•  This is a property bag.
•  A timestamp indicating when it was submitted to the management server.
•  The name/value pairs contained in the property bag.

#Script: Test.ps1

# Here we create the com object
$api = new-object -comObject 'MOM.ScriptAPI'
# From the com object we spawn the bag. Now we can stuff things into the bag.
$bag = $api.CreatePropertyBag()

# Here I've added an assortment of different type things to the bag. 
# They each have a name and a value.
$bag.AddValue('ONE',[string]"My String" )
$bag.AddValue('TWO',[Decimal]9876543210987654321)
$bag.AddValue('THREE',[double]987654321 )
$bag.AddValue('FOUR',[int]4444 )
$bag.AddValue('FIVE',[float]55.66 )
$bag.AddValue('SIX',[byte]56 )
$bag.AddValue('SEVEN',[datetime]"03/04/2012" )
$bag.AddValue('EIGHT',[long]987654321 )
$bag.AddValue('NINE', $null )

# Here is how I would ordinarily return the bag so 
# that the SCOM workflow can use the contents of the bag.
$bag

# Here is how I can display the contents of the bag to the screen. This is 
# useful only when testing the script manually.
$api.Return($bag)

SCOMHelper Module Functions:

New-SCOMClassGraph

New-SCOMClassGraph -ClassName 'Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.Database'

Get-SCOMClass | Select Name,Displayname, @{N='ManagementPackName';E={$_.Identifier.Domain[0]} }| Out-GridView -PassThru | New-SCOMClassGraph

Get-SCOMClass -Name 'Microsoft.SQLServer.2012.Publication' | New-SCOMClassGraph

Get-SCOMClass -Name 'Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.ResourcePool','Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.Database' | New-SCOMClassGraph -Combine

Start-SCOMOverrideTool

• Bulk enabled/disable workflows for their target class
• Bulk delete overrides
• Bulk move overrides between unsealed management packs
• Remove all obsolete references in all unsealed packs
• Backup all unsealed management packs
• Create a new override management pack

Show-SCOMPropertyBag

# Store property bag(s) in variable as hash table
$var = Show-SCOMPropertyBag -FilePath C:\test\MyTestPB_script.ps1 -Format HashTable

# Display property bags (basic summary table)
$var.values

# Display value in detail example
$var[1][3].Value

Clear-SCOMCache

Disable-SCOMAllEventRules

# -------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------
# Disable all event collections found in the designated MP. Overrides stored in specific override pack. 
Disable-SCOMAllEventRules -ManagementPack (Get-SCOMManagementPack -Name 'Microsoft.Windows.Server.2012.Monitoring')


# -------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
# Disable all event collections found in the designated MPs. A specific override pack will be created for each base pack. 
Disable-SCOMAllEventRules -ManagementPack (Get-SCOMManagementPack -Name  @('Microsoft.SQLServer.2012.Mirroring.Discovery','Microsoft.SQLServer.2008.Discovery') )


# -------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------
# Create an array of MP names. 
$names=@"
Microsoft.SystemCenter.2007
Microsoft.Windows.Server.2012.Monitoring
Microsoft.Windows.Server.2012.R2.Monitoring
Microsoft.Windows.Server.AD.2012.R2.Monitoring
Microsoft.SystemCenter.Apm.Infrastructure.Monitoring
Microsoft.SystemCenter.ACS.Internal
Microsoft.Windows.Server.DNS
"@ -split "\n" -replace "`r",""

# Retrieve array of management packs then pipe those MPs into the function.
# A specific override pack will be created for each base pack listed above.
Get-SCOMManagementPack -Name $names | Disable-SCOMAllEventRules

Export-EffectiveMonitoringConfiguration

Export-SCOMEventsToCSV

Export-SCOMEventsToCSV -Newest 1000 -OutFileCSV 'C:\SCOMEvents.csv'

Export-SCOMKnowledge

Get-SCOMClassInfo

Get-SCOMClassInfo -Top 10

Get-SCOMClassInfo -Top 15 -MPStats -ShowGraph

Get-SCOMHealthCheckOpsConfig

Get-SCOMMPFileInfo

Get-SCOMMPFileInfo -inDir 'C:\Temp\en_system_center_2012_r2_operations_manager_x86_and_x64_dvd_2920299\ManagementPacks'

Get-SCOMMPFileInfo -inDir 'C:\Temp\MyManagementPacks' | Import-SCOMManagementPack –Verbose

Get-SCOMRunAsAccountName

Get-SCOMRunAsAccountName -SSID '0000F61CD9E515695ED4A018518C053E3CD87251D500000000000000000000000000000000000000'

Get-StringHash

Get-SCOMClass -name 'microsoft.windows.server.computer' | Select-Object -Property Name | Get-StringHash

Get-StringHash "Creepy Cat Guy"

