Use this Knowledge Script to check an Exchange address book entry and report the amount of time the operation took. If the transaction completes successfully, you’ll see a positive result for availability, even if the address book entry is not found.
If you select to use the SSL option for a test using RPC over HTTP, you must run the Knowledge Script as “Interactive User.” To run using SSL, type Interactive User for the Exchange Logon and Run As Username parameter, and leave the Password and Domain parameters blank.
NOTE:Unlike other AppManager ResponseTime Knowledge Scripts, which require you to enter username and password information required to log into the network domain, the Exchange-RT Knowledge Scripts all use Windows NT authentication (or “integrated security”).
For the Address book entry parameter, even if the server cannot find the particular name you’ve entered, it still scans the address book and returns a valid response time.
If you are using a mailbox that does not have a unique name, you can do either of the following:
Use its fully qualified name for the Mailbox name parameter.
For example, say you have the following mailboxes defined on your Exchange Server: ‘test', ‘test 1’, ‘test 2’, ‘system test’. If you specify the mail account “test” when creating a connection in the Microsoft Exchange Server settings dialog box on your Exchange test client, you are prompted for the mailbox to use. The fully qualified name for ‘test’ would be in the format: /o=Your Corporation/ou=Your City/cn=Recipients/cn=test. Supply this value for the Mailbox name parameter (see below)
To determine the fully qualified mailbox name, click Check Name when configuring Exchange Server settings on the test client. A dialog box allows you to specify the account to use. Highlight the desired account and click Properties. The value in the Email address field is the string to use in the Exchange Service Connection mailbox field.
Enable the Resolve and use Exchange distinguished name parameter.
If the value specified for the Mailbox name is ambiguous (say, for example, because the names of multiple mailboxes are very similar), the Exchange Server may not be able to determine which mailbox to use in the response-time test. When you enable the Resolve and use Exchange distinguished name parameter, the ResponseTime for Exchange managed object resolves the name in Active Directory to the first match found and uses that value for the transaction.
If you choose to collect data, this Knowledge Script generates the following data streams:
Response time
Overall response time. The information returned by this data stream is also saved with the data point, and can be viewed by double-clicking the data point in the Graph Pane or Chart Console.
Response-time Breakdown. If enabled as separate parameters, up to 6 response-time breakdown data streams. These are individual data points for the different parts of the Knowledge Script transaction that are timed. See Section 3.1.5, Setting Parameter Values below for more information.
Availability--Returns one of the following values:
1 or 100 -- the transaction was successful
0 -- the transaction was not successful
The Availability data point is an indication of whether the test succeeded or failed. If, for example, a connection to the Exchange Server was established but the mailbox failed to open, the Availability data point will be 0 (not available, or not successful).
An event is raised whenever one of the following occurs:
A threshold that you have specified as an event parameter is exceeded.
The Exchange-RT engine can’t be initialized. An initialization error is generated, but an Availability or Response Time data stream is not generated.
The transaction doesn’t complete successfully. A transaction error is generated. Only an Availability data stream is generated, with a value of 0.
You can select where some of the possible events are displayed in the Operator Console TreeView or Control Center Console Server view. This event proxying feature is useful in Control Center Service Map views. It is not supported for jobs that are started in the Operator Web Console. See the description of the Event on parameter, below.
Exchange response time clients (Exchange-RT)
The default interval for this script is Every 15 minutes.
