Using this test, the eG Enterprise Suite leverages the DCDIAG utility's ability to report on a wide variety of health parameters related to the domain controller. This ensures that even the smallest of aberrations in the performance of the domain controller is captured and promptly brought to the attention of the administrators. The ADChecksTest test executes the DCDIAG command at configured intervals, and based on the output of the command, reports the count of DCDIAG health checks (i.e., tests) that succeeded and failed in the last measurement period. The detailed diagnosis of the Active Directory Checks test will provide detailed information pertaining to tests that failed, and thus assists in troubleshooting.

Note:

For this test to run, the DCDIAG.exe should be available in the <WINDOWS_INSTALL_DIR>\windows\system32 directory of the AD server to be monitored. The DCDIAG utility ships with the Windows Server 2003 Support Tools and is built into Windows 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008. This utility may hence not be available in older versions of the Windows operating sytem. When monitoring the AD server on such Windows hosts, this test will run only if the DCDIAG.exe is copied from the <WINDOWS_INSTALL_DIR>\windows\system32 directory any Windows 2003 (or higher) host in the environment to the same directory on the target host.

The default parameters associated with this test are:

• The TEST PERIOD list box helps the user to decide how often this test needs to be executed.

• Specify the IP address of the machine where the Active Directory is installed in the HOST text box.

• Specify the port number through which the Active Directory communicates in the PORT text box. The default port number is 389.

• In order to execute the DCDIAG command, the eG agent has to be configured with a domain administrator's privileges. Therefore, specify the domain name and login credentials of the domain administrator in the DOMAIN, USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

• Confirm the PASSWORD by retyping it in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box.

• To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG system 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 against DETAILED DIAGNOSIS. 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 bad and normal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

• If multiple components of the same component type are awaiting configuration, then an APPLY TO OTHER COMPONENTS check box will appear in this page. Clicking on this check box will allow you to apply the configuration to all/selected components of that type.

• Once the necessary values have been provided, clicking on the UPDATE button will register the changes made.

When changing the configuration for specific servers, a “*” beside the text box corresponding to the parameter signifies that these values have to be manually configured by the user. The parameter values that require to be configured will typically be prefixed with a “$” or contain a series of “*”. A value of "none" in the parameter value indicates that the corresponding parameter value can be changed if required.