Pete,

let's give it a try ;-)

Let's put on a swimsuit and dive into the world of pure scom which is pure xml and beyond....;-) 

I have reviewed the monitors in the first example . Did some testing and run them through the workflow analyzer.

First, if i understand correctly this is what the monitor is supposed to do:

Collect performance data and if performance data is above threshold increase counter by 1.

Do this for x samples and when counter is above another Threshold generate alert.

The monitor polls

Performance Data

for system.performance.data which results in :

Next is the System Performance.ConsecutiveSamplesData

This where the confusion starts (i think)

Next the <Value>3</Value> is passed to 2 Expressions:

Okay now this monitor is a bit confusing because when you look at it's setting in the console it looks like you are only declaring how many counters should be evaluated, but according to the results of the workflow this is also the value of how many times the counters may arise above the first threshold of 1.

The monitor is working because the data being evaluated by the value expression doesn't make a difference they are both value's.

The thing which is confusing is when you are designing a MP based on this monitor and want to generate an alert is when you run into trouble and should use the alternate value like they did in the Exchange MP.

Simplest way for MS to resolve this issue is redesign System Performance.ConsecutiveSamplesData in the system.performance.library.mp and switch them ;-)

Another thing I just found out .....there is a spelling error in the Workflow analyzer recieved instead of received as well ;-)

regards,

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><ManagementPack ContentReadable="true" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <Manifest>
    <Identity>
      <ID>SCMPWithConsecutiveSamples</ID>
      <Version>1.0.0.0</Version>
    </Identity>
    <Name>SC-MPWithConsecutiveSamples</Name>
    <References>
      <Reference Alias="SystemCenter">
        <ID>Microsoft.SystemCenter.Library</ID>
        <Version>6.0.6278.0</Version>
        <PublicKeyToken>31bf3856ad364e35</PublicKeyToken>
      </Reference>
      <Reference Alias="MicrosoftWindowsLibrary6062780">
        <ID>Microsoft.Windows.Library</ID>
        <Version>6.0.6278.0</Version>
        <PublicKeyToken>31bf3856ad364e35</PublicKeyToken>
      </Reference>
      <Reference Alias="Health">
        <ID>System.Health.Library</ID>
        <Version>6.0.6278.0</Version>
        <PublicKeyToken>31bf3856ad364e35</PublicKeyToken>
      </Reference>
      <Reference Alias="Performance">
        <ID>System.Performance.Library</ID>
        <Version>6.0.6278.0</Version>
        <PublicKeyToken>31bf3856ad364e35</PublicKeyToken>
      </Reference>
    </References>
  </Manifest>
  <Monitoring>
    <Monitors>
      <UnitMonitor ID="MonitorForTesting" Accessibility="Public" Enabled="true" Target="SystemCenter!Microsoft.SystemCenter.ManagementServer" ParentMonitorID="Health!System.Health.PerformanceState" Remotable="true" Priority="Normal" TypeID="Performance!System.Performance.ConsecutiveSamplesThreshold" ConfirmDelivery="false">
        <Category>Custom</Category>
        <AlertSettings AlertMessage="MonitorForTesting_AlertMessageResourceID">
          <AlertOnState>Error</AlertOnState>
          <AutoResolve>true</AutoResolve>
          <AlertPriority>Normal</AlertPriority>
          <AlertSeverity>Error</AlertSeverity>
          <AlertParameters>
            <AlertParameter1>$Data/Context/SampleValue$</AlertParameter1>
            <AlertParameter2>$Data/Context/Value$</AlertParameter2>
          </AlertParameters>
        </AlertSettings>
        <OperationalStates>
          <OperationalState ID="TestMonitorFalse" MonitorTypeStateID="ConditionFalse" HealthState="Success" />
          <OperationalState ID="TestMonitorTrue" MonitorTypeStateID="ConditionTrue" HealthState="Error" />
        </OperationalStates>
        <Configuration>
          <ComputerName>$Target/Host/Property[Type="MicrosoftWindowsLibrary6062780!Microsoft.Windows.Computer"]/NetworkName$</ComputerName>
          <CounterName>Current Disk Queue Length</CounterName>
          <ObjectName>PhysicalDisk</ObjectName>
          <InstanceName>_Total</InstanceName>
          <AllInstances>false</AllInstances>
          <Frequency>30</Frequency>
          <Threshold>0</Threshold>
          <Direction>greaterequal</Direction>
          <NumSamples>3</NumSamples>
        </Configuration>
      </UnitMonitor>
    </Monitors>
  </Monitoring>
  <Presentation>
    <Folders>
      <Folder ID="FolderForTestMonitor" Accessibility="Public" ParentFolder="SystemCenter!Microsoft.SystemCenter.Monitoring.ViewFolder.Root" />
    </Folders>
    <StringResources>
      <StringResource ID="MonitorForTesting_AlertMessageResourceID" />
    </StringResources>
  </Presentation>
  <LanguagePacks>
    <LanguagePack ID="ENU" IsDefault="false">
      <DisplayStrings>
        <DisplayString ElementID="SCMPWithConsecutiveSamples">
          <Name>SC-MPWithConsecutiveSamples</Name>
        </DisplayString>
        <DisplayString ElementID="FolderForTestMonitor">
          <Name>SC-MPWithConsecutiveSamples</Name>
        </DisplayString>
        <DisplayString ElementID="MonitorForTesting">
          <Name>Disk Usage Monitor - Consecutive Samples</Name>
          <Description />
        </DisplayString>
        <DisplayString ElementID="MonitorForTesting" SubElementID="TestMonitorFalse">
          <Name>Condition False</Name>
        </DisplayString>
        <DisplayString ElementID="MonitorForTesting" SubElementID="TestMonitorTrue">
          <Name>Condition True</Name>
        </DisplayString>
        <DisplayString ElementID="MonitorForTesting_AlertMessageResourceID">
          <Name>Disk Usage Monitor - Consecutive Samples</Name>
          <Description>SampleValue: {0}, Value: {1}</Description>
        </DisplayString>
      </DisplayStrings>
    </LanguagePack>
  </LanguagePacks>
</ManagementPack>

Rem,



I noticed your message. This is caused by the version of System.Performance.Library

Sorry missed that....

In the version 6.1.7221.0 they seem to have fixed it (partly). I will have to test with your version...

to be continued.....



 

Rem,

sorry for not getting back earlier but I have tested the solution and you are correct it fails on the SP1 version.
I did test it again with both versions and it fails specifically on SP1 agents.

Why it is failing only on SP1 agents only is a bit of a mistery to me because my first assumption was the base monitor was causing this error.
But further testing learned it is agent specific as I explained in my blog post.

To go short it is not possible, as far as I know when you are using SP1 to be able to put the sampled value in the description. You will need to upgrade to R2 in order for it to work.

Regards,