Microsoft System Center Operations Manager Module

The Microsoft System Center - Operations Manager module provides integration with Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM). It opens bidirectional communication between SCOM and Resolve Actions Express. After the module is configured, Actions Express starts pulling new alerts and alert updates, translates them into incidents, and displays them on the Dashboard. Alerts closed in the Microsoft SCOM console trigger incident closure in Actions Express and the other way around.

note

This module is subject to additional licensing. Contact your Resolve representative for details.

You can create multiple instances of the Microsoft System Center - Operations Manager module.

Supported SCOM Versions

The following Microsoft System Center Operations Manager versions are supported by the integration module:

• Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2
• Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2012
• Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2012 R2
• Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2016

Prerequisites

The following provisions must be made before configuring the module.

User Access

You need to have a user account in place on the Microsoft SCOM side that meets the following conditions:

• It must be an Active Directory (AD) domain user that has the SCOM Administrator role.
• It must be a member of the local SCOM server user group called SCOM Administrators.

Server Clock Synchronization

The clock on the Microsoft SCOM server machine must be in sync with the clock on the machine where the module is running. Depending on the module mode (Local or Remote), this could be the main Actions Express machine or another machine.

Installing the Module

Use the Actions Express installer to add the module. You can add it during a fresh installation or later, as an update.

Fresh Installation

Choose whether to install the module on the same machine as the main Actions Express services or on a separate machine.

Integrated Module Installation

Take these steps to install the module on the same machine as the main Actions Express application.

1. Run the Actions Express installer and click Next.
2. Accept the license agreement and click Next.
3. Select an installation location and click Next.
4. Select the installation type (Single Tenant or Multi Tenant) and click Next.
   If you select Multi Tenant, you are prompted for an additional multitenant installation key.
5. On the Choose Installation type screen, select Create new Actions Express environment/Upgrade after uninstalling and click Next.
6. On the Custom Setup screen, ensure that Integration Packs > Actions Express MS Operations Manager Server is marked for installation on the local hard drive.
7. Click Next and complete the installation as usual.
8. Copy required libraries from the Microsoft SCOM server.

Standalone Module Installation

Take these steps to install the module on a machine separate from the main Actions Express application.

1. Run the Actions Express installer and click Next.
2. Accept the license agreement and click Next.
3. Select an installation location and click Next.
4. Select the installation type (Single Tenant or Multi Tenant) and click Next.
   If you select Multi Tenant, you are prompted for an additional multitenant installation key.
5. On the Choose Installation type screen, select Install standalone components and click Next.
6. On the Custom Setup screen, ensure that all components are deselected except Integration Packs > Actions Express MS Operations Manager Server and then click Next.
7. On the next screen, click Install and wait for the installation to complete.
8. Click Finish to close the installation wizard.
9. Copy required libraries from the Microsoft SCOM server.

Existing Installation

If you are already running Actions Express and you want to add the module, take the following steps:

1. Run the Actions Express installer and click Next.
2. On the Program Maintenance screen, click Modify and click Next.
3. On the Custom Setup screen, expand Integration Packs and ensure that Actions Express MS Operations Manager Server is marked for installation on the local hard drive.
4. Click Next.
5. On the next screen, click Install and wait for the installation to complete.
6. Click Finish to close the installation wizard.
7. Copy required libraries from the Microsoft SCOM server.

Copying SCOM Libraries

For the Microsoft System Center - Operations Manager module to be able to communicate with Microsoft SCOM, you are required to copy a few libraries in DLL form from the Microsoft SCOM server over to the module location.

It is important to copy those libraries after installing the module and before testing the connection, otherwise the connection will fail.

Copy the following files into the module installation folder (C:\Program Files\Resolve\Actions Express Operations Manager Server by default):

• Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.Core.dll
• Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.OperationsManager.dll
• Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.Runtime.dll

Use the find file feature of Windows Explorer to find the .dll files on the Microsoft SCOM server.

info

Remember to replace the files with their latest versions in case you upgrade your Microsoft SCOM server.

