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Windows Server Monitoring


Creating a new Windows monitor

Supported Versions: Windows Server 2016 / 2019 / 2022 / 2025 and Windows 8 / 10 / 11.

Prerequisites for monitoring Windows server metrics: Click here

Using the REST API to add a new Windows server monitor: Click here

Applications Manager offers two methods for monitoring Windows servers:

  • Agent-based Monitoring: Lightweight agents installed on target servers collect in-depth performance metrics. For details, refer to the Manage Agent page (supported in Applications Manager version 175300 and above).
  • Agentless Monitoring: Monitor servers remotely without installing additional software. Data is collected using protocols like WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) or SNMP.

Monitoring Server Status Scenarios in Agent-based Monitoring (Windows / Linux)

For agent-based monitoring, the scenarios below explain how health and availability are reported and the corresponding Health error messages.

  1. Monitoring server is down
    • Impact: Health is impacted via Availability.
    • Health Error message: Resource <DISPLAYNAME> is down. Health is critical as the resource is not available.
  2. Monitoring server agent service is stopped
    • Impact: Health is impacted via the Agent Error attribute; Availability is not affected.
    • Health Error message: Agent is not running on <HOSTNAME/IP> server.
  3. Monitoring server agent service is idle
    • Impact: If the agent cannot connect to Applications Manager for > 30 minutes, health is impacted via the Agent Error attribute; Availability is not affected.
    • Health Error message: The agent has not communicated since <TIME>.

To create a new Windows server monitor, follow the steps given below:

  1. Go to New Monitor and select Add New Monitor.
  2. Under Servers, select Windows server.
  3. Enter the IP Address or Hostname of the host.
  4. Enter the Subnet Mask of the network.
  5. Select the OS Type to be monitored.
  6. Select the Mode of Monitoring (SNMP or WMI).
    • If SNMP, provide the Port at which it is running (default is 161) and the SNMP Community String (default is 'public'). This requires no user name and password information.
    • If WMI, provide the user name and password information of the server.
  7. Select the Enable Event Log Monitoringcheckbox and configure the Log Rules, if you want to monitor Windows Event Logs and fetch their details. Kindly refer Windows Event Log Rules under Admin Activities section for more information. This section deals with the performance metrics displayed for Windows servers.
  8. Select the Enable Kerberos Authentication checkbox, if you want to monitor Windows server through Kerberos authentication. However, this is applicable only in WMI mode of monitoring.
  9. Select the Perform Application discovery checkbox, if you want to scan your server monitor & add all discovery supported applications running in it.
  10. Choose the Monitor Group from the combo box with which you want to associate the Windows server monitor (optional). You can choose multiple groups to associate your monitor.
  11. Click Add Monitor(s). This discovers Windows servers in your environment and starts monitoring them.

Limitations: 

  • Adding a Windows Monitor containing a password with double quotes is not supported.
  • If Kerberos authentication is enabled, then Scheduled Task Monitoring will not be supported.
  • Upon clicking Add Monitor(s), if no valid OS is detected, the user will receive a popup with a force add option. With this, the user can add the monitor version of Windows selected in the OS Type dropdown.

Monitored Parameters

Applications Manager monitors the critical components of Windows servers to detect any performance problems. These components include CPU, memory, disk, network traffic, etc.

  • Availability tab shows the availability history of the Windows server for the past 24 hours or 30 days.
  • Performance tab shows some key performance indicators of the Windows server such as physical memory utilization, CPU utilization, response time and swap memory utilization along with heat charts for these attributes. This tab also shows the health status and events for the past 24 hours or 30 days.
  • List view tab lists all the Windows servers monitored by Applications Manager along with their overall availability and health status. It enables you to perform bulk admin configurations. Click on the individual monitors listed to view detailed performance metrics. The list view also shows the virtual machines (Windows guest OS) configured in your data center along with their availability and health status.

Applications Manager's Windows server monitoring allows you to view the detailed performance metrics of a Windows server, which are categorized into different tabs:

Overview

This tab provides a high-level overview of the health and performance of the Windows server along with information pertaining to the processes and services running on the system.

