How to Install and Configure Dynamics AX 2012 SCOM Pack

Hi Friends, This is a sequel to my earlier post on Configuring Dynamics AX 2009 MOM Pack.

In this post, I will be covering the steps involved in Installing and configuring Dynamics AX SCOM Pack for monitoring Dynamics AX 2012 Instances.


Introduction:

Monitoring Microsoft Dynamics AX with Operations Manager can reduce the cost of managing a distributed Microsoft Dynamics AX system. Operators and administrators can view information about all Application Object Server (AOS) instances in the environment, take AOS servers offline for maintenance, and troubleshoot problems with AOS instances.

The Monitoring Pack for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012  enables administrators to proactively react to changes in the overall health of the Microsoft Dynamics AX environment, and to adjust the system for optimal performance and reliability

Pre-Requisites:

a. Install SCOM 2007

b. Download and Install Mointoring Pack for Dynamics AX 2012

c. Also you need to install and setup Dynamics AX 2012, AOS, AIF, EP (Different Components which you want to monitor)

d. Windows Powershell should be installed (By default this comes with Windows Server 2008)



Steps to Import Management Pack:

1.Once you have downloaded, the msi for SCOM Pack, Run it to install it. It will prompt for location to
   extract the setup files

2. Import the Management Pack

3.   Select all Mp’s here (as per below screenshot) The following management packs are available for Dynamics AX:

·         Microsoft.Dynamics.AX6.ManagementPack.AIF.Monitoring.mp – Monitors AIF

·         Microsoft.Dynamics.AX6.ManagementPack.AOS.Discovery.mp – Monitors and Discovers AOS Rules

·         Microsoft.Dynamics.AX6.ManagementPack.AOS.Monitoring.mp – Monitors servers running AOS

·         Microsoft.Dynamics.AX6.ManagementPack.ClassLibrary.mp – Common Classes

·         Microsoft.Dynamics.AX6.ManagementPack.EP.Monitoring.mp – Monitors EP

·         Microsoft.Dynamics.AX6.ManagementPack.SSRS.Monitoring.mp – Monitors SSRS

4.     Run the Monitoring Pack for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Discovery Wizard, and select the computer where Microsoft Dynamics AX components are installed. Agents will be deployed to the appropriate computers as they are discovered. :

·         AOS

·         Enterprise Portal for Microsoft Dynamics AX

·         SQL Server Reporting Services

·         SQL Server Analysis Services

Key Monitoring Scenarios

AOS Monitoring

-       Tasks

-        Events

-        Performance counters

-        User sessions,

-        Environment availability.

Tasks

Tasks enable you to work with AOS instances directly, without having to move work in Microsoft Dynamics AX. You can use tasks to manage and monitor settings for the AOS instances on a server.

To access tasks:

In the Monitoring pane, click Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, click Application Object Servers, and then click Instances.

The available tasks are shown in the tasks pane on the right, and include:

·         Accept or reject client sessions

·         Start or stop the service

·         Set the startup type

·         View online users

 

These are some cool features present in the current SCOM Pack, you need not visit AX Client to see online users and accept or reject new client sessions, It can be done staying in SCOM Console 

Note: The View online users task is also available as part of Environment health. It reports all online users from all AOS instances in an environment.

Events

The management pack collects only the most important events generated on the AOS server. It monitors whether the AOS Service has been stopped and also whether the AOS service is configured properly. Most informational events are not collected.

To see the events that were collected:

In the Authoring pane, click Rules, and then in the Look for box, enter Dynamics.

Performance Counters

The performance counters that are monitored for Microsoft Dynamics AX processes are a subset of those available for monitoring Windows services.

To view AOS counters:

In the Monitoring pane, click Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, click Application Object Servers, click Performance, and then click Process.

 

 

 

 

 

User Sessions

A count of the active user sessions is available.


To view the active user sessions:

In the Monitoring pane, click Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, click Application Object Servers, click Performance, and then click Session.

To retrieve a list of the users that are currently connected, use the View online users task for an AOS instance

Environment Information and Availability

The management pack provides functionality to perform some monitoring to determine whether an environment is accessible to remote clients. This includes the following checks:

·         Whether the RPC port is accessible

·         Whether the Web services port is accessible

·         Whether connections to the AOS are successful

These monitors, in conjunction with the AOS service availability checks, enable you to quickly identify a problem when encountering connection issues for an AOS.

