Release Notes

Prerequisites for the Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring agent

This page describes the prerequisites for successfully installing and running the Nodinite Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent to Monitor BizTalk Server Applications.

Install instances of this agent on the same network where the BizTalk Server group to monitor is installed. Nodinite can be installed elsewhere, like in the cloud/offsite using Service Bus Relaying (see also the external link for additional information Microsoft Service Bus Relaying - External Link) to communicate with the Nodinite Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent.

We recommend keeping this agent close to the BizTalk Server group (i.e. one of the BizTalk processing nodes) to use all the available features.

Software requirements

Versions <= 6.0 make use of the .NET Framework 4.5.2 or later.

Nodinite requires DACPAC SQL Binaries from Microsoft and is used for installing and updating databases. You can (and should) install a higher version (latest) compared to your SQL Server since Microsoft provides backwards compatibility. The other way around is not supported. There is no licensing cost associated with installing and running the Microsoft DACPAC binaries.

Use the latest SSMS version to ensure you have a valid version of the required SQL Server binaries, and it's only one installer (although larger)

If you experience issues installing or updating the Nodinite databases; Then almost always, the problems is with an incompatible client version. Simply update either the SSMS tool or the DACFramework.msi to the lastest available version.

If you have not installed the SQLPackage.exe on the server, then you can always perform a manual update of the Nodinite BizTalk Server Monitoring database directly on the SQL Instance, review the Monitoring Agent Databases user guide for additional information.

Which versions of Microsoft BizTalk Server are supported?

Nodinite Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent has support for the following Microsoft BizTalk Server versions (all editions, also regarding CU, SP, HotFix)

||| |BizTalk Server 2006|*||||

* .NET Framework 4.5.2 or later and an appropriate version of the BizTalk Server Administration console must be installed on the server where to run the Nodinite Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent

^{New 5.4}

What Windows User Rights does the BizTalk Server Monitoring agent require?

The agent usually runs as a Windows Service on one or more of the BizTalk Server application server.

Fail-over cluster support exists for high availability.

The service account must be a member of the following Active Directory groups:

• BizTalk Server Administrators - The Windows Service Account running the BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent must belong to the Windows Group used with the BizTalk Server Administrators (most Remote Actions requires this level).
• SSO Administrators - The Windows Service Account running the BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent must belong to the Windows Group used with the SSO Administrators role (some details and remote actions requires this level)
• local Administrators -The Windows Service Account running the BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent must be a local administrator on all BizTalk Server nodes to read performance counters and allow start/stop of host instances (which are actually Windows Services)

What Firewall settings are required for the Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring agent?

The TCP/UDP ports that must be open for communication depends on the type of installation.

This section describes enterprise-grade installations with services on multiple servers; Hence many protocols are being used between the different services.

The Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring agent has both inbound and outbound communication:

1. TCP Ports between the Monitoring Service and the Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring agent

The following ports must be allowed on the Windows server where the agent is installed and running :

And further with 'Option 1' or 'Option 2' as documented next:

Option 1 (Local network)

Option 2 (Cloud/Hybrid)

Use Service Bus Relayed connections when Nodinite and the agent are on totally different networks.

Nodinite uses the On-Premise data gateway, review the 'Adjust communication settings for the on-premises data gateway' user guide for additional information.

2. TCP Ports between Nodinite BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent and Microsoft BizTalk Server

The Nodinite Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent uses WMI, which is highly configurable in Windows. Actual ports used may therefore be different from what's documented here.

Some documents online states 5000 - 5020, which is a typo, BizTalk is aggressive on the usage of TCP ports, and you may need to allow many other dynamic ports, depending on the configuration.

3. TCP Ports between the Nodinite Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring agent and SQL Server instance with Nodinite Monitoring database

This section applies if you use the extended metrics and statistics, or if you have clustered the Nodinite Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent, read more about enabling this feature in the Configuration user guide.

Information about the TCP/UDP ports in use is detailed on the Monitoring Agent Databases user guide.

4. TCP Ports between Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring agent and SQL Server with BizTalk databases

There are at least three BizTalk Server databases:

1. BizTalkMgmtDB
2. BizTalkDTADb
3. BizTalkMsgboxDb

Multiple messageboxes may exist

For performance reasons, the Nodinite Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent make use of the data from the BizTalk databases to get lightning fast access to the data without having to use the ExplorerOM.dll (Microsoft SDK).

Additionally, the BizTalk Server databases may be scattered on different SQL Server instances. From a firewall perspective, the same ports are involved hence only documented once.

The Monitoring agents requires outbound ports to be opened. Since Nodinite is highly configurable, the actual ports in use may differ from what's being exampled here.

You must ensure that the TCP/UDP ports in use are allowed by your firewalls; Depending on the location of the SQL databases, the used ports may differ. The following Windows Services are involved:

What SQL user rights does the Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring agent require?

The service account running the BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent must have the following rights assigned:

db_ddladmin is required for the service account to have proper rights to read statistics. Without this permission, performance may be degraded, especially true for remote servers (linked servers). Read more here. Contact our support if you have any questions about this.

BizTalkMGMTDb

• DataReader
• DataWriter (Changes to BizTalk artifacts can be performed using Remote Actions)
• db_ddladmin (see note)

BizTalkDTADb

• DataReader
• DataWriter (for BizTalk Health check related operations/actions)
• db_ddladmin (see note)
• BTS_OPERATORS (should inherit by the membership with BizTalk Server Administrators)

BizTalkMSGBoxDb

• DataReader
• DataWriter (for BizTalk Health check related operations/actions)
• db_ddladmin (see note)
• BTS_OPERATORS (should inherit by the membership with BizTalk Server Administrators)

Nodinite BizTalk Monitoring database

If you have multiple Monitoring Agents installed, there is one database per instance. Repeat as necessary.

• db_owner (required to apply DACPAC updates)

Frequently asked questions

Additional solutions to common problems and the FAQ for the Nodinite Microsoft BizTalk Server Monitoring Agent exist in the Troubleshooting user guide.

Next Step

Install BizTalk Monitoring Agent

Related

Add or manage a Monitoring Agent Configuration
Monitoring
Administration