Released: SQL Server 2017+ and Replication Management Packs (7.0.0.0)

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UPDATE 3/23/2018: We have released the localized versions of these MPs in the standard languages: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish.

We are happy to announce the final release of SQL Server 2017+ and Replication Management Packs! These MPs can be used to monitor SQL Server 2017 on both Windows and Linux and SQL Server 2017 Replication on Windows. Below, let's look at some of the new features we added to these MPs. All the details regarding the new functionality can be found in the Operations Guide that can be downloaded along with the Management Pack.

Cross-platform Monitoring

You can now monitor SQL Server 2017 on Windows and on Linux!

Version Agnostic SQL Server MPs

We understand that with many SQL Server versions in market and with new server releases becoming more frequent, it is becoming harder to manage a separate MP for each server version. We are moving to version agnostic MPs to address this issue. This will be valid going forward. The new MP is named SQL Server 2017+. The ‘+’ in the name indicates that it will be used to monitor SQL Server 2017 and the releases that come after that. Current in-market MPs (2008 through 2016) will not be changed and the 2017+ MP cannot be used to monitor older releases. We are making this change for SQL Server and Replication MPs.

Agentless Monitoring

SQL Server 2017+ Management Pack introduces Agentless Monitoring mode support. This monitoring mode is designed to support SQL Server on Linux but it also works for Windows deployments. We’ve received multiple requests from our customers to support agentless monitoring for SQL Server that can be useful for production OLTP workloads or in case the organization’s policy denies deployment of SCOM agent to the monitored host or making any changes to it.

With the Agentless Monitoring mode there is no need to deploy SCOM Agent on the SQL box. Instead, the monitoring workloads will be transferred to management servers included in the SQL Server Monitoring Pool. This allows to remove SCOM Agent and data processing overhead from the SQL box and move it to the SQL Server Monitoring Pool. Also with the agentless monitoring mode, you can use SQL credentials for authentication that simplifies security configuration.

Engineering Improvements

  • Usage of scripts is discontinued in favor of .Net Framework modules, which enables more efficient resource usage.
  • For getting information on health and performance, SQL Server Dynamic Management Views and Functions are now used instead of WMI calls. This provides better efficiency and connectivity.

 

Downloads available:

Microsoft System Center Management Pack for SQL Server 2017+ Microsoft System Center Management Pack for SQL Server 2017+ Replication Microsoft System Center Management Pack for SQL Server Dashboards

We are looking forward to your feedback.