SQL Job Status Test

This test reports the current status of configured SQL jobs. This test has been disabled by default. To enable this test, go to the enable / disable tests page using the menu sequence : Agents -> Tests -> Enable/Disable, pick Microsoft SQL as the Component type, Performance as the Test type, choose this test from the disabled tests list, and click on the << button to move the test to the ENABLED TESTS list. Finally, click the Update button.

Target of the test : A Microsoft SQL server

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every job that has been configured for monitoring

Configurable parameters for the test
TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed Host – The IP address of the Microsoft SQL server. Port - The port number through which the Microsoft SQL server communicates. The default port is 1433. ssl – If the Microsoft SQL server being monitored is an SSL-enabled server, then set the ssl flag to Yes. If not, then set the ssl flag to No. instance - In this text box, enter the name of a specific Microsoft SQL instance that is to be monitored. The default value of this parameter is “default”. To monitor a Microsoft SQL instance named “CFS”, enter this as the value of the INSTANCE parameter. USER – If a Microsoft SQL Server 7.0/2000 is monitored, then provide the name of a SQL user with the Sysadmin role in this text box. While monitoring a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or above, provide the name of a SQL user with all of the privileges outlined in User Privileges Required for Monitoring Microsoft SQL server. password - The password of the specified user. confirm password - Confirm the password by retyping it. domain - By default, none is displayed in the DOMAIN text box. If the ‘SQL server and Windows’ authentication has been enabled for the server being monitored, then the DOMAIN can continue to be none. On the other hand, if ‘Windows only’ authentication has been enabled, then, in the DOMAIN text box, specify the Windows domain in which the managed Microsoft SQL server exists. Also, in such a case, the USER name and PASSWORD that you provide should be that of a user authorized to access the monitored SQL server. isntlmv2 - In some Windows networks, NTLM (NT LAN Manager) may be enabled. NTLM is a suite of Microsoft security protocols that provides authentication, integrity, and confidentiality to users. NTLM version 2 (“NTLMv2”) was concocted to address the security issues present in NTLM. By default, the isntlmv2 flag is set to No, indicating that NTLMv2 is not enabled by default on the target Microsoft SQL host. Set this flag to Yes if NTLMv2 is enabled on the target host. ISPASSIVE – If the value chosen is yes, then the Microsoft SQL server under consideration is a passive server in a SQL cluster. No alerts will be generated if the server is not running. Measures will be reported as “Not applicable" by the agent if the server is not up. jobname - Specify the job to be monitored in the JOBNAME text box. If multiple jobs are to be monitored, then provide a comma-seperated list of job names. 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

Number of run times for the SQL job

Indicates the number of times the job has run.

Number

Avg duration of SQL job

Indicates the average time taken by the job to execute.

Secs

By comparing the value of this metric across the current jobs, you can accurately identify the job that is taking too long to complete. Also, note that if the value of the Number of run times for the SQL job measure is equal to zero, then the Avg duration of the SQL job measure will not appear in the eG user interface.

Status of the SQL job

Indicates the status of this job.

Number

If the value of this measure is 0, it means that the job has failed. In such a case, use the detailed diagnosis of the Number of run times for the SQL job measure to determine the root-cause of the failure. The value 3 for this measure indicates that the job was cancelled, and the value 1 denotes that the job executed successfully. However, note that if the value of the Number of run times for the SQL job measure is equal to zero, then the Status of the SQL job measure will not appear in the eG user interface.

The values reported by this measure and their numeric equivalents are available in the table below:

Measure Value	Numeric Value
Failed	0
Successful	1
Cancelled	3

Note:

This measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the status of the SQL job. However, in the graph, this measure is indicated using the Numeric Values listed in the above table.

Running duration

Indicates the time duration for which this job is running.

Seconds

A value of 0 for this measure indicates that the job is currently not running.

A sudden/gradual increase in the value of this measure is a cause of concern. A high value for this measure may be due to one or more of the following reasons:

No good indexes are available
Blocking
Poor performance of the hardware
Throttled by Resource Governor

Average duration of last 10 successful executions

Indicates the average time duration taken by this job for the last 10 successful executions.

Seconds

Does current duration exceed average duration?

Indicates whether/not the current duration for which this job is executed exceeds the Average duration of last 10 successful executions measure.

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure value	Numeric Value
Yes	1
No	0

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate whether / not the current running status of the job exceeds the average duration. The graph of this measure however, is represented using the numeric equivalents only i.e., 0 or 1.

The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the current time of this job, the time at which the execution of the job was started, the duration for which the job was running and the previous average run time of the job.