Set the following parameters as needed:
|
Description |
How to Set It |
|---|---|
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Availability |
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Collect data for availability? |
Select Yes to collect availability data for graphs and reports. By default, data is collected. |
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Data stream format |
Select the data stream format for the Availability data stream. Previous versions of this module used a 0 ("not available") or 1 ("available") format to indicate availability (that is, test success or failure). You now have the option to use a 0 ("not available") or 100 ("available") format. The default value is 0-100. |
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Raise event if transaction fails? |
Select Yes to raise an event when the server cannot be contacted. By default, an event is raised. |
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Event severity when transaction fails |
If events are enabled, set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of the event. Default is 5. |
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Response Time |
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Collect data for response time? |
Select Yes to collect response-time data for graphs and reports. By default, data is collected. |
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Include time to resolve distinguished name? |
Select Yes to add extra time to resolve the distinguished name of the account. In some cases, resolving distinguished names could affect performance. If you want to collect this data, enable this parameter and the Collect data for resolving distinguished name? parameter. This parameter is disabled by default. |
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Include time to create profile in response time? |
Select Yes to include the time taken to create the Exchange profile in the response-time calculation. The default is No. If you want to collect this data, select Yes for this parameter and the Collect data for creating Exchange profile? parameter. |
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Threshold -- Maximum response time (seconds) |
Specify the maximum response time in seconds. When response time exceeds this value, an event is raised. The event message contains a breakdown of the total response time. The default is 15 seconds. |
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Raise event if threshold is exceeded? |
Select Yes to raise an event when the response-time threshold is exceeded. By default, events are raised. |
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Event severity when threshold is exceeded |
Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of the event. Default is 15. |
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Response Time Breakdown |
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Collect data for resolving distinguished name? |
Select Yes to collect the results of resolving the distinguished name. By default, this information is not collected. |
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Collect data for initializing Exchange? |
Select Yes to collect a separate response-time data stream for the time taken to initialize the connection to the Exchange server. By default, separate response-time data streams are not collected. |
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Collect data for creating Exchange profile? |
Select Yes to collect a separate response-time data stream for the time taken to create the Exchange profile. The default is No. To create this data stream, do not enter a value for the Name of the existing Exchange profile to use parameter, and select Yes for this parameter and the Create an Exchange profile during each iteration? parameter. |
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Collect data for logon? |
Select Yes to collect a separate response-time data stream for the time taken to log on to the Exchange server. By default, separate response-time data streams are not collected. |
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Collect data for opening Exchange database? |
Select Yes to collect a separate response-time data stream for the time taken to open the Exchange database. By default, separate response-time data streams are not collected. |
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Collect data for opening address book? |
Select Yes to collect a separate response-time data stream for the time taken to open the Outlook address book. By default, separate response-time data streams are not collected. |
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Collect data for resolving entry? |
Select Yes to collect a separate response-time data stream for the time taken to resolve the Outlook address book entry. By default, separate response-time data streams are not collected. |
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Address book entry |
Enter the address-book entry to check in the response-time test--the name of a person in the Exchange address book. Use the following syntax (for example): John Doe If you are setting the Event on parameter (see below), the Address book entry parameter lets you select the computer where the event will appear in your console. Enter the name of the server, or click the browse button ([...]) to select from a list of available servers. The computer you select must already be in the TreeView. |
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Event on |
Select the TreeView location where events should be displayed. Select either:
Notes This setting does not apply to events related to the Knowledge Script itself, such as Knowledge Script failure or initialization problems. Such events are always displayed on the computer where the job ran. You must select Agent when starting jobs in the Operator Web Console. If you select Server, no events are generated. If you select Both, an event is only shown on the agent. |
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Exchange Server Settings |
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Create an Exchange profile during each iteration? |
Select Yes to create an Exchange profile for each iteration, or select No to create an Exchange profile on just the first iteration. The default is Yes. If you select No, the following parameters will also be disabled: Include time to create profile in response time? and Collect data for creating Exchange profile? Also, if you select No, the Exchange profile created during the first iteration persists even after the job is stopped. You should manually delete the Exchange profile to keep Outlook free of unneeded profiles. To avoid NTLM authentication, select No for this parameter, and then set Profile authentication type to Kerberos. |
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Name of the existing Exchange profile to use (optional except for Outlook 2003 to Exchange 2010 or later) |
