Active Directory Integration in Large and Complex Environments

Pete Zerger, MVPSystem Center Centralhttp://www.systemcentercentral.com

SCSS2009

with System Center Operations Manager 2007

TAKEAWAYS

Updated version of the ‘Definitive Guide to AD Integration in OpsMgr 2007’

2 Sample MPs to correct issues and automate important processes

Chance to win a copy of Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed

AGENDA

Active Directory Integration - What it does & how it works Configuration Steps Configuring Child and Untrusted Domains Using LDAP for Granular Control Agent Deployment & Maintenance Troubleshooting and Testing

WHAT IT DOES AND HOW IT WORKS What it does

Automates the configuration of OpsMgr agents installed on domain member computers

How it works Agent configuration is centrally maintained in OpsMgr andPublished to Active Directory (by RMS)Agents query AD at startup (and hourly)

IMPORTANT:Agent deployment and patching must be performed outside of

OpsMgr. AD DC’s and push-installed agents cannot participate

HOW IT WORKS (HIGH LEVEL)

1. Publish mgmt group info to AD2. Configure agent auto-assignment3. Install Agents

4. Agents query AD for MG info

5. Agent reports to MS

MOMADAdmin

ACTIVE DIRECTORY

MGMT GROUP

OPSMAN CONSOLE

CONFIGURATION STEPS

1.Configure RunAs Security(untrusted domains)

2. Run MOMADAdmin Utility 3. Configure Agent Auto Assignment 4. Deploy Agents

PREREQUISITES

Domain functional level must be higher than ‘Windows 2000 Mixed’Global Settings - Enable “Review new manual agent installations”User Account (in each domain)Security Group (in each domain)LDAP access (RMS to each domain)DNS resolution (RMS to each domain)Agent Grouping / Failover Strategy

RUNAS SECURITY (CHILD AND UNTRUSTED DOMAINS)Additional Configuration Steps:

Define RunAs Account and RunAs ProfileRun MomADAdmin

IMPLEMENTATION TIPS:

RunAs Profiles used for AD integration must be saved in the Default Management Pack.

Must be targeted to the RMS!

Optional for Local & Trusted Domains, but eliminates reconfiguration in event RMS is role moved!

1. Configure RunAs SecuritySecurity for Untrusted Domains

DEMO

CONFIGURATION STEPS

1. Configure RunAs Security (untrusted domains)

2. Run MOMADAdmin Utility 3. Configure Agent Auto Assignment 4. Deploy Agents

MOMADADMIN – WHAT DOES IT DO?

1. Creates a top level container in AD called OperationsManager

2. Adds the machine account of the RMS to the OpsMgr Admin security group.

3. Adds the OpsMgr Admin security group to the container's ACL with WriteChild access

When you run the MOMADAdmin tool, it performs the following actions.

MOMADADMIN – GUIDELINES FOR USE

Can be run on any member server Requires Domain Admin rights Must be run in each AD domain (targeted for AD

Integration feature) MomADAdmin.exe is found in the \

SupportTools folder of the OpsMgr installation media

Usage: MomADAdmin ManagementGroupName MOMAdminSecurityGroup {RootManagementServer | RunAsAccount} Domain

Example: MomADAdmin ContosoMG CONTOSO\OpsMgrAdmins CONTOSO

2. Run MOMADAdmin UtilityPrepare Active Directory and MG for AD Integration

DEMO

OPERATIONSMANAGER CONTAINER

OperationsManager Container

Visible when ‘Advanced Features’ are activated in Active Directory Users and Computers

Must not be modified manually

Can be deleted and then recreated by running MomADAdmin.exe again

CONFIGURATION STEPS

1. Configure RunAs Security (untrusted domains)

2. Run MOMADAdmin Utility 3. Configure Auto Agent Assignment 4. Deploy Agents

AUTO AGENT ASSIGNMENT

Must be configured for each MS or GTW to which agents must reportAdd one rule per domain (if multiple domains/forests)In Operations Console, Administration, choose “Configure Active Directory (AD) Integration”Choose appropriate Domain name, Domain Controller FQDN or IP address

Run As Profile* * Use default if configuring local domain

CONFIGURE AGENT AUTO ASSIGNMENT

Paste or generate LDAP query. Query Results should not overlapOptionally exclude computers using their FQDNConfigure agent failover

Location, Naming and Execution

Agent assignment rules are saved to ‘Default Management

Pack’

Rule names start with ‘AD rule for Domain:’

RMS runs rules hourly

AGENT AUTO ASSIGNMENT

Configured through the Agent Assignment & Failover Wizard

(&(objectCategory=computer)(distinguishedName=*,OU=AppServers,DC=nwtraders,DC=msft))

AUTO ASSIGNMENT & AGENT FAILOVER

Active Directory

OU

AD Security Group

Avoid overlapping LDAP query results!

LDAP TIPS FOR GRANULAR CONTROL

LDAP can be leveraged in Agent Auto-Assignment in a number of ways‘

Computer nameComputer descriptionComputer account security group membershipOperation system and service packRegistered Service Principal Names (SPN)Computer account Organizational Unit (OU)

Never use LDAP queries with overlapping result sets!