Monitor Information

ParametersDescription
NameThe name of the Windows server monitor.
System HealthDenotes the health status of the Windows server. (Critical, Warning, and Clear)
TypeDenotes the type you are monitoring.
Host NameThe hostname of the Windows system.
Host OSThe main OS installed on the system.
Last Polled atSpecifies the time at which the last poll was performed.
Next Poll atSpecifies the time at which the next poll is scheduled.
Today's AvailabilityShows the overall availability status of the server for the day. You can also view 7/30 reports and the current availability status of the server.
Response TimeAmount of time taken by the server to respond (in ms).
Server UptimeIndicates the server uptime of the Windows monitor.
Server TimeCurrent date and time of the Windows server with its timezone. (Applicable only in WMI mode of monitoring)
Time DifferenceDifference between the monitored Windows server time and the Applications Manager server time (in minutes). (Applicable only for WMI monitoring)

You can use the Custom Fields option in the 'Monitor Information' section to configure additional fields for the monitor.

  • The CPU and memory utilization - last six hours graph shows the memory usage and CPU usage values for the last six hours. The attributes shown here are Swap Memory Utilization (in % and MB), Physical Memory Utilization (in % and MB), Free Physical Memory (MB), and CPU Utilization (%).
  • The Breakup of CPU Utilization graph provides a break up of metrics for the entire system processor with attributes such as Run Queue, User Time (%), System Time (%), I/O Wait Time (%), Idle Time (%) and Interrupts/sec.
Page Memory Usage Statistics

This section shows information about the page memory usage statistics in Windows servers.

The Page Memory Usage Statistics table displays the following attributes:

Parameter
Description
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
Page Reads/secThe number of times the pages were read from the disk to resolve hard page faults.
Pages Output/secThe number of pages that are written to the disk to free up space in physical memory
Pages/secThe number of pages that are read from or written to the disk to resolve hard page faults
Process Details

This tab shows information about the required processes running in the Windows server. You can add the required processes for monitoring using the Add New Process option. You can also delete unwanted processes and enable/disable reports for specific processes. You can click on any of the attributes listed to view detailed performance stats of that process.

The Process Details tab displays the following attributes:

Parameter
Description
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
NameThe display name of the process.
ProcessThe name of the process running.
No of InstancesThe number of instances running for the process.
CPU(%)The CPU utilization of the process (in percentage).
Mem(%)The memory consumption of the process (in percentage).
HandlesThe handle count of the process.
 
Service Details

This tab shows the availability of the required services running in the Windows server. You can add the required services for monitoring using the Add New Service option. You can also stop, start, restart and delete services from within Applications Manager itself.

The Service Details tab displays the following attributes:

Parameter
Description
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
Display NameThe display name of the service.
Service NameThe name of the service running.
AvailabilityThe availability of the service running.

CPU

This tab provides the CPU usage statistics of the Windows server. The tab includes two graphs - one that displays the CPU utilization by CPU Cores and another that shows the Breakup of CPU utilization - by CPU cores. You can view additional reports by clicking the graphs present in the Breakup of CPU Utilization - by CPU cores section. These reports include Break up of CPU Utilization (%) Vs Time, User Time (%) Vs Time, System Time (%) Vs Time, I/O Wait Time (%) Vs Time, Idle Time (%) Vs Time, CPU Utilization (%) Vs Time and Interrupts/sec Vs Time for all the CPU cores.

The CPU tab also shows the following performance metrics:

ParameterDescription
Monitoring Mode
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
CoreThe name of the CPU core.
User Time(%)The percentage of time that the processor spends on User mode operations. This generally means application code.
System Time(%)The percentage of CPU kernel processes that are in use.
I/O Wait Time(%)The time spent by the processor to waiting for I/O to complete.
Idle Time(%)The time when the CPU is idle (not being used by any program).
CPU Utilization(%)Specifies the total CPU used by the system.
Interrupts/secThe rate at which CPU handles interrupts from applications or hardware each second. If the value for Interrupts/sec is high over a sustained period of time, there could be hardware issues.

You can also view graphs for these attributes by selecting the necessary CPU core and then choosing the appropriate attribute.

Disk

This tab displays the disk usage and disk I/O statistics of the Windows server:

Disk Utilization

Note: The Disk Utilization metrics are supported in all mode of monitoring.

ParametersDescription
DiskThe name of the disk drive.
Used(%)Denotes how much disk space out of the total disk space has actually been used (in percentage).
Used(MB)The disk space used (in megabytes).
Free(%)The percentage of total usable space on the disk that was free (in percentage).
Free(MB)The unallocated space on the disk in megabytes (in megabytes).

Disk I/O Statistics

Parameter
Description
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
Transfers/secRate of read and write operations on the disk.
Writes/secRate of write operations on the disk.
Reads/secRate of read operations on the disk.
% Busy TimeThe percentage of time the disk was busy.
Average Queue LengthThe average number of both read and write requests that were queued for the disk during the sample interval.

