Configure MMA agent via PowerShell

A car mechanic uses battery jumper cables to charge a dead battery.

 

Do you feel like a mechanic having to jump start the agent configuration like a dead car battery?   Assuming the Agent is already installed, you can configure the SCOM agent via PowerShell.  Even better when you can PowerShell remote to multiple systems.  I hope the PowerShell commands below help you master PowerShell to configure the SCOM side of the MMA agent (house).

 

powershell

/*
# Find/replace variables to your environment like Kevin Holman’s fragments!
##SCOMMGMTGROUP1##
##SCOMMGMTGROUP2##
##SCOMMGMTSERVER1##
##SCOMMGMTSERVER2##
#
*/

$SCOMAgent = New-Object -ComObject AgentConfigManager.MgmtSvcCfg
$SCOMAgent.GetManagementGroup(“##SCOMMGMTGROUP1##”);$SCOMAgent.GetManagementGroup(“##SCOMMGMTGROUP2##”)

# If mgmt groups are incorrectly set
$SCOMAgent.RemoveManagementGroup(“##SCOMMGMTGROUP1##”)
$SCOMAgent.RemoveManagementGroup(“##SCOMMGMTGROUP2##”)

restart-service healthservice

# Domain
$SCOMAgent.AddManagementGroup(“##SCOMMGMTGROUP1##”,”##SCOMMGMTSERVER1##”,5723)

# Verify agent config
$SCOMAgent.GetManagementGroup(“##SCOMMGMTGROUP1##”)
# If you have a second management group

$SCOMAgent.GetManagementGroup(“##SCOMMGMTGROUP2##”)

# Restart and test connectivity
restart-service healthservice

# Check connectivity
test-netconnection -port 5723 -computername ##SCOMMGMTSERVER1##

 

 

Mining Windows Event Log

Mining Ore from the Windows Event Log and finding a way to make it portable

 

Use Get-WinEvent to use XML and filters from event viewer, to mine an event, including examples for a specific string, from a specific event, in a specific event log?

 

 

Hopefully this post will help with a few tips to simplify monitoring for events, whether in AzMon, SCOM, or via PowerShell.

 

 

Let’s start with the Dr Scripto blog post from quite a while ago –

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/scripting/data-mine-the-windows-event-log-by-using-powershell-and-xml/

 

Not sure how many people use get-WinEvent, but this is one tool in PowerShell that can help an admin parse the XML side of an event.

 

Example 1

Query Application Event Log for Severity, Event, and Event Data contains lync.exe

$query = @”

<QueryList>

  <Query Id=”0″ Path=”Application”>

    <Select Path=”Application”>*[System[Provider[@Name=’Application Hang’]

    and (Level=2) and (EventID=1002)]]

    and *[EventData[Data=’lync.exe’]]</Select>

  </Query>

</QueryList>

“@

Get-WinEvent -FilterXml $query

 

PowerShell output

Use Get-WinEvent to use XML and filters from event viewer
Lync.exe event example output

 

 

 

Use Get-WinEvent to use XML and filters from event viewer

The Tip or Trick part of this – leverage your Event Viewer Filter as a query to use with get-WinEvent

Credit for this tip comes from Andrew Blumhardt!

See below for examples to ‘use Get-WinEvent to use XML and filters from event viewer’

 

Navigating via Event Viewer:

Hop onto your favorite server, or connect to another server via Event Viewer

Go to the Event Log > Click Filter Current Log

Build out your filter (i.e. choose specific Event Sources, exclude events, include severities, timeframe (start/end), etc.)

Use Get-WinEvent to use XML and filters from event viewer
SCVMM Application Log Event ID 25933

Switch to the XML tab (and note you can edit your query further!)

