Foglight for SQL Server (Cartridge) 5.7.5.30


	NOTE: If you attempt to select instances of more than one type of database, such as an SQL Server database and an Oracle database, an error message is displayed.

To open the Databases Administration dashboard:

In the navigation panel, under Homes, click Databases.

Select the check boxes beside one or more SQL Server instances.

Click Settings and then click Administration.

The Administration dashboard opens, containing settings for all the selected agents. Settings are broken down into categories, which are organized under a SQL Server tree.

Reviewing the Administration Settings

The Databases Administration dashboard allows settings options for collecting, storing, and displaying data, which apply to all the currently selected agents. Click a category of settings on the left (for example: Connection Details) to open a view containing related settings on the right.

The metrics defined under the Databases Administration dashboard apply to all of the agents that were selected before opening the Databases Administration dashboard. As a result, the same unit of measure and aggregation value for display are enforced for all currently selected agents.

The SQL Performance Investigator category allows you enable or disable SQL PI for the agents selected. In addition, you can also start or stop change tracking for the agents.

To view the full list of selected agents, click the Selected Agents button at the upper right corner of the screen. To change the list of agents to which the metrics will apply, exit the Databases Administration dashboard, select the requested agents and re-open the view.

If the settings vary between the selected agents (for example: one agent uses the measurement unit kilobyte, while another uses megabyte), the fields that contain non-identical values are displayed as empty and marked with an Inconsistent Values (

) icon.

Changes made to settings should be saved before selecting another category of settings.

To save changes made in an Administration dashboard view:

In the Database Administration dashboard, select a category from the menu.

Make changes to settings as necessary.

Click Save changes at the bottom of the view.

If you attempt to exit the view without saving changes, a Warning dialog box prompts you to confirm your action.

Defining Connection Details

Use the Connection Details category to define global connection settings, which apply to all instances and hosts selected in the view. You can configure SQL Performance Investigator connectivity, enable user-defined collections, and set VMware connection details.

Defining the Connection Settings for the Monitored Instances

The Connection Details view contains a table that displays all the agents that were selected before entering the Databases Administration dashboard.

To define the connection settings for the requested agents:

Select the check boxes to the left of the agents for which uniform credentials are to be set.

Click Set credentials.

The Set dialog box used for editing the credentials of the selected instance appears.


	IMPORTANT: If multiple instances were selected before clicking Set credentials, this dialog box is empty (does not display the instances’ names, ports, and connection details). The default options in such a scenario are Windows authentication (for SQL Server connection details) and the use of existing host connection details (for OS monitoring).

On the Edit Credentials pane, provide port connection details. This field can be left empty, unless the TCP/IP connection port is not the default port: 1443.

Specify the SQL Server login credentials using one of the following authentication methods:

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Windows Authentication — log in using a Windows user account. The user name should be typed in the following format: domain\user name

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SQL Server Authentication — log in using a SQL Server account

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Use the Windows account running your agent

Optional — Select whether an SSL connection should be used. The default is set to Optional.

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SSL Connection Off — SSL is not required

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Optional — SSL is required; if the server doesn't support SSL, a plain connection is used instead (default method)

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Mandatory — SSL is required

In the Monitoring Extensions section you can select and configure which monitoring extension to add to the monitored instance:

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Operating System — Correlate the SQL Server OS resources with the entire host.


	NOTE: Note: Monitoring OS can made also by using stored credentials - Select this link to open the Stored Credentials dialog box, which allows reviewing the login credentials and authentication methods used for logging in to Foglight. Foglight stores encrypted credentials in lockboxes, which may be password-protected for added security. The Credentials dialog box, DB-Agent Lockbox. If credentials have already been entered in another lockbox, use the Lockbox list to select from that lockbox.

•

VMWare — Collect VM statistics.

Click Set

On the Connection Details pane, click Validate Connectivity.


