Submitted by: Justin Shepard (f3lbane)

Description:

This WMIC-based ZenPack adds the ability to easily monitor Microsoft Message Queues via WMI.

The ZenPack provides:

• Queue count polling and logging
• Threshold monitoring (defaults: 250 = Warning, 500 = Critical)
• Per-device and per-class threshold adjustments

NOTE: This ZenPack has only been tested against Zenoss 2.4.5.

Installation

1. Install ZenPacks.community.deviceAdvDetail and  ZenPacks.community.MsmqMonitor via command line or ZenPackManager.
2. Navigate  to /Devices/Server/Windows and open the "Flyout menu" => "More"  => "Collector Plugins".
3. Click "Add fields" to show the hidden  box, then drag the "community.msmq.MessageQueueMap" item into the box  on the left.
4. Click "Save".

Usage

Adding Queues

Via Modeling

When modeling a device, the log screen will display an  INFO-level message that indicates the number of queues the modeler  discovered (i.e. “MSMQ: Found 15 queues.”). Ensure that this message appears before proceeding. If it does not, and you see an "NT STATUS" message at the top of the table, you may need to log in to the target server and execute the command: "wmiadap /f" (without quotes). This will create the MSMQ performance counters if they do not already exist (they are not created by default when installing MSMQ).

1. After modeling is complete, click on the  device’s “OS” tab and uncheck the “Monitored” box in the “Message  Queues” table. This will display all queues, including both  manually-added and modeler-discovered.
2. Select the desired  queues’ checkbox and click “Monitoring…” in the Message Queues table  flyout menu
3. Click the “Enable” radio button and then “OK”.
4. Select  the queues again and click “Lock/Unlock…” in the Message Queues table  flyout menu.
5. Click the “Lock Queues From Deletion” button.

Manually

1. Navigate to the desired device’s OS tab.
2. Click the  “Add queue…” entry in the Message Queues table flyout menu.
3. Enter  the exact name of the queue and select the proper queue type.
4. Click  “Add”.
5. In the breadcrumbs bar at the top of the screen, click  “os”.
6. Select the checkbox for the queue you just added and click  “Lock/Unlock…” in the Message Queues table flyout menu.
7. Click  the “Lock Queues From Deletion” button.

Changing Thresholds

The default  thresholds for MSMQ are Warning at 250 messages, Critical at 500  messages. These defaults can be adjusted globally, for sub-classes, or  per-queue.

For All Queues

1. Navigate to /Devices/Server/Windows.
2. Click  the “Templates” tab.
3. Click the “MessageQueue” template.
4. In  the “Thresholds” table, make adjustments as desired.
   

For a Sub-class

Currently, defining a subclass is the only  method of making threshold adjustments for specific servers without  adjusting the global template.

1. Navigate  to /Devices/Server/Windows.
2. Click the “Templates” tab.
3. Check  the box next to “MessageQueue” and choose “Copy Templates…” from the  flyout menu.
4. Select the target Device class. (It is suggested to  use a subclass of /Server/Windows).
5. Zenoss will automatically  navigate to the Templates tab of the subclass you chose. Verify that the  definition path for “MessageQueue” matches the path of the subclass.
6. Click  “MessageQueue”.
7. In the “Thresholds” table, make adjustments as  desired.
   

For a Specific  Queue

1. Navigate to the device  and click on the desired queue name.
2. Click the “Template” tab.
3. In  the “MessageQueue” row, click the “Create Local Copy” button.
4. Confirm  that the definition path changed to the path to the queue.
5. Click  “MessageQueue”.
6. In the “Thresholds” table, make adjustments as  desired.

Screenshots:

Creates table in OS tab:

Queue details w/graph:

Requirements:

• Zenoss Version: 2.4.5
• ZenPack Dependencies: Advanced Device Details
  

Source: http://zenpacks.zenoss.org/trac-zenpacks/browser/zenpacks/ZenPacks.community.MsmqMonitor

Tagged  Releases:

• http://zenpacks.zenoss.org/trac-zenpacks/browser/tags/msmq-monitor-1.0

Change History:

• 1.0 initial release

Tested: This ZenPack was tested with version 2.4.5.

Known issues:

1. Queue Type Unused

   The “Queue Type” field is not currently  used by the ZenPack. This field was added to allow for greater  specificity when monitoring queues (i.e. both a public and private  queue with the same name). This was intended to be a "nice to have"  feature when I originally wrote the code, but I never spent the time to  finish it. If someone wants to finish fleshing it out, be my guest.
2. Queues  Must Be Locked
   After adding or configuring a queue, it must be  locked to prevent the ZenModeler from  deleting it (if the queue object  drops out of the WMI Perfmon pool). I  attempted to implement a sanity  check in the modeler that would ignore  any existing queues, but due to  the limitations of modeler plugins I was  unable to quickly overcome  this problem and opted for the locking  mechanism instead. Takeaway: if  you don't lock your queues after setting  them to be monitored, they  *may* disappear the next time the device is  modeled (automatically or  manually).