Operations Manager Management Pack Authoring - Views

This document is part of the Operations Manager Management Pack Authoring Guide.  The Microsoft System Center team has validated this procedure as of Revision #1.  We will continue to review any changes and periodically provide validations on later revisions as they are made.  Please feel free to make any corrections or additions to this procedure that you think would assist other users.

Views provide access to data that is collected in the Operations Manager database. Management packs typically include multiple views to provide access to its classes and collected operations data. Multiple views in the management pack can provide access to the same data, but relevant to different monitoring scenarios, present data in different formats.

Folders

Folders are displayed in the Monitoring pane in the Operations Manager 2007 Operations console. They provide a way to organize views just like folders are used to organize files in the file system. A folder will one or more parent folder and may include one or more subfolders. If it has multiple parent folders, the folder and its contents will appear in multiple places in the Monitoring pane. The root of the folder structure is Monitoring, and all folders will be either positioned directly under this folder or be able to trace their parent folders back up to the root.

A view must be included in at least one folder if it is to be displayed in the Operations console. You can use the folder structure to group common views and provide organization to the set of views for a particular application. We recommend as a best practice that each management pack have its own top level folder, and then you can create additional folders as required.

Folders and views follow the same restrictions as other management pack elements for sealed and unsealed management packs. A view or folder may be contained in another folder only if both are in the same management pack or the parent folder is in a sealed management pack.

State Views

State views provide a tabular listing of a set of instances of a particular class. Columns in the view can include the state of the object, the value of properties of the object, or the health state of objects that the target object hosts or contains.

Contents

The following properties determine the contents of a State view.

Target

All State views must specify a target class. The target class specified for a State view determines which objects are displayed and what properties are available. All instances of the target class in the management group are included unless criteria or a group is specified to limit the instances that are displayed.

Group

A State view does not require a group. If a group is specified, only instances of the target class in the group are included. Even though the group might contain objects of different classes, only instances of the target class are displayed.

Note: If the Entity class is used for the target class, all objects in the group are included in the view. This is because all classes inherit from the Entity class.

Criteria

A State view does not require criteria. If it is provided, criteria allows for the instances of the target class to be limited according to the values of one or more properties. To add and configure criteria , start the external editor from the Authoring console or modify the settings in the dialog box in the Operations console. The properties that you can use in criteria are provided in the following table.

Note: You can only set criteria if the target class is not abstract. An abstract class can be the target class of a State view, but you cannot use criteria.

<SeverityList>
   <Severity>Red</Severity>
   <Severity>Yellow</Severity>
</SeverityList>

<InMaintenanceMode>true</InMaintenanceMode>

<PropertyCriteria>
   <PropertyName>MyProperty1</PropertyName>
   <Value>MyExplicitValue</Value>
</PropertyCriteria>
<PropertyCriteria>
   <PropertyName>MyProperty2</PropertyName>
   <Value>MyWildcardValue%</Value>
</PropertyCriteria>

Columns

Each column in a State view is defined in a ColumnInfo node under the Presentation node of the view. The following XML sample shows a column definition.

<ColumnInfo Index="0" SortIndex="-1" Width="100" Grouped="false" Sorted="false" IsSortable="true" Visible="true" SortOrder="Descending">
   <Name>State</Name>
   <Id>MyMP.MyClass</Id>
</ColumnInfo>

The content of each column is determined by its Id value with the title of the column defined by the Name value. The possible contents of a State view are identified in the following table.

When a State view is created in the Authoring console, no columns are defined. If the management pack is installed without column definitions, the following columns are displayed with default settings:

• State of the object
• Current maintenance mode setting
• Display name
• Path name

The state of each class that the target class hosts or contains is available to the view but is not visible.

After the view is installed, you can modify the settings in the Properties dialog box for the view in the Operations console. If any modification occurs, the Operations console adds the entire set of column definitions to the view. You can load the set of column definitions into the Authoring console for detailed configuration.

Formatting

To format a State view, modify the attributes of each column definition. You can do this the external editor from the Authoring console or with by modify the settings in the Properties dialog box for the view in the Operations console. The following table lists the different characteristics of each column and their corresponding attributes.

Alert Views

Contents

The following properties determine the contents of an Alert view.

Target

All Alert views must specify a target class. An Alert view lists all of the alerts associated with the target class or any classes that the target class hosts. All instances of the target class in the management group are included unless criteria or a group is specified to limit the instance that is displayed. All alerts associated with these objects are included unless you specify criteria to limit them.