Ping-AllHosts

Ping-AllHosts -DelayMS 3000 -Count 999

Remove-SCOMObsoleteReferenceFromMPFile

Remove-SCOMObsoleteReferenceFromMPFile -inFile 'C:\Unsealed MPs\MyOverrides.xml' -outDir 'C:\Usealed MPs\Modified MPs'

Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:\CustomMPsExported' | Remove-SCOMObsoleteReferenceFromMPFile -outDir 'C:\Usealed MPs\Modified MPs'

Set-SCOMMPAliases

Set-SCOMMPAliases -InputPath 'C:\UnSealedMPs\'

Show-SCOMModules

Show-SCOMModules | Out-GridView

Test-Port

Test-Port -Computer db01,"192.168.1.1",'ms01.contoso.com' -Port 80,53,139

Unseal-SCOMMP

Unseal-SCOMMP -inDir 'C:\Program Files (x86)\System Center Management Packs' -outDir 'C:\Temp\Unsealed'

Installation:

Find-Module scomhelper -Repository PSGallery | Install-Module -Verbose

Overview:

Which web server?

How many classes are there? How many files will be created?

Installation Steps:

Today I’m writing about an elusive problem with a management pack that I was authoring recently. I was writing a generic datasource for a registry discovery; that is a discovery that will instantiate a class based on the existence of a registry key on the Target machine, and generic because I will use a single RegistryProbe datasource for discovery of multiple different class types. (This will save me some time down the road when using the VSAE Discovery template group in Visual Studio). If the registry key exists, the specified class will be discovered. When I attempted to initiate a build (something I do incrementally after minor changes to verify that what I just changed is valid) I encountered an ambiguous error:

------ Build started: Project: WF.Fax, Configuration: Debug x86 ------
     Starting MP Build for WF.Fax.
     Starting Fragment Verification
     Resolving Project References
     Starting Merge Management Pack Fragments
     Starting Pre Processing
     Starting MP Verify
Service Model\Classes.mpx(10,9): warning TypeDefinitionInUnsealedMP: Unsealed management packs should not contain type definitions.  The element WF.Fax.RightFax.Server.Class of type ManagementPackClass found in an unsealed management pack.   (Path = WF.Fax.RightFax.Server.Class)
C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VSAC\Microsoft.SystemCenter.OperationsManager.targets(270,5): error : Failed to verify module reference [Type=ManagementPackElement=System.Discovery.ClassSnapshotDataMapper in ManagementPack:[Name=System.Library, KeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, Version=7.5.8501.0], ID=Mapping] in the MemberModules list.
: Incorrect XPATH reference: ClassId.
    (Path = WF.Fax.RegistryProbe.Discovery.DS/Mapping)
Done building project "WF.Fax.mpproj" -- FAILED.

========== Build: 0 succeeded or up-to-date, 1 failed, 0 skipped ==========

There were a few key pieces of info here:

Failed to verify module reference [Type=ManagementPackElement=System.Discovery.ClassSnapshotDataMapper
- This tells me there is something wrong with how I’m using this module.

Incorrect XPATH reference: ClassId
-  This tells me there something wrong with this parameter

(Path = WF.Fax.RegistryProbe.Discovery.DS/Mapping)
-  This tells me where the problem is located: in the ‘Mapping’ section of the ‘WF.Fax.RegistryProbe.Discovery.DS’ module.

I once again visited the MSDN site where I found documentation for the reference module (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee692953.aspx) and I copied the section of code from the Example into my Visual Studio 2017 SCOM 2016 MP project and BAM! I was able to build it successfully. The code from the example appeared to be absolutely identical to what I had first written.

Here’s what I first used (broken):
<ConditionDetection ID="Mapping" TypeID="System!System.Discovery.ClassSnapshotDataMapper">
     <!--https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee692953.aspx-->
     <ClassId>$Config/ClassId$</ClassId>
     <InstanceSettings>$Config/InstanceSettings$</InstanceSettings>
</ConditionDetection>

Here’s the working code (builds successfully):
<ConditionDetection ID="Mapping" TypeID="System!System.Discovery.ClassSnapshotDataMapper">
     <!--https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee692953.aspx-->
     <ClassId>$Config/ClassID$</ClassId>
     <InstanceSettings>$Config/InstanceSettings$</InstanceSettings>
</ConditionDetection>

Notice anything different about those two snippets?  Well I didn’t see a darn thing different but one would build and the other would not. Why? Whyyyyy?!?! I was getting really frustrated because I needed to know. I decided to go toe to toe with the universe on this one and bust out some PowerShell skills to solve my problem. I decided to do an individual character comparison of the two strings.

I’m not sharing the MP at this time because it’s for a customer and it’s actually not finished yet (at the time of this writing) but here’s the resulting script available for download. My initial version was much uglier but I decided to polish it up and add it to the Gallery so maybe it might help others some day.

“This is an easy way to compare two strings. The script will compare individual characters and output the ASCII values, hash values, and comparison results for each. This is useful when two strings appear to be the same but may have different characters (encodings or ASCII values). The script contains a function of the same name so that this can be included easily into a profile or module.” (Example: ‘dot source’ the script in your PowerShell profile.)