Note: You can also delete disks that have been physically removed using the Delete Orphaned Disk option.

Network

Network Interface

This table shows details about Network Interfaces.

Parameter
Description
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
NameThe name of the network interface present in the Windows system.
Speed (Mbps)Current bandwidth of the network interface (in Mbps).
Input Traffic (Kbps)The rate at which packets are received on the interface (in Kbps).
Output Traffic (Kbps)The rate at which packets are sent on the interface (in Kbps).
ErrorsThe number of packets that could not be sent or received.

Note: You can also delete interfaces that have been physically removed using the Delete Orphaned Interface option.

Network Adapter

This table shows details about Network Adapters.

Parameter
Description
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
NameThe name of the network adapter present in the Windows system.
StatusThe connection status of the network adapter connected to the network.
Net EnabledThe status of the network adapter.

 

Note:

  • By default, Network Adapter monitoring is disabled. To enable it,
  • Go to Settings → Performance Polling → Servers → Check Enable Network Adapter Monitoring
  • If an adapter is removed, the alarm will be raised automatically for adapter removal. By default, an alarm is enabled. The setting can be changed from:
    Settings → Performance Polling → ServersAlert if Network Adapter is removed
  • You can also delete adapters that are removed by using the Delete Orphaned Adapters option.

Firewall Details

This table shows details about the firewall status.

ParameterDescription
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
Firewall ProfileThe name of the network profile.
StatusFirewall status of the network profile.

TCP Connection Stats

This table shows details about the TCP Connection Status.

ParameterDescription
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
Active ConnectionsNo. of times TCP connections have made a direct transition from the CLOSED state to the SYN-SENT state.
Established ConnectionsNo. of TCP connections for which the current state is either ESTABLISHED or CLOSE-WAIT.
Failed ConnectionsNo. of times TCP connections have made a direct transition to the CLOSED state from the SYN-SENT state or the SYN-RCVD state + No. of times TCP connections have made a direct transition from the SYN-RCVD state to the LISTEN state.
Passive ConnectionsNo. of times TCP connections have made a direct transition from the LISTEN state to the SYN-RCVD state.
Reset ConnectionsNo. of times TCP connections have made a direct transition to the CLOSED state from either the ESTABLISHED state or the CLOSE-WAIT state.
 

Note:
 

  • Active Connections, Failed Connections, Passive Connections, Reset Connections value are cumulative values fetched from WMI. So Applications Manager will display the difference between previous and current poll values.
  • Established Connection is non cumulative value. So it will display the current poll value.

Event Log

This tab shows information pertaining to the recent Windows events.

ParameterDescription
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
Rule NameThe name of the event log rule.
Log File TypeThe type of the Windows event log file.
SourceThe source that generated the event.
Event IdThe identifier of the event.
TypeThe type of event.
User NameUser name of the logged-on user when the event occurred. If the user name cannot be determined, this will be None.
DescriptionDescription of the event.
Generated TimeThe time when the event was generated.

Hardware Metrics

Note: Hardware Monitoring is only supported for Agentless monitoring.

The following are metrics pertaining to the hardware of Dell and HP servers:

CategoryAttributeDescriptionDELLHP
SNMP ModeWMI ModeSNMP ModeWMI Mode
TemperatureSensorThe name of the temperature sensor.
Temperature Reading (deg C)The current /present temperature reading.
StatusThe temperature status - Critical, Warning, and Clear.
FanSensorName of the fan sensor.
Fan Speed (RPM)The fan speed values displayed in RPM.
StatusThe fan status - Critical, Warning, and Clear.
PowerSensorName of the power supply.
Reading (Watts)The power supply reading values displayed in Watts.
StatusThe power status - Critical, Warning, and Clear.
VoltagesSensorName of the voltage supply.
Reading (Volts)The voltage reading values displayed in Volts.
StatusThe voltage status - Critical, Warning, and Clear.
BatterySensorName of the Battery sensor.
StatusThe battery status - Critical, Warning, and Clear.
MemorySensorName of the Memory sensor.
Memory Device TypeThe type of memory device.
Size (MB)The amount of memory currently installed in MB.
StatusThe memory status - Critical, Warning, and Clear.
DiskSensorIdentifies the disk's label.
Device NameThe device name configured for the disk.
Size (MB)The allocated size in MB.
StatusThe disk status - Critical, Warning, and Clear.
ArraySensorThe name of the array disk.
Bus protocolThe bus type of the array disk.
Size (MB)The amount in MB of the used space on the array disk.
StatusThe array status - Critical, Warning, and Clear.
ChassisSensorThe user-assigned chassis name of the chassis.
ModelThe system model type for this chassis.
StatusThe chassis status - Critical, Warning, and Clear.
ProcessorSensorThe location name of the processor device status probe.
Processor BrandThe brand of the processor device.
Processor Current SpeedThe current speed of the processor device in MHz.
Processor Core CountThe number of processor cores detected for the processor device.
StatusThe processor status - Critical, Warning, and Clear.
 

