Lab answer key: Monitoring and troubleshooting Windows Server
Exercise 1: Establishing a performance baseline
Note: After starting the Data Collector Set, there might be a delay of 10 minutes for the results to appear.
Task 1: Create and start a data collector set
- Connect to SEA-SVR2, and then, if needed, sign in with the credentials provided by the instructor.
- On SEA-SVR2, in the Type here to search text box next to the Start button, enter Perf, and then, in the Best match list, select Performance Monitor.
- In Performance Monitor, expand the Data Collector Sets node in the navigation pane, and then select User Defined.
- Right-click or access the context menu for User Defined, select New, and then select Data Collector Set. This will launch the Create new Data Collector Set wizard.
- On the How would you like to create this new data collector set? page of the Create new Data Collector Set wizard, enter SEA-SVR2 Performance in the Name box.
- Select the Create manually (Advanced) option, and then select Next.
- On the What type of data do you want to include? page, select the Performance counter checkbox, and then select Next.
- On the Which performance counters would you like to log? page, select Add.
- In the Available counters list, expand Processor, select % Processor Time, ensure that the _Total entry is selected in the Instances of selected object section, and then select Add.
- In the Available counters list, expand Memory, select Pages/sec, and then select Add.
- In the Available counters list, expand PhysicalDisk, select % Disk Time, ensure that the _Total entry is selected in the Instances of selected object section, and then select Add.
- Select Avg. Disk Queue Length, ensure that the _Total entry is selected in the Instances of selected object section, and then select Add.
- In the Available counters list, expand System, select Processor Queue Length, and then select Add.
- In the Available counters list, expand Network Interface, select Bytes Total/sec, ensure that the **
** entry is selected in the **Instances of selected object** section, select **Add**, and then select **OK**. - On the Which performance counters would you like to log? page, enter 1 in the Sample interval box, and then select Next.
- On the Where would you like the data to be saved? page, select Next.
- On the Create the data collector set? page, ensure that the Save and close option is selected, and then select Finish.
- In Performance Monitor, in the results pane, right-click or access the context menu for SEA-SVR2 Performance, and then select Start.
Task 2: Create a typical workload on the server
- On SEA-SVR2, select Start, right-click or access the context menu for Windows PowerShell, and then select Run as administrator.
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To create a file of a specific size, at the Windows PowerShell command prompt, enter the following command and press Enter:
fsutil file createnew bigfile 104857600
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To copy the newly created file to the root of drive C of SEA-DC1, enter the following command and press Enter:
Copy-Item -Path .\bigfile -Destination \\SEA-DC1.contoso.com\c$\ -Force
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To copy the file from the root of drive C of SEA-DC1 to the current working directory, enter the following command and press Enter:
Copy-Item -Path \\SEA-DC1.contoso.com\c$\bigfile -Destination .\bigfile2 -Force
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To delete both files in the current working directory, enter the following command and press Enter:
Remove-Item -Path .\bigfile* -Force
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To delete the file in the root of drive C of SEA-DC1, enter the following command and press Enter:
Remove-Item -Path \\SEA-DC1.contoso.com\c$\bigfile -Force
- Leave the Windows PowerShell window open.
Task 3: Analyze the collected data
- On SEA-SVR2, switch to Performance Monitor.
- In the navigation pane, right-click or access the context menu for SEA-SVR2 Performance, and then select Stop.
- In Performance Monitor, in the navigation pane, expand Reports, expand User Defined, expand SEA-SVR2 Performance, select SEA-SVR2_DateTime-000001 (where DateTime designates the current timestamp), and then review the report data.
- On the menu bar, select Change graph type or press Ctrl+G, and then select Report.
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Record the values that are listed in the report for later analysis. Recorded values include:
- Memory\Pages/sec
- Network Interface\Bytes Total/sec
- PhysicalDisk\% Disk Time
- PhysicalDisk\Avg. Disk Queue Length
- Processor\% Processor Time
- System\Processor Queue Length
Exercise 2: Identifying the source of a performance problem
Task 1: Create additional workload on the server
- On SEA-SVR2, open File Explorer.
- In File Explorer, browse to C:\Labfiles\Lab08.
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Double-click or select CPUSTRES64.EXE, and then press Enter.
Note: CPUSTRES64.EXE is a SysInternals utility that can be used to simulate CPU activity by running up to 64 threads in a loop.
- In the CPUSTRES License Agreement dialog box, select Agree.
- In the CPU Stress dialog box, right-click or access the context menu for the highlighted thread at the top of the list of running threads, select Activity Level, and then select Busy (75%).