Group

An Alert view does not require a group. If a group is specified, only alerts associated with instances of the target class in the group are included in the view. Even though the group might contain objects of different classes, only alerts from instances of the target class are displayed.

Criteria

An Alert view does not require criteria. If it is provided, criteria allows for the included alerts to be limited according to the values of one or more properties. To add or configure criteria, start the external editor from the Authoring console or modify the settings in the view’s Properties dialog box in the Operations console. The properties that you can use in criteria are provided in the following table with a sample of the XML code in the view definition.

<SeverityList>
   <Severity>Warning</Severity>
   <Severity>Error</Severity>
</SeverityList>

<PriorityList>
   <Priority>Medium</Priority>
   <Priority>High</Priority>
</PriorityList>

<SourceList>
   <Source>
      <Type>Rule</Type>
      <Id>$MPElement[Name='MyMP.MyRule']$</Id>
   </Source>
   <Source>
      <Type>Monitor</Type>
      <Id>$MPElement[Name='MyMP.MyMonitor']$</Id>
   </Source>
</SourceList>

<ResolutionState>
   <State>0</State>
   <State>1</State>
</ResolutionState>

<ResolutionState>
   <StateRange Operator="NotEquals">255</StateRange>
</ResolutionState>

<Name>MyAlert</Name>

<Description>Error</Description>

<TimeCreated>
   <Range>
      <After>2010-05-16T12:00:00</After>
      <Before>2010-05-27T18:00:00</Before>
   </Range>
</TimeCreated>

<TimeCreated>
   <WithinLast Unit="Hour">2</WithinLast>
</TimeCreated>

<AssignedTo>Adams</AssignedTo>

<TicketId>123456789</TicketId>

<InstanceName>srv</InstanceName>

<LastModifiedBy>Adams</LastModifiedBy>

<LastModifiedTime>
   <Range>
      <After>2010-05-16T12:00:00</After>
      <Before>2010-05-27T18:00:00</Before>
   </Range>
</LastModifiedTime>

<LastModifiedTime>
   <WithinLast Unit="Hour">2</WithinLast>
</LastModifiedTime>

<ResolutionStateLastModifiedTime>
   <Range>
      <After>2010-05-16T12:00:00</After>
      <Before>2010-05-27T18:00:00</Before>
   </Range>
</ResolutionStateLastModifiedTime>

<ResolutionStateLastModifiedTime>
   <WithinLast Unit="Hour">2</WithinLast>
</ResolutionStateLastModifiedTime>

<TimeResolved>
   <Range>
      <After>2010-05-16T12:00:00</After>
      <Before>2010-05-27T18:00:00</Before>
   </Range>
</TimeResolved>

<TimeResolved>
   <WithinLast Unit="Hour">2</WithinLast>
</TimeResolved>

<ResolvedBy>Adams</ResolvedBy>

<TimeAdded>
   <Range>
      <After>2010-05-16T12:00:00</After>
      <Before>2010-05-27T18:00:00</Before>
   </Range>
</TimeAdded>

<TimeAdded>
   <WithinLast Unit="Hour">2</WithinLast>
</TimeAdded>

<Site>site</Site>

<CustomField1>CustomText</CustomField1>

<CustomField2>CustomText</CustomField2>

Columns

Each column in an Alert view is defined with a ColumnInfo element in the Presentation element of the view. The following XML sample shows a column definition.

<ColumnInfo Index="0" SortIndex="-1" Width="22" Grouped="false" Sorted="false" IsSortable="true" Visible="true" SortOrder="Ascending">
   <Name>Severity</Name>
   <Id>Severity</Id>
</ColumnInfo>

The content of each column is determined by its Id value with the title of the column defined by the Name element. The possible contents of a state view are identified in the following table.

To specify the order of the columns, modify the settings in the view’s Properties dialog box in the Operations console. This corresponds to the Index attribute in the XML code for the column.

If no columns are specified for the view, by default, the following columns are displayed:

• Severity
• Icon
• Source
• Maintenance Mode
• Name
• Resolution State
• Created
• Age

Formatting

To format an Alert view, modify the attributes of each column definition. Start the external editor from the Authoring console or modify the settings in the view’s Properties dialog box in the Operations console. The following table lists the different characteristics of each column and their corresponding attributes.

Event Views

Event views provide a listing of events that are collected by rules in the Operations Manager database. Columns in the view can include the value of properties of each event.