	NOTE: If the monitoring verification fails click the message that is displayed on the Status column and resolve the issue according to the instructions that appear in the dialog box. For example, insufficient privileges, incorrect credentials or an Agent Manager that reached its full monitoring capacity.

Upon successful completion of the process, the status shows as Verified.

The option of enabling and editing credentials for user-defined collections is available also when multiple instances are selected. This option is carried out as follows:

Click Set User-defined Collections.

The dialog box Edit Credentials for User-defined Collections appears.

Select the check box Enable user-defined collections.

Select whether to perform the collection:

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Using the current agent credentials

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Manually specifying login credentials.

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Using Windows authentication and the Windows account that is running Foglight.

If the option of manually specifying login credentials was chosen, select the requested authentication method from one of these options:

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Windows authentication — type a user name and a password in the domain\username format (for example, COLUMBIA\JSmith).

•

SQL Server authentication


	IMPORTANT: If the Foglight Agent Manager that runs the instance resides on a UNIX host, the option of using Windows authentication and the Windows account that is running Foglight is unavailable.

Click Set to return to the dialog box used for editing the instance’s credentials.


	IMPORTANT: To add user-defined collections, go to the User-defined Collections view in the Databases Administration dashboard. For details, see Configuring User-defined Collections.

If you have SQL Server instances that run on virtual hosts, such instances require setting a dedicated connection profile, in order to connect to the requested VMware server.

Establishing such a connection is necessary in order to retrieve the Virtualization overhead data, that is, the percentage of CPU that is unavailable to this virtual machine because it is being utilized either by other virtual machines or by VMware itself. The Virtualization Overhead indicator is displayed in both the real-time and history summary pages.

To edit the VMware Connection Profile:

Select the requested agents. To select all agents, select the check box on the table’s title column.

Click Edit.

The Edit VMWare Credentials dialog box appears.

Select the check box Enable collecting VMWare CPU allocation data.

Enter the details required for monitoring the CPU distribution data, that is, host, port, VMware user, and VMware password.

Click OK.

If multiple agents were selected, the settings will apply to all agents.

Ensure that all requested data has been entered. If so, click Validate.

A progress bar appears.

At the end of this process, any connectivity issues are indicated by the Status column of the agents table. This column displays either the status Verified for the instances that connected successfully to the database, or a status that indicates failure of the connectivity verification process, and the reason for the failure (for example, Login failed for user “X”).

If the connectivity issue results from faulty login credentials, modify the credentials and carry out again the connection verification process. If the database to which the instance tries to connect is not running, clear the box near the database’s name.

If some of the instances whose verification failed display a status of either Insufficient privileges, Click to Grant or Wrong sysdba Credentials, such instances should be granted privileges, by clicking the status and using one of the following methods:

•

Manually, using a script (by clicking View script, copying the text and using it to grant privileges

•

By clicking the button Grant privileges.

The Grant Privileges dialog box appears.

If Insufficient Privileges are indicated, this dialog box allows specifying a SYSAdmin (System Administrator) user with sufficient privileges.

Enter a SYSAdmin user and password, and then click Grant Privileges.

Click Save Changes.

The Applying Modified Settings progress bar appears.

Upon successful completion of this process, the Status column of the instance table displays the status Changes applied. For instances that failed verification, the status column indicates that changes cannot be saved if the validation did not complete successfully.

Customizing Alarms for Foglight for SQL Server Rules

Many Foglight for SQL Server multiple-severity rules trigger alarms. To improve your monitoring experience, you can customize when alarms are triggered and whether they are reported. You can also set up email notifications.

This section covers the following topics:

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Introducing the Alarms View

•

Setting and Modifying Alarm Sensitivity Levels

•

Modifying Alarm Settings

•

Configuring Email Notifications

•

Cloning Agent Settings

•

Reviewing Rule Definitions

Introducing the Alarms View

The Alarms view enables you to modify global settings and agent-specific settings for alarms.

