Configuration parameters for the Database Server properties

In the Database Server Properties window, you can configure the Database Server properties, such as server name, database version and home directory.

The following table contains the descriptions of the configuration settings in the Database Server Properties window.
Table 1. Names and descriptions of configuration settings in the Database Server Properties window
Parameter name Description Mandatory field Examples
Server Name The name of the Microsoft SQL Server instance that is to be monitored.

Use MSSQLSERVER as the instance name for the default instance.

The name must be 2 - 32 characters in length to fit the total managed system name.

Yes If the Microsoft SQL Server instance that is monitored is the default Microsoft SQL Server instance, enter MSSQLSERVER in this field.

If the Microsoft SQL Server instance that is monitored is a named instance where the instance name is mysqlserver and the host name is popcorn, enter mysqlserver in this field.

Login The Microsoft SQL Server user ID used to connect to the Microsoft SQL Server.

The user ID is required when Windows Authentication parameter is set to False.

Use only ASCII characters for the User ID.

When you configure the Microsoft SQL Server agent by specifying a login ID in the Login field, the agent uses this login ID to connect to the Microsoft SQL Server.
Important: While configuring the agent, if you select the Windows Authentication check box and specify a login ID in the Login field, the agent gives preference to the Windows Authentication.
No
Password The password for the Microsoft SQL Server user ID.

Password is required only when Windows Authentication parameter is set to False.

Use only ASCII characters for the password.

No  
Database Version The version of SQL server instance. Yes
The database versions for SQL server instance are as follows:
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2014 - 12.0.2000.8
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2012 - 11.0.2100.60
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 - 10.50.1600.1
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 - 10.0.1600.22
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 - 9.0.1399.06
Home Directory The SQL server installation directory. Yes The default home directory path for the default Microsoft SQL Server 2005 instance is C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.

A named Microsoft SQL Server 2005 instance has a default home directory path in the format C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL$instance_name, where instance_name is the Microsoft SQL Server instance name.

Error Log File The fully qualified location and name of the SQL Server error log. Yes The default error log path for the default Microsoft SQL Server 2005 instance is C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\LOG\ERRORLOG.

A named Microsoft SQL Server 2005 instance has a default error log path in the format C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL$instance_name\LOG\ERRORLOG, where instance_name is the Microsoft SQL Server instance name.

Windows
Authentication
Windows Authentication is a Windows account with which the agent services are configured, and is the default configuration option.

If you select the Windows Authentication check box, Windows credentials are used for authentication.

When the Microsoft SQL Server agent is configured with Windows Authentication, either Local System account or This account is used by the agent services to log on to the Microsoft SQL Server.
  • If the agent services are configured to use Local System account to log on, the agent uses the NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM user ID to access the Microsoft SQL Server.
  • If the agent services are configured to use This account to log on, the agent uses the respective user ID to access the Microsoft SQL Server.
Remember: If you do not select the Windows Authentication check box, you must specify values for the Login and Password parameters. If you do not specify these parameters and click OK in the Database Server Properties window, an error message is displayed and the agent configuration does not finish.
Important: If you configure the agent by selecting the Windows Authentication check box and specifying a login ID in the Login field, the agent gives preference to the Windows Authentication.
No  
Support Long Lived Database Connections Enables or disables long lived database connections. The following data sets do not use long-lived database connections:
  • MS SQL Text
  • MS SQL Filegroup Detail
  • MS SQL Server Summary
No  
Extended Parms Disables data collection of any attribute group. No

For example:

To disable the data collection for Table Details data set, enter koqtbld in the Extended Parms field.

To disable the data collection for Database Details data set, enter koqdbd in the Extended Parms field.

To disable the data collection for Table Details and Database Details data sets, enter koqtbld,koqdbd in the Extended Parms field.

Database
To select the databases for monitoring, specify a value for this parameter. To monitor all the databases that are available on the SQL server instance, select the Monitor All Databases check box in the Databases group area.
Tip: The Monitor All Databases check box is selected by default.
  • To monitor particular databases, select Include from the list, and specify the database names in the field.
  • To exclude particular databases from being monitored, select Exclude from the list, and specify the database names in the field.

