Active Directory Web Services Test

Active Directory Web Services (ADWS) in Windows Server 2012 R2 is a new Windows service that provides a Web service interface to Active Directory domains, Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) instances, and Active Directory Database Mounting Tool instances that are running on the same Windows Server 2012 R2 server as ADWS. If the ADWS service on a Windows Server 2012 R2 server is stopped or disabled, client applications, such as the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell or the Active Directory Administrative Center will not be able to access or manage any directory service instances that are running on this server.

This is why, it is important that administrators are promptly alerted to critical error events and warning events pertaining to the ADWS. The Active Directory Web Services test does just that! This test scans the Active Directory Web Services event log for current and probable problems related to the ADWS, and brings the count and details of such problems to the notice of administrators.

Target of the test : An Active Directory server

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the Filter configured

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters Description

Test period

This indicates how often should the test be executed.

Host

The host for which the test is to be configured.

Port

Refers to the port used by the EventLog Service.  Here it is null.

LogType

Refers to the type of event logs to be monitored. By default, this is set to Active Directory Web Services.

Policy Based Filter

Using this page, administrators can configure the event sources, event IDs, and event descriptions to be monitored by this test. In order to enable administrators to easily and accurately provide this specification, this page provides the following options:

  • Manually specify the event sources, IDs, and descriptions in the Filter text area, or,
  • Select a specification from the predefined filter policies listed in the Filter box

For explicit, manual specification of the filter conditions, select the No option against the Policy Based Filter field. This is the default selection. To choose from the list of pre-configured filter policies, or to create a new filter policy and then associate the same with the test, select the Yes option against this field.

Filter

By default, the all filter policy is set for this test. This filter policy is pre-configured to monitor all events in the Active Directory Web Services log, regardless of the event source or event ID. If required, you can modify this filter policy definition by clicking the encircled ‘+’ icon alongside the filter text area. Clicking on this icon leads you to a page where you can modify the all filter policy by specifying a different policy name and/or by by including/excluding specific event sources, event ids, and event descriptions in the Active Directory Web Services log.

Note:

The Event sources and Event IDs specified here should be exactly the same as that which appears in the Event Viewer window.  

UseWMI

The eG agent can either use WMI to extract event log statistics or directly parse the event logs using event log APIs. If this flag is Yes, then WMI is used. If not, the event log APIs are used. This option is provided because on some Windows systems (especially ones with service pack 3 or lower), the use of WMI access to event logs can cause the CPU usage of the WinMgmt process to shoot up. On such systems, set this parameter value to No.

DDforInformation

eG Enterprise also provides you with options to restrict the amount of storage required for event log tests. Towards this end, the DDforinformation flag is made available in this page. By default, this flag set to No, indicating that by default, the test conserves space in the eG database by not generating and storing detailed measures for information events. If you want to view and analyze information events, then set the DDforinformation flag to Yes.

DD Frequency

Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD frequency.

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

AD web service information messages

This refers to the number of information events that were captured by the Active Directory Web Services log during the test's last execution.

Number

A change in value of this measure may indicate infrequent but successful operations.

Please check the Active Directory Web Services log in the Event Log Viewer for more details.

AD web service warnings

This refers to the number of warning events captured by the Active Directory Web Services log during the test's last execution.

Number

A high value of this measure indicates problems that may not have an immediate impact, but may cause future problems.

Please check the Active Directory Web Services log in the Event Log Viewer for more details.

AD web service errors

This refers to the number of error events captured by the Active Directory Web Services log during the test's last execution.

Number

A very low value (zero) is desired for this measure, as it indicates good health.

An increasing trend or a high value indicates the existence of problems.

Please check the Active Directory Web Services log in the Event Log Viewer for more details.

AD web service critical errors

Indicates the number of critical events that were generated when the test was last executed.

Number

A critical event is one that the ADWS cannot automatically recover from.

A very low value (zero) indicates that the service is in a healthy state and is running smoothly without any potential problems.

An increasing trend or high value indicates the existence of fatal/irrepairable problems.

The detailed diagnosis of this measure describes all the critical events captured by the Active Directory Web Services log during the last measurement period.

Please check the Active Directory Web Services log in the Event Log Viewer for more details.

AD web service verbose messages

Indicates the number of verbose events that were generated when the test was last executed.

Number

Verbose logging provides more details in the log entry, which will enable you to troubleshoot issues better.

The detailed diagnosis of this measure describes all the verbose events that were captured by the Active Directory Web Services log during the last measurement period.

Please check the Active Directory Web Services log in the Event Log Viewer for more details.