SCVMM query example screenshot
Event Viewer filter XML tab

You can copy the query from the Event Viewer into your Get-WinEvent syntax

$query = @”

<QueryList>
<Query Id=”0″ Path=”Application”>
<Select Path=”Application”>*[System[Provider[@Name=’Microsoft.SystemCenter.VirtualMachineManager.2012.Monitor.UserRoleQuotaUsageMonitor’ or @Name=’Microsoft.SystemCenter.VirtualMachineManager.2012.Report.ServiceUsageCollection’ or @Name=’Microsoft.SystemCenter.VirtualMachineManager.2012.Report.VMUsageCollection’ or @Name=’Microsoft.SystemCenter.VirtualMachineManager.2016.EnableCredSSPClient’ or @Name=’Microsoft.SystemCenter.VirtualMachineManager.2016.Monitor.UserRoleQuotaUsageMonitor’ or @Name=’Microsoft.SystemCenter.VirtualMachineManager.2016.Report.ServiceUsageCollection’ or @Name=’Microsoft.SystemCenter.VirtualMachineManager.2016.Report.VMUsageCollection’] and (Level=2 or Level=3) and (EventID=25933)]]</Select>
</Query>
</QueryList>

“@

Get-WinEvent -FilterXml $query

 

PowerShell output

Use Get-WinEvent to use XML and filters from event viewer
SCVMM query example screenshot

 

 

 

 

Example 3

Grab System Event Log, Event ID 5827  (NetLogon denied events)

get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName=’System’; ID=’5827′;}

 

PowerShell output

Use Get-WinEvent to use XML and filters from event viewer
get-WinEvent filter by logname and event ID

 

 

Documentation:

Get-WinEvent https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.diagnostics/get-winevent?view=powershell-7.1

MSFT DevBlogs https://devblogs.microsoft.com/scripting/data-mine-the-windows-event-log-by-using-powershell-and-xml/

Don’t forget python as pre-req for agent install

Grocery List, items to get and notes
Grocery List

 

Hey guys, don’t forget python as pre-req for agent install!  Came across this again, where the docs site doesn’t mention python-ctypes as pre-req for agent install.  Let’s flip to GitHub for the agent.  GitHub lists the python pre-req here.  Otherwise, it’s Openssl 1.1.0 is only supported on x86_64 platforms (64-bit).

 

 

Let’s begin by starting with a Linux server.  I’ve used Ubuntu in my lab, specifically, Ubuntu v16.04.

Login and check if you have latest, or have the package installed (Debian Linux)

Regular user run   ‘sudo apt-get install python-ctypes

Super user/root     ‘apt-get install python-ctypes

 

screen capture of python install

 

As of 1 July, v1.13.7.0 is current (latest) 64 bit OMS for Linux agent released.

 

 

 

 

 

References

GitHub link https://github.com/Microsoft/OMS-Agent-for-Linux

GitHub Agent Download (AzMon/ALA/OMS/SCOM agent for Linux ) https://github.com/microsoft/OMS-Agent-for-Linux/releases/download/OMSAgent_v1.13.7-0/omsagent-1.13.7-0.universal.x64.sh

Python requirements https://github.com/Microsoft/OMS-Agent-for-Linux#python-requrements

Install guide https://github.com/Microsoft/OMS-Agent-for-Linux#azure-install-guide

Azure Log Analytics for Windows Telemetry data

 

 

I blogged about this last year here

 

 

As best practice, the Upgrade Analytics script checks for far more than just injecting the workspace key and telemetry value.

 

 

FYI – This could also be managed in an SCCM Compliance setting.

Paul Fitzgerald – Platform PFE blogged about a non SCCM method here

 

 

Assess requirements for environment:

 

Barebones configuration requires Commercial ID, allow telemetry, and level of telemetry data to send

Optional – Create key for IEDataOptIn

Send data to Application Insights

Customer proxy setup

 

 

Script has 11 parameters specified, not all are needed (excerpt below from script)

Param(
# run mode (Deployment or Pilot)
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true, Position=1)]
[string]$runMode,

# File share to store logs
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true, Position=2)]
[string]$logPath,

# Commercial ID provided to you
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true, Position=3)]
[string]$commercialIDValue,

# logMode == 0 log to console only
# logMode == 1 log to file and console
# logMode == 2 log to file only
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true, Position=4)]
[string]$logMode,

