Dashboards provide a method of quickly displaying relevant Operations Manager information by allowing you to present multiple types of data in a single view. Dashboards can be viewed using the Operations Manager console, or published to SharePoint.
When creating a dashboard, you can choose from one of the following templates, as shown in Figure 1:
- Column Layout
- Grid Layout
- Service Level Dashboard
- Summary Dashboard
FIGURE 1 Dashboard layout
The service level dashboard allows you to display service level tracking information. The summary dashboard will display the top selected number of performance counters for chosen values. Column layouts consist of multiple columns. Grid layouts consist of multiple cells. Once you choose between a flow layout or a grid layout, you add widgets to the dashboard that display information. Operations Manager includes the following widgets:
- State Allows you to view the state of monitored objects.
- Performance Allows you to view performance metrics.
- Alert Allows you to view alert information.
- Details The properties of the item that is highlighted in the dashboard.
- Instance Details Provides details of the instances related to the object.
- Objects By Performance Performance counter data in tabular format for the selected object.
To create a grid layout dashboard view named Domain Controller Availability And Alerts in Operations Manager, perform the following tasks:
1. In the My Workspace view of the Operations Manager console, right-click New View, and then click Dashboard View.
2. On the Template page, click Grid Layout, and then click Next.
3. On the General Properties page, type the name Domain Controller Availability and Alerts, and click Next.
4. On the Layout page, click 2 Cells, and then click the layout on the left as shown in Figure 2, and click Next.
FIGURE 2 Dashboard cells
5. On the Summary page, click Create, and then click Close.
6. The new Dashboard will appear under the Favorite Views node. Click the new dashboard, in this case named Domain Controller Availability, and then click the text Click To Add Widget. This will open the New Dashboard And Widget Wizard. Click State Widget as shown in Figure 3, and click Next.
FIGURE 3 Dashboard widget
7. On the General Properties page, type Domain Controller State, and then click Next.
8. On the Scope page, click Add. On the Add Groups Or Objects dialog box, click Show All Objects And Groups. Type the domain suffix to limit the displayed items, and then navigate to the object that represents one of your organization’s domain controllers. Figure 4 shows SYD-DC.tailspintoys.internal selected. Click Add, and then click OK.
FIGURE 4 Add object
9. On the Scope page, verify that the domain controller computer object is listed.
10. On the Criteria page, select all of the available criteria except Display Only Objects In Maintenance Mode, as shown in Figure 5.
FIGURE 5 Dashboard criteria
11. On the Display page, select the Columns To Display, as shown in Figure 6, and then click Next.
FIGURE 6 Display configuration
12. On the Summary page, click Create, and then close.
13. With the Domain Controller Availability And Alerts node selected, click the Click To Add Widget text.
14. On the Select A Dashboard Layout Or Widget template page of the New Dashboard And Widget Wizard, click Alert Widget, as shown in Figure 7, and click Next.
FIGURE 7 Alert widget
15. On the General Properties page, type the name, Domain Controller Host Alerts, and click Next.
16. On the Select Group Or Object page, click the ellipsis button (...).
17. On the Select A Group Or Object dialog box, click Groups And Objects, and then type the domain name suffix, and click Search. Figure 8 shows the SYD-DC.tailspintoys.internal object, and the Health Service Watcher Class is selected. Click OK.
FIGURE 8 Health Service Watcher object
18. On the Criteria page, select the following check boxes as shown in Figure 9:
- Display Alerts Only With The Specified Severities
- Critical
- Warning
FIGURE 9 Criteria selection
19. Review the options on the Display tab, and click Next. Then click Create, and click Close. The resultant dashboard will look similar to Figure 10.
FIGURE 10 Dashboard view
To be able to display a dashboard in SharePoint, you need to have installed the Operations Manager SharePoint Web Part on the SharePoint server. A user that has administrative permissions on the SharePoint server must install the Operations Manager SharePoint Web Part.
More Info: Operations Manager Dashboards
You can learn more about dashboards at http://blogs.technet.com/b/momteam/archive/2011/09/27/introducing-operations-manager-2012-dashboards.aspx.