To open the Alarms view:

Open the Administration dashboard as described in Opening the Databases Administration Dashboard.

Click Alarms.

The list of agents that you selected on the Databases dashboard is shown in the upper right corner of the view.

From the Alarms view, you can complete the following tasks:

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Setting and Modifying Alarm Sensitivity Levels

•

Modifying Alarm Settings

•

Configuring Email Notifications

•

Cloning Agent Settings

Setting and Modifying Alarm Sensitivity Levels

Foglight for SQL Server has four sensitivity levels that control which alarms are reported:

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Essential — Store and display only critical or fatal alarms.

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Normal — Store and display most alarms — essential and best practices; only critical and fatal statistical alarms.

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Tuning — Store and display all SQL Server alarms sent to Foglight.

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Performance — Store and display only availability and SQL PI related alarms.

You can change the sensitivity level assigned to each agent. If a sensitivity level does not include all the alarms you want to track or includes too many alarms, you can view a list of multiple-severity rules and modify the sensitivity level that is mapped to each severity.

Changes made to a sensitivity level affect all agents that are assigned that sensitivity level. If you want to enable or disable alarms for the selected agents, see Enabling or disabling alarms for selected agents.

Setting the alarm sensitivity level by agent

Each agent has its own sensitivity level setting. The default is Normal.


	TIP: Select a sensitivity level that is closest to what you want, then customize it as necessary. For instructions, see Viewing and modifying alarms assigned to severity levels.

To change the sensitivity level used by an agent:

In the Alarms view, click the Sensitivity Level tab.

Select the check box for an agent or agents.

Select a sensitivity level button.

Click Save changes.

Viewing and modifying alarms assigned to severity levels

You can view a list of multiple severity rules to see which severities are assigned to which sensitivity level. If desired, you can change the assignments. Changes to sensitivity levels affect all agents.

To see descriptions of the rules, follow the steps described in Reviewing Rule Definitions.

To view and edit alarms assigned sensitivity levels:

In the Alarms view, click the Sensitivity Level tab.

Click View rules sensitivity mapping.

Review the assignments. Recall that the Normal level includes all alarms assigned to the Essential level, and the Tuning level includes both Normal and Essential alarms.

If you want a record of the existing settings, click Report and export the settings to a file.

Select the check boxes for the rules you want to edit.

Click Set sensitivity.

The Set Rule dialog box opens.

Select a sensitivity level for each severity.

Click Set.

All selected rules are updated with the new assignments.

Modifying Alarm Settings

You can customize how the alarms generated by the default Foglight for SQL Server rules are triggered and displayed in the Alarm view’s Settings tab. All changes to alarm settings apply to the selected agents, with the exception of thresholds, which can be customized by agent.


	TIP: If you want to copy alarm settings to another agent that was not in the selected list— for example, you add a new agent — you can copy the alarm customizations to that agent. For instructions, see Cloning Agent Settings.


	IMPORTANT: Avoid editing Foglight for SQL Server rules in the Administration > Rules & Notifications > Rule Management dashboard. Default rules may be modified during regular software updates and your edits will be lost. Always use the Alarms view.

Figure 2. Use the Alarms view to edit alarm rules.

The Alarms list controls the contents displayed to the right and the tasks that are available.

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All Alarms – Displays all rules with configured alarms and indicates whether alarms are enabled. In this view, you can enable or disable alarms for all the rules at once. You can also set email notifications and define mail server settings.

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Category of rules – Displays a set of related rules with configured alarms. In this view, you can enable or disable alarms and also set email notifications for the category of rules.

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Rule name – Displays the alarm status for the selected rule. If the rule has multiple severity levels, displays the threshold configured for each severity level. In this view, you can enable or disable the alarm, edit the alarm text, and edit severity levels and their thresholds. You can also set email notifications for the alarm.