Configuring the Module Instance

You need to configure a module instance for each Microsoft SCOM server that you want to integrate with.

note

Optionally, change the connector name before configuring the module instance. You will not be able to do it afterwards.

1. Go to Main Menu > Configuration > Modules.
2. In the top right corner of Integrations, click the plus sign.
   The module properties screen appears.
3. In the Name field, enter a name for the new module.
   It is a good practice to provide a descriptive name to let you distinguish between multiple modules of the same type.
4. In the Description field, enter a description for the module instance.
5. From the Type field, select Microsoft System Center - Operations Manager.
6. In Mode, select where you want the module to run:
   • Local—The module will run in your local deployment of Actions Express. This option is suitable for integration with services that run in the same network or cloud services that are accessible from the network.
   • Remote—The module will run on the server where you installed the remote executor (installing a remote executor is needed when the server does not have access to the SQL DB). This option is suitable for integration with services that run in a separate network and are normally not accessible from the main network where Actions Express runs.
7. Check Monitor if you want Actions Express to monitor the module.
   By selecting this option, a new incident is created when the module is down.
8. (Mode: Local only) In Module Instance, from the Device list, select the module instance that you want to use for this integration module.
   All instances of the module that you have installed locally appear in the list.
9. Click Save to create the module.
10. In the Connection Parameters section, specify the Microsoft SCOM server connection details:
    1. In Device, select the machine where the Microsoft SCOM server is installed.
    2. In Domain, enter the name of the AD domain where the Microsoft SCOM server is running.
    3. In User name, enter an AD domain user account name that meets the prerequisites.
    4. In Password, enter the password of the specified AD user.
    5. Click Test Connection.
       This step installs connector objects on the Microsoft SCOM server.
11. Click Save.
12. In the Configuration Options section, specify additional generic module options:
    • Log Level—Select how verbose you want the module-related log messages to be. Level 1 is the least verbose.
      The log file is located in the module's installation folder (C:\Program Files\Resolve\Actions Express Operations Manager Server by default).
13. Click Save.

Configuring SCOM

After you configure the integration module in Actions Express, you need to configure the integration on the Microsoft SCOM side. The configuration consists of two segments. The first segment, installing an Actions Express connector, is automatic. The second is configuring filtering for the alerts that you want to receive at Actions Express.

Connector Objects in SCOM

Actions Express automatically creates a connector on the Microsoft SCOM server during the module configuration on successful connection. The connector is a Microsoft SCOM object that listens to Microsoft SCOM alerts and forwards them to Actions Express according to its subscription. In addition, the connector discovers other Microsoft SCOM objects such as available fields and values used in SCOM activities, groups, and targets.

Once the connector is successfully created, you will have two new objects in SCOM:

• Ayehu Connector
• Ayehu Management Pack

The Ayehu Management Pack is used in Actions Express by the SCOM Create Alert activity.

Configuring Filtering

To specify what types of activities must be redirected towards Actions Express, configure filtering in Microsoft SCOM. You can use the following means to control filtering:

• Groups—Select the groups from which alerts are to be forwarded.
• Targets—Select the targets from which alerts are to be forwarded.
• Criteria—Select the criteria from which alerts are to be forwarded.

Consult the official Microsoft documentation for details.

Changing the Connector Name

The Microsoft System Center - Operations Manager module automatically creates a connector on the Microsoft SCOM server using a default name. The name is how the connector appears on the Microsoft SCOM server. You can change that name to a value that is more meaningful to you.

caution

Always change the connector name prior to configuring the module. If you change the name of an existing connector, you will not be able to use the connector anymore or remove it from the Microsoft SCOM server.

To change the connector's name:

1. Open the Resolve SQL database.
2. Open the dbo.Modules table.
3. Find the row with Mname column value of SCOM.
4. In the Params column, append the following to the existing value:

   connectorName=CustomName
   Where CustomName is the new connector name. Space is not an allowed character.