Contents

The contents of an event view are determined by the following:

Target

All event views must specify a target class. An event view will list all the events associated with the target class or any classes hosted by the target class. All instances of the target class in the management group will be included unless criteria or a group is specified to limit the instance displayed. All events associated with these objects will be included unless you specify criteria to limit them.

Group

An event view does not require a group. If a group is specified, then only events associated with instances of the target class in the group will be included in the view. Even though the group may contain objects of different classes, only events from instances of the target class are displayed.

Criteria

An event view does not require criteria. If it is provided, criteria allow the included events to be limited according to the values of one or more properties. Criteria is added and configured by starting the external editor from the Authoring console or by using the dialog box in the Operations console. The properties that may be used in criteria are provided in the following table with XML samples.

<RuleList> <Rule>$MPElement[Name='MyMP.MyRule']$</Rule>
</RuleList>

<EventNumberList>
   <EventNumber>1234</EventNumber>
</EventNumberList>

<PublisherName>MyApp</PublisherName>

<TimeGenerated>
   <Range>
      <After>2010-05-16T12:00:00</After>
      <Before>2010-05-27T18:00:00</Before>
   </Range>
</TimeGenerated>

<TimeGenerated>
   <WithinLast Unit="Hour">2</WithinLast>
</TimeGenerated>

<ManagedEntityName>name</ManagedEntityName>

<LevelIdList>
   <Level>2</Level>
   <Level>1</Level>
</LevelIdList>

<User>NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM</User>

<LoggingComputer>svr01.contoso.com</LoggingComputer>

The following table lists the possible values for the severity level criteria:

Columns

Each column in an event view is defined by using a ColumnInfo node in the Presentation node of the view. The XML of an example column definition is shown here:

<ColumnInfo Index="0" SortIndex="-1" Width="22" Grouped="false" Sorted="false" IsSortable="true" Visible="true" SortOrder="Ascending">
   <Name>Severity</Name>
   <Id>Severity</Id>
</ColumnInfo>

The content of each column is determined by its ID value with the title of the column defined by the Name. The possible contents of a state view are identified in the following table:

The order of the columns can be specified by using the dialog box in the Operations console. This corresponds to the Index attribute in the XML for the column.

If no columns are specified for the view, then by default, the following columns are displayed:

• Level
• Date and Time
• Source
• Name
• User
• Event Number
• Log Name

Formatting

The formatting of an event view is accomplished by modifying the attributes of each column definition. This is performed by starting the external editor from the Authoring console or with the dialog box in the Operations console. The different characteristics each column and their corresponding attributes are listed in the following table:

Task Status View

Task status views in System Center Operations Manager 2007 provide a listing of task status events that are generated when you try to run a task.

Contents

The contents of a task status view are determined by the following.

Target

All task status views must specify a target class. A task status view will list the status events of all tasks targeted at the target class or any classes hosted by the target class. All instances of the target class in the management group will be included unless criteria or a group is specified to limit the instance displayed. All task status events associated with these objects will be included unless you specify criteria to limit them.

Group

If a group is specified, only task status events associated with instances of the target class in the group are included in the view. Even though the group may contain objects of different classes, only task status events from instances of the target class are displayed.

Criteria

A task status view does not require criteria. When provided, criteria limit the included events according to the values of one or more properties. You can add and configure criteria by opening the external editor from the Authoring console or by using the dialog box in the Operations console. The properties that you can use in criteria are provided in the following table with a sample of the XML code in the view definition.

<TaskList>
   <Task>$MPElement[Name='MyMP.MyTask']$</Task>
</TaskList>

<SubmittedBy>CONTOS\NancyA</SubmittedBy>

<RunningAs>CONTOSO\NancyA</RunningAs>

<StatusList>
   <Status>Succeeded</Status>
   <Status>Failed</Status>
</StatusList>

<Output>output</Output>

<TimeScheduled>
   <Range>
      <After>2010-05-16T12:00:00</After>
      <Before>2010-05-27T18:00:00</Before>
   </Range>
</TimeScheduled>

<TimeScheduled>
   <WithinLast Unit="Hour">2</WithinLast>
</TimeScheduled>

<TimeStarted>
   <Range>
      <After>2010-05-16T12:00:00</After>
      <Before>2010-05-27T18:00:00</Before>
   </Range>
</TimeStarted>

<TimeStarted>
   <WithinLast Unit="Hour">2</WithinLast>
</TimeStarted>

<LastModified>
   <Range>
      <After>2010-05-16T12:00:00</After>
      <Before>2010-05-27T18:00:00</Before>
   </Range>
</LastModified>

<LastModified>
   <WithinLast Unit="Hour">2</WithinLast>
</LastModified>

Columns

Each column in a task status view is defined by using a ColumnInfo node in the Presentation node of the view. The XML of an example column definition is shown here:

<ColumnInfo Index="0" SortIndex="-1" Width="100" Grouped="false" Sorted="false" IsSortable="false" Visible="true" SortOrder="Ascending">
   <Name>Status</Name>
   <Id>Status</Id>
</ColumnInfo>

The content of each column is determined by its ID value with the title of the column defined by the Name. The possible contents of a state view are identified in the following table:

The order of the columns can be specified by using the dialog box in the Operations console. This corresponds to the Index attribute in the XML for the column.