#To enable IE data, set AllowIEData=IEDataOptIn and set IEOptInLevel
[Parameter(Position=5)]
[string]$AllowIEData,

#IEOptInLevel = 0 Internet Explorer data collection is disabled
#IEOptInLevel = 1 Data collection is enabled for sites in the Local intranet + Trusted sites + Machine local zones
#IEOptInLevel = 2 Data collection is enabled for sites in the Internet + Restricted sites zones
#IEOptInLevel = 3 Data collection is enabled for all sites
[Parameter(Position=6)]
[string]$IEOptInLevel,

[Parameter(Position=7)]
[string]$AppInsightsOptIn,

[Parameter(Position=8)]
[string]$NoOfAppraiserRetries = 30,

[Parameter(Position=9)]
[string]$ClientProxy = “Direct”,

[Parameter(Position=10)]
[int]$HKCUProxyEnable,

[Parameter(Position=11)]
[string]$HKCUProxyServer

 

 

 

Simple method to update machines to send Windows telemetry data:

 

 

PowerShell script

From PowerShell as Administrator

Set-Location HKLM:

 

$registryPath = “HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies”

$Name = “DataCollection”

$Name2 = “AllowTelemetry”

$CommercialID = “00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000”

$value = “2”  # Values from 0-3 accepted

$vIEDataOptInPath = “HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\DataCollection”

$IEOptInLevel = “2”  # Values from 0-3 accepted

 

If ( (Test-Path $registryPath\$Name) ) { write-host -f green “Registry keys already exist” }

If ( ! (Test-Path $registryPath\$Name) )

{

New-ItemProperty -Path $registryPath -Name $name

New-ItemProperty -Path $registryPath -Name $CommercialID

New-ItemProperty -Path $vIEDataOptInPath -Name IEDataOptIn -Type DWord -Value $IEOptInLevel

New-ItemProperty -Path $registryPath\$Name -Name $name2 -Value $value `

    -PropertyType DWORD -Force | Out-Null

Write-host -f green “Registry keys added for Telemetry”

}

 

 

 

 

References

Configure telemetry

Get Started link

Win 7,8 Opt in link

Test fire any event on any server from any application

Golden Oldies – always popular (tools vs music)

Old Holman blog that’s still relevant, even more powerful than EventLog Explorer

Basically anyone who wants to test fire events off a SCOM MP should use this tool.

Event Create, write-eventlog all have limitations (certain event sources that can be used to create events, or event ID number limitations)

First, download the 2007 R2 Admin ResKit here

MomTeam blog reference

Double click the downloaded MSI

I prefer to move extracted files under my SCOM tools/Management pack directory structure under MonAdmin (Monitoring Admin)

Copy extracted files to gold depot

Move to gold depot – SCOM \ tools \ <toolname here>

Go into the MPEventAnalyzer directory

Run the exe

MP Event Analyzer

Click on Investigate Event Sources Tab (bottom middle)

Don’t forget you can use the search bar (where I typed apm)

For my example, double click on APM Agent

Search Events on right hand pane

Check checkbox to select the 1319 APM event for configuration error (right hand pane)

Click the ‘Add selected events to execution list’

Once event verified in bottom box, click the green box to fire selected event(s)

Verify event in Event Viewer

Validate Management Pack

Stay tuned… this did not complete the validation process.

Re-learn an old but still relevant tool – EventLog Explorer

 

Sometimes we forget about tools that can make things easier.

 

Time to talk about EventLog Explorer.

 

Need to repro and test events for an installed program, to see what SCOM will handle?

