Windows PowerShell Processes Test

This test reports the availability of and resource consumption of the PowerShell processes running on a target Windows host. Alerts are sent out if any process is over-utilizing critical system resources. Detailed diagnostics of the test reveals the top PowerShell processes in terms of resource consumption. In the event of a resource contention on the host, these detailed metrics will point you to the exact PowerShell process that is the reason for the resource bottleneck.

Target of the test : A Windows host

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the monitored Windows host

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	The host for which the test is to be configured.
Port	The port at which the specified Host listens.
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
CPU utilization	Indicates the average CPU usage of the PowerShell processes on this host.	Percent	A value close to 100% implies that PowerShell processes are consuming CPU excessively. In such a case, use the detailed diagnosis of the Number of processes running measure to identify those processes that are contributing to the CPU contention.
Number of processes running	Indicates the number of PowerShell processes that are currently running.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know which PowerShell processes are currently running, and how much resources are consumed by each process. Resource-hungry PowerShell processes can thus be identified.
Memory utilization	Indicates the percent memory usage of the PowerShell processes running on the host.	Percent	A value close to 100% implies that PowerShell processes are consuming memory excessively. In such a case, use the detailed diagnosis of the Number of processes running measure to identify those processes that are contributing to the memory contention.
Handle count	Indicates the number of handles opened by the PowerShell processes.	Number	An increasing trend in this measure is indicative of a memory leak. Use the detailed diagnosis of the Number of processes running measure to identify which PowerShell process is leaking memory.
Number of threads	Indicates the number of threads that are used by the PowerShell processes.	Number
Virtual memory used	Indicates the amount of virtual memory that is being used by the PowerShell processes.	MB
I/O data rate	Indicates the rate at which PowerShell processes are reading and writing bytes in I/O operations.	KB/Sec	If the value of this measure is unusually high, it could be a sign that one/more PowerShell processes are engaged in I/O-intensive activities. Use the detailed diagnosis of the Number of processes running measure to identify such processes.
I/O data operations	Indicates the rate at which PowerShell processes are issuing read and write data to file, network and device I/O operations.	Operations/Sec	If the value of this measure is consistently high, it could mean that n that one/more PowerShell processes are engaged in I/O-heavy processing. Use the detailed diagnosis of the Number of processes running measure to identify such processes.
I/O read data rate	Indicates the rate at which the PowerShell proecsses are reading data from file, network and device I/O operations.	KB/Sec
I/O write data rate	Indicates the rate at which the PowerShell processes are writing data to file, network and device I/O operations.	KB/Sec
Page fault rate	Indicates the total rate at which page faults are occurring for the threads of the PowerShell processes.	Faults/Sec	A page fault occurs when a thread refers to a virtual memory page that is not in its working set in main memory. This may not cause the page to be fetched from disk if it is on the standby list and hence already in main memory, or if it is in use by another process with whom the page is shared.
Memory working set	Indicates the average size of the working set of PowerShell processes.	MB	The Working Set is the set of memory pages touched recently by the threads in the process. If free memory in the computer is above a threshold, pages are left in the Working Set of a process even if they are not in use. When free memory falls below a threshold, pages are trimmed from Working Sets. If they are needed they will then be soft-faulted back into the Working Set before leaving main memory. If a process pattern matches multiple processes, the memory working set reported is the sum of the working sets for the processes that match the specified pattern. Detailed diagnosis for this test provides details of the individual processes and their individual working sets. Use the detailed diagnosis of the Number of processes running measure to compare the working set across PowerShell processes . This will point you to the process(es) are taking up excessive memory. By tracking the working set of a process over time, you can determine if the application has a memory leak or not.
Write operation	Indicates the total number of write operations performed by the PowerShell processes.	Number	An unusually high value of this measure could indicate that PowerShell processes are performing an abnormally large number of writes. In such circumstances, use the detailed diagnosis of the Number of processes running measure to identify the precise process that is responsible for the maximum number of writes.
Read operation	Indicates the total number of read operations performed by the PowerShell processes.	Number	An unusually high value of this measure could indicate that PowerShell processes are performing an abnormally large number of reads. In such circumstances, use the detailed diagnosis of the Number of processes running measure to identify the precise process that is responsible for the maximum number of reads.
Write data	Indicates the amount of data written to disk by PowerShell processes.	MB	If the value of these measures is abnormally high, it could hint at a potential I/O-contention. In this case, use the detailed diagnosis of the Number of processes running measure to identify the I/O-intensive processes.
Read data	Indicates the amount of data read from disk by PowerShell processes.	MB
Uptime	Indicates the total uptime of PowerShell processes.	Minutes