If no columns are specified for the view, by default, the following columns are displayed:

• Status
• Task Name
• Schedule Time
• Submitted By
• Run Location

Formatting

You can format a task status view by modifying the attributes of each column definition. You do this by opening the external editor from the Authoring console or with the dialog box in the Operations console. The different characteristics each column and their corresponding attributes are listed in the following table:

Performance Views

Performance views provide a graphical presentation of values from performance collection rules.

Contents

The contents of a performance view are determined by the following properties:

Target

A performance view will display one or more performance counters associated with the target class or any classes hosted by the target class. All instances of the target class in the management group will be included unless criteria or a group is specified to limit the instance displayed. All performance values associated with these objects will be included unless you specify criteria to limit them.

Group

If a group is specified, all instances of the target class in the group will be included. Even though the group may contain objects of different classes, only instances of the target class are displayed.

Criteria

A performance view does not require criteria. If it is provided, criteria in a performance view define the performance counters that should be included in the graph. If no criteria are specified than all performance counters from all collection rules targeted at the included objects will be included. If criteria are provided, the performance counters are limited to those matching the specified criteria. The properties that you can use in criteria are provided in the following table with a sample of the XML code in the view definition.

<RuleList>
   <Rule>$MPElement[Name='MyApp.MyCollectionRule']$</Rule>
</RuleList>

<Object>MyObject</Object>

<Counter>MyCounter</Counter>

<Instance>MyInstance</Instance>

Formatting

The formatting of a performance view is controlled by the properties in the following table. Most of this configuration can be performed with the properties dialog box for the view in the Operations console.

<StartTime>2010-06-06T15:10:00.1976772-07:00</StartTime>
<EndTime>2010-06-013T15:10:00.1976772-07:00</ EndTime>
<DynamicTimeTicks>864000000000</DynamicTimeTicks
<IsDynamic>true</IsDynamic>

<ChartType>Line</ChartType>

<TitleFont>Microsoft Sans Serif,12,Regular</TitleFont>
<ChartFont>Microsoft Sans Serif,8.25,Regular</ChartFont>
<LabelFont>Microsoft Sans Serif,14,Regular</LabelFont>
<XAxisFont>Microsoft Sans Serif,8.25,Regular</XAxisFont>
<YAxisFont>Microsoft Sans Serif,14,Regular</YAxisFont>
<LabelColor>-16777216</LabelColor>

<XLabelAngle>0</XLabelAngle>
<YAxisVisible>True</YAxisVisible>
<YAxisVisible>True</YAxisVisible>
<AutoAxis>true</AutoAxis>
<AxisMax>100</AxisMax>
<AxisMin>0</AxisMin>

<XShowMajorGridlines>false</XShowMajorGridlines>
<XShowMinorGridlines>false</XShowMinorGridlines>
<ShowInterlaceStrips>false</ShowInterlaceStrips>
<XInterlaceColor>16777215</XInterlaceColor>
<YShowMajorGridlines>true</YShowMajorGridlines>
<YShowMajorGridlines>true</YShowMajorGridlines>
<YShowInterlaceStrips>false</YShowInterlaceStrips>

<Is3DMode>true</Is3DMode>
<Perspective>10</Perspective>
<GraphXRotation>0</GraphXRotation>
<GraphYRotation>0</GraphYRotation>
<RightAngleAxes>false</RightAngleAxes>
<ClusterSeries>false</ClusterSeries>
<Depth>100</Depth>
<GapDepth>100</GapDepth>

<BaselineMode>false</BaselineMode>
<ShowAlerts>false</ShowAlerts>
<ShowMaintenanceMode>false</ShowMaintenanceMode>

<XShowSideMargin>true</XShowSideMargin>
<YShowSideMargin>true</YShowSideMargin>

Diagram Views

Diagram views provide a visual representation of the state of a particular object and any objects that the object hosts or contains.

