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Adding portal/SCSM mgt server to a SCOM-monitored server?

Tom_HendricksTom_Hendricks Customer Super IT Monkey ✭✭✭✭✭
Historically, my question would be easy to answer: there are many articles describing how SCSM management servers should never have a SCOM agent on them, and some even explain why.

However, now that (as of 1807/2019) SCOM and SCSM are able to tell each other apart, at least somewhat, has anything changed on the server side?

I ask because I would like to add more Cireson Portal instances and I have a few servers well below their resource capacity from which I could run it, but I do not want to remove the SCOM agent if I do not have to.  It is providing a great deal of information about the other services already running on those servers.

Anyone have some insight to share on this?  Many thanks!

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Answers

  • Tom_HendricksTom_Hendricks Customer Super IT Monkey ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thanks, @James_Atance.  This is getting at exactly what I am seeking clarification for.

    Yes, there is a built in agent with SCSM, but I have seen a fair amount of guidance not to point this agent to SCOM, because there would (eventually, if not immediately) be interference from SCOM agent tasks on the SCSM servers.  Has this been proven/disproven in more recent versions?

    I have been monitoring SCSM with agentless monitoring since we first installed 2012 R2 (have upgraded to 2016, 1801, 1807 since then), because we already have a huge number of daily performance headaches and cannot tolerate another.  But if I can allow SCOM to monitor an SCSM server, I can install more SCSM servers and Cireson portals and at least handle the high number of concurrent user sessions better.  I'm sure you can understand why I am being cautious and questioning this first, though.
  • Tom_HendricksTom_Hendricks Customer Super IT Monkey ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thanks for the responses.  To answer why I asked this question in the first place, while installing a SCOM agent would clearly be a bad idea, but I have read that manually setting the "agent" installed by SCSM also causes issues with SCSM, but not usually right away, and that agentless is still the only acceptable way to monitor SCSM.

    I suspected that might not/no longer be true, so this seemed like a good place to draw in good, current opinions on the matter and this forum did not disappoint!

    Yes, we do have the SCSM and Cireson MP's installed in SCOM.  They have been giving some information even with agentless monitoring in place.  I am looking forward to seeing the difference after manually pointing the SCSM servers to SCOM.
  • Alberto_FumagalliAlberto_Fumagalli Customer IT Monkey ✭

    On your workflow server you shouldn't set anything in the MS Monitoring Agent applet in the Control Panel: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/system-center-blog/monitoring-service-manager-with-microsoft-system-center/ba-p/351600

    I completely agree with this, because I had at least a couple of customers in which the applet configuration broke the workflow engine. Cases opened in MS had officially stated that the applet must remain not configured, since the monitoring must be agentless. Engine break may act behind the scenes for weeks or months and then suddenly explode: clearing the HealthServiceState folder may help only for a few hours or days, but then the break reappears.

    Personally and basing on my experience, I would also suggest not configuring the applet even on the DW server as well as on secondary management servers.

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