Note:

  • If a component is functioning normally, the status indicator is green.
  • The status indicator changes to orange or red if a system component violates a performance threshold or is not functioning properly. Generally, an orange indicator signifies degraded performance.
  • A red indicator signifies that a component stopped operating or exceeded the highest threshold.
  • If the status is blank, then the health monitoring service cannot determine the status of the component

Hardware Device-Level Configuration

Hardware Configuration option available under Host Details on the right-hand side of the details page will allow you to opt for the various hardware components you want to monitor. This operation can also be done using the Performance Polling option under the Settings tab which will globally configure the hardware stats.

Advanced Settings

By clicking the Advanced Settings option available under Host Details on the right-hand side of the details page, you can go to the Performance Data Collection page for Servers.

Here you can use the Hardware Health monitoring option to enable or disable hardware monitoring in servers. You can also opt the various hardware components (like power, fan, disk,etc.,) to be monitored by checking the options given. This will globally configure the hardware monitoring status. You can also configure the health status by defining values in the respective text boxes:

  • Critical Severity: If the status matches with any of the values defined in the Critical Severity text box, then Applications Manager displays the status of the hardware device as Critical. The values defined by default are failed, error, failure, nonRecoverable, criticalUpper, criticalLower, nonRecoverableLower and critical.
  • Warning Severity: If the status matches with any of the values defined in the Warning Severity text box, then Applications Manager displays the status of the hardware device as Warning. The values defined by default are degraded, warning, nonCritical, nonCriticalUpper, nonRecoverableUpper and nonCriticalLower.
  • Clear Severity: If the status matches with any of the values defined in the Clear Severity text box, then Applications Manager displays the status of the hardware device is Clear. The value defined by default is 'ok'.

Note: If the status of the device does not match with any of the values defined in the severity text box, the device status is displayed as unknown. Status values defined within the severity text boxes are comma-separated and case-insensitive.

NLB

This tab displays the Network Load Balancing (NLB) information of the Windows server.

Node Information

ParameterDescription
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
Node StateThe current state of the node.
Dedicated IPThe dedicated IP address of the node.
Subnet MaskSubnet mask for the dedicated IP address.
Node PriorityIndicates the priority assigned to the node.
No. of Port RulesThe number of defined port rules for the node.

Cluster Information

ParameterDescription
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
Cluster NameThe name of the NLB cluster.
IP AddressThe primary IP address of the cluster.
MAC AddressThe Media Access Control (MAC) address of the cluster.
GUIDThe Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) of the adapter to which NLB is bound.
No. of NodesThe total number of nodes available in the cluster.

Other Nodes in the Cluster

ParameterDescription
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
PriorityIndicates the priority assigned to the node.
Dedicated IPThe dedicated IP address of the node.
Display NameDisplay name of the node in the form of a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).

Note: NLB should be enabled and configured in the corresponding server.

Scheduled Tasks

Prerequisites for Scheduled Tasks monitoring:Refer here

The following are the metrics pertaining to Scheduled Tasks:

ParameterDescription
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
Task NameName of the scheduled task.
EnabledDisplays if the task is enabled or not.
Last Run TimeThe timestamp of when the task ran for the last time.
Last Run ResultThe outcome of the last run of the task.
Next Run TimeThe timestamp of when the task will run again.
Missed RunsThe number of times the task missed its scheduled execution.
StatusCurrent status of the task.

You can perform the following actions on the required task(s):

  • Delete Task(s): Deletes the selected task(s) from Applications Manager.
  • Clear Alarm(s) for Last Run Result: Clears the alarm associated with the Last Run Result attribute for the selected task(s). Moreover, this operation can be audited in Applications Manager, provided the Scheduled Tasks Action checkbox is enabled under Actions dropdown in Settings → Audit Logs.

Scheduled Tasks Monitoring is not supported for Windows servers 2003, 2008 or Windows XP.