Note: In order for the environment discovery to work, the Microsoft Dynamics AX database server must be available.

To view the servers that are hosting AOS instances:

In the Monitoring pane, click Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, click Application Object Servers (AOS), and then click Computers.

To view AOS instances:

In the Monitoring pane, click Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, click Application Object Servers (AOS), and then click Instances.

Note: If an AOS instance has been uninstalled, it is not removed from the Microsoft Dynamics AX tables and will continue to be displayed in the environment view in Operations Manager. To remove the AOS instance, use SQL Server Management Studio to remove all references to the instance from the following tables in the Microsoft Dynamics AX database:

·         SysServerConfig

·         SysServerSessions

·         SysClusterConfig

Enterprise Portal

Servers that are running Enterprise Portal are automatically discovered by the management pack. These servers are monitored for events and performance counters. The following views are available for the Enterprise Portal:

·         Alerts – Lists all the alerts that were generated as a result of monitoring on the server that is running Enterprise Portal.

·         Enterprise Portal Computers – Lists all computers where Enterprise Portal has been installed.

·         Enterprise Portal Sites – Lists the Enterprise Portal sites that have been discovered. The management pack monitors the configuration and availability of the Enterprise Portal site.

·         Events – Lists the Microsoft Dynamics AX events that were generated on the server that is running Enterprise Portal.

·         Performance – Lists the Enterprise Portal performance counters from the server that is running Enterprise Portal.


Notes:

·         The performance counters for Enterprise Portal are per website, not per server. The counters will return a row of data for each website on a server.

·         By design, uninstalling Enterprise Portal does not remove the Enterprise Portal site information from Microsoft Dynamics AX. Until a site has been deleted from within Microsoft Dynamics AX, it will remain visible to the management pack monitoring system.

SQL Server Reporting Services

The management pack provides functionality to automatically discover all the servers that are running SQL Server Reporting Services and that have been configured for use with Microsoft Dynamics AX. The configuration of the Reporting Services service and accounts are also monitored.

Note: By design, uninstalling the Reporting Services extensions does not remove the Reporting Services site information from Microsoft Dynamics AX. Until a site has been deleted from within Microsoft Dynamics AX, it will remain visible to the management pack monitoring system.

SQL Server Analysis Services

The management pack provides functionality to automatically discover all the servers that are running SQL Server Analysis Services and that have been configured for use with Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Note: Once the servers running Analysis Services have been discovered, no further monitoring is performed.

Application Integration Framework

The management pack collects the number of active Application Integration Framework requests and exceptions, as well as monitoring requests that have been pending for longer than the specified interval.

The management pack collects and displays health and performance information about Application Integration requests and exceptions.

Health Monitors

The management pack provides the following general health monitors for jobs:

Long waiting requests – Identifies tasks that have taken longer than the configured threshold to complete.

To view the general health monitors:

1.     In the Monitoring pane, click Microsoft Dynamics AX, click Frameworks, and then click Application Integration Framework Health.

2.     Double-click an instance to open the Health Explorer for Application Integration Framework.

Performance Counters

The management pack also collects and displays information about the following under Application Integration Framework Performance:

·         Exceptions that throw warnings and errors

·         Inbound requests

To view a count of incoming requests and exceptions:

1.     In the Monitoring pane, click Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, click Frameworks, and then click Application Integration Framework Performance.

2.     Click the checkbox next to a performance counter to add it to the chart view.

Batch Framework

The management pack collects and displays health and performance information about batch jobs and tasks.

Health Monitors

The management pack provides the following general health monitors for jobs:

·         Long executing batch tasks – Identifies tasks that have taken longer than the configured threshold to complete.

·         Long waiting batch jobs – Identifies jobs that have a status of ready that have been waiting more than 30 minutes to run.

·         Failed batch jobs – Identifies all jobs that have failed.

To view the general health monitors:

1.     In the Monitoring pane, click Frameworks, and then click Batch Framework Health.

2.     Double-click an instance to open the Health Explorer for Batch Framework.

3.     Click a link in the Task pane to view a list of batch jobs or tasks.

Performance Counters

The management pack also collects and displays the number of batch jobs and tasks under Batch Framework Performance, aggregated by the following states:

·         Canceled

·         Failed

·         Waiting

·         Running

To view a count of jobs and tasks by state:

1.     In the Monitoring pane, click Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, click Frameworks, and then click Batch Framework Performance

2.     Click the checkbox next to a performance counter to add it to the chart view.