Use the field to filter databases that you want to monitor.
To specify database filter, you must first select a separator. A separator is a character that separates a database name or database expression from the others.
When you are selecting a separator, ensure that database names and database expression do not contain the separator character. You must not use the wildcard characters that are typically used in the T-SQL query (for example, %, _, [ ], ^, -) .

When you are specifying database filter:
  • Database names must start with a separator.
  • Database expression must start with 2 separators.
Note: Database expression is a valid expression that can be used in the LIKE part of the T-SQL query. However, you cannot use the T-SQL ESCAPE clause when you are specifying the database expression.

The following data sets are affected by database filter:
  • Database Detail
  • Database Summary
  • Device Detail
  • Table Detail
  • Table Summary
  • Filegroup Detail
  • Additional Database Detail
No

Examples of filters:

Case 1: % usage

Example:
@@%m%
Output: All the databases that have the character m in their names are filtered.

Case 2: _ usage

Example:
@@____
Output: All the databases that are of length four characters are filtered.

Case 3: [] usage

Example:
@@[m]___
Output: All the databases of length four characters and whose names start with the character m are filtered.

Case 4: [^] usage

Example:
@@[^m]%
Output: All the databases (of any length) except the names start with the character m are filtered.
Database (continued)
Remember:
  • If you do not select the Monitor All Databases check box, you must specify the list of databases for which you want to enable or disable monitoring in the Databases group area. If you do not select the Monitor All Databases check box and the Databases group area is blank, agent configuration cannot be completed.
  • If you select the Monitor All Databases check box and specify the databases to monitor in Databases group area, the setting of Monitor All Databases check box takes precedence. The list of databases that you specify in Databases group area is ignored.
 

Case 5: Wrong input

Example:
@%m%
Output: None of the databases are filtered.

Case 6: Default

Example: Field is blank (No query is typed)

Output: All the databases are filtered.

Case 7: Mixed patterns

Example:
@@[m-t]_d%

Output: All the databases name (of any length) start with the characters m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, followed by any character, with the character d in the third place are filtered.

Day(s) Frequency Use this feature to define the frequency of collecting data of Table Detail attributes. The values can be from zero to 31. No  
Weekly Frequency Use this feature to specify a particular day for collecting data for Table Detail attributes. The values can be from zero to 7. No  
Monthly Frequency Use this feature to define the data collection of Table Detail attributes on a particular day of the month. The possible values are 1, 2, 3, and so on. No  
Collection Start Time The collection start time can be entered in HH:MM format.

The possible values for hours are zero to 23. The default value is zero.

The possible values for minutes are from zero to 59. The default value is zero.

No  
Table Detail Continuous Collection Use this feature for the continuous background collection of Table Detail data.

The Table Detail Continuous Collection check box is selected by default.

No  
Interval Between Two Continuous Collection (in min.) Specify the time for the interval between two collections in minutes. The minimum interval time is 3 minutes.

You can select the Interval Between Two Continuous Collection (in min.) check box or you can use Scheduling to specify continuous collection of the Table Detail data set. If you select the Interval Between Two Continuous Collection (in min.) check box, you must specify the time interval for collection. If you use Scheduling to specify the collection of the Table Detail data set, the minimum time interval is 1 day.

The default interval between two continuous collections is 3 minutes.

No  
The agent collects the data at the time interval for which data collection occurs frequently. For example, if you specify all frequencies (daily, weekly, and monthly) for collecting data, the agent starts the data collection according to the following conditions:
  • If day(s) frequency ≤ 7, the day(s) frequency settings are selected, and the weekly and monthly frequency settings are ignored.
  • If day(s) frequency > 7, the weekly frequency settings are selected, and the day(s) and monthly frequency settings are ignored.
Remember: If the Table Detail Continuous Collection check box is selected, the agent collects the data at the interval that is mentioned in the Interval Between Two Continuous Collection (in min.) field and ignores the daily, weekly, or monthly frequencies.