Here’s an example of how the script works:

In order to solve the mystery of why the universe was smiting me I created two “here” strings, one for each snippet of code and then I compared them with the script:

The Result:

Here’s the problem:

“ID” should be capitalized in “ClassID”. 

Mystery solved, I’m an idiot. I overlooked one single character.

This error should have tipped me off: Incorrect XPATH reference: ClassId

I went to a bit of trouble to track down the answer here and in the end it was a tiny typo. This is not the first time that a tiny typo like this or hidden encoded character has caused me major headache. Now I have another script to add to my toolset so hopefully next time I can breeze through the problem in little time.

Report Example

Usage Examples

All Active Directory Management Packs:

(Get-SCOMManagementPack -Name *.AD.*) | .\Export-SCOMKnowledge.ps1 -OutFolder 'C:\MyReports' -Topic "AD_" -ShowResult

All Active Directory Management Packs with Filtered Workflow Name:

.\Export-SCOMKnowledge.ps1 -OutFolder 'C:\Export' -ManagementPack (Get-SCOMManagementPack -Name "*ad.*") -Filter '201[0-6]'

.\Export-SCOMKnowledge.ps1 -OutFolder 'C:\Export' -ManagementPack (Get-SCOMManagementPack -Name "*ad.*") -Filter '(?=200[0-8])((?!Monitoring).)*$'

All SQL MPs:

.\Export-SCOMKnowledge.ps1 -OutFolder "C:\Temp" -ManagementPack (Get-SCOMManagementPack -Name *SQL*) -Topic "SQL_Packs_"

ALL Rules and Monitors in the SCOM Management Group:

.\Export-SCOMKnowledge.ps1 -OutFolder "C:\MyReports" -ManagementServer "ms01.contoso.com" -NoKnowledgeExclude

This is a way to use management pack files (.mp and .xml) from a directory path with specific topics. The below script example will use management pack files which names match the array of Topics.

##---- CONFIGURE THESE VARIABLES ----##
# Location of management pack files
$inDir = 'C:\Program Files (x86)\System Center Management Packs\'
# Output directory
$outDir = 'C:\'
# Management pack file names which match these strings will be selected
$topics = "DHCP,DNS,FileServices,GroupPolicy,DFS,FileReplication"
##---- CONFIGURE THESE VARIABLES ----##

$FilePaths =@()
$h = @{}
# Will export data for each management pack file name matching the topic name. 
ForEach ($topic in $topics.Split(',')){
    Write-Host "Topic: $topic" -BackgroundColor Black -ForegroundColor Yellow
    $FilePaths = Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Include "*$topic*.mp*","*$topic*.xml*" -File -Path $inDir | Select fullname
    $FilePaths | ForEach {$h.(Split-Path $_.FullName -Leaf) = $_.FullName }
    If (!($h.Count)){ Continue;} #If no matching file found, skip to next topic
    $h.Keys
    ""
    $MPs = (Get-SCOMManagementPack -ManagementPackFile ($h.Values | % {$_} )  )
    & '.\Export-SCOMKnowledge.ps1' -OutFolder $outDir -ManagementPack $MPs -Topic $Topic
}

Back in 2010 Steve Rachui posted a fantastic management pack which added support for monitoring Windows 2003 and 2008 print servers. The original post is located here so you can read all about the functionality:

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/steverac/2010/12/04/focusing-on-the-printer-printer-monitoring-mp-supplement/

In summary:

“Printer MP Supplement
The focus for building out this MP supplement was to offer individualized printer monitoring.  Further, monitoring should include the ability to detect the 12 error conditions available from the printer MP in the catalog and each error condition should be configurable as to whether or not it is enabled and, if so, how long the error condition should persist before considering it to be a problem.  Lets walk through the MP.” –Steve

Introducing the “Tasty Printer Monitoring” management pack. I made a few changes and improvements. I streamlined the discovery scripts for the Printer and Print Server (role and server) classes. There are now only 3 scripts (1 for printers, 1 for print server roles, 1 for print servers)  instead of an individual script for each OS version role and each OS version server. I cleaned up a few little things and renamed the MP so this is not an “update” to the original management pack. This is technically a different pack. You would not want to use both this pack and the original. If this new one meets your needs then you should remove the older pack. All of the Printer Role discoveries are enabled by default (2003, 2008, 2012, 2016).

Here are a few screenshots from my lab. I don’t have many printers so I had to manipulate my lab for these screenshots so that even the non-shared printers were discovered. THIS IS ONLY FOR THESE EXAMPLE SCREENSHOTS. Only your shared printers will be discovered.

This is just an example of my lab where I enabled the discovery of the non-shared printers for demonstration purposes only.

Normally your standard printer types would not be discovered (“Microsoft Print to PDF”, “Microsoft XPS Document Writer”, “Fax”, etc.)

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