Read this old mom team blog, courtesy of Kevin Holman blog

 

 

I wanted to try it to test fire some events, had a use case where we needed to test Skype events from the SCOM MP

 

Testing on my SCOM 2016 Management server

 

Download file, run EventLog Explorer

The Paste icon next to the X is ‘Add to Execution List’ and fills out the bottom pane

The Green Arrow is ‘go’ or execute (similar to PowerShell ISE)

 

Navigate through the Event Log and Event Source on the left hand pane

Mark events with the checkbox  

 

Add to Execution

 

Verify events added to bottom pane

(see my test yesterday for fired, and not fired events from today)

 

 

 

Click Green box with white arrow to fire events, and check Event Viewer

 

 

Yesterday’s test

 

 

 

Today’s test

 

 

Verify alerting occurred as expected!

Adding Management Solutions in Azure

Decoder ring applies!

 

OMS is Log Analytics is Azure Management Solutions.

 

 

 

Do you want to add solutions to your Azure subscription?

Pre-packaged visuals and insights on your data, whether azure or hybrid.

 

 

 

Adding Management Solutions

Login to the Azure Portal

Click on All Services

Type ‘solutions’, hit enter

Click star icon to favorite Solutions

 

 

Drag Solutions higher in your preferences (wasn’t in above screenshot)

 

 

Click Solutions

 

 

 

 

Click + to Add

Click on Security and Compliance

 

 

Click Create

 

 

Don’t forget solutions require MMA agents connected to a workspace to render any data/insights!

 

 

 

 

References

The Docs article lists how to use the management solutions

 

MMA Agent and SCOM Agent version numbers


 

FYI – Updated 24 June 2022

 

What are the MMA Agent and SCOM Agent version numbers?

This idea sprung from a discussion with Sr. PFE Brian Barrington, and it got me wondering…See below for more details on OMS/MMA, and SCOM agent versions, as well as how to verify agent from PowerShell.

 

 

FYI – If you’re running a SCOM agent, 2016 or above, various Log Analytics solutions may have pre-reqs.

The Content Dev team under Brian Wren added this to the docs.microsoft.com site

SCOM 2022     https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/system-center/scom/release-build-versions?view=sc-om-2022

SCOM 2019     https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/system-center/scom/release-build-versions?view=sc-om-2019

SCOM 2016      https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/system-center/scom/release-build-versions?view=sc-om-2016

 

 

Azure Monitor Agent

AMA (Azure Monitor Agent)/ALA/OMS/MMA Agent can run on Windows/Linux operations systems.  Name has changed over the years, where AMA (Azure Monitor Agent) will be the name going forward for the cloud based offer.  See docs article here.

This also has been updated on the Docs site

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/azure-monitor-agent-extension-versions

Download installer files here

Review what operating systems are covered here

Previously known as Windows OMS/ALA/MMA agent

Unfortunately, there’s no github repo that I’ve found.

Examples:

As of 6 Sep 2018, MMA agent = 8.0.11103.0

As of 17 Oct 2018, MMA agent = 8.0.11136.0

Skipping forward to 2020, the MMA agent is 10.20.18040.0

[!WARNING] The Log Analytics agents are on a deprecation path and will no longer be supported after August 31, 2024.

 

 

OMS Gateway

Older product published in 2016 – Download link here

OMS Gateway requires Microsoft Monitoring Agent (MMA)

(agent version – 8.0.10900.0 or later)

Simple English, that means SCOM2016 RTM agent or above

 

 

 

OMSAgent for xPlat

OMS-Agent-for-Linux

(Linux/Universal Linux)

Sep 16, 2021      OMSAgent_v1.13.40-0
Mar 08, 2021      OMSAgent_v1.13.35-0
Nov 16, 2020      OMSAgent_v1.13.33-0
Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, CentOS 8, Oracle 8, Ubuntu 20.04, SLES…
Nov 14, 2019       OMSAgent_v1.12.15-0
Jun 17, 2019      OMSAgent_v1.11.0-9
Apr 23, 2019      OMSAgent_v1.10.0-1
Feb 12, 2019      OMSAgent_v1.9.0-0
Nov 05, 2018     OMSAgent_v1.8.1.256
Oct 30, 2018      OMSAgent_1.8.0-256
Sep 03, 2018      OMSAgent_v1.6.1.3

 

 

