OpsMgr Dashboard Fun: Server Details Using SquaredUp

After my previous post on how to create a performance view using SquaredUp, the founder of SquaredUp, Richard Benwell told me that I can also use “&embed=true” parameter in the URL to get rid of the headers. I also managed to create another widget to display server details. Combined with the performance view, I create a dashboard like this:

The bottom left is the improved version of the performance view (using embed parameter), and the right pane is the server details page:

This server detail view contains the following information:

• Alerts associated to the computer
• Health states of the Distributed Apps that this computer is a part of.
• Health State of its hosted components (Equivalent to the Health Explorer??)
• Discovered properties of this computer

Combined with the performance view, it gives a good overview of the current state of the computer from different angles.

Here’s the script for this server detail view:

Param($globalSelectedItems)
$dataObject = $ScriptContext.CreateInstance("xsd://Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library!Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library.WebBrowser.Schema/Request")
$dataObject["BaseUrl"]=<a href="http://<Your SquaredUp Web Server>/SquaredUp/object">http://Your SquaredUp Web Server/SquaredUp/object</a>
$parameterCollection = $ScriptContext.CreateCollection("xsd://Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library!Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library.WebBrowser.Schema/UrlParameter[]")
$bValid = $false
foreach ($globalSelectedItem in $globalSelectedItems)
{
  $parameter0 = $ScriptContext.CreateInstance("xsd://Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library!Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library.WebBrowser.Schema/UrlParameter")
  $parameter0["Name"] = "objectId"
  $parameter0["Value"] = $globalSelectedItem["Id"]

  $parameter1 = $ScriptContext.CreateInstance("xsd://Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library!Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library.WebBrowser.Schema/UrlParameter")
  $parameter1["Name"] = "Embed"
  $parameter1["Value"] = "true"

  $parameterCollection.Add($parameter0)
  $parameterCollection.Add($parameter1)
  $bValid = $true
}
If ($bValid)
{
  $dataObject["Parameters"]= $parameterCollection
  $ScriptContext.ReturnCollection.Add($dataObject)
}

And here’s the script for the improved performance view (with “&embed=true” parameter):

Param($globalSelectedItems)
$dataObject = $ScriptContext.CreateInstance("xsd://Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library!Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library.WebBrowser.Schema/Request")
$dataObject["BaseUrl"]=<a href="http://<Your Squaredup Web Server>/SquaredUp/performance/objectoverview">http://Your Squaredup Web Server/SquaredUp/performance/objectoverview</a>
$parameterCollection = $ScriptContext.CreateCollection("xsd://Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library!Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library.WebBrowser.Schema/UrlParameter[]")
$bValid = $false
foreach ($globalSelectedItem in $globalSelectedItems)
{
  $parameter0 = $ScriptContext.CreateInstance("xsd://Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library!Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library.WebBrowser.Schema/UrlParameter")
  $parameter0["Name"] = "objectId"
  $parameter0["Value"] = $globalSelectedItem["Id"]

  $parameter1 = $ScriptContext.CreateInstance("xsd://Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library!Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library.WebBrowser.Schema/UrlParameter")
  $parameter1["Name"] = "timeframe"
  $parameter1["Value"] = "Last12Hours"

  $parameter2 = $ScriptContext.CreateInstance("xsd://Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library!Microsoft.SystemCenter.Visualization.Component.Library.WebBrowser.Schema/UrlParameter")
  $parameter2["Name"] = "Embed"
  $parameter2["Value"] = "true"

  $parameterCollection.Add($parameter0)
  $parameterCollection.Add($parameter1)
  $parameterCollection.Add($parameter2)
  $bValid = $true
}
If ($bValid)
{
  $dataObject["Parameters"]= $parameterCollection
  $ScriptContext.ReturnCollection.Add($dataObject)
}

I’d also like to clarify that my examples are just providing alternative ways to utilise SquaredUp and display useful information on a single pane of glass (dashboards).  I don’t want to mislead the readers of article to have an impression that SquaredUp relies on native OpsMgr consoles and dashboards. In my opinion and experience with SquaredUp, I think it is a perfect replacement to the built-in OpsMgr web console.