Removing the Connector

Removing a module instance from Actions Express doesn't remove the connector from the Microsoft SCOM server. To remove the connector, you can use the SCOM Remove Connector custom activity available on Resolve Automation Exchange.

The custom activity removes the Ayehu Connector and Ayehu Management Pack objects are removed from SCOM.

Related Activities

To see the list of activities that use the Microsoft System Center - Operations Manager module, go to the Workflow Designer and in the sidebar on the left, under Activities, expand the Microsoft Operations Manager category.

See the activity reference information to learn more about the activities.

Advanced Module Settings

Some module settings that are rarely used, such as the connector name setting, can only be changed directly in the Resolve DB.

Changing an Advanced Setting

Use this procedure to change a module setting in the DB:

To change an advanced module setting:

1. Open the Resolve SQL database.
2. Open the dbo.Modules table.
3. Find the row with Mname column value of SCOM.
4. In the Params column, configure the setting:
   • If the setting already exists in the column, change the value following the equals sign:

     connectorName=ValueToChange
   • If the setting does not appear in the column, append the setting to the existing value.
     For example:

     //before
     loglevel=1 logsdirectory=Logs lognumberofdaystopreserve=14 dateformat=us maxthreads=5
     //after
     loglevel=1 logsdirectory=Logs lognumberofdaystopreserve=14 dateformat=us maxthreads=5 connectorName=CustomName

List of Advanced Module Settings

These are the advanced settings that you can change or add for the Microsoft System Center - Operations Manager module. These are in addition to the common module advanced settings that you can set for any module.

• connectorName—Sets the name of the connector that the module creates. If you change this parameter for an existing module, you will not be able to use the connector or remove it from the module's configuration window. Default value: Ayehu.
• RepeatCount—Sets the number of duplicated alerts that the module can pull. When set to -1, the module can pull an unlimited number of duplicated alerts. Each repeated alert is translated into an incident instance in Actions Express. When set to any number greater than 0 the module limits the duplicated alerts to the specified number. For example, if the value is 5, the module will pull the first alert and the following 5 duplicate alerts. If multiple identical alerts are generated between the pulling intervals, only a single alert is pulled and a single new incident instance is created in Actions Express. Default value: -1.
• DisregardRecovery—Determines whether or not recovery alerts are ignored by the module. Default value: False.
• RecoveryResolutionState—Determines the Recovery resolution state as it is being sent by Microsoft SCOM. Default value: 255.
• AlertExpire—Sets the retroactive period (in minutes) for which the Actions Express connector forwards alerts. Using this parameter verifies that in case of an outage between the Actions Express SCOM module and the SCOM server, the module does not get old messages after recovering the connection. Default value: 0.
• CacheAlert—Caches an incoming alert and ignores any updates on the alert until it is removed from the cache list. An alert can be removed from the cache list by an incoming recovery alert or by the timeout defined in CacheAlertTimeout. If the parameter is set to True, the value of RepeatCount is ignored and considered as 0. Default value: False.
• CacheAlertTimeout—Sets the timeout (in hours) after which an alert is removed from the cache list. Default value: 72.

Troubleshooting

Use this information to resolve common issues that may occur with this integration module.

Error: "Connection to SCOM server is unavailable"

This error can appear when testing the connection during module configuration.

Probable Cause

The server that you have entered in Device either does not have Microsoft SCOM installed or the Microsoft SCOM services are not running on it at the moment.

Possible Resolution

Take one of the following actions depending on the cause:

• Double-check the connection details that you have entered.
• Ensure that network connections to the Microsoft SCOM machine are allowed through you firewall from and to Actions Express.
• Ensure that the Microsoft SCOM services are running.

Error: "The user does not have sufficient permissions to perform the operation".

This error can appear when testing the connection during module configuration.

Probable Cause

The use account that you have entered does not have the required permissions.

Possible Resolution

Take one of the following actions depending on the cause:

• Double-check the domain name, username, and password that you have provided.
• Ensure that the user account meets the requirements.