You can complete the following tasks:

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Enabling or disabling alarms for selected agents

•

Modifying alarm threshold values

•

Editing the text of the alarm message

Your changes are saved separately and applied over the default rules. This protects you from software upgrades that may change the underlying default rules.

Enabling or disabling alarms for selected agents

You can override the global alarm sensitivity level setting for the selected agents. You can enable or disable alarms for all rules, a category of rules, or an individual rule.

To see descriptions of the rules, follow the steps described in Reviewing Rule Definitions.

To enable or disable alarms:

In the Alarms view, click the Settings tab.

Decide on the scope for the change: all alarms, a category of rules, or a selected rule.

Complete the steps for the selected scope:


Scope	Procedure
All alarms	Click All Alarms. In the Alarms Settings tab, click either Enable all or Disable all.
Category of rules	Click a category. Click either Enable all or Disable all.
Selected rule	Click the rule. In the Alarms Settings tab, click the link that displays the alarm status. Select Enabled or Disabled from the list and click Set.

Click Save changes.

Modifying alarm threshold values

You can and should modify the thresholds associated with alarms to better suit your environment. If you find that alarms are firing for conditions that you consider to be acceptable, you can change the threshold values that trigger the alarm. You can also enable or disable severity levels to better suit your environment.

When a rule has severity levels, a Threshold section appears in the Alarm Settings tab showing the severity levels and bounds by agent. For an example, see the DBSS - Worker Thread rule. The threshold values corresponds to the lower bounds shown in this table. Many rules, such as Baseline rules, do not have severity levels and thresholds.

When editing thresholds, ensure that the new values make sense in context with the other threshold values. For most metrics, threshold values are set so that Warning < Critical < Fatal. However, in metrics where normal performance has a higher value, such as DBSS - Buffer Cache Hit Rate, the threshold values are reversed: Warning > Critical > Fatal.


	TIP: If you want to review the thresholds for all Foglight for SQL Server rules in a single view, use the Rule Management dashboard. In the navigation panel, click Homes > Administration, then click Rules. Type DBSS in the Search field to see the list of predefined rules for SQL Server databases. For rules with severity levels, you can see the threshold values set for each level. If you want to edit threshold values, return to the Alarms view. Edits made directly to the default rules may be overwritten during software upgrades.

To change severity levels and thresholds:

In the Alarms view, click the Settings tab.

Click the multiple-severity rule that you want to edit.

Click the Alarms Settings tab.

In the Threshold section, review the defined severity levels and existing threshold bounds for all target agents.

Figure 3. The colored bar across the bottom of the view indicates the percentage of collections that fall within each threshold.

From this view, you can perform the following tasks:

Table 3. Alarm status tasks.
Task	Procedure
Edit severity levels and set threshold (lower bound) values for all agents.	Click Enhance alarm. Select the check boxes for the severity levels you want enabled and set the threshold values. Click Set.
Change the threshold (lower bound) values for one agent.	Click Edit beside the agent name. Set the new threshold values and click Set.
Copy the changes made to one agent’s threshold values to all other agents.	Click Edit beside the agent name that has the values you want to copy. Select Set for all agents in table and click Set.

Click Save changes.

Editing the text of the alarm message

For individual rules, you can change the message displayed when an alarm fires. You cannot add or remove the variables used in the message. This is a global setting that affects all agents.

To change the alarm message:

In the Alarms view, click the Settings tab.

Select a rule.

Click the Alarm Settings tab.

Click Enhance alarm.

A Customize <rule> dialog box opens.

In the Message box, edit the message text. To restore the default message, click Reset message.

Click Set.

Click Save changes.

Configuring Email Notifications

We recommend that you set email notifications for the alarms you are most interested in tracking closely. For example, you may want to be notified by email of any Critical or Fatal situation. Or you may want to be informed whenever a key metric, such as CPU usage, is no longer operating within acceptable boundaries.

