You can define which SQL Server instances you want to add to your SQL Enterprise Job Manager environment. You can only monitor jobs from registered SQL Server instances.
You can add new SQL Server instances from the Add Instance option from the following sections:
- Overview tab - On the top menu bar of the All Instances section.
- Schedule tab - On the top menu bar of the Operation list available on this tab.
- Instances tab - On the top menu bar.
- Administration tab - Under the Instances section.
You can also Import instances using the respective option under the Instances section from the Administration tab.
Read-only users cannot do the following actions on the Instances tab:
- Add/register new SQL Server instances
- Remove registered SQL Server instances
- Change instances properties
- Perform actions on SQL Server Agents
When you open the Add SQL Server Instance wizard, you have the following sections:
Instance
To add instances you can:
- Type the name of instance or instances you want to register in the SQL Server Instance box. Use a semicolon to separate several instances.
- Use the Browse button to access a list of discovered instances that have not been registered yet with SQL Enterprise Job Manager. Check the box next to the instances you want to add and click Apply.
Specify the Data Collection Settings:
- Determine the Collection Interval in minutes or days - This option lets you define how often data will be collected for your registered instances.
- Determine how many days SQL Enterprise Job Manager will Keep Data for - This option lets you specify how much time data is kept before grooming it.
Determine if you want to monitor the Windows Tasks of your added instances. You can specify the following options:
- Monitor task for the instance(s) - Select this option if you want to monitor the tasks of your added instances
- Keep task and task history data for the instance(s) - Select this option to keep tasks and their respective history if you decide to stop monitoring them.
Click Next to go to the next section.
Credentials
SQL connection credentials
SQL Enterprise Job Manager connects to registered SQL Server instances to collect information. The collection service requires permissions to connect and gather information using the account you specify.
By default, SQL Enterprise Job Manager connects using the SQL Enterprise Job Manager service account. However, if you need to provide alternative credentials you can also choose from:
- SQL Server login account
- Windows user account
If you select a Windows user account or a SQL Server login account, type the respective user name and password.
SQL Enterprise Job Manager uses this account for SQL queries to gather availability and configuration data.
WMI connection credentials
Specify the credentials that SQL Enterprise Job Manager will use to access Windows configuration data of the computer that hosts the registered instance. You can choose to use the SQL Enterprise Job Manager service account or a Windows user account. If you select the latter, you have to provide the respective user name and password.
You can test the correctness of your credentials by clicking TEST CREDENTIALS.
Information
In this section, you can specify additional information for your instances like Owner, Location, and Comments.
Although none of these fields are compulsory, Owner, Location, and Comments provide a powerful method for grouping instances and organizing your managed instances.
Use the Owner and Location drop-down lists to access previously registered options.
Maintenance
Use this section to specify the maintenance schedule for the instances you are adding.
You can define two types of schedules:
- Recurring - Select this option if you want SQL Enterprise Job Manager to perform the maintenance on a recurrent schedule.
- One time - Choose this option to execute maintenance on a one-time schedule.
When you choose Recurring, you can define the frequency of your maintenance schedule. You can select from the following frequencies:
- Daily - If you select this option, specify the number of days SQL Enterprise Job Manager uses as the interval to perform maintenance. Also, you can set the maintenance frequency, once per day at a specific time, or if you want to perform it every determined number of hours.
- Weekly - If you choose this option, specify the number of weeks SQL Enterprise Job Manager uses as the interval to perform maintenance. You can choose the days of the week when maintenance is executed. Additionally, you can determine the daily frequency, i.e. the exact time of the day when maintenance is performed or how many times per day the process is done.
- Monthly - When you select this option, you can determine the monthly frequency and on which days of the month SQL Enterprise Job Manager performs maintenance. For example, you can define a maintenance schedule for the second Monday of the month, every 2 months.
These options are also available on the Maintenance tab:
- Determine the duration of your maintenance schedule by specifying the dates when the schedule begins and finishes.
- Specify how long the maintenance mode will last.
- Disable alerts and jobs during this period. In this section you have the following options:
- Disable Alerts during the maintenance - Define which alerts severity you want to disable and if you want to disable alerts for jobs or instances.
- Disable non-maintenance jobs during maintenance - By selecting this option, no other jobs will run during the maintenance period.
- Stop maintenance jobs that run past the maintenance - By selecting this option, jobs that run past the maintenance will be stopped.
Finish
In this section, you can review your instance registration details such as Instance, Data Collection Interval, Keep Data for, SQL Connection Credentials, Owner, Location, and Comments.
To change any of these registration details, you can do one of the following:
- Click any of the title sections (INSTANCE, CREDENTIALS, MAINTENANCE, or INFORMATION) and go directly to the place where you need to make the changes.
- Click PREV to go back to the previous sections until you find the place where you need to make changes.
- Click any of the specified values on the Finish tab and SQL Enterprise Job Manager takes you to the respective section.
After you review your registration details, click FINISH.
SQL Enterprise Job Manager registers your SQL server instances in the repository and immediately begins to collect instances information like availability, configuration, and job handling information.
After registration, you can still change these settings. Go to Edit instance properties for more information.