Management via a Web Interface and a Mobile App

Administrators already familiar with OMS can use the simple query language (SQL) and comprehensive filter that are part of the web interface to display currently relevant data precisely.

It makes sense, especially when dealing with larger environments, specifically to group server services and individual servers together. The use of a query language is optional, and instead you can use just the web interface.

OMS offers the option of setting up different users and administrators who can log in on the interface. Every company administrator who uses the OMS interface can create a customized dashboard, which means that each user and administrator has access to the server and server services for which they are responsible. Alternatively, administrators who share responsibility for the same server can put an interface together with which they are comfortable.

The solutions gallery in the web-based administration interface displays the various functions by which the connected servers are monitored and controlled. The solutions that have already been added are also displayed in the OMS settings, which is where you go to delete relevant monitoring areas. In addition to access via the web interface, Microsoft also makes apps available for monitoring with a smartphone or tablet from wherever you are. The apps come free of charge in the applicable app store. Once installed, you can log in to the app with your Microsoft account.

Installing Agents

Before beginning with the monitoring process, you need to link the desired servers and cloud services to OMS, for which the workspace offers several agents. These agents should then be installed on the target servers. When performing the installation, you need to indicate the ID for the link to the management suite, which you can find on the agent's download site. After the agent has been installed, it should be configured in Control Panel | System and Security | Microsoft Monitoring Agent .

To link to OMS, you should define all of the properties in the agent itself. The Azure Operational Insights tab, which is where the link to OMS is activated, is of primary importance. The data for Workspace ID and Workspace Key are on the download page for the agents. As soon as the link has been generated successfully, you will see the connection to OMS in the agent.

Once the link is in place, the new server will display in the OMS web interface on the home page in the Settings tile. It makes sense to configure the monitoring function only after the server has appeared here. All of the additional steps can be performed in the OMS web interface. You do not need to make any more modifications to the settings for the agents on the individual servers.

Detailed Configuration for Monitoring

After linking the servers, the next step involves the specification of everything on the servers that is supposed to be monitored. Once you have created the settings, the cloud solution reads the data transmitted by the agents, although it can take some time before the first information is displayed. You can use the Settings tile to control exactly what it is that you want to observe in OMS. When you click on this tile, the first things you see are the Solutions that have been added (e.g., AD replication monitoring in the network). Any time you integrate additional solutions, the data is displayed here. The Solutions Gallery offers numerous extensions free of charge that can then be integrated into the interface with just a few clicks (see the "Extended Monitoring" box.).

Extended Monitoring

As soon as the connected servers have also transmitted data, you can integrate additional monitoring areas via the Solutions Gallery menu option (Figure 2). Once added, these new areas are displayed automatically on the home page. Monitoring that is no longer needed can be removed in Settings. The Log Search option lets you search through the configured protocols. You can create queries in your own search window to display information about data that has been transmitted. To create your own dashboard, you should click on My Dashboard and piece together a monitoring interface to suit your requirements by clicking Add to input additional tiles and Edit to modify them.

Figure 2: OMS lets you monitor services belonging to connected servers with functions added from the Solutions Gallery.

The Connected Sources menu option shows the agents and data sources of individual servers or entire groups in System Center Operations Manager, which require a fee for monitoring. You can also see individual servers that you have connected. Clicking on the link with the connected server causes the server name and other information to appear. Only the servers displayed at this point can be monitored via OMS. Therefore, you should pay close attention to this information during installation.

Selecting what information should be displayed and monitored from the connected servers is accomplished in the Data menu option (Figure 3). For example, you can click the plus sign to integrate events into OMS, and additional information can be viewed at this point.

Figure 3: Using the OMS web interface, you can control the information to see the data that the server has transmitted.

The Accounts menu option lets you specify users with the authority to access monitoring data, and you can delete workspaces that are no longer needed in the environment.