Target

All diagram views require a target. Although other views can use any class as a target, the contents of a diagram view are determined by a specific object or singleton class. If an object is used, the GUID of the object is required in the management pack. Since this GUID is not known until the object is discovered, a singleton class such as a distributed application or a group is typically used.

If a diagram view is created in the Operations console, that view will have the GUID of a target object in the view configuration in addition to the target class. If the target class is singleton, this GUID may be removed without affecting the functionality of the view. The GUID should be removed so that the management pack can be transferred between management groups.

Diagram views do not have criteria or a group in addition to the target. The view will include all objects that are contained or hosted by the target object.

Formatting

The formatting of a diagram view is determined by XML code in the management pack that is completely configurable in the

<NodesPerRow>3</NodesPerRow>

<LevelsToShow>8</LevelsToShow>

<LineStyle>DashDotDot</LineStyle>

<Color Red="6" Green="134" Blue="253" />

<LineWidth>2</LineWidth>

<ArrowStyle>NoAnchor</ArrowStyle>  

<DiagramViewDisplay ShowVirtualGroup="false">

<MaxNumChild>7</MaxNumChild>

<VirtualGroupThreshold>3</VirtualGroupThreshold>

<MinBucketSize>2</MinBucketSize>

The XML code for the Presentation element of a sample diagram view is shown here:

<Presentation>
   <DiagramViewCriteria>
      <DiagramViewDisplay>
         <NodesPerRow>3</NodesPerRow>
         <LevelsToShow>4</LevelsToShow>
         <ContainmentLine>
            <Color />
            <SourceArrow IsFilled="false">
               <ArrowStyle>NoAnchor</ArrowStyle>
            </SourceArrow>
            <TargetArrow IsFilled="false">
               <ArrowStyle>ArrowAnchor</ArrowStyle>
            </TargetArrow>
         </ContainmentLine>
         <NonContainmentLine>
            <Color Red="6" Green="134" Blue="253" />
            <SourceArrow IsFilled="false">
               <ArrowStyle>NoAnchor</ArrowStyle>
            </SourceArrow>
            <TargetArrow IsFilled="false">
               <ArrowStyle>ArrowAnchor</ArrowStyle>
            </TargetArrow>
            <LineStyle>DashDotDot</LineStyle>
         </NonContainmentLine>
         <MinBucketSize>3</MinBucketSize>
         <VirtualGroupThreshold>3</VirtualGroupThreshold>
      </DiagramViewDisplay>
   </DiagramViewCriteria>
</Presentation>

Dashboard Views

Dashboard views provide a means for displaying multiple views at the same time in the Operations console. A single dashboard view can contain between two and nine other views.

Target

Dashboard views have a target like other views, although this target is not used for any purpose. Each view that is contained in the dashboard view has its own target.

Configuration

Dashboard views have a fairly simple configuration that defines the number of rows and columns and a specific report to include in each pane. Unlike the other kinds of views, dashboard views cannot be created in the Authoring console without configuration and then installed into the management group for configuration in the Operations console. At least the number of rows and columns must be specified for being installed. This is because the number of panes in a dashboard view cannot be changed in the Operations console as soon as the view is created.

The definition of a cell in a dashboard view includes the column and row of the cell and the ID of the view for the cell to display. In addition, a cell can span multiple columns by using the ColumnSpan attribute.

The following example shows the configuration a four view diagram view that has each cell the same size.

<PanelConfiguration Columns="2" Rows="2">
   <Cell Row="1" Column="1" ViewID="MyMP.MyView1"></Cell>
   <Cell Row="1" Column="2" ViewID="MyMP.MyView2"></Cell>
   <Cell Row="2" Column="1" ViewID="MyMP.MyView3"></Cell>
   <Cell Row="2" Column="2" ViewID="MyMP.MyView4"></Cell>
</PanelConfiguration>

The following example shows the configuration a five view diagram view that has three small views across the top row and two large views in the second and third rows.

<PanelConfiguration Columns="3" Rows="3">
   <Cell Row="1" Column="1" ViewID="MyMP.MyView1"></Cell>
   <Cell Row="1" Column="2" ViewID="MyMP.MyView2"></Cell>
   <Cell Row="1" Column="3" ViewID="MyMP.MyView3"></Cell>
   <Cell Row="2" Column="1" ColumnSpan="3" ViewID="MyMP.MyView4"></Cell>
   <Cell Row="3" Column="1" ColumnSpan="3" ViewID="MyMP.MyView5"></Cell>
</PanelConfiguration>