Windows SCOM Agent Version numbers 

SCOM2016 

Build NumberKBRelease DateDescriptionStep-by-Step
8.0.10918.0EvaluateOct 2016SCOM 2016 RTMLink
8.0.10931.0KB3190029Feb 2017SCOM 2016 Update Rollup 1Link
8.0.10949.0KB3209591March 2017SCOM 2016 Update Rollup 2Link
8.0.10970.0KB4016126May 2017SCOM 2016 Update Rollup 3Link
8.0.10977.0KB4024941Oct 2017SCOM 2016 Update Rollup 4Link
8.0.10990.0KB4090987April 2018SCOM 2016 Update Rollup 5None
8.0.11004.0KB4459897Oct 2018SCOM 2016 Update Rollup 6Link
8.0.11025.0KB4492182April 2019SCOM 2016 Update Rollup 7Link
8.0.11037.0KB4514877Sept 2019SCOM 2016 Update Rollup 8Link
8.0.11049.0KB4546986April 2020SCOM 2016 Update Rollup 9Link
8.0.11000.0KB4580254Dec 2020SCOM 2016 Update Rollup 10Link
7.2.12335.0KB5006871Oct 2021SCOM 2016 Update Rollup 10 HotfixLink

SCOM1801
8.0.13053.0 RTM

SCOM1807

8.0.13067.0      General Availability release

 

SCOM2019

Build NumberKBRelease DateDescriptionStep-by-Step
10.19.10050.0EvaluateMarch 2019SCOM 2019 RTMLink
10.19.10311.0KB4533415Feb 2020SCOM 2019 Update Rollup 1Link
10.19.10407.0KB4558752Sept 2020SCOM 2019 Update Rollup 2Link
10.19.10505.0KB4594078March 2021SCOM 2019 UR3Link
10.19.10550.0KB5006871Oct 2021SCOM 2019 UR3 HotfixLink

 

 

  • @Larry LeBlanc – thank you for the SCOM Agent version updates!

 

Verify what version is installed

Via SCOM – use Holman’s Agent Version Addendum management pack

 

If you don’t have SCOM

From PowerShell

$Agent = get-itemproperty -path “HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Operations Manager\3.0\Setup”

$Agent.CurrentVersion

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources

SCOM Agent Version Addendum pack https://kevinholman.com/2017/02/26/scom-agent-version-addendum-management-pack/

SCOM Agent build numbers https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/34312.system-center-operation-manager-momscom-list-of-build-numbers.aspx

Linux Agent can be downloaded from GitHub – github.com/Microsoft/OMS-Agent-for-Linux

Installing and configuring the MMA agent via Command line

Command prompt

 

GUI install option, see blog

PowerShell Agent configuration, see blog

Updated 1 Feb 2023

Pre-reqs to build out an install script/package

MMA agent executable

ALA Workspace ID

ALA Workspace Primary Key

 

 

Download MMA agent

Click on Windows Servers from Connected Sources to download Windows Agent

Click on Linux Servers from Connected Sources to download Linux Agent

 

 

 

 

Obtain WorkspaceID

From the Azure Portal (https://portal.azure.com)

Click on Log Analytics, <your subscription >

Click on Advanced Settings

My view defaulted to Connected Sources > Windows Servers

 

Save the workspace ID and workspace key to notepad/OneNote for later

 

 

 

 

 

Build out command line for setup file

(optionally to include in Application Deployment package)

 

Grab pre-reqs above: (saved from above to build the command line)

Exe/msi file

Workspace ID

Workspace key

 

Craft out your command line (MECM super installer code updated by Neal Smith

SCOM MECM Agent Package Installer Command Line

The setup.exe or MSI command line parameters to pass are:

MMA-specific optionsNotes
NOAPM=1Optional parameter. Installs the agent without .NET Application Performance Monitoring.
ADD_OPINSIGHTS_WORKSPACE1 = Configure the agent to report to a workspace
OPINSIGHTS_WORKSPACE_IDWorkspace Id (guid) for the workspace to add
OPINSIGHTS_WORKSPACE_KEYWorkspace key used to initially authenticate with the workspace
OPINSIGHTS_WORKSPACE_AZURE_CLOUD_TYPESpecify the cloud environment where the workspace is located