Enter the name of the Exchange profile for which you want to measure response time. The default is blank. The user who owns the email account must manually create the profile in Outlook. The profile must be able to connect with Exchange Server, with this security option selected: Encrypt data between Microsoft Office Outlook and Microsoft Exchange server. Also, the server name and mailbox name for the profile should match the Exchange server name and Mailbox name parameters below. NOTE:Use this parameter if you need to measure response time between Outlook 2003 clients and Exchange Server 2010 or later servers. This parameter is optional for other configurations of Outlook and Exchange. |
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Exchange server name |
Enter the name of the Exchange server. |
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Mailbox name (or email address in case of Outlook 2016 or later) |
Specify the name of the mailbox, which is usually a username. NOTE:In case of Outlook 2016 or later, specify the email address of the user. |
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Profile authentication type |
Select what kind of authentication you want to use with your Exchange profiles. If you want to let the Exchange server and Outlook communicate to finalize the authentication method (NTLM or Kerberos), use the default value of Negotiate Authentication. To avoid NTLM authentication, select Kerberos for this parameter, and then set the Create an Exchange profile during each iteration parameter to No. |
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Resolve and use Exchange distinguished name? |
Select Yes to instruct the ResponseTime for Exchange managed object to resolve the name in Active Directory to the first match found and use that value for the transaction. This option is helpful if the name you supplied for the Mailbox name parameter is ambiguous (if, for example, there are mailboxes with names so similar that the Exchange Server cannot determine which one to use for the test). By default, the DN for the mailbox is not used. |
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Using RPC over HTTP (not applicable for Outlook 2016 or later) |
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Connect to Exchange Server using HTTP? |
Select Yes to use the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) to make the connection to the server that is acting as the RPC proxy for the Exchange server. If enabled, allows you to test Exchange server response time in a proxy situation by using a remote procedure call (RPC) sent over HTTP. By default, HTTP is not used to connect to the Exchange server. |
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URL to connect to proxy server for Exchange |
Enter the URL of the Exchange Server computer that’s configured as an RPC proxy server. The RPC proxy server communicates with clients seeking access to the Exchange server. Use the following format (for example): exchproxy01.netiq.com Required if RPC over HTTP is used. |
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SSL Settings |
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Connect using SSL only |
Select Yes to use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security protocol to secure the HTTP connection to the proxy Exchange Server. If you select to use the SSL option for a test using RPC over the HTTP protocol, you must run the Knowledge Script as “Interactive User” due to the security requirements of SSL. See the Username parameter below for more information. By default, SSL isn’t used for the connection. |
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Mutually authenticate the session when connecting |
Select Yes to require the client computer and the Exchange server to perform authentication when the Knowledge Script requests the connection to the Exchange server. By default, authentication is not performed. |
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Principal name for proxy server |
The service principal name of the proxy Exchange server service. This name must be recognized as an entity by the SSL server. The format is msstd:FQDN where FQDN is the fully-qualified domain name of the proxy server. Required if the previous parameter (Mutually authenticate...) is enabled. |
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On fast networks, connect using HTTP first, then connect using TCP/IP |
Select Yes to attempt the connection to the proxy Exchange Server using the HTTP protocol first, and then, if the connection attempt fails, to use TCP/IP for the connection. This setting affects connection response times on fast networks, which Outlook defines as faster than 128 kilobits per second (Kbps). By default, this option is disabled on fast networks. |
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On slow networks, connect using HTTP first, then connect using TCP/IP |
Select Yes to attempt the connection to the proxy Exchange Server using the HTTP protocol first, and then, if the connection attempt fails, to use TCP/IP for the connection. This setting affects connection response times on slow networks, which Outlook defines as slower than or equal to 128 kilobits per second (Kbps). By default, this option is enabled on slow networks. |
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Exchange Logon and Run As |
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Username |
Enter the name of the person who owns or is authorized to access the mailbox. If you select to use the SSL option for a test using RPC over HTTP, you must run the Knowledge Script as “Interactive User”. Running as “Interactive User” requires that a user be physically logged into the managed client. To run using SSL, type Interactive User here. Leave the Password and Domain parameters blank. |
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Password |
Enter the password associated with this user that is required to log on to the network and run the application. Leave blank to run as Interactive User. |
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Domain |
Enter the domain associated with this user--the domain name you are logging onto. Leave blank to run as Interactive User. |
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Administrators group on managed client |
Enter the name of the Administrators Group on the managed client. Typically, this name is “Administrators”. The default is “Administrators”. |
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Timeouts |
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Job timeout |
Set the timeout value, from 1 to 900 seconds, to determine the maximum time allowed to process a job before it's aborted. When an Exchange-RT Knowledge Script job runs, a job timer is started. If the transaction takes longer than the Job timeout, the transaction is stopped and a “Job Timeout" event is raised. The default is 120 seconds. |
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Queue timeout |
Set the timeout value, from 1 to 1200 seconds, to determine how long a job can wait for resources before it's aborted. Multiple simultaneous Exchange-RT Knowledge Script jobs must wait for a token to run. If no token is available for a job you're trying to run, the job is added to the queue and starts a queue timer. When the Queue Timeout for a job expires, the job does not run, a "Queue Timeout" event is raised, and the job is moved to the end of the queue. The default is 300 seconds. |