In the previous articles have explained how to extend an existing server class with a ‘Location’ attribute by building a custom Management Pack and how to feed location information from an external source into OpsMgr using a connector. In this article I will explain how you can use Live Maps to dynamically visualize these server objects based on the location attribute.

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In the previous article I have explained how to extend an existing server class with a ‘Location’ attribute by building a custom Management Pack. In this article I will explain how to create a connector that reads information from a CSV file and updates the location information of a server in OpsMgr.

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We frequently get questions from customers that want to re-use computer location information that is stored in a CMDB or RFID tracking system with Live Maps. A very understandable question looking at the dynamic datacenter challenges enterprises face today.

Live Maps comes with many features that support dynamic views but it relies on information that is stored in OpsMgr. In this blog series I will explain how you can extend OpsMgr with location information from an external source and how to use that information with Live Maps.

The diagram below shows on overview how we are going to approach this challenge.

I will go through this process in three steps:

1. Create a management pack that adds a ‘location’ attribute to the Windows Server class
2. Write a connector that reads asset information from a CSV file and updates OpsMgr
3. Configure Live Maps to create dynamic location aware maps

In this first article I will describe explain how to create a Management Pack (MP) that extends an existing class with a ‘Location’ attribute.

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With every view that is build using Live Maps an OpsMgr group is created containing all the objects that are on the Live Maps view. You can use these groups for different purposes, for example target the group for security, reporting, service level tracking or for setting maintenance mode.

In this article it will give a few code examples to extract information about Live Maps groups using Powershell.

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The other day I got a question from a customer that wanted to know if it was possible to use Live Maps with the new OpsMgr R2 Service Level Tracking feature. The answer was simple, yes you can.

In this article I will give a step-by-step instruction how to configure Service Level Tracking on a Live Maps view and show the results using the Service Level Tracking report in OpsMgr and the Service Level Dashboard in SharePoint.

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The default refresh rate of the Live Maps web console is every 5 minutes. This default can be overridden by editing the web.config file in the installation directory of the web console (typically ”C:\Program Files\Savision\Live Maps v3\Web Console”). Follow the following instructions to change the refresh rate:

- Open the web.config file using a text editor (e.g. notepad.exe).
- Look for the "ViewAutoRefresh" setting.
- Change the value. The value represents the refresh rate in minutes. The minimum value is 1, maximum value is 999.
- Save the file.

Audible alarms are a good way of getting attention in your NOC when a critical issue is detected.

In this article I will explain how to configure audible alarms in System Center Operations Manager 2007 with Savision Live Maps and how you can add your own custom sounds.

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System Center Operations Manager 2007 is a great platform to extend into the network monitoring space. Switching to a single monitoring platform allows you to save money and create a single pane of glass for all your operations folks.

When you introduce OpsMgr to the network team you will very likely get the question to display the network devices in a topology view. The video included in this article explains how to achieve this using two ISV products; Jalasoft Xian Io Network Manager and Savision Live Maps.

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One of the great features of Microsoft Operations Manager 2007 is to create health models for your IT services. In some cases however you might be looking for a way to create a geographical representation of the health of your monitored devices.

The video in this article shows you how you can create dynamic views per IP subnet by using Savision Live Maps for Operations Manager 2007 including an import of site and subnet information from Active Directory.

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Updated 10/23/2009 :

If you have Live Maps installed and are planning an upgrade to the OpsMgr R2 please read this article carefully.

The Live Maps v2 and v3 OpsMgr console extensions are not compatible with the OpsMgr R2 console. If you upgrade the OpsMgr console without upgrading the Live Maps console extension the OpsMgr R2 console will throw an 'Could not load type' error.

Here are the steps to successfully upgrade your environment to R2:

Upgrade your backend:

1. Download the Live Maps v4 for OpsMgr R2 here
2. Obtain a Live Maps v4 license key (free edition users can request it here, customers can request an updated key via sales@savision.com)
3. After you have upgraded your RMS to R2 upgrade the Live Maps authoring console and web console to v4.
4. Start the Live Maps authoring console and enter the new license key.

On every computer running the OpsMgr operations console:

1. Uninstall the Live Maps OpsMgr extension
2. Upgrade the OpsMgr console to R2
3. Install the Live Maps v4 OpsMgr R2 extension

If you have any questions regarding this article you can contact us at support@savision.com.

One of the more common questions we get from our customers is if they can rotate a number of views on a single screen. The answer is, yes they can and so can you if you follow these simple instructions.

This can be achieved by a combination of the LiveMaps web console and the html file attached to this blog. Just download the htm file, open it in your favorite html editor, adjust some settings and off you go.

Download the html file using the link below:
Live Maps Rotator HTML file

You can configure two settings, the number of milliseconds you want each view to show and the URLs you want to show.

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All custom views you create with Savision Live Maps for Operations Manager 2007 can be automatically viewed using the OpsMgr Operations Console and the Live Maps Web Console. The views will not automatically appear in the OpsMgr Web Console.

In case you do want the Live Maps views to be published in the OpsMgr Web Console this article explains how this can be done.

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Savision Live Maps for Operations Manager 2007 is the platform to create customized state views on top of OpsMgr. These views can be shared with different groups within your organisation using the Live Maps web console. The Live Maps web views can also be easily integrated in a SharePoint portal.

In this article I will explain how you can integrate a Live Maps web view in a SharePoint portal.

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With Savision Live Maps for Operations Manager 2007 you are able to create health state aware nested views in System Center Operations Manager 2007. The default state rollup algorithm for a Live Maps view is set to ‘Worst Of’, meaning that the worst state of any object in the nested view is represented as the consolidated state on the top level view.

In this article I will explain how you can change the default state rollup behavior of a Live Maps view from ‘Worst Of’ to ‘Best Of’.

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