Some days ago I got a question from a customer why their OpsMgr 2007 SP1 Cumulative Hotfix installation was failing. As you might know this update provides a cumulative rollup of hotfixes for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 together with the following improvements: Support for Windows 7 Support for Windows Server 2008 R2 Support for SQL Server 2008 and SQL Reporting Services 2008 Upgrade Additional fixes and improvements Note This update applies to System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1 only.   SYMPTOMS They were getting the next error message when running the Run Server Update. The first thing I do, is look at the install log file if an installation is failing. So type %temp% in your run box and go to the temp folder and look for the log file. While searching the log file I noticed it had probably something to do with the (database) permissions for the account which run the hotfix.   “"MSI (s) (B8!94) [10:35:51:068]: Creating MSIHANDLE (28) of type 790531 for thread 2452 2009-12-15T10:35:51.0687372+01:00        Warn:        SetRootHealthService: The sql client throws exception Cannot open database "OperationsManager" requested by the login. The login failed. Login failed for user 'CONTOSO\Test_UserSP1Hotfix'."   CAUSE The account running the hotfix needs db_owner permissons for the OperationsManager database.   RESOLUTION In my demo environment (An all-in-one RMS server with all OperationsManager databases on that machine) the account installing the hotfix needed the next permissions. Please keep in mind I only tested this in my demo environment. If you have your OpsMgr databases installed on separate servers more permissions may need to be configured. OpsMgr Permissions: Member of the Operations Manager Administrators Role OS permissions: Member of the Local Admin Group Database Permissions: Public for server-wide  security   Db_owner for OperationsManager database For the Reporting Server Update no extra database permissions were needed.   MORE INFORMATION You can find more info about the OpsMgr 2007 SP1 cumulative hotfix on Kevin Holman’s weblog.   Posts in this blog are provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Use of examples are subject to the terms specified in the Terms of Use

Today I got a question about retrieving the GUID for a newly created OpsMgr  Report Operator User Role in OpsMgr 2007 SP1. When I asked why they wanted to know the GUID for this new Report Operator User Role they answered they needed this GUID on the Report Server for configuring permissions to certain reports. There used to be a Securing Reports pdf on the System Center Forum website but I cannot find it anywhere else anymore. So I’m not sure if this describes all the steps to Secure an OpsMgr Report in OpsMgr 2007 SP1 so I though it would be handy to publish the steps here if you are looking for them. Back to the original question about retrieving the GUID for a Report Operator Role. The easiest way is using PowerShell. I used the next command to retrieve the GUID: Get-Userrole | where {$.Name –match “Test Report Operator Role”} or Get-Userrole | format-List Name, ID Here are all the steps to Secure an OpsMgr Report for a newly created Report Operator Role: 1. Create a Report :-) 2. Create new Report User Role using PowerShell So here is a script to create a new Report Operator user role using Command Shell: $mg = (get-item .).ManagementGroup $reportOperator = $mg.GetMonitoringProfiles() | where {$.Name -eq "ReportOperator"} $obj = new-object Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.Monitoring.Security.MonitoringUserRole $obj.Name = "TestReportOperatorRole" $obj.DisplayName = "Test Report Operator Role" $obj.Description = "Test Report Operator Role" $obj.MonitoringProfile = $reportOperator $mg.InsertMonitoringUserRole($obj) After you execute this script “Test Report Operator Role” appears in UI and you would be able to add users to it using User Role Properties dialog. From: http://blogs.msdn.com/eugenebykov/archive/2007/10/13/creating-new-report-operator-user-role.aspx 3. Go to Report Server (http://servername/reports) 4. Click on Show Details from the Report you want to configure access to. 5. Click on Edit 6. Click on Security 7. Click on New Role Assignment 8. Insert GUID from New Report Operator Role. GUID can be found using the next PS command: get-userrole | where {$_.Name –match “Test Report Operator Role”}

There is an updated version of the Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for OpsMgr and Windows Deployment Services. The Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Microsoft System Center Operations Manager. The guide takes the reader step-by-step through the process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. Identification and design of the required management groups is presented in simple, easy-to-follow steps, helping the reader to design and optimize management infrastructure. Download the IPD Guides for Windows Deployment Services and System Center Operations Manager at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/ee382254.aspx. Infrastructure Planning and Design streamlines the planning process by: Defining the technical decision flow through the planning process. Listing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations. Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics. Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