LDAP QUERY RESOURCES (CONT)

Operator Description

| OR

& AND

! NOT

= Equals

~= Approx. equals

<= Less than or equal

>= More than or equal

ASCII character

Escape sequence

* \2a

( \28

) \29

\ \5c

NUL \00

LDAP Comparison Operators LDAP Escape Sequences

LDAP SAMPLES

Limit the query to computer accounts(objectCategory=computerOR (sAMAccountType=805306369)

Exclude Domain Controllers(!(primaryGroupID=516))

Excludes OpsMgr Management Servers and Gateways(!(servicePrincipalName=MSOMHSvc/*))

Direct members of a security group(memberOf:=CN=Admin,OU=Security,DC=DOM,DC=NT)

LDAP PERFORMANCE TIPS

Performance considerations when building LDAP filters

Always use indexed attributes Filter unnecessary targets (DCs, MS, GWs)Target most specific data sets possible Global Catalog located in local site

Testing LDAP Filters Verifying query results BEFORE you deploy

DEMO

CONFIGURATION STEPS

1. Configure RunAs Security (untrusted domains)

2. Run MOMADAdmin Utility

3.Configure Auto Agent Assignment

4. Deploy Agents

3. Configure Agent Auto Assignment Define agent failover and load distribution

DEMO

AGENT DEPLOYMENT

Agents deployment methods for AD integration can include:

Manual installation (from install media)As part of OS image Group Policy Configuration Manager 2007

Hotfixes applicable to agent must be deployed manually when using any of the above methods!

CONFIGURATION STEPS

1. Configure RunAs Security (untrusted domains)

2. Run MOMADAdmin Utility 3. Configure Auto Agent Assignment

4.Deploy Agents

4. Deploy AgentsManual deployment for AD Integration

DEMO

AGENT MAINTENANCE

Hotfixes must be deployed manually to manually installed agentsMultiple fixes can be applied at onceMSI transform packages (.msp files) for the agents can be found on any management server or gateway patched management server in the following directory:

Syntax (example)

msiexec /p [c:\hotfixes\fix1].msp;[c:\hotfixes\fix2.msp /qn

AGENT MAINTENANCE (CONT)

Agents using AD Integration should never be repaired from the Operations consoleResults in agent configuration change to “remotely manageable”

To return agent configuration to AD IntegrationSet EnableADIntegration registry key to “1”

Sample Powershell script to perform in batch at http://OpsManJam.com

CHECK YOUR RESULTS:AGENT DISTRIBUTION

#Initialize the OpsMgr Provider $rootMS = "NOCMS01" 

#Initialize the OpsMgr Provider add-pssnapin "Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.OperationsManager.Client"; set-location "OperationsManagerMonitoring::";

#set Management Group context to the provided RMS new-managementGroupConnection -ConnectionString:$rootMS; set-location $rootMS;

get-agent | Group PrimaryManagementServerName -Noelement | sort Name | select Name, Count

Retrieve number of agents reporting to each management server (to verify distribution of agent load):

TROUBLESHOOTING

Events logged in Operations Manager Event Log (on Agent)

Event 20064 on agent (multiple primary relationships)Event 20070 on agent (agent not authorized)Event 21016 on agent (no failover)Event 21034 on agent (no configured parents)

TROUBLESHOOTING (CONT)

Beware when using Powershell to configure agent failover instead of AD Integration.

Use with caution, especially in distributed environments

Can result in ‘orphaned agents’ due to an unreachable MS!

REGISTRY KEYS

Registry keys related to AD integration

HKLM\SYSTEM\CCS\Services\HealthService\Parameters\ConnectorManager

Enable AD Integration KeyEnableADIntegration (DWord)

AD Polling IntervalADPollIntervalMinutes (DWord)

Is an agent using configuration retrieved from AD?

IsSourcedFromAD (DWord)It is not recommended these keys be modified without guidance from Microsoft

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESCreating an LDAP Query Filterhttp://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms675768.aspx

Microsoft Webcast: Enable AD Integration http://www.microsoft.com/winme/0703/28666/Active_Directory_Integration_Edited.asx

AD Integration Deep Dive http://blogs.msdn.com/steverac/archive/2008/03/20/opsmgr-ad-integration-how-it-works.aspx

OpsMgr Team Blog: How AD Integration Works http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/archive/2008/01/02/understanding-how-active-directory-integration-feature-works-in-opsmgr-2007.aspx

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESOpsMgr Team Blog: How AD Integration Works http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/archive/2008/01/02/understanding-how-active-directory-integration-feature-works-in-opsmgr-2007.aspx

Manageability Blog: Enable Untrusted Domain Integration http://blogs.technet.com/smsandmom/archive/2008/05/21/opsmgr-2007-how-to-enable-ad-integration-for-an-untrusted-domain.aspx

To Repair or Not to Repairhttp://www.opsmanjam.com/Lists/OpsManJam%20Announcements/DispForm.aspx?ID=12

Advanced AD Integration Whitepaper http://www.systemcentercentral.com/scugmy

SPECIAL THANKS

Raymond Chou (MVP)Raphael Burri (OpsMgr guru-at-large)Steve Rachui (Microsoft)Rob Kuehfus (Microsoft)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

SCUG Malaysia Blogging Contest Leading blogger between now and December 31st will receive a copy of Operations Manager Unleashed

Registration and session takeaways at

http://www.systemcentercentral.com/scugmy

QUESTIONS