0 = Azure commercial cloud (default)

1 = Azure Government

OPINSIGHTS_PROXY_URLURI for the proxy to use
OPINSIGHTS_PROXY_USERNAMEUsername to access an authenticated proxy
OPINSIGHTS_PROXY_PASSWORDPassword to access an authenticated proxy

Example:

setup.exe /qn NOAPM=1 ADD_OPINSIGHTS_WORKSPACE=1 OPINSIGHTS_WORKSPACE_AZURE_CLOUD_TYPE=0 OPINSIGHTS_WORKSPACE_ID=<your workspace id> OPINSIGHTS_WORKSPACE_KEY=<your workspace key> AcceptEndUserLicenseAgreement=1

 

 

 

Other helpful links

Docs site https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/log-analytics/log-analytics-quick-collect-windows-computer

Daniel Orneling Blog https://blog.orneling.se/2017/01/installing-oms-agent-with-powershell/

TechNet gallery https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Install-OMS-Agent-with-2c9c99ab

Service Map SCOM pack configuration errors

Look for 6400 Event ID’s in the Operations Manager log on the management server if you do not have the correct information

 

Event ID 6400 in Operations Manager log helps show what’s missing with Azure AD error events

 

Follow steps outlined in the ‘Set up Azure Service Principal’ blog here

 

 

Sample 6400 event

 

Message: Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory.AdalServiceException: AADSTS90002: Tenant XXXXXXXXX not found.

This may happen if there are no active subscriptions for the tenant. Check with your subscription administrator.

Trace ID: 89abf27f-4884-4191-b577-de2fce100600

Correlation ID: c8a2470e-2383-4325-b91f-86b5e20ade57

Timestamp: 2018-08-06 20:34:49Z —> System.Net.WebException: The remote server returned an error: (400) Bad Request.

at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetResponse()

at Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory.HttpWebRequestWrapper.<GetResponseSyncOrAsync>d__2.MoveNext()

— End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown —

at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()

at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)

at Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory.HttpHelper.<SendPostRequestAndDeserializeJsonResponseAsync>d__0`1.MoveNext()

— End of inner exception stack trace —

at Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory.AuthenticationContext.RunAsyncTask[T](Task`1 task)

at Microsoft.SystemCenter.ServiceMap.REST.Credentials.AdCredentials.GetToken()

at Microsoft.SystemCenter.ServiceMap.UI.SubscriptionData.TestConnection()

ErrorCode: invalid_request

StatusCode: 400

 

Inner Exception

Message: The remote server returned an error: (400) Bad Request.

Response URI: https://login.windows.net/XXXXXXXXX/oauth2/token

Headers:

Pragma: no-cache

Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains

X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff

client-request-id: c8a2470e-2383-4325-b91f-86b5e20ade57

x-ms-request-id: 89abf27f-4884-4191-b577-de2fce100600

x-ms-clitelem: 1,90002,0,,

Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store

Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8

Expires: -1

P3P: CP=”DSP CUR OTPi IND OTRi ONL FIN”

Set-Cookie: esctx=AQABAAAAAADXzZ3ifr-GRbDT45zNSEFEzFrPhp_xcoXIlYw2iOqAFXkz7NO-Hm1hJdVAn6298A0ylDD5VvX2VosFiRVxTDzmRz24sbVUbhiTuyHJsmeIkR47y1MU3SafDlFp6xPo91BwZhRqoDPtP6YTBi5D6mHGqy2lkSAEVQtg9D4lsWTmKipm9iLaB2twBZcYR0VkDhIgAA; domain=.login.windows.net; path=/; secure; HttpOnly,x-ms-gateway-slice=004; path=/; secure; HttpOnly,stsservicecookie=ests; path=/; secure; HttpOnly

Server: Microsoft-IIS/10.0

Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2018 20:34:48 GMT

Content-Length: 508