You can set up email notifications that are generated when an alarm fires and/or on a defined schedule, as described in the following topics:

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Configuring an email server

•

Defining Default Email settings

•

Defining email notifications, recipients, and messages

•

Defining variables to contain email recipients

•

Defining scheduled email notifications

Configuring an email server

You need to define the global mail server variables (connection details) to be used for sending email notifications. The setting of the email should be configured in Foglight Administration > Email configuration.

Defining Default Email settings

You can define a default email address to be used by every new agent created in the future, by selecting the Default email button when configuring email notification.

The Email addresses entered are applied to all monitored agents not only for the agents that were selected to enter the Alarm administration.

Enabling or disabling email notifications

You can enable or disable email notifications for all alarms, a category of alarms, or a selected rule. Email notifications are sent only if all the following conditions are met:

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The alarm email notification setting is enabled for the affected rule.

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The alarm is triggered by changes in the monitored environment.

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Alarm notification is enabled at the triggered severity level. See Defining email notifications, recipients, and messages.

To enable or disable email notifications:

In the Alarms view, click the Settings tab.

Decide on the scope for the change: all alarms, a category of rules, or a selected rule.

Complete the steps for the selected scope:

Table 4. Enable or disable email notification settings.
Scope	Procedure
All alarms	Click All Alarms. In the Alarms Settings tab, click the Define Email Settings button. Select either Enabled or Disabled from the Alarms notification status list. Click Set.
Category of rules	Click a category. Click the Define Email Settings button. Select either Enabled or Disabled from the Alarms notification status list. Click Set.
Selected rule	Click a rule. In the Alarms Settings tab, click the Define Email Settings tab. Click the link that displays the alarm notification status. Select Enabled or Disabled and click Set.

Click Save changes.

Defining email notifications, recipients, and messages

You control who receives email messages, the subject line, and some text in the body of the email. The body of the email always contains information about the alarm. This information is not editable. You can also control whether an email is sent based on severity levels. You can set different distribution lists for different rules and different severity levels, or set the same notification policy for all rules.

To configure email notifications:

In the Alarms view, click the Settings tab.

Decide on the scope for the change: all alarms, a category of rules, or a selected rule.

Complete the steps for the selected scope:

Table 5. Configure email notification settings:

Scope

Procedure

All alarms

Click All Alarms. In the Alarms Settings tab, click the Define Email Settings button. Continue to Step 4.

Category of rules

Click a category. Click the Define Email Settings button. Continue to Step 4.

Selected rule

Click a rule. Click the Define Email Settings tab.

•

To change the severity level that warrants an email notification, click the link that displays the severities. Select the desired level of severity and click Set.

•

To configure email recipients and the message, select the tab for a severity level, and click Edit. Skip to Step 5.

If you selected All Alarms or a category, in the Email Notification Settings dialog box, do one of the following:

•

To change the severity levels that warrant an email notification, from the Messages will be enabled for severities box, select the desired levels of severity.

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To configure the same email recipients and message for all severity levels, click Configure settings for all severities and then click All severities.

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To configure different email recipients and messages for each of the severity levels, click Configure severity specific settings and then click a severity level.

In the Message Settings dialog box, configure the email recipients and message.

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To — Type the addresses of the people who need to take action when this alarm triggers.

•

CC — Type the addresses of the people who want to be notified when the alarm triggers.


	NOTE: If a mail server is not found, you are prompted to configure a mail server. For instructions, see Configuring an email server.

You can use registry variables in place of email addresses. Type the variable name between two hash (#) symbols, for example: #EmailTeamName#. For more information, see Defining variables to contain email recipients.

•

Subject — Optional. Edit the text of the subject line to better suit your environment. Avoid editing the variables, which are identified with the @ symbol.

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Body Prefix — Optional. Add text that should appear above the alarm information in the body of the email.

Figure 4. Message Settings.

Click Set to save the message configuration and close the dialog box.

If the Edit Notification Settings dialog box is open, click Set.

Click Save changes.

