocols such as Outlook Web App, Outlook, IMAP, POP, and Exchange ActiveSync, the Management Pack now includes SMTP-connectivity monitoring for outbound mail from IMAP and POP clients. For information about how to enable this feature, see Optional Configurations.
· New Test-ECPConnectivity view   Views for the Exchange Control Panel test task are now included in the monitoring tree.
· Cross-premises mail flow monitoring and reporting   The Management Pack includes new mail flow monitoring and reporting capabilities for customers who use our hosted service.
· Improved Content Indexing and Mailbox Disk Space monitoring   New scripts have been created to better monitor context indexing and mailbox disk space. These new scripts enable automatic repair of indexes and more accurately report of disk space issues.
· The ability to disable Automatic Alert Resolution in environments that include OpsMgr connectors   When you disable Automatic Alert Resolution, the Correlation Engine won't automatically resolve alerts. This lets you use your support ticketing system to manage your environment. For information about how to disable this feature, seeOptional Configurations.
· Several other updates and improvements were also added to this version of the Management Pack, including the following.
· Suppression of alerts when the alerts only occur occasionally was added to many monitors.
· Most of the event monitors in the Exchange 2010 Management Pack are automatically reset by the Correlation Engine. Automatic reset was added to those event monitors so that issues aren't missed the next time they occur. For a list of the event monitors that are not reset automatically, see Understanding Alert Correlation.
· Monitoring was added for processes that crash repeatedly.
· Additional performance monitoring was added for Outlook Web App.
· Monitoring of Active Directory access was improved.
· Monitoring of anonymous calendar sharing was added.
· Reliability of database offline alerts was improved.
· Monitoring for the database engine (ESE) was added.


Installation Notes:

• When you install the MSI download – this is not like all our other MP’s.  This MSI actually installs the Exchange Correlation engine with no prompts or warnings.  Keep that in mind… so it is best to extract/install this MSI where you want the correlation engine to be installed!
• My first attempts to install this on my RMS kept failing.  The problem was UAC…. this MSI doesn’t seem to invoke UAC…. so you get an “installation was interrupted” error when you try to install it.  When I opened a CMD prompt as an Administrator (elevated) and then called the MSI – it installed just fine. 
• When you install the MP/Correlation engine – you may get an error that the correlation files cannot be updated, and a restart will be required.  Even if you stop the correlation engine service – you will be prompted for a reboot.  Therefore – plan for this update to require an outage/downtime of your RMS for a reboot (or wherever the server hosting the Exchange Correlation engine is located)