MP Blog - MP Author SP2

First published on TECHNET on Sep 30, 2014
Continuing in its promise to provide a core set of Management Pack authoring tools to Operations Manager customers Silect have recently released MPAuthor SP2.

Below you can see what has been fixed in this recent update and details on where you can download the tool.

MPAuthor SP2

Changes in the SP2 release of MP Author include the following bug fixes and improvements:

Title	Simplify importing MP to management group
Description	The same version MP's should not be checked. The old version MP's should not appear. If there are no referenced MP's applicable (common state), we should skip this whole step.
Title	Error when trying to create performance monitor
Description	If you check "Create rule to collect performance data" and are using the Store database (i.e. MP Studio is installed). Error in Create Step of Wizard. An error occurred when trying to Create performance monitor.
Title	PowerShell monitor does not add the right alert parameters
Description	See http://blogs.msdn.com/b/wei_out_there_with_system_center/archive/2014/03/12/opsmgr-creating-a-powershell-script-based-monitor-with-silect-mp-author-sp1.aspx for details.
Title	MP Author automatically added references are not current
Description	Added a DB Monitor to an existing (or new) MP. When the code automatically added the reference to the Microsoft.SystemCenter.SyntheticTransactions.Library, it chose a 6.0.* version when there were 7.* versions in the Store. The older version did not work. Need to default to the  version compatible with the other referenced MP's, so it finds all the references, find the highest version number (i.e. 7.5.*) and attempt to load that version (7.5.0.0 and up), if that fails, find the next highest version number in any reference (i.e. 7.1.*) and try to load a 7.1.00 or higher, etc.
Title	Service Monitor alert description should be improved
Description	In MP Author, when creating a new NT Service monitor, the alert description should be improved to show more information.
Title	MP Author should not show the welcome page when invoked from MP Studio
Description	When I edit an MP from within MP Studio, MP Author gets started but defaults to the landing page. When MP Author opens with an MP we should default the view to that MP. Also a new user may not see the tab for the MP.
Title	MP Author landing page displays after user closes it
Description	1. User launches MP Author 2. Landing page is displayed on startup 3. User quickly closes landing page window 4. Landing page window is redisplayed after user had closed the window
Title	Missing Elements in MP Author
Description	The following MP elements can be created by MP Author, but are not shown and cannot be edited from within MP Author. The counts (in brackets) are the number of occurrences of these objects in a sample MP built to test MP Testing with MP Author created MP's. They are provided as a reference for the importance of implementing these elements. - RelationshipTypes (4) - SecureReferences (4) [logs exceptions] - ModuleTypes (8) - MonitorTypes (35) - FolderItems (approx. 220) [supported in Debug builds, but not working] - Templates (0) [logs exceptions] - LanguagePacks (2) FolderItems, Reports, StringResources, Templates, and SecureReferences are currently shown, but only for DEBUG builds. Implementing some of these, even if they just allow XML editing and show some properties, would be very beneficial. Specifically, RelationshipTypes, ModuleTypes, MonitorTypes, and LanguagePacks would be the most important.

What is MP Author?

Silect’s MP Author is a FREE tool to help you design and develop new Management Packs (MPs) for Operations Manager 2012 or customize existing MPs through an easy-to-use wizard-driven interface, without knowledge of the underlying MP structure or XML development. Reduce the complexity of MPs by providing an intuitive interface for creating common discovery and monitoring scenarios Create management pack elements, including discoveries and classes using simple easy to use registry and WMI browsers, as well as via advanced scripting capabilities Author product knowledge Create new MPs without requiring access to the management group Optimize using Microsoft’s Best Practices Analyzer before production

Where do you get your copy of MP Author?

MP Author is available for download at www.mpauthor.com (or www.silect.com ).  You must enter a valid email ID in the download form to receive the automatic download link.  More than 2,700 System Center users worldwide have embraced Silect’s MP Author for authoring and updating Operations Manager management packs in their environment, including Microsoft, enterprise and government organizations, system integrators and individual consultants.  Support is provided for MP Author through our Free Support Portal at www.mpauthor.com/support .