Note:

  • It works only for WMI mode.
  • User can add a scheduled task by clicking 'Add Scheduled Task'.
  • A scheduled task can be deleted by clicking 'Delete Task(s)'.
  • If a scheduled task is deleted, then an alarm will be raised automatically depending on the setting in Settings → Performance Polling → Servers → Alert if any Scheduled Task is removed (by default, value is true).
  • Applications Manager should be running with administrator privileges, else some tasks may not get fetched for monitoring.
  • An Alarm will only be raised (after the threshold is checked) if the current target server time exceeds the next run time for the task although, for 'Enabled' attribute, the threshold is checked in each poll (since its value can be changed anytime).

Print Queue

Prerequisites for Print Queue monitoring:Refer here

The following are the metrics pertaining to Print Queue:

ParameterDescription
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
Job IDThe ID used to track the job created in the server.
OwnerUsername of the user who submitted the document.
Document NameName of the document to be printed.
Pages to printNumber of pages requested to be printed.
Document SizeThe size of the submitted document.
Printing StatusStatus of the current printing task. Possible states include - Printing, Paused, Error, Deleting, Spooling, Sent to printer, Printed, Offline, Printed and deleted, Waiting, In progress, and Unknown.
Document Wait TimeTime taken for the document to fully print in minutes.
Time SubmittedThe time at which the document was submitted.
PrinterThe printer chosen for the printing task.
 

Limitations:

  • This functionality is supported only when the Server is monitored using WMI.
  • To monitor network-shared printer jobs via a remote server, add the server connected to the printer as a Windows Server Monitor.

Applications

This tab provides insights into the applications running on the server and their monitoring status.

ParametersDescription
Monitors in this SystemDisplays information about the availability and health of the monitors configured on this server. Attributes shown here are Name, Type, Availability, and Health. To add new monitors, use the Add Monitors option.
Applications yet to be monitoredLists applications discovered on the server that are not currently being monitored. Attributes shown here are Name, Type, and Port. To start monitoring, select one or more applications using the checkboxes and click the Enable Monitoring button.

Configuration

This tab contains information about system configuration attributes.

ParameterDescription
Mode of Monitoring
SNMP
WMI
Agent-based
SYSTEM INFORMATION
Host NameThe name of the system.
Serial NumberThe serial number of the system that represents the service tag of the server.
ManufacturerThe name of the machine manufacturer.
ModelThe Product name that a manufacturer gives to the computer.
DomainThe name of the domain to which the system belongs.
BIOS VersionThe current BIOS version that is running on the motherboard of the system.
CPU CoresTotal number of processor cores in the system.
Logical ProcessorsNumber of logical processors in the system.
SocketNumber of physical processors available on the system.
OS INFORMATION
OS NameThe name of the operating system instance.
OS VersionThe version number of the operating system.
OS ReleaseThe latest service pack installed on the computer. If no service pack is installed, the value will be '-'.
ManufacturerName of the operating system manufacturer. For Windows-based systems, this value is "Microsoft Corporation".
OS Installed DateThe date the OS was installed on the system.
Registered UserName of the registered user of the operating system.
Windows DirectoryWindows directory of the operating system.
OS LanguageLanguage version of the operating system installed.
MEMORY INFORMATION
Total Physical Memory (MB)The total amount of physical memory as available to the operating system.
Total Virtual Memory (MB)The total amount of area on the hard disk that Windows uses as if it were RAM.
PROCESSOR INFORMATION
IDUnique identifier of a processor on the system.
ModelThe processor model type.
ImplementationThe processor family type.
ManufacturerName of the processor manufacturer.
Speed (MHz)The current speed of the processor.
Cache (KB)Size of the processor cache. A cache is an external memory area that has a faster access time than the main memory.
NETWORK INTERFACE SETTINGS
NameThe name of the network adapter.
IP AddressThe IP address configured for this network interface.
TypeThe network medium in use.
Mac AddressThe Media access control address for this network adapter. A MAC address is a unique 48-bit number assigned to the network adapter by the manufacturer. It uniquely identifies this network adapter and is used for mapping TCP/IP network communications.
ManufacturerThe name of the network adapter's manufacturer.
StatusThe current status of the network adapter.
PRINTER SETTINGS
NameName of the printer
ServerName of the server that controls the printer. If this value is not shown, it means the printer is controlled locally.
TypeDenotes whether the printer is controlled locally or remotely.
DefaultIndicates whether the printer is the default one. Values are either True or False.
StatusCurrent status of the printer.
LocationThe physical location of the printer.

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