Task 2: Capture performance data by using a data collector set
- On SEA-SVR2, switch to Performance Monitor.
- In Performance Monitor, expand Data Collector Sets, and select User Defined.
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In the results pane, right-click or access the context menu for SEA-SVR2 Performance, and then select Start.
Note: Wait 1 minute to allow the data capture to occur.
Task 3: Remove the workload and review the performance data
- On SEA-SVR2, switch to CPU Stress dialog box and close it.
- Switch to Performance Monitor.
- In the navigation pane, right-click or access the context menu for SEA-SVR2 Performance, and then select Stop.
- In Performance Monitor, in the navigation pane, expand Reports, expand User Defined, expand SEA-SVR2 Performance, select SEA-SVR2_DateTime-000002 (where DateTime designates the current timestamp), and then review the report data.
- On the menu bar, select Change graph type or press Ctrl+G, and then select Report.
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As before, record the values that are listed in the report. Recorded values include:
- Memory\Pages/sec
- Network Interface\Bytes Total/sec
- PhysicalDisk\% Disk Time
- PhysicalDisk\Avg. Disk Queue Length
- Processor\% Processor Time
- System\Processor Queue Length
Exercise 3: Viewing and configuring centralized event logs
Task 1: Configure subscription prerequisites
- On SEA-SVR2, switch to Windows PowerShell.
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To enable creating and managing subscriptions of events forwarded to SEA-SVR2, enter the following command and press Enter:
WECUtil qc /q
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To ensure that the event source and collector have their local date and time synchronized, enter the following command and press Enter:
w32tm /resync /computer:SEA-DC1.contoso.com
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To allow WinRM connectivity in case of Kerberos authentication issues, enter the following command and press Enter:
Set-Item WSMan:localhost\client\trustedhosts -Value *.contoso.com -Force
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To establish a PowerShell Remoting session to SEA-DC1, enter the following command and press Enter:
Enter-PSSession -ComputerName SEA-DC1.contoso.com
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To ensure that Windows Remote Management (WinRM) is enabled on SEA-DC1, enter the following command and press Enter:
winrm qc
Note: Verify that the WinRM service is already running and that it’s set up for remote management.
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To ensure that the relevant Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security rules are enabled on SEA-DC1, enter the following command and press Enter:
Set-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup 'Remote Event Log Management' -Enabled True -Profile Domain -PassThru
Note: Leave the Windows PowerShell window open.
- On SEA-SVR2, in the Type here to search text box next to the Start button, enter Active, and then, in the Best match list, select Active Directory Users and Computers.
- In the Active Directory Users and Computers console, select the Builtin container.
- In the Builtin container, select the Event Log Readers group.
- Right-click or access the context menu for the Event Log Readers group, select Properties, and then, in the Event Log Readers Properties dialog box, select the Members tab.
- On the Members tab, select Add.
- In the Select Users, Contacts, Computers, Service Accounts or Groups dialog box, select Object Types.
- In the Object Types dialog box, select the Computers checkbox, and then select OK.
- In the Select Users, Computers, Service Accounts or Groups dialog box, enter SEA-SVR2 in the Enter the object names to select box, and then select OK.
- In the Event Log Readers Properties dialog box, select OK.
Task 2: Create a subscription and verify the results
- On SEA-SVR2, in the Type here to search text box next to the Start button, enter Event, and then, in the Best match list, select Event Viewer.
- In Event Viewer, select Subscriptions in the navigation pane.
- Right-click or access the context menu for Subscriptions, and then select Create Subscription.
- In the Subscription Properties dialog box, enter SEA-DC1 Events in the Subscription name box.
- Ensure that the Collector initiated option is selected, and then select Select Computers.
- In the Computers dialog box, select Add Domain Computers.
- In the Select Computer dialog box, enter SEA-DC1 in the Enter the object name to select box, and then select OK.
- In the Computers dialog box, select OK.
- In the Subscription Properties – SEA-DC1 Events dialog box, select Select Events.
- In the Logged drop-down list, select Last 24 hours.
- In the Query Filter dialog box, select the Critical, Error, Warning, and Information checkboxes.
- In the Event logs drop-down list, expand Windows Logs, and then select the System and Application checkboxes.
- In the Query Filter dialog box, select OK.
- Back in the Subscription Properties – SEA-DC1 Events dialog box, select OK.
- On SEA-SVR2, switch to the Event Viewer window, and then expand Windows Logs in the navigation pane.
- Select Forwarded Events and verify that the forwarded events include those generated on SEA-DC1.