Foglight for SQL Server (Cartridge) 7.1.0

Defining Error Log Filtering

The Error Log Filtering view allows selecting which error logs generated by the SQL Server database are to be displayed in the Logs drilldown. The error log alarm increments the error log count for each error log entry that matches one of the strings listed in this view.

Foglight for SQL Server provides a default list of error logs enabled in the scanning, and allows adding, modifying, or disabling error logs from the list.

The settings defined using the Error Log Filtering view affect the following alarms: SQL Agent Error Log Summary, SQL Server Error Log Summary, SQL Agent Log Informational Error, and SQL Server Log Informational Error.

For details, see the Alarms chapter of the Foglight for SQL Server Reference Guide.

The Error Log Filtering view allows defining the following settings:

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Minimal severity for invoking summary alarms — can be either turned off or set to one of the defined severity values, that is: Warning, Critical, or Fatal.


	NOTE: By default, the value of this parameter is Critical.

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Minimal severity for invoking alarms — can be either turned off (the default setting) or set to one of the defined severity values: Warning, Critical, or Fatal.

For all SQL Server versions, the Error Log Filtering view allows defining the following settings:

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Display under a pre-defined name in the SQL Agent Error Logs and SQL Server Error Logs panels — using the Match List pane. This pane contains a default list of expressions within the alert logs that are to be retrieved and displayed in the Alert Log panel under a pre-defined name, category, and severity.

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Exclusion from the SQL Agent Error Logs and SQL Server Error Logs panels display — using the Ignore List pane, which contains a default list of alerts that are to be excluded when setting the alert logs display.


	IMPORTANT: Only messages that are explicitly defined in the Ignore List will not be displayed. Messages that were not added to either the Match or Ignore lists appear under name Other, type SQL Server errors messages and severity Informational. Therefore, ensure that messages that need not be displayed are added to the Ignore List.

Both the Match List and the Ignore List panes can be customized by adding, editing, or removing alert logs. Each filter can be enabled or disabled separately by clicking Edit and selecting or clearing the Enabled check box. Alternatively, to enable or disable all of the filters, click the Enable All or Disable All button.

To add an error to the Match List:

Click Add.

The dialog box Add Filter appears.

Use this dialog box to assign a name to the filter. Alert filters are enabled automatically upon addition. To disable a filter, use the Edit button.

Click Add to save your settings.

Each newly added alert filter is enabled by default. To disable the filter, click Edit and then clear the Enabled check box.

The entire list of filters displayed on the view can be enabled or disabled by selecting the Enable All or Disable All buttons at the bottom of the screen. Enabling a single filter requires editing it.

To edit a filter:

Select the requested filter.

Click Edit.

The Edit Filter dialog box appears. Ensure that the Enable Filter check box is selected (default).

To change the filter’s name, edit the text in the Error Log Filter text field.

Click Set.

If another filter should be edited, repeat Step 1 to Step 4. If no more editing is necessary, or if all additional editing operations were carried out, save the changes before switching to another view. For details, see Reviewing the Administration Settings .

Configuring Performance Counters

The Performance Counters view allows configuring user-defined performance counters and their Unit of Measurement/Indicator. The counters created in this view are accessible using the User Metrics drilldown.

Each user-defined performance counter is collected and plotted over the specified time range in the User Metrics drilldown. The User Metrics drilldown is used only for displaying the user-defined performance counters; any creation or management operation of these counters is carried out using the Performance Counters view.

Use this view to add user-defined collections of performance counters to a specified agent by selecting them from the complete list of available performance counters. The user-defined counters value refers to raw data, which is derived directly from the counter provider.

To retrieve performance counters for a specific agent:

Select an agent from the list.

Click Add Counters at the bottom of the screen.

The Retrieving Performance Counters progress bar appears.

Upon successful completion of this operation, the Add Counters dialog box appears.

Select the requested counters. For each counter select the matching instance and unit.

Click Add.

After adding all of the requested counters, click Close to exit the Add Counters dialog box.

All of the newly added performance counters now appear in the table.

To delete unwanted counters, select the requested counter and click Remove. To add more counters, repeat Step 2 to Step 5.

After carrying out all of the requested changes, save the changes before switching to another view. For details, see Reviewing the Administration Settings .

Setting Options for Displaying Data in the Buffer Cache

The Buffer Cache view allows configuring the default retrieval settings for Buffer Cache panel, accessed through the Memory drilldown.

A lower buffer cache hit rate can be resolved by investigating the objects that consume the largest amount of cache size.

Use this view to configure the number of objects to be displayed in the table and their sorting properties.

Table 68. Click Edit in the Buffer Cache Settings section to edit the following parameters.
Parameter	Description
Top N Buffer Cache Objects by Cached MB	Defines the maximum number of objects to be displayed in the Buffer Cache panel (default: 20).
Order direction	Defines whether the order of the items for retrieval is ascending or descending.
Order by	Defines the parameter by which the display is to be ordered.