Today I got a question about retrieving the GUID for a newly created OpsMgr  Report Operator User Role in OpsMgr 2007 SP1. When I asked why they wanted to know the GUID for this new Report Operator User Role they answered they needed this GUID on the Report Server for configuring permissions to certain reports. There used to be a Securing Reports pdf on the System Center Forum website but I cannot find it anywhere else anymore. So I’m not sure if this describes all the steps to Secure an OpsMgr Report in OpsMgr 2007 SP1 so I though it would be handy to publish the steps here if you are looking for them. Back to the original question about retrieving the GUID for a Report Operator Role. The easiest way is using PowerShell. I used the next command to retrieve the GUID: Get-Userrole | where {$.Name –match “Test Report Operator Role”} or Get-Userrole | format-List Name, ID Here are all the steps to Secure an OpsMgr Report for a newly created Report Operator Role: 1. Create a Report :-) 2. Create new Report User Role using PowerShell So here is a script to create a new Report Operator user role using Command Shell: $mg = (get-item .).ManagementGroup $reportOperator = $mg.GetMonitoringProfiles() | where {$.Name -eq "ReportOperator"} $obj = new-object Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.Monitoring.Security.MonitoringUserRole $obj.Name = "TestReportOperatorRole" $obj.DisplayName = "Test Report Operator Role" $obj.Description = "Test Report Operator Role" $obj.MonitoringProfile = $reportOperator $mg.InsertMonitoringUserRole($obj) After you execute this script “Test Report Operator Role” appears in UI and you would be able to add users to it using User Role Properties dialog. From: http://blogs.msdn.com/eugenebykov/archive/2007/10/13/creating-new-report-operator-user-role.aspx 3. Go to Report Server (http://servername/reports) 4. Click on Show Details from the Report you want to configure access to. 5. Click on Edit 6. Click on Security 7. Click on New Role Assignment 8. Insert GUID from New Report Operator Role. GUID can be found using the next PS command: get-userrole | where {$_.Name –match “Test Report Operator Role”}

There is an updated version of the Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for OpsMgr and Windows Deployment Services. The Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Microsoft System Center Operations Manager. The guide takes the reader step-by-step through the process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. Identification and design of the required management groups is presented in simple, easy-to-follow steps, helping the reader to design and optimize management infrastructure. Download the IPD Guides for Windows Deployment Services and System Center Operations Manager at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/ee382254.aspx. Infrastructure Planning and Design streamlines the planning process by: Defining the technical decision flow through the planning process. Listing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations. Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics. Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

Source: Notes on System Center Operations Manager I’ve updated my OpsMgr toolbox collection with a new tool from Marius Sutara called RuntimeHealthExplorer. This tool helps someone with investigation of health state issues. This is what Marius tells about this new OpsMgr tool. “Did you ever wonder what is the state of the instance as known to the runtime (health service) monitoring it? Did you believe that some state changes are unaccounted for? Did you see discrepancy in Health Explorer? I believe many of you may answer yes to one of these questions. Right now, there really is not a good guidance on how to troubleshoot state change problems, but since OpsMgr 2007 SP1 release, there was a way to at least display states of the monitors targeting the instance as recorded by runtime during state calculation. This led me to creation of the tool returning those states from runtime. It also provides visual comparison against “real” Health Explorer (states are returned from Ops DB) while integrated with OpsMgr console thru console task. This task targets instance of “HealthService” managed entity type. Tool uses Health Explorer like view of monitors for each active instance monitored by specific runtime. Following is a snapshot of the tool executed against my Root Management Server. Please observe that I created view listing all health service instances as well as console task associated with this type and accessible thru “Actions” pane.” Please read disclaimer before using.

The decision has been made to retire System Center Remote Operations Manager 2007. This means that there will be no further engineering investments or follow-on release to the product and it will retire from the SPLA price list by October 2009. However, the Remote Operations Manager management pack will be made publicly available in the System Center Operations Manager catalog on the Web, and partners can use this management pack with the SPLA version of Operations Manager 2007. No releases beyond Operations Manager 2007 SP1 will specifically provide support for the Remote Operations Manager management pack.

Source: Microsoft Download Center Brief Description This QFE updates the System Center Operations Manager 2007 Agent to allow it to monitor Windows Server 2008 Internet Information Services 7.0 Servers. System Requirements Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2008 Other Software: System Center Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 1   Instructions Important Notice: A problem was found with this package, we are working on resolving it. This hotfix must be applied to each computer that meets the following criteria: Hosts a Microsoft Operations Manager Root Management Server Hosts a Microsoft Operations Manager Management Server Hosts a Microsoft Operations Manager Gateway Server Host a Microsoft Operations Manually Installed Agent (Discover-based agent deployment not used) To extract the hotfix files contained in this hotfix: Copy the file, SystemCenterOperationsManager2007-SP1-KB957123-X86-X64-IA64-ENU.MSI, to either a local folder or accessible network shared folder. Then run SystemCenterOperationsManager2007-SP1-KB957123-X86-X64-IA64-ENU.MSI locally on each applicable computer that meets the predefined criteria. You can run SystemCenterOperationsManager2007-SP1-KB957123-X86-X64-IA64-ENU.MSI from either Windows Explorer or from a command prompt. NOTE: To run this file on Windows Server 2008 you must run this file from a command prompt which was executed with the Run as Administrator option. Failure to execute this Windows installer file under an elevated command prompt will not allow display of the System Center Operations Manager 2007 Software Update splash screen to allow installation of the hotfix.