Defining variables to contain email recipients

You can create registry variables that contain one or more email addresses and (optionally) their scheduled notifications, and use these registry variables when defining email notifications. This procedure describes how to create a registry value. For schedules, see Defining scheduled email notifications.

To create a registry variable:

On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, click Administration > Rules & Notifications > Manage Registry Variables.

Click Add.

The New Registry Variable Wizard opens.

Select the registry variable type String, and click Next.

In the Name field, enter a name, for example: EmailTeamName

Optional — Add a description.

Click Next.

Select Static Value.

In the Enter desired value box, enter one or more email addresses (separated by commas).


	NOTE: Email groups are not permitted.

Click Finish.

The Edit Registry Variable dashboard displays the newly created registry variable.

To use a registry variable in email notifications, type the variable name between two hash (#) symbols, for example: #EmailTeamName#. For more information, see Defining email notifications, recipients, and messages.

Defining scheduled email notifications

If someone wants to receive an email about an alarm on a regular basis, such as once a day, you use a registry variable schedule to set up the notification.

To schedule the sending of email notifications for a registry variable:

If you are continuing from Defining variables to contain email recipients, the registry variable is already open for editing in the Edit Registry Variable dashboard.


	TIP: To edit a different variable, navigate to the Administration > Rules & Notifications > Manage Registry Variables dashboard, click the variable name, and select View and Edit Details.

In the Performance Calendars List table, click Add.

The Performance Calendar Wizard opens.

Select a schedule, for example: End of Day

Click Next.

Select Static Value.

In the Enter desired value box, enter one or more email addresses (separated by commas) that should received email notifications based on the schedule.


	TIP: The addresses may the same as or different from those assigned to the registry variable.

Click Finish.

The Edit Registry Variable dashboard displays the newly created schedule. If desired, repeat to add other schedules.

Cloning Agent Settings

You may want an agent to have the same settings as another agent. For example, if you add new agents, you may want them to use the same settings as an existing agent. In this case, you can clone the settings from one agent to other agents. This process does not link the agents; in the future if you update the source agent, you also need to update the target agents.

This procedure walks you through selecting the source agent from the Databases dashboard. However, you can also open the Administration dashboard with multiple agents selected. In this case, you select the source agent in Clone Alarm-related Settings to Other Agents dialog box.

To clone alarm-related settings:

On the Databases dashboard, select the check box for the agent with the settings you want to clone.

Click Agent settings and then Administration.

In the Administration dashboard, click Alarms.

Click Set configuration on selected agents.

The Clone Alarm-related Settings to Other Agents dialog box opens.

In the Select the source agent drop-down list, you should see the agent you selected.

In the Select the target agents table, select the check boxes for agents that should inherit settings from the source agent.

Click Apply.

When prompted for confirmation, click Yes.

Reviewing Rule Definitions

If you want to review the conditions of a rule, open the rule in the Rule Management dashboard.


	IMPORTANT: Avoid editing Foglight for SQL Server rules in the Rule Management dashboard. These rules may be modified during regular software updates and your edits will be lost. Always use the Alarms view.

You can create user-defined rules from the Rule Management dashboard. If you want to modify a rule, we recommend copying the rule and creating a user-defined rule. User-defined rules need to be managed from the Rule Management dashboard; these rules are not displayed in the Alarms view of the Databases Administration dashboard. For help creating rules, open the online help from the Rule Management dashboard.

To open the Rule Management dashboard:

On the navigation panel, under Homes, click Administration.

In the Administration dashboard, click Rules.

Type DBSS in the Search field to see the list of predefined rules for SQL Server databases.

The Foglight for SQL Server rules are displayed. From here, you can review threshold values, alarm counts, and descriptions.

To see the full rule definition, click a rule and then click View and Edit.

In the Rule Detail dialog box, click Rule Editor.

When you are done your review, click Rule Management in the bread crumbs to return to the dialog box.

Click Cancel to avoid changing the rule unintentionally.