How To Create and Configure Performance Monitor Alerts in Windows 2000 (302558)

SUMMARY

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This step-by-step article describes how to create and configure Trace alerts.

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How to Create an Alert

To create or modify a log configuration, you must have Full Control permission for the following registry key that controls the Performance alerts and Alerts service: To create an alert:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Performance.
2. Double-click Performance Logs and Alerts, and then click Alerts.
   
   NOTE: Any existing alerts are listed in the Details pane. A green icon indicates that the logs are running, and a red icon indicates alerts that have stopped.
3. Right-click a blank area in the Details pane, and then click New Alert Settings.
4. In the Name box, type the name of the trace log you want to create, and then click OK.
5. To define a comment for your alert, add counters, alert thresholds, and the sample interval, use the General tab. To define actions that should occur when counter data triggers an alert, use the Action tab, and to define when the service should begin scanning for alerts, use the Schedule tab.

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How to Configure Counter Logs

Define Counters and Thresholds for an Alert

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Performance.
2. Double-click Performance and Alerts, and then click Alerts.
3. In the Details pane, double-click the alert.
4. In the Comment box, type an appropriate comment to describe the alert, and then click Add.
5. For each counter or group of counters that you want to add to the log, perform the following steps:
   1. To monitor counters from the computer on which the Performance Logs and Alerts service will run, click Use local computer counters. Or, to monitor counters from a specific computer regardless of where the service is run, click Select counters from computer, and then specify the name of the computer you want to monitor.
   2. Under Performance object, click an object to monitor.
   3. Under Performance counters, click one or more counters to monitor.
   4. To monitor all instances of the selected counters, click All Instances. Note that binary logs can include instances that are not available at log startup but subsequently become available. Or, to monitor particular instances of the selected counters, click Select Instances From List, and then click one or more instances to monitor.
   5. Click Close once you have added the appropriate counter.
6. In the Alert when the value is box, specify Under or Over, and specify the value that triggers the alert in the Limit box.
7. Under Sample data every, specify the amount and the unit of measure for the update interval. Complete the alert configuration by using the Action and Schedule tabs.

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Define Actions for an Alert

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Performance.
2. Double-click Performance alerts and Alerts, and then click Alerts.
3. In the Details pane, double-click the alert, and then click the Action tab.
4. To have the Performance Logs and Alerts service create an entry that is visible in Event Viewer, click Log an entry in the application event log.
5. To have the service trigger the Messenger service to send a message, click Send a network message to, and then type the name of the computer on which the alert message should be displayed.
6. To run a counter log when an alert occurs, click Start performance data log, and then specify the counter log you want to run.
7. To have a program run when an alert occurs, click Run this program, and then type the file path and name or click Browse to locate the file. When an alert occurs, the service creates a process and runs the specified command file. The service also copies any command-line arguments you define to the command line that is used to run the file. Click Command Line Arguments and select the appropriate check boxes for arguments to include when the program is run.

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